The IRS Rapid Refund Week saw some close racing and definitely entertained the fans who fought gas prices and added some horsepower to their holiday weekend. Good car counts and quality teams made for good racing and a fun weekend for fans eager for the roar of late model engines.

If anyone had a good weekend it was West Virginia’s, Tim Dohm, as he rolled into his first IRS win at Raceway 7. Dohm’s win also gave him the lead in the IRS point’s standings, the ROY point’s standings, and he’s leading the points fund for the Grover Racing Engines Rapid Refund Week. Speaking of Grover, another racer who fared well was Salt Rock, WV’s Eddie Carrier Jr., who with the two wins he scored on Saturday and Sunday now holds the most IRS celebratory checks with a total of four. Overall, it was a good weekend of racing and good car counts as well.

Friday night the series made its first trip to Raceway 7 in Conneaut, Oh. There were 49 IRS late models on hand for this event which made the heat races something to see. The Lake Erie 50 would only start 25 cars so just under half the competition would be loaded up come feature time. Dohm took heat 1 over WoO traveler Chub Frank, who made his first appearance with the series. Local driver Chris Hackett took the 2^nd heat over the 30 of Steve Shaver. Heat 3 was dominated by Southern PA standouts Jeremy Miller and Jason Covert. Heat 4 was taken by locals Ron Davies and Tony Lombardi. Andy Bond and Ryan Markham made the show through B main #1 and Devin Feise and Duane Chamberland transferred through the 2^nd B main. After 50 laps it was Dohm holding off some heavy hitters as he rolled into Victory Lane. Covert, Moran, Shaver, and Chubzilla rounded out the top five.

The Moran owned Muskingum County Speedway saw a car count of 51 again making for some exciting racing. “Hot Rod” Conley was on hand and made his presence known by winning the first heat. Conley held off the likes of Tim Dohm. Doug Dodd and Doug Drown. In the 2^nd heat Keith Berner beat Corey Conley, Shane McLoughlin, and Josh McGuire. Dave Hess Jr. held off Donnie Moran, Bobby Kitchen, and Lance Elson in heat #3. Heat 4 it was the Salt Rock Express of Carrier Jr. followed by Ryan Markham and Chad Ruhlman. Mike Balzano charged to the front of heat 5 followed by Cody Parker and Tracy Fritter. The 6^th heat went to Robbie Blair who was back on track after a bad night at 7, Jared Hawkins followed in 2^nd, holding off “Showtime” Steve Shaver. Doug Drown and Steve Casebolt took advantage of B main 1 and a pair of Jason’s took the 2^nd – Covert and Montgomery. When the double checkers flew it was Carrier Jr taking first, Blair flew into second at the line, followed by Keith Berner, Doug Dodd, and Waterford, Pa’s Dave Hess Jr. The feature stayed green for 38 of the 50 laps leaving the field time to shuffle and make some moves.

On to St. Clairesville, Oh to Cannonball Speedway where the tour saw it’s lowest car count due to competing UFO and MACS show. Cannonball was a mess. It was so dust during hot laps they had to bring out the only water truck just to get hot laps in. For the most part due to bad planning and not enough track prep, the IRS lates looked like they were racing in a cornfield. By the end of the race there were plenty of cars in the infield with half a drive shaft or bent bars. As they say, “The show must go on” and it did. Despite the poor conditions the event saw decent passing and several lead changes. The red-hot, Eddie Carrier Jr. won the first heat, Dohm took the 2^nd, Moran the 3^rd, Rob Blair the 4^th, and Corey Conley took B main 1 with Josh McGuire winning the 2^nd B main. Dohm and Moran led the field to the start, but not for long as Mike Knight jumped to the point and held it for quite a while. Young Mike Knight started to pull away until the field was bunched up again for a caution as Jared Hawkins spun in turn 3. Knight held off Rob Blair until he hit the jump in turns 1 and 2. That slowed him just enough to give up the lead to Blair. Blair was now being challenged by Chamberland; the two would go at it until Blair hit the jump giving Duane the lead. Carrier cruised past both and held on for the checkers. Chamberland, Dohm, Moran, and Blair rounded out the top 5.

Next for the tour, and the Rapid Refund Week is Skyline Speedway in Steward, OH then on to Sharon Speedway in Sharon, OH where Rapid Refund week will wrap up and Dean Miracle and Grover Racing Engines will present the 8k for the team with the most points over the 5 races. As of right now, Dohm leads Donnie Moran and Rob Blair, but with two more races to go it could be anybody’s game.