Davenport Speedway
Friday, May 13, 2011
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Buesling dominates Davenport late models

by Mike McGuire
DAVENPORT, Ia. (May 13) – As rain dotted most of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois on Friday the 13th, one place it couldn’t be found is the Davenport Speedway. Despite cloudy and cool conditions, the racing program went off without a hitch.

The high side was the place to start the Petersen Plumbing & Heating IMCA Late Model feature. The outside starters in the first three rows, Nate Buesling, Ray Guss Jr., and Andy Eckrich, quickly moved away from the remainder of the field.

The three leaders were in lapped traffic by lap eleven. On lap 15, Guss encountered a lapped car, which sent Ray into a tire barrier and ended his night.

Buesling was able to fend off Eckrich on the restart and led the entire 25 laps for the win. Eckrich finished second, with Brian Harris third. Justin Kay was fourth and Jeremy Gustaf, who started fourteenth, finished fifth.

IMCA late model heat wins went to Guss, Eckrich, and Harris. Stephan Kammerer won the semi.

Jake Waterman posted his first EMS IMCA Modified victory of the season. Waterman started inside third row, but took the race lead from Joe Beal on lap three and never looked back.

It was a real battle for the second spot, throughout the race. Brian Webb finally got around Doug Crampton late to claim second, with Crampton third. Thad Wilson fought his way through the field after an early race caution to finish fourth, while pole-sitter Dan Klatt took fifth.

Beal, Crampton, and Webb won the IMCA Modified heats. Mitch Morris won the semi-feature.

The closest race of the night was the Koehler Electric Street Stock main. Rob Henry led lap one with RJ Gonzales taking over a lap later. Gonzales had a comfortable lead, when cautions would re-group the field.

Jeremy Marquette took advantage of the restarts and powered his way into the lead, briefly. Tim Current drove around Marquette and led two laps, before Marquette would return the favor. Marquette went on to take the victory with Current a close second, and Gonzales third. Cary Brown and Rob Henry rounded out the top five.

Jacob Ellithorpe won the LuJacks Northpark Auto Plaza 4 Stock feature on his first visit to the speedway this year. Jason Blocker led the race early, before Ellithorpe could move up from his third row starting spot to the lead. Aaron Hitt used the high side to take the lead on lap five, with Ellithorpe coming back to the lead on lap seven. Ellithorpe managed to extend his lead and drove on to the win. Hitt settled for second with Wade Dahl third.

The vintage coupes were on hand Friday to bring back fond memories of yesterday and try their hand at the Davenport quarter-mile oval. Chris Gilmore captured both the heat and feature wins.

Exciting stock car racing action returns to the speedway next Friday night for the regular weekly program. In two weeks, on May 27th, the IMCA Modified Shootout comes to the Davenport Speedway. The 40-lap modified feature will pay $2,000-to-win. The other weekly classes will also be racing on that evening.

Davenport Speedway
May 13, 2011

Petersen Plumbing & Heating IMCA Late Models
Heat 1: 1. Ray Guss Jr.; 2. Mike Murphy Jr.; 3. Nate Buesling; 4. Kevin Blum; 5. Stephan Kammerer;
Heat 2: 1. Andy Eckrich; 2. Justin Kay; 3. Jeff Stevens; 4. Joe Ross; 5. Eric Sanders;
Heat 3: 1. Brian Harris; 2. Mike Zemo Jr.; 3. Doug Nigh; 4. Fred Remley; 5. Jeremy Gustaf;
Semi: 1. Stephan Kammerer; 2. Jeremy Gustaf; 3. Matt Ryan; 4. Eric Sanders; 5. Travis Denning;
Feature: 1. Nate Buesling; 2. Andy Eckrich; 3. Brian Harris; 4. Justin Kay; 5. Jeremy Gustaf; 6. Doug Nigh; 7. Matt Ryan; 8. Fred Remley; 9. Stephan Kammerer; 10. Jeff Stevens; 11. Joe Ross; 12. Mike Garland; 13. Mike Zemo Jr.; 14. Bart Miller; 15. Eroc Sanders; 16. Ray Guss Jr.; 17. Mike Murphy Jr.; 18. Travis Denning; 19. Kevin Blum; 20. Gary Webb;

EMS IMCA Modifieds
Heat 1: 1. Joe Beal; 2. Brian Bushong; 3. Thad Wilson; 4. Bob Dominacki; 5. Mitch Morris;
Heat 2: 1. Doug Crampton; 2. Dan Klatt; 3. Dean McGee; 4. Jake Waterman; 5. Dustin Wilwert;
Heat 3: 1. Brian Webb; 2. Chuck Hanna; 3. John Ahlers; 4. Matt Stein; 5. Tim Arp;
Semi: 1. Mitch Morrris; 2. Milo Veloz Jr.; 3. Dustin Wilwert; 4. Greg Durbin; 5. Casey Voss;
Feature: 1. Jake Waterman; 2. Brian Webb; 3. Doug Crampton; 4. Thad Wilson; 5. Dan Klatt; 6. Dean McGee; 7. Joe Beal; 8. Milo Veloz Jr.; 9. Chuck Hanna;10. Craig Crawford; 11. Mitch Morris; 12. Greg Durbin; 13. Ray Cox Jr.; 14. Casey Voss; 15. Todd Dykema; 16. Brian Bushong; 17. DustinWilwert; 18. Tim Arp; 19. John Ahlers; 20. Matt Stein;

Koehler Electric Street Stocks
Heat 1: 1. Jeremy Marquette; 2. Cary Brown; 3. Rob Henry; 4. Gerald Ward; 5. Cord Williams;
Heat 2: 1. RJ Gonzales; 2. Emily Gade; 3. Tim Current; 4. Bryan Ritter; 5. Chris Lawrence;
Feature: 1. Jeremy Marquette; 2. Tim Current; 3. RJ Gonzales; 4. Cary Brown; 5. Rob Henry; 6. Chip Kohl; 7. Chris Lawrence; 8. Emi;ly Gade; 9. Bryan Ritter; 10. Cord Williams; 11. Gerald Ward;

LuJacks Northpark Auto Plaza 4 Stocks
Heat 1: 1. Aaron Hitt; 2. Zach Dahl; 3. Luke Thurness; 4. Jacob Ellithorpe; 5. Wade Dahl;
Feature: 1. Jacob Ellithorpe; 2. Aaron Hitt; 3. Wade Dahl; 4. Luke Thurness; 5. Jason Blocker; 6. Zach Dahl; 7. Brandon Dahl; 8. Dale Tucker; 9. Robert Hines; 10. Nick Bennett;

Vintage Coupes
Heat 1: 1. Chris Gilmore; 2. Bob Mingst; 3. Dennis Blunt;
Feature: 1. Chris Gilmore; 2. Bob Mingst; 3. Dennis Blunt; 4. Doug Picray; 5. Jeff Snyder; 6. Steve Jarnecke;