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Rob Palmer
BELGRADE, Mont. (July 19) - Lance Matthees of Winona, MN made it two in a row in Montana by picking up the $10,000 to win Rumble in the Rockies Rumble Dirt Series feature win at Gallatin Speedway in Belgrade, MT. Matthees had to fight back to regain the lead past the midpoint and held off the field for his second Rumble Series feature win in 2008.
Lance Matthees and Pat Doar led the 24 car field to the green flag for the 66 lap feature. Matthees jumped out to the earlier lead on the bottom of the track with Doar going to the top shelf. Matthees lead lap one with Doar in chase. By lap ten, Matthees had caught up to the rear of the field and began to place cars a lap down. Doar, Matt Aukland, Jeff Wildung and Don Shaw rounded out the top five.
The first yellow of the night came on lap 13 as Jason George spun in the bottom of turn four. George was unable to continue and pulled into the infield. The field realigned and Matthees led the field on the restart. Joel Cryderman moved into fifth by the twenty lap mark as the other top four remained the same
As lap 30 went on the scoring sheets, Matthees found Doar tight on his heels as they weaved through traffic with Aukland just behind them. Aukland moved past Doar with the assistance of a lapped car. Aukland applied pressure to Matthees for first while Wildung moved into third on lap 34. Doar regained third two laps later.
The second and final caution came on lap 38 as Eric Mass came to a stop at the top of turn 2. After the a lengthy removal time due to a malfunctioning tow truck the field lined back up for the restart. Doar raced past Aukland on the restart and was neck and neck with Matthees at the completionof lap 39. Doar raced past Matthees in the next set of turns and controlled lap 40. Steve Laursen began to show his hand as he began to put pressure on Aukland for third.
Twenty laps to go found Doar out front followed closely by Matthees. Laursen had wrested third place from Aukland and Wildung rounded out the top five. At the fifty lap mark, Wildung passed Aukland for fourth while Matthees looked to get around Doar.
Matthees regained the lead for a final time on lap 53 while Laursen began to pressure Doar for second. Matthees complete the final circuits and became a second time winner in the Rumble Dirt Series. Doar, Laursen, Wildung and Aukland completed the top five. The next five spots went to Don Shaw, Joel Cryderman, Kyle Peterlin, Ricky Weiss and Kelly Hample.
With the feature win, Matthees completed the sweep on the night as he also won the Pole Dash along with his heat race. Other heat race winners were Eric Mass, Shaw and Wildung.
The WISSOTA Modified 20 lap feature field was lead by Joey Price and Shane Lembeke. The first start was called back as a car spun to the bottom of turn two. Lembeke headed the field on lap one while the rest sorted out on the track. Lembeke led four more laps before being overtaken by Jody Kropp. Kropp was the car to beat while the rest of the field gave chase. Kropp continued to clip off laps as the battle became for second. Dave Freeman moved past Lembeke while Erin Shane also moved forward.
Kropp controlled the remaining laps and was followed across the line by David Freeman, Shane, Lembeke and Jack Norris. Heat race winners included Shane, Ted Hample and Mark Wermling.
A thirty car WISSOTA Street Stock field was whittled down to a 20 grid for the 20 lap feature. Dwayne Fowler and ATD Columnist Ron Weber set the pace going to the green flag. Weber controlled lap one while Nick Hunter and Beau Brown gave chase. Hunter and Brown both passed Weber on lap 7 and one lap later Brown lead lap 8 by inches over Hunter. Brown set the pace as the laps counted down. The only yellow flag came on lap 13 for spin in turn 4. Brown raced back into the lead on the restart and led the remaining 7 laps for the feature win. Robby Baxter, Hunter, Jeff Meirhofer and Brad Norris rounded out the top ten.
SUMMARY
WISSOTA Late Models:
Feature - Lance Matthees, Pat Doar, Steve Laursen, Jeff Wildung, Matt Aukland, Don Shaw, Joel Cryderman, Kyle Peterlin, Ricky Weiss, Kelly Hample, Rock Degele, Jody Kropp, Mike Stadel, Jim Zaremski, Darryn Waldo, Jim Dowson, Rich Herman, Ronnie Harvie, Joe Johnson, Scott Johnson, Wes McKenny, Dave Mass, Eric Mass, Jason George
Pole dash - Matthees, Doar, Wildung, Shaw, E. Mass, Stadel, Aukland, Laursen
B-Main #1 - Degele, McKenny, R. Harvie, S. Johnson, J. Johnson, Bob Scott, Rory Minster, Dan Henrikson
B-Main #2 - Waldo, Dowson, Herman, Vern Hill, Marty Harvie, Dan Gwinnup, Tim Ames
Heat 1 - E. Mass, Aukland, Weiss, Hample, J. Johnson, R. Harvie, S. Johnson, Minster
Heat 2 - Matthees, Doar, Cryderman, George, Dowson, R. Harvie, Gwinnup, Ames
Heat 3 - Shaw, Stadel, Zaremski, Kropp, Degele, McKenny, Scott, Henrikson
Heat 4 - Wildung, Laursen, Peterlin, D. Mass, Waldo, Hill, Herman
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