I had no plans of going to Boone this year due to a busy time at work and the fact that I was scheduled to announce for the Sprint Invaders at Donnellson on Saturday night. But when that event was postponed two days in advance and as other Saturday night options in Eldon, Davenport and at the Spoon River Speedway in Illinois fell by the wayside, the announcement that they would be running the Thursday program starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday had me hooked and my alarm was set for 5:45 a.m. on Saturday in order to make the trip.
I drove in a heavy mist all the way from Pella to just south of Ames making me question why I had given up an extra hour or two of sleep and as I pulled into Boone the pavement was dry and word was out that it would still be another hour or two before things could get started.
Believe me, the pavement was the only thing that was dry and I was thankful that I had dug out my oldest pair of shoes to slog through the mud to make my way to the grandstands. They would later go straight into the garbage when I returned home.
The two hours from arrival to the first green flag went fast as I visited with several racing friends including photographer Jim "Zipp" Zimmerline, my Positively Racing colleagues Dick and Joyce Eisele and announcers Jerry Van Sickel and Ryan Clark. I even got a wave from "Crazy Martin" as one of the most loyal race fans you will find anywhere was making his way through the grandstand area before the racing got underway. I am always amazed and impressed by the job that Van Sickel and Clark do on the microphones during this event and even more so this week when Mother Nature turned the schedule upside down and inside out. I get worn out announcing a three hour show anymore, but on this Saturday day/night doubleheader this entertaining duo was on duty from 10:45 a.m. on Saturday until 3:59 a.m. on Sunday. And then, after about a six hour break they were right back at for all of the Last Chance races and "The Dances" on Sunday. Simply amazing!
Ryan, I hope that Brett didn't make you be in the office at eight o'clock sharp on Monday morning!
I don't have to check social media to know that there are people bitching about one thing or another in regard to the Super Nationals, but as I have said before there is no other track and no other staff in the country that could pull off this mega event even in dry, calm conditions. And to complete it this week with all of the obstacles that they were facing even beyond the crappy weather was just amazing. That is why this event somehow still continues to grow year by year and you can bet that the 2021 version of the IMCA Super Nationals will continue that trend.
I saw a bunch of great racing, well beyond my twenty dollars worth by the time that I chose to leave just before the four B-Mains and two Modified qualifying features and I was back in Mount Pleasant at 9:30 p.m. where it was still raining. The two 25-lap Stock Car features were entertaining each boasting a field of thirty cars and drivers with only the top four in each locking themselves into the Big Dance on Sunday. In the first one Ricky Thornton Jr. started from the outside of row one and paced the field for the entire distance, but there was plenty of action taking place behind him. I was keeping track of both Mike Van Genderen and John Oliver Jr. as they each made their way toward the front of the field. Van Genderen had started eighteenth and was up to fifth when on a late race restart the field bunched up in turn one and he was tagged from behind sending him spinning into the infield. Oliver who had come from the 25th starting spot was now working in the top five, but as he tried to squeeze under another competitor in turn four, he spun sideways into the infield sending mud flying and one photographer lost his footing and tumbled to the ground as he tried to escape. At the checkers it would be veteran Minnesota driver Curt Lund taking second, Derek Green was third and Ryan Harris would secure the final ticket to the dance.
In the second qualifying feature former Mount Pleasant resident Jeff Mueller would lead the field from start to finish. If you start Jeff out front and there is some moisture around the bottom, you might as well just sign the check as Mueller is known for his "catfishing" prowess and he was never seriously challenged over the twenty-five laps. Cayden Carter, Jeffrey Larson and Damon Murty also transferred, but perhaps the fastest car on the track was Sioux City's Travis Barker who battled all the way back up to sixth after having to restart from the rear of the thirty car field early in the race. I was glad to see that Barker was able to come back in the second program of the day racing from tenth to third in his qualifying feature to make the transfer.
In case you missed it, the Super Nationals wrapped up on Sunday with Ricky Thornton Jr. starting from the pole and winning the Modified Dance. Donovan Smith came from the 25th starting spot to take the Stock Car title, but I see that only nine of the thirty starters finished. Front row starters Jonathan Logue and Cody Thompson went one-two in the Northern Sport Mod finale and Nathan Ballard is your 2020 Super Nationals champion in the Hobby Stocks after starting third. With Thornton now calling Adel, Iowa, home that makes it a sweep for the home state despite the fact that the best IMCA drivers in the country were in Boone for the past week and they will all be hoping for drier weather when they return in 2021.
The reason that I left Boone early on Saturday is because I knew that I had a two hour and twenty minute trip to Moberly ahead of me on Sunday as the Sprint Invaders made their third and final appearance of 2020 at the Randolph County Raceway. It was an interesting mix of drivers among the twenty that signed in as we were missing four or five Invader regulars and some of the central Missouri drivers that you might have expected were also absent on this night. Filling in though were ASCS National series regulars Robbie Price and Harli White along with Pacific northwest visitors Devon Borden and Caleb Thornhill, plus the soon to be crowned IRA Rookie-of-the-Year Shawn Rayhall.
They would all be chasing the veteran Randy Martin though as the Knoxville Raceway Hall of Fame member went the distance to take a popular victory where he would be joined in victory lane by Tony Stuart of The Stuart House in Centralia who had added some big money to the night's purse. Ayrton Gennetten, who had won the two previous events here at Moberly in is own #3, would chase Martin the entire distance and help build on Scott Bonar's point lead in the Owner's standings driving the Midland Performance #50. The leader in the driver point point standings, Chris Martin took a wild tumble in turn two during the feature while running sixth, but his advantage is till pretty solid with two events remaining.
Borden was a big mover early coming from tenth to third, but his night would come to an early end when he went too high in turn three and smacked the concrete. Harli White was giving the fans a thrill as she was about to make it a three car race for the lead late, only to have steering issues causing her to slow and then spin. The full story and results for the Invaders can be found on OpenWheel101 with Bill Wright.
The show started close to the advertised time of 5:45 for hot laps and the first of three features, the Street Stocks came to the track at 7:35 p.m. so I was thinking, wow, I might be home pretty early tonight. But then the Modifieds had one of those races where you just wanted to gnaw your arm off as each time a lap was scored the caution would have to wave for either a backmarker spinning or from debris on the track caused by drivers stacking up as they tried to use the Delaware double file restarts. Finally after about thirty-eight cautions (okay, so maybe six or seven) the restarts were then single-file and this one would final get twenty laps in the scorebook with Tyler Hibner leading the entire distance to take the win over his father Lee Hibner. Even with the Modified marathon I was on my way home at 9:15 and I look forward to making at least two more trips down to Moberly before the 2020 season comes to a close with perhaps the first one coming this Sunday when the B-Mods will be racing for $2,000-to-win and the Sport Compacts will be gunning for a $1,000 top prize.
Speaking of a four figure payoff to the winner of a Four Cylinder feature, word is that during the annual Fall Extravaganza at the Pepsi Lee County Speedway in Donnellson one of the Sport Compact features will pay a whopping $3,000-to-win! Keep an eye out for details on that, but first the track will host the IMCA Late Model "Drive for Five" finale along with the Sprint Invaders this coming Saturday night September 19th. That was the race that was originally scheduled for this past Saturday.
I plan on making the trip to Marshalltown this Thursday night where once again the Marshalltown Speedway will try to host what is billed as the 500th and final Deery Brothers Summer Sries event with the Dale DeFrance Memorial. Here's hoping for sunny skies as it will be a great tribute to the DeFrance family as "The Ironman" Darrel DeFrance will also make his 500th appearance at a Summer Series program. I have made arrangements with track announcer Jerry Van Sickel to share the mic with me for at least one heat race as it will then allow me to claim that I announced at both the first and the last event of the long running regional series.
And finally a few more tidbits that might be of interest to you. The Eldon Raceway is looking to add an event to their 2020 schedule with a show on Saturday, October 3rd. Keep an eye on the track's Facebook page for details. Eagle Raceway announced this week that they will be dropping the Sport Compacts and adding the IMCA Stock Cars to their weekly program for 2021. The Butler Speedway south of Kansas City held a test and tune this past weekend and appears to be ready to swing back into action. I am looking for more details.
That's all for today, have a great week and thanks for taking a look at the Back Stretch!
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