BOONE, Iowa — One driver saw a dream come true and another raced his way back to victory lane at Boone Speedway on the first night of modified qualifying at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s.
Cody Thompson led the last 15 of 25 laps in winning Wednesday’s first qualifier while Dylan Thornton weathered two late restarts in topping the nightcap at Boone Speedway.
Top four finishers from both NAPA Pole Night events advance to the inside row of Saturday’s $10,000-to-win Championship Night show. Todd Stinehart, Cory Sauerman and Jacob Hobscheidt chased Thompson to the checkers.
Ethan Braaksma, Jared Siefert and Brandon Beckendorf ran 2-3-4 behind Thornton.
There were 253 modifieds part of the record 995 cars that had competed at the 40th annual Super Nationals through Wednesday, with drivers representing 19 states.
Saskatchewan advanced to first-night qualifying features for the division.
Runner-up in the Northern SportMod main event at Boone in 2020 and IMCA’s national rookie of the year in 2021, Thompson caught Stinehart for the lead after three early cautions slowed the first qualifier.
The race ran green from lap eight to the finish and Thompson checked out before taking the checkers.
“I knew I had a good hot rod coming into the race,” said Thompson, also a multi-time qualifier for the Sport Compact Dance. ”This is a dream come true. Back in the day I can remember thinking what it would mean to be a Super Nationals champion. It would mean a lot because this race is so prestigious.”
Thornton had to chase down a very fast Trey Kline, finally taking over up front 16 laps into the second qualifier.
He proved up to the task in holding off a trio of hard chargers following those two late cautions as Braaksma came from 10th, Siefert from 12th and Beckendorf from 14th to finish behind him.
Thornton had won Boones’ Tammy Stevens Memorial in July, and was also a qualifying feature winner and runner-up in last year’s Stock Car main event.
“It’s always awesome to win at Boone Speedway,” he said. “The catwalks are full and the people are going crazy. There’s nothing like it.”
Thompson and Hobscheidt are first-time qualifiers while Sauerman, Thornton, Braaksma and Beckendorf all go dancing for the second time. Stinehart advances to his fourth Saturday show, Siefert his fifth.
Stinehart is back on the Championship grid for the first time since 2007 while Beckendorf is back for the first time since 2012. Eight Modifieds qualify for the middle row on Thursday, another eight for the outside row on Friday.
The remaining three nights of the Super Nationals can be watched on SPEED SPORT affiliate, IMCA.tv.
The finishes:
Modified feature 1: Cody Thompson, Todd Stinehart, Cory Sauerman, Jacob Hobscheidt, Ricky Alvarado, Josh Long, Grey Ferrando, Jerry Flippo, Dalton Magers, Scott Simatovich, Troy Morris III, Kellie Drury, Richie Gustin, Cody Laney, Josh Gilman, Noah Burlison, Mike Petersilie, Tyson Turnbull, Chris Abelson, Bob Moore, Kollin Hibdon, Tom Berry Jr., Steven Whiteker Jr., Jordy Nelson, Trent Loverude, Eddie Sites, Caleb Stone, Jesse Skalicky, Jason Schneiders, Dan Roedl.
Modified feature 2: Dylan Thornton, Ethan Braaksma, Jared Siefert, Brandon Beckendorf, Aaron Johnson, Trey Kline, Joel Rust, Lucas Lamberies, Bricen James, Nick Roberts, Ryan Jenkins, Jeff Aikey, Dustin Kroening, Jake Pike, Dan Menk, Josh Munsen, John Burrow, Cody Schroeder, Jeff Taylor, Chris Spalding, Johnathon Logue, Chance Allen, Ethan Robey, Jeff Bodenforfer, Cory Davis, Hunter Parsons, Tim Hamilton, Jim Cole, Johnny Saathoff, Todd Shute.