ALBION, NE- The 2021 season kicked off Friday night at the Boone County Raceway with Mother's Night. In front of a great crowd 71 cars did battle between 4 classes.
The Sharp Plumbing IMCA Sport Modifieds were first up where 14 cars went 20 laps in an excellent feature. Robbie Thome of Spalding would jump out to the early lead but would have pressure the first 10 laps by David Johnson, Cameron Meyer and Manhattan, Kansas driver Travis Burger. It would be Genoa native James Roebuck who started 6th and make his way through the field to battle Thome for a number of laps before taking the lead and pulling away in the end to score the victory. Thome would finish 2nd, David Johnson of Columbus 3rd, Cameron Meyer of Pierce 4th, and Travis Burger 5th.
Next up would be the Big Daddy Race Car IMCA Stock Cars where 17 cars competed 20 laps. This race would see a number of hard chargers come from deep in the field to finish up front. Early it was a heated battle between Jeremy Hoskinson, Damon Richards, and Kyle Wilkinson battling for the lead but it would Albion's Tyler Iverson who would start 10th and take control early and run away with a comfortable win. The racing behind him was stellar though as Meadow Grove's Justin Addison would advance 12 spots to finish 2nd, with Petersburg's Randy Pelster scoring a 3rd place finish. Jeremy Hoskinson of Norfolk would finish 4th, while last year's track champion Austin Brauner of Platte Center would fight his way to a 5th place finish.
The feature of the night came in the NAPA Auto and Truck Parts IMCA Late Model feature where 22 drivers would make it come down to the final corner. Norfolk's Chase Osborne would take advantage of his front row starting spot and jump out to an early lead but it would be Madison's Travis Dickes who would fight Osborne tooth and nail for most of the 25 lap feature. A number of cautions would keep this one interesting throughout and give defending track Champion Cory Dumpert time to come through the field to challenge for the win. A late restart with under 5 laps left would see Dickes choose the outside lane and make a move for the lead but the caution would come out and wipe away his restart. Dumpert would then choose the outside lane and try his hand at stealing the win from Osborne. Chase would run a smooth race on the bottom side and fend off one last charge in the final corner from Dumpert to score the win by 0.040 seconds. Dumpert would finish 2nd, Robert Osborne of Norfolk who started 16th would finish 3rd, Travis Dickes 4th, and Kyle Prauner of Norfolk would finish 5th in his his first late model start in Albion.
The Big Daddy Race Car IMCA Hobby Stocks finished off the night with a battle between familiar faces to get the win. It was Albion's Ryan Fajman who would take control early but would be pressured by Columbus drivers Colby Kaspar and Jeff Ware along with Jason Wilkinson of Neligh. This race would be a battle for the bottom and Fajman would be smooth down low all night as he would hold on for the win with Kaspar hot on his heals to finish a close 2nd. Defending track champion Jeff Ware of Columbus would finish 3rd, Nate Buck of Neligh 4th, and Nic Kimmel of Hoskins would move up from 13th to finish 5th.
Boone County Raceway will be off next Friday, May 14th due to graduation in the area. BCR will be back in action Friday, May 21st with Autograph Night. Kids will have an autograph session at intermission with the drivers and their cars. The first 200 kids in the grandstands will receive a free autograph board as well. Tickets are on-sale now at boonecountyraceway.com.