No races tonight at the Southern Iowa Speedway due to rain, hopefully we can get back up there next Wednesday night.
Some things that you might have missed from this past weekend......
The Route 45 Speedway in Flora, Illinois, has made the bold switch to sanction with the USRA in 2016 right in the heart of UMP country and this past weekend they hosted a $5,000-to-win two day show for the B-Mods titled the "Dealbreaker 50". Robbie Eilers took the checkered flag and apparent victory, but was later disqualified in tech handing the big money over to Iowa's Austin Kaplan. Kansas driver Andy Bryant was paid for second while Decorah's Troy Hovey was third. Route 45's Facebook page later had a comment from Eilers which they appropriately described as "the way a TRUE CHAMPION responds to a disqualification."
"Its what the rules are... we should have spent the extra time making sure things were fully checked... i have all kinds of set up tools for suspension but needless to say my digital valve spring guage will be in wednesday lol thats why i love usra. They will inspect and they will disqualify"
Speaking of USRA, long-time IMCA Modified competitor Todd Shute from Des Moines has turned his attention to both the USMTS and USRA this season and on Friday night Shute was the feature winner over the always stout field at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City. Then, on his way home Saturday, Shute scored a third-place finish at the I-35 Speedway just north of Cameron, Missouri.
Former NASCAR Sprint Cup driver David Reutimann drove a Modified during Cedar Lake Speedway's two-day opening weekend finishing fifth on Friday night and eleventh on Saturday. Reutimann is no stranger to the Modified division as both he and his legendary father Buzzie raced them during Speedweeks in Florida again this year.
Mike Hansen used to call the northwest Iowa town of Alton home, but he now hails from Dickinson, North Dakota. Back in March he was a USRA Modified feature winner at the Humboldt Speedway in Kansas and this past weekend Hansen picked up an IMCA Modified win at the Tri-State Speedway in Pocola, Oklahoma.
The plot has thickened in what should be an interesting year for Sprint Car drivers and fans here in our region. The I-90 Speedway in Hartford, South Dakota, has ceased operations for at least the next three years when its owner Lyle Howey was hired as the Assistant General Manager of Facilities at the Badlands Motor Speedway, formerly Husets Speedway, in nearby Brandon. I-90 has raced weekly for the past several years on Saturday nights and with Badlands adding a weekly Saturday night program to go along with their traditional Sunday night shows, Badlands owner Chuck Brennan approached Howey to ask if he would move to Friday nights. Instead an employment agreement was reached and now the former Sprint Car driver who was the 1995 Rookie-of-the-Year at Husets will be in charge of track prep at Badlands, a track that now has one less track in competition for drivers and fans on Saturday nights.
Sprint Car driver Harli White had a big week as first of all, even though I can't find anything that actually says "wedding", it would appear from the pictures on the Harli White Racing Facebook page that she got married this past weekend. And the only reason that I even stumbled upon that was because I wanted to grab you a link to her press release announcing plans to race in Australia next winter. This tough competitor is a crowd favorite and we wish her nothing but the best!
I have mentioned in the past that I hate complete restarts where nobody gets penalized and I also hate it when a track or series runs two B-Mains. In the event that you disagree, I encourage you to search through past Back Stretch posts to find my full list of reasons for both. Watching the video highlights from Sunday's MLRA Late Model feature at Sedalia, the start of the feature sees pole-sitter Justin Asplin spin in front of the field in turn one with announcer Trenton Berry describing the pile up as a calamity. Cut to the restart and there is Asplin once again on the pole. Now I will admit that when I rewind I can see that Asplin may have been helped around by Randy Timms and, while four or five cars do come to a stop, Asplin was not one of them as he completed the full spin and then continued on. Some tracks and series do have a rule that if multiple cars are involved in a first-lap caution that everybody gets their spot back which I am fine with as long as that multi-car tangle wasn't caused by one guy doing a solo spin in front of everybody. The apparent contact from Timms gives this pole-sitter a pass.
Going through the results from the Eagle Raceway Icebreaker this past weekend I was however very pleased to see that the track ran a C-Feature in a couple of divisions on Friday night rather than splitting the large field into two or, heaven help us, three B's. Good job Roger Hadan and Eagle Raceway! Even more reason why I want to make a trip out for one of your spectacular weekly shows soon.
Bryan Clauson's Circular Insanity Tour had a good weekend that started with a USAC Sprint Car win in Bloomington, Indiana, on Friday night. On Saturday Clauson did double duty at the Knoxville Raceway season opener winning the 360 main event and finishing second to Danny Lasoski in the 410's, then on Sunday he ventured down to Sedalia where he finished fifth on the locked down daytime race track. Clauson will head south for Texas this weekend for the World of Outlaws doubleheader at Devil's Bowl Speedway.
Colfax, Iowa's, Robert Bell is a cult hero in the Sprint Car world and after chasing the full USAC National Sprint Car schedule in 2015 it looks like Bell is using that experience to his advantage as he races a bit closer to home this year. Saturday night at the Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Missouri, Bell finished fifth in the non-wing Sprint Car main event that saw Cody Baker defeat a field of 18 cars. Bell also wheeled a midget that night where he finished fourth out of a field of 19 cars in a race won by Riley Kreisel.
Quincy, Illinois, teenager Jake Griffin won the Late Model feature on the paved high banks at Lebanon's I-44 Speedway in southwest Missouri Saturday night.
There was a huge crowd on hand Saturday night for the 8th Annual Slocum 50 at 34 Raceway near Burlington, Iowa, Saturday night and there was another grandstand packed full of race fans up in Wisconsin the same night as fans came out in droves to remember long-time Late Model racer M.J. McBride at the Shawano Speedway. Nick Anvelink took the win in the headling Late Model division. Nothing better than seeing jam-packed grandstands!
I'm not sure yet what is on tap for me this coming weekend other than I know that I have another commitment on Saturday night. Sprints and midgets in Jacksonville or Super Late Models in Lincoln have me thinking about crossing the river into Illinois on Friday night, but that Saturday commitment will likely keep me closer to home which still gives me plenty of solid weekly shows to choose from. If I don't go racing Friday, then a "crazy" road trip to Atchison, Kansas, or La Crosse might be a possibility. Where are you going this weekend?
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