Zeitner masterful in Mason City
The Haulin’ with Hoker Trucking Super Late Models East Series saw another new winner on the year in Sunday’s return to Mason City Motor Speedway.
The high-banked 1/3-mile oval at the Northern Iowa Fairgrounds played host to the Haulin’ with Hoker Trucking East Series for round 4 of the 2023 season. A field of 22 cars made the trip up for the tour’s third ever visit to Mason City, Iowa.
National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame Driver, Jeff Aikey, began his night on the right way setting the number 1 qualifying lap when he stopped the clock at 14.672 seconds. The night’s three heat races were won by Defending Series Champion Justin Kay, Andy Eckrich and Fred Remley.
The night’s 35-lap main event saw Corey Zeitner start on the pole with Dave Eckrich on his outside. When the race went green, Jeff Aikey powered to the lead from his fourth starting spot. The Cedar Falls, Iowa native would lead the first four laps of the race before Zeitner ran him down and passed him coming off turn four.
From that point, Zeitner ran away with the show while multiple intense battles for the rest of the top five positions ensued. Aikey battled with Tad Pospisil while Justin Kay and Andy Eckrich had a tight battle for fifth. Jason Hahne was in and out of battles among the top five as well.
Meanwhile, it was Zeitner dominating the race. At one time, he had an 8.5 second lead over Aikey. Aikey would close the lead up to just over two seconds but ran out of time as Zeitner would grab the win. Corey Zeitner would become just the fifth driver in Haulin’ with Hoker Trucking/Malvern Bank Super Late Models Series history to reach 10 career wins. The win was just two days after Corey’s cousin Justin reached that mark when he won at Boone County Speedway in Albion, Nebraska.
Jeff Aikey would come home in second while Andy Eckrich took third. Jason Hahne finished in fourth after having a third-place finish on his home track the previous night, and Tad Pospisil rounded out the top five.
A big Memorial Day weekend tripleheader in eastern Iowa is next on the schedule for the Haulin’ with Hoker Trucking East Series. It all begins on Friday, May 26th when the tour makes its first of three visits on the year to the Davenport Speedway in Davenport. After that, it is off to the Maquoketa Speedway in Maquoketa on Saturday, and then the weekend will finish at at the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway in Dubuque.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Qualifying:
1. (2) 77 Jeff Aikey, Cedar Falls, Iowa, 14.672 seconds
2. (16) 04 Tad Pospisil, Norfolk, Neb., 14.706
3. (21) 32C Chad Holladay, Muscatine, Iowa, 14.806
4. (7) 76H Jason Hahne, Webster City, Iowa, 14.830
5. (3) 07 Matt Ryan, Davenport, Iowa, 14.902
6. (9) 43 Derrick Stewart, Ainsworth, Iowa, 14.948
7. (20) 44 Luke Goedert, Guttenburg, Iowa, 14.996
8. (14) 58 Dave Eckrich, Oxford, Iowa, 15.023
9. (17) 22 Charlie McKenna, Ames, Iowa, 15.100
10. (4) 15K Justin Kay, Wheatland, Iowa, 15.154
11. (19) 10T Jeff Tharp, Sherrill, Iowa, 15.307
12. (18) 26JR Corey Zeitner, Omaha, Neb., 15.336
13. (10) 15C Curt Schroeder, Newton, Iowa, 15.376
14. (22) 56 Andy Eckrich, Oxford, Iowa, 15.406
15. (8) 50 Gavin Tarras, New Richmond, Wis., 15.413
16. (1) 90 Lance Matthees, Winona, Minn., 15.432
17. (6) 99D Darrel DeFrance, Marshalltown, Iowa, 15.473
18. (13) 42 Fred Remley, Anamosa, Iowa, 15.718
19. (12) 74 Ron Boyse, Kalona, Iowa, 15.841
20. (5) 91 Gabe Umbarger, Garner, Iowa, 15.853
21. (11) 32 Curtis Glover, Knoxville, Iowa, 15.904
22. (15) 2C Trevor Casey, Altoona, Iowa, 16.331
Heat #1:
1. (3) 15K Justin Kay, Wheatland, Iowa
2. (5) 76H Jason Hahne, Webster City, Iowa
3. (6) 77 Jeff Aikey, Cedar Falls, Iowa
4. (4) 44 Luke Goedert, Guttenburg, Iowa
5. (1) 90 Lance Matthees, Winona, Minn.
6. (2) 15C Curt Schroeder, Newton, Iowa
7. (7) 74 Ron Boyse, Kalona, Iowa
8. (8) 2C Trevor Casey, Altoona, Iowa
Heat #2:
1. (2) 56 Andy Eckrich, Oxford, Iowa
2. (1) 99D Darrel DeFrance, Marshalltown, Iowa
3. (4) 58 Dave Eckrich, Oxford, Iowa
4. (3) 10T Jeff Tharp, Sherrill, Iowa
5. (5) 07 Matt Ryan, Davenport, Iowa
6. (6) 04 Tad Pospisil, Norfolk, Neb.
7. (7) 91 Gabe Umbarger, Garner, Iowa
Heat #3:
1. (1) 42 Fred Remley, Anamosa, Iowa
2. (3) 26JR Corey Zeitner, Omaha, Neb.
3. (2) 50 Gavin Tarras, New Richmond, Wis.
4. (6) 32C Chad Holladay, Muscatine, Iowa
5. (4) 22 Charlie McKenna, Ames, Iowa
6. (5) 43 Derrick Stewart, Ainsworth, Iowa
7. (7) 32 Curtis Glover, Knoxville, Iowa
Feature:
1. (1) 26JR Corey Zeitner, Omaha, Neb.
2. (3) 77 Jeff Aikey, Cedar Falls, Iowa
3. (7) 56 Andy Eckrich, Oxford, Iowa
4. (4) 76H Jason Hahne, Webster City, Iowa
5. (8) 04 Tad Pospisil, Norfolk, Neb.
6. (2) 58 Dave Eckrich, Oxford, Iowa
7. (6) 15K Justin Kay, Wheatland, Iowa
8. (12) 43 Derrick Stewart, Ainsworth, Iowa
9. (5) 32C Chad Holladay, Muscatine, Iowa
10. (14) 10T Jeff Tharp, Sherrill, Iowa
11. (10) 44 Luke Goedert, Guttenburg, Iowa
12. (11) 42 Fred Remley, Anamosa, Iowa
13. (9) 07 Matt Ryan, Davenport, Iowa
14. (13) 22 Charlie McKenna, Ames, Iowa
15. (17) 15C Curt Schroeder, Newton, Iowa
16. (18) 90 Lance Matthees, Winona, Minn.
17. (21) 32 Curtis Glover, Knoxville, Iowa
18. (16) 99D Darrel DeFrance, Marshalltown, Iowa
19. (19) 74 Ron Boyse, Kalona, Iowa
20. (22) 2C Trevor Casey, Altoona, Iowa
21. (20) 91 Gabe Umbarger, Garner, Iowa
22. (15) 50 Gavin Tarras, New Richmond, Wis.
