It's A Family Affair At CJ

Go Sly.....

A pair of brothers started the feature event from the front row and another pair of brothers finished first and second as the Dart Corn Belt Clash Late Models visited the Louisa County Fair and the CJ Speedway Thursday night. And, if you follow this series at all, you probably already know which set of brothers drove out of Columbus Junction with the big purse checks.


Kurt and Kevin Kile would lead the fifteen-car field to the green for the 30-lap Late Model feature with Kurt jumping out to the early lead. The Kile brothers have turned a lot of laps on this southeast Iowa oval and they hoped that experience would be enough to hold back the high flying Simpson brothers who have dominated the Clash series again in 2011. Chad Simpson had started ninth, one spot worse than his brother Chris, and on the opening lap Chad darted quickly up to sixth. When Nick Marolf would slide off the top side of turn four on the fourth lap, Chad would restart fifth and on the first lap back to racing he was up to third with Jason Utter between he and the leader. Utter had been strong in the early laps as well running the low groove to move from seventh to second, but as he entered turn one on lap seven he apparently clipped the large track tire marking the start of the corner and he coasted to a stop with front end damage.

Once back to green Kurt Kile looked ready to defend his lead from the CBC Master, but on the tenth lap Kile hopped the cushion in turn one and nearly drove off of the track allowing Chad Simpson to sweep past him into the lead. A caution for Todd Hansen two laps later bunched the field once again allowing Chris Simpson to take over the second spot on the restart. As the Simpson brothers drove away the race for third and fourth provided the action until Kurt Kile went too hard into turn one again on lap eighteen and this time he disappeared off the top of the track to bring out the final caution. The final twelve laps ran non-stop and Chris could not maintain Chad’s pace as the brothers once again finished one-two in a convincing fashion. Kevin Kile would hold down the third spot at the checkers, Wisconsin driver Tim Isenberg followed him in for fourth while Jeremiah Hurst took fifth.

CBC CJ Notes……Seventeen Late Models were on hand tonight and a light shower just before the first Late Model heat race delayed the action by about thirty minutes……As that first heat took some hot laps to get the track ready for racing, Skip Frey went sailing off of turn three and hit the retaining wall on the old half-mile ending his evening……Chad Simpson started eighth in that first heat and could only move up to fifth on the fresh track…..Jake Meier qualified for the dash, but then puffed his motor on the opening lap of that race……Clash announcer Ryan Clark did a great job as usual and provided some interesting statistics on the series during the rain delay. With the win tonight Chad Simpson has now won 16 of the 29 events ever staged by the series. Nobody else has more than two wins. Can you say dominant?......Utter and all the drivers had no problem spotting the track tires tonight as Mark and Dianna Winkel, and Lexie, painted them bright and white during the heat of the day…..I enjoyed talking with Amber Moyer who was sat in front of me in the sauna, err grandstands. Amber is the daughter of Dubuque driver Bobby Moyer and she is engaged to Late Model driver Nick Marolf. Seems like every daughter of a Dubuque racer marries another racer, but of course I only know Amber and Ron Barker’s girls so maybe that assumption is a bit of a stretch……Most of the remainder of the Corn Belt Clash 2011 schedule will be up north with events at Cedar Lake, Redwood Falls, Cresco, Chateau and Elko.

In support class action it was Steve Stewart taking advantage of a bobble by Shaune Lewis to take the lead mid-race and win the Modified main event. Lewis had second wrapped up only to slow with mechanical issues on the final lap. Alex Buffington inherited the second spot followed by Zach Less, Mark Winkel and Tim Sands. Justin Bucholz went flag-to-flag for the win in the Mod Lite feature. Troy “Stinky” Philpott raced his way up from row four to take second followed by Jonathan Huston, Rob Guss and Evan Epperson. And in the IMCA Sport Compact feature it was Tyler Whalen who went the distance from a front row start to win it. Brad Chandler inherited the second spot after his brother Nathan drove off the top side of turn one early. John Whalen finished third, James Roose was fourth and Billy Stanford took fifth.

Thanks to CBC Director Cam Granger and to the CJ Speedway promoters and crew for their hospitality tonight. Despite the rain delay the final checkers waved at 10:20 p.m.

With my son, the sprint car freak, coming home from Oklahoma for the next two weeks it is likely that we will be hitting the road for somewhere this weekend. I’m trying to push a trip to Deer Creek and even though he loves the USMTS, the winged warriors definitely take top billing this time of year. Hopefully you can beat the heat and get out and enjoy some racing action near you this weekend!