White, Fox, Van Genderen, Montgomery top first night features at Abilene’s Ice Breaker

February 21, 2009

Keith White bounced back from a last-place showing in one IMCA feature with a first-place finish in another on Friday, opening night of the Ice Breaker special at Abilene Speedway.

Sidelined by a flat tire in the Southern SportMod main, White led the distance in winning the Modified feature, holding Robbie Edwards at bay late in the contest for the $500 victory.

Other winners during the first sanctioned program of the new season in Texas were Gary Fox in the SportMods, Iowa traveler Mike Van Genderen in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and Allen Montgomery in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks.

White and Jeff Emerson drew front row starts for the Modified feature. White was in front by the second set of turns and Edwards slipped past Emerson on lap two.

Emerson, Monte Bolton, Chris Bragg and Danny Hogue jockeyed behind the front pair. Coming to midway point, Edwards was all over White for the lead with Emerson, Bolton and Bragg looking for their own opportunities.

Edwards got his nose outside White on a lap 12 restart, but White closed the door on the front stretch. Bolton tried Edwards for second on lap 14 but fell back in line. Bolton got alongside Edwards before the final caution came the next time around.

After several tries to get around White up top, Edwards gave it one more shot on lap 18, this time trying the low side. Once again, the White was up to the challenge, holding the front spot and going on to the win.

Fox started on the pole but fell back during the early stages of the SportMod 20-lapper. Coming on in the second half of the race, Fox got by Bobby Sikes Jr. for the lead and then inched away to take the checkers.

Sikes, Fox and Matt Mueller dueled early before Mueller lost ground and made contact with White on lap seven. That incident wound up sending the three-time national champion to the pits with a flat; Mueller came to a stop two laps later with a flat of his own and brought out the caution.

Fox made his move on lap 12 to get around Sikes, who tried to fight back on the low groove. The yellow waved on lap 15 when 2007 national king Jeff Turner pulled to a stop. Fox got away clean on the restart and inched away from Sikes over the final five laps.

Van Genderen added his name to the Stock Car record books after surviving a multi-car tussle, then battling past Turner for the lead in the final laps for the win.

The scrap came just before the halfway point and allowed Van Genderen to take over second.

Van Genderen got his bumper out front on lap 16, but Turner didn’t give up easily. With two laps to go, Van Genderen finally secured the position and eked away.

Montgomery got the lead from Todd Reitzler on lap six and eased away for the Hobby Stock win.

With Reitzler and Jeff Kinniard battling behind him, Montgomery opened up a lead and put lapped traffic in the middle. Kinniard got past Reitzler for second well behind Montgomery on the final circuit.

More than 160 drivers from seven states competed in the opening Ice Breaker program.

Pit gates open at 3 p.m. on Saturday for the second of three weekend shows at Abilene. Hot laps are at 5 p.m. and racing is at 7 p.m.

SportMods race for $750 to win in their first regional event of 2009. First place in the Modified main pays $500, Stocks chase a top prize of $300 and Hobbies run for $250 to win.

All four sanctioned divisions run again Sunday.

Feature Results

Modifieds – 1. Keith White, Academy; 2. Robbie Edwards, Eastland; 3. Monte Bolton, Lubbock; 4. Chris Bragg, Springtown; 5. Jeff Emerson, Sherman; 6. Tommy Fain, Abilene; 7. Steve Hayes, Eastland; 8. Danny Hogue, Abilene; 9. Bob Sikes, Eunice, N.M.; 10. Jason Schoenberger, Gorham, Kan.; 11. David Davis, Sweetwater; 12. Gabe Tucker, Carbon; 13. Dean Deming, Hobbs, N.M.; 14. Levi Ely, Abilene; 15. Chris Elliott, Eastland; 16. Brian Flowers, Hobbs, N.M.; 17. Chris Dawson, Post; 18. Darin Leonard, Corpus Christi; 19. Dillon Smith, China Grove; 20. Josh McGaha, Brownwood.

Southern SportMods — 1. Gary Fox, Haslet; 2. Bobby Sikes Jr., Eunice, N.M.; 3. Bradley Poor, Abilene; 4. Scotty Wallace, Lorenzo; 5. Chris Meyers, Eunice, N.M.; 6. Josh McGaha, Brownwood; 7. James Myers, Corpus Christi; 8. Danny Hogue, Abilene; 9. Dean Abbey, Comanche; 10. Justin Shaw, Sweetwater; 11. Steven Abbey, Comanche; 12. Randy Buttery, Duncanville; 13. Ted Thomas, Post; 14. Gabe Tucker, Carbon; 15. Doug Easterling, Rule; 16. Jeff Turner, Kaufman; 17. Todd Bartlett, Abilene; 18. Matt Mueller, Stamford; 19. Tommy Fain, Abilene; 20. Keith White, Academy.

Stock Cars – 1. Mike Van Genderen, Newton, Iowa; 2. Jeff Turner, Kaufman; 3. Billy Wade, San Angelo; 4. Terry Wojtek, Sterling City; 5. Dustin Locke, Eunice, N.M.; 6. Duain Pritchett, Combine; 7. Tony Ritterbush, Dunlap, Iowa; 8. Matt Guillaume, Tomball; 9. J.J. Heinz, Green Bay, Wis.; 10. Jason Batt, Killeen; 11. Matt Wampler, Snyder; 12. John Armstrong, Merkel; 13. Bill Brzezinski Sr., Roby; 14. Russell Jordan, Abilene; 15. Wayne Stremmell, Stamford; 16. Kirk Martin, Aledo; 17. Jeremy Gettler, Adair, Iowa; 18. Cody Rhodes, Tye; 19. Kevin Opheim, Mason City, Iowa; 20. Cory Davis, Eunice, N.M.; 21 Willie Free, Snyder; 22. Eric Jones, Killeen; 23. Doug Kennemer, Boyd; 24. Walter Freeman, Hobbs, N.M.

Hobby Stocks – 1. Allen Montgomery, Fort Worth; 2. Jeff Kinniard, Mansfield; 3. Todd Reitzler, Grinnell, Iowa; 4. Justin Fowler, Granbury; 5. Charles Cosper, Belton; 6. Nyle Godwin, Redfield, Iowa; 7. Sam Hodges, Eunice, N.M.; 8. David Bissonette, Stephenville; 9. Andy Roller, Bellmead; 10 Tobie Talk, Abilene; 11. Tommy Phillips, Abilene; 12. Billy Taylor, Gatesville; 13. Bud Ohlinger, Abilene; 14. Dustin Mims, Dublin; 15. Matt Drottz, Ankeny, Iowa; 16. Rodney Sparks, Abilene; 17. Colby Deming, Hobbs, N.M.; 18. Bryan Sewell, Seagoville; 19. Robert Barnett, Sweetwater; 20. Evan Davis, Mineral Wells.

By J M Hallas

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Posted by NickHolt · Filed Under Dirt Tracks, Thunderhill Raceway
Tagged: Abilene Speedway, Allen Montgomery, Gary Fox, Hobby Stocks, Ice breaker, IMCA, Jeff Emerson, Keith White, Mike Van Genderen, Racing, Racing in Texas, Robbie Edwards, SportMod, stock car, stock cars, Texas, Texas Racing