Three
races in one week proves that we are ready to go full swing with the 2007
racing season.
The
wind was chilly, but the action kept a good crowd warm at the Southern Iowa
Speedway in Oskaloosa last Wednesday night. The season opener drew a solid car
count in the three divisions that have raced for years around the fast
half-mile and there were five cars on hand for the B-Modified class that has
been added to the weekly card. Fourteen-year-old Brett Moffitt of Grimes outran
northeast Iowa visitor Raymond Lundry to earn the opening night win. Moffitt
also won out at I-80 Speedway in Nebraska on Sunday night so keep your eye on
this young man. Andrew Schroeder, son of long-time SIS competitor Randy
Schroeder took third in his first night behind the wheel of a B-Mod. Look for
this division to steadily grow as the season moves along.
Zack
VanderBeek was the man to beat in not one, but two divisions Wednesday night
and another up and coming youngster almost accomplished that feat in the
Modified main event. Fifteen-year-old hotshoe Ryan Gustin took the lead from
VanderBeek with four laps remaining and began to pull away, but as he took the
white flag his left rear tire went down allowing VanderBeek to catch up and
make the pass down the back straightaway for the victory. Gustin was able to
limp across in second thinking about what might have been an opening night
victory. Steve Stewart, Steven Blattler and Alison Quick round out the top
five.
In
the Stock Car main VanderBeek slid past leader Bobby Greiner Jr. mid-race and
then cruised to victory. It is funny to see how these two drivers have swapped
roles in the eyes of the Osky fans. Not so long ago it was Greiner who was the
“villain” who would hear some “boos” as he made one of his many visits to
victory lane, while the crowd went wild when young Zack would beat him. Now the
bulk of the crowd cheered on Bobby Wednesday night before “welcoming”
VanderBeek into victory lane with a few cat-calls. Oh well, that’s what I love
about weekly racing! Every track needs its heroes and its villains, but just
remember that in most cases the “villain” is just the hero who wins more often.
It
was good to see Wade Francis pick up the win in the Hobby Stock feature and he
could be tough to match in the point chase here this year. One of the things
that I love about Osky’s Wednesday night program is that you just never know
who might show up. Along with Quick and Lundry whom I mentioned before, Jesse
Dennis pulled his Modified in from Prescott and Jon Snyder brought his
beautiful #69 Mod down from Ames. My next scheduled visit to Osky will be on
May 16th when the Late Models will be in action along with the
regular classes.
Friday
night reminded me how much I love to watch the races at the Bloomfield
Speedway. It has been a few years since I have made this relatively short trip
west and with a fast and multi-grooved racetrack there was plenty of action on
opening night featuring the USMTS Modifieds. Kelly Shryock continued his
domination of this series by taking the feature win, but only after Al Hejna,
who had passed Shryock for the lead with twenty laps to go, pulled to the
infield with mechanical issues just five laps from the checkers. Richie Gustin
finished second by getting past Jason Hughes on the final lap. Hughes had made
an amazing run back to the front after being penalized to the rear of the field
for contact that sent Dean Mahlstedt for a spin early in the race. Michael Long
continues to impress coming from fourteenth to finish fourth while Mark
Burgtorf, who started thirteenth, took fifth.
The
Modified field was strong from top to bottom with thirty-eight cars on hand. Chase
Allen made the long trip north from Texas, but fell short of qualifying for the
A-Main and Mark Noble had his night cut short when he sensed his engine seizing
up while leading his heat race.
The
Stock Car feature was unbelievable as the field ran three and four wide
throughout the fifteen-lap distance, and in fact on lap seven they were racing
four-wide for the lead through turn two. Mike Robinson waited patiently for
racing room behind that foursome and finally found it with three laps to go to
take the lead and the eventual victory. Zack VanderBeek started twelfth and
finished second with Michael McClure, Shane Weller and Tyler McClure completing
the top five. The Hobby Stock feature saw a photo finish as Jim Sulser chased
down Todd Reitzler to nip the race-long leader by inches at the finish line.
Late Models and 305 Sprints can be found at Bloomfield over the next couple of
weeks so check the schedule and make a visit.
Race
number three for the week never got a chance to take the green as a persistent
line of showers washed away the show in Quincy Sunday night. The FASTRAK Crate
Late Models were scheduled to run for a $1,000-to-win and I believe that I
counted seventeen of them as I walked through the pits before the rains came.
St. Louis area drivers Ed Dixon, Mike Hammerle and Bert Cheatham were some of
the names I recognized as well as Darin Walker. Hopefully another date can be
found to bring the Crates back into Quincy later in the season.
I
noticed that Ramo Stott was listed in the B-Modified results in Memphis,
Missouri. I wonder if it was a one-night showing only or if the Keokuk legend
is coming back to race on a regular basis? Congratulations to Curt Hook of
Ackley who made the step up from Hobby Stocks to Stock Cars in style by winning
the feature at Webster City Saturday night.
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