The weekly racing program at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa continues to grow and new promoter Mike VanGenderen continues to roll out new ideas that are obviously assisting in that growth. Last night any driver who had not yet raced at the Speedway in 2012 was admitted for just ten dollars, a unique idea that likely played a factor in several new faces at the speedway. And those new faces, along with the more familiar ones, were seen up close and personal by the fans when drivers came over to the grandstand after hot laps to meet and greet the crowd, and thank them for coming to watch them race. Brandon Banks, Racer Hulin, Mark Widmar and Jeff Conner came through our area and it was great to experience the personality of those that we cheer on each and every race night. For an old guy like me it was a great experience, so I can only imagine what this interaction was like for a wide-eyed youngster who I could only imagine identified three, five, maybe ten new “favorite” drivers that they followed more closely as the night’s competition unfolded. What a great idea and I hope that you do it more often Mike!
The IMCA Modified car count, despite missing top contenders Andrew Schroeder and Richie Gustin, bounced back up to thirteen this night and it was Jim Lynch who bolted to the lead at the drop of the green. Young Cayden Carter was on the move from his third row starting spot and soon was in a position to make a run at the leader. Lynch held his ground for a couple laps, but Carter was just too strong and drove by Lynch for the lead on lap eight. A caution for Dakota Hayden on lap twelve bunched the field once again and on the restart drivers went three-wide for position in turn two. That pack ran out of room on the exit of that turn though as Tyler Vandekamp clipped the inside track tire sending him into a high speed spin and, with damage to his left front, he pulled to the infield. The green light stayed on and Carter cruised through the final six laps to earn his second victory in just the opening month of his rookie season in an IMCA Modified. Lynch held off last year’s Stock Car track champion, Shane Weller for the runner-up finish with Brandon Banks and Jeff Conner completing the top five.
The IMCA Hobby Stock field at Osky is as solid as you will find and they gave us all a thrill on the opening lap of their 15-lap main event when they raced five-wide through turns one and two for the fourth position. Bill Bonnett paced the opening circuit and then it was Danny Thrasher taking over through lap five, but there would be no stopping Shannon Anderson on this night. The former National IMCA Hobby Stock champion started eleventh, waited for that five-wide traffic to mellow a bit, and then stormed to the front to pass Thrasher on lap six. A caution for a spinning Blake Miller setup a green-white-checker restart, but nobody had anything for Anderson as he won his third feature in four nights here at Osky. Eric Stanton came from the fourth row to chase the winner in for second, Thrasher was solid in third while fifth row starters John Watson and Dustin Griffiths filled out the top five at the checkers.
While the Hobby Stocks had a thrilling start to their feature, the IMCA Stock Cars had a near disaster. As the thirteen-car field thundered to the green, everybody up front seemed to want to go to the same spot out near the rail as they set their sights on the entry to turn one. Three cars pinched together underneath the flagstand and somehow Alan VanGorp, Clayton Deppe and Todd Reitzler were able to maintain control despite sliding to the left and to the right with the rest of the field right there as well. Deppe’s bumper was torn off from the contact and he limped to the pits as the caution waved and everybody caught their breath. On the restart it was Reitzler who would lead lap one, but then he spun his car in front of the field in turn one starting the second lap. Amazingly nobody hit the leader as Clayton Garden was the last to evade contact by spinning out as well. Reitzler re-fired and drove away, but when Garden could not do the same the caution waved and, by rule, Reitzler would return to the point for the restart. The Stock Cars at Osky have a long-standing reputation for tight racing and after maintaining that reputation during heat race action, they did so again over the next several laps of this one. Kyle Harwood drove by Reitzler on lap four only to give up the lead a lap later to Zack Vanderbeek. With “The Z-Man” starting to pull away the race to watch was for second where Harwood and Reiztler had their hands full with Nathan Wood who was picking his way to the front after starting ninth. VanderBeek would go on to put Roger Kelderman’s car in victory lane while Wood made the moves that he needed to earn the second-place purse check. Harwood would take the third spot followed by Reitzler and VanGorp.
The IMCA Sport Mods boasted another strong field of twenty-four tonight and their 18-lap feature would close out the evening. Josh Modde would lead the tightly bunched field early until lap three when the second-place car of Casey Greubel would go for a spin entering turn two. Bryon Weyer made solid contact with Greubel and the rest of the field scrambled trying to avoid. When the dust settled, thirteen cars were stopped facing every direction possible, but other than Weyer, Bill Gibson and Tommy Lathrop, I think everybody else including Greubel were able to restart. Jesse Sobbing would be third on the alignment for the return of the green and he passed Modde for the lead officially on lap three. From there it would be a race for second as Sobbing pulled away for an easy win as he seems poised to perhaps put up fifty or more wins again in 2012. Curtis VanDerWal slipped by Modde mid-race to finish second, Modde would take third, Tony Johnson finished fourth and Racer Hulin came from deep in the field to round out the top five.
Osky Notes……Weather conditions were ideal with temperatures in the low 80’s and no wind to speak of. There were a few nervous eyes looking to the sky as a huge thunderstorm built up to the southeast and moved that direction, away from the track. When a north breeze kicked up all of a sudden during the features I noticed a few people checking radar once again, but all was clear. From the sound of the forecast, this weekend’s events around the area will see much different conditions…..Dakota Hayden pulled in with his Modified after the heat races had been completed so he started at the tail of the main event. Looking very strong he was up to the fifth position with six laps remaining when the motor let go resulting in a thick plume of white smoke…..Tyler Vandekamp was one of the first-time racers this year and had a top five run going in the Modified feature before his encounter with the track tire……Des Moines drivers Blake Miller and Rob Allison were among the “new” drivers in the Hobby Stock division…..Hobby Stock competitor Gina Greubel took a hard hit when she collided nearly head on with the turn one guardrail during her heat race. After being checked out by the ambulance crew, Gina was later walking around the infield with an ice pack on her neck….Todd Fisher brought his Stock Car down from Des Moines for the first time this season and finished sixth in the feature…..Jim Gillenwater of Keokuk made his first appearance here in the IMCA Sport Mods and the 2011 track champion at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson was up to seventh in the feature before he pulled off the track with six laps remaining…...Brad Iverson subbed for Jason Hall in the #95J Sport Mod tonight. Iverson started the main event from twelfth and finished a car-length behind Racer Hulin in sixth…..The IMCA Sport Compact eight-lap feature saw Larry Hopkins pass early leader Merv Chandler to earn his second straight victory here. Chandler was second, Bill Whalen Jr. was third, John Whalen finished fourth and this week’s guest fifth-place participant was Justin Millhouse.
A big thanks to Mike VanGenderen and his crew for another great night of weekly racing and for the hospitality that they show all of us at Positively Racing. For complete unofficial results followed by a blog to come check out the 4dFan Report, and for more news out of Osky make sure that you check in with Eric Arnold and Barry Johnson.
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