Just as he did in the inaugural event last year, Cayden Carter walked away from the field to take the Modified feature win in the second annual Caleb Hammond Memorial race at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa Wednesday. After a brief celebration in victory lane Carter then climbed into Roger Kelderman's Stock Car and closed out the evening with his third feature win over the two years of this event honoring the young man who loved racing so much during his abbreviated time here on earth.
Six divisions were in action on a beautiful night for racing and a large crowd gathered to watch during the annual Southern Iowa Fair. The Sprint Car feature would be up first with a $350 bounty on the head of Jonathan Hughes who has been perfect thus far here in 2020. Drawing the outside of the front row for the ten lap feature it looked like Hughes would be a shoe in for another victory, but third starting Ben Woods had other ideas. With pole-sitter Garrett Alexander and Hughes charging into turn one on the start, Woods stayed glued to the bottom and would exit turn two as the race leader down the back stretch with Hughes falling to third.
Alexander would spin in turn two after the first lap was scored and on the restart Hughes pulled even with Woods entering turn one, but the bottom line proved better as Woods maintained the lead. Hughes kept pace, but could not mount a challenge until Alexander again spun, this time exiting turn four with just two laps remaining. On this restart Hughes would actually get ahead of Woods as they raced into turn one, but he could not get low enough to shut the door so Woods again crept around the bottom to maintain his lead. On the final lap Hughes finally gave the high line a try in turns three and four to get a big run down the front stretch, but he could not overtake Woods before the checkers waved. Mike Mayberry finished third, Doug Sylvester was fourth and Tyler Graves rounded out the top five. However, after seeing the story from the track this morning we now know that Woods was disqualified for a rules infraction with his engine so the win streak continues for Hughes.
The Sport Compacts were up next for ten laps with Nathan Chandler grabbing the point on lap one while drivers raced three-wide just behind him for second. Billy Cain moved to the point on the second lap as the battle up front was a tight one and on lap four Ryan Bryant proved that the high side was plenty fast as he charged to the front after starting sixth. A mid-race caution slowed the field and on the restart Bryant, the current All Iowa Points leader who made the pull down from Mason City pulled away to take the $500 feature win. William Michel was impressive coming from seventh to second in one of his rare trips west from Columbus Junction, newcomer Robbie Wilson who won on Tuesday night in a two car race was a strong third as Chandler and Cain wrapped up the top five.
Brad Stephens would pace the field through the first six laps of the fourteen lap Hobby Stock headliner before the caution waved for debris on the front stretch. On the restart Nathan Ballard and Dustin Griffiths made it a three-wide battle for the front with Griffiths emerging from the middle to take the point before another caution was needed for Rick Goldsberry who was turned for a spin going down the back stretch.
On the restart Stephens would make another run for the lead only to have Griffiths ward him off and then it was Ballard who moved to second to keep the heat on the leader. Nobody was going to catch the former All Iowa Points champ in this one though as Dustin would take the win over Ballard and Stephens. Blake Henry was in contention the entire distance finishing fourth as Aaron Martin took fifth.
The sport Mods were up next for sixteen laps with Carter Vandenberg and Maguire DeJong bringing the field to green from the front row. DeJong went to the cushion to take the lead, but in turns three and four the fifth starting Logan Anderson was already there to mount a challenge on the inside. DeJong maintained the lead down the front stretch and through turns one and two, but again Anderson drove deep into turn three in an effort to take the lead. The fifteen-year-old DeJong did not flinch though and again fought off the bid by Anderson. That would be as close as anyone would get as DeJong then drove away from the field to win by more than a straightaway in the non-stop race. Anderson would finish in second ahead of Curtis Van Der Wal, Vandenberg would come home fourth with Colton Livezy next in line.
Ten of the eleven Modifieds on hand for the special event would take the green for twenty laps and this one was essentially over when Cayden Carter pulled the number one out of the redraw bag. Brandon Banks tried to keep up with the hometown hot shoe, but by lap five the lead was a full straightaway and as the checkers waved over Carter, Banks was midway down the back stretch on his way to a runner-up finish. Austin Paul, Jarrett Brown and Sam Wieben all finished where they started in third, fourth and fifth.
After taking pictures with his Modified in victory lane, Carter then climbed into his Stock Car ride to start tenth in the sixteen lap finale for the evening with pole-sitter Jason See setting the early pace. Derrick Agee was on the move after starting sixth and was there to challenge See driving under him for the lead on lap five. That low line may have been Agee's undoing though as after the caution waved on lap eight, Agee pulled to the pit area apparently suffering from damage after hitting one of the infield track tires. See would resume the race as the leader, but Carter was on the charge and he would drive under See with two laps remaining to take the lead and the eventual victory. See would be the runner-up ahead of a solid third place run by Jason McDaniel. Johnny Spaw started twelfth and raced his way up to fourth at the checkers while Howard Gordon Jr. finished fifth after getting as high as second in the early going.
A twenty minute delay due to a power failure on the east end of the track was part of the reason for an eleven o'clock finish to the show and the final Wednesday night event of 2020 here will be next week where it will also be the rescheduled Hall of Fame induction. Terry McCarl's Osky Challenges will take place on Sunday and Monday, August 9th and 10th, and then the Southern Iowa Speedway will close out the season with the annual Musco Fall Challenge October 16th and 17th.
A big thank you to announcer Jerry Mackey for promoting our Positively Racing website and kudos to him for cutting short an interview that was headed in the wrong direction.
With another hot and humid weekend in the forecast I may sit it out until Tuesday when the World of Outlaws Late Models take to the quarter-mile oval at the Davenport Speedway. Then on Thursday night I look forward to making the trip up to Dubuque where the Sprint Invaders will again headline a night of racing during the annual Dubuque County Fair. Following that I hope to get two nights of the All Star Circuit of Champions swing through the Midwest with Friday's show at 34 Raceway west of Burlington and then Saturday night at Knoxville.
Stay safe, be healthy and I hope to see you somewhere on the Back Stretch.
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