Bleess stays hot, wins Sommerfeld Memorial at Hamilton County Speedway

The Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City, Iowa, hosted the Bruce Sommerfeld Memorial on Friday, Oct. 18, which also served as opening night of the 19th Annual Fall Futurity and a huge weekend of racing at the historic half-mile dirt oval.

Sommerfeld was a native of nearby Fort Dodge and left his mark on the racing scene from the 1970s and into the new millennium. He had a successful career racing stock cars and late models in the1970s before turning his attention to the modified division in the ‘80s. Sommerfeld became a member of the Hamilton County Speedway Racing Association (HCSRA) in 2004 following his passing after a hard-fought battle with cancer.

The USRA Modifieds were the first group to run their main event, and two-time defending track champion J.D. Auringer of Waterloo was out front and cooking when he tagged the concrete wall with his right front and was forced out of the race.

With the top spot his now, Jacob Bleess of Chatfield, Minn., did not squander the opportunity and picked up the win to continue his hot late season after winning the 21st Annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree at the Deer Creek Speedway four weeks ago.

Bleess’ Vanderbuilt Race Cars chassis drove to Integrity Trucking Victory Lane as he held off Madrid’s Kyle Brown who debuted a new 2020 Harris Auto Racing chassis and scored a runner-up paycheck.

Webster City racer Mark Elliot was third, Ben Nading of Ankeny finished fourth and Nate Hughes of Humboldt claimed the final position in the top five.

The pit area Friday night was filled with 127 cars and drivers in five classes, and even more are expected Saturday night for a huge season-ending event at the Hamilton County Speedway.

Saturday’s program will kick off with the completion of the four championship features for the Modifieds, Stock Cars, B-Mods and Hobby Stocks from last month’s rained-out Summit USRA Nationals presented by MyRacePass.

That will be followed by a complete program for night two of the 19th Annual Fall Futurity with on-track action featuring Super Late Models, Modifieds, Stock Cars, B-Mods and Hobby Stocks.

The pits open at 3 p.m., grandstands open at 4:30, the drivers meeting convenes at 5:30 and racing gets underway at 6 p.m.

Opening in July 1910, the Hamilton County Speedway is the oldest speedway in the state of Iowa. In 1938, work began on the current location at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds. The semi-banked half-mile dirt track was completed in the spring of 1939, and the first races were held on the track in September of that year.

The Hamilton County Speedway driven by Spangler Automotive is located off US 20 at exit 140, then 1.2 miles north, then 0.5 mile east on Bank St., then 0.4 mile south on Bluff St. to the Hamilton County Fairgrounds in Webster City, Iowa (1200 Bluff St, Webster City, IA 50595).

For more information, check out HamiltonCoSpeedway.com. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series
Bruce Sommerfeld Memorial/19th Annual Fall Futurity - Night 1 of 2
Hamilton County Speedway, Webster City, Iowa
Friday, October 18, 2019

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver and hometown.

USRA MODIFIEDS

Heat #1:
1. (4) 12 Mark Elliot, Webster City, Iowa
2. (5) 21J Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
3. (3) 21 Ben Nading, Ankeny, Iowa
4. (2) 57 Duke Erickson, Sioux Falls, S.D.
5. (6) 00 Tristan Vesterby, Webster City, Iowa
6. (1) 43S Scott Simatovich, State Center, Iowa
7. (7) 138 Jon Peed, Webster City, Iowa

Heat #2:
1. (1) 41 Nate Hughes, Humboldt, Iowa
2. (6) 20XX Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
3. (3) 78 Derrick Hicks, Ravenwood, Mo.
4. (2) 13 Anthony Hofbauer, Huxley, Iowa
5. (5) 36K Jayden Larson, Mankato, Minn.
6. (4) 20 Chad Ten Napel, Sioux City, Iowa
7. (7) 100 Chris Teel, Webster City, Iowa

Heat #3:
1. (1) 00J J.D. Auringer, Waterloo, Iowa
2. (6) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn.
3. (3) 45 Levi Nielsen, Evansdale, Iowa
4. (4) 21D David Brown, Kellogg, Iowa
5. (2) 15X Ryan Griffith, Webster City, Iowa
6. (5) XX Darin Roepke, Le Mars, Iowa
7. (7) 81 Brad Lawrence, Madison, S.D.

Feature:
1. (1) 21J Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
2. (4) 20XX Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
3. (6) 12 Mark Elliot, Webster City, Iowa
4. (7) 21 Ben Nading, Ankeny, Iowa
5. (5) 41 Nate Hughes, Humboldt, Iowa
6. (8) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn.
7. (9) 45 Levi Nielsen, Evansdale, Iowa
8. (12) 21D David Brown, Kellogg, Iowa
9. (3) 78 Derrick Hicks, Ravenwood, Mo.
10. (11) 13 Anthony Hofbauer, Huxley, Iowa
11. (13) 00 Tristan Vesterby, Webster City, Iowa
12. (15) 36K Jayden Larson, Mankato, Minn.
13. (10) 57 Duke Erickson, Sioux Falls, S.D.
14. (17) 20 Chad Ten Napel, Sioux City, Iowa
15. (19) 138 Jon Peed, Webster City, Iowa
16. (16) 43S Scott Simatovich, State Center, Iowa
17. (18) XX Darin Roepke, Le Mars, Iowa
18. (20) 100 Chris Teel, Webster City, Iowa
19. (21) 81 Brad Lawrence, Madison, S.D.
20. (2) 00J J.D. Auringer, Waterloo, Iowa
21. (14) 15X Ryan Griffith, Webster City, Iowa