Family Misfortune Results in $1,000 Payday For Kurt Kile at Eldon

Family misfortune for the Darbyshires resulted in a $1,000 payday for Kurt Kile during the Wapello County Fair at the Eldon Raceway Thursday night. Derrick Agee, Tyler Heckart, Craig Brown and Michael Grossman were also feature winners as the county fair season kicked off in Iowa in front a nice-sized crowd.

Thirteen IMCA Late Models were on hand for the evening and it was Tom Darbyshire vaulting to the lead at the drop of the green for the 20-lap main event. Jason Utter picked up the chase in the second spot while Kurt Kile tried to maintain the torrid pace being set by the leaders. Utter could get no closer than five-lengths back from the leader for the first fourteen laps, but when Darbyshire closed in on the slower car of his son Jacob it allowed Utter to pull even with him in turns one and two. The elder Darbyshire shook off this challenge and continued to try put a lap on his son while Utter tried to take advantage of the situation. With three laps to go Utter looked to the outside in turn one only to slow suddenly when his right rear tire went flat. Kile moved to second now a full straightaway back from the leader while Utter tried to nurse his car through the final two and a half laps with the flat tire.

Not knowing that his primary challenger was no longer there, Tom attempted to get around Jacob again down the back stretch with the white-flag waiting and contact between the two entering turn three saw Jacob spinning and Tom veering hard right into the concrete wall. There was great concern for a moment as the crowd waited for Tom to emerge from his steaming, mangled Late Model and everybody was relieved when he soon climbed out under his own power to survey the damage on both of his cars.

Kurt Kile now found himself to be the leader for the green-white-checker restart and he drove away from the field to claim the $1,000 top prize. Curt Schroeder did a nice job fighting off the challenge of Sam Halstead over those last two laps to finish second while veteran drivers Ron Boyse and Darrel DeFrance completed the top five.

The Stock Cars clicked off their 18-lap feature in non-stop fashion and after the running order was established on lap one there was no change of position in the top-five. Derrik Agee ventured north from central Missouri to take the win, Kris Walker chased him all the way in second, Shane Paris finished in the third spot, Rich Vogt was fourth and Tyler McClure fought off Nathan Wood to take fifth.

Craig Brown went the distance to win the 14-lap Hobby Stock feature that saw three stoppages. Jason Riegel escaped injury when he destroyed the right front of his car hitting the back stretch wall at the opening where the cars come onto the speedway on lap two. On lap three Justin Millhaus went for a spin coming down the front stretch and when Brian Shaffer had no place to go the two made hard contact. And on lap nine much of the crowd got fired up when Tony Teninty and Dustin Griffths had contact on the front stretch that sent Griffiths for a spin that nosed him into the wall. Griffiths went to the pits to change a flat tire while Teninty was sent to the pits disqualified for rough driving. With each restart Brown maintained his composure and was never seriously challenged in taking the victory. Rookie driver Jason See continues to impress as he finished second tonight, Mike Hughes moved from seventh to third, Dale Porter came from eighth to fourth and Danny Thrasher advanced from the sixth row up to fifth.

The Sport Mod feature was similar to the Stock Cars as the running order was set on the opening lap and the field then went the distance without changing position. Tyler Heckart of Ottumwa posted the win, I believe to be his first in the division, while New London driver Kyle Hill posted his career best finish by bringing the Boles Auto Sales #14B home in second. Scott VanBuskirk held back persistent challenges from Carter VanDenBerg for third and Jason McDaniel was fifth.

Nineteen Four Cylinders were pitted in the infield, a far cry from the four that we saw on Wednesday night, and their 14-lap finale had pole-sitter Larry Hopkins leading the field early. Kassidy Kirkpatrick and Michael Grossman joined Hopkins in a three-car breakaway until the leader suffered a flat tire on lap six. While Hopkins made his way down out of the racing groove and into the pits to keep the race under green, Michael Belger did not a lap later when he too popped a tire. On the restart Grossman established himself as the new leader with Kirkpatrick in tow before the caution waved again two laps from the finish as Jim Garrett ended up in the turn three wall while racing Bill Whalen Jr. for fourth. There was no catching Grossman in the final two laps though as the Keokuk driver pulled away to victory over Kirkpatrick. John Whalen came from the fifth row to finish third in front of his brother Bill and the fifth place money was collected by Aaron Bridgeman.

It was a nostalgic night for me as I spent many a Saturday here during the late ‘70s and with the limited schedule that the track now runs it is not often that I can attend. The late start allowed me to grab a fresh tenderloin under the grandstand and with a near half hour intermission mingled in the final checkers did not wave until 11:00 p.m. The Super Half-Mile will be in action three more times in 2013 on July 6^th, September 7^th and September 21^st.