It was another perfect night for racing weather-wise, and thank goodness that the Hawks had snuffed out the Clones early (and often) as I was able to escape the rush out of Kinnick and make it to the track just in time for the opening ceremonies. Twenty-nine Late Models, fifty Modifieds and thirty-one Four Cylinders filled the pit area with the feature fields to be determined using passing points and B-Mains, while the lineup for the first three rows in each feature would be decided by a dash featuring the top six in points. This method, along with using a "one and done" rule on cautions during the qualifiers kept the show moving right along despite the large field of cars.
The Four Cylinder main event was up first and with a $400 top prize up for grabs it apparently had the natives a bit restless as the first few laps were littered with cautions. Joe Zrostlik, the 2006 All Iowa Points Four Cylinder champion who has been running IMCA Late Models the last couple of years, has a four banger once again in time for the special events season and he maintained the lead until lap thirteen in the fifteen-lap event when Jeremy Campbell drove by him into turn three. Campbell, who came from the back of the twenty-car field after being involved in one of the early cautions, held the lead as the white flag waved but when he slowed behind the lapped car of John Whalen on the back stretch, Zrostlik came charging back on the outside. The two contenders were side-by-side coming out of turn four with the slower car still directly in front of Campbell and in the drag race to the finish line it was Zrostlik by a matter of inches at the flag. Jacob Ellithorpe came from row five to finish in third. Steve Dwyer made the trip down from La Crosse, Wisconsin, and challenged Zrostlik mid-race before settling for fourth while 2010 track champion Jarrod McMichael also ran up from the back of the pack after being involved in a caution to finish in fifth. (Note: While linking up the track's website I noticed that Campbell was listed as 13th in the feature. No mention of this was made over the P.A. prior to the checkers in the Modified feature. This moves Ellithorpe to second, Dwyer to third, McMichael to fourth and Kile Vohringer is credited with fifth)
With the top two drivers in the 2010 IMCA Late Model National points chase Ray Guss Jr. and Terry Neal starting side-by-side on the front row I figured that the thirty-lap main event would be a two-car battle up front. Boy, was I wrong! Nate Beuseling surprised everybody but himself as he drove under Neal and Guss off turn two on the first lap and then opened up a sizeable advantage over the entire field. Not even a restart on lap eight, or dealing with lapped traffic during the final ten circuits would phase Beuseling as he went flag-to-flag in dominating fashion to cash the $1,500 winner’s check. Andy Eckrich who started next to Beuseling in row two finished in the runner-up position while Guss who was reportedly in a new car tonight came home third. Brian Harris raced his way forward from a row five start to take fourth while Doug Nigh put on a nice show coming from thirteenth to take fifth.
The Modifieds were the headliners tonight and they emphasized that by having a stellar field of fifty cars and drivers in attendance. Jeff "Bone" Larson took the early lead in the 35-lap finale and following a lap nine restart he was under fire from Mark Schulte and Kevin Pittman. It was a thrilling three-car battle for the lead over the next four laps and just when it looked like Schulte would takeover the point, it was instead Pittman who motored to the front on lap fourteen. Schulte tried to keep pace with the new leader, but Pittman was pulling away before the caution waved with eight laps remaining for a spin in turn four. On the restart both Ryan Dolan and Bruce Hanford put the heat on Schulte for second and that was all that Pittman needed to pull away for the $2,000 victory. Schulte fought off the challenges to finish second, Dolan raced his way to third after starting eleventh, Hanford finished in fourth and Noah Coppes completed the top five.
Dlouhy/Devore Memorial Notes…..The show started right on the scheduled time at 6:45 and the final checkers flew just before 10:30…..Kevin Blackburn made the trip up from Fulton, Missouri, with his Modified and was leading the second heat before he spun in turn two. He returned to start twelfth in one of the B-Mains and was up to fourth at the finish, two spots out of a transfer…..Scot Fridley appeared to have won the third Modified heat, but then later started at the back of one of the three B-Mains. He didn’t appear to transfer as he was outside of the top four, but then he lined up at the back of the A-Main. So I have no idea what the story was on that……Late Model veteran Rob Toland was doing double duty tonight also driving a #42 Modified with "Dickey" across the bottom of it, but Dan Albright made a nice late-race move on him in the first B-Main for the second and final transfer position…..The primary reason that I take the time to do the All Iowa Points is so I can know a little bit about most of the drivers at a big special event like this. I never heard Steve Dwyer’s hometown announced, but having compiled the points I knew that he was from La Crosse and that he wins just about every night out on the quarter-mile up in Decorah. In fact Dwyer has ten wins and three second-place finishes this season, most recently running second to Zrostlik up in Cresco on September 5th. It was fun to finally see him in action and he put on quite a show after starting nearly dead last in his heat race….. This race was originally going to be the season ender for the Cedar County Raceway, but they are now talking about running more events in September and possibly even into October. Given the success of their two recent specials, why not?! Check their website for more info.
Mother Nature adds to an excellent show with another beautiful sunset over the back stretch of the Cedar County Raceway. The weather looks great again and there a few Sunday shows on tap around the area for you to catch, so set your NFL game up to record and get on out to the track of your choice tonight!
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