Bleess wins as new era begins at Sports Park Raceway

Sports Park Raceway appears to be in good hands as a strong showing of socially-conscious race fans and competitors broke free from their coronavirus chains Friday and launched the 2020 racing season at the dynamic dirt oval south of Fort Dodge, Iowa.

The track was destined to have the doors closed in 2020 until Andy Jones and his staff came on board to resurrect the facility. Family fun, entertainment and fantastic racing is the new normal in Fort Dodge. 

Five months with hundreds of labor hours and tons of new and shifted clay later, Friday’s opener had a stout field of Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series racers with national, state and local guidelines surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic in place to protect attendees.

Action in the USRA Modified division saw many of the region’s top talent in attendance to test the new racing surface and it was a pair of young guns from Chatfield, Minnesota, stealing the top two positions.

Jacob Bleess, who had the best finish in the country last year with victories in the Featherlite Fall Jamboree and Grant Junghans Memorial. Bleess stole the lead early from polesitter Jerid Ratzke and when on to run away from the field.

Meanwhile, 2016 USRA Modified national champ Lucas Schott came from his sixth starting spot to take second while two-time Hamilton County Speedway track champion J.D. Auringer of Waterloo rebounded from a poor showing in his heat race and passed 10 cars en route to a third-place finish.

USMTS regular Adam Kates of Tonganoxie, Kansas, finished fourth and Tony Konold of Clear Lake, South Dakota, held on for a top-five finish.

Racing is set to continue next Friday, May 15, at the Sports Park Raceway with USRA Modifieds, USRA Stock Cars, USRA B-Mods, Pickett Salvage USRA Hobby Stocks and USRA Tuners back in the spotlight.

The Sports Park Raceway is located 0.9 mile north of US 20 on US 169, then 0.5 mile east on 230th in Fort Dodge, Iowa. If you have any questions, visit SportsParkRaceway.com or email info@sportsparkraceway.com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Racing Association
Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series
Sports Park Raceway, Fort Dodge, Iowa
Friday, May 8, 2020

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

USRA MODIFIEDS

Heat #1:
1. (1) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
2. (6) 23 Adam Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan.
3. (3) 73 Ryan Nelson, Madison, Minn.
4. (5) 2 Jerid Ratzke, Williams, Iowa
5. (7) 1BC Tony Cox, Boone, Iowa
6. (2) 97 Cole Anderson, Northfield, Minn.
7. (4) 5D Devon Havlik, Iowa Falls, Iowa

Heat #2:
1. (1) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
2. (4) 57 Duke Erickson, Sioux Falls, S.D.
3. (5) 15 Tony Konold, Clear Lake, S.D.
4. (3) 45H Jason Hickingbottom, Duncombe, Iowa
5. (7) 15L Chris Loberg, Elma, Iowa
6. (6) 6 Casey Skyberg, Rapid City, S.D.
7. (2) 00J J.D. Auringer, Waterloo, Iowa

Feature:
1. (4) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
2. (6) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
3. (13) 00J J.D. Auringer, Waterloo, Iowa
4. (8) 23 Adam Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan.
5. (2) 15 Tony Konold, Clear Lake, S.D.
6. (12) 6 Casey Skyberg, Rapid City, S.D.
7. (5) 73 Ryan Nelson, Madison, Minn.
8. (7) 57 Duke Erickson, Sioux Falls, S.D.
9. (9) 1BC Tony Cox, Boone, Iowa
10. (11) 97 Cole Anderson, Northfield, Minn.
11. (3) 45H Jason Hickingbottom, Duncombe, Iowa
12. (10) 15L Chris Loberg, Elma, Iowa
13. (1) 2 Jerid Ratzke, Williams, Iowa
DNS – 5D Devon Havlik, Iowa Falls, Iowa