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CROWNING NIGHT

WEBSTER CITY – Two sets of brothers from Webster City took away a good share of the hardware at the Hamilton County Speedway on Saturday, as track champions were crowned in each of the classes.

The Griffith brothers – Sport Mod driver Ty and Late Model wheelman Ryan – clinched season titles, while Greg Elliott claimed the Modified crown and Mark Elliott topped the night’s feature race.

Using every lane on the track, the Modified drivers put on a show for fans during the caution-free feature. Mark Elliott and Blairsburg’s Scott Olson moved to the front and battled to the finish. It was Mark Elliott’s fifth feature win of the season, while Olson took second.

Roland Sport Mod driver Matt Lettow led wire to wire to pick up the feature win, his first of the season. But it didn’t come easy, as he was pestered the entire race by second-place finisher Ty Griffith. Jared VanDeest of Holland chased the duo across the line in third.

The Sport Mod feature got off to an ominous start, as newcomer Greg Sidles of Emmetsburg caught a wheel and was catapulted into the air on the front stretch. Sidles’ car barrel-rolled at least three times before landing on its side. Sidles was able to walk away unharmed.

It took Churdan Stock Car driver Jason Minnehan three-quarters of the feature to catch the leader, Travis Prochaska of Iowa Falls. A lap No. 14 restart allowed Minnehan to power even for the final four laps.

The two cars were head-to-head coming out of turn No. 4 on the final lap, but Minnehan put his nose across the stripe first to claim his third win of the season.

In only his fourth night on the track, Hobby Stock driver Cody Wirt of Fort Dodge used his pole starting position to claim his first checkers of the year. He was chased the entire feature by local driver Matt Byrne, who finished second.

Late Model drivers used the early laps of the feature to sort out positions. By the fifth lap, Al Johnson of Story City settled into the lead, but just four laps from the finish, Jeremy Grady moved forward from the fourth row to lay claim to the lead. Grady visited victory lane for the third time this year, while Johnson settled for second.

Manson’s Nick Hogan in the No. 20TP Sport Compact topped that feature race. Seven-time winner John Gill of Marshalltown was second following a race that saw the two battle door-to-door to the finish line.

Gill won the track championship by a mere four points over Hogan.

Other track champions included five-time Hobby Stock feature winner Myles Michehl of Fort Dodge and Stock Car driver John Campbell of Belmond. Michehl topped Craig Graham by 20 points, while Jim Mitchell was the runner-up in the Stock Car class.

Ty Griffith’s first Sport Mod championship came with a seven-point cushion over VanDeest.

Greg Elliott secured the Modified title ahead of Olson.

Ryan Griffith missed out on claiming the 2014 Late Model track title by one point, but in 2015 he sailed to a 27-point victory over second-place finisher Darrel DeFrance of Marshalltown.

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