Just Another Wednesday Night In Oskaloosa

Stock Cars in a three-wide photo finish for a feature win. Hobby Stocks running in a tight pack of eight for the lead over the final five laps of their main event. Actually having to wait a few minutes after hot laps to start exactly on time at 7:30 and then having the final checkered flag wave comfortably before ten o'clock. Just another Wednesday night at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa and the reason that we see many of the same faces there each week. Perhaps you should join us sometime?

The IMCA Stock Cars were given first billing on this night and despite the fact that a few of the regulars were missing, including point leader Damon Murty who was likely in the field taking advantage of the perfect spring weather, there was still a solid field of twenty that took the green for eighteen laps of action. Usually the Stock Cars see very few caution flags, but on this night they just couldn't get going as after Daniel Hilsabeck crossed the line to get lap number one in the books three cars sat in turn four to bring out the caution. On the restart a five car tangle in turn one made the caution appear again and on the next try Daniel Gordon spun in turn one requiring yet another restart.

Each time it was Hilsabeck, who you have normally been finding in competition with the USMTS Modifieds over the past few years, leading the field back to green again tonight driving the #77N that used to be driven by Jeff Neilsen. This time the back of the field behaved and as Hilsabeck raced down the back stretch with the lead Cayden Carter, Nathan Wood and Zack VanderBeek went three wide for second. Foreshadowing at its best.

VanderBeek would prevail and grab that second spot where he would then set his sights on Hilsabeck and, as announcer Tony Paris pointed out, these two guys are more accustomed to seeing each other wheel-to-wheel in Modifieds rather than in full fendered rides. Hilsabeck was able to ward off the challenge until lap ten when VanderBeek took away the bottom groove and moved to the front bringing his "Kelderman's Komets" teammate Carter with him into second. Wood would take away third from Hilsabeck two laps later and as the laps clicked off it was Carter trying to respectfully get under his teammate while Wood waited for a mistake.

As the leaders took the white flag Mike Brown spun in turn two and knocked the utility tire out of place requiring one more caution flag that would now setup a green-white-checkered scenario. With the leaders all working the bottom line throughout the race it was a surprise to everyone when Carter went to the high side in turns one and two on the restart and what looked like a mistake when Wood pulled even with him on the back stretch soon looked like a stroke of genius as Cayden pulled even with VanderBeek on the exit of turn four. Sensing someone to his outside Zack appeared to push a little further out down the front straightaway and that allowed Wood to get under him as the lead trio came to the white flag in a three-wide formation.

VanderBeek would shut the door on Wood going into turn one and Carter once again lost some ground working the high line in one and two so again it was VanderBeek leading the way down the back stretch with Wood in his tire tracks and Carter next to Wood on the outside racing into turn three. Cayden again found some traction on that top groove to pull even with VanderBeek coming off of four and Wood would get a run off the bottom to make it a three car drag race to the checkers.

I have the good fortune of having a seat saved for me each week by my good friends Dick and Joyce Eisele and that seat is probably about twenty feet beyond the start finish line. Even with that angle I can usually tell who is leading when they cross that invisible stripe, but as these three Stock Car drivers powered beneath the flagstand I had absolutely no idea who had won let alone who had finished second in this amazing finish. So we all had to wait for the official word from the scorers that Cayden Carter was the winner with Zack VanderBeek second and Nathan Wood third. Actually I also had to check the scoreboard to see that Daniel Hilsabeck and Mike Hughes had finished fourth and fifth because I will still trying to believe what I just saw. Oskaloosa photographer Carroll Hoover captured the moment with this fantastic picture near the finish line.

Cayden Carter on the oustide for the win, Zack VanderBeek in the middle for second and Nathan Wood (52) as close as any third-place finisher may ever be - Carroll Hoover photo used with permission

To provide the full story on the Hobby Stock feature I first must take you back to the three heat races where the top four cars in each would make the twelve-car invert for the main event. In the first heat a great three-car battle for the lead went south fast on lap four when Dale Porter got into the left rear of leader Brad Stephens exiting turn four. Porter backed off and Stephens recovered after getting sideways, but that allowed Kyle Dirks to zip by on the inside to take the lead. Perhaps thinking that it was Dirks who had loosened him up in four, Stephens tagged Dirks in turn two sending him for a spin and when Porter could not avoid contact Dirks rolled over onto his top. Stephens was sent to the pits while the #00 of Dirks was towed back to the pit area, done for the night.

Up and over for Kyle Dirks (00) as Dale Porter (10) tries to avoid contact - Barry Johnson photo

Midway through the second heat the caution waved when Bill Bonnett went for a spin in turn two and with the yellow both he and Dustin Griffiths who was determined to have also been involved were sent to the pit area. And in the third heat Mike Kincaid appeared to have the race well in hand when he suddenly spun on his own in turn four on the final lap although he sill recovered to finish fourth and land on the outside of row two for the main event.

It was a colorful front row with Gina Greubel's  hot pink car and Bobby Greene's new ride painted green and orange, but it was the hatchback of Mike Kincaid that would race to the lead at the start of the fifteen lap event. The field was separated a bit with the lead pack of four putting a gap between the next group of five and on lap six Craig Brown used the outside line to drive around Kincaid for the lead. By lap ten though that second group had caught up to the lead pack and I couldn't help to think that I was getting a dirt track style preview of what you will see at Talladega this coming weekend with a tight pack of cars racing together using three different lines around the speedway.

When the lapped car of Dave Seddon blew a right front tire within that pack it forced him up into the turn four guardrail and Jamie Songer went for a spin as well to create a green-white-checkered restart. Unlike Talladega though these drivers appreciate the opportunity to put the car on the trailer afterwards in one piece because their budgets require it and the pack raced the final two laps to the checkers without incident to see Craig Brown take the win over Dale Porter who had started the race from the tenth position. Travis Bunnell was impressive racing up from eighth to third, Mike Kincaid was fourth and Derek Hodges completed the top five.



Sport Compact winner John Whalen - Barry Johnson photo

John Whalen has a new car and it is a fast one as he held off a strong challenge from Trent Orwig mid-race to win the IMCA Sport Compact main event. Orwig will maintain his point lead by running second, Bill Whalen Jr. was third followed by John Girdley and Curt Myers. Oliver Monson made the long pull down from Clear Lake and finished in sixth.



Brett Lowry dominating at Osky - Barry Johnson photo

Jason McDaniel would lead the first three laps of the Sport Mod headliner before a caution waved for an Ashton Johnson spin in turn two. On the restart as he was being challenged by Brett Lowry coming off of turn four, a puff of smoke would see McDaniel slow and then pull to the pits handing the lead over to Lowry. There would be no stopping Lowry from there as he opened up a full straightaway advantage before taking the checkered flag for the win. Point leader Curtis VanDerWal picked his way up from eighth to finish in second and Brayton Carter must have paid attention to what his brother did earlier as he used the high line to pass Logan Anderson in turn four on the final lap to finish in third. Fifth-place went to Cory VanZante.

The ten car field of Modifieds closed out the evening for eighteen laps of racing around the fast half-mile oval with Kyle Brown leading the first seven. Andrew Schroeder drove under Brown for the lead and brought Cayden Carter with him into second and while Carter again tried to find some of that high-side magic he could not make the pass of Schroeder who secured the win. Brown followed Carter in for third as two more second generation drivers Brandon Banks and Scott Dickey rounded
out the top five.

Andrew Schroeder (02) holds off Cayden Carter to win the IMCA Modified main event - Barry Johnson photo

The Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders will join the program at the Southern Iowa Speedway next Wednesday night May 6th and while the long range forecasts at this point don't sound good, just remember that long range forecasts usually change as often as you should be changing your underwear.

How's that for a closing line? See you on the Back Stretch!