Preparing a dirt track is hard enough as it is, but throw in a surprise thunderstorm two days earlier when there was no chance of rain and then a blazing hot sun tempered by a forty mile per hour wind on race day and you essentially have a "no win" situation. Somehow though Brad Stevens, Jessie Mynatt and their entire team persevered and put together a racing surface that wasn't perfect, but it was better than one would have expected on a night like this producing an entertaining evening of racing. And actually the fact that the track was still very racy has as much to do with all of the hard work that was put in during the offseason as my walk to the pit area afterwards around the top of turns one and two showed just how much the track was transformed back to a consistent banking rather than the cupped shape that this place tends to develop over a number of years.
Yes, I have been around 34 Raceway for so long now that I have seen it need to be reshaped at least three times and if you haven't been here yet in 2021, you need to come back out because the racing has been, and will be awesome here at my "home track".
The IMCA Late Models would be the first of six main events on the night and while the field was still one car short from double digits, it was great to see a couple of new faces in the division. Two of the best weekly Late Model racers in the Midwest made up the front row in Mark Burgtorf and Matt Ryan and they would run the first two laps side-by-side with Burgtorf edging ahead on the inside to hold the lead by a nose at the stripe.
On lap three Ryan entered turn three a little higher and then aimed for the bottom off of turn four and the crossover move worked to perfection as "driver" took the lead away from Burgtorf. The chase was on from there as Burgtorf had to ward off challenges from Dustin Griffin for second and a three car battle for fourth was entertaining between veteran drivers Denny Woodworth and Jay Johnson, plus one of those new faces.
Ryan would go on to take his second win in a row here at 34 with Burgtorf in second, Griffin third, Jay Johnson fourth and Woodworth in fifth. Finishing less than a car length back in sixth was Brandon Rothzen who arrived late at the track, missed the heat race, took a couple of laps behind a Sport Mod heat and then started the feature from ninth. A former winner in both the Modifieds and Stock Cars here, Brandon was on the move in his first night out in the division and don't be surprised to see him put this Late Model in victory lane soon. Another former Street Stock and Modified driver, Kevin Peters made his 34 Raceway Late Model debut in his distinctive #105 and he too looked solid in his seventh-place drive.
During the second half of their feature the Late Models had all settled to the bottom, but if there was any doubt that there was still a race track left that was erased in the opening laps of the fifteen lap IMCA Northern Sport Mod feature. The top six were three-wide, two deep exiting turn two and it would be pole-sitter Jace Morrow scored as the leader by a bumper on lap one. Sean Wyett was on the move after starting sixth and he would take the point on lap two just before the caution waved when Ryan Moore spun in turn four.
On the restart one of Wyett's top contenders here at 34, Austen Becerra would go for a spin in turn one after contact and he would then head to the pits for the rest of the night. Once back to action young Jadin Fuller was looking stout as he made his way to second while both Shane Paris and Ron Kibbe were coming to the front, Paris from eighth and Kibbe from twelfth. A pair of cautions for the same driver on laps six and nine kept the field tight and while Paris was looking to follow up his Friday feature win in Columbus Junction, he would not be able to mount a challenge as Wyett was solid to the checkers. Kibbe was impressive in third while Fuller roughed up Levi Laymon entering turn three on the final lap to take back fourth. Laymon who held on for fifth expressed his displeasure after the checkers, but kept it classy as Fuller scored his first career top-five finish.
The initial start of the Stock Car feature was called back and division rookie Brandon Setser was penalized from the front row to the second row for jumping. This would slide Jeremy Pundt up alongside Chad Krogmeier, but neither were a match for John Oliver Jr. who drove around both of them on the bottom exiting turn two on the opening lap.
It was all over but the shouting from there as Oliver cruised away to yet another feature win here at his home track. Pundt would be a full straightaway behind at the checkers in second while Setser rebounded for third. Brandon all but had the All Iowa Points Four Cylinder championship in hand a few years ago before switching divisions in late August and while he has driven the Quad Cities rules Street Stocks this is his first year in an IMCA Stock Car and I see a win coming for him in the near future. Krogmeier finished fourth and Ray Raker bounced back from mechanical issues earlier in the night to take fifth.
Larry Miller would pace the field of Sport Compacts on lap one and they were five-wide for second behind him entering turn one. I don't think that Jason Ash was one of those since he had started ninth, but by lap four he was there to challenge Miller and Ash would then take the lead. As he pulled away Miller was doing his best to ward off the competition and was still running in second before he suddenly slowed and pulled to the infield with just two laps remaining. Ash would score the dominating victory with the seventh starting Robert Sturms finishing in second. David Prim came from tenth to third as Tim Schnathorst finished where he started in fourth. Noah Kayser would complete the top five edging out Brodrick Wittman by a nose at the stripe.
The low line was definitely the place to be during the twenty lap Sprint Car feature and that is why Wyatt Wilkerson had to use the top on the opening lap to get where he wanted to be. Even though he started on the inside of row three, Wilkerson went to the top in turns one and two and again in three and four to take the lead on the opening lap. He then dropped down to shut the door on pole-sitter Devon Rouse entering turn three for the second time and essentially that lap and two-thirds was the winning move in a race that was slowed by three cautions.
The first was when Dugan Thye slipped off the top of turn two and spun the Nick Breuer owned #78 to a stop. Breuer has an issue right now that he asked if I could help with as essentially it is the same problem that a mild mannered mechanic who also was unfortunately named Jeffrey Epstein and lived in West Palm Beach would have had to struggle with. Same name, just not that infamous one, so you Burlington people need to stop sending this Nick Breuer the hate mail!
The other two cautions came when it looked like Dan Keltner clipped an infield tire in turn four breaking his steering as he coasted to a halt at the top of turn two. And then Travis Pence spun into the infield on the front stretch during the restart.
Wilkerson was impressive, not only with the big opening lap move, but the remainder of the distance as well taking his first win of 2021 as Colton Fisher driving the Ryan Jamison owned #51J finished second. Veteran Nick Guernsey who noted that he liked tacos during a Sprint Cars only extended driver's meeting to start the night was solid in third followed by Rouse and Daniel Bergquist. Look for Rouse to be among the entries for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on the dirt at Knoxville this summer.
A stout field of seventeen IMCA Modifieds would close out the evening with Chad Giberson and Creston Williams bringing the field to green. Again a change of divisions would show that the track still had three racing grooves in it as Bill Roberts Jr. came from the inside of row two to take the early lead. The caution would wave after three laps were on the board when Alex Irish smacked the wall in turn four and on the restart Ethan Braaksma would go from fourth to second after originally starting the twenty lapper from seventh.
One more lap would be scored before Sport Compact graduate Cody Bowman went for a spin in turn one and the final sixteen laps would be run under green with Roberts trying to protect the bottom as Braaksma searched for a way around the leader. He was able to get a nose under Roberts a couple of times, but had to back out to avoid contact and when he tried the outside in turn one he was able to pull even only to have Roberts pull ahead again on the back stretch.
Finally on lap seventeen Ethan would get a nice run out of turn two so he went to a higher line entering turn three and when he found the traction that he needed it was enough to propel him to the front and the eventual win. Roberts, who would have liked to have been celebrating his 29th birthday in victory lane, had to settle for runner-up honors ahead of Mitch Morris and Kyle Madden, while fifth went to go kart graduate Drew Janssen who made the long tow down from Pella. (P.S. Roberts is older than 29....)
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| Ethan Braaksma - Photo by Dana Royer via 34 Raceway's Facebook |
The final checkers waved at 10:16 p.m. and several fans joined me for a walk of the pit area to visit with the drivers after an entertaining night of racing. A big thanks to my friends and family at McClure Masonry for the use of their booth on this windy night, and to Brad, Jessi, Norm, Joe, Kenny and the entire 34 Raceway team for their hospitality and efforts. I also want to thank flamboyant announcer Tony Paris for mentioning what we do at Positively Racing.
Tonight we will make the trip north to the Benton County Speedway in Vinton where promoters Rick and Corey Dripps will add a $1,500-to-win Late Model show to their already stout weekly program. Hope to see you there!
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