BARROWS-With his father Dean on his mind, Mod 4 driver Chad Funt got an emotional feature win Saturday at North Central Speedway.
Dean Funt was well known at the speedway and drivers paused with their engines off and pole position empty to honor Dean, who died last week.
Chad then went out in the feature race and battled for the win and received congratulations from each driver as they drove by his car at the winners' stand.
"It was an easy night for me racing. I felt fine and I was at peace," Funt said. "The Mod 4 drivers are the best. We stick together as a group and we have a great memorial race coming up here shortly. All of the guys and gals are great to race with."
Dean Blanchard Jr. and Jerry Esler are sitting in the top two spots in the points race and they were battling Funt, but couldn't get past him with Blanchard Jr. finishing second and Esler third.
At the beginning of the race, drivers stopped at the flag stand on their parade lap and turned off their engines for 34 seconds to honor Dean who was a veteran driver at the track.
"My dad started off racing about the same time as I did, in the late 90s," Chad Funt said. "He just loved to talk and would help anyone and we just want to carry that on."
Dean's impact on the sport was felt in the reaction from fellow drivers Saturday and for the memorial race that will be conducted in two weeks in his honor. Drivers and area businesses are donating prize money and items that will be spread among Mod 4 drivers that will be competing July 22.
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With how helpful his father was to other drivers at NCS, Dean would be happy with the way that his memorial race will be run.
"There will be a lot of cars and very unique prizes," Chad said. "Unlike most nights when the winner gets most of the money, for this race everyone is going to get something."
Six other feature races were run Saturday and two of those took place in the Super Stock class with a make-up feature from June 24 along with the night's scheduled feature. Eric Martini made it a sweep as he took the checkered flag in both races.
Jake Hagemann got the win in the Northern Spot Modified feature and he cut into David Siercks' point lead which is now 15. Starting in the middle of the pack, Siercks stayed patient through the early part of the race and was able to work his way up into the third position where he finished behind Hagemann and Brent Thompson.
Modified driver Mark Prueser has paid his dues the last few years as he was injured two years ago and had to miss the rest of the season. Prueser was rewarded Saturday for a strong night of driving as he stayed in front of a talented field of drivers to get his first win of the season.
Derek Stanoch won the Sport Compact class and Joe Gonska won the Hobby Stock feature.
IMCA Sport Compacts:
Feature: 1-Derek Stanoch, 2-Brendon Yamry, 3-PeeWee Kuhnau
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Heat 1: 1-Derek Stanoch, 2-Brendon Yamry, 3-PeeWee Kuhnau
IMCA Hobby Stocks:
Feature: 1-Joe Gonska, 2-Adam Goff, 3-David Dosh
Heat 1: 1-Adam Goff, 2-Timothy Gonska, 3-Shayne Pankratz
Heat 2: 1-Joe Gonska, 2-Chris Seidel, 3-Robert Young Jr.
NCS Mod 4s:
Feature: 1-Chad Funt, 2-Dean Blanchard, 3-Jerry Esler
Heat 1: 1-Dean Blanchard Jr., 2-Chad Funt, 3-Jerry Esler
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IMCA Northern Sport Modifieds:
Feature: 1-Jake Hagemann, 2-Brent Thompson, 3-David Siercks
Heat 1: 1-Jake Hagemann, 2-Jason Vejtruba, 3-Adam Bohlman
Heat 2: 1-Brent Thompson, 2-David Siercks, 3-Dru Nelson
Heat 3: 1-Mike Brenny, 2-Mike Johnson, 3-Nathan Sabinash
NCS Super Stock:
Feature: 1-Eric Martini, 2-Seth Kramer, 3-Jesse Smolik
Heat 1: 1-Jesse Smolik, 2-Seth Kramer, 3-Curtis Newberg
IMCA Modifieds:
Feature: 1-Mark Prueser, 2-AJ Viehauser, 3-Shawn Fletcher
Heat 1: 1-AJ Viehauser, 2-Ryan Canon, 3-Justin Jones
Heat 2: 1-Josh Beaulieu, 2-Mark Prueser, 3-Aaron Johnson
June 24 Results
NCS Super Stock
Feature: 1-Eric Martini, 2-Seth Kramer, 3-Jake Goetze
