6/7/2025
Arlington Raceway
Rice Companies Night
A late afternoon rain shower put quite a damper on the track conditions at the Arlington Raceway for the Rice Companies night but the track crew and racers had it worked in and ready to race on by race time. Jonathan Schroeder was the early leader in the Jack Pines Resort IMCA Hobby feature until he pulled off the track on lap 9 after a yellow flag was thrown for Taylor Manderfield who had engine troubles. After the restart, Cory Probst took over the race and went onto win the race. Jordan Robinson followed in 2nd.
Gary Schumacher took home a clean sweep in the Coors Light IMCA Sport Compact class as he led the race from start to finish from his front row start. Alan Lahr took 2nd and Justin Schletzche took 3rd place.
A first lap yellow flag occurred in the Olson Snowplowing & Lawn Care Outlaw Hobby feature when the 79 of Dan Mackenthun blew up his engine and at the same time Craig Groebner spun around. On the restart, Rod Manthey took the lead and won the race also taking a clean sweep for the night as he won his heat race too. Karl Hewitt moved up 5 spots to battle with Manthey but had to settle for 2nd ahead of Mark Oestreich.
Lots of mishaps in the Arlington State Bank IMCA Northern Sport Modified feature between several drivers happened but the winner also saw a clean sweep for the night and the first time in victory lane in a long time. Jeff Carter found himself leading the race and able to stay out front the entire distance to win. A first lap yellow flag came out when Alex Barnes spun around and then Eric Larson left the track as well. Lap by lap Zac Davis, Broddy Enter and Ben Reierson tried to gain on Carter but they also had to contend with Matt Looft who was coming up from the 10th place starting spot. Half way through the race, a yellow came out when Ben Enter had a confrontation with Ben Reierson which put Enter to the back of the field. On the start, Carter was again able to regain a commanding lead and went on to win. Matt Looft took 2nd and Joey Reimers got around Davis to claim 3rd place.
Rookie driver Owen Graf led the entire Rice Companies IMCA RaceSaver Sprint feature in the flag-to-flag race. Cousin Hannah held off the field behind them to take 2nd and Matt Johnson took 3rd place.
The sponsors of the night Rice Companies along with Rickert Excavating put up an extra $1900 to the winner if a driver would take a back row challenge in the B&B Racing Chassis IMCA Stock Car feature but no one opted for the challenge so an extra $600 was on the line for t he 2nd place finisher in the feature which gave the drivers an extra twist to the feature. Dakota Robinson led the first two laps until Matt Speckman took over the race. Multi cars were involved in incidents on the same lap when Robinson drove off the track in turn #4 and the cars of Randy Melvin and Mark Zimmerman collided in turn #3. They were all out of the race. On the restart, Speckman was once again the leader and went onto win the race with Dan Eckblad and Dan Mackenthun trading spots throughout the race. Mackenthun was able to claim the extra payoff money as he finished 2nd ahead of Eckblad.
For the 2nd consecutive week, Clint Hatlestad motored his Ottomotive Tire & Repair IMCA Modified to victory lane with Trent Loverude taking 2nd and Chad Porter in 3rd.
The Jerry’s Home Quality Foods Auto Cross feature also saw a new car in victory lane as rookie Parker Wiggert taking the lead on the 3rd lap from Cody Sievert and holding on for 1st place the remaining laps to win his first event. Aaron Brinkman took 2nd and Justin Krogman took 3rd.
Submitted By: Susan Allen
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