DAVENPORT, Iowa — Making his first ever appearance at the Davenport Speedway on Friday night, Scott Bogucki left with a very good impression of the track after scoring a clean sweep of the Sprint Invaders at the wide and banked quarter-mile oval.
Bogucki ran away with the opening heat race of the night after starting from the front row and then prevailed in two spirited duels with Paul Nienheiser to clinch the perfect night.
That first battle with Nienheiser would come in the Fastway Fabrication Shake-Up Dash that saw more passes for position than perhaps any other six-car, six-lap sprint car race fans will ever see, highlighted by the back-and-forth battle between Bogucki and Nienheiser for the win.
When the “Junior Invader” fan pulled his favorite box of candy from the tray though, it would have a “6” on it, putting Bogucki on the third row outside and Nienheiser on the outside of row one for the 25-lap main event after Ryan Bunton nipped Nienheiser at the line for second.
In the evening’s headliner it would be Nienheiser setting a quick early pace that Bunton would try to maintain while both Bogucki and the two-time Sprint Invaders champion Chris Martin were making their way toward the front on a freshly reworked surface that allowed drivers to choose from multiple racing lines.
A caution on lap 11 for Kurt Mueller who had stopped on the apron entering turn three would slow the field and, while under caution, young Cam Martin would see his best performance yet with the Invaders come to an early end due to a left rear tire going flat.
The two-time champ’s younger brother, Cam had made the Dash earlier in the night and was running fourth before having to call it a night.
On the restart Bogucki would pick up the challenge on Nienheiser for second and, just as they had done in the Dash, they would swap lines and the lead a couple of times within a lap until Bogucki was first scored as the leader on lap fourteen.
Just after that lead change the final caution of the night would wave for Dustin Clark who had slid off the track at the entrance of turn and it would now be Bogucki bringing the field back to green.
Once back to green the elder Martin would slip off the top of turn one while running third, taking him out of contention. Nienhesier would stay within 10 car lengths of the leader as the laps wound down.
When Bogucki used his patience with a lapped car in the final three circuits, that allowed Nienheiser to take a look, especially at the exit of turn four.
The third-place car of Tasker Phillips was closing fast as well, but the Aussie veteran was smooth after taking the white flag and would not allow a last-lap effort from his challengers in taking the victory.
Nienheiser would extend his series point lead through three events as the runner-up. When Phillips slipped off the top of turn four on the final lap, that allowed Colton Fisher to complete an impressive drive from fifteenth to third. Phillips recovered to finish fourth while Bunton held on for a top five showing.
Other Features
Travis Denning picked up his second Eriksen Chevrolet IMCA Modified feature win of the year.
The Matzen Trucking IMCA SportMod main quickly boiled down to a battle of the usual suspects – Ben Chapman and Logan Veloz. This time it was Veloz who was in victory lane.
Landen Chrestensen scored his second Koehler Electric Street Stock victory this year. Landen started on the pole and led all fifteen laps of the race.
Dustin Forbes ended Cyle Hawkins winning streak in the QCjeeps.com Sport Compact feature. Forbes held off Hawkins for all twelve laps and the victory.Â
Feature Finish (25 Laps)
1. Bogucki; 2. Nienheiser; 3. Fisher; 4. Phillips; 5. Bunton; 6. Gebhardt; 7. Wehrle; 8. Triplett; 9. Selvage; 10. Wignall; 11. Lee; 12. Watt; 13. Verardi; 14. Higday; 15. VanderVoort; 16. Chris Martin; 17. Clark; 18. Cam Martin; 19. Mueller; 20. R. Martin; 21. Archdale