With most of the rest of the Positively Racing crew on hand last night at 34 Raceway I will let them provide the details since I had a microphone in my hand rather than a notebook, but I will make a few observations. Brad Stephens and his folks do a great job in lining up sponsors and support for the annual Slocum 50 and their efforts were rewarded last night as the event drew a large crowd and more than $2,000 was raised for the scholarship fund in memory of the personable driver who lost his life in a pit accident here six years ago. The racing was exciting in all three classes, especially in the features with all three going right down to the final laps before being decided. Yes, the track became rough and for the drivers it was a handful. Nearly an inch of rain overnight on Thursday and cloudy and cool conditions all day Friday, coupled with the fact that it was the second Saturday in April did not help that. Drivers hate a rough track and the fans know that, but sometimes the racing is just so good on a rough track that as a fan you can feel a bit guilty about it, at least that is how I feel today thinking back. The Late Model feature had a dozen or more twists and turns, none more important than when Brian Harris and Ray Guss Jr. made contact in turn two while racing for fourth leaving Harris sideways and Guss headed to the pits with a flat. From there you had nobody at the front that was "expected" to win. Matt Ryan was fast all night winning the first heat race with ease and then driving to the front in the main event, but as the laps wound down he made some bobbles in the turns that he wasn't making before allowing Boone McLaughlin to close back in and make one last run. Knowing how much both of these guys loved Brent Slocum made the battle even more intriguing and the fans were on their feet for the final lap. And that is when you know that it has been a hell of a show! Matt clenched his eyes shut tight to fight back the tears as he and Brad Stephens bear-hugged each other in victory lane. I'm glad that they had that moment as it gave the winner the time that he needed to gain his composure before somebody stuck a mic in front of him. After the hug he started to take off the top of his driving suit and IMCA Marketing Director Kevin Yoder suggested that he leave it on for the photos. Ryan wasn't about to do that though as he wanted to show off the ratty old t-shirt with a couple of golf ball sized holes in it that he had on underneath, as on this night and in this place that old Brent Slocum t-shirt looked perfect.
Jayson Dittworth put on quite a show in the 305 Sprint Car feature as an early bobble left him right near the back of the seventeen-car field, but by lap fourteen he was all the way up to fourth. The race had been clean until a spin on lap fourteen and two attempts at a double-file restart produced two accidents where cars got upside down. The decision was then made to restart single-file and the race was clean the rest of the way with Dittsworth taking the win. I know that a majority of people disagree with me, but I am not a fan of double-file restarts, especially in a weekly sprint car division. The World of Outlaws might be able to pull it off, but even they struggle with it at times. Dittsworth drives the Olson Brothers Custom Shop car and when I saw Conrad Olson afterwards he said that they don't know what to do now since they usually crash it or blow it up on opening night!.....The Four Cylinders featured a three-car battle for the lead over the final half of the race involving Darin Smith, Nick Wilkerson and Wayne Noble. Noble, who is in his mid-seventies, was holding off the youngsters until the final turn when Wilkerson nosed ahead for the victory......The track did a great job in honoring a local military unit that will be deployed in the next two weeks and as well as remembering Slocum the large crowd kept Late Model driver and former track owner Johnny Johnson in their hearts during an entertaining night of racing.
Two-time All Iowa Points Hobby Stock champion Shannon Anderson slipped down to I-35 Speedway in Winston, Missouri, last night and picked up the win. Jordan Grabouski pulled over from Beatrice, Nebraska, and ran 11th in the IMCA Modified division in an event won by Todd Wilson. Jared Timmerman of Norwalk, the defending champion of the Sport Mod division at the Harris Clash, won that division's feature at I-35 last night......The notes from I-35 shows one of the things that I love about sanctioned race tracks, a driver can go from one track to another and know that he is legal under one common set of rules. Now before everybody starts choosing up sides here (why do you do that?) I am talking about all sanctions whether it be IMCA, UMP, WISSOTA, USRA, etc........Canadian Tyler Turnbull ran sixth in the Modified feature at Fairmont Friday night and in yesterday's notebook I noted the cheeseheads at Marshalltown. At Boone last night Green Bay's Troy Jerovetz finished third and Tracy Wassenberg was 10th in a field of 45 Sport Mods.....Damon Murty is the early man to beat in the All Iowa Points Stock Car division as he posted his second runner-up finish of the year last night at Boone to go along with two victories here in the first two weeks......Last season Eric Stanton pulled his Hobby Stock down to Winston, Missouri, from his home in Hartford where he won quite a few times. Last night he was in Boone and finished third.....Ryan Unzicker won again at Peoria last night with Late Model rookie Mike Spatola in second. Teenager Bobby Pierce was fourth......Fifty-five MLRA Late Models filled the pits at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri, last night with Iowa's Chad Simpson taking the win over Jesse Stovall and Brandon McCormick. The Andy's Frozen Custard duo of Jeremy Payne and Terry Phillips completed the top five. Alabama's Ronny Lee Hollingsworth was a surprise entrant and finished 14th.....Brian Birkhofer ran fourth behind Bllomquist, O'Neal and Pearson at Brownstown's Indiana Icebreaker last night.....The old Winged Outlaw Warrior organization kicked off their new relationship with ASCS in grand fashion last night with 41 cars at LA Raceway in La Monte, Missouri. Danny Lasoski took the win ahead of Mark Shirshekan while Midget star Brad Loyet finished third.......Not too far up the road the ASCS Midwest Region had 39 cars at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Nebraska, where the top five consisted of Brian Brown, Wayne Johnson, Jack Dover, Don Droud Jr. and last night's winner Seth Bergman. Looks like Sprint Car racing, at least in the 360 division, is alive and well in this area......Sixteen-year-old Austin Rettig edged out Billy Moyer Jr. for the Late Model win at Riverside Speedway in Arkansas last night. Seven years ago Rettig lost his then thirteen-year-old brother Nathan, who was a young Late Model phenom at the time, in a four-wheeler accident.....Nick Lyons earned his second UMP Late Model victory of the young season at I-55 Raceway in Pevely edging out another hot driver Michael Kloos. Quincy's Rickey Frankel was third.....Iowa native Danny Breuer, who now calls North Carolina home, won the NeSmith Crate Late Model event at Greenville, Mississippi last night extending his point lead in the series......Who would have ever thought that my 19-year-old Willy Kraft t-shirt would have sparked so many comments yesterday!.....As of 2:45 the radar is still clean so if you are heading to Quincy tonight I hope to see you there.
No comments:
Post a Comment