After a grueling weekend, that saw many teams tear up equipment and were not able to get it back together in the quick turnaround of a mid-week race, 19 Bumper to Bumper IRA teams signed in for action on Wednesday night at the Dodge County Fairgrounds for the Harry Neitzel Tribute. Terry McCarl set quick time in qualifying, followed by the leading contender for rookie of the year, Joey Moughan. Mike Reinke timed the SCA 02 in third over defending Knoxville Raceway champion Austin McCarl. Jeremy Schultz would time in the fifth spot.
Heat race number one saw an absolutely dominate performance by Bill Balog. Balog took the early lead and never looked back leading all eight laps en route to the win over the father and son duo of Terry and Austin McCarl. Jereme Schroeder brought his MLS Auto Clinic 43 home in fourth and Wayne Modjeski rounded out the top five.
In heat race two the action started before the race ever went green, as Jeremy Schultz got on the gas to catch the tail of the field, his car entered turns 1 and 2 and appeared to suffer a mechanical issue, causing him to get into the wall and upside down, ending his night. Once the race did get underway, Joey Moughan showed the strength of the Oz Motorsports team, charging from fourth to the lead around the wicked fast half mile. Moughan would take the victory over the Hopf Farms backed 4B of Scott Biertzer. Scotty Neitzel was third followed by Kris Spitz and Bryon Walters.
The third and final heat race was won by the driver of the Professional Plating 64, Scotty Thiel. Russel Borland brought his Wiese Motorsports mount home in second followed across the line by Mike Reinke and Hunter Custer. The second Wiese Motorsports entry, piloted by Matt Wiese finished in fifth.
The A main treated fans to the latest installment of the battle between Bill Balog and Terry McCarl. Balog took the early lead but McCarl was not far behind, an early yellow flag would give T-Mac the opportunity he needed. As the field restarted Terry threw the Mondak Portables 4 car to the bottom of turn 1 and was able to slide up the track into turn 2 in front of the Rhine Auto 17B. Balog attempted to cross under McCarl but could not make the pass. Balog settled into second and followed the 7 time Knoxville Raceway champion as he entered lapped traffic. The white and blue machine piloted by Balog never let Terry McCarl’s black and blue car get far, but his runs seemed to come at the wrong time, often interrupted by the need to get around a lapped car. In the end as the checkered flag flew Terry McCarl was victorious for the 15th time in IRA competition. Bill Balog would finish in second followed by Mike Reinke, Austin McCarl, and Joey Moughan.
A Feature 1 25 laps | 00:00:00 Presented by Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts
1. 4-Terry McCarl, [2]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog, [1]; 3. 02-Mike Reinke, [4]; 4. 17A-Austin McCarl, [5]; 5. 73AF-Joey Moughan, [6]; 6. 2W-Scott Neitzel, [3]; 7. 64-Scotty Thiel, [8]; 8. 4B-Scott Biertzer, [9]; 9. 43-Jereme Schroeder, [11]; 10. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, [10]; 11. 4K-Kris Spitz, [12]; 12. 45-Matt Wiese, [15]; 13. (DNF) 29-Hunter Custer, [13]; 14. (DNF) 63-Nick Matuszewski, [16]; 15. (DNF) 23-Russel Borland, [7]; 16. (DNF) 5W-Bryon Walters, [14]; 17. (DNF) 14AJK-Kurt Davis, [17]; (DNS) 73-Ben Schmidt, ; (DNS) 5J-Jeremy Schultz,
Heat 1 8 laps | 00:00:00 Presented by Weld Wheels / EMI
1. 17B-Bill Balog, [2]; 2. 4-Terry McCarl, [4]; 3. 17A-Austin McCarl, [3]; 4. 43-Jereme Schroeder, [5]; 5. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, [1]; 6. 63-Nick Matuszewski, [6]; 7. (DNF) 14AJK-Kurt Davis, [7]
Heat 2 8 laps | 00:00:00 Presented by All Star Performance / Autometer
1. 73AF-Joey Moughan, [4]; 2. 4B-Scott Biertzer, [1]; 3. 2W-Scott Neitzel, [2]; 4. 4K-Kris Spitz, [5]; 5. 5W-Bryon Walters, [6]; 6. (DNF) 5J-Jeremy Schultz, [3]
Heat 3 8 laps | 00:00:00 Presented by Behling Racing Products
1. 64-Scotty Thiel, [3]; 2. 23-Russel Borland, [2]; 3. 02-Mike Reinke, [4]; 4. 29-Hunter Custer, [5]; 5. 45-Matt Wiese, [6]; 6. (DNF) 73-Ben Schmidt, [1]
Qualifying 1 2 laps | 00:00:00 Presented by Osborn and Son Trucking
1. 4-Terry McCarl, 00:16.712[5]; 2. 73AF-Joey Moughan, 00:16.781[2]; 3. 02-Mike Reinke, 00:16.862[16]; 4. 17A-Austin McCarl, 00:16.876[8]; 5. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 00:16.892[15]; 6. 64-Scotty Thiel, 00:16.899[10]; 7. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:16.912[12]; 8. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 00:17.086[17]; 9. 23-Russel Borland, 00:17.251[3]; 10. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, 00:17.378[4]; 11. 4B-Scott Biertzer, 00:17.591[1]; 12. 73-Ben Schmidt, 00:17.611[13]; 13. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 00:17.928[6]; 14. 4K-Kris Spitz, 00:17.976[9]; 15. 29-Hunter Custer, 00:18.045[19]; 16. 63-Nick Matuszewski, 00:18.091[11]; 17. 5W-Bryon Walters, 00:18.326[7]; 18. 45-Matt Wiese, 00:18.365[18]; (DNS) 14AJK-Kurt Davis,
