Thursday Notebook: June 23, 2016

A great shot from Barry Johnson at the track that he grew up at, the Iowa State Fair Speedway

The heat and humidity might just be one of the factors, but there are many more at play when it comes to the short car counts that we have seen at the majority of the tracks in our area recently. Does anybody get the sense that we perhaps just have too much racing for the number of drivers that are active in the area? Don't get me wrong, there are still a BUNCH of race car drivers here in the Midwest, but just not as many as there was a few years ago when just about every possible race track sprung to life and while two tracks in Iowa have already shut down their weekly operations, let me remind you that these are two tracks that recently "came back" after being closed previously.



Chris Martin at speed on a Wednesday night in Des Moines - Barry Johnson photo

Our car count with the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders was down in Des Moines last night with fourteen in attendance and that would have been fifteen if Harold Pohren would not have experienced tow vehicle issues enroute. I actually met him headed the other direction near Fairfield and I spent the next ten miles trying to find out if the show had been rained out or not. Nearly all of the regulars were on hand, but we are not getting the six to eight drop ins that normally brings us over the twenty mark due to so many other Sprint Car events going on in the region. I made note of it before that while Sprint Car fans have to be thrilled with all of the new opportunities to watch their favorites, it just might become too much of a good thing.

Chris Martin

Using the two sets of heat races format the Invaders put on another solid program last night with young Chris Martin taking the win in front of his hometown fans. This kid seems to get faster each night out and his confidence level is definitely growing. Last night not only did he win his first heat from the pole position, but he backed it up with another win in the second set of heats after starting seventh. It was also great to see Mike Houseman Jr. in victory lane taking the win in the Racesaver 305 division. Houseman is a former regular with the Sprint Invaders, but as a budget racer it just makes sense for him to stick close to home and run weekly in Des Moines.

The Invaders will now take a few weeks off before coming back with a pair of fun county fair races in July, Thursday the 14th at the Cedar County Fair in Tipton and Tuesday the 26th at the Dubuque County Fair where they are so excited to have the Sprint Cars back that it will pay a healthy $2,000-to-win, a fantastic purse for the 360 division.

Mike Houseman Jr.

The full story and results from Des Moines can be found here courtesy of Bill Wright at OpenWheel101.

My wife and I are making a little road trip to visit our daughter in Michigan this weekend so the next two nights I will be taking in some Late Model racing, first at a track that I haven't been to in a couple of years and the second will become the first dirt track that I have ever been to in Michigan. The problem is that I will have little time leftover to write about either show until early next week, so in the meantime get out there and enjoy some racing at the track of your choice and, who knows, I might just see you on the Back Stretch!

Mike Houseman Jr. went flag-to-flag for a $1,000 win in the Racesaver 305 division in Des Moines Wednesday night - Barry Johnson photo

		The "Back Stretch"
		Dirt Late Model Points
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Jonathan Davenport	Blairsville GA	126
2	.	Josh Richards	Shinnston WV	123
3	.	Scott Bloomquist	Mooresburg TN	117
4	.	Shane Clanton	Locust Grove GA	63
5	.	Bobby Pierce	Oakwood IL	57
6	.	Chris Madden	Gray Court SC	57
7	.	Brandon Sheppard	New Berlin IL	54
8	.	Dennis Erb Jr.	Carpentersville IL	49
9	.	Jared Landers	Batesville AR	49
10	.	Mike Marlar	Winfield TN	49
11	.	Dale McDowell	Chickamauga GA	48
12	.	Brian Shirley	Chatham IL	44
13	.	Darrell Lanigan	Union KY	44
14	.	Jimmy Owens	Newport TN	43
15	.	Don O'Neal	Martinsville IN	39
16	.	Tim McCreadie	Watertown NY	37
17	.	Donald McIntosh	Dawsonville GA	32
18	.	Gregg Satterlee	Rochester Mills PA	31
19	.	Billy Moyer	Batesville AR	29
20	.	Casey Roberts	Toccoa GA	26
21	.	Billy Moyer Jr.	Batesville AR	25
22	.	Chris Simpson	Marion IA	25
23	.	Rick Eckert	York PA	25
24	.	Brandon Overton	Appling GA	24
25	.	Devin Moran	Dresden OH	24
26	.	Frank Heckenast Jr.	Orland Park IL	24
27	.	Tony Jackson Jr.	Lebanon MO	24
28	.	Earl Pearson Jr.	Jacksonville FL	23
29	.	Steve Francis	Ashland KY	23
30	.	Eddie Carrier Jr.	Salt Rock WV	22
31	.	Chris Ferguson	Mount Holly NC	21
32	.	Mark Whitener	Middleburg FL	20
33	.	Jason Covert	York Haven PA	19
34	.	Willie Milliken	Leland NC	19
35	.	Kyle Bronson	Brandon FL	18
36	.	Riley Hickman	Ooletwah TN	18
37	.	Ross Bailes	Clover SC	17
38	.	Tim Dohm	Cross Lanes WV	17
39	.	Tyler Carpenter	Parkersburg WV	17
40	.	Cory Hedgecock	Louden TN	16
41	.	Jesse Stovall	Galena MO	16
42	.	Jason Krohn	Slayton MN	15
43	.	Max Blair	Centerville PA	15
44	.	Dale Hollidge	Mechanicsville MD	14
45	.	Ricky Thornton Jr.	Chandler AZ	14
46	.	Dona Marcoullier	Houghton Lake MI	13
47	.	Jason Hiett	Lincoln AL	13
48	.	Ronny Lee Hollingsworth	Northport AL	13
49	.	Ryan Unzicker	El Paso IL	13
50	.	David Watts	Buckhannon	12
51	.	Jared Miley	South Park PA	12
52	.	Jimmy Mars	Elk Mound WI	12
53	.	Kyle Beard	Trumann AR	12
54	.	Randy Weaver	Crossville TN	12
55	.	Devin Dixon	Apollo Beach FL	11
56	.	Doug Drown	Wooster OH	11
57	.	Freddie Carpenter	Parkersburg WV	11
58	.	Terry Phillips	Springfield MO	11
59	.	Tyler Crowder	Tallahassee FL	11
60	.	A.J. Diemel	Navarino WI	10
61	.	Donald Bradsher	Burlington NC	10
62	.	Jason Feger	Bloomington IL	10
63	.	Johnny Pursley	Clover SC	10
64	.	Justin Kay	Wheatland IA	10
65	.	Greg Johnson	Bedford IN	9
66	.	Jackie Boggs	Grayson KY	9
67	.	Jeff Provinzino	Hibbing MN	9
68	.	McKay Wenger	Fairbury IL	9
69	.	Rusty Schlenk	Jackson MI	9
70	.	Ryan Gustin	Marshalltown IA	9
71	.	Tanner English	Benton KY	9
72	.	Bub McCool	Vicksburg MS	8
73	.	Corey Conley	Wellsburg WV	8
74	.	Dan Tipton		8
75	.	Dennis Franklin	Gaffney SC	8
76	.	Don Shaw	Ham Lake MN	8
77	.	Jake Redetzke	Eau Claire WI	8
78	.	Jason Papich	Santa Maria CA	8
79	.	Jeff Rine	Danville PA	8
80	.	Kevin Weaver	Gibson City IL	8
81	.	Mason Zeigler	Chalk Hill PA	8
82	.	Rich Bell	Sheffield IL	8
83	.	Rodney Sanders	Happy TX	8
84	.	Scott Ward	Watertown SD	8
85	.	Shannon Babb	Mowequa IL	8
86	.	Shaun Harrell	Raeford NC	8
87	.	Steve Casebolt	Richmond IN	8
88	.	Aaron Marrant	Orrick MO	7
89	.	Chad Zobrist	Highland IL	7
90	.	Chub Frank	Sugar Grove PA	7
91	.	Clint Smith	Senoia GA	7
92	.	Daulton Wilson	Fayetteville NC	7
93	.	David Brannon	Elora TN	7
94	.	Eric Spangler	Lake City MI	7
95	.	Joel Callahan	Dubuque IA	7
96	.	Michael Kloos	Trenton IL	7
97	.	Ricky Weiss	Winnipeg MAN	7
98	.	Russell Erwin	Beaverdam VA	7
99	.	Ryan VanderVeen	Six Lakes MI	7
100	.	T.J. Reaid	Acworth GA	7
101	.	Zack Dohm	Cross Lanes WV	7