The 2020 racing season at the Stuart Speedway finally got underway with the track's weekly Wednesday night opener that pulled in 136 cars in five divisions with drivers and their crews practicing social distancing guidelines while fans were encouraged to watch online at RaceRx with the bleachers still closed to spectators. And, with a silky smooth surface that slicked off from bottom to top, this season opener provided racing action that will be hard to beat here as the season continues here at the central Iowa quarter-mile.
A solid field of fourteen Outlaw Mini Mods would be the first feature of the night with pole-sitter Nathan Kilwine who pulled in from Glenville, Minnesota, racing out to a big lead. The caution would wave on lap four for two separate incidents as while Cody Housby smacked the wall on the front stretch, there was also a three-car pileup in turn two with Kenadi Songer taking the brunt of that one. On the restart Kilwine again pulled away from the competition to post the win in dominating fashion while the battle for second went right down to the stripe as Logan Brown edged out Chase Daniels by inches. Dan Kline and Bobby Daniels would fill out the top five.
While Kilwine had his picture taken in victory lane, track owner/promoter Mike VanGenderen roughed up the cushion a bit on both ends of the speedway and, wow, what a difference that would make as drivers who wanted to take the "long way around" now had something to grab onto. In essence, the low groove, the mid-low groove, the mid-high line and the cushion all now seemed to be equal and believe me there was plenty of four-wide racing in the remaining features to prove that!
The IMCA Northern Sport Mods were up next and their eighteen lap feature would get off to a rough start when fourth starting Korbin Nourse would spin in turn one sending the rest of the full field scrambling. When all was said and done six cars were involved with two of them suffering too much damage to continue. On the second try at a start, Robert Moore spun from his now sixth starting spot in turn one and thankfully this time everybody else was able to avoid him. The third time was a charm as pole-sitter Brayton Carter took the lead, but the caution would wave again on lap three when division rookie Zach Hovell spun in turn one.
Once back to green, most of the field followed Carter around the bottom until Cam Reimers decided to check out that newly groomed cushion. On lap seven Reimers swept around Tyler Inman to take second and he was now closing quickly on Carter, but after taking the crossed flags signaling the half way mark Carter spun entering turn one and the caution waved again.
Reimers and Inman would bring the field back to green and let's just say that the remaining nine laps were just about as entertaining of a race for the lead as you are ever going to see. The two young drivers would take turns throwing slide jobs at each other on both ends of the speedway, never once making contact with the other and switching lines back and forth. Officially Reimers led every lap as he would shuffle back to the front each time the two crossed the line, but Inman would also hold the lead at some point during six of those nine laps. As the white flag waved Inman was too far back to slide up in front of the leader in turn two and that allowed Reimers to drive away down the back stretch and through the final two turns to take the thrilling victory. Kudos to Inman for his valiant runner-up effort and just behind them division rookie Corey Madden was ready to pounce if the two leaders ever made contact. The runner-up in the 2019 All Iowa Points Hobby Stock standings would have to settle for third. Garrett Nelson would hold down the fourth spot while Oregon driver Matt Sanders started twelfth and finished in fifth.
Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, here come the Stock Cars for twenty laps and I know that I saw them go five-wide near the front of the pack in the opening laps. Brandon Pruitt, Buck Schafroth and Kellie Drury were three-wide for the lead on lap three when the caution had to wave for a Jeff Byers Jr. spin in turn one and once back to green Pruitt would establish himself as the pace setter digging around the very bottom of the speedway. On lap six the caution waved again, this time when Anthony Goldsberry and Chad Legere tangled in turn one and collected Jonathan Kinser.
On the restart Pruitt would continue to run the low line with Schafroth working the middle and on lap twelve Buck would complete the pass. Damon Murty would soon follow him into second and as Schafroth moved up to the top Murty would now have to leave his preferred line to mount his challenge for the lead. With five laps remaining Murty would throw a slider in turns one and two only to have Schafroth regain the lead down the back stretch, but when Murty made the same move in turns three and four this time it stuck and he would now hold the advantage. There would be no catching Marty over the final five circuits as one of the best in the division over the past two decades would take another win. Schafroth could be that next big star in the Stock Cars as he finished second, Pruitt held down the third spot at his hometown speedway and Drury held off the next generation, Dallon Murty to finish fourth.
With twenty-nine IMCA Modifieds signed in a B-Main (I love a weekly show that needs a B-Main!) was needed to set the twenty-four car field for the twenty lap main event. While all of the other features would deal with three or more cautions, the Modifieds would run off their twenty laps in non-stop fashion with Ethan Braaksma starting from the pole. Looking at the roster of talent lined up behind him, this one was a bit of a surprise as the young driver from Newton would leave the better known stars of his division in his wake. Braaksma worked traffic like a seasoned veteran and even with a mistake that saw him send the sparks fly while slapping the wall in turn one with two laps to go, he would still have five lapped cars between himself and runner-up Tom Berry Jr. as the checkered flag waved. The North Dakota driver Berry passed Kansas visitor Clay Money late for that second spot while Todd Shute and Tim Ward completed the top five. Ricky Thornton Jr. who has been practically unbeatable during the early races held in the virus delayed season started behind Braaksma in third and dropped out of the event with three laps remaining while running in the fourth spot.
Fifteen laps would be the distance for the Sport Compacts and when Kolby Sabin slipped by pole-sitter Hunter Patrick in turns three and four he would lead the opening lap. Patrick would try to get that lead back with a bold move into turn one, but when he door slammed Sabin it would send Patrick for a spin collecting a couple of other drivers. One back to green it would be a three-wide race for the lead between Sabin, Curtis Masterson and Mitchell Bunch with Bunch taking the point before the caution waved again on lap three. Following this restart Bryan Vannausdale would take up the challenge on Bunch and he would lead the way on laps five and six only to have Bunch come back to the front on lap seven. Two more cautions would wave on laps nine and twelve and on that final restart Bunch would miss his mark entering turn one leaving the door open to Vannaudale who happily accepted the invitation to take the lead and, two laps later, the opening night feature win. Bunch would chase him in for second, Sabin finished third with Masterson fourth and Ryan Brown in fifth.
The IMCA Hobby Stocks would close out the night and a lap three spin by Brandon Long would collect three top contenders in Zach Hemmingson, Spencer Galaway and Dylan Nelson. Making the long trip over from Waco, Nebraska, Galaway was impressive in winning his heat race earlier in the night, but the damage from this incident would send both he and Hemmingson pitside. Nelson was able to get a tire changed and joined the field just before the green flag waved for the restart. Chuck Madden Jr. would continue to pace the field from his pole position start while another Nebraska visitor Jeff Ware tried to get a run on the top side. On lap eight Ware went a bit too high into turn one while running second and contact with the jersey barrier would flatten his right rear tire ending his challenge.
A couple of more caution flags would slow the process, but in the end nobody could get by Madden who would post the wire to wire win. The race for second was a good one with Jason Kohl edging out Brandon Cox for the position. Nelson charged back through the field to finish in the fourth spot with Miciah Hidelbaugh taking fifth.
Even with the large field of cars and the significant number of feature race cautions, the final checkered flag waved just before 10:30 and I had plenty of action to re-live during my long drive home. Don't forget that the Stuart Speedway will be back in action over the Memorial Day weekend with the Malvern Bank SLMR Late Models headlining Sunday night's card and then on Monday night the IMCA Modifieds will take top billing for the Bill Davis Sr. Memorial. Unfortunately fans are still not allowed to be in the stands, but you can again watch all of the action at RaceXr.
My Memorial Day weekend plans currently include two nights of racing with Friday's destination still to be determined based upon the weather and then on Sunday night I will be at 34 Raceway in Burlington for the Sprint Invaders season opener. Late Models and Stock Cars complete a savory three class menu and with no fans allowed in the stands make sure that you dial up SpeedShift to watch all of the thrills and spills from the high-banked 3/8th-mile oval.
Be safe, stay healthy and thanks for checking in on the Back Stretch!
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