Familiar Names Find Victory Lane at Lee County Speedway

It is a great day when my wife sends me a text around the noon hour that says "where are we going racing tonight?" While I have been going to around 60 to 65 nights of racing per year over the past several seasons, Christine will only join me about two or three times a year so it is really cool when she makes the suggestion that we go together and our choice for the evening was the nearby Lee County Speedway in Donnellson.

With this being a "Drive For 5" Qualifier there was a solid field of twenty-three Late Models signed in along with double-digits in each of the other four divisions. In this day and age, that's a win especially knowing that the average point invert lineup procedure would be in use for those four classes. It was a near perfect evening weather wise and after eleven qualifying heat races were completed, the first feature would roll to the track framed by a brilliant sunset.

The Sport Compacts would go for fifteen laps only to have the caution wave on the initial start when Noah Kayser and Kimberly Abbott tangled in turn one. Once underway it would be Barry Taft setting the pace with Josh Barnes in hot pursuit and when the leaders closed in on the lapped car of Doug White, Barnes would go to the bottom while Taft squeezed between White and the front stretch wall. This would allow Barnes to take the point for laps six and seven, but then turn about is fair play as when they closed in on a slow moving Blaine Lambert they would again split the lapper with Taft regaining the advantage.

Barnes would only stay in contention for three more laps before slowing with mechanical issues and that would allow Luke Fraise to make a late run at the leader. Lifting his left rear in the air when entering the corners, Fraise looked one lie higher than Taft on the final two laps, but Barry was too strong and would take the victory. Chevy Barnes would take third, Brandon Reu came from eighth to fourth with Chandler Fullenkamp completing the top five. 

The Stock Cars would be up next for eighteen laps, but the fifth starting John Oliver Jr. only needed two trips around the 3/8ths-mile "D" shaped track to take the lead from Kevin Koontz. With Oliver hugging the bottom, some lined up behind him while others tried the top to see if they could mount a challenge. The only caution of the race would come on lap nine when last week's winner here, Cole Mather spun while trying to take fourth from Beau Taylor. Mather who towed all the way down from Oelwein had started eleventh after also spinning during his heat race.

On the restart Derrick Agee would battle his way into second and he would keep the pressure on the leader for the remainder of the race. After trying a slightly higher line with no success, Agee was able to wedge his nose under Oliver late in the race, but with John protecting the bottom Agee backed off rather than making contact and that would be the way that they would finish. It was a milestone win for Oliver with his 100th career IMCA Stock Car victory. This would be the second time in four days that I watched Agee race with class while settling for second, Jeremy Pundt started ninth and finished third, Josh Foster returned to his old stompin' grounds to take fourth with division rookie Dakota Simonsen in fifth.

Jesse Belez would pace the first three laps of the eighteen lap IMCA Modified headliner before fifth starting Drew Janssen squeezed under him for the advantage. Austen Becerra was on the move from row five and on lap seven he would go from third to first with one quick move down the back stretch and into turn three. Cautions would wave on lap ten for Brian Reed and lap eleven for Mike Benjamin, then again on the restart when Dennis LaVeine and Daniel Fellows tangled in turn two.

It was only delaying the inevitable though as Becerra would walk away from the field over the final seven laps to secure the victory. Janssen fought of Mark Burgtorf late to finish second, Bill Roberts Jr. was fourth and Mitch Boles filled out the top five.

If Nick Marolf draws the pole in an IMCA Late Model feature here at Donnellson, or really at any track these days, it is a good bet that you will see him go flag-to-flag for the win and that is exactly what he did on this night. A lap twelve caution for a slowing Ed Hollenbeck did create some interest up front though when Tommy Elston used the high side to go from fifth to second on the restart.

Elston's high line momentum allowed him to stay with the leader for a lap or two before Marolf again pulled away only to have the caution wave again with four laps remaining. Apparently drivers from two distinctly different generations had gotten together in turn four with Gary Webb ending up facing the wrong direction. The wily veteran then made it very clear that he was not happy with Darin Weisinger  Jr. who was sent to the rear for the contact.

Elston would give the higher line one more try on the restart, but there was no staying with Marolf who cruised to the dominating win. Denny Woodworth would follow Elston in for third, Jay Johnson used the high line to run fourth with C.J. Horn holding down the fifth position.

The IMCA Sport Mods would close out the evening as Brandt Ames would lead the opening lap before a caution for pole-sitter Trayton Buckallew who had spun in turn two. Nobody is as hooked up right now as Brayton Carter is as he had moved from tenth to sixth for the restart and it would then take him just two laps to take the lead passing both Ames and Adam Birck going down the back stretch.

The leaders had stretched this one out enough that I was already writing down the top five in my notebook with three laps to go before one last caution waved when Cole Gillenwater and Brandon Lambert both ended up facing the wrong direction at the exit of turn four. On the restart Brandon Dale would take second from Birck and with two laps remaining he would drive deep into turn one to pull even with Carter to the leader's outside. Brayton would not flinch though getting the bite that he needed to drive away in the final lap and a half to record his state leading eleventh feature win of the season. Dale and Birck would join the podium with Sean Wyett taking fourth away from John Oliver Jr. in the final laps.

Four of the five feature winners tonight are former All Iowa Points Champions showing the caliber of drivers that compete regularly here at the Lee County Speedway:

Barry Taft - Four Cylinder AIP Champion 2017 and 2018

John Oliver Jr. - Stock Car AIP Champion 2018

Austen Becerra - Four Cylinder AIP Champion in 2014 and Modified AIP Champion in 2022

Brayton Carter - Limited Modified Champion 2020

It would have been special in more ways than one if the ageless veteran and eight-time All Iowa Points Champion Gary Webb could have made it a "former champ" sweep in the Late Models. Think of this, Webb was the champion over the following years, 1980-81, 1993-97 and 2000. Even now in his mid-70's Gary is still competing, and still winning races! A member of the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame, he will always be one of my favorites.

A big thank you to promoters Brian and Marcie Gaylord and the entire Lee County Speedway team for putting on a smooth and efficient program that wrapped up at ten minutes before ten. A night like this might just get me another text from my beautiful wife soon saying "where are we gong racing tonight?"

We will kickoff the 2023 season for the Sprint Invaders this Sunday night at 34 Raceway with the Mini Haulers and the Hobby Stocks also on the card. Hope to see you there!

Moberly's "Trophy Tuesdays" Debut To Gundaker, Jackson and Calvert

I am all for a new promoter trying something unique to try to revive a race track, so when the new promotional group at the Moberly Motorsports Park in north central Missouri announced that they would be running a ten race series of Tuesday night events in 2023 I marked the opener on my calendar to make the trip down and check it out. The wide and high-banked 4/10th-mile speedway has always been one of my favorite tracks to attend even though it has struggled throughout most of its existence and I still fondly remember my first road trip there for an October Sprint Car show that featured Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Danny Lasoski and many others in the late 1980's.

While those of us in Iowa and on to the north are used to mid-week racing, it is rare to find a show on nights other than Fridays and Saturdays in Missouri, so Moberly's "Trophy Tuesdays" is definitely something new and when it was first announced my primary comment here on the Back Stretch was that they need to have the final checkers wave by 9:30 p.m. That was the "curfew" that was in my head as that would allow me to be back home and in bed by midnight should I be in attendance, but more importantly for those race fans in the area if they could be home by 10:00 or 10:30 that should allow them to get a normal night of rest prior to 'hump day" on the job and keep them coming back for more.

Four classes were on the card for the opener with two of them, Late Models at thirteen and B-Mods at nineteen drawing respectable car counts. The Street Stocks, a mix of the area Super Stocks and Stock Cars managed only five cars while just two A-Mods signed in with Dylan Hoover and Charles Baker. Hot laps were scheduled for 7 p.m. and right at that time the cars were brought onto the speedway. Not to hot lap though, but to pack in the surface, a process that would take just over forty minutes. Then, with hot laps also serving as qualifying, the first heat race of the night did not take the green until 8:15 a full forty-five minutes past the scheduled starting time.

All I could think at this point was you get just one chance to make a good first impression.....

Then both the track crew and the drivers made a great recovery!

Canceling a planned intermission after the heats, the Street Stock feature was up first and as Race Director Galen Hassler pointed out afterwards, you only need two cars to put on a good race. Josh Calvert in his POWRi Super Stock raced to the lead at the drop of the green with Derrick Agee and his IMCA/USRA Stock Car in hot pursuit. Both were running the preferred top line around the fast and smooth surface with Agee close enough to make contact with the rear bumper whenever Calvert made the slightest mistake. As the laps ticked down Agee made a couple of attempts to pull the slider on the leader in turns one and two, only to have Calvert calmly execute the crossover and maintain the lead. Then, on the final lap, Agee dove low into turn three doing his best to both clear the nose of the leader while not drifting all the way to the top and while he would hold the lead exiting turn four, Calvert again drove back to the inside and won the drag race to the checkers by half a car length. Curtis Barnes was the only other car still on the track at the checkers.

The Late Models were up next and after lining up the heats straight up from qualifying and then starting the feature as the drivers had finished in those two heat races left little doubt as to who would win this one with Trevor Gundaker starting on the pole. David Melloway did his best to keep pace and he was aided by cautions on lap three and lap six, but after that final restart Gundaker would drive away to more than a straightaway advantage to win the fifteen lap event. Melloway finished second, Matt Becker prevailed in a good race for third with Kyle Graves and young Kayden Clatt recovered from his lap six spin to rally to fifth at the finish. 

The B-Mods would close out the night with a fifteen-lap feature as well including the two A-Mods lined up at the back of the grid. Kris Jackson who has been our Missouri Points Limited Modified Champion for each of the past five seasons was making his first ever appearance at Moberly and after racing out to the early lead he would run the middle line through the turns on both ends. That would allow Cody Agee who was working the top to stay right with the southwest Missouri based hotshoe and coming to score lap three Agee was able to squeeze between Jackson and the front stretch wall exiting turn four to take, what I believe to be a short-lived lead at the stripe.

Jackson would ward off that challenge and after the only caution of the race for a spin on lap five, he would then go to the top and drive away from the competition. The battle for second over the closing laps though made it well worth my trip as Agee, Kyler Girard, Dawson David, Dakota Girard and Chris Spalding raced in a tight formation, plus Dylan Hoover and his A-Mod was there as well making it a thrilling six-pack. At the checkers it would be Jackson taking a convincing victory with Agee holding on to second ahead of D. Girard, David and Spalding.

And the final checkered flag waved at 9:26 p.m., well done Moberly Motorsports Park! The next Trophy Tuesday event will be next week right after you celebrate the Memorial Day weekend so if you are in north central Missouri, or if you are looking to travel in and check out a neat race track sometime, remember that you have a Tuesday night option in Moberly.

As we now head into the Memorial Day weekend it is a possibility that you might find me somewhere on Friday night, then on Sunday we look forward to the 2023 season opener for the Sprint Invaders at 34 Raceway west of Burlington. Hobby Stock drivers take notice, you are on the schedule for this Sunday night at 34 Raceway and it has been a long, long time since the division has been there so we hope to see some of you make the trip in!

Thanks for visiting the Back Stretch and have a safe weekend!

Unzicker and Steffens Conquer MARS, HART Goes to Becerra at Quincy

After spending two long and entertaining days at the Iowa High School Co-Ed State Track & Field Meet in Des Moines, I was ready to get back to the dirt track and Sunday's intriguing tripleheader at the Adams County Illinois Speedway in Quincy had my attention. When Matt Curl purchased the MARS Late Model Series he decided to add the Modifieds to the fun as well, and that is fortunate since the American Modified Series that had been contested for the past several years had closed shop. So not only would the MARS Late Models and Modifieds be making the trip to the "Bullring on Broadway" on Sunday, so too would Dewain Hulett's HART Limited Modified Series that is now in its second year of competition with rules allowing drivers from UMP, IMCA and USRA to all race together.

My thought would be that I would see several drivers that I usually only read about all racing at a track that is still relatively close to me and that assumption rang true with 24 Late Models, 29 Modifieds and 32 Limited Modifieds filling the pits that surround the quarter-mile oval. A nice crowd was on hand as well with near perfect weather for racing other than a bit stronger than predicted breeze from the south that allowed me to take some of the speedway dirt home with me.

With the event streaming live on FloRacing, the Late Models would be up first come feature time with series point leaders Jason Feger and Ryan Unzicker drawing the front row for the forty lap, $5,000-to-win event. They were also the two winners thus far on the weekend with Feger taking Friday's show at Kankakee while Unzicker had topped the field on Saturday in Charleston. Even with those two starting up front, many of the fans had their eyes set on Tyler Erb who decided to get another night in prior to the Show-Me 100 weekend and he would start from the sixth position as Unzicker raced out to the early lead.

Feger would stay close to the leader while Erb worked his way up to third and by lap twelve the leaders would start having to deal with the back of the field. Two laps later Doug Tye would spin in turn three and while Unizcker and Feger were able to avoid, Erb would make contact and come to a halt as the caution waved. By rule this would send the Texan to the rear of the pack where he would only get back up to sixteenth at the finish.

Jonathan Huston would slip off the top of turns three and four on lap seventeen to produce the second and final caution of the race and once back to green Feger would continue his pursuit of the leader. Jason would take a peek to the inside a couple of times, and was ready to pounce should Ryan make a mistake in traffic, but that would never come as Unzicker cruised to his second win in a row and add a bit to his MARS series point lead. Feger was right behind him in second with Tommy Sheppard Jr. joining them on the podium. Veteran driver Rodney Melvin was the Hard Charger of the race coming from twelfth to fourth while Indiana driver Rich Dawson nipped Jake Little at the line by inches for fifth.

The MARS Modified headliner would be up next for thirty laps with front row starters Kyle Steffens and Josh Harris setting a quick early pace. The only caution of the race would wave on lap ten when Jacob Rexing went for a spin in turn two and once back to green it would be Kentucky drivers Harris and Tyler Nicely giving chase to the leader.

Steffens was smooth through traffic and when Harris was able to pull nearly even with him with just four laps remaining, he kept his composure and fought off that challenge. Nicely would then steal the second spot and he too would make one last charge at the leader on the final lap, but there would be no getting by Steffens who also padded his series point lead with a victory here at Quincy. Nicely and Harris would go two and three with Michael Long finishing where he had started in fourth. Trevor Neville would fill out the top five.

Twenty laps was the scheduled distance for the HART Limited Modifieds with pole-sitter Damian Kiefer leading the first of those. However, after a back marker spun in turn one on lap two something apparently broke on the leader's car as he too had stopped in turn four and it would be Dakota Girard who would be scored as the leader on the first lap after the restart. The 2022 UMP Modified track champion here at Quincy and last year's All Iowa Points Modified Champion Austen Becerra was behind the wheel of Logan Cumby's #8c Sport Mod for tonight and he would power past Girard to take the lead on lap three.

The caution would wave again on lap seven when Kyler Girard slowed and on the restart four cars starting near the back of the field would be scattered about the front stretch requiring another caution. With the writing on the wall I decided to start my trip home at 9:50 figuring that Becerra would be in control and that assumption was proven correct when I checked the results after getting home. Reed Wolfmeyer, who was second at the time of my departure, finished in that position after starting sixth. St. Louis area driver Matthew Edler came from eighth to third, Chris Spalding started eleventh and finished fourth while Tanner Klingele battled his way back up to fifth. Klingele and Blaise Lewis had tangled on the first try at a start with both having to go to the rear of the field.

A big thank you to Jim and Tammy Lieurance for their hospitality and, knowing that grandstand parking needs to be efficient whenever a big crowd is expected at Quincy, Jim was one of those out directing traffic as I arrived an hour before hot laps proving that he is one of those promoters who does it all. It was also a pleasure to meet and speak with MARS series announcer Mike Norris, one of the best there is who also handled the Limited Mods on this night with Quincy's regular voice Doug Mealy still recovering from a serious health scare. I heard though that Doug is expected to be back on the mic next week and that is definitely great news!

Next up on my schedule is a trip to the Moberly Motorsports Park tomorrow night as they kickoff their unique "Trophy Tuesdays" series as you just don't see much for mid-week racing in the Show Me State. Then on Sunday night we look forward to kicking off the 2023 season for the Sprint Invaders at 34 Raceway west of Burlington. Hope to see you there!

Young Charlie Mefford who made a name for himself with a classic interview after rolling his car at the Dome was at Quincy and won the Modified B-Main before finishing thirteenth in the A.

John Stanton towed this sharp looking car up from the St. Louis area to compete in the HART Limited Modified portion of the tripleheader,

Lowrider Erb Powers To Castrol Cash At Davenport

If the low line is working then you had better keep your eye on the #28 Super Late Model. And, if Dennis Erb Jr. is the first to find that faster bottom groove, then it is a good bet that he will be parking that car in victory lane just as he did on Wednesday as the Castrol FloRacing Night In America visited the Davenport Speedway for the first time. The win for the defending World of Outlaws Late Model Champion was worth a cool $23,023 in front of a large crowd at the historic Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds.

As is the norm, all forty of the Super Late Models on hand ripped the top during qualifying with Mike Marlar setting a new track record with a lap of 13.321 seconds. In fact they had pushed the cushion all the way to the top of the banking on both ends requiring promoter Ricky Kay and the Dirt Doctor Al Dlouhy to go to work right after qualifying to bring the curb back down the track prior to heat race action. The top was still the place to be though with Marlar and Bobby Pierce winning the first two qualifiers from the front row while Mason Zeigler made a nifty low to high  move in turns three and four on the opening lap to take the third heat race after starting from inside of row two. Then came the race of the night in this writer's opinion.

The first two rows would breakaway from the pack with Earl Pearson Jr. leading Cade Dillard, Dennis Erb Jr. and Brandon Sheppard in tight single file formation around the top. After a few laps though the drivers behind the leader started to search a little lower without much success until Erb went all the way to the bottom. With just a couple of laps remaining the quartet fanned out four-wide exiting turn four with Erb taking the lead and the eventual win in the final two laps setting the stage for what would come later in the night.

After three heats for the IMCA Modifieds and two Late Model B-Mains, the first one seeing Chris Simpson use the bottom to come from fourth and pass both Devin Moran and Tim McCreadie to take the win, another round of track maintenance would take place prior to the fifty-lap headliner for the Late Models.

Starting second Zeigler would propel off the freshly groomed and watered cushion to take the early lead off turn two with Marlar, Pierce and Erb all in hot pursuit and all working the same top line. By lap ten though we saw a similar scenario to that fourth heat with the leader Zeigler up high, the second place car of Marler one line lower, Pierce another couple car widths lower than that and now Erb digging around the bottom.

Zeigler's "stick man" apparently took notice as the next time around Mason was trying the bottom as well, but when he would let it drift a bit out of turns two and four that allowed Marlar to get a run off the top scoring lap fourteen. However, when Zeigler suddenly headed back for the cushion entering turn one that would force Marlar up and over the banking. Despite staying on the throttle and looking like he would only drop to about tenth in the running order, the caution waved just as Marlar was returning to the track surface on the back stretch and a quick scan of the rest of the track would give the impression that the caution was for Marlar.

That assumption would be confirmed as the #157 would go to the back of the field for the restart even though, if the race had stayed green, he would have remained in the front half of the pack. 

On the restart Erb went "all in" on the bottom and with Zeigler unable to pin his plain black looking car to the low line, it would be Erb taking the lead on lap nineteen. As Dennis started to pull away Bobby Pierce would take over second on lap twenty-six only to lose that spot to Hudson O'Neal three laps later and by lap thirty nearly the entire field had made their way to the bottom line. Erb had nearly a full straightaway lead over O'Neal at this point and despite the leader closing in on the back of the field in Tim McCreadie with eleven laps remaining, Hudson was not making up a bunch of ground.

With the laps winding down and the lead still at around seven car lengths, O'Neal decided to give the middle line one more try with seven laps remaining. Perhaps a peak of the nose from Bobby Pierce to his inside one lap into that effort made O'Neal return to the bottom to preserve a runner-up finish on this night to the low line master Dennis Erb Jr. who would take his second Castrol FloRacing  victory in a week's time repeating his victory from May 10th at the Spoon River Speedway in Canton, Illinois. Second generation stars would fill the podium with O'Neal and Pierce joining Erb while Brandon Overton and Ricky Thornton Jr. would complete the top five. Kyle Bronson would charge from eighteenth to finish sixth, Jonathan Davenport was seventh, Zeigler faded to eighth, Brandon Sheppard was ninth after starting from row eight and Ryan Gustin was tenth. 

With victory lane festivities wrapping up a bit before 9:30, a good amount of the crowd would stick around for the twenty-lap IMCA Modified feature that would see Brian Harris behind the wheel of a #98 car lead the way for the first five laps. Jeff Aikey would sweep around Harris to take the point on lap six with the only caution of the race flying two laps later when Jason Pershy and Matt Stein tangled in turn one.

Prior to the caution Tim Ward was making up some ground running the high line after starting seventh, but on the restart after lining up fourth in the second double-file row, Ward would pass the two cars starting in front of him to move to second through turns one and two with the leader Aikey now in his sights. The lead would switch hands at the mid-race mark and as the Arizona native Ward pulled away, the former leaders of the event would fall by the wayside with Aikey leaving the race on lap eleven and Harris exiting on lap thirteen.

It would be the tenth win of 2023 for Ward, his fifth thus far in Iowa trailing only defending champion Austen Becerra in the early stages of the All Iowa Points season. After solving some smoking issues from earlier in the evening, Dylan Thornton would drive one of Timmy Current's Modifieds to the runner-up honors with Eric Barnes holding down third. Friday night's winner here, Chris Zogg would advance from eleventh to fourth while Mitch Morris closed out the top five. 

While this one will not be in contention for Dirt On Dirt's Top Race of the Year, it was still a very entertaining night of action at the Davenport Speedway and we look forward to returning often as the season continues. Perhaps even for their next event coming up on Friday May 26th when the Hoker Trucking SLMR East Series takes to the wide quarter-mile.

I have to note that I took three pictures during my pre-race pit walk and two of them are included above. Does that mean that I have a knack for picking winners pre-race?

My next racing action will actually be on the blue oval of the Drake Stadium this Friday and Saturday as we make our annual trip to the Iowa High School State Track & Field meet so I will have to catch up with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series doubleheader at the 300 Raceway in Farley and at 34 Raceway west of Burlington on FloRacing rather than in person. Then on Sunday I look forward to making the trip south to the Adams County Illinois Speedway in Quincy for an attractive triple shot of MARS Late Models & Modifieds plus the HART Limited Modified Series.

Get out and support the speedways of your choice this weekend!

Dallon Wears The Crown At Davenport

Friday was a spectacular night of racing at the Davenport Speedway! In the first ever appearance here for the IMCA Stock Car Dirt Crown Series thirty-one drivers checked in from near and far, plus with full fields in three of the four weekly divisions, all using the IMCA average points invert lineup procedures, the fans were treated to lead changes galore from the first drop of the green to the final checkered flag of the night.

Thirteen heat races were completed without a hitch followed by two B-Mains and we were the ready for feature racing, but before that I want to make a point. With thirty-one Stock Cars and thirty Modifieds, the qualifying format was as follows. Three heat races with the top five advancing from each and then ONE B-MAIN where the top nine then advanced to the feature. Oh my goodness, how can you run a B-Main with fifteen or sixteen cars in it? Surely you must split them into two B-Mains, right? Wrong! Both B-Mains went green to checkers with no issues and the best twenty-four drivers on this night in each division had qualified for their feature event.

I've said it before and I will say it again. There is no need to have two B-Mains unless you have more than thirty-six cars signed in, then I can see the reasoning. Otherwise you are selling your drivers short and making for a longer show than needed.

The Sport Compacts would be up first for twelve laps with eight of the nine cars on hand making the call. As the green flag waved the front row of Jack Fitzgibbon and Roy Schmidt was quickly swallowed up by the second row of Jake Benischek and Dustin Forbes who were now out front as they went by the flagstand. Benischek would take the point with fifth starting Cyle Hawkins soon there to challenge.

The two-time defending All Iowa Points Champion Hawkins would drive under Benischek to take the lead at the mid-race point, but three laps later as he was racing down the back stretch the leader's car belched some flames twice and as he slowed, Benischek was there to reclaim the advantage. Forbes would follow him into second and while Dustin kept the leader in his sights over the final three laps there would be no catching Jake as he scored the victory. Forbes was second, Hawkins nursed his sputtering ride in for third with Schmidt and Gary Schlieper completing the top five.

Twenty-six of the twenty-eight Sport Mods on hand would take the green in their fifteen-lap main event and this one was a thriller throughout. David Engelkens would set a quick early pace as drivers with high point averages started to march their way to the front from the fourth. fifth and sixth row. You could throw a blanket over the top six as they raced out of turn two on lap seven as they were two by two, nose to tail, three rows deep with the ninth starting Ben Chapman taking the lead from Engelkens on lap eight.

The caution would wave on lap ten when Trey Jacobs spun exiting turn two as Chapman flew by him and on the restart Pat Emerick would go for a spin in turn one. The final five laps would bring some of the crowd to their feet and you could definitely hear them cheering over the roar of the motors as Chapman, who was running a lower line, was under fire from the twelfth starting Logan Veloz who was riding the cushion on both ends.

Veloz would nose ahead at the line on lap thirteen and appeared to be on his way to victory, but when he bobbled a bit on the cushion in turn two on the final lap, Chapman was back in business. Ben would drive to the lead going down the back stretch and dive hard to the bottom entering turn three. This time though he would let the car drift to the high side exiting turn four in an attempt to take away Logan's momentum, but Veloz spotted the move and made the perfect crossover to setup a drag race to the line.

As they crossed under the waving checkered flag it appeared that Veloz was your winner, however fans need to remember that the start-finish line here at Davenport is several feet before the flagstand and is clearly marked by a thin orange cone on the fence in front of the grandstands. And at that cone it was Chapman by inches for a thrilling victory. Tony Olson, who had started seventh, was right behind them in third, Ryan Reed finished fourth and Todd Dykema moved from eighth to fifth.

That would be a tough act to follow, but the talented field of twenty-four looking for the $2,000 top prize in the Stock Car Dirt Crown headliner would be up to the task for thirty-five laps. A pair of Dustins, Reeh and Vis, would bring the field to green with Vis taking the lead until lap three when the third-starting Justin Kay went storming by. A five-time All Iowa Points Late Model Champion, Kay has been dabbling with the Stock Car over the past few seasons, but surprisingly has been yet to take a feature win and in fact has finished second on three nights already in 2023. So would his first ever win in a Stock Car come in this huge event at his home track? As with most drivers who have had a wealth of success over a period of time, half of the crowd was rooting against him while the other half was pulling for him.

The first caution would wave on lap four for a Lee Kinsella spin in turn one and on the restart Dylan Thornton would spin in turn two apparently due to mechanical issues as he would require a tow back to the pits. Once back to green, Kay would maintain the advantage while the race for second would go four-wide exiting turn four on lap seven with Kaden Reynolds being one of those in play. On the next lap though Reynolds would drive off the top of turn four with perhaps a flat right front tire after he had made contact with the spun out Thornton earlier. 

Back to green with the tenth starting Miciah Hidlebaugh now in contention along with the father/son duo of the Murtys with Damon coming from deep in the pack, sixteenth after winning the B-Main, while Dallon had started eleventh. Dallon would move to second on lap fourteen and the crowd was again abuzz as they anticipated a showdown between the best Late Model driver in the region over the past several years and the best Stock Car driver over that same time period.

The caution would wave again though on lap twenty-one when Hidlebaugh, perhaps with a bit of contact from behind, would spin in turn four and on the restart the crowd would go wild as the Murty's would shuffle Kay out of the lead and then Justin would spin going down the back stretch. However, before all of that action had transpired, Jacob Ellithorpe had spun exiting turn four coming to the green so the caution was for him and Kay would again lead the field for the next restart.

On this one Gage Neal, who had lined up fifth, would go for a spin and we would line them up again for another shot at the green. This would bring the move of the night as when David Brandies dove in low to pull even with Kay who had gone to the cushion in turn two, Dallon Murty had kicked off the ledge at the apex of the turn and with tremendous momentum he would split the two leaders and race to the front down the back straightaway. The crowd went nuts and two laps later as Kay was battling with Brandies trying to hold on to second, he would jump the cushion in turn one going off the top of the banking and instead of stopping Justin just headed for the pit area that is located off the back stretch of the old half-mile.

It was all over but the shouting now as the younger Murty pulled away for a convincing victory although as he made his way into victory lane there was a lot of steam coming from the winning Stock Car. Brandies, who had started sixth and who was in the mix throughout took the runner-up honors with Dustin Vis coming home third. The race to watch over the final ten laps was between Chanse Hollatz and Johnny Spaw who went back and forth several times before Hollatz prevailed for fourth after staring from row nine while Spaw had started ninth.

Dustin Smith would start from the pole position of the twenty-lap IMCA Modified feature and it was obvious that he wanted to get to the cushion first in turn one and that caused fellow front row starter Matt Stein to lose several positions as he slipped off the top of turns one and two on the opening lap. As he went to that cushion a second time though, Smith would drive over the top of the banking and that would hand the lead over to Travis Denning who had quickly advanced from his sixth starting spot.

Spencer Diercks had charged from tenth to third in the opening laps, but he would spin in turn four with three laps completed and that would be the first of four cautions that would all be lumped together. The back of the field would get stacked up on each of the two attempts at a restart and, after lap four was scored, three more backmarkers would come together in turn three for what would turn out to be the final caution of the race.

Chris Zogg had started next to Denning in row three and he would now be there to challenge for the lead driving around the outside of Travis on lap nine. There would be no catching Zogg from there as Chris would record his second win of 2023 in fine fashion. Denning would settle for second on this night while Diercks rallied from the back of the field to finish third. Matt Werner came from the fifth row to finish fourth while Charlie Mohr advanced from eighth to fifth at the checkers.

A nice field of twenty-three IMCA Late Models would close out the evening for twenty-five laps with "The Godfather" Leroy Brenner setting the early pace while being challenged by division rookie Anthony Franklin. Matt Ryan would slip by both of them to take the lead on lap three and, as he tried to pull away, Fred Remley was digging his way around the bottom to get to second and he was then closing in on the leader.

Remley would snag the lead in traffic on lap thirteen only to have Ryan regain the advantage a lap later before the cation waved with ten laps remaining when Brandon Loos slipped off the top of turn one. With the realignment Davenport Speedway fans saw several likely winners near the front in Ryan, Remley, Andy Nezworski and Justin Kay, but one they might have missed would have been Dubuque visitor Joel Callahan who was now up to third after starting from twelfth. The former Yankee Dirt Track Classic champion showed that was no fluke as it would take just two laps for him to go to the front and Callahan would then drive away over the final eight laps to take the win in his first top-five showing of 2023. He was followed by Ryan, Kay, Nezworski and Bryan Klein while Chris Lawrence passed Franklin on the final lap for sixth.

The final checkered flag waved at 9:56 p.m. and I was among the large crowd that made its way out the gate fully satisfied with a great night of racing. And we get to do it all again next Wednesday night, May 17th when the Castrol FloRacing Night in America makes its way to the Davenport Speedway for the first time. Along with the Super Late Models racing for $23,023 to win, the IMCA Modifieds will be there as well. Hope to see you there! 

Carter, Mather and Dhondt Among Winners At Indee's Monday Madness

Sometimes it just isn't a great night of racing and that was the case on Monday as the Independence Motor Speedway was finally able to get a show in after three straight rainouts of their regular Saturday night program. This would be the first of four "Monday Madness" events on the schedule here for 2023 and, as anticipated, it drew in a strong field of cars with 118 of them spread fairly equally across the five divisions with the Hobby Stocks and the Modifieds leading the way with 28 and 27 signed in respectively.

Around an inch of rain had fallen on Sunday and it was obvious that the first step in track prep was to blade off the muddy top creating an inside berm of dirt that will be returned to the surface for future use. That, along with the fact that it was soupy in the infield and the track tires seemed to be a bit farther out than usual, made it more difficult for drivers that had spun to escape and keep the race under green. Plus the dirt over the top of the banking all around the track was still wet making it hard for drivers to navigate their way back onto the racing surface if they had slipped off the top.

The track itself was in pretty darn good racing condition with drivers able to run high, low and in between throughout the night so when starter Wes White was able to let his green flag wave, there was some good racing to be enjoyed. But on this night, that damn yellow flag had to be displayed way too often. Perhaps it is because drivers are just too anxious right now after sitting out several events canceled due to weather throughout the region? Maybe it was the bigger money on the line with $1,000 going to the winner in the Stock Car, Modified and Sport Mod divisions? Whatever the reasons, it was perhaps the most cautions that I have ever seen at an event that was using the "one and done" rule during heat races and B-Mains. 

Oh yes, the B-Mains, the one penalty flag that I will throw on the track itself as I have stated many, many, many, many times here in the past that two B-Mains are NOT NEEDED with a field of cars less than thirty-six. Look through the Back Stretch archives for the good reasons why as I don't feel the need to go into detail again. On this night all eight starters came to the track in each of the two Hobby Stock B's where the top six in each would advance. Alternatives would have been to transfer six out of the three heats and then have one ten car B-Main to get your final six starters. Or, keep the twelve that transferred from the three heats and have one sixteen car B-Main with twelve cars transferring. The two B's in the Modifieds was even more annoying as only six of the eight scheduled starters came to the track in the first one, so all six would make the transfer and then with only seven cars starting the second B-Main, only one car was eliminated.

The "yellow fever" did not subside come feature time either, although the Sport Mod twenty-lapper was only interrupted twice. Former All Iowa Points Champion and current AIP leader Brayton Carter drew the pole position and was never seriously challenged on the way to his seventh feature win on the young season. Kyle Olson gave up the runner-up spot to Sam Wieben briefly following the second restart, but he was able to come back to finish second. Wieben finished where he started in third and Tony Olson nipped Ben Chapman in a photo finish for fourth.

The Stock Cars had a tough night with five cautions in the first eleven laps and then one last solo spin on lap fourteen by a second time offender. Cole Mather would go the distance to win from the pole although Kaden Reynolds did apply some pressure after one of the several restarts. Local favorite Tom Schmitt started the race from the fourth row and was able to pass Reynolds late for second, Ty Hill made the long tow in from Winterset to finish fourth and Taylor Kuehl finished off a solid evening of pulling double duty as she finished fifth after starting eleventh. The Arizona native had just finished seventh in the Sport Mod feature before quickly changing over to her Stock Car.

The Hobby Stocks would be up next for fifteen laps with Briar Kriegel setting the early pace before Calvin Dhondt drove under him to take the point on lap four. The caution would wave two laps later and, while I may be wrong, I believe it was for a car that had spun to the infield in turn two on the opening lap and was then trying to maintain some forward motion in the rain soaked infield, finally ending up just a bit too close to the back stretch six laps later. Another caution would fly on lap eight and one more yellow came out as the leader was taking the white flag to set up a green-white-checkers ending.

Bradly Graham had raced his way up from sixth to second, but he would not be able to make a run for the win as Dhondt cruised to the checkers. Quinton Miller drew the sixth row for the feature after winning his heat race and he was impressive coming to third. Kriegel would slip to fourth and Billy Rhoades would fill out the top five at the checkers.

By now the ten o'clock hour was upon us, but I decided to stay to see if the Modifieds and Compacts could close out the show on a high note. The twenty-three Modifieds took the green (Jeff Aikey had blown his motor as he won his heat race, another reason why two B-Mains were not needed) and then when one car mid-pack got crossed up exiting turn two the accordion effect sent three of the back starters for a spin.

On the second try at a start all hell broke loose in turn four with eight cars involved, including Russ Hesse who would barrel roll a couple of times at the top of turn four. With all drivers okay, as they turned Hesse's car back on to all fours a glance of my watched showed me that it was now 10:10 and the two wreckers seemed to be focused on a tangle of four cars at the bottom of turn four. They must have been hooked together real good as after fifteen minutes of radio silence and just one of the cars removed from the mess, I decided that my one hour and forty-five minute drive home was to now begin.

Hopefully they were able to get the track cleared soon and that the green flag stayed out for the remainder of the night as Spencer Diercks would take the Modified win from his front row start. Also, I must note that the Sport Compacts ran off their two heat races earlier in the night without incident and I wouldn't be surprised to hear that they went green to checkers in their main event as well. Mason City driver Devin Jones was the winner after starting from the pole position.

I have been around this sport long enough to know that you are going to have nights like this and I also know that with two of my favorite promoters at the helm, and a couple of my long-time friends helping them out, better nights are ahead and they get another chance at it this coming Saturday at Independence. I love the "Monday Madness" concept and the full pit area was exactly what I expected, so I definitely have plans to return to Indee for the next Monday Madness scheduled for June 19th!

My next event will be this Friday night, May 12th as the Stock Car Crown Summer Series, based out of eastern Nebraska, makes the trip east to the Davenport Speedway for a $2,000-to-win show where it will be interesting to see just who all makes the journey. Along with that you will get Davenport's usually strong weekly show of IMCA Late Models, Modifieds, Sport Mods and Four Cylinders. Then on Sunday night I would like to get to Vinton for the debut of the Pro Late Model Tour, but it is Mother's Day so I am going to have to play that one right to make it happen.

Hope to see you again soon on the Back Stretch!