In an odd sense of irony the virus allowed me to attend the fourteenth annual Turkey Bowl at the Springfield Raceway on Saturday night. Usually when the event gets pushed back to the actual Thanksgiving weekend there is no way that I would even consider leaving the family to travel over five hours to a race, but when holiday travel was discouraged by the CDC, and perhaps even "shamed" by the media, we made the tough decision to stay home just the two of us this year. And, when my lovely wife said that she had several things that she wanted to do around the house that did not require my attention, she actually encouraged me to get in one last race before the 2020 racing season comes to a close. I sure am glad that she did!
Blessed with sunny skies and seasonally normal temperatures promoter Jerry Hoffman hit it out of the ballpark this weekend with what had to be the biggest Turkey Bowl yet. New this year was the Friday night qualifying heat races for the B-Mods, the Legend Cars, the Mini Late Models and both the "A" and "B" class of the Midwest Mods and thank goodness for that as there were 66, 34, 13 and combined 75 entries in those classes respectively, or 188 cars just on Friday night. Then on Saturday the car count in the A-Mods climbed to 62 while 30 Late Models signed in bringing the grand total for the weekend to 280. Without the qualifying heats as well as the feature for the Midwest Mods "B" class being run on Friday night this event would have grown beyond a level of reasonable management. More on that later, but what a smart move it was by Hoffman!
The track was prepped for racing and there were no hot laps run prior to the opening ceremonies at 3:10 p.m. and the first events to hit the track were the two B-Mains for the Midwest Mod "A" class. Two B's for the Legends followed and then six heat races were run for the Modifieds and the Late Models were up next for four heats. The B-Mods then had their four Last Chance races with the Legend Car feature and the Midwest Mods main event being run before the four B-Mains for the Modifieds and two B-Mains for the Late Models. After a tight twenty minutes for track prep and a football toss for the possibility of winning a Bad Boy mower, the final four features of the night were up next.
So let's first go back to that Legend Car feature and I will be the first to admit that I am not always a huge fan of this class as it has seemed to me that the feature race usually ends up being a parade around the bottom of whatever track that I see them at. Not on this night!
The twenty lap event did not get off to a good start with two single car incidents, but on the third try the twenty car field fanned out four wide for the lead on the racy surface with Dave Comer coming from the inside of row two to take the lead as lap one was scored. Outside front row starter Caleb McDugle came charging back to take the lead on lap two and the intense multi-car scramble for the lead would continue with Trenton Simon reaching the stripe first on lap five only to have Comer return to the lead on lap six.
David Comer would continue to lead the way, but Justin Comer had moved from eighth to second and looked like he would soon mount a challenge. That bid would end though with seven laps remaining when Justin slowed suddenly down the back stretch before making the left hand turn into the infield. A pair of cautions on laps fifteen and sixteen kept the field tightly bunched with North Dakota's Drew Papke trying to make a run on the top in the closing laps. Simon was still in contention as well, but it would be David Comer hanging on to take the win with Justin there to be the first to greet the winner in victory lane. Simon would take the third spot followed by pole-sitter Grasyn Cox in fourth with fifth going to Minnesota's Ryan Braseth who had come from the seventh row and was in third as the white flag waved. I have to mention that it was a tough day for Jay Quenzer who suffered front end damage during the early laps of the second B-Main making for a short day before his trip back to Baker, Montana.
So the Midwest Mod class is essentially the third level of Modifieds and here in Springfield they make total sense when you consider that Hoffman's other business is building and selling Modifieds. They draw so many of them on a weekly basis that they split field based upon experience and success allowing those drivers who raced in the past in other divisions an opportunity to still run a Modified on a tighter budget as well as those newbies who have proven their skills to race together in the "A" class, while the rookies and others make up the "B" class. The "B" class ran their entire program on Friday night and the "A" class put on some good clean racing here on Saturday with their last chance races and a twenty lap feature.
I do have to question though the spirit of the division when one of the top IMCA Modified drivers in the Midwest, Steven Bowers Jr. has a ride for the weekend and earns the pole position for the feature. There was just one caution in this feature race and it came on lap two when an accordion effect left Daniel Anders sideways in turn three. On the restart Bowers and fellow front row starter Jerad McIntire raced away from the field and waged an entertaining side-by-side battle for the lead. Bowers would lead the first four laps scored before McIntire took the point on lap five and there was never more than a car-length difference between the two until Bowers regained the lead on lap eleven.
While he was able to put a little bit of distance between himself and McIntire, Bowers was not running away with this by any means and on the final lap he slowed noticeably heading down the back stretch. McIntire closed quickly and entering turn three we could all then see why as the right rear tire shredded on Bowers's car allowing McIntire to slip by and take the surprising victory. Bowers was able to limp across the line in second just a head of a hard charging Elijah Keeper who had started from the sixth row. Colt Cheevers who was nearly unbeatable in the B-Mods several years ago in the Ozarks finished in the fourth spot while Andy Aust filled out the top five.
After the track prep session the wide quarter-mile was lightning fast and the Modifieds were able to use every inch of the surface providing quite a show for the large crowd that was now fully bundled up with the temp now in the low forties. Jason Payton would lead until lap three when the caution waved for Paden Phillips who had slowed with a flat tire. UMP invader Will Krup had moved quickly from seventh and would restart third, but his challenge for the lead would be delayed by a two car tangle on the back stretch involving Lee Hibner and Wesley Smith on lap five.
Krup would take the point on lap six, but when he wheel hopped on the bottom of turns three and four on the following lap that allowed Payton, Steven Bowers Jr. and Darron Fuqua to get by. Payton would lead lap seven before Bowers took over on the following lap with Fuqua coming along as well. Those two would then separate themselves from the pack as Krup made his way back into third. The caution would wave again when Kyle Thompson would spin up to the top of turn one on lap eighteen and during the caution Krup stopped on the front stretch to speak with a track official. There were two announcers (I think just two) working the show tonight and while one of them could be heard, the other one was mostly faint even without battling the sounds of motors and while he might have explained the situation all I know is that Krup pulled to the pit area after perhaps being motioned to go to the back of the field for the restart.
One more lap was scored before a Chris Tonoli spin and once back to green it was clear that Bowers and Fuqua would decide this one over the final six laps. Iowa's Ethan Braaksma tried to make it a three car race, but Bowers would not have the misfortune that struck him earlier in the night as he closed out the win in style. Fuqua had come from the fifteenth starting spot to take second while Braaksma not only had to come from the back of his B-Main just to qualify, he also started fourteenth in the feature before finishing third. Southern Oklahoma star William Gould came from twelfth to finish fourth and Shawn Knuckles was fifth after claiming the third and final transfer out of his B-Main on the final lap. Knuckles had started the feature from nineteenth, just more proof of how much racing action there was in this twenty-five lap headliner!
The thirty lap Late Model feature was up next and with several of the pre-race favorites buried deep in the field you just knew that this one was going to be fun to see who would walk out of here with the $4,000 top prize. By the way, I just want to point out that today's racing was lined up using a combination of draw and passing points. Much different than the qualify and put the fast guys in front crap that I watched two weeks ago making me wonder just how nuts those fans would go over action like this.
Cole Wells would come from fourth to take the lead on the opening lap and he would build a big margin as potential challengers made their way to the front. Jesse Stovall would come from ninth to second in seven laps and Logan Martin would follow him into third one lap later. Martin had started fourteenth and with Wells now dealing with lapped traffic both Stovall and Martin closed on the leader quickly. On lap thirteen Stovall appeared to have a run on the leader on the outside, but when Wells veered up the track in turn four he literally drove over the nose of Stovall allowing Martin to sneak under both of them to take the lead.
The first caution of the race would fly a lap later when heat race winner Jason Wagner spun in turn two and on the restart Stovall would take up the challenge on Martin. Another caution came on lap nineteen when a slowing Brennan Willard decided to stop on the back stretch and on the restart Chris Jones would go for a spin after making contact with Stovall in turn four. Once back to green Martin showed his dominance and drove away from the field to take the win as Stovall faded due to a tire going away. Kaeden Cornell raced his way into a runner-up finish after starting eighth while Wells held on to the third spot. Sixth row starters Scott Crigler and Travis Denning would complete the top five with Crigler getting fourth by a nose at the checkers. Stovall ran the final two laps on a flat right rear tire and limped across the line in eleventh.
The B-Mods were up next for twenty-five laps with front row starter Kris Jackson taking the point at the drop of the green. Sixth row starter Ryan Gillmore went over the top of turn two on the opening lap, but kept on going dropping to the back of the twenty car field. You will see why that is part of the story in just a moment.
Jackson wins a lot of races here so it was probably a surprise to the local fans when eastern Missouri's Chris Spaulding drove around him on the outside to take the lead on lap eight. After chasing him for several laps, Jackson was able to take back the lead from Spaulding on lap sixteen and two laps later we saw why as the right rear tire on the former leader's car would let go bringing out the first caution of the event. Doing double duty, Will Krup would see his night get even worse at this point as he too would suffer a flat tire while getting ready to restart from second sending him to the pits for a quick change of rubber.
One more lap would be scored before Reece Solander's spin in turn three and on the restart St. Louis area driver Matthew Edler made a run at the leader into turn one. Jackson would slam the door though and when Edler tried to check up he would spin to the infield bringing out another caution.
We were now set for six more laps of action and up to challenge was Ryan Gillmore who had battled his way from the back to the front to put the pressure on Jackson. With the leader working the bottom Gillmore went to the top and with just two laps to go he gave Jackson a good shot to the rear bumper when the leader drifted up the track exiting turn two. From my point of view Gillmore had a bumper on Jackson as the white flag waved, but Kris would run the bottom of turns one and two perfectly to nose ahead down the back stretch. Gillmore would again attack the high side in turns three and four and the crowd went nuts as two of the best in the Midwest were now in a drag race to the checkers. They would cross the stripe side-by-side and there was silence as officials tried to determine a winner.
With the rest of the field headed to the pits off the back stretch, both drivers slowly circled the track a couple of times before Jackson made the right hand turn off the back stretch and Gillmore celebrated with a couple of victory donuts in turn four. I believe the announcer said that they had gone to the video replay to make the call, but again he was hard to hear as Gillmore made his way into victory lane. Young Brandon Bollinger's Turkey Bowl debut was impressive as he came from tenth to third, our Oklahoma state points champion Cody King finished fourth and Will Krup battled his way back up to fifth.
It was now 9:40 p.m. and while I only had a forty-five minute drive ahead of me to my hotel I decided that a photo finish would be a perfect way to close out my 2020 racing season. A check of the results today shows that Wisconsin's Scott Busch was the winner of the Mini Late Model feature that finished the evening.
Once again you have to give credit to promoter Jerry Hoffman and the entire Springfield Raceway crew for providing what has become a true signature event with the Turkey Bowl. This one was the biggest yet and if not for the decision to run the qualifying races for four of the classes on Friday night this one would have been a marathon that would no doubt have pushed past midnight. The Saturday portion of the show, while run well by most standards, could be tightened up quite a bit if they took some lessons from a certain Race Director that I feel does it the best. First of all they need to implement the "one-spin and you're in rule" and have the flagman and Raceceiver voice work together to hold that caution flag for as long as possible. There were a couple of drivers who used their full compliment of four cautions today, two in the heat and two in the B-Main, where that simple rule would have eliminated two of those stoppages of action for each offending driver. Also, when the restart lineup is set going down the back stretch, turn off the yellow and let's go racing. Showing the field a rolled up green flag and going around the track one more time is no longer needed in this day and age and each time that you do this adds another thirty seconds to the show. It may not sound like much, but if there were fifty restarts today that would be twenty-five minutes added to the program.
I apologize if it sounds like I am picking at the leftovers a bit, but when you have built up a show that is now this big, you have to do everything that you can to run it as efficiently as possible to keep all of those drivers and all of those fans coming back year after year. Trust me, the Turkey Bowl will once again be on my 2021 racing calendar, a hopefully on yours as well!
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| The Turkey Bowl trophies are unique to this mega event |
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