Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Tuesday Notebook: October 18, 2016

We had a record high temperature of 89 degrees in Mount Pleasant yesterday and today it has "cooled" down to the mid-70's. Definitely doesn't feel like we are at the end of the racing season! The dry weather is supposed to stick around through this weekend with more seasonal temperatures that will make me pull the cold weather gear out for Friday night at Memphis, Missouri, and perhaps on Sunday as well at the Dells Motor Speedway.

One quick note for those of you who may not have checked the Specials calendar since Sue was able to update it, the Jason Leffler Memorial race at the Wayne County Speedway in Illinois is coming up this Thursday night, October 20th with a whopping $20,000 up for grabs in the USAC and POWRi sanctioned midget race. It had originally been scheduled for Friday night, but the date was changed to allowed for the NASCAR drivers such as Kyle Larson, Rico Abreu and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to compete.

Earlier this season we noted here that Jeff James of Stanton, Iowa, had won the IMCA Modified feature down at the Tri-State Speedway in Pocola, Oklahoma. Well he did it again this past weekend during the track's annual Spooker special topping a strong field including former IMCA Super Nationals champion Jeff Taylor who finished in second. James' teammate Todd Van Eaton posted an impressive fourth-place finish.

The weather was near perfect for three nights of racing during the USRA Nationals at the Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City where Minnesota driver Lucas Schott captured the headlining Modified main event and a $3,600 paycheck. Schott also won the Grant Junghans Memorial here two weeks earlier.

Brandon Sheppard passed Josh Richards on lap 77 and then completed the final 23 circuits to win the Dirt Track World Championship at Portsmouth Raceway Park. The win was worth a cool $100,000 for the 23-year-old driver from New Berlin, Illinois, and bumps him up the chart a bit on the Back Stretch National Dirt Late Model Hot 100 list at the end of this post. The mega-event was also the final race for the 2016 Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series and with his 11th place finish Scott Bloomquist wrapped up his third LODLMS title.

I have to admit that when I first received this press release last week titled "Knoxville Raceway, Badlands Motor Speedway and Jackson Motorplex Working Together in 2017" my heart jumped in hope that we would go back to where nobody would be racing against the other on any given night. Instead this just clarifies that each have agreed to not compete against each other during their "high profile" events in 2017. Oh well, I guess that's a start.

Speaking of Sprint Cars, I wondered what might become of the Des Moines area drivers who had committed to the IMCA Racesaver 305 rules package with the demise of the Iowa State Fair Speedway and now we might have an answer. The Boone Speedway held a meeting for the Racesaver drivers this past Sunday and given this discussion on the Hoseheads forum it would appear that the track will be adding the division to its weekly show in 2017. The Racesavers have been very successful after replacing the 360 class at the Eagle Raceway in 2013 and the quarter-mile high-banked layout at Boone is much the same as Eagle that is located ten miles east of Lincoln, Nebraska. The difference of course was that Des Moines raced on Friday's and would draw over a few of the Eagle Raceway regulars while Boone races on Saturday; the same night as Eagle, and as Knoxville that runs a different set of rules for their 305 division. If and when it becomes official, this would be an interesting addition to the Boone Speedway and one that I know that our own Joyce Eisele will be very excited about!

I never thought that I would see the day, but in all fairness I have to mention it here. Somebody bitching on an internet forum actually produced a positive outcome! It happened in this thread from the iowastockcars dirt racing forum where the promotion of the upcoming Memphis Fall Nationals suddenly turned into a discussion of what the Lee County Late Models were set to be paid in their "one night only" appearance on Saturday. Even though I have nothing to do with the show, other than the fact that I plan to attend it on Friday night, I tried to provide some explanation that fell upon deaf ears and when 96late, or Terry Kroemer, continued to press the issue in a well expressed manner Curt Marks from Dubuque Moving & Storage stepped up with some sponsorship money to boost the Late Model winner's pay from $500 to $1,000 on Saturday night. A pretty cool response from Marks who is a Late Model racer himself, although I hope that this doesn't lead the AWP's of the world to believe that all they have to do is bitch in order to get what they want. Oh wait, that's what they already think, isn't it? Just don't promise to have them on the track before 9 p.m. Mike!

That's all for today, make your plans now to attend a race this weekend!

The "Back Stretch"
Dirt Late Model Points
Pos. Driver Hometown Points
1 . Josh Richards Shinnston WV 249
2 . Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg TN 244
3 . Jonathan Davenport Blairsville GA 218
4 . Bobby Pierce Oakwood IL 188
5 . Shane Clanton Locust Grove GA 148
6 . Dennis Erb Jr. Carpentersville IL 128
7 . Brandon Sheppard New Berlin IL 121
8 . Billy Moyer Batesville AR 116
9 . Don O'Neal Martinsville IN 112
10 . Dale McDowell Chickamauga GA 106
11 . Tim McCreadie Watertown NY 98
12 . Chris Madden Gray Court SC 84
13 . Earl Pearson Jr. Jacksonville FL 80
14 . Jared Landers Batesville AR 77
15 . Brian Shirley Chatham IL 74
16 . Gregg Satterlee Rochester Mills PA 71
17 . Jimmy Owens Newport TN 71
18 . Darrell Lanigan Union KY 70
19 . Rick Eckert York PA 67
20 . Mike Marlar Winfield TN 66
21 . Devin Moran Dresden OH 63
22 . Brandon Overton Appling GA 59
23 . Billy Moyer Jr. Batesville AR 57
24 . Chris Simpson Marion IA 54
25 . Ryan Unzicker El Paso IL 54
26 . Jason Feger Bloomington IL 53
27 . Jimmy Mars Elk Mound WI 53
28 . Casey Roberts Toccoa GA 51
29 . Donald McIntosh Dawsonville GA 51
30 . Max Blair Centerville PA 51
31 . Jackie Boggs Grayson KY 50
32 . Jesse Stovall Galena MO 49
33 . Tyler Carpenter Parkersburg WV 46
34 . Willie Milliken Leland NC 43
35 . Jason Covert York Haven PA 41
36 . Chris Ferguson Mount Holly NC 36
37 . Johnny Pursley Clover SC 36
38 . Dale Hollidge Mechanicsville MD 35
39 . Frank Heckenast Jr. Orland Park IL 35
40 . Terry Phillips Springfield MO 35
41 . Shannon Babb Mowequa IL 34
42 . Steve Francis Ashland KY 33
43 . Mark Whitener Middleburg FL 32
44 . Doug Drown Wooster OH 31
45 . Eddie Carrier Jr. Salt Rock WV 31
46 . Eric Wells Hazard KY 31
47 . Riley Hickman Ooletwah TN 31
48 . Rusty Schlenk Jackson MI 31
49 . Dona Marcoullier Houghton Lake MI 30
50 . Devin Gilpin Columbus IN 29
51 . Kyle Bronson Brandon FL 29
52 . Tim Dohm Cross Lanes WV 29
53 . Dave Hess Jr. Waterford PA 28
54 . Don Shaw Ham Lake MN 28
55 . Dennis Franklin Gaffney SC 27
56 . Jake Redetzke Eau Claire WI 27
57 . Jason Hiett Lincoln AL 27
58 . Kevin Weaver Gibson City IL 27
59 . Russell Erwin Beaverdam VA 27
60 . Corey Conley Wellsburg WV 25
61 . Greg Johnson Bedford IN 25
62 . Ross Bailes Clover SC 25
63 . Tyler Erb Magnolia TX 25
64 . Jared Miley South Park PA 24
65 . Mason Zeigler Chalk Hill PA 24
66 . Tony Jackson Jr. Lebanon MO 24
67 . Justin Kay Wheatland IA 23
68 . Ricky Weiss Winnipeg MAN 23
69 . Cory Hedgecock Louden TN 22
70 . Dustin Strand Grand Forks ND 22
71 . Eric Spangler Lake City MI 22
72 . Michael Lake Uniontown PA 22
73 . Steve Casebolt Richmond IN 22
74 . Tanner English Benton KY 22
75 . A.J. Diemel Navarino WI 21
76 . Caleb Ashby Cunningham TN 21
77 . Dylan Yoder Selinsgrove PA 21
78 . Freddie Carpenter Parkersburg WV 21
79 . Matt Cosner Ridgely WV 21
80 . David Breazeale Four Corners MS 19
81 . Ryan Gustin Marshalltown IA 19
82 . Scott Ward Watertown SD 19
83 . Darrell Nelson Hermanton MN 18
84 . Donald Bradsher Burlington NC 18
85 . Tim Manville Highland IL 18
86 . Tyler Crowder Tallahassee FL 18
87 . B.J. Robinson Blanchard LA 17
88 . David Payne Murphy NC 17
89 . Josh Putnam Killen AL 17
90 . Michael Chilton Salvisa KY 17
91 . Morgan Bagley Longview TX 17
92 . Rhett Carter Blackshear GA 17
93 . Zack Dohm Cross Lanes WV 17
94 . Chad Holladay Muscatine IA 16
95 . Chad Simpson Marion IA 16
96 . Cody Mahoney Madison IN 16
97 . Devin Dixon Apollo Beach FL 16
98 . Jack Sullivan Greenbriar AR 16
99 . Jason Krohn Slayton MN 16
100 . Kyle Beard Trumann AR 16
101 . Rod Conley Wheelersburg WV 16
102 . Ryan VanderVeen Six Lakes MI 16



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