As anticipated, a stellar field of forty cars and drivers signed in for race number one of the newly titled FVP National Sprint League and the fans turned out in solid numbers as well overflowing the parking lot at 34 Raceway. At five o'clock and with thirty cars in the pits I thought that was where we might land for a car count, but then some of the NSL members who had never been to 34 before such as Matt Juhl and Brandon Stevenson as well as Illinois drivers including Matt Vandevere, A.J. Bruns and Jake Blackhurst rolled in and that total found its way up to forty.
Stevenson made the six hour pull from Holstein, Iowa, with an open trailer behind a white pickup truck. Quite a contrast to the spectacular haulers used by many of the other drivers so you had to feel for him when he hopped the cushion in turn two on his second lap of qualifying and took a hard end over end tumble. The crowd was silent for a couple of minutes before it was announced that Stevenson was okay and was climbing of of his mangled race car under his own power.
This would be a night of "firsts" and while Stevenson will have the dubious honor of being the first NSL flip, the only incident like that for the evening, other answers to trivia questions will be as follows. Andy Baugh was the first to take a qualifying lap. The first driver to set the fastest time at an NSL event was Danny Lassoki. The first driver to win an NSL heat race was Brooke Tatnell and the first NSL B-Main winner was Tim Kaeding.
How well prepared was the race track? The 39th and final car out for qualifying (Vandevere did not take a qualifying lap) laid down the second best lap of the night and that was none other than Steve Kinser. "The King" was a hit at a pre-race Meet and Greet and then was solid all evening finishing fourth in the third heat to lock himself into the feature where he started sixth and finished eighth.
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| Miss 34 Raceway from 1990, Kim Burns gets a big smile from Steve Kinser prior to his appearance at the inaugural event for the FVP National Sprint League - photo used by permission |
Local favorite Josh Schneiderman had a memorable night although most of those memories he will want to push from his mind. It all started out well for the young driver from Burlington when his lap of 12.756 was seventh quick, but on the first lap of his heat race he spun in turn two and collided with an infield tire marker sending him to the pits. His solid qualifying effort though allowed him to start on the pole of the B-Main where, under the NSL's unique qualifying procedures, a first or second place finish would have still put him in the fifth row for the main event. If he faded to third or fourth he would start in the twelfth and final row of the feature and if he dropped to fifth or worse he would have joined those drivers who would soon be watching the feature from the pit area.
Schneiderman appeared to be a lock for at least a second-place finish as he raced early with Paul Nienheiser until smoke started to billow from the left side of his engine as he entered the corners. By mid-race of the 12-lap affair that smoke also came with some flames, but still he pushed on now running third. Next his front wing mounts broke dropping it down flat against the nose of his #49 as he faded to fourth and with two laps to go that now useless front wing flipped over and planted itself higher up on the hood of his car as he tried to hold off a last ditch charge from Hunter Scheurenberg. With the front end dancing around and still with occasional spurts of smoke and fire coming from under the hood "The Professor" still managed to coax his car in for fourth and qualify for the main event where he would later be the first car to retire. At least he made the show though as Schneiderman plans to make a run at the healthy $350,000 NSL point fund.
The 25-lap feature was definitely a good one as Terry McCarl swept around the outside of both Wayne Johnson and Bryan Clauson exiting turn four on the second lap to take the lead and it then looked like McCarl might run off and hide opening up more than a straightaway advantage. On lap eighteen as he was trying to race under the lapped car of Dusty Zomer, McCarl drifted into the slick part of turn two, the middle or "no man's land" as Terry later described it and he spun completing a 360 as both Johnson and Clauson raced past him. The lap was scored and completed with McCarl now in third just before the caution waved for Davey Heskin who had spun in the exact same area in turn two.
It took a few laps after the restart for McCarl to dispose of Clauson for second and while he was closing ground on the leader in the final laps there would be no catching Wayne Johnson who will proudly be placed in the record books as the first-ever feature winner for the National Sprint League. McCarl acknowledged that he had let one get away in second, Brad Loyet was very impressive advancing from ninth to finish third while Clauson held down fourth. B-Main winner Tim Kaeding rallied from fifteenth to fifth at the checkers with quick qualifer Danny Lasoski taking sixth. Brian Brown was seventh just ahead of the legends, Kinser and Swindell, while Mark Dobmeier completed the top ten.
The FVP NSL will now take a four week break before springing back to action on Friday May 8th at the Eagle Raceway and Saturday May 9th at the Knoxville Raceway. The doubleheader will have the additional draw of a $20,000 bonus offered by the Durst Motorplex to the driver that can win both nights.
It was an honor and a thrill for me to be a part of this high profile debut helping out series announcer Bill Wright on the microphone and I look forward to joining him again at selected events during the 2015 schedule.
Support class action in the Sport Mods and the Four Cylinders was good as well with solid counts in each. In the 15-lap Sport Mod feature Austen Becerra raced out to a sizable advantage before spinning into the infield off turn two with three laps remaining. Becerra returned to the track after dropping a few spots and then contact in turn three with the fourth-place car of Tony Dunker sent both cars pitside for the remainder of the event. Joey Gower would inherit the lead on the restart and not let it go as he scored the victory ahead of Brett Timmerman, Sean Wyett, Dakota Simmons and Scott Boles.
I thought that we might see a battle between two of the best female competitors in the region in the Four Cylinder class between track regular Kimberly Abbott and Spencer, Iowa's, Megan Sandvig (maiden name Lappegard) as Megan had brought her #33 along with the Sandvig racing Sprint Car #7 driven by Kaley Gharst. Megan was leading the first heat race when she was taken out by another driver and when Kimberly pulled the #12 in the redraw both were starting deep in the 21-car field for the feature.
Ryan Walker would pace the opening two laps before the brightly colored #2 wheeled by Michael Grossman drove past. Grossman and his crew had the grill going on the deck of their party bus hauler earlier in the evening, but they stayed focused throughout the night and Michael closed out the evening in fine fashion by taking the win in the non-stop twelve lapper. Walker would hold on for second with Ron Kibbe in third, fourth went to Larry Miller while Steven Struck completed the top five. Abbott finished ninth while Sandvig dropped out early and was scored nineteenth.
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| The Grossman Racing bus loaded and ready to roll to 34 Raceway. Comments on Facebook would lead you to believe that they almost forgot to bring the driver. Good thing they waited as Michael Grossman won the final feature of the night. |
Parick Bruns dominated the action in the IMRA Midgets besting Robert Ray, Mitchell Davis, Robert Bell and former Modified competitor A.J. Johnson from Oskaloosa. I am sure that track promoter Amy Laue will be having a conversation with the IMRA staff as they were a bit slow in getting their cars into staging for hot laps and then at the conclusion of their first heat race not a single one of the cars scheduled for heat race number two were in the staging area.
The only complaint that I have seen on the message boards was about some of the delays in the show with the above mentioned being one of them. An accident in the stands requiring assistance from the Paramedics delayed action for at least twenty minutes during the heat races for the support classes and later it took some extra time to convince the sprint car feature field to make their way out to the track for introductions. Something that I am sure that the NSL officials will address before future events.
All in all it was a very good night of racing where a few thousand people will always be able to to say "I was there for the first race for that series."
Another busy week ahead as I hope to be at the regular season opener for the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa on Wednesday night before the big weekend tripleheader for the MARS/ALMS/Corn Belt Clash Late Modelswith events at Davenport (Friday) and East Moline (Sunday) sandwiched around the 7th Annual Slocum 50 at 34 Raceway on Saturday night. Hope to see you on the Back Stretch!
1 comment:
It was a great night of racing.
Highlights of course was meeting Mr. Steve Kinser again. Last time I met him was nearly 25 years ago....another highlight of my evening was getting a tour of the pits prior to the big race night with Jeff Broeg. Unbelievable the passion Jeff has for this sport. He knew every racer, their hometown, who sponsored them, what their age and their stats are, without looking at a cheat sheet....lol Jeff is truly an asset to 34 Raceway and it's staff! Thanks again Jeff. Kimberly Hummell Burns~ Miss 34 Raceway 1990.
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