Toland, Lasoski, Abelson, Kaeding, Olson, Drueke, Murty, Nielsen and Abbott Are Champions In the 50th Year of the All Iowa Points

Four drivers repeated, one driver returned to the top and four drivers, including the first female ever, claimed their first championships during the 50th year of the All Iowa Points in 2016.

Rob Toland - Barry Johnson photo

Rob Toland is now a four-time All Iowa Points Late Model champion following a successful return to racing in 2016 that saw him also earn the IMCA Late Model National Championship. Toland’s previous All Iowa Points titles came in 2004, 2006 and 2007. This season the Quad City area veteran tallied ten feature wins within a division best 35 top-five finishes and he outdistanced runner-up Luke Goedert by 15 points. Goedert had twelve feature wins on the season to go along with 30 top-fives while third-ranked Joel Callahan captured nine checkered flags. Veteran driver Darrel DeFrance was in contention until late in the season as he dropped to fourth while the new Crate division at Donnellson revived Tommy Elston's career in the class where he rallied late for fifth. Tyler Droste finished sixth as he looks ahead to perhaps being the first third generation AIP champion. His grandfather Red Droste was the first AIP Late Model champion in 1967 and Tyler's father Steve Droste was the Modified champ in 1996. Three-time defending AIP Late Model champion Justin Kay did not race full-time in 2016, but still put together an 8th-place season that included eleven feature wins. Jake Neal of Omaha was the top newcomer to the class winning seven features and ranking 15th in the final standings.

Chris Abelson - Barry Johnson photo

After a bit of a slow start Chris Abelson returned to form and posted his third straight All Iowa Points Modified championship. With 58 top-five finishes that included 35 feature wins, Abelson scored the most points of any driver in any division during 2016 yet somehow still came up short of his second straight IMCA Modified National title. It has been an amazing five year run for the Sioux City driver who ranked 7th in 2012 before taking the runner-up position behind Jesse Sobbing in 2013. Fellow Sioux City area driver Ricky Stephan had a stellar season as well ranking second to Abelson in the final standings on the strength of five wins and 51 top-five finishes. Kelly Shryock, Kyle Brown and Ricky Thornton Jr. were all leaders in the standings at some point through the first two months of the season and that would be how they ranked, third through fifth in the final rundown. Tim Ward joins Thornton as another transplanted Arizona driver to make the top ten. A graduate of the Sport Mod ranks, Bryce Garnhart of Shannon, Illinois, was the best newcomer to the division winning a feature race and ranking 42nd in the final standings.

Tony Olson - Barry Johnson photo

They finished one-two in the IMCA National standings and it was the same result in the final All Iowa Points list for Limited Modifieds as Tony Olson edged out Tyler Soppe by just three points to earn his second straight AIP championship. Soppe had one more top-five finish than did Olson with 55, but it was Olson with the advantage in feature wins 30 to Soppe’s 28 that made the difference. Olson joins Ed Green, Kevin Sather and Jesse Sobbing (twice) as drivers to repeat as the champion of the division that has been tracked since the year 2000 with a list of champions that includes a NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie-of-the-Year in Brett Moffitt. Last year's runner-up Doug Smith finished third in 2016 with the 2014 AIP champion Clint Luellen in fourth. Omaha driver Ryan Jenkins made a big jump to join the top-five while Beatrice, Nebraska, native Adam Armstrong was the top newcomer to the division in 36th.



Damon Murty - Barry Johnson photo

It was close, but Damon Murty of Chelsea held on for his fourth straight All Iowa Points Stock Car championship in 2016. Once again Murty’s stats were impressive as he won 21 features as part of his 44 top-five finishes, but what can you say about the AIP runner-up? Mike Nichols of Harlan captured yet another IMCA National title winning more than 60 features along the way, but with many of them being on tracks in Nebraska and Kansas, beyond the All Iowa Points "other states" scope, Nichols came up just four points shy of capturing his first All Iowa Points title. Thirty-one of his wins came on AIP points paying tracks, but he had six fewer top-fives than did Murty which made the difference. Granada, Minnesota, driver Derek Green was in contention until the very end as well as his 16 feature wins and 42 top-fives left him just 13 points shy of a championship in third. Jerry Miles of Dubuque wound up fourth ahead of two of the racing Smith brothers from Lake City, David and Donavon. You have to go down to the 62nd position on the list to find this year's best newcomer to the division, Quincy Raceways regular Brian Hoener who scored points in the Stock Car class for the first time this year after stepping up when the Hobby Stock class was discontinued there a few years back.

Cody Neilsen - Special thanks to Taylor Brook Photography for providing this photo

The Hobby Stock race was the closest in 2016 and with a couple of late wins at Spencer and Jackson Cody Nielsen edged out four-time and defending champion Shannon Anderson by just two points. This is Neilsen’s first All Iowa Points title and it took him 22 feature wins and 50 top-five finishes to earn it. Anderson had another fantastic season with 24 wins and 47 top-five placings. Minnesota driver Justin Luinenberg finished in third while South Dakota resident Dustin Gulbrandson was fourth. Des Moines driver John Watson was fifth and 2014 champion Dustin Griffiths was ninth. David City, Nebraska, driver Damon Richards was the best newcomer to the class ranking 38th.

Kimberly Abbott - Thanks to Dennis Krieger Photography

The battle for the top of the Four Cylinder list was a tight one as at least six drivers were still in serious contention for the championship entering the "specials" season and it would be Kimberly Abbott who would make history as the first female All Iowa Points champion. Abbott, who in 2015 was the first female driver to win track championships at three different tracks, added the AIP title to that list in 2016 with a late season push that saw her win eight features against fields of ten or more cars with the last of those coming on October 22nd at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis. Defending champion Jay DeVries would be the 2016 runner-up as he captured four feature wins against fields of ten or more in the only AIP division that changes the point scale based upon car counts under ten. Brandon Setser of Davenport held the point lead in late August before he switched to the Street stock division and his point total still held up to finish third ahead of Tyler Thompson and IMCA Super Nationals champion Josh Barnes. The best newcomer to the division, Denny Berghahn Jr. was close behind in sixth.



Danny Lasoski - Barry Johnson photo

All three Sprint Car divisions saw close battles in 2016 with two drivers putting their name in the record book for the first time as an All Iowa Points champion. For the second year in a row veteran driver Danny Lasoski is the 410 champion now giving him a total of seven AIP titles going all the way back to his first one in 1986. In an unexpected announcement this week though, the 57-year-old Lasoski was released from the Big Game Motorsports team despite his six wins and twenty top-five finishes this season. Lasoski’s nephew Brian Brown was the runner-up with four wins and 18 top-fives to his credit with Craig Dollansky and Ian Madsen next in line. The driver who will replace Lasoski for 2017, Kerry Madsen finished in a tie for fifth with twelve-time AIP champion Terry McCarl. The top newcomer to the 410 points for 2016 was Texan Aaron Reutzel who ranked 25th.

Tim Kaeding - Barry Johnson photo

California driver Tim Kaeding enjoyed a great racing season in the Midwest as his Sioux Falls based team essentially stayed home and raced two nights a week at the Badlands Motor Speedway, Saturdays with the 410 and Sundays with the 360. Kaeding ranked eighth in the AIP 410 standings this year and he is the 2016 All Iowa Points champion in the 360 division scoring six wins in 18 top-five finishes. "TK" edged out two-time champion Clint Garner by just five points as this Sioux Falls driver spent his Saturday nights at Knoxville where he was the track champion winning seven races among 16 top-five finishes. Eighteen-year-old Chris Martin, the 2016 Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders champion, ranked third in the standings with five feature wins to his credit. Ian Madsen was fourth and three-time champ Jack Dover was fifth. Burlington driver Cody Wehrle was the best newcomer to the division ranked in 44th.

Tyler Drueke - Barry Johnson photo

Tyler Drueke from Eagle keeps the All Iowa Points 305 Sprint Car title in the state of Nebraska for the fourth year in a row as he claimed his first crown with six wins and 17 top-fives. Jason Martin was just six points back in second with three wins on the year while Robby Wolfgang was third. He had six wins in 2016. Christian Bowman was the best of the Iowa drivers in fourth while two-time defending champion Clint Benson completed the top five. Elliott Amdahl from Flandreau, South Dakota, was the top newcomer to the division in the 12th position.

For a full rundown of the All Iowa Points in all nine divisions visit the Points page at Positively Racing.

50 Years of Champions for the two divisions that have been tracked since 1967

Year	Late Model	Sprint Cars
2016	Rob Toland, Hillsdale IL	Danny Lasoski, Dover MO
2015	Justin Kay, Wheatland	Danny Lasoski, Dover MO
2014	Justin Kay, Wheatland	Terry McCarl, Des Moines
2013	Justin Kay, Wheatland	Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks ND
2012	Ray Guss Jr., Milan IL	Terry McCarl, Des Moines
2011	Ray Guss Jr., Milan IL	Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks ND
2010	Ray Guss Jr., Milan IL	Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks ND
2009	Ray Guss Jr., Milan IL	Terry McCarl, Des Moines
2008	Brian Harris, Davenport	Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks ND
2007	Rob Toland, Hillsdale IL	Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks ND
2006	Rob Toland, Hillsdale IL	Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks ND
2005	Terry Neal, Ely	Wayne Johnson, Oklahoma City OK
2004	Rob Toland, Hillsdale IL	Terry McCarl, Des Moines
2003	Jeff Aikey, Cedar Falls	Terry McCarl, Des Moines
2002	Denny Eckrich, Coralville	Terry McCarl, Des Moines
2001	Denny Eckrich, Coralville	Terry McCarl, Des Moines
2000	Gary Webb, Davenport	Terry McCarl, Des Moines
1999	Chris Smyser, Lancaster MO	Terry McCarl, Des Moines
1998	Steve Boley, West Liberty	Terry McCarl, Des Moines
1997	Gary Webb, Davenport	Skip Jackson, Sydney AUS
1996	Gary Webb, Davenport	Terry McCarl, Des Moines
1995	Gary Webb, Davenport	Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque NM
1994	Gary Webb, Davenport	Terry McCarl, Des Moines
1993	Gary Webb, Davenport	Danny Lasoski, Dover MO
1992	Joe Kosiski, Omaha NE	Danny Lasoski, Dover MO
1991	Ray Guss Jr., Milan IL	Randy Smith, Mount Ayr
1990	Ray Guss Jr., Milan IL	Danny Lasoski, Dover MO
1989	Ray Guss Jr., Milan IL	Randy Smith, Mount Ayr
1988	Rollie Frink, Davenport	Randy Smith, Mount Ayr
1987	Roger Dolan, Lisbon	Danny Lasoski, Dover MO
1986	Dale Fischlein, Davenport	Danny Lasoski, Dover MO
1985	Roger Dolan, Lisbon	Randy Smith, Mount Ayr
1984	Ken Walton, Viola	Rocky Hodges, Des Moines
1983	Ed Sanger, Waterloo	Randy Smith, Mount Ayr
1982	Tom Hearst, Wilton	Tim Green, Carmichael CA
1981	Gary Webb, Davenport	Tim Green, Carmichael CA
1980	Gary Webb, Davenport	John Stevenson, St. Paul MN
1979	Dick Schiltz, Waterloo	Randy Smith, Mount Ayr
1978	Curt Hansen, Dike	Shane Carson, Oklahoma City OK
1977	Curt Hansen, Dike	Doug Wolfgang, Sioux Falls SD
1976	Ed Sanger, Waterloo	Doug Wolfgang, Sioux Falls SD
1975	Ed Sanger, Waterloo	Roger Rager, Mound MN
1974	Curt Hansen, Dike	Dick Sutcliffe, Kansas City MO
1973	Ed Sanger, Waterloo	Roger Larson, Sioux Falls SD
1972	Ed Sanger, Waterloo	Sonny Smyser, Lancaster MO
1971	Ed Sanger, Waterloo	Sonny Smyser, Lancaster MO
1970	Ed Sanger, Waterloo	Joe Saldana, Lincoln NE
1969	Ed Sanger, Waterloo	Gary "Bosco" Roberts, Lancaster MO
1968	Verlin Eaker, Cedar Rapids	Jerry Blundy, Dahinda IL
1967	Red Droste, Waterloo	Ron Jackson, Burlington