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Belle-Claire Speedway
BELLEVILLE, Ill. (April 8) - Mother Nature smiled on Belle-Clair Speedway with a beautiful warm day and the fans responded with a huge turnout to watch the fast and furious action on the tight one-fifth mile dirt oval. The fans wouldn't leave disappointed as all five divisions provided spectacular, heart stopping side-by-side racing along with two and three car battles for the win in all the divisions.
Randy Korte of Highland, Illinois recorded his first win since he was sidelined for a year and half with back problems in the UMP DIRTcar Late Model division. In what may of been one of the most exciting late model feature events ever at Belle-Clair Speedway, Korte would only lead the final five of the thirty lap Amp Energy 30 feature event. Aaron Kleine and Mark Voigt started on the front row and the two raced side-by-side until they reached lap traffic on lap eight. Kleine, using the low side, would get through the lapped cars while Voigt had some trouble with lapped cars on the high side. Michael Kloos would move past Voigt into the second spot a lap later and then Voigt would suffer mechanical problems and pull on the infield. Kloos would slip by Kleine on lap eleven only to have the caution come out and give Kleine the lead back. On the restart, Kleine would prove to be tough as he used the low side to hold Kloos off. With Korte now running third, Kloos and Korte both went to the high side to work on Kleine for the lead. Kloos and Korte would clear Kleine for the lead and Kloos would go back to the low side while Korte challenged him by using the high side. The two ripped through lapped traffic passing the lapped cars high and low and going three and four wide. Korte would bang the outside walls down the straight-aways as he finally got through the lapped traffic ahead of Kloos. A late race caution would put Kloos right on Korte's rear bumper with four laps to go, but Korte would prove to be to strong and hang on for the win. Kloos would finish second with Kleine third. D.J. Cygan would bring home the fourth spot while Mike Hammerle rounded out the top five.
The UMP DIRTcar Modified action would prove to be just as exciting as Bobby Bittle, Tim Hancock and Dean Hoffman put on a spectacular battle for the lead. Bittle jumped out to the early lead with Hancock and Hoffman right on his trail. Bittle started off on the high side holding off Hancock as they raced around the top. As Hoffman showed his nose on the low side, Bittle went to the bottom to protect that line. A few laps later, Hancock would move up on the outside of Bittle for the lead. This caused Bittle to move back to the high side to try and hold off Hancock. That would allow Hoffman to use the low side to move past both of them and into the lead. Just a couple of laps later, disaster would strike for Bittle and Hancock. Bittle's throttle would stick going down the front stretch causing him to slam into the turn one wall with the right side of his car. Hancock would have no where to go and would run into the back of Bittle's car. The two cars would be hung up, but once the tow trucks got them separated, Hancock was able to restart and was given the second spot back on the restart. Bittle's night would end with the incident. On the restart, Hoffman continued to use the low while Hancock used the big cushion up on the high side. However, Hancock's night would come to an end just a few laps later as a big puff of smoke came from under the hood along with a trail of oil and water on the track. On the final restart, Hoffman would pull away for the win. Aaron Kleine would take the second spot with Paul Reinneck claiming third. Zeb Moake would finish fourth with Jeremy Thoele completing the top five.
John Schrand got front in the UMP DIRTcar/AARA Sportsman main event and held on for dear life as Ryan Gegg and Mark Schaefer battled him for the lead. Gegg would apply the early pressure but it would be Schaefer challenging Schrand in the closing laps. Gegg and Schaefer would have quiet the battle themselves for the second spot. The two banged fenders lap after lap as they raced side by side. Schaefer would finally clear Gegg for the second spot with four laps remaining and moved right in on the rear bumper of Schrand to battle for the lead. Schrand would hold tough on the low side and keep the hard charging Schaefer at bay to earn the win. Schaefer would get second with Gegg third. Jim Clark would finish fourth while Denny Tribout took fifth.
Jeff Buss would claim his first career feature win in the UMP DIRTcar/AARA Pure Stock division. Another three-car battle for the top spot would take place for most all of the twelve lap main event. Buss along with Jake Hewitt and Randy Dietzel fought lap after lap for the top spot. Buss would hold them off to get the win while Hewitt crossed the line in second and Dietzel third. Brian Bunfill would get fourth while Ron Weidler finished fifth.
Trevor Isaak, Jordan Suhre and Ryan Emig also had a great three car battle for the top spot in the UMP DIRTcar/AARA Pro 4 Stock division. The three locked into the battle for the entire twelve lap main event with Isaak
coming out on top. Suhre would get second and Emig third. Dave Racer made a late race push to get to fourth while James Southers completed the top five.
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