Project Completed, The Gap Is Closed

The sixth and final season of my “research project” to close the gap from when I stopped compiling the All Iowa Points in 2000 to when I resumed in 2006 is now complete and some new names have been added to the list of champions that now runs consecutively from 1967 through 2010. Once again I want to thank my colleague Barry Johnson for the use of his Hawkeye Racing News archives to do this project!

The 2005 Late Model chase was a good one coming right down to the wire with Terry Neal edging out Rob Toland by just nine points to earn his first All Iowa Points championship. Neal captured twenty-one feature wins on the way to the top leaving Toland just shy of capturing his second straight championship and what would have been his fourth straight as he was also the champ in 2004, 2006 and 2007. Brian Harris and Kevin Blum were also in the hunt at mid-season before Neal and Toland pulled away. Harris would wind up third with Blum taking fourth and Darrel DeFrance completed the top five.

With seven-time champion Ron Barker now focusing a bit more on his Late Model efforts, the door was open for some new faces at the top of the 2005 All Iowa Points Modified list. Northwest Iowa’s Jay Noteboom jumped out of the gate early and was never seriously challenged in winning his first AIP championship on the strength of twenty-five feature wins. Ron Pope was solid in second ahead of Waterloo area competitors Troy Cordes and Vern Jackson while “Racer” Ricky Stephan rounded out the top five.

The Pro Stock/Limited Late Model division continued to shrink and in what would be its next to last year in the All Iowa Points it was Scotty Welsh of Cedar Rapids taking top honors. The 1981 Sportsman champion Alan Wessells was the runner-up with rookie driver Justin Mitchell in third. Dan Higdon and Doug Smith tied for fourth.

The chase for the Stock Car state championship was tight through July before Kevin Opheim kicked it into high gear capturing his first AIP championship. Opheim racked up twenty-six feature wins on the season and outdistanced Damon Murty by twenty-eight points. Three-time champion Brian Blessington (2004, 2006 & 2007) took third, Jason Rauen was fourth and fifth went to one of the racing brothers out of Lake City, David Smith.

Two of David’s brothers, Dustin and Donovan Smith were again dominating the Hobby Stock point race with Dustin taking his turn on the throne in 2005. For Dustin this would be his second Hobby Stock championship after winning in 2003 and it is now his fifth AIP title overall as he is currently the three-time reigning Stock Car champion from 2008 through 2010. Dustin won thirty-two times on the season while Donavon, the 2004 and 2006 champ won fifteen times and they were often racing against each other. Andy Boeckman made it a northwest Iowa trifecta finishing third while current Modified stars Colt Mather and Chris Ableson were fourth and fifth.

A pair of west central Illinois based drivers topped the All Iowa Limited Modified Points list in 2005 with Wyatt Lantz of Augusta taking the championship on the strength of eighteen feature wins. Quincy’s Tony Dunker was second, Keith Sanders and 2006 champion Ryan Gustin tied for third while Jake Simpson ranked fifth in the final standings.

Once again the Four Cylinder chase for a championship was fun to follow as four drivers were still in contention in late September. In the end it was the division’s traveler Joe Zrostlik who racked up the most points making him a two-time AIP champ also winning the division in 2006. Zrostlik’s seventeen feature wins came on several different tracks including southeast Iowa’s Lee County Speedway as well as Fairmont, Minnesota. Defending champion Greg Birkhofer tied with Bryan Klein for the runner-up position, Justin Kay was fourth and Dan Mohr took fifth.

After seven straight All Iowa Points 410 Sprint championships Terry McCarl took his talents to the World of Outlaws tour in 2005 and that resulted in an entertaining battle for the top. Oklahoma native Wayne Johnson stepped up to become the new champ ten markers ahead of Aussie Kerry Madsen. Chad Meyer picked up the third spot ahead of Billy Alley and 2005 360 Sprint champ Dusty Zomer.

It was a South Dakota sweep in the 360 Sprints as the top four drivers all reside in Sioux Falls. Jake Peters earned his third All Iowa Points honor as he also won the division in 2000 and 2001. Gregg Bakker finished just three points behind Peters in second, 1999 champ Butch Hanssen finished in the third position and Micah Schliemann was fourth. 2003 champ Dusty Ballanger and “future” two-time champion Jody Rosenboom (2007 & 2008) tied for fifth.

For a full rundown of each division visit the Points page at PositivelyRacing

That’s it, the project is complete! It was quite a trip down memory lane going through six full seasons worth of Hawkeye Racing News, back when nearly every track sent their results in to the paper and promoters placed ads for their special events. I also noticed that my writing style was pretty much the same then as it is now. Find the positives and play them up and, if there were negatives, report them as fact without embellishing them. Perhaps not the most thrilling read, but that is my style and there are plenty of other alternatives that I have always encouraged readers to check out as well. The 2011 season is only weeks away, be positive and support the sport! See you soon at the races.