The Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway was prepared to perfection on Thursday night and proved to me once again why I count it as one of my favorite dirt tracks. How does a track land on my list of "favorites"? Well give me some five-wide action like I saw at least three times last night and that will vault you up the rankings immediately!
Bob Wagener, Carrie Rouse and the Drt Trak Racing, Inc. crew were presenting the night's program featuring the Hoker Trucking SLMR East Series along with Modifieds, Sport Mods, Hobby Stocks and two nostalgia classes. Sounds like a late night for somebody making a two hour and fifteen minute trip on a weeknight, but with a nicely planned order of events and by sticking to the advertised start times both myself and Positively Racing colleague Danny Rosencrans were on the road for home following the Late Model feature and it was still several minutes before nine o'clock!
The Hobby Stock feature would be up first and the thirteen cars in attendance clicked off twelve non-stop laps of racing. The drivers starting from the inside of rows two and three both made early moves as fifth starting Jimmy Doescher would lead third starting Kodey Miles by inches as lap one was scored. Miles would nose ahead to lead lap two before Doescher regained the advantage. The driver from Hallondale, Wisconsin, would then drive away for his seventh win of the season as he is currently ranked tenth in the All Iowa Points. Miles would hold down the second spot ahead of tenth starting Scott Wetter. Matt Bennett would take the fourth place money and Mark Neis, driving the #53D car that we used to see on occasion at both Eldon and Oskaloosa finished in fifth.
The twenty lap Modified feature would line up next with Tyler Madigan jumping out to a big early lead. A caution on lap three would bring the field back to him though and on the restart Matt Gansen went to the top to get a big run off the banking and he would fly by Madigan on the straightaway. With the green light staying on for the rest of the way, Gansen left the field in his wake winning by more than half a lap in a dominating performance. Madigan would ward off a late challenge from Mike Burbridge to be the distant runner-up. Bill Roberts Jr. made the long pull up from Burlington to finish in the fourth spot holding off two-time All Iowa Points champion Mark Schulte (2006-07) who finished in fifth.
The field of thirty SLMR Late Models had been whittled down to twenty-two for the thirty lap headliner with pole-sitter Andy Eckrich taking the early lead. With the World of Outlaws off for the weekend Decorah's Tyler Bruening returned home and was thrilled to have the opportunity to race at one of his favorite tracks. We Iowans should take great pride in Bruening who currently sits in third on the WoO points list and he showed his power by tracking down Eckrich and passing him on the outside to take the lead on lap five.
What followed is exactly the reason why I love this track as Andy went elbows up and did not allow the new leader to drive away as this was now a battle between Eckrich's low line and Bruening's long way around the 3/8th-mile high banks. Even with lapped traffic looming ahead, and all of it down low, Eckrich was able to retake the lead on lap twelve only to have Bruening come storming back to the front four laps later.
The caution would wave on lap seventeen when Jason Hahne spun in turn one and on the restart Bruening went down low to pinch off Eckrich and there was a new player in the game as Jason Rauen was now ripping the high side in third. The final caution of the event flew two laps later when Chad Simpson spun in heavy traffic at the bottom of turn two. Simpson was behind the wheel of David Webster's #44W and after a disappointing qualifying run he was able to win his heat race from the six car invert. His passing point total landed him twelfth on the starting grid and he had moved to sixth before the spin.
Rauen would move to second for a few laps after the restart, but with Bruening now building a lead Eackrich would soon come back to second as Spencer Diercks showed some late race speed on the high side after starting eighth. At the checkers there would be no doubt as Bruening would take the win over Eckrich, Diercks and Rauen with Luke Goedert fulling out the top five.
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| Tyler Bruening in victory lane - Photo from the Facebook page of announcer Shane Davis |
With the early hour we could have stayed for the final three races, but with a busy weekend ahead the extra sleep was just too attractive. Checking the results today I see that Tony Olson won the Sport Mod feature from the pole while Tyler Soppe charged from eleventh to second. Austin Honts was the winner in the Jalopies and Ray Guss Jr. took the Nostalgia Late Models win in the Keith Simmons owned #38. Guss also took the wheel of Rick Dralle's #77 Late Model, normally driven by Jeff Aikey, but he was unable to earn a transfer into the SLMR main event.
The Drt Trak team continues the SLMR tripleheader tonight at the West Liberty Raceway before heading over to Davenport on Saturday night. And don't forget that you will get another chance to visit the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway when the Darkside boys bring the Iowa Dirt Nationals there October 14th, 15th and 16th.
My schedule takes me a different direction as tonight I will be the C Team on the microphone at the Jim Oliver Sr. Memorial at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri. The real pros have other commitments tonight, so the old guy will step in. On Saturday night I am looking for a stout field of 360 Winged Sprints at 34 Raceway's Fall Haul with the Sprint Invaders, then on Sunday night hopefully many of those will follow Big Muddy up north to the East Moline Speedway for another night of open wheel action.
The 2021 racing season is fading fast. Get out and support the sport at the events of your choice!
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