My “research project” continues as I use back issues of Hawkeye Racing News (provided by Barry Johnson) to fill in the six seasons that I did not compile the All Iowa Points and I now have 2003 completed. Three drivers continued to dominate their division while first-time champs were crowned in five divisions. Plus, it became the first year of tracking the Four Cylinder division.
After several years of being close, Jeff Aikey rose to the top of the Late Model standings for his first championship in the premier division and his second AIP title after winning the Sportsman championship in 1984. Aikey tallied seventeen feature wins on the season and easily outdistanced two time defending champion Denny Eckrich who finished in second. Southwest Iowa driver Chris Spieker picked up the third spot, 1998 Late Model champ Steve Boley was fourth and Quincy’s Mark Burgtorf was fifth.
Nobody could keep pace with Ron Barker in the Modified division as the Dubuque driver scored his fourth straight All Iowa Points title, his sixth championship in the last seven years in the division. This is now Barker’s seventh AIP title overall as he was the Street Stock champion in 1984. Thirty-one points-paying feature wins allowed Barker to be 87 points ahead of runner-up Ricky Stephan. Tony Fraise, Mike Hughes and Jeff Stephens filled out the top five while the driver that spent most of the season chasing the champion, Jason Schueller of Dubuque finished sixth.
With the last three champions in the division, Jeremiah Hurst, Dan Shelliam and Jeff Tharp all running Late Models now the door was open for a new All Iowa Points Pro Stock/Limited Late Model champion and it was Ty Kleiner who accepted the invitation. The Potosi, Wisconsin, resident scored fourteen feature wins on the season and edged out rival Bobby Moyer by 13 markers in the final rundown. Omaha’s John Kinney Jr. was third, Sioux City competitor Greg Peck was fourth and veteran Late Model driver Gary Crawford was fifth after starting to compete in the class at mid-season.
Jeff Anderson of Atlantic cruised to his fourth straight AIP Stock Car championship on the strength of 22 feature wins. Jeff Stevens of Davenport broke the lock that Brian Blessington has had on second for the past three years though as he relegated Blessington back to third. Mike Nichols of Harlan was one point behind Blessington in fourth while Mike Robinson completed the top five.
Dustin Smith broke from a tight pack in late July and picked up the 2003 Hobby Stock state championship. This would be Dustin’s first of four All Iowa Points championships as he is the current three-time (2008, 2009 and 2010) defending Stock Car champion and it now makes three of the racing Smith brothers who have been the AIP Hobby Stock king. Donavon was the 2006 champ and Devin won it in 2010. Jason Minnehan had a solid season in second, Ben Hoesing was the mid-season leader and finished tied for third with Doug Gorden Jr. while Rocky Fosdyck wound up in fifth.
Mark Massey dominated the new B-Mod division at Farley and Dubuque early in the season winning the first eleven events held at the two tracks and by the end of the year he had picked up twenty-two feature wins and seven second place finishes. This was enough to edge out Todd Hansen by thirteen points to win his first All Iowa Points Limited Modified championship. Ryan Duhme finished in the third position with Doug McCollough and Jake Simpson next in line.
The 2003 season would be the first for the Four Cylinder division in the All Iowa Points and the chase for the inaugural championship could not have been any closer as only one point separated first from second and second from third. At the stripe it was the Birkhofers from Britt finishing one two with Justin the champ and Greg the runner-up while Scott Lipps was right behind them in third. David Burdette of Keokuk took fourth and Jason Otto completed the top five.
With his championship in the 410 Sprint division in 2003, Terry McCarl established a couple of new All Iowa Points standards. First of all this was his sixth straight title (1998-2003) in the division becoming the first driver to accomplish that feat in any division. Ed Sanger had won five straight Late Model titles from 1969 through 1973 and Gary Webb matched that winning five from 1993 to 1997. This also makes it nine state championships overall in the division for McCarl setting himself apart from both Sanger and Webb who each have eight Late Model championships. McCarl had eleven feature wins on the season while no other 410 driver had more than eleven top-five finishes. In the final year of Ted Johnson’s ownership, the World of Outlaws ran several events on All Iowa Points tracks allowing Danny Lasoski and Steve Kinser to finish second and third in the final standings. Justin Henderson wound up fourth and Donny Schatz was fifth.
Once again the 360 Sprint division went right down the wire with a close battle among three drivers and in the end it was Dusty Ballanger who tallied the most points for his first AIP championship. Young Billy Alley wound up four points back in second with Butch Hanssen just a point behind Alley in third. Two-time champ Jake Peters (2000 and 2001) was fourth while Ryan Jamison rounded out the top five.
A full rundown of the 2003 All Iowa Points can be found on the Points page at PositivelyRacing.com. Two more years remain and the gap will be filled!
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