Bob Wilson, KNOXVILLE RACEWAY, Knoxville, IA, – Kyle Strickler was the class of the field at the 22nd Annual Harris Clash for IMCA Modifieds on Thursday night at the Knoxville Raceway. Strickler, from Mooresville, North Carolina, was able to defend his championship title of one year ago at this central Iowa racing facility.
“This car was perfect”, Strickler proclaimed at the trophy stand in post-race ceremonies. And, it was too as the young driver led every lap in the 25-lap feature and prior to the only yellow of the race on lap 19 he had the field covered.
From the get-go Strickler was on fire as he cruised to a full straight away lead on this big half-mile oval before even ten laps were in the books. He did not encounter lap traffic until the 12th circuit and that posed no problem for him.
Behind him for most of the race was Jesse Sobbing (Glenwood) while Todd Shute (Des Moines) held down the third spot behind him. Richie Gustin (Marshalltown), who started 17th moved quickly through the field and became a player by the half-way mark.
At final tally Strickler had again pulled away from his challengers after the late yellow to take the $1,000 top prize as Gustin drove a brilliant race to take second. Sobbing settled for third, Randy Havlik (Boone) took fourth and Shute was fifth. Mike Van Genderen of Newton finished sixth after starting twenty-second.
In the companion IMCA Sport Modified feature, Doug Smith of (Lake City) led the 20 lap distance to take that win. Three yellow flags slowed the event as the final caution led to several position changes when the race resumed. Chasing Smith to the finish was Paul Nagel (Nevada) and Jared Timmerman (Norwalk). Rounding out the top five were Austin Kaplan(Des Moines) and Matt Lettow (Roland).
