I know that I have used this story line before and if I ever find it in the archives I will link it here, but you should never get up and leave until the final checkered flag waves at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton. That was the case again on Thursday when the second night of the IMCA Frostbuster mini series rolled in to town with a full field on hand to compete on a race track that was prepared about as damn close to perfect as you would ever see. And this is in an area where there was still snow in the ditches as I drove into town! Don Burkey and his track prep crew along with promoter Mick Trier, race director Mike Van Genderen and the entire BCS Team should be recognized for their efforts and while I usually give a tip of the hat to these folks when summing up a "Back Stretch", they all deserve lead paragraph recognition for this one.
The Modified feature topped off the night with twenty-four cars lined up for twenty-five laps of racing and there was plenty of action in turns one and two on the opening lap. Third starting Tyler Droste drove hard to the bottom in turn one and then slid up the track in turn two leading for a split second before the front row of Cory Wray and Kyle Brown zipped back around him. Wray the pole-sitter was actually fourth for a split second, but would come back to lead the field on lap number one. The caution would then wave as Droste went over the top of turn two putting one of the pre-race favorites to the back of the pack.
On the restart Hunter Marriott made his move to the front with Cayden Carter and Kyle Brown in hot pursuit. Both challengers appeared to have the speed to challenge the leader, but they were wrapped up in their own battle racing side-by-side much of the time before the caution waved again on lap ten for a Dan Menk spin in turn two. One lap after the restart Droste's frustrating night came to an end when he shelled the driveshaft out of his Modified and just one more lap would be scored before Nate Hughes spun in turn two.
The race looked the same going back to green, although Richie Gustin was now sticking his nose into the mix battling Brown and Carter for second and after a few laps Marriott had opened up a bit of a lead over Carter who was now established in second, and Gustin who was still chasing in third. With the laps winding down the lapped traffic was minimal and Marriott appeared to be in control with at least five car-lengths on Carter and that prompted some of the crowd to start scurrying out of the stands. I'll even admit that I was gathering my belongings and getting ready to make a quick exit, but as the white flag waved there was Carter driving to the inside of Marriott heading into turn one. The two young stars raced wheel-to-wheel through one and two and it was Carter with the bite down the back stretch to take the lead and soon the win in another thriller at Vinton. Gustin finished third, but I was later told that he had been disqualified for "an illegal box" so that moved Brown up to third at the pay window while Joel Rust would be credited with fourth.
Damon Murty drew the pole position for the twenty-lap Stock Car feature and as the winningest driver ever at Vinton that pretty much sealed the deal. Damon had to work for it though as Kody Scholpp quickly moved to second and was applying the pressure on the leader only to have something go awry in the motor on lap fourteen. It was a rough two nights for the young Canadian as he ended up on his side during a multi-car pileup the night before in Donnellson. A caution with five laps remaining gave Todd Reitzler a shot at repeating his performance the night before where he passed Murty late for the win, but that would not happen here as the "Chelsea Charger" soon celebrated in a victory lane that, at this rate, may someday be named after him. Reitzler was second, Brian Mahlstedt finished third but failed tech inspection with carburetor issues allowing Steve Meyer and Jay Schmidt to claim third and fourth.
The twenty-lap Sport Mod headliner had a tough time getting started with five cautions waving in the first three scored laps of racing. Once underway though the fans were treated to great high/low battle for the lead between Arie Schouten and Jonathan Logue. Shouten riding the cushion would lead those first three laps before the low side favored Logue who nosed ahead on lap four. Schouten came back to lead lap five before Logue was back in front again the next lap and then Schouten went back out front on lap seven. On the next lap Schouten entered turn one a little too high though and slipped over the top of the banking handing the lead back over to Logue and dropping him back to fifth in the process.
Now it looked like this would be Logue's race even though he had Joey Schaefer in hot pursuit and as the white flag waved Logue suddenly slowed and pulled to the high side. At first it looked like he had mistaken the white for the checkers as he drove around the high side at half throttle for the final lap, then just past the checkers he spun into the infield. The scent of rear end grease filled the air but after getting out to look Logue told an official that the steering had broke, but regardless it was Schaefer who took the win ahead of Tyler Soppe, Sam Wieben, Joe Docekal and Ethan Braaksma. It was another big run for Soppe, the defending IMCA National Champion, as he started the race from fifteenth.
The Hobby Stock main event was a good one as well featuring some good ol' fashioned bumpin' and bangin' between the leaders as they battled for the victory. Bradley Graham would lead until lap six, but Eric Stanton was on the charge after starting eleventh and he would take the point from there. Bryce Sommerfeld was racing hard in third when he spun on lap nine and at the same time the motor let go on Jeremy Purdy's car leaving a streak of oil all the way from the end of the Back Stretch through the top side of turn four. The clean up process took quite some time, the only break in the action during the night, and once back to green David Rieks came a calling on the leader. Rieks squeezed under Stanton in turn four to take the lead with five laps to go, but Stanton fought back and the two traded plenty of paint and made the sparks fly as they wrestled for the win. Stanton would pull back out front on lap twelve and while Rieks was right on his bumper the final three laps he raced him clean as Stanton took the win. For me at least it was great to see two drivers fight this hard for the win but not wreck each other, something that is usually not the case in the so-called higher levels of our sport.
Justin Wacha finished in the third spot, Graham was fourth and Matt Pohlman rounded out the top five.
The Micro Mods were on the card as well with a solid car count that included a couple of the best Mod Lite drivers from central Iowa. I assumed that the Mod Lites would dominate, but man oh man was I wrong. These little Micro Mods flat out fly around this tacky quarter-mile and Waukon's Chad Dugan made a final lap pass to take the win. Dallon Murty rallied to finish second as race long leader Derek Knutsen settled for third.
Announcers Jeff Kropf and Ryan Clark kept the crowd informed and entertained throughout the night and a big thanks to Ryan for the Positively Racing mention.
Tonight's Frostbuster at the Marshalltown Speedway has been canceled, but Toby Kruse will come back next week with two nights of racing dubbed the Twin Highbanks Hustle with racing on both Thursday and Friday April 19th and 20th.
The Deery Brothers Summer Series opener at the Davenport Speedway for tonight has been canceled and a makeup date is being considered.
The regular season opener at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson for tonight has been canceled.
As of now the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars at the Jacksonville Speedway is still on. Road trip?
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