Estenson Outduels Thiel in Wipperfurth Memorial at Beaver Dam
A brisk spring evening set the stage for the Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprints as the series opened their 2024 season at the high banks of Beaver Dam Raceway.
The night kicked off with Travis Arenz of Sheboygan, WI taking quick time honors over a 30 car strong field of winged 410 sprint cars, as Mooresville, Indiana’s Zach Hampton set the fastest time but weighed light at the scales after completing his laps.
Three entertaining heat races saw Scotty Thiel, 2022 series champ Jordan Goldesberry and 2022 IRA Rookie of the Year Jake Neuman earn victories.
Equally exciting Optimum Electric Dashes were not without incident, but Neuman once again found the front in Dash #1 to earn the pole position for the 25 lap A Main, while Thiel bested the field in Dash #2 for the outside of the front row.
The Behling Racing Equipment B Feature was an all out fight between Lance Fassbender and Clayton Rossmann early on, with Rossmann advancing past the veteran racer to take the win. Fassbender, Chris Flick, Austin Hartmann, Preston Ruh and Tyler Davis also earned transfer spots through the B Main.
The season opening feature began as a battle for the bottom lane, with Thiel, Neuman and Arenz battling for the top spot early. However, Neuman would soon spin out of contention in the opening laps. Soon after the race resumed under green flag conditions, Zach Hampton spun into the infield and subsequently back onto the racing surface drawing the second caution flag, as not long after the #4B of Scott Biertzer and Hampton came to wars in turn 3, with Biertzer ending his night upside down against the outside wall. The West Bend, WI driver would emerge unscathed.
The race resumed with 18 laps remaining and the fight at the front heated up once again. Thiel and Jake Blackhurst of Hanna City, IL led Fargo, North Dakota’s Tim Estenson as the trio worked efficiently through lapped traffic. With the majority of lapped cars running the bottom lane, the leaders were forced to experiment with other lanes and Estenson soon found what he was looking for.
On lap 17, Estenson drove around Blackhurst, utilizing a combination of the middle groove and the treacherous Beaver Dam Raceway cushion. Just three laps later, Thiel found himself mired in traffic and Estenson was in prime position to pounce. In a daring move with just 5 laps to go, Estenson swooped around the outside of both Thiel and a slower car, taking the lead in commanding fashion. Thiel made things interesting by getting close to Estenson in traffic, but the #14T pulled away on the final lap to earn his first career Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprints victory. Thiel and Blackhurst rounded out the podium, with Mike Reinke, Danny Schlafer, Arenz, Goldesberry, Steve Meyer, rookie Logan Julien, and Bryce Norris completing the top 10 runners.
The IRA tour returns in just two weeks time at the Ogilvie Raceway in Minnesota on Friday, May 3rd, and the following night at the Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, WI on May 4th.
- Madeline Schultz on Apr 22, 2024
- Article Date: 4/20/2024 by Box3 Media