EAST MOLINE, Ill. — The battles were on the track Sunday evening at East Moline Speedway. The wars were on paper.
One track championship came down to the final laps of the regular season. Cyle Hawkins led Jimmy Dutlinger by a single point going into the season championship 12-lap feature. It finished as it should, those two swapping the lead. Hawkins drove away late and won both the battle and the war.
“Jimmy got around me and down low was kind of soft,” Hawkins said in the winners circle. “Then I found something up high and able to get back by.”
Dutlinger outran Drew Wise, Nick Proehl and Dustin Forbes.
“I was so glad we got to run it tonight,” Hawkins added. “Leading in points I was kind of hoping for rain, but I’m glad we got to do it and didn’t want (doubt) at the end. Actually, if that didn’t happen to Dustin Begyn, we’d all be racing for second.”
Andy Nezworski clinched the Eriksen Chevrolet IMCA Late Model title. On the quarter-mile high banks, Nezworski put the exclamation point on that title by winning the 25-lap Season Championship finale.
Chuck Hanna, Branda Rothzen, Gary Webb and Jacob Waterman followed. Waterman took over second early, but spun in turn four during the non-stop affair.
The J&J Camper Sales IMCA Modified point lead for Jeff Larson was not insurmountable, but the national point leader put the finishing touches on 2021 with the 20-lap win.
Brandon Durbin, Nezworski, Travis Denning and Jim Sandusky came next. Denning ran second until clipping a tire on the inside on lap 11, but recovered for that spot and points runner up.
Jarett Franzen copped the Legacy Corporation IMCA SportMod title after a win in the 20-lap feature. Jacob Copley, David Engelkens, Dakota Cole and Trey Grimm were next. Standings runner up Logan Veloz had issues after accepting a back row challenge and finished 10th.
County Waste Systems Street Stock ace Jesse Owen was the only EMS pilot to have his second straight championship wrapped up before the green flag fell. But Robert Cottom won the battle, taking his second straight 15-lap feature. Owen led early and fell victim to a caution. The champ still took second in the main ahead of Joe Bonney, Alex Pappas and Veronica Anderson.
Anthony Guss did not win a single feature all regular season, but the consistency of 13 top five finishes gave him his first Weekend Performance IMCA Mod Lite crown. He took fourth in the 15-lap ender behind Mike Zemo, Jr., R.J. Gonzales and Jon Padilla. Mike Morrow rounded out the top five.
Adam Parker took second in the 12-lap Rudy’s Tacos IMCA Hobby Stock finale and hung on for his first championship. Drew Burk took his eighth 2021 win. Logan Gustaf, Darrell Ward and Don Cole were the rest of the top five.