Texas Speedzone - 8th Annual Icebreaker 2/25/05

Abilene, TX (Feb 28, 2005) - The 8th Annual Icebreaker kicked off Friday night with nearly 160 cars from five states signing in, despite less than perfect weather.

8th Annual Icebreaker, presented by Smileys and Jeff’s Performance Automotive @ Abilene Speedway 2/25-27/05 By J M Hallas Abilene, TX (Feb 28, 2005) - The 8th Annual Icebreaker kicked off Friday night with nearly 160 cars from five states signing in, despite less than perfect weather. Richard Snider and the track crew did an excellent preparing the track after the morning showers cleared. The track stayed smooth and provided some great two and three wide racing throughout the night. This years Icebreaker had the new IMCA Southern SportMod class added as part of the event. Also included was a bonus for any driver taking multiple wins over the weekend show. This years Abilene race was part of five track Icebreaker Series that will include Heart O’ Texas Speedway(Waco), Bonners Bellmead Speedway(Waco-Bellmead), 281 Speedway(Stephenville) and Texas Thunder Speedway(Killeen), that will be run in the coming weeks. Series Champions will be crowned in all four IMCA classes. Smith holds off former Champ to take opening night Modified win In the 20 car, 20 lap IMCA Modified main event, Cody Smith and PJ Egbert held the front row at the drop of the green. Smith got the edge going into turn 1, while Henry Witt dove into third ahead of Trent Crawford. Witt and Egbert ran wheel to wheel for second on lap 3, as Glen Hibbard took the third spot away from Crawford. The top four were nose to tail on lap 5 and were inching away from Crawford just as caution waved for an infield tire kicked out on the track by Josh McGaha who rolled to a stop on the back stretch. The top three hung together on the restart with the pack battling behind them. Dusty Blake got past Crawford on lap 8 for fifth as David Elliott charged his way into the top ten after starting in the seventh row. Coming to the crossed flags it was Smith, Witt, Hibbard, Egbert and Blake holding the top five positions. Allan Colyer took sixth from Crawford, as he continued to slide back, and Elliott snared eighth from Bo Newton. The top three of Smith, Witt and Hibbard had put some distance on Egbert and Blake by lap 12 as they looked to settle it among themselves. Hibbard took a shot at Witt on the high side during lap 13, but lost a little ground. With five to go, Elliott snagged another spot, taking seventh from Crawford. The top three were again nose to tail with the veteran, Witt, beginning to put some real pressure on Smith for the lead. Smith gave Witt a chance on lap 18 opening up the bottom coming out of turn 4. Witt got the nose stuck inside, but Smith slammed the door going into turn 1. Witt was still stalking Smith as the white flag waved, while Hibbard waited for a mistake by either driver. Coming to the checkers, Smith again slid a little high coming out of turn 4 giving Witt the chance to get inside. As the duo drag raced to the line it was the young 2004 Thunderbird track champion, Smith piloting the A-lectric/JM Martin/Slapaho.com/TRC Chassis, holding off the seven time Regional and former National Champion, Witt, to take the victory by a bumper. IMCA Modified Pos/Car#/Driver/Start/Hometown 1 118 Cody Smith (1) Forney 2 701 Henry Witt (4) Waco 3 127 Glen Hibbard (5) Euless 4 64 Dusty Blake (10) Carelton, Nebr. 5 707 PJ Egbert (2) Copperas Cove 6 2 Allan Colyer (8) Abilene 7 19 David Elliott (13) Eastland 8 44 Trent Crawford (3) Midland 9 189 Bo Newton (9) Bangs 10 0 Bo Briley (14) Miles 11 727 Keith McCullough (15) Denison 12 72 Mark Patterson (11) Merkel 13 69 Danny Hogue (16) Abilene 14 028 Russ Reed (6) Waco 15 18 Scotty Cook (17) Abilene 16 124 Chris Bragg (18) Springtown 17 34 Chance Kimberling (12) Seagoville 18 21 Joe Colyer (19) Abilene 19 8 Dale Sudberry (20) Abilene 20 911 Josh McGaha (7) Brownwood Heat winners; 1 Henry Witt 2 Allan Colyer 3 Glen Hibbard 4 Mark Patterson Modified B-main #1; Local ace, Scotty Cook got the lead at the start of the first modified B-main. David Elliott, using the high side made his way up through the pack and took over the lead from S. Cook on lap 9. From there Elliott cruised to the checkers, with Keith McCullough, S. Cook and Joe Colyer grabbing the other transfers. Modified B-main #2; Bo Briley got the point in the final B-main followed by Jason Borlace and Danny Hogue. As the top three pulled away, Chris Bragg was moving forward after starting near the back. Bragg continued his march to the front and got a transfer spot in the final laps. The final four A-main spots were taken by Briley, Hogue, Bragg and Dale Sudberry. White takes Inaugural Icebreaker SportMod checkers Perennial hot shoe, Keith White got a big jump on Albert McCall at the start of the IMCA Southern SportMod 20 lap main. Tom Earl Jr took second from McCall on lap 1 as the top three began to get away from a pack led by Allan Bjorgo and Roy Ewing. Bjorgo would slide high on lap 4 and fall back in the pack. Ewing got inside McCall to snare third on lap 5, bringing Sid Kiphen along to fourth. Tim Clonch worked his way into the top five getting by McCall for fifth on lap 6. Ewing was looking low on Earl, with two running side by side on lap 7. Ewing got the spot on lap 8 after Kiphen pushed him by. Bjorgo’s problems continued when spun in turn 4, but kept moving. At the halfway point it was White, Ewing, Kiphen, Earl and Clonch holding down the top five positions. Clonch made a big move on lap 11 as he got past both Earl and Kiphen to move into third. Clonch quickly caught Ewing and was looking low on lap 12, with the top eight running together. Clonch got inside on lap 13 with the duo wheel to wheel on lap 13. Despite battling between themselves, Ewing was trying to use the high side on White for the lead. As Ewing tried high, Clonch was trying to get by White on the low side, with nearly a three wide fight for the top spot. As the trio diced through traffic Ewing and Clonch were forced to go three wide under a lap car, but neither lost ground to the leader, White. The scrap for the lead was put on hold when Earl and Dillon Smith got tangled in turns 1-2 to bring out a yellow, setting up a green, white, checker finish. On the restart, Clonch jumped to the high side in search of the lead, but caution was back out after Cody Frank spun and collected Earl and Smith. Clonch tried the move again on the next restart, but fell back in line. As the white flag flew, Clonch gave it one more shot as jumped up on the top side. Darren Young would throw the finish into panic mode as he spun in front of the leaders in turn 4. As the field scattered, White was first to line to take the yellow and checkered flags and put the Tracys Auto Sales/Pflugerville Machine/Doug Stewart Racing/Central Texas Pest Control/Sliderracing.com/Smileys Chassis into the winners circle. IMCA Southern SportMod 1 1 Keith White (1) Leander 2 18 Tim Clonch (9) Quinlan 3 28 Roy Ewing (5) Moody 4 58 Sid Kiphen (8) Gatesville 5 14 Chad Wilson (11) Lubbock 6 30 Albert McCall (2) Red Oak 7 11 DL Wilson (13) Waco 8 17 Joey Patterson (14) Burleson 9 44 Austin Junod (10) Lubbock 10 46 Tom Earl Jr (4) Duncanville 11 71 Charles Garza (12) Forney 12 111 Darren Young (16) Plainview 13 03 Dillon Smith (7) Waco 14 7 Cody Frank (6) Lorena 15 06 Brandon Stewart (15) 1 6 68 Doyle Tennison (17) Baird 17 04 Allan Bjorgo (3) Lubbock Heat Winners; 1 Tim Clonch 2 Roy Ewing Evans takes I-Stock honors The 20 car IMCA Stock Car starting field was led to green by Tim Clonch and Jason Schoenberger. Clonch edged ahead on the back stretch, but Schoenberger fought back with the duo side by side at the line with Clonch ahead by a nose. Travis Evans quickly moved in making it a three way battle for the top spot. On lap 3 Clonch had Schoenberger trying the high side and Evans peeking low, just as the red waved for the flaming car of Lance Shaw. Shaw pulled off to the hot(literally) pits and the fire was put out quickly. Back under green, the top five stayed together, as the pack battled two wide behind them. Dustin McGaha grabbed fifth from Benji Kirkpatrick on lap 5, while a good three car fight was going on between Rick Brown, Kevin Sustaire and John Watson. Evans was able to snag the second spot on lap 7 and was quickly on the leader Clonch. McGaha and Charles Brewer were battling door to door for fourth, but McGaha had a severe tire rub on the right rear. Caution would be throw for McGaha after he was black flagged for the safety issue. As the race resumed and came to halfway the top five were Clonch, Evans, Schoenberger, Brewer and Kirkpatrick. After blowing up a transmission in hot laps and having to qualify through the B-main, Regional Champion Duain Pritchett worked his way up taking over seventh on lap 11. Evans was able to get inside Clonch on lap 12 and wrestled the lead away on lap 13. At the same time Brewer was getting by Schoenberger for third. D. Pritchett, K. Sustaire and Joe Colyer were in the middle of a three wide scrap for sixth when yellow flew for Mike Nichols, who stopped in turn 4. Evans, Clonch and Brewer all got away clean on the restart, while D. Pritchett and K. Sustaire resumed their battle adding Kirkpatrick to the threesome. Evans was inching ahead in the final laps getting some slight breathing room over Clonch. As the checkers waved it was Evans taking the victory in his 4 Seasons Heating & Air/Clifford Racing Engines/Big Dogs Auto Sales/ Jet Chassis. IMCA Stock A-main 1 14 Travis Evans (3) Bullard 2 171 Tim Clonch (1) Quinlan 3 72 Charles Brewer (6) Winters 4 6 Jason Schoenberger (2) Russell, Kan. 5 221 Duain Pritchett (14) Combine 6 2 Joe Colyer (5) Abilene 7 87 Kevin Sustaire (12) Emory 8 47 Benji Kirkpatrick (8) Elm Mott 9 75 Rick Brown (7) Kellogg, Iowa 10 11 Dan Johnson (10) Sweetwater 11 62 Mike Miles (15) Keller 12 8 Eric Stanton (18) Abilene 13 155 Charlie Wilson (4) Denton 14 24 John Watson (11) Bancroft, Iowa 15 134 JD Berryhill (17) Scurry 16 12 Terry Pritchett (20) Palmer 17 63 Mike Nichols (16) Harlan, Iowa 18 01 Dustin McGaha (9) Brownwood 19 66 Lance Shaw (19) Sweetwater 20 34 Tim Pyle (13) Midland Heat Winners; 1 Travis Evans 2 Rick Brown 3 Jason Schoenberger 4 Kevin Sustaire I-Stock B-main #1; Tim Pyle got the lead on green and never looked as he led wire to wire to make the transfer along with Mike Miles, JD Berryhill and Lance Shaw. I-Stock B-main #2; Duain Pritchett took over the lead from early leader Toby Miller on lap 3. National Champion Mike Nichols worked his way up to a transfer spot by halfway and after a three wide fight moved in to second. Following D. Pritchett and Nichols to the main were Eric Stanton and Terry Pritchett West bests tough I-Hobby field Kelly Brown and Dustin Schmidt paced the 20 car IMCA Hobby feature to green, with Brown first out of the gate to lead lap 1. Bill Bonnett moved past Schmidt for second and was looking inside Brown for the lead. Bonnett grabbed the point on lap 3, while Jerry West moved by Schmidt for third. Brown tried to fight back and get inside Bonnett, but the yellow waved for spin in turns 3-4 by Michael Hulsey. Bonnett got a good jump on the restart with West trying low on Brown for second. The duo were side by side on lap, with West getting the spot. Matt Drottz and BJ Dauer moved into the top five on lap after Schmidt pulled up and pitted. Bonnett then slowed briefly on lap 8 giving West the opportunity to snare the point. Bonnett, who thought he saw a yellow light, lost second to Brown, but was back on the move after realizing his mistake. At the halfway point it was West, Brown, Bonnett, Drottz and Dauer in the top five. Bonnett was able to retake second from Brown after Brown got “picked” by a lap car on lap 13. With five to go, West had a ten car lead over Bonnett. West increased the distance after Bonnett got hooked up with the lap car of Richard Craig. With West having a comfortable lead over Bonnett, the next battle was for the third position. Drottz, Brown and Dauer were battling hard as the white flag was shown. In the meantime, West was coming around to take the checkers in the Ace Tire Service/Operation Kindness Animal Shelter/QSD Graphics Hobby stock. IMCA Hobby Stock 1 9 Jerry West (8) Fort Worth 2 19 Bill Bonnett (6) Knoxville, Iowa 3 4 Kelly Brown (1) Abilene 4 331 BJ Dauer (9) Marquette, Kan. 5 87 Matt Drottz (14) Fort Worth 6 119 Steve Jones (12) Nevada, Iowa 7 11 Nyle Godwin (16) Redfield, Iowa 8 91 Terry Shearer (3) Auburn, Nebr. 9 21 Pat Cross (7) Storm Lake, Iowa 10 38 Allen Montgomery (5) North Richland Hills 11 53 Michael Hulsey (10) Keller 12 333 Charles Cosper (15) Belton 13 33 Richard Craig (17) Merkel 14 5 Buddy Baker (11) Lewisville 15 219 Kelly Andrus (20) Sweetwater 16 169 Travis Clanton (18) Mertzon 17 69 Dustin Schmidt (2) Fairbury, Nebr. 18 17 Chris Ater (13) Haltom City 19 15 Brandon Holbrook (4) Stuart, Iowa 20 55 Justin Shaw (19) Sweetwater Heat Winners; 1 Dustin Schmidt 2 Steve Jones 3 BJ Dauer 4 Bill Bonnett I-Hobby B-main #1; Chris Ater got the point at the first hobby B-main and quickly pulled away. Ater ran unchallenged to the victory, while Charles Cosper, Richard Craig and Justin Shaw got the other transfers. I-Hobby B-main #2; Matt Drottz took over the top spot from early leader Kelly Andrus. Drottz and Nyle Godwin then pulled away from the field to take two of the remaining A-main spots, with Travis Clanton and Andrus getting the final two. Malcolm Kill got out front first at the start of the Limited Late Model main, but a multi-car tangle in turn 1 and Charlie Underwood stalled out in turn 3 quickly brought the caution back out. Tommy Fain got a big jump on the next try, but Kill and Chris Bennington made contact sending Bennington into the turn 2 wall and Kill to the pits. The third time was a charm as new polesitter, Robert Pittman grabbed the lead as green flew. Fain fought back getting along side Bennington on lap 2, but Bennington held on. Terry Owen was on the move towards the front after side by side battles with Michael Tennison for fourth, then Levi Ely for third. At the mid point the top five were Pittman, Fain, Owen, Ely and Tennison. Owen then moved in Fain for second with the two dueling door to door on laps 11 and 13. With five to go the top five were still in a close battle, as Bennington closed on the group. Fain and Owen were again side by side on lap 16, and coming out of turn 2 Owen was looking for a way to split the middle as Fain worked up on Pittman. As the white flag flew it was still anyone in the threes race. At the checkers it was Pittman driving the Pittmans Garage/Coors Light/Danz Designs/Big Johns Chassis snagging the win. Limited Late Model 1 08 Robert Pittman 2 25 Terry Owen 3 90 Tommy Fain 4 10 Levi Ely 5 63 Michael Tennison 6 1 Chris Bennington 7 3 John Muhleman 8 2 Shelby Scott 9 33 Bill Poindexter 10 88 Malcolm Kill 11 48 Matt Mueller 12 51 Charlie Underwood Heat Winners 1 Tommy Fain 2 Chris Bennington Kathryne Minter got the jump on Kelly Williams to get the lead on the start of the Jr. Mini Stock feature. The race was slowed on lap 6 when Hayden Lusk stalled in the pit exit. Minter and Williams took off on the restart, while Mark Bullock worked his way up to third. Bullock then lost several spots as he slipped high in turn 3. Colton Monroe brought out the yellow on lap 8 when he spun in turn 4. Williams tried the high side on the restart, but Minter was able to hold on and grab the win. Jr Mini Stock 1 13 Kathryne Minter 2 7 Stephen Robison 3 27 Mark Bullard 4 82 Kelly Williams 5 30 Tyler Newberry 6 712 Colton Monroe 7 07 Jeffrey Kinnard 8 77 Justin Long 9 43 Micky Cook 10 01 Hayden Lusk Heat winners; 1 Kelly Williams 2 Mark Bullock Jonathan Campbell started on the pole and finished in the top spot as he led flag to flag in the Pure Stock feature Campbell who also won the heat swept the nights events. Pure Stock 1 00 Jonathan Campbell 2 677 David Nichols 3 7 Cecil Fain 4 25 Eric Cato 5 462 Paul Cornell 6 48 Kevin McCright