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Nimee Victorious in First Attempt at Sycamore Speedway

Nimee Victorious in First Attempt at Sycamore Speedway
By Madeline “Chatty Madi” Schultz

The weekend started with the IRA Sprint Car Series rolling south to Sycamore Speedway in Maple Park, IL. As the green dropped on the feature, the defending 2022 champion Jordan Goldesberry and Rookie of the Year contender Travis Arenz led the field to green.

Arenz would jump to the cushion of the speedway and try to power around the Rockstar Energy Drink 65. Jordan would lead the way as two dynamic lanes formed. The lakehomeretreats.com 79 of Blake Nimee would pass Arenz for second as three laps were marked in the books. Just before the battle for the lead between Nimee and Goldesberry, caution would arise for the 2W of Scotty Neitzel in turn two with four laps in.

Four laps in, 21 to go, Goldesberry would lead the field to green once more. Goldesberry would continue to tick laps away on the tractor tires. Nimee would keep the 65 in striking distance, and Arenz would follow in third.

Reece Saldana and Bill Balog would battle behind the top three for a top five finish. As we turned in more laps, Goldesberry would take us to 16 laps to go. Goldesberry would come to the back of lap traffic which would allow the 79 of Nimee to close the gap. 11 laps remained as race leader Jordan Goldesberry would find himself spun out in the apex of turns three and four. This would move Nimee to the lead, Arenz to second, Jack Blackhurst to third, Brenham Crouch to fourth, and Reece Saldana to fifth.

Nimee would run away with the lead as we raced to ten laps remaining. The battle to watch would be behind the podium. Brenham Crouch in the CMS Racing 1 would try to slide the 96 of Jake Blackhurst into one, but wouldn’t stick.

In the end, Nimee’s first visit to Sycamore Speedway would be victorious, Travis Arenz would collect his first podium in 2023, and the two time IRA Champion Jake Blackhurst would round out the podium.

Watch the IRA Sprint Cars all season long with FloRacing: https://flosports.link/3z8dvo9

A Feature 1 30 Laps

1. 79-Blake Nimee[5]; 2. 25T-Travis Arenz[2]; 3. 96-Jake Blackhurst[3]; 4. 1-Brenham Crouch[8]; 5. 17B-Bill Balog[4]; 6. 9K-Kyle Schuett[12]; 7. 17-Reece Saldana[6]; 8. 49-Josh Schneiderman[14]; 9. 87A-Austin Hartmann[11]; 10. 7-Tyler Lee[13]; 11. 23-Russel Borland[18]; 12. 25-Danny Schlafer[17]; 13. 3N-Jake Neuman[22]; 14. 2A-Austin Archdale[19]; 15. 19CW-Ion Stear[20]; 16. 19J-Jett Mann[24]; 17. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[1]; 18. 4K-Kris Spitz[16]; 19. U2-Jack Vanderboom[10]; 20. 7A-Will Armitage[15]; 21. 43-Jereme Schroeder[23]; 22. 2W-Scott Neitzel[7]; 23. 35-Zach Hampton[9]; 24. (DNF) 3B-Van Gurley Jr[21]

B Feature 1 10 Laps

1. 2A-Austin Archdale[1]; 2. 19CW-Ion Stear[3]; 3. 3B-Van Gurley Jr[4]; 4. 3N-Jake Neuman[5]; 5. 43-Jereme Schroeder[2]; 6. 19J-Jett Mann[8]; 7. 68-Dave Uttech[6]; 8. 39V-William Huck[10]; 9. 26R-Preston Ruh[7]; 10. 24-Scott Conger[9]

Dash 1 4 Laps

1. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[3]; 2. 96-Jake Blackhurst[2]; 3. 79-Blake Nimee[5]; 4. 2W-Scott Neitzel[4]; 5. 35-Zach Hampton[1]

Dash 2 4 Laps

1. 25T-Travis Arenz[1]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog[4]; 3. 17-Reece Saldana[3]; 4. 1-Brenham Crouch[5]; 5. U2-Jack Vanderboom[2]

Heat 1 8 Laps

1. 17B-Bill Balog[4]; 2. 17-Reece Saldana[3]; 3. 87A-Austin Hartmann[5]; 4. 7-Tyler Lee[9]; 5. 7A-Will Armitage[1]; 6. U2-Jack Vanderboom[2]; 7. 3B-Van Gurley Jr[8]; 8. 2A-Austin Archdale[6]; 9. 19J-Jett Mann[7]; 10. 39V-William Huck[10]

Heat 2 8 Laps

1. 96-Jake Blackhurst[1]; 2. 79-Blake Nimee[2]; 3. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[4]; 4. 1-Brenham Crouch[3]; 5. 4K-Kris Spitz[8]; 6. 25-Danny Schlafer[5]; 7. 19CW-Ion Stear[7]; 8. 26R-Preston Ruh[9]; 9. 43-Jereme Schroeder[6]

Heat 3 8 Laps

1. 2W-Scott Neitzel[1]; 2. 35-Zach Hampton[4]; 3. 9K-Kyle Schuett[5]; 4. 25T-Travis Arenz[3]; 5. 49-Josh Schneiderman[2]; 6. 23-Russel Borland[6]; 7. 3N-Jake Neuman[9]; 8. 68-Dave Uttech[8]; 9. 24-Scott Conger[7]

Qualifying 1

1. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:12.450[6]; 2. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 00:12.719[1]; 3. 35-Zach Hampton, 00:12.800[13]; 4. 17-Reece Saldana, 00:12.858[11]; 5. 1-Brenham Crouch, 00:13.120[7]; 6. 25T-Travis Arenz, 00:13.141[5]; 7. U2-Jack Vanderboom, 00:13.147[2]; 8. 79-Blake Nimee, 00:13.157[15]; 9. 49-Josh Schneiderman, 00:13.200[9]; 10. 7A-Will Armitage, 00:13.214[10]; 11. 96-Jake Blackhurst, 00:13.319[18]; 12. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 00:13.370[20]; 13. 87A-Austin Hartmann, 00:13.479[16]; 14. 25-Danny Schlafer, 00:13.533[17]; 15. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 00:13.560[21]; 16. 2A-Austin Archdale, 00:13.590[3]; 17. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 00:13.653[4]; 18. 23-Russel Borland, 00:13.680[28]; 19. 19J-Jett Mann, 00:13.788[14]; 20. 19CW-Ion Stear, 00:14.223[25]; 21. 24-Scott Conger, 00:14.248[8]; 22. 3B-Van Gurley Jr, 00:14.300[26]; 23. 4K-Kris Spitz, 00:14.303[24]; 24. 68-Dave Uttech, 00:14.340[27]; 25. 7-Tyler Lee, 00:14.388[22]; 26. 26R-Preston Ruh, 00:14.400[12]; 27. 3N-Jake Neuman, 00:14.783[23]; 28. 39V-William Huck, 00:15.314[19]

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