Sports

High risk, high reward

By Matthew Semisch

08/05/2014

Big money was on the line for the two feature race winners Sunday at Bottineau’s Thunder Mountain Speedway (TMS).

That wasn’t the only thing that drove the drivers, though. Standings points were also on the line, and while the money was enticing, so too was increasing the drivers’ chances of winning their season-long pursuit.

In the end, Steve Beckedahl of Landa and Kyle Romans of Bottineau came away winners of the afternoon’s feature races. As a result, the pair won twice as much money as what’s normally on offer for feature winners at TMS.

On the average night at Bottineau’s quarter-mile track, the sport stock feature race winner receives $250 and the modifieds winner gets $500. On Sunday, however, event title sponsor NAPA pitched in $500 for the mods feature race while Hunter Trucking and Cattle Company doubled the usual sport stock payout.

BECKEDAHL EKES OUT WIN

Sunday’s 20-lap sport stock feature was arguably the afternoon’s most exciting race. Beckedahl and Chris Romfo of Bottineau came into the day tied atop the sport stock point standings, and most of the nine-man pack in their feature race Sunday had no real answer for the two leaders.

Beckedahl and Romfo spent the final nine laps neck-and-neck, heading tight into each turn while trying to overcome one another. In the end, though, Beckedahl won what had long been a close contest.

“It was just him and I over that last half or so of the feature,” Beckedahl said. “That’s fun, though, because he’s a great competitor and it’s always good competition between us.”

The TMS track was much drier than normal Sunday by the time the feature races rolled around. Some drivers like this more than others do, but while Beckedahl belongs to the latter category, he found a way to win.

“I’d rather have it a little tackier myself, because it’s almost like driving on ice when the dirt gets dry enough,” Beckedahl said.

“Everyone was racing in the same conditions today, though, so you just go with it. My car was working well with the throttle, and my car was just a little bit faster today than Romfo’s.”

All that was needed in the end, Beckedahl said, was one adjustment that might sound peculiar but which reaps results.

“I was finding I had to back off a little more than usual,” he said. “With a drier track as opposed to one with more tack to it, I find you can go a little slower to end up going faster.”

ROMANS EARNS MUCH-NEEDED WIN

Sunday’s modifieds feature wasn’t anywhere near as much of a hotly-contested race as the sport stock feature was. Instead, Romans led for nearly all 25 laps and ended up beating the rest of the 15-car pack by a comfortable margin.

It was a victory Romans needed desperately, and not just because of the inflated money on offer to Sunday’s feature winners. Coming into the day’s action, he sat in 14th place in the modifieds standings, having not earned a single point at TMS since June 1.

At the end of Sunday’s feature race, Romans appeared both excited and relieved.

“We needed this win,” Romans said. “This was our eighth race night in the last two weeks at a few tracks, and we’d had some good ones and some bad ones, but we got a win here today and it turned out to be a great day.”

Romans had to deal with the same track conditions that the nine sport stock feature race competitors did in their feature race. A watering truck wetted down the outside part of the track between features, but more dirt than usual was still being kicked up as drivers tried to cut inside in the drier corners.

Sunday’s modifieds feature winner said the track conditions played to his advantage.

“There’s different setups on the car for if you’re in dry or tacky conditions,” Romans said. “My chassis builders really helped me learn how to set the car up for dry, and I actually prefer that now as opposed to when it’s tackier out there. Having the track like it was today definitely helped me out a little since I’m confident on that sort of dirt.”

Romans was quick to credit the decision-making on Sunday of his brother Kyle, who serves as Ryan’s pit crew chief.

“Kyle set the car up how he thought it’d be best for the feature,” Ryan Romans said, “And we went out and did well and led for most of the feature.

“I was a little concerned about all the lap traffic, but it seemed like I’d built up a pretty good lead on everybody so we were good to go.”