Back Stretch

Wild West Wraps Up; Knoxville's Friday Night Improves

2012-01-23T10:14:00.000-08:00

It is not often that I will tell you to keep an eye out for a certain driver and then they actually go out and win, so I do have to applaud Morgan Bagley on his victory in the finale of the Wild West Shootout on Sunday. The Longview, Texas, driver inherited the lead when Billy Moyer broke a rear end and then outran Tim McCreadie and John Anderson to take the win, his first on a “big stage” and likely not his last.

After making the feature the first two nights, the rest of the week did not go well for Justin Kay although he did just come up one spot short of making Sunday’s main event out of the third B-Main. Iowan Chris Simpson won that race and advanced along with Will Vaught, Steve Isenberg and Terry Phillips while Kay was fifth ahead of Shannon Babb. Look for Justin to parlay this pre-season experience into some big things back home this season!

Simpson was solid in the A-Main on Sunday15th and advancing to seventh at the checkers.

Kudos to Modified driver Brad Dierks who snared a fourth-place finish in Wednesday night’s show racing against some of the top drivers in the country.

Action now shifts to the southeast part of the country with a pair of non-sanctioned Late Model events this coming Saturday at North Florida Speedway in Lake City and at Boyd’s Speedway in Ringgold, Georgia. Then “Speedweeks” kicks into high gear on February 10th with Late Model racing just about every night in Georgia and then Florida through the 25th.

No trip south for me again this year due to one last tuition payment, but hopefully a return to Florida in 2013 will fit into the budget. The Lee County Speedway will be as far south as I go for a race in February with their race on the 11th and then in March a trip down to Springfield, Missouri, for the rescheduled Turkey Classic on the 10th is on the table. However, a run to the state championship game by the Mount Pleasant Panthers would just have to take precedence over that one if it happens!

I love the changes that have been made to the Friday night program at the Knoxville Nationals. The revised format will make a night that has in the past seen the feature winner earning the 11th starting spot in Saturday’s C-Main so much more exciting as now the top four in the Friday feature will start 17th through 20th in the Championship A-Main on Saturday. I do however wonder how a night of adverse weather will be handled as, in the past, a rainout on Wednesday, Thursday or even Friday would result in the “Friday” program being run during the day on Saturday, or in at least one case being run on a Sunday night after the Championship night was completed on Saturday. I would guess that the day race on Saturday would still be an option, but it would carry so much more significance now than it has in the past. And, either way, that is a good thing!

Sunday Notebook: January 15, 2012

2012-01-15T11:59:00.000-08:00

Has the Wild West Shootout now pulled even with Speedweeks in Florida? Saturday night's opener in Tucson Arizona drew 69 Late Models and 57 Modifieds with plenty of marquee names sprinkled throughout. That car count for the Late Models just might be the highest you'll see in January and February this year especially with the Lucas Oil Late Model series and the World of Outlaws going head-to-head at East Bay and Bubba Raceway Park in Florida.

Billy Moyer parlayed a pole position start to take the Late Model victory followed by Will Vaught, Shannon Babb, Jimmy Mars and Tim McCreadie. Iowa drivers Chris Simpson and Justin Kay started on the front row of the sixth heat race, but Simpson was bumped from behind by another driver on the opening lap and had to restart from the rear. Kay then paced the field for the first few laps before Moyer muscled past him for the win and while Kay finished second his passing points put him into one of three B-Mains. Simpson fought his way back to fifth and he came from tenth to fifth in the third B to just miss the finale. Kay's third-place finish in the first B-Main started him 19th on the grid for the main event and he finished 11th in what I believe is his first venture to the south during Iowa's traditional offseason. Kay put on one of the best performances that I witnessed in 2011 when he rode the cushion from the back toward the front at Tipton and I am sure that he was thrilled with running so well on the first night in Tucson. Hopefully that will continue during this trip to Arizona and he can use this jump on the season to tally some wins back here in Iowa in 2012.

Terry Phillips made his debut in a Bloomquist chassis Saturday night, transferred from a B-Main, started 20th and finished 17th.

Keep an eye out for Morgan Bagley this year. The youngster out of Texas had a stellar rookie year in a Late Model in 2011 and he appears to be headed for bigger and better things quickly. Last night he finished eighth in the feature event.

Brad Diercks towed his Modified down to Arizona as well for the Shootout and he did not have a good opening night finishing 18th in the first B-Main. The Modified feature was won by Jason Hughes followed by Stormy Scott and Rodney Sanders. There are five more nights of action here on the schedule through Sunday January 22nd and if you would like to watch it live on pay per view visit http://www.dirtondirt.com/

The Swindell family did it again at the Chili Bowl finishing one-two for the second straight year, an absolutely amazing accomplishment given that there were more than 260 entrants in Tulsa. Kevin Swindell was the first ever back-to-back winner when he edged out his papa Sammy last year and he made it three wins in a row last night when he went flag to flag for the victory. Kevin's streak of three in a row will be difficult for any driver to match in the future, but even less likely will be the streak of a son and his father finishing first and second two years in a row. That one, I predict, will never be matched.

The California phenom Kyle Larson was considered to be the only driver capable of beating the Swindells as he started next to Kevin in the front row, but the "NorCal Ninja" had to settle for third on this night. NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Sprint Cup champ Tony Stewart both returned to their open wheel dirt track racing roots finishing ninth and tenth respectively. A.J. Fike of Galesburg Illinois who wheeled an IMCA Modified around the local tracks in southeast Iowa in 2011 made the show and finished 23rd.

The Chili Bowl feature was changed from 50-laps to 55 in honor of driver Donnie Ray Crawford. A preliminary night feature winner in 2011 from nearby Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Crawford was in competition again this week but was murdered by his grandfather on Saturday morning. His car number was 55.

I made the trip up to Cedar Rapids Saturday morning for the Simmons Promotions Racer's Auction and Trade Show and enjoyed catching up with some old friends and making a few new ones. We have had a bunch of people checking out the old racing photos that we have posted on the PositivelyRacing Facebook page this offseason, but if you want to check out a fantastic collection of old photos you need to visit with Doug Haack and or check out his website. It was also nice to see Kyle Ealy again who was thumbing through those photos with great interest as he does a spectacular job of keeping the history of our sport alive with his Midwest Racing Archives.

Four cylinder drivers and hobby stock drivers don't forget that you could be racing in just four more weeks on February 11th at the Lee County Speedway's "Break Ice, Not Hearts 50". Get your entries in early and you diehard race fans need to gather up your winter gear and get ready to tally that first race on your 2012 list!

News Out of Bloomfield and Memphis and an Orange Bowl Beat Down

2012-01-05T08:15:00.000-08:00

News out of two tracks in the tri-state area surfaced this morning on the forums at Heartland Motorsports. Former Modified driver Chris Eggers and his wife Cindy announced that they will be promoting weekly Saturday night races at the Bloomfield Speedway in 2012 beginning on April 14th. Modifieds, Sport Mods, Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts will compete weekly while the Knoxville rules 305 Sprint cars will make a few appearances during the season as well.

Chris gave me a call this morning and, after coming close to securing the reigns at Bloomfield before, you can tell that he is very excited to now have the opportunity to bring weekly racing back to the 3/8-mile oval on the Davis County Fairgrounds. He plans to run the IMCA-type rules and is looking forward to speaking with Brett Root about possibly sanctioning at least some of the weekly classes. With Oskaloosa running on Wednesday nights and Donnellson on Fridays, an IMCA sanction would give the Ottumwa/Bloomfield area drivers the opportunity to run for points three nights a week without traveling more than 75 miles one-way. It will be interesting to see what develops there.

There is also a post in the Scotland County Speedway forum this morning by Brandon Savage asking what kind of driver support he would get if the track would run a four to six night schedule in 2012. A Spring Special, the Fair race, the Fall Nationals and perhaps a couple more events would be contested on the 3/8-mile oval on the historic fairgrounds in Memphis, Missouri, if Savage receives positive feedback on the plan. The young Modified driver from Keokuk put on the promoter’s hat for the first time this past October and wore it well for the two night Fall Nationals program. He would plan on running a rules package similar to that event that allowed “open” and IMCA legal Modifieds to compete together. And in fact it was an IMCA car that swept both nights with J.D. Auringer taking the wins.

It was interesting that news from both tracks broke on the same day and it will be fun to watch the forums as everybody weighs in. I have enjoyed the racing over the years at both tracks and it is good to see that they won’t be pushing up weeds all year!

The 2012 dirt track season officially kicks off this weekend with the Annual Ice Bowl at the Talladega Short Track in Alabama. It looks like the unseasonably warm temps that we are seeing today will stick around down there as well, but it may be a little wet around the edges. This is an event that I have been able to attend five times and it is amazing the number of cars that it will draw in no matter what the conditions.

And speaking of drawing in cars no matter what the conditions, I am looking forward to seeing how the first ever “Break Ice, Not Hearts 50” goes at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. The Four Cylinders will be running for $1,000-to-win on Saturday February 11th in the southeast corner of Iowa and you just never know, it might be sixty degrees and sunny just like it is here on January 5th. Hobby Stocks will run as well if they get enough entries.

Did you watch the Orange Bowl last night? West Virginia had 63 points on the board with more than nine minutes left in the third quarter! Coach Dana Holgorsen took the foot off the gas but a fourth quarter touchdown allowed the Mountaineers to set a new all-time bowl scoring record in their 70-33 win over Clemson. Since Holgorsen started learning his spread-style of offense in my huddle as the kids of Linden Heights played football in the vacant lot behind my parents home here in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, I took great pride in my contribution to the sport. Actually, since Dana was only about four or five at the time we would just send him deep on every play so that he would be out of the way. But the big kids had a heart, so the little guys would get to carry it once in awhile and we would always act like we couldn’t tackle them so they could score every time. It almost looked like Clemson was doing the same last night.

The first draft of the Special Events schedule is up on the Calendar page. Happy New Year, racing is only a few weeks away!!

Racing Photos from the 1990's

2012-01-01T10:32:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my partner Barry Johnson taking some time to scan in some more prints, we have just added 30 more pictures from the 1990's to the PositivelyRacing.com page on Facebook.

Happy New Year!

More Than 200 Vintage Racing Pics

2011-12-24T15:03:00.000-08:00

You can find more like these on the PositivelyRacing.com page on Facebook. Enjoy!

Counting My Blessings

2011-12-20T10:28:00.000-08:00

With the Holiday Season now upon us I wanted to take a moment and talk about how proud I am to be associated with the people that we have working with us at Positively Racing. All of these fine folks are race fans who are not compensated for their efforts. They do what they do to help promote the sport that we all love, and that is why it frustrates me when we have some internet jockeys who get snippy when any of us try to let others know where they can find these efforts. The ads that you see on our site are very low priced (contact me if you are interested!) and fortunately have covered our costs of being online thanks to the donated time of our “webmistress”, more on her later. Would we like for Positively Racing to become a lucrative profit generating business? Well of course we would! But until that day, and beyond, this run-on-sentence will always be our motto!

So here goes based upon the order that they are listed on the home page……

My partner in this venture Barry Johnson is one of the wittiest people I know. He is one of my two friends that I know can make me laugh no matter how crappy of a day I am having. (Herb, you know that you are the other one!) I came to know Barry when he spent the first of his two stints as the editor of Hawkeye Racing News and, when we noticed that we shared many of the same likes and dislikes about racing, our friendship started and it grew when we found that those similar views also applied to life in general. He and his wife Stephanie and their daughter Aidan have become like family to us and my son Morgan feels like the Knoxville Nationals would not be the same if we didn’t spend the week with them. A great photographer and writer, you will notice that Barry has been a little light on the blog entries the past two seasons as he has been more focused on getting another degree. But I think that he is getting very close to that next accomplishment and hopefully we will be seeing much more of “Running the High Side” in 2012.

Honestly, as I move on to this next paragraph, I cannot tell you exactly how I was first introduced to our only blogger couple Dick and Joyce Eisele. But I can tell you this, they are two of the nicest people that you will ever meet either at the racetrack, in the stands at Carver Hawkeye arena, or wherever you have the opportunity to say “hi” to them. I am always excited to attend an event that I know the Eiseles will be at as they are happy to be there, no matter what the conditions are or what the car count is, and they always leave the track obviously excited to do it all again at their next scheduled stop. The name of our site actually comes from how I viewed Joyce and her efforts to pass along results on the forums before our site came to be as she was always “Positive”, and they were the first people that Barry and I asked to come on board. The one thing that I have noticed about Dick and Joyce is that you will never find them sitting alone at a racetrack, as they will always be surrounded by friends and I am honored to be included in that group! The 4D Fan Report is where a race fan can read about a night of racing as told by race fans.

I am pretty sure that I was introduced to Kevin Trittien one night when we were all sitting with Dick and Joyce, but I had followed “TapFan” and his thoughts on the forums for a long time before that. Kevin reminds me of myself when I was much younger. He loves racing and he will do whatever he can to get out to as many tracks and as many events as possible. Just like Dick and Joyce, when I asked Kevin to start writing a blog for Positively Racing I had to convince him that he his efforts would be of an interest to others. They were worried that they were not “writers”. I told them not to worry about that and to just share their experiences and their love for the sport would shine through and be well received by the people that Barry and I felt would frequent the site. They did, and it has definitely been well received. I have been especially impressed with just how good of a “writer” that Kevin has become and I really enjoyed traveling with him down to Butler, Missouri, at the end of the 2010 season as we talked racing for three hours down and three hours back to where we met in Osceola. He is another person that you will always find surrounded by friends at the track and I look forward to another road trip with him again soon, but in the meantime I will remain an avid reader of “TapFan’s Tours”.

I didn’t think that it was possible, but I found an even bigger stat geek than myself in Ryan Clark. I also met Ryan when he was at Hawkeye Racing News and when he became editor for a couple of seasons I was very impressed with his writing style. Obviously he is a huge race fan having caught the bug when he was just a kid and, just like someone else I know, he couldn’t help but to get more involved with the sport as soon as he was old enough. Ryan is a talented scorekeeper, a fair and unbiased official and an extremely talented announcer combining his incredible knowledge of the drivers with a smooth voice and a quick wit that keeps the fans both well informed and very entertained. And, when he is not “working” a race, you will find him somewhere as a fan and now a blogger sharing his love of racing. Barry and I were extremely pleased when Ryan agreed to add “In Staging” to the site!

I know that Brian Neal will say “yeah right” when he reads this, but it is obvious that the love of racing shared with him by the late Ed Sheckler lives on with all that Brian does for the sport. Brian’s personality is not as outgoing as Ed’s as he is not going to walk up to a stranger, shake his hand, and tell him all of the reasons to support the sport like his mentor did regularly. Brian encourages people to become bigger fans in a more anonymous fashion. First of all he is a very valuable track employee for those that have had the advantage of his services, either doing pre-race press releases, distributing flyers, contacting potential sponsors or actually helping to present a more efficient program on race night as a scorer/line-up tech. Then, after putting in all that work, he follows up on the back end with the story and results or, as we saw this past season, giving live updates via Twitter. His “Midwest Racing News” entries tailed off in July a bit because he was so busy helping promoters put on good racing programs, but he came back strong with detailed coverage of the Dlouhy Memorial at Tipton in October. We hope that he finds the time to be a regular contributor again 2012.

Up until this past week Danny Rosencrans was the new “kid” on the site having joined Positively Racing in February of 2010. I have had the pleasure of knowing Danny for about twenty years now and my first memory of him was just how cool it was that his teenage son was with him just about every time that I saw him at the races. I remember thinking to myself how much that I hope that my then a toddler son would want to do the same with me when he was older. I am so proud to say that this hope came true! It is so important that we as race fans pass along the love of racing to our children and the best way to do that is to make it a fun and positive experience! A few years ago I noticed that Danny was writing a summary for the Quincy Raceways weekly program and I noticed that he was writing it very well! He is a Late Model fan through and through and we knew that we needed to add someone to the site who could provide more of a focus on the Late Model division. Danny was the perfect choice and we are looking forward to more of Danny’s thoughts as he goes “Racin’ Down The Road” in 2012 and beyond.

And that brings me now to our fresh face on the home page Eric Arnold. Just like with Danny on the Late Models, we wanted to give our site visitors a writer who will focus on his love of Sprint Cars and I believe that Eric will do a fantastic job of filling that role. Now that doesn’t mean that the winged warriors will be the only thing that he will be writing about as like all of us on this site, he supports the racing at the grassroots level that we are so fortunate to have so available to us here in the Midwest. I look forward to getting to know Eric better personally, and through his writing as the green flags start to wave over Hawkeye Ovals in 2012.

Positively Racing would not exist without all of the behind-the-scenes work by Sue McDaniel, the talented and pretty young lady that we affectionately call our “webmistress”. Yes, we know that those of you with a dirty mind might go “hmmm” on that title, but seriously would you really call a female the “Webmaster”??? It is not our fault that something less suggestive like “Site Manager” or “Page Creator” did not become the common title for such efforts, but I digress. Sue met with Barry and I at an Applebee’s one night where we told her our ideas and she took it from there and made the site what it is today. Other than a little cut when we sell enough ads to cover the hosting costs, Sue’s only compensation for all of her work is the placement of the ad for the business that she and her husband Bert operate. So please, if you are a racer and are in need of some parts and, or the expertise of a driver who has visited victory lane many times, click here and do some shopping. Thank you for all you do Sue, we couldn’t do this without you!

Okay, so thanks for indulging me. I am truly blessed to be associated with all of these fine people and I wanted to share my thoughts with you here today. I also want to thank all of the promoters who work with myself and our writers by providing press credentials to us. I am always proud to say that “positive coverage” of your events have earned that consideration and not the other way around.

It is our goal to promote all of the tracks in our coverage area and to do that we would like to identify a few more bloggers who share the same the attitude as the fine people that I have talked about above. There are some out there that we are already aware of, writers who are already doing their own thing or that, if they were to be on here, would be a bit of an overlap in coverage. We need someone in the following areas: the Quad Cities (I have identified one lady who keeps turning me down…..reminds me of my teenage days), Farley/Dubuque, northeast Iowa/southeast Minnesota and western Iowa/eastern Nebraska to name a few. If you are interested send us a message to news@positivelyracing.com

Merry Christmas to all!!!

Dirt Late Model State Champions From Across The Country

2011-12-17T07:28:00.000-08:00

For the those of you who follow our All Iowa Points at Positively Racing, you probably know how this works. Five points for a win, four for second, three for third, two for fouth and one for fifth no matter if it is a big money special or a track's weekly show and if you check back through several of this blog's latest entries you will find the full rundown for several states.

In this entry you will see the complete standings for the final two states that I compile, Pennsylvania and Tennessee, but before we get to that let's summarize by listing the 2011 Dirt Late Model state point champion for each state:

Alabama - Tim Busha, Boaz

Arkansas - Wendell Wallace, Batesville

Delaware - Donald Lingo Jr., Millsboro

Florida - Mark Whitener, Middleburg

Georgia - Michael Page, Douglasville

Illinois - Ryan Unzicker, El Paso

Indiana - Bob Franklin

Iowa - Ray Guss Jr., Milan IL

Kansas - Gary Gorby, Caney

Kentucky - Derek Fisher, Olympia

Louisiana - Ray Moore, Shreveport

Maryland - David Williams, Charlotte Hall

Michigan - Eric Spangler, Lake City

Minnesota - Harry Hanson, Eleveth

Mississippi - Klint Byars, Carrollton

Missouri - Jason Bodenhammer, Centerview

Nebraska - Bill Leighton Jr., Omaha

New York - David Scott, Garland PA

North Carolina - Danny Ledford, Warne

North Dakota - Brad Seng, Grand Forks

Ohio - Jon Henry, Ada

Pennsylvania - Dave Hess Jr. Waterford and Jeff Rine, Danville

South Carolina - Frank Coates, Hodges

South Dakota - Kent Arment, Aberdeen

Tennessee - Caleb Ashby, Cunningham

Virginia - D.J. Myers, Greencastle PA

West Virginia - Butch McGill, West Union

Wisconsin - Russ Scheffler, Waukesha

And now for the final standings for Pennsylvania and Tennessee.....

Pennsylvania
1 Dave Hess Jr. Waterford 86

tie Jeff Rine Danville 86

3 Gregg Satterlee Rochester Mills 81

4 Jared Miley South Park 68

5 Jim Yoder Selinsgrove 68

6 Rob Blair Titusville 65

7 Clate Copeman Greensburg 57

8 Scott Haus Hamburg 46

9 Jason Covert York Haven 45

10 Sammy Stile Charleroi 43

11 Dylan Yoder Selinsgrove 41

12 Mike Knight Ripley NY 40

13 Devin Friese Mercersburg 38

14 Brandon Burgoon McDonald 37

15 Michael Davis Rayland OH 37

16 Rick Eckert York 37

17 Gary Beward 36

18 Jared Hawkins Fairmont WV 34

19 Boom Briggs Bear Lake 33

20 Chuck Clise Frostburg MD 33

21 Mitch Hack 33

22 Scott Rhodes 33

23 Steve Baker Morgantown WV 33

24 Steve Everhart Holidaysburg 33

25 Greg Fetters 32

26 Matt Lux Franklin 31

27 Mike Johnson Imperial 30

28 Mike Norris Sarver 29

29 Josh Richards Shinnston WV 25

30 Lynn Geisler Cranberry Township 24

31 Austin Hubbard Seaford DE 23

32 Dane Laraway 23

33 Davey Johnson Latrobe 23

34 Denton Boyer 23

35 Dan Stone Thompson 22

36 Steve Campbell Danville 22

37 Chub Frank Sugar Grove 21

38 Jack Pencil Bedford 21

39 Ron Delano Jr. Stoystown 21

40 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg TN 21

41 Shawn Claar 21

42 John Britsky Indiana 20

43 Tony Adams 20

44 Ken Schaltenbrand 19

45 Rick Davis 19

46 Ron Davies Warren 19

47 Jamie Lathroum Mechanicsville MD 18

48 Bob Gordon 17

49 Dennis Lunger Jr. Albion 17

50 John Garvin Jr. Sarver 17

51 John Lobb 17

52 Matt Parks Three Springs 17

53 Nick Dickson Lewistown 17

54 Rod Phillips 17

55 Russ King Bristol OH 17

56 Tim Senic 17

57 Waylon Wagner 17

58 Jeremy Miller Gettysburg 16

59 Matt Gaston 16

60 Mel Minnick Jr. Uniontown 15

61 Mike Blose 15

62 Tom Decker Jr. 15

63 Wayne Johnson 15

64 Alex Ferree Saxonburg 14

65 Bryan Bernheisel Lebanon 14

66 Chad Valone Warren 14

67 Darrell Lanigan Union KY 14

68 Gary Dalton Morgantown WV 14

69 Mason Ziegler 14

70 Mike Lupfer 14

71 Billy Holbert 13

72 Coleby Frye Dover 13

73 Keith Barbara South Park 13

74 Tim Wilson 13

75 Donnie Schick 12

76 Jim Stephens Pittsburgh 12

77 Chris Rhodes 11

78 Dick Barton Ashville NY 11

79 Ken Trevitz 11

80 Luke Hoffner 11

81 Vic Coffey Watertown NY 11

82 Andy Boozel Clymer NY 10

83 Andy Haus 10

84 Ben Miley 10

85 Chris Shuey 10

86 Dave Blazavich 10

87 Doug Eck 10

88 Doug Glessner 10

89 John Flinner Zelienople 10

90 Billy Eash 9

91 Chad McClellan Stoystown 9

92 Dan Lee 9

93 David Scott Garland 9

94 Jimmy Mars Elk Mound WI 9

95 John Volpe 9

96 Wally Fox 9

97 Dave Zona 8

98 Dutch Davies 8

99 Dwayne Taneyhill 8

100 Greg Oakes 8

101 Jacob Hawkins Fairmont WV 8

102 Steve Shaver Vienna WV 8

103 Chris Hackett Erie 7

104 Dave Lyon 7

105 Jeff Miller 7

106 Brent Rhebergen Clymer NY 6

107 Bump Hedman Sugar Grove 6

108 Corey Conley Wellsburg WV 6

109 Jason Rider 6

110 Mike Pegher Jr. 6

111 Scott Flickinger 6

112 Scott Gurdak 6

113 Shane Clanton Locust Grove GA 6

114 Tommy Beck Murrysville 6

115 Bob Dunn 5

116 Dave Murdick 5

117 Derek Byler Belleville 5

118 Don O'Neal Martinsville IN 5

119 Garrett Krummert New Castle 5

120 George Lee 5

121 J.T. Spence Winchester VA 5

122 Jimmy Owens Newport TN 5

123 Matt Cosner 5

124 Andy Kania 4

125 Brett Schadel 4

126 Bryan Force 4

127 Chad Davis 4

128 Chad Hollenbach 4

129 D.J. Myers Greencastle 4

130 Earl Pearson Jr. Jacksonville FL 4

131 Gene Kain 4

132 Jason Dupont Lewis Run 4

133 Jerry Redden 4

134 Josh Young 4

135 K.C. Burdette 4

136 Tim McCreadie Watertown NY 4

137 Brian Swartzlander 3

138 Butch McGill West Union 3

139 Chuck Harper Beverly WV 3

140 Clint Smith Senoia GA 3

141 Colby Wormer 3

142 Darryl Charlier Midway 3

143 Eric Zembower 3

144 Harry Miller 3

145 Jim Detman 3

146 Jim Lepro 3

147 Matt Cochran 3

148 Mike Walls 3

149 Nick Loffredo 3

150 Scott Johnson 3

151 Shane McMeans 3

152 Steve Gibney 3

153 Tim Gray 3

154 Darrell Bossard 2

155 Dave Wade 2

156 Eric Hons 2

157 Gary Stuhler Greencastle 2

158 Gene Knaub 2

159 Jake Shady 2

160 Jeff Smith 2

161 John Mollick 2

162 Jon Hodgkiss 2

163 Jonathan Davenport Blairsville GA 2

164 Pete Alspaugh 2

165 Rick Singleton 2

166 Ryan Markham Ashland OH 2

167 Scott Lebarron Dover 2

168 T.J. Stutts 2

169 Terry Naugle 2

170 Tim Fuller Watertown NY 2

171 Walker Arthur 2

172 Brian Force Indiana 1

173 Brian Ruhlman Clarklake MI 1

174 Bryon Sipe 1

175 Cody Hardesty 1

176 Dale Claycomb 1

177 Danny Pugh 1

178 Eric Irvine 1

179 Eric Matthews 1

180 Greg Gellner 1

181 Tim Bish 1

182 Jim Bernheisel 1

183 Josh Beard 1

184 Keith Jackson Odenton MD 1

185 Randy Lobb 1

186 Ray Cook Brasstown NC 1

187 Rich Gardner 1

188 Ricky Elliott Seaford DE 1

189 Tim Fedder Newport 1

190 Todd Snook 1

Tennessee
1 Caleb Ashby Cunningham 93

2 Terry English Benton KY 88

3 Ray McElhiney Pulaski 56

4 Jeff Walston Paducah KY 46

5 Josh Putnam Killen AL 46

6 Billy Ogle Jr. Knoxville 45

7 Eric Hickerson Linden 44

8 Carnell Parker III Clarksville 42

9 Daniel Miller Shelbyville 42

10 Vic Hill Mosheim 42

11 Eric Jacobsen Seacliff Beach CA 39

12 Brad Skinner 38

13 Ray Cook Brasstown NC 36

14 Chuck Proctor Charlotte 34

15 Jimmy Owens Newport 34

16 Jonathan Davenport Blairsville GA 32

17 Corey Posey Petersburg 31

18 Anthony Burroughs Muscle Shoals AL 30

19 Tanner English Benton KY 30

20 Lamar Scoggins Cleveland 29

21 Charles Zimmerman Cunningham 27

22 Todd Morrow Oldfort 27

23 Chris Madden Gray Court SC 26

24 Mark Fields Lawrenceburg 26

25 Tony Morris Murfreesboro 24

26 Ben Kittrell 23

27 Bobby Mayse 21

28 David Brannon Elora 21

29 Dillan White Crofton KY 21

30 William Thomas Phenix City AL 21

31 John Owenby 20

32 Ronnie Johnson Chattanooga 20

33 Riley Hickman Ooltewah 18

34 Jason Riggs 17

35 Josh Johnson 17

36 Scott Cook Shelbyville 17

37 Skip Arp Georgetown 17

38 Seth McCormick 16

39 Austin Dillon Welcome NC 15

40 Chris Shelton 15

41 Jerry Ashley 14

42 Brian Pritchard 13

43 Tim Brown Paducah KY 13

44 Tommy Kerr Maryville 13

45 David Payne Murphy NC 12

46 Jake Knowles Tyrone GA 12

47 Tyler Landers 12

48 Dale McDowell Rossville GA 11

49 Josh Harris 11

50 Stacy Boles Clinton 11

51 Steven Ashby Cunningham 11

52 Alan Holmes 10

53 Anthony Seibers 10

54 Anthony White Clinton 10

55 Chad Ogle Sevierville 10

56 Levi Ashby 10

57 Ross White Knoxville 10

58 Shane Clanton Locust Grove GA 10

59 Steve Smith Knoxville 10

60 Brian Reese Sharpsburg GA 9

61 Chris Wall Holden LA 9

62 David Jackson 9

63 Mark Haddon Estill Springs 9

64 Wendell Wallace Greenbriar AR 9

65 Jerry Owens 8

66 Justin Litchford 8

67 Fred Perry 8

68 Tim Busha Boaz AL 8

69 Brandon Thirlby Traverse City MI 7

70 Corey Holmes 7

71 David Gentry Lewisburg 7

72 Jacob Grizzle Blairsville GA 7

73 Mark Douglas Knoxville 7

74 Ronny Lee Hollingsworth Newport AL 7

75 Billy Moyer Jr. Batesville AR 6

76 Dan Tipton 6

77 Derek Ellis Chatsworth GA 6

78 Dustin Butler 6

79 Jacob France 6

80 Kent Robinson Bloomington IN 6

81 Rick Hixson Soddy Daisy 6

82 Ross Bailes Clover SC 6

83 Shannon Babb Mowequa IL 6

84 Tanner Works 6

85 Tony Simmons 6

86 Ty Dillon Welcome NC 6

87 Ben Davis 5

88 Bub McCool Vicksburg MS 5

89 Casey Roberts Toccoa GA 5

90 David Seibers 5

91 Dennis Erb Jr. Carpentersville IL 5

92 Jared Landers Batesville AR 5

93 Jeff Adkisson 5

94 John Blankenship Williamson WV 5

95 John Minon Jr. 5

96 Mike Spatola Manhattan IL 5

97 Mike Weeks Friendsville 5

98 Shannon Davis Estill Springs 5

99 Billy Moyer Batesville AR 4

100 Bryan Hendrix 4

101 Dewayne Kiefer 4

102 Don O'Neal Martinsville IN 4

103 Dustin Linville Bryantsville 4

104 Jason Clayton 4

105 Jay Brinkley Raus 4

106 Mark Vineyard Powell 4

107 Michael Zimmerman 4

108 Jason McBride Carbondale IL 4

109 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg 4

110 Brad Lowe 3

111 Brian Shirley Chatham IL 3

112 Cale Finley 3

113 Chad Winkles Falkville 3

114 Chris Ferguson Mount Holly NC 3

115 Darrick York 3

116 David Crabtree Maryville 3

117 Jack Sullivan Greenbriar AR 3

118 Jamie Perry Ringgold GA 3

119 Johnny Pursley Clover SC 3

120 Nick Lyons Centralia IL 3

121 Jason Manley 3

122 Rex Richey 3

123 Rusty Schlenk Jackson MI 3

124 Randle Sweeney 3

125 William Burns 3

126 Andy Pickelsimer 2

127 Bobby Wolter Jr. 2

128 Brandon Armitage 2

129 Brett Miller Greeneville 2

130 Chip Brindle Chatsworth GA 2

131 Dan Schlieper Sullivan WI 2

132 Dane Dacus Lakeland 2

133 Dustin Cansler 2

134 Eric Wells Hazard KY 2

135 Jason Cardwell 2

136 Jay Scott 2

137 Jeff Wolfenberger Knoxville 2

138 Mark Grant 2

139 Matt Potter 2

140 Michael Chilton Salvisa KY 2

141 Randy Gifford 2

142 Mitchell Lingauer 2

143 Perry Delaney 2

144 Gavin Schmidt 2

145 Steve Francis Ashland KY 2

146 Tod Hernandez 2

147 Andy Galgoci 1

148 Brad Hall 1

149 Brad Looney Republic MO 1

150 Bryan Singleton 1

151 Chris Combs Whitesburg 1

152 Chris Marcum 1

153 Clint Smith Senoia GA 1

154 Jason Welshan Greenback 1

155 Johnny Chastain Murphy NC 1

156 Mike Gault Gaffney SC 1

157 Mike Hill Rockwood 1

158 Mike Marlar Winfield 1

159 Jim Moon Zionsville IN 1

160 Robert Stutts 1

161 Ryan Unzicker El Paso IL 1

162 John Beck Springfield IL 1

163 Robbie Sanders 1

164 Jerry Jackson 1

165 Steve Casebolt Richmond IN 1

166 Zack Mitchell Woodruff SC 1

Osky, Current and Three More States: Nebraska, Florida and Mississippi

2011-12-15T18:14:00.000-08:00

A few thoughts before I throw another three states worth of Dirt Late Model points at ya. Only a few more to go and I'll be done for 2011. I'm a stats geek, I know it, but there must be several others out there as a couple of the 2010 Late Model state points standing pages were among the highest viewed over the past year. Some other stat geeks include our own Ryan Clark, Steve "Stevie Dirt" Eighinger and RacinDirt.com's Trenton Berry.

I was pleased, but a bit surprised about this week's announcement that IMCA would be returning to the Southern Iowa Speedway for 2012. Rumblings over the past year or two was that the sanctioning body would not go back in to Osky unless an established pro-IMCA promoter tookover the reigns. Either those rumblings were false or the combination of the Southern Iowa fairboard and the new track manager Mike VanGenderen was enough to overcome any concerns about stepping back in to a facility that was a star for IMCA for so many years. As a driver Van Genderen has stayed above any of the USRA vs. IMCA sentiments that many pot-stirrers seem to crave by winning a championship in one sanction's series and running second in the other's premier event in 2011. Mike is a strong presence who commands respect and should be just the man to lead the track to a successful transition. I am really happy to see that they are kicking off the season in early April once again as the schedule has not kicked off until mid-May the past couple of years. I'll look forward to spending many a Wednesday night in Osky again this season!

Congratulations to Timmy Current for not only winning the All Iowa Points Stock Car championship in 2011, but for becoming one of the new promoters along with Ryan Duhme at the Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa for 2012. In the forty-five years of All Iowa Points I am pretty sure that this is the first champion to put on the promoter's hat the following season.

With the mystery for 2012 now solved at Oskaloosa it will be interesting to see what, if anything, happens at Bloomfield, Eldon and Memphis. Will any of the three race weekly? And, if so, will they follow suit and at the very least run IMCA-type rules since they all sit between Osky, Burlington and Donnellson? It would be a shame to see all three sit idle, or only host a race during the fair as each track has proven over the years that good racing is only the right scenario away.

For those of you who enjoy seeing those names from the past that conjure up memories of race nights long ago, you will want to be watching the Points page at PostivelyRacing as soon we will be putting up the full standings in All Iowa Points archives beginning with the first year of the points; 1967. Unfortunately I no longer have the records for many of the seasons between the early 80's and 2000 due to a house fire, but I did stumble upon some old handwritten records that I had stored elsewhere from those earlier seasons. The data entry is well underway and earlier today I sent the full 1967 standings to our fine webmaster Sue McDaniel to upload. As we continue to add these it should warm up some winter night for you over the next few months.

If I don't hop back on here before it arrives, here is wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas!!!

Nebraska
1 Bill Leighton Jr. Omaha 92

2 Kyle Berck Marquette 55

3 Andrew Kosiski Omaha 54

4 Tad Pospisil 54

5 Matt Buller 50

6 Josh Leonard 47

7 Les Seibert York 41

8 Mark Lueken 40

9 Josh Krug 34

10 Todd Hipnar Omaha 33

11 Travis Dickes Madison 33

12 Justin Gregg Grand Island 31

13 Kevin Safranek 30

14 Micah Brown Omaha 30

15 Dave Cook Lincoln 29

16 Jake Neighbors 29

17 Greg Krohn 26

18 Robert Osborne 25

19 Randy Hooker 24

20 Chad Jensen 23

21 Craig Preble Omaha 23

22 Tom Kubicka 21

23 Robby Leonard 19

24 Alan Jordening 18

25 Kelly Boen Henderson CO 18

26 Chad Simpson Marion IA 17

27 Alex Humphrey Giltner 16

28 Tad Behmer 16

29 Leon Zeitner Omaha 15

30 Marc Peters 15

31 Robert Leonard 15

32 Al Humphrey Giltner 14

33 Chris Johnson 14

34 Jarred Hackler 14

35 Mike Kelley 14

36 Jake Bridges Columbus 12

37 Justin Zeitner Omaha 12

38 Cory Haase 11

39 Jacob Brown Omaha 11

40 Jim Johnson 11

41 John Anderson Omaha 11

42 Eric Vonasdall 10

43 Jase Kaser Lincoln 10

44 Travis Birkley 10

45 Jason Rauen Farley IA 9

46 Mike Wiarda Aurora 9

47 Ty Leonard 9

48 Troy Daly 8

49 Chris Simpson Marion IA 7

50 James Kelley 7

51 Jake Smidt 6

52 Jason Hobscheidt Nehawka 6

53 Al Purkey Coffeyville KS 5

54 Brad Looney Republic MO 5

55 Brady Smith Solon Springs WI 5

56 Dave Eckrich Cosgrove IA 5

57 Denny Eckrich Cosgrove IA 5

58 Don O'Neal Martinsville IN 5

59 Dylan Smith Osceola 5

60 J.C. Wyman Griswold IA 5

61 Jason Utter Columbus Jct. IA 5

62 Joe Kosiski Omaha 5

63 Mike Benson Wakefield 5

64 Nick Opfer 5

65 Corey Zeitner Omaha 4

66 Dale McDowell Chickamaugua GA 4

67 Donald Gimpel 4

68 Mike Collins Council Bluffs IA 4

69 Bill Koons Jr. Omaha 3

70 Brayn Molt 3

71 Brian Birkhofer Muscatine IA 3

72 Bryan Boersen 3

73 J.J. Rodeman 3

74 Jason O'Brien Atlantic IA 3

75 Kortney Kosiski Omaha 3

76 Steve Kempt Shelton 3

77 Todd Bell 3

78 Tom Svoboda David City 3

79 Austin Hubbard Seaford DE 2

80 Ben Sukup 2

81 Mike Marushak David City 2

82 B.J. Haase 1

83 Bob Osborn Norfolk 1

84 Brandon Leonard 1

85 Jimmy Mars Elk Mound WI 1

86 Jordan Grabouski Beatrice 1

87 Micah Veleba 1

88 Tim Hans 1

89 Tracy Harr 1

Florida
1 Mark Whitener Middleburg 61

2 Ivedent Lloyd Jr. Ocala 54

3 Bryan Bernhardt Clearwater 49

4 Adam Bedenbaugh Lake City 41

5 Travis Varnadore Dover 40

6 Christian Augspurger Palm Beach Gardens 34

7 David Schmauss Tampa 31

8 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg TN 31

9 Donnie Chappell 30

10 Keith Nosbisch Valrico 30

11 Kyle Van Sickle Jacksonville 29

12 Roger Crouse Plant City 27

13 Josh Peacock Dover 25

14 Johnny Collins Jacksonville 24

15 Billy Moyer Batesville AR 23

16 Randy Polk Jr. 22

17 Devin Dixon Apollo Beach 21

18 Frank Wilson Harold 21

19 Don O'Neal Martinsville IN 20

20 Joseph Joiner 20

21 Dillon Wood New Smyrna Beach 19

22 Jack Nosbisch Jr. Riverview 18

23 Austin Kirkpatrick Ocala 17

24 Bo Allen Bryceville 17

25 Mavrick Varnadore 17

26 Phillip Cobb Riverview 17

27 Tyler Ivey Tallahassee 17

28 Brandon Dewitt Morven GA 16

29 J.O. Nobles 16

30 Clyde Herron 15

31 Joel Nobles 15

32 David Clegg 14

33 Jimmy Owens Newport TN 14

34 Jimmy Mars Elk Mound WI 13

35 Brandon Cameron 12

36 Jeff Mathews Seffner 12

37 Kevin Maher 12

38 Brady Smith Solon Springs WI 11

39 Dennis Williams 11

40 Josh Richards Shinnston WV 11

41 Matt Hartley 11

42 Jason Phillips 11

43 Austin Hubbard Seaford DE 10

44 Bo Odom 10

45 Clint Holmes 10

46 Shep Lucas McKenzie AL 10

47 Taylor Jarvis 10

48 Wayne Shugart 10

49 Bo Slay 9

50 James Ussery 9

51 Richard Ferry 9

52 Steven Brantley 9

53 Clay Bedenbaugh Lake City 8

54 Darrell Padgett Clay Hill 8

55 Jason Feger Bloomington IL 8

56 Lawton Minchew 8

57 Dillon Ussery 7

58 J.R. Prather 7

59 Jonathan Davenport Blairsville GA 7

60 Shane Koperda 7

61 Forrest Gough 6

62 Brad Neat Dunville KY 5

63 Bub McCool Vicksburg MS 5

64 Darrell Lanigan Union KY 5

65 David Browning Jacksonville 5

66 David Pollen Jr. 5

67 Jason Pope 5

68 Kyle Musselman 5

69 Rick Eckert York PA 5

70 Ryan Mitchell 5

71 Tim Gay 5

72 Tim McCreadie Watertown NY 5

73 Todd Jones 5

74 Tyler Allen 5

75 Tyler Reddick Corning CA 5

76 Montana Dudley 5

77 Scotty Williams 5

78 Roger Pack 5

79 Bill Kopka 4

80 Bobby Richardson 4

81 Dan Schlieper Sullivan WI 4

82 David Crews 4

83 Dennis Erb Jr. Carpentersville IL 4

84 Doug Watson Plant City 4

85 Earl Pearson Jr. Jacksonville FL 4

86 Joe Kump Hollywood 4

87 Jonathan Joiner 4

88 Tim Powers 4

89 Daren Joyner 4

90 Hayden Campbell 4

91 Chris Madden Grays Court SC 3

92 Chuck Cumby 3

93 Cody Smith 3

94 Eddie Carrier Jr. Salt Rock WV 3

95 Freddie Daniels 3

96 Hamp Conley 3

97 John Kellum 3

98 Kyle Bridges Moultrie GA 3

99 Shan Smith 3

100 Steve Francis Ashland KY 3

101 Steve Mathis 3

102 Steven Jernigan 3

103 Bug Rose 2

104 Cecil Martin 2

105 David Breazeale Four Corners MS 2

106 David Shugart 2

107 Hurshell Bonner 2

108 Jared Landers Batesville AR 2

109 Jason Davis 2

110 Jay Johnson Moultrie GA 2

111 John Cody 2

112 Kevin Mills 2

113 Rich Pratt Anthony 2

114 Ryan Unzicker El Paso IL 2

115 Shane Williams 2

116 Travis Saunders 2

117 Vic Coffey Caledonia NY 2

118 Wallace Peacock 2

119 Waylon Haynes 2

120 Wendell Wallace Greenbriar AR 2

121 Russell Flynn 2

122 Joshua Joiner 2

123 Stanton Mills 2

124 Kenny Monahan 2

125 Richard Blackburn 2

126 Chub Frank Sugar Grove PA 1

127 Daniel Hancock 1

128 Daniel Woody 1

129 Del Powell 1

130 Fred Schell 1

131 Jason Fitzgerald 1

132 Jeff Phipps 1

133 Jeff Phipps 1

134 Todd Alexander 1

135 Ricky Haugen 1

136 Ricky Land 1

137 Jack Larson 1

138 Lee Mason 1

139 Ryan Van Sickle 1

Mississippi
1 Klint Byars Carrollton 66

2 Mike Palasini Jr. Leland 50

3 David Breazeale Four Corners 47

4 Brooks Strength Byram 44

5 Jason Cliburn Star 39

6 Chad Thrash Meridian 33

7 Jimmy Cliburn Star 31

8 Beau Gordon Merigold 30

9 Rodney Wing Meridian 26

10 Greg Fore Greenville 25

11 Chris Wall Holden LA 20

12 Ronny Lee Hollingsworth Northport AL 20

13 Ross Campanovo Clarksdale 20

14 Steve Bryan Collinsville 18

15 Brian Rickman Columbus 17

16 Chad Washington 17

17 Cliff Williams Star 17

18 Billy Moyer Batesville AR 15

19 George Paul 14

20 Jeremy Broadus Biloxi 14

21 Rick Rickman Columbus 14

22 Bub McCool Vicksburg 13

23 Eric Cooley Fulton 13

24 Jason Brock 13

25 Ray Moore Shreveport LA 13

26 Scott Dedwylder Vossburg 13

27 Chase Washington Greenville 11

28 Jonathan Davenport Blairsville GA 10

29 Dane Dacus Lakeland TN 9

30 Shane Clanton Fayetteville GA 9

31 Timothy Culp West Monroe LA 9

32 Doug Showah 8

33 Dwayne Estes 8

34 Henry Cooper 8

35 Jamie Tollison 8

36 Scott Creel Franklinton LA 8

37 Tombo Callahan 8

38 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg TN 7

39 Charlie Henderson 6

40 Chris Showah 6

41 Clay Fisher Dewitt AR 6

42 Kenneth Crowe 6

43 Chris McElhenney Decatur 5

44 Daniel Moore 5

45 Darrell Lanigan Union KY 5

46 Jay Burchfield 5

47 Neil Baggett Shannon 5

48 Ronnie Johnson Chattanooga TN 5

49 Billy Moyer Jr. Batesville AR 4

50 Bob Gordon 4

51 Brian Birkhofer Muscatine IA 4

52 Dennis Erb Jr. Carpentersville IL 4

53 Jack Sullivan Greenbriar AR 4

54 Johnny Stokes Columbus 4

55 Mike Boland Cuba AL 4

56 Pat Nichols 4

57 Tony Knowles Tyrone GA 4

58 Will Vaught Crane MO 4

59 Allen Tippen Minden LA 3

60 Brian Reese Sharpsburg GA 3

61 Chip Brindle Chatsworth GA 3

62 Joseph Long 3

63 Keith Miller Sumrall 3

64 Kyle Pleasant Natchitoches LA 3

65 Shannon Lee Lumberton 3

66 Steve Francis Ashland KY 3

67 Wade Byars Carrollton 3

68 Brad Banes Learned 2

69 Bradley Price 2

70 Dean Carpenter Coldwater 2

71 Earl Pearson Jr. Jacksonville FL 2

72 Henry Pullen 2

73 Jared Landers Batesville AR 2

74 Jeff Young 2

75 Matthew Turner Dawsonville GA 2

76 Mike McNay 2

77 Rob Litton Alexandria LA 2

78 Shep Lucas McKenzie AL 2

79 Steve Russell 2

80 Tony Henry 2

81 Austin Hubbard Seaford DE 1

82 Dwight Falcon Walker LA 1

83 Eddie Rickman Columbus 1

84 Jimmy Owens Newport TN 1

85 Mike Marlar Winfield TN 1

86 Morgan Bagley Longview TX 1

87 Phillip Gibson 1

88 Tim Davis 1

89 William Thomas Phenix City AL 1

Dirt Late Model Points for 2011 From South Carolina, North Carolina and Ohio

2011-12-12T10:27:00.000-08:00

South Carolina
1 Frank Coates Hodges 25

2 Billy Rushton Hodges 24

3 Ross Bailes Clover 22

4 Mike Measamer Clinton 21

5 Larry Timms Hodges 20

6 Chris Ferguson Gastonia NC 17

7 Casey Roberts Toccoa GA 14

8 Mike Ashley Greenwood 13

9 Chip Brindle Chatsworth GA 11

10 Jeff Smith Dallas NC 11

11 Jonathan Davenport Blairsville GA 10

12 Chris Madden Gray Court 9

13 Johnny Pursley Clover 9

14 Dennis Franklin Gaffney 7

15 Brent Dixon Elberton GA 6

16 Colby Cannon Hodges 6

17 Chris Lyons Laurens 5

18 Steve Shaver Vienna WV 5

19 Kevin Suber 4

20 Ray Cook Brasstown NC 4

21 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg TN 4

22 Dennis Erb Jr. Carpentersville IL 3

23 Jeff Cooke Spartanburg 3

24 Jimmy Owens Newport TN 3

25 Ricky Weeks Rutherfordton NC 3

26 Tony Quarles Greenwood 3

27 Booper Bare Rockbridge Baths VA 2

28 Don O'Neal Martinsville IN 2

29 John Pursley Clover 2

30 Petey Ivey Union 2

31 Bob Robertson Evans GA 1

32 Jared Landers Batesville AR 1

33 Jay Sessoms Stanley NC 1

34 Kenny Compton Jr. Bland VA 1

35 Michael Lyons 1

36 Steve Casebolt Richmond IN 1

37 Travis Stoner Belton 1

North Carolina
1 Danny Ledford Warne 47

2 Luke Roffers Concord 39

3 David Payne Murphy 32

4 Dennis Franklin Gaffney SC 29

5 Johnny Chastain Murphy 28

6 Kenny Compton Jr. Bland VA 23

7 Shawn Chastain Murphy 23

8 Jonathan Davenport Blairsville GA 22

9 George Mashburn 20

10 Ricky Weeks Rutherfordton 16

11 Dustin Mitchell Pine Level 15

12 Scott Autry Autryville 14

13 Johnny Pursley Clover SC 13

14 Steve Shaver Vienna WV 12

15 Mike Gault Gaffney SC 11

16 Ross Bailes Blacksburg SC 11

17 Jeff Smith Dallas 9

18 Randy Nichols 9

19 Casey Roberts Toccoa GA 8

20 Jacob Grizzle Blairsville GA 8

21 Jamie Oliver Murphy 8

22 Chris Ferguson Gastonia 7

23 Chris Madden Gray Court SC 7

24 Preston Graves 7

25 Clint Smith Senoia GA 5

26 Jay Sessoms Stanley 5

27 Jimmy Owens Newport TN 5

28 Josh Richards Shinnston WV 5

29 Rodney Weeks 5

30 Travis Yow Fayetteville 5

31 Austin Dillon Lewisville 4

32 Brent Dixon 4

33 Randy Weaver Crossville TN 4

34 Ray Tucker Greensboro 4

35 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg TN 4

36 Shaun Harrell Raeford 4

37 Tony Knowles Tyrone GA 4

38 Dale McDowell Rossville GA 3

39 Donald Bradsher Burlington 3

40 Petey Ivey Union SC 3

41 Travis Hair Fayetteville 3

42 Brent Robinson Smithfield VA 2

43 Chip Brindle Chatsworth GA 2

44 Dan Breuer Troutman 2

45 Daniel Baggerly Rural Retreat VA 2

46 David McCoy 2

47 Dean Bowen Whiteville 2

48 Rick Eckert York PA 2

49 Ryan King 2

50 Steve Clark 2

51 Austin Hubbard Seaford DE 1

52 Bo Stanley 1

53 Chad Paxton Troutman 1

54 Chuck Smith 1

55 Craig Shuffield 1

56 Dennis Erb Jr. Carpentersville IL 1

57 Don O'Neal Martinsville IN 1

58 Ethan Hunter Tiger GA 1

59 Mike Davis 1

60 Ronnie Hoover China Grove 1

61 Steve Mendenhall Clayton 1

62 Tim Allen Kannapolis 1

63 Tyler Reddick Corona CA 1

Ohio
1 Jon Henry Ada 82

2 Rusty Schlenk Jackson MI 81

3 Eddie Carrier Salt Rock WV 80

4 Rod Conley Wheelersburg WV 59

5 Donnie Moran Dresden 58

6 R.J. Conley Wheelersburg WV 45

7 Jackie Boggs Grayson KY 44

8 Casey Noonan Sylvania 41

9 Delmas Conley Wheelersburg WV 40

10 Barry Doss Sardinia 39

11 Cody Parker 39

12 George Lee 39

13 Chris Garnes Evans WV 38

14 Jason Jameson Lawrenceburg IN 38

15 Chris Carpenter Parkersburg WV 37

16 Brian Ruhlman Clarklake MI 35

17 Jason Montgomery Jackson 33

18 Doug Drown Wooster 32

19 Chad Stapleton 31

20 Wayne Maffett Jr. 31

21 Ryan Markham Ashland 30

22 Josh McGuire Grayson KY 28

23 John Whitney Middletown 27

24 Charlie Duncan 26

25 Josh Tidwell 26

26 Shane McLoughlin 26

27 Matt Miller Whitehouse 25

28 Corey Conley Wellsburg WV 24

29 Duane Chamberlain Richmond IN 24

30 Devin Moran Dresden 23

31 Jimmy Owens Newport TN 21

32 Ralph Withem 21

33 Justin Chance 20

34 Tim Dohm Cross Lanes WV 20

35 Norm Aronholt 19

36 Steve Casebolt Richmond IN 19

37 Chris Wilson 18

38 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg TN 17

39 Jeep VanWormer Pinconning MI 16

40 Ryan Missler Bellevue 16

41 Devin Shiels 15

42 Greg Johnson Bedford IN 15

43 Keith Berner Millersburg 15

44 Kevin Wagner 15

45 Ben Adkins West Portsmouth 14

46 Curtis Roberts Coleman MI 14

47 Jason Flory Creston 14

48 Josh Scott 14

49 Lance Elson 14

50 Wayne Chinn Bradford 14

51 Don O'Neal Martinsville 13

52 Jeff Babcock Wayne 13

53 Larry Holbrook 13

54 Rick DeLong Whitehouse 13

55 Zack Dohm Cross Lanes WV 13

56 Darrell Lanigan Union KY 12

57 Mike Myers 12

58 Mike Wilson 12

59 Tyler Carpenter 12

60 Audie Schwartz 11

61 Dona Marcoullier Houghton Lake MI 11

62 Russ Frohnapel 11

63 Chad Smith 10

64 Chris Keller 10

65 Freddie Carpenter Parkersburg WV 10

66 Larry Kingseed 10

67 Russell King Bristol 10

68 Shannon Babb Mowequa IL 10

69 Kenny Christy 9

70 Mark Gardiner 9

71 Alan Vochaska 8

72 Brett Kennard 8

73 Brian Gray 8

74 Chris Shannon 8

75 Dave Hornikel 8

76 Dusty Moore Swanton 8

77 K.C. Burdette 8

78 Todd Brennan 8

79 Alan Baker 7

80 David Powers 7

81 Doug Dodd Cambridge 7

82 Earl Pearson Jr. Jacksonville FL 7

83 J.R. Hotovy Hartford MI 7

84 Jake Hawkins Fairmount WV 7

85 Jerry Rice Verona KY 7

86 Mark Banal 7

87 Nick Bocock 7

88 Paul Davis 7

89 Rick Combs Cincinnati 7

90 Scott James Lawrenceburg 7

91 Roger Ruark 7

92 Weston Hutchison 7

93 Dillon Huron 6

94 Harold Redman Jr. 6

95 Jeff Alsip 6

96 Ken Howell 6

97 Rocky Owens 6

98 Steve Prince 6

99 Tom Sheets 6

100 Bart Hartman Zanesville 5

101 Bill Blair Jr. 5

102 Billy Gullion 5

103 Blaine Aber 5

104 Brandon Fouts 5

105 Brandon Thirlby Traverse City MI 5

106 Charlie Maloney 5

107 Chris Ross 5

108 Colton Burdette 5

109 Dustin Linville 5

110 Greg Oliver Jackson 5

111 J.R. Gentry 5

112 Ken Hahn 5

113 Steve Kester 5

114 Travis Brookover 5

115 Andrew Reaume Blenheim ONT 4

116 Andy Bond 4

117 Arnie Fields 4

118 Billy Moyer Batesville AR 4

119 Brad Malcuit 4

120 Bub McCool Vicksburg MS 4

121 David Liles 4

122 Eric Myers 4

123 Ethan Burgess 4

124 Frank Heckenast Jr. Orland Park IL 4

125 Jerry Bowersock 4

126 Josh Bocock 4

127 Kent Robinson Bloomington IN 4

128 Mark Frazier 4

129 Mark Morrison 4

130 Rick Williams 4

131 Ryan Unzicker El Paso IL 4

132 Thomas Baker 4

133 Tommy Johnson 4

134 Rick Bond 4

135 Roy Roush 4

136 Alan Magner 3

137 Chris Streeval 3

138 Chub Frank Sugar Grove PA 3

139 Dennis Erb Jr. Carpentersville IL 3

140 Garrett Krummert 3

141 Jared Landers Batesville AR 3

142 Jason Feger Bloomington IL 3

143 Jeremy Misel 3

144 Josh Richards Shinnston WV 3

145 Larry Bond 3

146 Matt Aber 3

147 Matt Irey 3

148 Paul Moore 3

149 Ronnie Mayle 3

150 Shannon Thornsberry Martin KY 3

151 Travis Mensching 3

152 Brad Neat Dunville KY 2

153 D.J. Cline 2

154 Dan Morrison Newport 2

155 Dean Boyd 2

156 Ed Robinette 2

157 Ernie Haynes 2

158 Jack Sullivan Greenbriar AR 2

159 Jared Hawkins 2

160 John Blankenship Williamson WV 2

161 John Rhoades 2

162 Kevin Cole Christopher IL 2

163 Kristin Flory 2

164 Kyle Bates 2

165 Nick Corbitt 2

166 Mike Marlar Winfield TN 2

167 Nick Latham 2

168 Rick Aukland Fargo ND 2

169 Robby Hensley 2

170 Ron Miller 2

171 Skip Watterman 2

172 Will Vaught Crane MO 2

173 Tim Prince 2

174 Brandon Queen 1

175 Brad Eitniear Defiance 1

176 David Webb 1

177 Derek Fisher Columbus IN 1

178 Jared Miley South Park PA 1

179 Jason Perry 1

180 Jeff Arnold 1

181 Jeff Wood 1

182 Jim Price 1

183 Joel Ortberg 1

184 Keith Tish 1

185 Kelly Lippert 1

186 Jeremy Canada 1

187 Marty O'Neal Spencer IN 1

188 Michael Howard West Liberty KY 1

189 Ray Cook Brasstown NC 1

190 Rody Schroyer 1

191 Ryan VanderVeen Six Lakes MI 1

192 Shannon Roese 1

193 Ron Hinds II 1

194 Steve Shaver Vienna WV 1

195 Terry Hinkle 1

196 Shawn Jett 1

197 Tony Roush 1

State Late Model Points for 2011 from Michigan, Virginia and West Virginia

2011-12-10T08:56:00.000-08:00

Michigan
1 Eric Spangler Lake City 89

2 Rich Neiser Fruitport 87

3 Brandon Thirlby Traverse City 81

4 Kyle Borgman Muskegon 55

5 Zack Olger St. Johns 51

6 Kevin Nelson Jr. Muskegon 49

7 Tom Sprague Jr. Muskegon 42

8 Dona Marcoullier Houghton Lake 41

9 Roger Wing 37

10 Ryan Vanderveen Six Lakes 37

11 David Hilliker 34

12 Mark Anderson Blanchard 34

13 Curt Spalding Muskegon 33

14 Kris Patterson Jr. St. Johns 33

15 Matt Pickard Grant 32

16 Carl Ries 29

17 Curtis Roberts Coleman 29

18 Jon Henry Ada OH 27

19 Justin McNeil Gladwin 27

20 Phil Ausra Dowagiac 27

21 Bill Bray Spring Lake 26

22 Brian Ruhlman Clark Lake 26

23 Guy Volk 25

24 Sam Epling Perry 25

25 Jesse Baker 24

26 Scott Baker Ionia 24

27 J.R. Hotovy Covert 22

28 Jeff Kohn Sheridan 19

29 Ben Hidy 18

30 Bob Hammar Boon 18

31 Rob Taylor 17

32 Dean Wilkerson 16

33 Shawn Reed 16

34 Alan Vochaska South Haven 15

35 Bruce Vance 15

36 Jeep Van Wormer Piconning 15

37 Justin Robinson Shepherd 15

38 Andy Chester Kingsley 14

39 Josh Knoll Barryton 14

40 Rusty Schlenk Jackson 13

41 Adam Thrush Farwell 12

42 Mike Nugent 12

43 Adam Erickson 11

44 Jason Feger Bloomington IL 10

45 Jim Billet 10

46 Darrell Lanigan Union KY 9

47 Devin Shiels Britton 9

48 Josh Richards Shinnston WV 9

49 Keith Gentz 9

50 Mike Kresnak 9

51 Chad White Coloma 8

52 Dave Hartman 8

53 Tom Dusen Muskegon 8

54 Dennis Erb Jr. Carpentersville IL 7

55 Doug Ausra Dowagiac 7

56 Greg Gokey 7

57 Joe Hanson 7

58 Mickey Carman Jr. 7

59 Bob Finley 6

60 Craig Foster 6

61 Jim Borden 6

62 John McDonald Muskegon 6

63 Tyler Underwood 6

64 Brady Smith Solon Springs WI 5

65 John Grega 5

66 Scott Schmitt 5

67 Shannon Babb Mowequa IL 5

68 Wade Witherspoon 5

69 Aaron Morey 4

70 Brian Birkhofer Muscatine IA 4

71 Dale Sheehy 4

72 Don Erickson Traverse City 4

73 Donnie Marcoulier Houghton Lake 4

74 Steve Niewenhuis 4

75 Brad Finkbeiner 3

76 Brad Harden Ovid 3

77 Dusty Moore Swanton OH 3

78 Kevin Juusola 3

79 Rick Eckert York PA 3

80 Scott Ehlert 3

81 Scott Haney Sheridan 3

82 Scott Wennell 3

83 Brandon Sheppard New Berlin IL 2

84 Dave DeKam 2

85 Dylan Woodling 2

86 Jason Wiley 2

87 Jeremy Tulick 2

88 Mike Wilburn 2

89 Rick Whipple 2

90 Scott Phillips 2

91 Steve Ausra Dowagiac 2

92 Tim McCreadie Watertown NY 2

93 Mike Spatola Manhattan IL 2

94 Charlie Liggett 1

95 Chris Brindley 1

96 Denny Lynn 1

97 Jack Sullivan Greenbriar AR 1

98 Jay VanDyke 1

99 Joe Fowler 1

100 Larry Arndt 1

101 Mark Pifer 1

102 Mark Wagner 1

103 Merv Hudson 1

104 Shane Clanton Locust Grove GA 1

105 Vic Coffey Caledonia NY 1

Virginia
1 D.J. Myers Greencastle PA 76

2 Jeremy Miller Gettysburg PA 35

3 Jason Covert South Haven PA 33

4 Ronnie DeHaven Jr. Winchester 28

5 Jamie Lathroum Mechanicsville MD 24

6 J.T. Spence Winchester 22

7 Josh Richards Shinnston WV 21

8 Keith Jackson Odenton MD 20

9 Jonathan Davenport Blairsville GA 16

10 Steve Shaver Vienna WV 15

11 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg TN 14

12 C.S. Fitzgerald 14

13 Chris Madden Gray Court SC 13

14 Roy Deese Jr. Laurel MD 12

15 Walter Crouch 10

16 Jonathan DeHaven 9

17 Kyle Hardy 9

18 Tommy Armel Winchester 8

19 Brian Tavener 8

20 David Williams 8

21 Austin Hubbard Seaford DE 6

22 Bo Feathers Winchester 6

23 Darrell Lanigan Union KY 6

24 Steve Francis Ashland KY 6

25 Ty Dillon Welcome NC 6

26 Austin Dillon Welcome NC 5

27 Earl Pearson Jr. Jacksonville FL 5

28 Gary Stuhler Greencastle PA 5

29 Ray Cook Brasstown NC 5

30 Vic Coffey Caledonia NY 5

31 Booper Bare Rockbridge Baths 4

32 Dale McDowell Rossville GA 4

33 Kenny Compton Jr. Bland 4

34 Gerald Davis 4

35 Chip Brindle Chatsworth GA 3

36 Chris Ferguson Mount Holly NC 3

37 Dale Hollidge 3

38 Dennis Franklin Gaffney SC 3

39 Donald Bradsher 3

40 Mark Pettyjohn 3

41 Mike Marlar Winfield TN 3

42 Rick Eckert York PA 3

43 Brad Omps 3

44 Andy Friese 3

45 Casey Roberts Toccoa GA 2

46 Frankie Plessinger 2

47 Jeff Smith Gastonia NC 2

48 Jimmy Owens Newport TN 2

49 Walker Arthur Forest 2

50 David Watts 2

51 Tanner Kerr 2

52 Nick Dickson 2

53 Wesley Bonebrake 2

54 Denny Bonebrake 2

55 Bart Hartman Zanesville OH 1

56 Darryl Hills 1

57 Devin Friese Chambersburg PA 1

58 Ray Tucker Greensboro NC 1

59 Tim Dohm Cross Lanes WV 1

60 Andy Anderson 1

West Virginia
1 Butch McGill West Union 64

2 Chris Garnes 60

3 Paul Wilmoth Jr. Clarksburg 44

4 Jared Hawkins Fairmont 39

5 Harold Redman Jr. Tyler Mountain 35

6 Travis Brookover 34

7 Jake Hawkins Fairmont 33

8 K.C. Burdette 32

9 Andy Bond Coolville OH 31

10 Robbie Scott Shinnston 29

11 Steve Wilmoth Clarksburg 26

12 Steve Lucas 25

13 Tim Senic Elkins 25

14 Larry Bond Coolville OH 21

15 Jeff Burdette Parkersburg 20

16 Ronnie Mayle Chesterhill OH 20

17 Mike Benedum Bristol 18

18 Steve Wiegle 18

19 Colten Burdette 17

20 Tim Dohm Cross Lanes 17

21 Jimmy Cobb 16

22 Rod Evans 16

23 Zack Dohm Cross Lanes 16

24 Bob Gordon 13

25 Freddie Carpenter 13

26 Chris Carpenter 11

27 Chuck Harper Beverley 10

28 Nick Corbitt 10

29 Greg Baumberger 9

30 Donnie Dotson 8

31 Kenny Newhouse 8

32 Rick Williams Beckley 8

33 Tyler Carpenter 7

34 Billy Holbert Fairmont 6

35 Corey Conley Wellsburg 6

36 Ed Shuman 6

37 Keith Barbara South Park PA 6

38 Skip Hare 6

39 Steve Booth 6

40 Todd Smith 6

41 Billy Brown 5

42 Chris Meadows Beckley 5

43 Dan Morrison Newport OH 5

44 Jared Miley South Park PA 5

45 Josh McGuire Grayson KY 5

46 Roy Roush 5

47 Booper Bare Rockbridge Baths VA 4

48 Brad Jarrell 4

49 Cody Hardesty 4

50 Dan Stone Thompson PA 4

51 Darrell Lanigan Union KY 4

52 David Smith 4

53 Mason Ziegler 4

54 Tim McCreadie Watertown NY 4

55 D.J. Cline 3

56 Daniel Hill 3

57 Henry Hornsby 3

58 Mike Marlar Winfield KY 3

59 Shane Hitt 3

60 Wayne Hughes 3

61 Darrin McDonald 2

62 Devin Friese Chambersburg PA 2

63 Gary Dalton Morgantown 2

64 Jason Edge 2

65 Josh Richards Shinnston 2

66 Robbie Bostic 2

67 Shane Clanton Locust Grove GA 2

68 Brandon Carter 1

69 Mark Banal 1

70 Mike Sampson 1

71 Nelson Freshour 1

72 Ryan Casto 1

73 Scott Irvin 1

74 Shannon Evans 1

2011 Late Models Points For Kentucky, Louisiana and Maryland

2011-12-08T20:19:00.000-08:00

Kentucky
1 Derek Fisher Olympia 62

2 Victor Lee Stanford 60

3 Aaron Hatton Mount Sterling 49

4 Jeff Watson Campbellsville 41

5 Dustin Neat Dunville 38

6 Oscar McCown 38

7 Skylar Marlar Winfield TN 38

8 Dustin Linville Bryantsville 36

9 Justin Ratliff Campbellsville 35

10 Scott James Lawrenceburg IN 35

11 Terry English Benton 34

12 Brandon Fouts Kite 33

13 James Williamson 33

14 Johnny Wheeler Campbellsville 32

15 Mark Sturgill 32

16 Kevin Cole Christopher IL 31

17 Chris Combs Isom 28

18 Michael Chilton Harrodsburg 28

19 Mike Jewell Scottsburg IN 27

20 Greg Johnson Bedford IN 26

21 Jamie Ferguson 26

22 Jason Jameson Lawrenceburg IN 25

23 Joey Daniel Liberty 23

24 Freddy Brock 22

25 Josh Williams 22

26 Tim Tungate Campbellsville 22

27 Todd Coffman Junction City 22

28 John Gill Mitchell IN 21

29 Jason Barrett Waco 18

30 Michael Wright 18

31 Don O'Neal Martinsville IN 17

32 Darrell Lanigan Union 16

33 Tim Rivers Salem IN 16

34 Eddie Carrier Jr. Salt Rock WV 15

35 Jarrod Breeding 15

36 Josh McGuire Grayson 15

37 Lee Devasier Midway 15

38 Tyrel Todd Eubank 15

39 Perry Delaney 14

40 Tim Brown Paducah 14

41 Jerry Rice Verona 13

42 Rod Carter Jr. 13

43 Tanner English Benton 13

44 Bobby Carrier Jr. 12

45 Brad Neat Dunville 12

46 Dennis Roberson Lexington 12

47 Jesse Lay 12

48 Ray Cook Brasstown NC 11

49 Stephen Breeding 11

50 Tommy Bailey Corbin 11

51 Daniel Shelton 10

52 John Tindal Fancy Farm 10

53 Rohn Moon Greenwood IN 10

54 Shannon Thornsberry Martin 10

55 Al Kiernan 9

56 Billy Moyer Batesville AR 9

57 Duane Chamberlain Richmond IN 9

58 Jimmy Owens Newport TN 9

59 Shannon Babb Mowequa IL 9

60 Jarryd Holshouser Paducah 8

61 David Webb Nicholasville 7

62 Dillan White Crofton 7

63 Dylan Thompson 7

64 Joe Janowski Columbus IN 7

65 Raymond Nichols 7

66 Scott Bloomquist Mooresville TN 7

67 Steve Barnett Franklin IN 7

68 Tommy Riggs 7

69 Albert Butcher 6

70 D.J. Wells Wooten 6

71 Jason Feger Bloomington IL 6

72 Jeff Rawlings 6

73 Jeff Walston Paducah 6

74 Roger Stacy 6

75 Steve Smith Knoxville TN 6

76 Timmy Yeager Harrodsburg 6

77 Brian Shirley Chatham IL 5

78 Chad Stapleton 5

79 Craig Smith 5

80 David Spille 5

81 Eric Wells Hazard 5

82 Joe Patrick 5

83 Nick Lyons Centralia IL 5

84 Scott Shelton 5

85 Terry Hicks Willard 5

86 Terry Tomlinson 5

87 Tyler King 5

88 Warnie Allen Jr. 5

89 Anthony Burroughs Muscle Shoals AL 4

90 Brandon Hardgrove 4

91 Dale McDowell Chickamagua GA 4

92 Daniel Hatcher 4

93 Donald Barrett 4

94 Greg Lucas Whitesburg 4

95 Kent Robinson Bloomington IN 4

96 Matthew Hollins 4

97 Mike Marlar Winfield TN 4

98 Mike Strunk 4

99 Nicky Pennington 4

100 Russ Gabbert 4

101 Terry Lanigan Union 4

102 Tim Prince 4

103 Alan Magner 3

104 Audie McWilliams Walton 3

105 Andy Galgoci 3

106 Bennie Butcher 3

107 Billy Butcher 3

108 Brandon Green Union 3

109 Brian Wagoner 3

110 Claude Spencer 3

111 Danny Jones 3

112 Dennis Barton 3

113 Jason Riggs Harrisburg IL 3

114 Joe King 3

115 Josh Putnam Killen 3

116 Josh Richards Shinnston WV 3

117 Liz Potterson 3

118 Tim Taylor 3

119 Paul Harris Prestonburg 3

120 Wesley Brummett Harrodsburg 3

121 Will Vaught Crane MO 3

122 Arnie Fields Wallingford 2

123 Austin Dillon Welcome NC 2

124 Brian Pennington 2

125 Cody Mahoney Madison IN 2

126 James Butcher 2

127 Jesse Lowe 2

128 John Mulligan 2

129 Kenneth Howell 2

130 Michael Asberry 2

131 Randy Sellars Mayfield 2

132 Richard Jenkins 2

133 Rod Conley Wheelersburg WV 2

134 Ruben Mayfield 2

135 Scott Schmitt 2

136 Shon Flanary Mount Carmel TN 2

137 Steve Elliott 2

138 Steve Francis Ashland 2

139 Steve Stollings 2

140 William Prater 2

141 Austin Hubbard Seaford DE 1

142 Bill Blair Jr. 1

143 Bobby Wolter Jr. Lexington 1

144 Brian King 1

145 Brandon Thirlby Traverse City MI 1

146 Brian Birkhofer Muscatine IA 1

147 Chad Simpson Marion IA 1

148 Chris Maynard 1

149 Danny Barrett 1

150 Dean Boyd 1

151 Earl Pearson Jr. Jacksonville FL 1

152 Greg Hensley 1

153 Jason McBride Carbondale IL 1

154 Jeep VanWormer Pinconning MI 1

155 Jesse Stovall Galena MO 1

156 Kenneth Allen Jr. 1

157 Larry Martin Jr. 1

158 Rob Starker 1

159 Tim Slone 1

160 William Butcher 1

Louisiana
1 Ray Moore Shreveport 48

2 Morgan Bagley Longview TX 46

3 Timothy Culp West Monroe 37

4 B.J. Robinson Blanchard 26

5 Bubba Mullins West Monroe 26

6 Nicholas Brown Hodge 21

7 Allen Tippen Minden 20

8 Jeff Chanler Minden 19

9 Kevin Sitton Baytown TX 19

10 Rob Litton Alexandria 19

11 Darin Patrick 17

12 Ronny Adams Greenwood 17

13 Robbie Stuart Deridder 12

14 Chris Holley Dayton TX 10

15 Kenny Merchant West Monroe 7

16 Jody Prince Sibley 6

17 Raymond Taylor 6

18 Troy Berdan Minden 6

19 Brett Frazier Haughton 5

20 Chris Wall Holden 5

21 Gary Christian Broken Bow OK 5

22 Jesse Mills 5

23 Ronny Lee Hollingsworth Northport AL 5

24 Jim Bryant 5

25 Brandon Smith Floral AR 4

26 Bub McCool Vicksburg MS 4

27 Chad Dupont Bossier City 4

28 Curtis Cook Conway AR 4

29 Kyle Beard Trumann AR 4

30 Robbie Starnes Baytown TX 4

31 Trey Beene Bossier City 4

32 Chris Huckabay 4

33 Bill Frye Greenbriar AR 3

34 David Beazeale Four Corners MS 3

35 Derek Perkins 3

36 Jon Mitchell Nash TX 3

37 Kenneth Crowe Port Allen 3

38 Kyle Cummings Sibley 3

39 John Mark Mills 3

40 Mark Underwood Jr. 2

41 Johnny Virden Russelville AR 2

42 Heath Culp West Monroe 2

43 Butch Patton 1

44 Jon Kirby Russelville AR 1

45 Keith Strother 1

46 Eddie Taylor 1

Maryland
1 David Williams Charlotte Hall 33

2 Kyle Lear Severna Park 29

3 D.J. Myers Greencastle PA 23

4 Jason Covert York Haven PA 19

5 Josh Richards Shinnston WV 16

6 Keith Jackson Odenton 15

7 Austin Hubbard Seaford DE 14

8 Dale Hollidge 14

9 Jamie Lathroum Mechanicsville 14

10 Roy Deese Jr. Laurel 14

11 Gary Stuhler Greencastle PA 12

12 Jerry Bard 12

13 Frankie Plessinger Big Cove Tannery 11

14 Ashley Barrett 10

15 Jim Bernheisel Lebanon PA 10

16 Ronnie DeHaven Jr. Winchester VA 9

17 Rusty Sites St. Thomas PA 9

18 Darryl Hills Great Mills 7

19 J.T. Spence Winchester VA 7

20 Jeremy Miller Gettysburg PA 7

21 Marvin Winters 7

22 Roland Mann Chupitico 7

23 Alan Sagi Hagerstown 6

24 Dylan Yoder Selinsgrove PA 5

25 Jimmy Mars Elk Mound WI 5

26 John Blankenship Williamson WV 5

27 Nick Dickson Lewiston PA 5

28 Ricky Elliott Seaford DE 5

29 Jeff Rine Danville PA 4

30 Jimmy Owens Newport TN 4

31 Kenny Moreland 4

32 Tyler Hershey 4

33 Walker Arthur 4

34 Deane Guy 3

35 Ryan Hackett 3

36 Steve Shaver Vienna WV 3

37 Bo Feathers 2

38 Booper Bare Rockbridge Baths VA 2

39 Chuck Clise Frostburg 2

40 Earl Pearson Jr. Jacksonville FL 2

41 Steven Axtell 2

42 Duane Harbaugh 1

43 Gregg Satterlee Rochester Mills PA 1

44 Jeff Pilkerton 1

45 Keith Barbara South Park PA 1

46 Matt Quade 1

47 Vic Coffey Caledonia NY 1

2011 Dirt Late Model Points For Illinois, Alabama and Georgia

2011-12-04T16:22:00.000-08:00

Illinois
1 Ryan Unzicker El Paso 130

2 Mike Provenzano Marseilles 86

3 Brandon Sheppard New Berlin 78

4 Eric Smith Shirley 75

5 Bobby Pierce Danville 74

6 Randy Korte Highland 74

7 Jason Feger Bloomington 73

8 Steve Lance Jr. Cuba 71

9 Ray Guss Jr. Milan 62

10 Mike Spatola Manhattan 61

11 Shannon Babb Mowequa 58

12 Michael Kloos Trenton 57

13 Scott Bull Fairbury 56

14 Chad Zobrist Highland 52

15 Denny Woodworth Mendon 45

16 Joey Gower Quincy 44

17 Scott Schmitt Tonica 43

18 Bret Sievert 42

19 Mark Voigt Marine 41

20 Johnny Heath Kingston 40

21 Rusty Schlenk Jackson MI 40

22 Brian Dively Springfield 39

23 Brian Shirley Chatham 39

24 Jay Brendle 38

25 Joe Harlan Flanagan 36

26 Rich Bell Sheffield 35

27 Kevin Weaver Gibson City 32

28 Kyle Logue Cisco 31

29 Lonnie Bailey Quincy 31

30 Billy Moyer Batesville AR 30

31 Frankie Martin DuQuoin 30

32 Charlie Olson Kingston 29

33 Keith Pratt Mendon 28

34 Justin Reed Quincy 27

35 Derek Chandler Pontiac 26

36 Daren Friedman Forrest 25

37 Rick Salter Albers 24

38 Mark Burgtorf Quincy 23

39 Mike Hammerle St. Charles MO 23

40 Jason Perry Payson 22

41 Mike Glynn LaSalle 22

42 Mike Schulte Summerfield 22

43 Bobby Dauderman Alhambra 21

44 Jimmy Dehm Chatsworth 21

45 Paul Bailey Pocahontas 21

46 Keith Piano 20

47 Chris Thielsen 19

48 Dennis Erb Jr. Carpentersville 19

49 Matt Bailey Quincy 19

50 Matt Weidner Highland 19

51 Scott James Lawrenceburg IN 19

52 Mike Mullvain Peoria 18

53 Rick Standridge Divernon 18

54 Rodney Standerfer 18

55 Brent Kreke Highland 17

56 Nate Beuseling Coal Valley 17

57 Tim Manville Highland 17

58 Jason Jaggers Wyanet 16

59 Kent Robinson Bloomington IN 16

60 Mike Murphy Jr. Colona 16

61 Wes Steidinger Fairbury 16

62 Gary Webb Blue Grass IA 15

63 Jay Morris Watsega 15

64 Jeep VanWormer Pinconning MI 15

65 Roger Brickler Springfield 15

66 Shawn Mulvaney Moline 15

67 Toby Kuntzleman 15

68 Aaron Kleine Carlyle 14

69 Charley Hess Bartonville 14

70 Eric Gustaf East Moline 14

71 John Beck Springfield 14

72 Ricky Frankel Quincy 14

73 Ryan Dauber Tonica 14

74 Terry Neal Ely IA 14

75 Cory Daugherty Blue Mound 13

76 Gary Koehring 13

77 Jack Sullivan Greenbriar AR 13

78 Mike Cothron Moline 13

79 Rodney Melvin Benton 13

80 Tim Lance Brimfield 13

81 Todd Malmstrom Moline 13

82 Dewayne Kiefer 12

83 Donny Walden Towanda 12

84 Matt Ryan Davenport IA 12

85 Mike Zemo Jr. Geneseo 12

86 Todd Bennett Peoria 12

87 Brandon Thirlby Traverse City MI 11

88 Craig Smith Godfrey 11

89 Dillan White Crofton KY 11

90 Aaron Ricketts Fairbury 10

91 Billy Drake Bloomington 10

92 Bobby Toland Hillsdale 10

93 Dan Jacober 10

94 Jeff Larson Freeport 10

95 Jim Moon Zionsville IN 10

96 Mark Faust Breese 10

97 Matt Miller Whitehouse OH 10

98 Ryan Little Springfield 10

99 Brad Stewart 9

100 Brian Wolfmeier House Springs MO 9

101 Greg Kimmons 9

102 Jimmy Klingel 9

103 Jon Henry Ada OH 9

104 Richie Hedrick Urbana 9

105 Frank Heckenast Jr. Orland Park 8

106 Jason McBride Carbondale 8

107 Joseph Hughes 8

108 Mike Fryer Freeport 8

109 Paul Ermel 8

110 Rob Toland Hillsdale 8

111 Russ Scheffler Pewaukee WI 8

112 Steve Sheppard Jr. New Berlin 8

113 Doug Nigh Eldridge IA 7

114 Matt Taylor Springfield 7

115 Mike Glascock 7

116 Nick Lyons Centralia 7

117 Shawn Toczek 7

118 Travis Denning Sterling 7

119 Dave Thornton 6

120 Mike Garland Sterling IL 6

121 Rusty Griffaw Festus MO 6

122 Billy Moyer Jr. Batesville AR 5

123 Billy Laycock Marine 5

124 Bob Cullen 5

125 Brian Birkhofer Muscatine IA 5

126 Dan Schlieper Sullivan WI 5

127 Jon Rogers German Valley 5

128 Lyle Zanker Freeport 5

129 Nick Downs 5

130 Ron Klien Sherrill IA 5

131 Steve Dimmick Joliet 5

132 Adam Oppendike Silvis 4

133 Andy Pryor 4

134 Billy Genenbacher Camp Point 4

135 Chad Simpson Marion IA 4

136 Darren Miller Chadwick 4

137 Greg Cantrell 4

138 Jake Griffin Quincy 4

139 Jamie Ethridge Freeport 4

140 Jeff Kerley 4

141 Jesse Stovall Galena MO 4

142 Joe Dynek 4

143 Kevin Cole Christopher 4

144 Nathan Balensiefen Princeton 4

145 Rod Cameron 4

146 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg TN 4

147 Steve Casebolt Richmond IN 4

148 Terry Reed 4

149 Andy Eckrich Iowa City IA 3

150 Billy Moyer Jr. Batesville AR 3

151 Brian Albous 3

152 Ed Williams Sr. 3

153 Greg Johnson Bedford IN 3

154 Jay Sparks Metamora 3

155 Jeff Johns 3

156 Jim Gibson 3

157 Kerry Mathew Rensselaer IN 3

158 Mitch Henry 3

159 Randy Manos 3

160 Reno Markham 3

161 Tim Ratajczyk 3

162 Terry Schlipman Mendon 3

163 Alan Vochaska South Haven MI 2

164 Bill Weistart 2

165 Brian Appel 2

166 Bryan Collins Elsberry MO 2

167 Charlie McKenna Clear Lake IA 2

168 Chris Streeval 2

169 Claude Walker 2

170 D.J. Cygan 2

171 Dale McDowell Chickamaugua GA 2

172 Darin Weisinger Mendon 2

173 Greg Wagner 2

174 Jay Johnson West Burlington IA 2

175 Jayme Zidar Greenfield WI 2

176 Jerry Lierly Camp Point 2

177 Scott Weber Festus MO 2

178 John Picatto 2

179 Robby Warner Quincy 2

180 Roger Rebholz 2

181 Tom Smith 2

182 Zack Bunning 2

183 Aaron Schmidt 1

184 Bill Gianetti 1

185 Dale Markham 1

186 Danny Ripperda 1

187 Dick Taylor Springfield 1

188 Doug Drown Wooster OH 1

189 Doug Zartler 1

190 Glenn Thompson 1

191 Eric Jacobsen Seacliff CA 1

192 Gerry Reeder Jr. Peoria 1

193 Jimmy Owens Newport TN 1

194 Kerry Gaultney 1

195 Lake Knutti 1

196 Matt Furman Columbus OH 1

197 Shannon Kuhn 1

198 Tanner English Benton KY 1

199 Tony Jackson Jr. Lebanon MO 1

200 Tyler Bruening Decorah IA 1

201 Sam Halstead New London IA 1

Alabama
1 Tim Busha Boaz 68

2 Terry Smith Anniston 63

3 Jason Wilson Margaret 56

4 Anthony Burroughs Athens 43

5 Mark Mears Decatur 42

6 Brandon King Decatur 39

7 Jason Hiett Lincoln AL 38

8 Tim Roszell 36

9 Ross Martin 32

10 Josh Putnam Killen 28

11 Ronnie Johnson Chattanooga TN 28

12 Dillon Crim Talladega 24

13 Stacy Holmes Munford 22

14 William Thomas Phenix City 21

15 Chad Winkles Falkville 17

16 Jamie Flannagan Tuscumbia 17

17 T.J. Alford Piedmont 17

18 Daniel Miller Shelbyville TN 16

19 Bradley Price Hamilton 15

20 Tony Knowles Tyrone GA 14

21 Danny Peoples Margaret 13

22 Jonathan Davenport Blairsville GA 12

23 Brandon Kinzer Allen KY 10

24 Kelly Hanvey Cullman 10

25 Brandon Brown 9

26 Chris Wall Holden LA 9

27 Dylan Ames 8

28 Mark Fields 8

29 Seth McCormick 8

30 Todd Morrow East Ridge TN 8

31 Chris Madden Gray Court SC 7

32 Jerry Owens 7

33 David Brannon 6

34 Eric Cooley Fulton MS 6

35 Jake Knowles Tyrone GA 6

36 Aaron Ridley Chatsworth GA 5

37 Casey Roberts Toccoa GA 5

38 Clint Smith Senoia GA 5

39 Dillon Wood New Smyrna Beach FL 5

40 Frank Wilson 5

41 Hunter Peacock Gray GA 5

42 James Cline Oxford 5

43 Jon Miller 5

44 Kyle Beard Trumann AR 5

45 Kyle Bridges Moultrie GA 5

46 Michael McKleroy Muscle Shoals 5

47 Rick Rickman Columbus MS 5

48 Riley Hickman Ooletwah TN 5

49 Shane Clanton Locust Grove GA 5

50 Travis Kress 5

51 Austin Kirkpatrick Ocala FL 4

52 Darren Joiner 4

53 Donavon Henry 4

54 Michael Greer 4

55 Ricky Culpepper Hamilton GA 4

56 Ronny Lee Hollingsworth Northport 4

57 Steve Francis Ashland KY 4

58 Todd Watson 4

59 Terrance Nowell Phenix City 4

60 Seth Daniel 4

61 Billy Ogle Jr. Knoxville TN 3

62 Chase Washington 3

63 Chris Jones Alabaster 3

64 Dale McDowell Rossville GA 3

65 Ivedent Lloyd Jr. Ocala FL 3

66 Klint Byars Carrollton MS 3

67 Neil Baggett Shannon MS 3

68 Stacy Tyler 3

69 Steven Jernigan 3

70 Tony Morris Murfreesboro TN 3

71 Brandon Dewitt Movern GA 2

72 Brian Reese Sharpsburg GA 2

73 Corey Holmes 2

74 Dean Carpenter Coldwater MS 2

75 Dennis Erb Jr. Carpentersville IL 2

76 Jacob Grizzle Blairsville GA 2

77 Jay Scott 2

78 Joey Mullinex 2

79 Johnny Stokes Columbus MS 2

80 Kevin Maher 2

81 Mario Gresham 2

82 Mark Dodson 2

83 Ray Cook Brasstown NC 2

84 Sammy Lowe 2

85 Brad Glass 1

86 Brian Rickman Columbus MS 1

87 Brian Smith Sand Rock 1

88 Chad Wallace 1

89 Charles Sealy 1

90 Chris Thomas 1

91 David Jackson 1

92 James Lay 1

93 Jay Burchfield Columbus MS 1

94 Josh Adkins 1

95 Kenny Hall 1

96 Robert Gant Flat Rock 1

97 Ryan Little 1

98 Tim McCreadie Watertown NY 1

99 Ty Dillon Welcome NC 1

100 Tyler Ivey Tallahassee FL 1

Georgia
1 Michael Page Douglasville 74

2 Ronnie Johnson Chattanooga TN 59

3 Tony Knowles Tyrone 39

4 Derek Ellis Chatsworth 33

5 Clint Smith Senoia 26

6 Frank Ingram Woodstock 26

7 Tyler Ivey Tallahassee FL 26

8 Chip Brindle Chatsworth 25

9 Brent Dixon Elberton 24

10 Hunter Peacock Macon 24

11 Mark Whitener Middleburg FL 24

12 Shane Clanton Locust Grove 23

13 Billy Ogle Jr. Knoxville TN 22

14 Luther Jenkins 22

15 Wayne Echols Cumming 22

16 Ray Cook Brasstown NC 19

17 Jordy Nipper 16

18 Ricky Williams 15

19 Dale McDowell Chickamagua 13

20 David Payne Murphy NC 13

21 Ethan Hunter Tiger 13

22 Aaron Ridley Chatsworth 12

23 Chris Madden Gray Court SC 12

24 Derrick Rainey 11

25 Jonathan Davenport Blairsville 11

26 Lee Sutton 11

27 Casey Roberts Toccoa 10

28 Dillon Wood New Smyrna Beach FL 10

29 Jeremy Faircloth Swainsboro 10

30 Johnny Cloer Jr. 10

31 Steve Shaver Vienna WV 10

32 Nick Sellers 9

33 Riley Hickman Ooltewah TN 9

34 Russell Brown Valdosta 9

35 Skip Arp Georgetown TN 9

36 Chub Frank Bear Lake PA 8

37 Gary McPherson Dalton 8

38 Johnny Chastain Murphy NC 8

39 Josh Putnam Killen AL 8

40 Lamar Haygood 8

41 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg TN 8

42 Steven Roberts Jesup 8

43 Brandon Overton Appling 7

44 Dale Thurman 7

45 Danny Ledford 7

46 Ivedent Lloyd Ocala FL 7

47 Jimmy Owens Newport TN 7

48 Kevin Gibson Ringgold 7

49 Rick Eckert York PA 7

50 William Thomas Phenix City AL 7

51 Austin Kirkpatrick Ocala FL 6

52 Jay Johnson Moultrie 6

53 Randy Nichols 6

54 Randy Weaver Crossville TN 6

55 Tracy Watson 6

56 David McCoy 5

57 Eric Jacobsen Seacliff Beach CA 5

58 John Henderson Aiken SC 5

59 Bob Robertson Evans 4

60 Brian Jackson 4

61 Cecil Eunice Jacksonville FL 4

62 Chris Brown Houston TX 4

63 Darrell Padgett Clay Hill FL 4

64 J.R. Mosely 4

65 Rick Hixson Soddy Daisy TN 4

66 Steve Francis Ashland KY 4

67 Tim Busha Boaz AL 4

68 Vic Hill Mosheim TN 4

69 Anthony Burroughs Muscle Shoals AL 3

70 Bobby Panter 3

71 Brian Reece 3

72 Bub McCool Vicksburg MS 3

73 Cale Simons 3

74 Darrell Lanigan Union KY 3

75 Dusty Carver 3

76 Jody Summerville 3

77 Jake Knowles Tyrone 3

78 Jeff Smith 3

79 Johnny Pursley Clover SC 3

80 Josh Richards Shinnston WV 3

81 Mac Lipthratt 3

82 Shawn Chastain Murphy NC 3

83 Benji Cole Cannon 2

84 Bo Shirley Gadsden AL 2

85 Brandon Cameron 2

86 Brandon Dewitt Movern 2

87 Brandon Kinzer Allen KY 2

88 Brian Connor 2

89 Chris Ferguson Mount Holly NC 2

90 Chris Wall Holden LA 2

91 Craig Scott 2

92 Daniel Wilson 2

93 Don O'Neal Martinsville IN 2

94 Jay Smith 2

95 Joe Armistead Jr. 2

96 John Owenby Cleveland TN 2

97 Kyle Livingood 2

98 Lamar Scoggins Cleveland TN 2

99 Mark Sims 2

100 Mike Nasworthy 2

101 Ricky Harvey 2

102 Shan Smith 2

103 Stacy Holmes Munford AL 2

104 Tim McCreadie Watertown NY 2

105 Vic Coffey Caledonia NY 2

106 Bobby Ogelsby Bloomingdale 1

107 Brian Hickman 1

108 Chad Smith 1

109 Earl Pearson Jr. Jacksonville FL 1

110 J.R. Headen 1

111 Jared Landers Batesville AR 1

112 Jason Welshan Maryville TN 1

113 Jimmy Ivester 1

114 Jody Knowles Tyrone 1

115 Keith Nosbisch Valrico FL 1

116 Kyle Bridges Moultrie 1

117 Petey Ivey Union SC 1

118 Robbie Metts 1

119 Steven Bloodworth 1

120 Travis Leak 1

121 Tyler Reddick Corona CA 1

The Ozarks Racing Report on RacinDirt.com

2011-12-01T10:58:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Trenton Berry yesterday for his Ozark Racing Report that can be heard each week at his fine website http://www.racindirt.com/.

Trenton and his partner "Stick" do a great job with their videos and coverage of the racing down in the southwest region of Missouri and you will find Trenton on the microphone wherever the MLRA Late Models are in action where he does a spectacular job.

Check out his website and give the show a listen.

Bodenhammer, Crane, Strong and Worley Are 2011 All Missouri Points Champions

2011-11-28T18:01:00.000-08:00

For the past couple of years the Points page at PositivelyRacing carried the weekly updates of the All Missouri Points. However, when it became difficult to keep up with the compiling of the Show-Me state markers on a weekly basis, we pulled them off the site. But, that doesn't mean that we stopped tabulating those points and after the rainout of the annual Turkey Classic at Springfield this past weekend, the season is complete.

This was the first year that the ULMA-type Late Models were combined along with the Super Late Models and the Show-Me series cars into one "Late Model" division and it was Centerview driver Jason Bodenhammer taking the title by a mere four points over teenage sensation Jake Griffin. In the Modified division Danny Crane returned to the top of the charts for his second All Missouri title having also won in 2007. Two-time champ Tim Setzer (2008 & 2009) was the runner-up. Shawn Strong of Republic posted his first championship in the Limited Modified ranks in convincing fashion building a fifty-point margin over runner-up J.C. Morton. And in the Sprint Car division it was Tommy Worley Jr. earning his third title in five years as he held off Jimmy Hurley by just two markers.

For an explanation of the point system visit the Points page at PositivelyRacing.

All Missouri Points 2011

Late Model
1 Jason Bodenhammer Centerview 84

2 Jake Griffin Quincy IL 80

3 Rylan Long Greenfield 76

4 Brandon Imhoff Lake Ozark 56

5 Justin Wells Aurora 54

6 Steven Clancy Odessa 50

7 Tommy Cordray Browning 46

8 Brett Wood Warrensburg 45

9 Justin Russell Henley 43

10 Donnie Timmerman Eldorado Springs 39

11 Larry Jones Eldorado Springs 39

12 Rex Merritt Billings 39

13 Mark Voigt Marine IL 35

14 Jerry Morgan Fort Scott KS 34

15 Bob Test Jefferson City 31

16 Matt Johnson Archie 31

17 Ken Essary Galena 30

18 Kevin Coyne 28

19 Robby Warner Quincy IL 28

20 Billy Moyer Batesville AR 26

21 Billy Humble Rich Hill 25

22 Wendell Wallace Greenbriar AR 24

23 Jesse Stovall Galena 23

24 Jon Binning Warrensburg 23

25 Randy Korte Highland IL 23

26 Terry Phillips Springfield 23

27 R.C. Whitwell Tucson AZ 21

28 Tim Manville Highland IL 21

29 Terry Gallaher New London 20

30 Todd McCoin 20

31 Brad Looney Republic 19

32 Chris Lapp 17

33 Chris Cox 16

34 Dewayne Kiefer St. Genevieve 16

35 John Anderson Omaha NE 16

36 Alan Vaughn Belton 15

37 Bob King 15

38 Brantlee Gotschall Nevada 14

39 Chris Morelock Springfield 14

40 Danny Lorton Moberly 14

41 Trace Westling 14

42 Evan Hubert Cross Timbers 13

43 Ricky Frankel Quincy IL 13

44 Vance Wilson Bowling Green 13

45 Billy Moyer Jr. Batesville AR 12

46 Al Purkey Coffeyville KS 11

47 Dustin Vance Cleveland 11

48 Jeff Johns 11

49 Justin Jennings LaGrange 11

50 Lane Ehlert 11

51 Shane Essary Galena 11

52 Craig Smith Godfrey IL 10

53 Dennis Erb Carpentersville IL 10

54 Nick Lyons Centralia IL 10

55 Shawn Rayfield 10

56 Brandon Sheppard New Berlin IL 9

57 Chris Hawkins Neosho 9

58 J.D. Hubert Cross Timbers 9

59 Jeremy Payne Springfield 9

60 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg TN 9

61 Jason McBride Carbondale IL 8

62 Jimmy Owens Newport TN 8

63 Michael Kloos Trenton IL 8

64 Mike Berger 8

65 Tyler Reddick Corning CA 8

66 Darrell Mooneyham Aurora 7

67 Dick Weber Kirksville 7

68 Jason Perry Payson IL 7

69 Jeff Floyd Walnut Ridge AR 7

70 Leslie Essary Crane 7

71 Tony Jackson Jr. Lebanon 7

72 Zeke Langley 7

73 James McMillin 6

74 Phil Edmondson 6

75 Zac Simmons Fort Scott KS 6

76 Chad Simpson Marion IA 5

77 Chuck Comer Joplin 5

78 Jason Hughes Westville OK 5

79 Josh Richards Shinnston WV 5

80 Justin Reed Collinsville IL 5

81 Kelly Smith Kirksville 5

82 Kenny Shaw Fort Scott KS 5

83 Rodney Melvin Benton IL 5

84 Ronald Bunn Deerfield 5

85 Scott Weber Festus 5

86 Stacy Taylor Jacksonville AR 5

87 Tommy Elston Keokuk IA 5

88 Larry Campbell Van Buren AR 5

89 Billy Laycock Marine IL 4

90 Chad Clancy 4

91 Dane Dacus Lakeland TN 4

92 Darrell Lanigan Union KY 4

93 David Janes 4

94 Eric Tenderholt Springfield 4

95 James Stafford 4

96 Jason Feger Bloomington IL 4

97 Jeff Beyers 4

98 Jeff Roth 4

99 John Blankenship Williamson WV 4

100 Johnny Virden Russelville AR 4

101 Mark Miner St. Louis 4

102 Ryan Unzicker El Paso IL 4

103 Tim Ratajczyk Columbia IL 4

104 Todd Hall Charleston 4

105 Brandon Hunter Alma AR 4

106 Alan Westling 3

107 Andy Kennedy Wheatland 3

108 Brandon McCormick Lebanon 3

109 Brian Shirley Springfield IL 3

110 Chris Watts 3

111 Dave Jumper 3

112 David Turner Adrian 3

113 Ethan Burke Fulton 3

114 Jack Sullivan Greenbriar AR 3

115 Jason Russell 3

116 Jeff French Mount Ayr IA 3

117 Lynn Monroe Memphis 3

118 Matt Miller Whitehouse OH 3

119 R.D. Peterson 3

120 Steve Casebolt Richmond IN 3

121 Will Vaught Seneca 3

122 Adam Brown 2

123 Brandon Thirlby Traverse City MI 2

124 Brian Birkhofer Muscatine IA 2

125 Chub Frank Sugar Grove PA 2

126 Colton Bunn 2

127 Dave Miller 2

128 Jamie Ragland Lebanon 2

129 Jimmy Greenway 2

130 Jon Driskill 2

131 Jon Mitchell Nash TX 2

132 Jordan Holloway 2

133 Kevin Kaiser Warsaw 2

134 Mark Burgtorf Quincy IL 2

135 Mark Daye 2

136 Mike Montague 2

137 Ron Binning Grand River IA 2

138 Shannon Babb Mowequa IL 2

139 Shannon Phillips 2

140 Ashley Lancaster 1

141 Austin Dillon Welcome NC 1

142 Austin Rettig Sikeston 1

143 Bill Frye Greenbriar AR 1

144 Bub McCool Vicksburg MS 1

145 Chad Stapleton 1

146 Chris Brown Spring TX 1

147 Danny Monroe 1

148 Dustin Walker Peculiar 1

149 Dwight Niehoff 1

150 Frank Tindle 1

151 Gage Wineland 1

152 Jason Frankel Quincy IL 1

153 Jimmy Mars Elk Mound WI 1

154 Randy Zimmerman Fort Scott KS 1

155 Travis Coffman 1

156 William Keeney 1

Modified
1 Danny Crane Columbia 137

2 Tim Setzer Archie 120

3 Terry Schultz Sedalia 101

4 Jason Russell Henley 92

5 Michael Long Quincy IL 80

6 Brent Thompson Park Hills 70

7 Johnny Bone Jr. Pea Ridge AR 67

8 Jason Hughes West Plains 66

9 Chad Lyle Oak Grove 65

10 Dustin Boney Tonganoxie KS 61

11 Jason Thompson Concordia 60

12 Robert Powers Campbell 60

13 Jackie Dalton Carthage 59

14 Kyle Westerhold Blue Springs 56

15 Billy Smith Park Hills 49

16 Brandon Ball West Plains 49

17 Mitch Keeter Webb City 49

18 Bobby Pearish Joplin 46

19 Tim Karrick Basehor KS 46

20 Gary Blackburn Jr. Fulton 45

21 Steven DeLonjay Quincy IL 45

22 Tim Hancock Mt. Olive IL 44

23 Matt Eaton Park Hills 43

24 Darren Shaw Lathrop 41

25 Rustin Miller Houston 41

26 Steve Picou High Ridge 40

27 Terry Beckham II Joplin 40

28 Aaron Marrant Orrick 39

29 Bud Wilson Trenton 37

30 Cory Wray Jamesport 37

31 Justin Folk Iola KS 36

32 Vance Wilson Frankford 36

33 Rusty Griffaw Festus 35

34 Steve Muilenberg Sparta 35

35 Jamie Ragland Lebanon 34

36 Justin Neuman Crocker 34

37 David Wietholder Liberty IL 32

38 Shay Woods Humeston IA 32

39 Craig Wood Eldorado Springs 30

40 Erik Maggard Brighton 30

41 Jerry Morgan Fort Scott KS 30

42 Ray Walsh St. Louis 30

43 Ronnie Vernon Friendship TN 30

44 Jason Bodenhammer Centerview 28

45 Jim Body Diamond 27

46 Richard Foster Jefferson City 27

47 Zachary Sanders Kearney 27

48 Jim Moody Odessa 26

49 Ken Schrader Concord NC 26

50 Jake Richards Kansas City KS 25

51 Luke Feeback Harrisonville 25

52 Paul Reeder Malden 25

53 Scott Weber Festus 25

54 Steven Glenn Hamilton 25

55 Johnny Fennewald Appleton City 24

56 Mark Dotson Cameron 24

57 Austin Seibert Grandview 23

58 Colby Dixon Jamesport 23

59 Matt Dotson Sturgeon 23

60 Shad Badder Oak Grove 23

61 Troy Fowler Portageville 23

62 Colson Kirk Urbana 22

63 Richard Spriggs Savannah 22

64 Steve Starmer New Hampton 22

65 Austin Matthews Dexter 21

66 Curt Rackers Holts Summit 21

67 Greg Hughes West Plains 21

68 Kaleb Bray Archie 21

69 Kent Nations 21

70 Mickey Burrell Fair Grove 21

71 Paul Snyder Wellsville KS 21

72 R.C. Whitwell Tucson AZ 21

73 Robbie Reed Mexico 21

74 Brian Green Pierce City 20

75 Chase Breid Madison 20

76 Jeremy Payne Springfield 20

77 Robby Arnold Paragould AR 20

78 Zack Marsh Fort Scott KS 20

79 Dennis Elliott Mount Ayr IA 19

80 Kelly Shryock Fertile IA 19

81 Mark Miner St. Louis 19

82 Robbie Bryant Willard 19

83 Ryan Gustin Marshalltown IA 19

84 Tim Radford Piedmont 19

85 David Holder Clarence 18

86 Mark Burgtorf Quincy IL 18

87 Shawn Nations Macks Creek 18

88 Lucas Dobbs Eldorado Springs 17

89 Matt Johnson Archie 17

90 Todd Wilson Spickard 17

91 Danny Scrogham Peculiar 16

92 Dean Wille Warrensburg 16

93 Eddie Bray Jr. Archie 16

94 Eric Turner Hermitage 16

95 Jake Griffin Quincy IL 16

96 Jody Tillman West Branson 16

97 Rob Muilenberg Sparta 16

98 Brent Holman 15

99 Darian Hendrix Joplin 15

100 Daryl Hay Doniphan 15

101 Jacob Davis Millersville 15

102 Jerry Lankton Lampe 15

103 Kyle Slagle Pierce City 15

104 Richie Tosh Salado AR 15

105 Brad Buck Paragould AR 14

106 Dusty Campbell Nevada 14

107 Jason Pursley Wheatland 14

108 Jeff Asher Ironton 14

109 John Yeoman Joplin 14

110 Kasey Nations Park Hills 14

111 Scotty Martin Independence 14

112 Shawn Knuckles Poplar Bluff 14

113 Brian Bolin Fort Scott KS 13

114 Jason Brigman West Plains 13

115 Johnny Scott Las Cruces NM 13

116 Josh Hughes West Plains 13

117 Mike Harrison 13

118 Tony Anglin Walnut Ridge AR 13

119 Jeff Wells Jr. Truman AR 12

120 Joe Walker Harrisonville 12

121 Rick Beebe Shawnee KS 12

122 Terry Kirk Urbana 12

123 Terry Phillips Springfield 12

124 Buz Kaster Kansas City 11

125 Chris Moore Coldwater MS 11

126 Corey Botkins Columbia 11

127 Jesse Stovall Galena 11

128 John Sheets Nevada 11

129 Matt Mevert 11

130 Paul Bauman 11

131 Scott Burge Puxico 11

132 J.D. Auringer Waterloo IA 10

133 Jason Hughes Watts OK 10

134 P.J. Conger St. Joseph 10

135 Perry Milbourn Jr. St. Joseph 10

136 Bobby Bittle Smithton IL 9

137 Kyle Covert Topeka KS 9

138 Lyle Dietrich Urbana 9

139 Scott Crigler Alton 9

140 Steve Grotz Quincy IL 9

141 Anthony Ward Independence 8

142 Chase Domer Nevada 8

143 Darrell Moser Fredericktown 8

144 Jeff Greene Paragould AR 8

145 John Allen Chanute KS 8

146 Josh Poe Drexel 8

147 Larry Winn Hallsville 8

148 Lucas Lee Paris TN 8

149 Michael Lee 8

150 Barkley Rowland 7

151 Charles Baker Labelle 7

152 Chase Jones Eldorado Springs 7

153 Curt Potter Boonville 7

154 Dean Wray Jamesport 7

155 Jim Cameron Cameron 7

156 Josh Russell 7

157 Kerry Davis Parkville 7

158 Kevin Blackburn Fulton 7

159 Nic Bidinger Perry KS 7

160 Ricky Horton High Ridge 7

161 Steve Martin Ozark 7

162 Terry James 7

163 Tyler Schmidt Easton KS 7

164 Brent Manning 6

165 Bruce Hanford Davenport IA 6

166 Chris Hayes 6

167 David Bouzek Trenton 6

168 Dennis O'Neal Bethany 6

169 Jesse Willard Pleasanton KS 6

170 Logan Martin West Plains 6

171 Peyton Taylor Batesville AR 6

172 Robbie Test Jefferson City 6

173 Ron Keith Shawnee KS 6

174 Rowland Blythe Ashland 6

175 Tracy Wolf Buffalo 6

176 Carl Murphy Caulfield 5

177 Dallas Everette Beebe AR 5

178 David Kinder Moberly 5

179 Earl Roark Henley 5

180 Jon Melloway Hallsville 5

181 Jordan McCrimmon Bolivar 5

182 Justin Reed Quincy IL 5

183 Kyle Schmidt Farmington AR 5

184 Luke Driskell Stilwell KS 5

185 Matt Dotson Farmington 5

186 Melvin Pilcher 5

187 Mike Striegel Wheatland 5

188 Nate Caruth Ames IA 5

189 Ronnie Woods Mexico 5

190 Scotty Roberts Columbia 5

191 Shane Akin Milan TN 5

192 Steve Stotler O'Fallon 5

193 Tom Charles Bonner Springs KS 5

194 Ben Reed 4

195 Brent Mullins 4

196 Brian Judd Caulfield 4

197 Brian Worley 4

198 Casey Jesseph Chanute KS 4

199 Chase Junghans Manhattan KS 4

200 Chris Tonoli 4

201 Cody Alger Emporia KS 4

202 Dennis Bunger Harrisonville 4

203 Doug Wood Festus 4

204 Dustin Wyland Mulberry KS 4

205 Jared Schlipman Mendon IL 4

206 Jeff Lebaube High Ridge 4

207 Jeff Waterman Quincy IL 4

208 Jeremy Rasmussen 4

209 John Hanson Stewartsville 4

210 John O'Neal Jr. Kearney 4

211 Justin Moon Sedalia 4

212 Justin Roberts 4

213 Keith Foss Winona MN 4

214 Kelly Smith Kirksville 4

215 Mark Hoover Maryville 4

216 Matt Barry West Plains 4

217 Mike Abney 4

218 Mike Francis Farmington 4

219 Mike Vanderiet Jr. Mexico 4

220 Nick Newton Kansas City KS 4

221 Ray Bollinger Kewanee IL 4

222 Rick Conoyer 4

223 Steve Maisel High Ridge 4

224 Tim Dotson Sturgeon 4

225 Travis Smith 4

226 Virgil Jeffrey Ashland 4

227 Bob Kerbs Nevada 3

228 Bobby Despain 3

229 Brandon Smith Floral AR 3

230 Brian Ritchie 3

231 Buddy Benedict Independence 3

232 Christopher Moon Sedalia 3

233 Danny Resinger Farmington 3

234 David Barker Kingsville 3

235 Donnie Dannar Odessa 3

236 Dwight Niehoff Lockwood 3

237 Hunter Jessup Jackson 3

238 Jason Snodgrass Mountain Home 3

239 Jerry Asher Kirksville 3

240 Jimmy Halford Atwood TN 3

241 Levi Trimble Excelsior Springs 3

242 Justin Rexwinkle 3

243 Kenny Wallace Concord NC 3

244 Kyle Berry Portageville 3

245 Kyle Duke West Plains 3

246 Leonard Betsch II Annapolis 3

247 Matt Cooper 3

248 Mike Jessup Jackson 3

249 Nathan Vaughn Lincoln 3

250 Richard Layne Kansas City 3

251 Rusty Weir Warsaw 3

252 Sean Foster Smithville 3

253 Steve Long Warrenton 3

254 Tom Vogt 3

255 Tommy McCoy 3

256 Tommy Worley Sr. Farmington 3

257 Trent Grotz Quincy IL 3

258 Whitey Folk Humboldt KS 3

259 Bill Baker Hannibal 2

260 Bill Nickelson 2

261 Brandon Savage Keokuk IA 2

262 Chad Kinder 2

263 Colt Mather Webster IA 2

264 Craig Demasters Neosho 2

265 Dave McVey Greenwood 2

266 David Hendrix Laquey 2

267 Dennis Walrath Clinton 2

268 Eddie Whitney Sturgeon 2

269 Eric Johnson Columbia 2

270 Erik Edgar 2

271 Jason Estes Winston 2

272 Jason Krohn Slayton MN 2

273 Jason Pennington Qulin 2

274 Jeff Marriott Platte City 2

275 Jeremy Emmons Doniphan 2

276 Jim Hopkins Rayville 2

277 John Fellers Flemington 2

278 Josh Woody Wayneville 2

279 Justin Davis 2

280 Justin Johnson Gardner KS 2

281 Kyle Steffens St. Charles 2

282 Michael Dotson Lathrop 2

283 Rex Berry 2

284 Ron Bolin Jr. Fort Scott KS 2

285 Russell Smith Parsons KS 2

286 Shawn Walsh Ash Flat AR 2

287 Steve Stewart Burlington IA 2

288 Steven Bowers Topeka KS 2

289 Terry Wilson Bowling Green 2

290 Tim Donlinger Rochester MN 2

291 Tommy Weder Jr. Woodward OK 2

292 Tony Dunker Quincy IL 2

293 Travis Schipper Peculiar 2

294 Tyler Brown Stoutland 2

295 Tyler Townsend Longview TX 2

296 William Heath 2

297 Zack Vanderbeek Oskaloosa IA 2

298 Tyler VandeKamp Ankeny IA 2

299 Adam Parmely Cadet 1

300 Austin Jones Columbia 1

301 Bobby Regot Saint Peters 1

302 Conrad Miner St. Charles 1

303 Corey Weir Nixa 1

304 Craig Spegal New London 1

305 Daniel Moser 1

306 Darrell Jackson 1

307 Dennis Richards 1

308 Donovan Lodge Andover IL 1

309 Dustin Hodges Hallsville 1

310 Eric Mabery 1

311 Gary Wilson Frankford 1

312 Glenn Bratti Springdale AR 1

313 Hunter Rasdon Jonesboro AR 1

314 J.C. Morton Springfield 1

315 Jason Gruender 1

316 Jeremiah Asher St. Joseph 1

317 Jeremy Greenwalt Potosi 1

318 Jeremy Johnson Oak Grove 1

319 Jim Roach St. Patrick 1

320 Jimmy Cornell Broseley 1

321 Jimmy Dowell Wooldridge 1

322 Joe Giesler St. Genevieve 1

323 Joe Martin Mexico 1

324 Joe Puricelli 1

325 Josh Cherry 1

326 Joshua Stephens Buckner 1

327 Larry Newman Kirksville 1

328 Mark Schafman Edwardsville KS 1

329 Marvin Forrest Shell Knob 1

330 Matt Dickerman 1

331 Randy Zimmerman Fort Scott KS 1

332 Rodney Sanders Happy TX 1

333 Rooster Griffin 1

334 Scottie Bough Nevada 1

335 Shawn Lee Spickard 1

336 Tim North Jr. Olathe KS 1

337 Timmy Hill 1

338 Tommy Myer Blooming Prairie MN 1

339 Tony Patterson New Florence 1

340 Travis Johnson Independence 1

341 Troy Grotz Quincy IL 1

342 Walter Dunn Grandin 1

343 Will Johns Osawatomie KS 1

Limited Modifieds
1 Shawn Strong Republic 160

2 J.C. Morton Springfield 110

3 Jacob Ebert Oak Grove 106

4 Brad Smith Belton 83

5 Steve Muilenberg Sparta 80

6 Kris Jackson Lebanon 73

7 Chad Tilley Essex 70

8 Michael Stake Phillipsburg 70

9 Lonnie Wyman Jr. Fulton 67

10 Bobby Maggard Jr. Republic 64

11 Scott Tracer Rector AR 64

12 Tyler Fowler Portageville 56

13 Gene Claxton Kansas City KS 54

14 Colt Cheevers Macks Creek 50

15 Ryan Middaugh Fulton 49

16 Scott VanBuskirk Hedrick IA 49

17 Gunner Martin Blue Springs 48

18 Jerry Brown Prescott KS 48

19 Mike Floyd Holts Summit 47

20 Mike Striegel Hermitage 47

21 Ethan Isaacs Bonner Springs KS 45

22 Scott Drake Webb City 45

23 Kaleb Stolba Willow Springs 44

24 Kiel Erwin Paris 44

25 Tyler Lewis Columbia 44

26 Mike Tanner Kansas City 44

27 Kyle Stolzer 41

28 Tim Eaton St. Joseph 40

29 Jarred Duke West Plains 38

30 Mike Savage Annapolis 38

31 Larry Winn Hallsville 37

32 Eddie Gross 36

33 Cody Erwin Paris 35

34 Galen Hassler Columbia 35

35 Brock Frost Birch Tree 34

36 Bryan Montgomery Bates City 34

37 Gary Clark Walker 34

38 Chad Staus Otterville 33

39 David Melloway Hallsville 33

40 Chuck Tilley Essex 32

41 Bobby Russ Wood Rayville 31

42 Greg Swearingem Bismarck 31

43 Dustin Beisley Fort Scott KS 30

44 Shane Blair 30

45 Tyler Brown Stoutland 30

46 J.J. Baumli Lathrop 29

47 Danny Lorton Moberly 28

48 Scotty Martin Independence 28

49 Jeff Stotts Trenton 28

50 Matt Thompson Bentonville AR 27

51 Chris Wright Chillicothe 27

52 Brandon Dale Gorin 26

53 Carter VanDenBerg Oskaloosa IA 26

54 Mike Shelton Bloomfield IA 26

55 Kenny Pike Nevada 25

56 Nic Bennett Grain Valley 25

57 Dicky Jackson Paragould AR 24

58 Austin Kaplan Ankeny IA 23

59 John Bohn 23

60 Kenny Harris 23

61 Louis Lynch Glenwood 22

62 Chris Ratterree Mountain Grove 21

63 Tom Elsen Clarence 21

64 Gregg Piotrowski Fort Scott KS 20

65 Jon Melloway Hallsville 20

66 Justin Metzner Sedalia 20

67 Lucas Isaacs Bonner Springs KS 20

68 Patrick Mahnken Fulton 20

69 Sean Williams Willard 20

70 Clay Hale Cameron 20

71 Nic Hanes Trenton 20

72 Cole Wells Aurora 19

73 Dusty Campbell Nevada 19

74 Josh Sissom Cape Girardeau 19

75 Mark Botts Meadville 18

76 Anthony Asher St. Joseph 17

77 Billy Bentley Madison 17

78 Brandon Maggard Springfield 17

79 Cayden Carter Oskaloosa IA 17

80 Derek Watson Willard 17

81 Jeff Miller Hermitage 17

82 Jon Yeoman Granby 17

83 Tyler Santie 17

84 Adam Hall Columbia 16

85 Andy Beauchamp Springfield 16

86 Ben Kates Tonganoxie KS 16

87 Steve Gearhart Buckner 16

88 Barry White Mexico 15

89 Dylan Timmerman Eldorado Springs 15

90 Truman Asher St. Joseph 15

91 Don Luna St. James 14

92 Keith Short Nevada 14

93 Aaron Marrant Orrick 13

94 Adam Hemby Puxico 13

95 Blake Peeler Trimble 13

96 Brent Bollinger Fort Scott KS 13

97 Brian Webster Richland 13

98 Chad Lebsock Centralia 13

99 Chris Boyd 13

100 Jay Lamons Savenburg KS 13

101 Kevin Embree Paris 13

102 Nick Newton Kansas City KS 13

103 Jeremy Chambers Oswego KS 12

104 Preston Seratt Finley TN 12

105 Brett Shields Mount Ayr IA 12

106 J.C. Newell Decaturville 11

107 Lane Pennington Qulin 11

108 Mike Higley Tecumseh KS 11

109 Ryan Edde Urbana 11

110 Tim Gage Campbell 11

111 Chris Larson Keokuk IA 10

112 Chris Martin Lee's Summit 10

113 Gary Rodocker Willard 10

114 Jason McDaniel Eldon IA 10

115 Randy Ainsworth Excelsior Springs 10

116 Tony Jackson Jr. Lebanon 10

117 Bill Crane Independence 9

118 Chris Brockway Warrensburg 9

119 Curtis VanDerWal Oskaloosa IA 9

120 Denny Tryon West Plains 9

121 Dustin Thulin Topeka KS 9

122 Jason Billups Holt 9

123 Jerry Lankton Lampe 9

124 Jim Gillenwater Keokuk IA 9

125 Mike Hailman Reeds Springs 9

126 Randy Rindom Moberly 9

127 Wayne Graybeal Springfield 9

128 Ronnie Miller Trenton 9

129 Brad Dibben Kansas City 8

130 Cody Nivens Fair Grove 8

131 Darin Claxton Warensburg 8

132 Dewayne Hobbs 8

133 Don Cox Holts Summit 8

134 Dustin Hodges 8

135 James Maxey Holliday 8

136 Jared Thulin Miami OK 8

137 Jason Bodenhammer Centrview 8

138 Steve Bugg Sedalia 8

139 Brad Dittemore St. Joseph 8

140 Clint Baker Meadville 8

141 Bob Russell Lee's Summit 7

142 Brandon Williams St. Joseph 7

143 Brian Powers Pomona 7

144 Bryan Richards Pacific 7

145 Jason Pennington Qulin 7

146 Mark Godsey Nevada 7

147 Matt Rose Liberal 7

148 Mike Monnig Big Spring 7

149 Ted Ballinger Halfway 7

150 Terry Bruner Sugar Creek 7

151 Andrew Smith Willard 6

152 Billy Smith 6

153 Bob Woodrow Hannibal 6

154 Brian Blair 6

155 Bronson Combs Shawnee KS 6

156 Chad Williams 6

157 Derek Lee 6

158 Johnny McGinnis Hardin 6

159 Kaleb Copher Webb City 6

160 Kevin Blackburn Fulton 6

161 Rick Barlow Jr. Montrose IA 6

162 Scott Gibbs Bloomfield 6

163 Tommy McBride Lebanon 6

164 Brennon Willard Lebanon 5

165 Charlie Gentile Ozark 5

166 Chris Whalen Kansas City KS 5

167 Danny Sissom Cape Girardeau 5

168 Jake Richards Kansas City KS 5

169 Jaymie Duinink Pella IA 5

170 Jesse Sobbing Glenwood IA 5

171 Jim Walker Mystic IA 5

172 Josh Calvert Hallsville 5

173 Kenny Rumble 5

174 Larry Tindle Springfield 5

175 Matt Lettow Roland IA 5

176 Randy Forster 5

177 Richard Layne Kansas City 5

178 Shane Kelley 5

179 Tim Vangotten Chanute KS 5

180 Jared Timmerman Norwalk IA 5

181 Ben Stockton Kansas City 5

182 Jeremy Pittsenbarger Cameron 5

183 Bobby Despain 4

184 Bub Wilcox 4

185 Burl Woods Springfield 4

186 Cody Brill Harrisonville 4

187 Craig Roden Montgomery City 4

188 Devin Irvin Cleveland 4

189 Jake Jacobi Sedalia 4

190 Jamie Daughotee 4

191 Jeff Brady Hoxie AR 4

192 Jeff Brockman Eldorado Springs 4

193 John Brooks Warrensburg 4

194 Keith Campbell Nevada 4

195 Mark Evinger Bates City 4

196 Michael Maggard Springfield 4

197 Mike Shaddy Lebanon 4

198 Ricky Underwood 4

199 Ron Bolin Fort Scott KS 4

200 Ronnie Tilley 4

201 Scotty Allen Urbana 4

202 Taylor Duggins West Plains 4

203 Tim Nash Farmington 4

204 Troy Carlyle Kearney 4

205 Tyler Chainey Springfield 4

206 Zane Blanchard 4

207 Troy Hovey Decorah IA 4

208 Lynn Starry Excelsior Springs 4

209 A.J. Johnson Oskaloosa IA 3

210 Austin Rettig Sikeston 3

211 Bobby Raybourn Odessa 3

212 Bobby Williams 3

213 Brett Lowery Montezuma IA 3

214 Brian Dibben Kansas City KS 3

215 C.J. Wright 3

216 Chad Walter Clarence 3

217 Clifton Champrey Holts Summit 3

218 Danny Boyd 3

219 Darrin Hendrix 3

220 Derrick Agee Huntsville 3

221 Garren Wescoat 3

222 Gary Lewis Columbia 3

223 Gary Stolba Willow Springs 3

224 George Wilson Troy 3

225 Jake Brewer Fulton 3

226 Jeff Frohwitter 3

227 Jim Nolker Richmond 3

228 Josh Reed Middle Brook 3

229 Aaron Duvall Kirksville 3

230 Mike Stevenson Jonesboro AR 3

231 Ronald Bunn 3

232 Ronnie Yelton Auxvasse 3

233 Royce Stanley Kansas City 3

234 Shawn Burns Overland Park KS 3

235 Steve Robinson Moberly 3

236 Steve Santie 3

237 Terry Beckham Joplin 3

238 Tommy Lathrop Ottumwa IA 3

239 Trent Deadmon Kansas City 3

240 Dylan Book Adel IA 3

241 Bobby Penney Lawson 3

242 Duke Jacobs Stewartsville 3

243 Jeremiah Asher St. Joseph 3

244 Nick Roberts Des Moines IA 3

245 Aaron Penick Kirksville 2

246 Allen Riggins 2

247 Billy Barton Brookfield 2

248 Chris Dishong Atchison KS 2

249 Chuck Huff 2

250 Chuck Melloway Hallsville 2

251 Danny Peterson West Plains 2

252 Danny Resinger 2

253 David Grimes Clever 2

254 Don Randall Washington 2

255 Gary Fain Lone Jack 2

256 Jacob Grotewiel Clifton Hill 2

257 Jamie Barker Lebanon 2

258 Jimmie Davis Chanute KS 2

259 Joe Walker Harrisonville 2

260 Joey Schwope St. Joseph 2

261 John Stiner West Plains 2

262 Josh Newman Fulton 2

263 Josh Reisdorph Bates City 2

264 Michael Mullins Kingsville 2

265 Rod Cordon Independence 2

266 Rodney Schweizer Kansas City MO 2

267 Ryan Fullenkamp Bloomfield IA 2

268 Ryan Hendrix Joplin 2

269 Scotty Roberts Columbia 2

270 Spencer Barnard 2

271 Terry Williams 2

272 Tony Hatfield Baxter Springs KS 2

273 Tony Layne Kansas City 2

274 Tyler Newcomb 2

275 Wes Long Springfield 2

276 John Fugett Kansas City 2

277 Paige Leppin Meadville 2

278 Wes Bestgen Osborn 2

279 Camden Atkinson Kearney 2

280 Brad Whitney Trenton 2

281 A.J. Tice Piper 1

282 Ben Piper West Plains 1

283 Blake Ellis Sarcoxie 1

284 Brian Schrage Cresco IA 1

285 Chad Hickam Centralia 1

286 Chris Scheurman 1

287 Colton Bunn 1

288 Daniel Roe 1

289 Dean Galvan Bonner Springs KS 1

290 Dustin Crist St. Joseph 1

291 Erik Maggard Springfield 1

292 Ernie Walker Sedalia 1

293 Greg Price 1

294 James Mirts Auxvasse 1

295 Jason Munoz Centralia 1

296 Jeff Yates Troy 1

297 Jeffrey Simmons Independence 1

298 Jeremiah Wilson Concordia 1

299 Jim Moody Odessa 1

300 John Anderson 1

301 John Haslock Stockton 1

302 Josh Greene 1

303 Kenny Shaw Fort Scott KS 1

304 Kevin Collins West Plains 1

305 Logan Trueblood Memphis 1

306 Lonnie Henderson Lebanon 1

307 Mark Mundell Ottumwa IA 1

308 Matt Anders Piggott AR 1

309 Patrick Lewis 1

310 Patrick Profeta Keokuk IA 1

311 Rusty Sands Unionville 1

312 Ryan Drummond Laddonia 1

313 Scott Pullen 1

314 Steven Shadden Hume 1

315 Tony Moore Lebanon 1

316 Tyler Heckart Ottumwa IA 1

317 Zach Zeugin 1

318 Tracy Johnson Lake Preston SD 1

319 Scotty Grenier Cameron 1

320 Mark Hunziger Oregon 1

321 Dale Hess Gallatin 1

322 Justin Asher St. Joseph 1

Sprint Cars
1 Tommy Worley Jr. Bismarck 53

2 Jimmy Hurley Springfield IL 51

3 Jonathan Cornell Sedalia 41

4 Brad Loyet Park Hills 40

5 Tyler Blank California 40

6 Randy Martin California 38

7 Joey Montgomery Fredericktown 33

8 Cody Baker Lone Jack 29

9 Jack Dover Springfield NE 28

10 Brian Brown Grain Valley 24

11 Evan Martin California 24

12 Mark Shirshekan Farmington 24

13 Tim Montgomery Fredericktown 24

14 Danny Lasoski Dover 23

15 Kyle Bellm Nixa 21

16 Dustin Barks Farmington 18

17 Jason Johnson Eunice LA 17

18 Lanny Carpenter Clarksburg 17

19 Tim Crawley Benton AR 16

20 Robbie Standridge Springfield IL 14

21 Steve Short Farmington 13

22 Jerrod Hull Sikeston 11

23 Wayne Johnson Oklahoma City OK 11

24 A.J. Bruns Lincoln IL 9

25 Joey Boyd Farmington 9

26 Terry Gray Memphis TN 9

27 Adam Jones Wright City 8

28 Jason Keith Fredericktown 8

29 Seth Bergman Snohomish WA 8

30 Brad Greer Coulterville IL 7

31 Sean McClelland Collinsville OK 7

32 Austin Alumbaugh Higginsville 6

33 Curtis Boyer New Haven 6

34 Kasey Burch Farmington 6

35 T.J. Muths Sedalia 6

36 Brian McClelland Tulsa OK 5

37 Craig Dollansky Elk River MN 5

38 Jimmy Bridgeman Farmington 5

39 Dustin Morgan Collinsville OK 4

40 Jason Meyers Clovis CA 4

41 Rod Crabdree Desloge 4

42 Tayor Walton Warrensburg 4

43 Tyler Utz Sedalia 4

44 Brian Bell 3

45 Bronson Maeschen Pleasantville IA 3

46 Chad Corken Springdale AR 3

47 Joe Wood Jr. 3

48 Jon Corbin Kansas City 3

49 Josh Fisher Smithton 3

50 Lucas Wolfe Mechanicsburg PA 3

51 Zach Chappell Talalla OK 3

52 Andy Korte California 2

53 Bryan Gossel 2

54 Bryan Grimes Slater 2

55 Derek Hager Marion AR 2

56 J.D. Johnson Wichita KS 2

57 Jeff Swindell Memphis TN 2

58 John Epperson 2

59 Jordan Boston Lincoln NE 2

60 Kerry Madsen Sans Souci AUS 2

61 Mike Goodman Tulsa OK 2

62 Mike Hess Springfield IL 2

63 Mike Peters Wichita KS 2

64 Miranda Arnold Sedalia 2

65 Russ Hall Des Moines IA 2

66 Tony Bruce Jr. Liberal KS 2

67 Tony Crank Sedalia 2

68 Anthony Nicholson 1

69 Bobby Mincer Burlington IA 1

70 Don Droud Jr. Lincoln NE 1

71 Donny Schatz Fargo ND 1

72 Jay Russell Elwood KS 1

73 Jonathan Beason 1

74 Jordan Whitehead Andover KS 1

75 Morgan Turpen 1

76 Ryan Beechler McKinney TX 1

77 Ryan Kempin Catawissa 1

47 Good Nights

2011-11-25T15:38:00.000-08:00

My Holiday season tradition here on the Back Stretch has been to summarize the previous racing season. This tradition started long ago when it was in news print, however now that my ramblings are in this blog format you as the reader can easily go back through previous entries to get a feel for where I have been, and what kind of racing that I was able to see. So no reason to “recap” the season other than to offer up some statistics and express some general thoughts.

Much of April, May and June was washed away, but then we went dry here in the Midwest and very few events were lost over the final half of the season. I was able to take in 47 nights of racing in 2011, tying my record low race count since I picked up my driver’s license in March of 1979. Those 47 events were seen at 19 tracks in four different states; Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and Missouri. As usual I spent the most nights, 13, at the Knoxville Raceway while 34 Raceway near Burlington was next in line this year with six nights. I spent five race nights at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson while I made three races each at the tracks in Vinton, Tipton and Oskaloosa. I tried to go to Quincy four times, but lost two of them to rain before the first green flag flew and I went to one night each at Belleville IL, Rockford IL, I-80 Speedway (Greenwood NE), Farley, Maquoketa, East Moline IL, Bloomfield, Columbus Junction, Sedalia MO, Dubuque and Memphis MO. My one and only new track this year was the St. Francois County Raceway in Farmington, Missouri.

Special events dominated my race schedule this season with the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models leading the way with six nights. This year’s Knoxville Nationals were sanctioned by the World of Outlaws so that gave me four nights of them while I caught three United States Modified Touring Series events. I saw two shows each of the MOWA Sprints, the Lucas Oil Late Models, the Corn Belt Clash Late Models, the ASCS National Tour, and the USAC Sprint Cars. And I saw one events each of the following; Big 8 Late Models, Mid-American Stock Series, IRA Sprint Cars, ASCS Midwest Sprints, UMP Summer Nationals, the PCRA Crate Late Models, the All Star Sprints, the MLRA Late Models and the ASCS Warrior Region Sprints.

For the most part the racing that I saw this season was very entertaining with decent car counts and well-run shows. While some tracks may still have issues, it appears to me that most promoters have bought in to the concept of running their shows off in a timely and efficient manner as I saw more tracks using the one-spin-and-your-in rule than ever before and I do not recall any intermissions that seemed to drag on forever this season. Two of my favorites promoted their final races this season as Ralph Capitani retired at Knoxville and Terry Hoenig sold his lease at the Lee County Speedway. Toby Kruse is a great choice to fill Capitani’s role and with track announcer Dewain Hulett named as Lee County’s promoter by new owners Dave & Yvonne Sapp, all should remain well in Donnellson.

With Oskaloosa being a regular stop on my schedule each year I am hoping that somebody will continue Wednesday night racing there and hopefully racing will be held on a regular basis in some manner at Eldon, Bloomfield and Memphis in 2012. I do know that I am excited about seeing UMP Late Models on Sunday nights in Quincy next year and it is always interesting to see where the series and tours will be visiting when their schedules are released. Tipton has been a track that has been running a little bit of everything lately and doing it well and the IMCA event on Knoxville’s schedule in April has my attention. Only four more months until another racing season!

Late Model Points for Arkansas, Kansas and Wisconsin

2011-11-22T16:22:00.000-08:00

As we head into the holiday weekend we wish you all a verry Happy Thanksgiving! Don't forget that there is still racing on the schedule with the annual Turkey weekend event in Springfield, Missouri, this Saturday. The weather forecast is a little iffy as of four days prior, but things can change! Once this event is completed we will have the final All Missouri Points for 2011.

I know that many of you will be watching the Iowa and Nebraska game this Friday, but make sure that you set your DVR to also record the Conference USA showdown between Houston and Tulsa being played at the same time on Fox Sports Net. I am guessing that over 100 total points will be put on the board in this one as Houston tries to stay on track for a BCS bowl berth, while Tulsa looks to win their eighth straight.

Here are the 2011 "state points" for the Late Models in Arkansas, Kansas and Wisconsin.....

Arkansas
1 Wendell Wallace Batesville 22

2 Brandon Smith Floral 17

3 Jon Kirby Russelville 15

4 Billy Moyer Jr. Batesville 14

5 Jon Mitchell Nash TX 13

6 Kyle Beard Trumann 10

7 Allen Murray San Antonio TX 9

8 Austin Rettig Sikeston MO 9

9 Curtis Cook Conway 8

10 Dane Dacus Lakeland TN 7

11 Jeff Floyd Walnut Ridge 7

12 Timothy Culp West Monroe LA 7

13 Morgan Bagley Longview TX 6

14 Gary Christian Broken Bow OK 5

15 Jamie Dacus Lakeland TN 5

16 Jeff Chanler Minden LA 5

17 Jesse Stovall Galena MO 5

18 Leslie Essary Crane MO 5

19 Ray Moore Shreveport LA 5

20 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg TN 5

21 Allen Tippen Minden LA 4

22 Brandon Hunter Alma 4

23 Jimmy Owens Newport TN 4

24 Kevin Sitton Baytown TX 4

25 Randy Zimmerman Fort Scott KS 4

26 Shane Harris Sheridan 4

27 Trey Beene Bossier City LA 4

28 Jared Landers Batesville 3

29 Johnny Virden Greenbriar 3

30 Stacy Taylor Jacksonville 3

31 Will Vaught Crane MO 3

32 Bill Frye Greenbriar 2

33 Dewayne Kiefer St. Genevieve MO 2

34 Jack Sullivan Greenbriar 2

35 Justin Wells Aurora MO 2

36 Ronny Adams Shreveport LA 2

37 Steve Francis Ashland KY 2

38 Tony Jackson Jr. Lebanon MO 2

39 B.J. Robinson Blanchard LA 1

40 Brett Frazier Haughton LA 1

41 Clay Fisher Dewitt 1

42 Dewaine Hottinger Russelville 1

43 Rex Merritt Billings MO 1

44 Todd Hall Charleston MO 1

45 Tyler Reddick Corona CA 1

Kansas
1 Gary Gorby Caney 47

2 Joe Gorby Caney 24

3 Delbert Smith Wichita 18

4 Brad Looney Republic MO 17

5 Jesse Stovall Galena MO 17

6 Justin Wells Aurora MO 17

7 Al Purkey Coffeyville 15

8 Jimmy Segraves Valley Center 15

9 Steve Kempt Shelton NE 15

10 John Anderson Omaha NE 14

11 Brad Fortney Wichita 13

12 David Young 13

13 Terry Phillips Springfield MO 12

14 Billy Moyer Jr. Batesville AR 10

15 Jason Redman 9

16 Rex Merritt Billings MO 9

17 Steve Johnson 9

18 Bo Egge Kearney NE 7

19 Dave Conkwright Manhattan 7

20 Chris Deaton 6

21 Tony Jackson Jr. Lebanon MO 6

22 Bill McMurtrie 5

23 Brandon McCormick Lebanon MO 5

24 Chad Wheeler Muskogee OK 5

25 Chris Spieker Massena IA 5

26 Earl Kinderknecht Salina 5

27 Ryan McAninch 5

28 Brandon Morton Coweta OK 5

29 Dallas Sales 4

30 Dean Moore Grand Junction CO 4

31 Leslie Essary Crane MO 4

32 Andy Gerstenkorn 3

33 Chad Dolan Gibbon NE 3

34 Garrett Murrell 3

35 Jarrod Hilton 3

36 Kyle Berck Marquette NE 3

37 Mark Daye 3

38 Mike Wiarda Aurora NE 3

39 Nathan Ellison 3

40 Ronnie Warman 3

41 Shane Essary Galena MO 3

42 Tommy Weder Jr. Woodward OK 3

43 William Keeney 3

44 Gary Christian Broken Bow OK 3

45 Brandon Hunter 2

46 Chuck Comer 2

47 Ed Moore 2

48 Eric Turner Hermitage MO 2

49 Jeremy Payne Springfield MO 2

50 Joe Kosiski Omaha NE 2

51 Johnny Green 2

52 Kelly Boen Henderson CO 2

53 Mike Furthmyer 2

54 Robert McMurtrie 2

55 Shawn Harker Plattsmouth NE 2

56 Will Brack Mead CO 2

57 Shannon Phillips 2

58 Brad Wagoner 1

59 Chris Kratzer Lyons 1

60 Gerald Spurgeon 1

61 Houston Garrison 1

62 Jared Addington 1

63 Kelly Dunn Salina 1

64 Randy Zimmerman Fort Scott 1

65 Shawn Brassfield 1

Wisconsin
1 Russ Scheffler Waukesha 108

2 Tim Buhler Glenbeulah 74

3 Jake Redetzke Eau Claire 56

4 Rick Scheffler Waukesha 48

5 Ron Berna Green Bay 48

6 Craig Schueffner 45

7 Paul Parker Kaukauna 45

8 Jimmy Mars Elk Mound 41

9 Ashley Anderson Eau Claire 38

10 Gordie Seegert Jr. Oostburg 38

11 Tom Naeyaert 38

12 Chad Mahder Eau Claire 37

13 Brad Mueller 35

14 Scott Reichers 33

15 Nick Anvelink Navarino 31

16 A.J. Diemel Navarino 30

17 Darrin Meierotto 30

18 Darrell Nelson Hermanton MN 28

19 Brady Smith Solon Springs 27

20 Cory Mahder Elk Mound 26

21 Adam Hensel Barron 25

22 Mike Fryer Freeport IL 25

23 Bob Cullen 23

24 Jim Schmidt 22

25 Justin Ritchie 20

26 Mike Prochnow Menomonie 20

27 Brent Larson Lake Elmo MN 19

28 Troy Springborn Shawano 19

29 Billy Rezutek 18

30 Jeff Larson Freeport IL 18

31 John Kaanta Eau Claire 18

32 Rick Hanestad Boyceville 18

33 Kyle Peterlin Hibbing MN 17

34 Terry Anvelink Navarino 17

35 Harry Hanson Eveleth MN 16

36 Pete Parker Kaukauna 16

37 Brock Sauer 15

38 Jason Robbins Belmont 15

39 Scott Duvall 15

40 Don Copp Brule 14

41 Turk Leitzia 14

42 Pat Doar New Richmond 13

43 Jason Rauen Farley IA 12

44 Scott Gilberts Sand Creek 12

45 Tim Isenberg Marshfield 12

46 Brian Birkhofer Muscatine IA 11

47 Steve Laursen Cumberland 11

48 Bret Sievert 10

49 Doug Blashe Shawano 10

50 Jake Hartung 10

51 Justin Hirt 10

52 Todd Frank 10

53 Jim Rychtik Port Washington 9

54 Ted Dolhun 9

55 Jeremie Hedrick 8

56 Randy Markwardt 8

57 Brett Swedberg 7

58 Caley Emerson 7

59 Dave Thomas 7

60 Greg Nippoldt 7

61 Joel Cryderman Thunder Bay ONT 7

62 Lance Matthees Winona MN 7

63 Mike Goodremote Sand Creek 7

64 Rick Eckert York PA 7

65 Dan Schlieper Sullivan 6

66 Darrell Lanigan Union KY 6

67 Dave Fieber 6

68 Rick Egersdorf St. Paul MN 6

69 Dan Shelliam Hazel Green 5

70 Jeff Provinzino Hibbing MN 5

71 Josh Richards Shinnston WV 5

72 Rod Cameron 5

73 Ron Stroika 5

74 Scott James Lawrenceburg IN 5

75 Todd Gehl Solon Springs 5

76 Benji LaCrosse 4

77 Chris Oertel 4

78 Justin Fegers Mound MN 4

79 Kerry Hansen Spencer 4

80 Nick Herrick West Concord MN 4

81 Paul Brust 4

82 Travis Budisalovich 4

83 Craig Bartz 3

84 Chris Simpson Marion IA 3

85 Cory Jorgenson 3

86 Don O'Neal Martinsville IN 3

87 Eric Breeschoten Buffalo MN 3

88 John Henkemeyer Sauk Rapids MN 3

89 Justin Mitchell Cedar Rapids IA 3

90 Shannon Babb Mowequa IL 3

91 Aaron Lillo 2

92 Clint Smith Senoia GA 2

93 Dan Sorce 2

94 Eric Pember Pittsville 2

95 Joe Reuter 2

96 Kevin Carlson 2

97 Ron Klein Sherrill IA 2

98 Shane Clanton Locust Grove GA 2

99 Tim McMann Duluth MN 2

100 Al Atkinson 1

101 Chad Simpson Marion IA 1

102 Chris Olson 1

103 Jim Carlson 1

104 Kyle Odekirk 1

105 Mark Rose 1

106 Mark Mezera 1

107 Steve Francis Ashland KY 1

108 Steve Isenberg Marshfield 1

109 Tom Waseleski Jr. Pengilly MN 1

Dirt Late Model Points for Indiana, Delaware, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota and South Dakota

2011-11-12T08:26:00.000-08:00

With the 2011 racing season now complete in most areas, let's take a look at the Late Model "state" point standings in other states outside of Iowa.

Indiana Dirt Late Model Points

1 Bob Franklin 30

2 Duane Chamberlain Richmond 25

3 Tom Sheets 23

4 Dillan White Crofton KY 20

5 Don O'Neal Martinsville 17

6 Marty O'Neal Martinsville 15

7 Shannon Babb Mowequa IL 15

8 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg TN 13

9 Jim Beaman 12

10 Mike Jewell Scottsburg 12

11 Kent Robinson Bloomington 11

12 Joe Janowski Columbus 10

13 Mike Bechelli 10

14 Bill Lewis 9

15 Bill Sheets 9

16 Mark Barber North Vernon 8

17 Chris Streeval 7

18 Chad Oberson 7

19 Greg Johnson Bedford 7

20 Scott James Lawrenceburg 7

21 Brian Birkhofer Muscatine IA 6

22 Bobby Pierce Danville IL 6

23 Rick Slayback 6

24 Jimmy Owens Newport TN 5

25 Zak Blackwood Columbus 5

26 Brian Gray 4

27 Dennis Erb Jr. Carpentersville IL 4

28 Jared Landers Batesville AR 4

29 Jason Feger Bloomington IL 4

30 Jeremy Hines Seymour 4

31 Keaton Streeval 4

32 Kevin Weaver Gibson City IL 4

33 Michael Chilton 4

34 Robbie Hensley 4

35 Steve Barnett Franklin 4

36 Alan Magner 3

37 Chad Stapleton 3

38 Earl Pearson Jr. Jacksonville FL 3

39 Dustin Neat Dunville KY 3

40 Dona Marcoullier 3

41 Jeep VanWormer Pinconning MI 3

42 Ryan Unzicker El Paso IL 3

43 Tanner English Benton KY 3

44 Tim Prince 3

45 Tom Ramey 3

46 Tim Rivers 3

47 Jason Smith 2

48 Rodney Melvin Logan IL 2

49 Allen Warner 1

50 Derek Fisher Columbus 1

51 Jack Sullivan Greenbriar AR 1

52 Brandon Sheppard New Berlin IL 1

53 Steve Godsey Bedford 1

54 Troy Cruse 1

55 Tyler Reddick Corona CA 1

Delaware Dirt Late Model Points

1 Donald Lingo Jr. Millsboro 46

2 Richard Jarvis Jr. 42

3 Mark Pettyjohn 34

4 Ricky Elliott Seaford 34

5 Mark Byram Georgetown 24

6 Staci Warrington 18

7 Austin Hubbard Seaford 15

8 Andrew Mullins 14

9 Kenny Pettyjohn 14

10 David Pettyjohn 13

11 Dale Lingo Millsboro 11

12 David Hill Trappe 10

13 Herb Tunis 10

14 Kerry King 8

15 Rick Eckert York PA 5

16 Rob Schirmer 5

17 Darrell Lanigan Union KY 4

18 Derrike Hill 4

19 Lou Johnson 4

20 Kevin Scott Jr. 3

21 Tim McCreadie Watertown NY 3

22 Hal Browning 2

23 Josh Richards Shinnston WV 2

24 Scott Haus 2

25 David Williams 1

26 Jason Covert York Haven PA 1

27 Ross Robinson 1

Minnesota Dirt Late Model Points

1 Harry Hanson Eleveth 90

2 Kyle Peterlin Hibbing 75

3 Darrell Nelson Hermanton 71

4 Jeff Wildung Nassau 71

5 Jeff Provinzino Hibbing 67

6 Tom Waseleski Jr. Hibbing 58

7 Zach Johnson Kensington 48

8 Corey Nelson Canby 42

9 Ricky Weiss Winnipeg MAN 42

10 Lance Matthees Winona 39

11 Shaun Peterson 32

12 Eric Breeschoten Buffalo 30

13 Joey Ogston 30

14 Kevin Carlson Hermanton 29

15 Mike Prochnow 28

16 Todd Frank 25

17 Shawn Kirwin Morris 24

18 Darin Meierotto Superior WI 21

19 Adam Hensel Barron WI 19

20 John Henkemeyer Sauk Rapids 19

21 Brady Smith Solon Springs WI 18

22 Jake Redetzke Eau Claire WI 18

23 Jay Kitner 18

24 Doug Herrick West Concord 15

25 Nick Herrick West Concord 15

26 Brian Schulz 14

27 Mike Balcaen Winnipeg MAN 14

28 Nick Beyenhof Rock Rapids IA 14

29 Seth Brede 14

30 Dustin Virkus 13

31 Jeremy Keller Mandan ND 13

32 Justin Fegers Mound 13

33 Pat Doar New Richmond WI 13

34 Brad Seng Grand Forks ND 12

35 Brad Waits Zumbrota 12

36 Rick Schroeder Montevideo 12

37 Tim Isenberg Marshfield WI 12

38 Don Copp Brule WI 11

39 Jason Rauen Farley IA 11

40 Joel Cryderman Thunder Bay ONT 11

41 Kyle Jumbeck 11

42 Chuck Kelly 10

43 Tim Carlson 10

44 Chad Williamson 9

45 Jimmy Mars Elk Mound WI 9

46 Terry Lillo Duluth 9

47 A.J. Diemel Navarino WI 8

48 Chris Simpson Marion IA 8

49 Jason Utter Columbus Jct. IA 8

50 John Kaanta Eau Claire WI 8

51 Mike Sorenson Rochester 8

52 Scott Atkinson 8

53 Matt Aukland Fargo ND 7

54 Rick Nelson 7

55 Ryan Aho Chisholm 7

56 Dave Zimmerman 6

57 Justin Mitchell Cedar Rapids IA 6

58 Nate Beyenhof Rock Rapids IA 6

59 Tim McMann Duluth 6

60 Chad Mahder Eau Claire WI 5

61 Brady Johanneck Litchfield 5

62 Corey Seckerson 5

63 Joey Pederson East Grand Forks 5

64 Josh Richards Shinnston WV 5

65 Kerry Hansen Spencer WI 5

66 Aaron Lillo 4

67 Brian Birkhofer Muscatine IA 4

68 Kyle Gavel 4

69 Jake Hartung 4

70 Jordan Yaggy 4

71 Kent Arment Aberdeen SD 4

72 Kenny Wallace Concord NC 4

73 Scott Lehn 4

74 Steve Laursen Cumberland WI 4

75 Brad Parson 3

76 Charles Shellanbarger 3

77 Cory Mahder Elk Mound WI 3

78 Marshall Fegers Mound 3

79 Mitch Johnson Fargo ND 3

80 Scott Danzieson 3

81 Tim McCreadie Watertown NY 3

82 Andrew McKay Edina 2

83 Bill Mooney Selkirk MAN 2

84 Chad Simpson Marion IA 2

85 Clarence Washburn 2

86 Cory Jorgenson 2

87 Howie Schill 2

88 Jeff Schommer 2

89 Jill George Cedar Falls IA 2

90 Josh Skorczewski 2

91 Kelly Anderson 2

92 Neil Eckhart 2

93 Scott Duvall 2

94 Scott Greer East Saint Paul MAN 2

95 Todd Gehl Solon Springs WI 2

96 Caley Emerson 1

97 C.J. Eilers 1

98 Danny Young 1

99 David McDonald 1

100 Dennis Erb Jr. Carpentersville IL 1

101 George Ledin 1

102 Greg Ferris Emo ONT 1

103 Jeff Hinkemeyer St. Cloud 1

104 Travis Budisalovich Cottage Grove 1

105 Scott Olson 1

New York Dirt Late Model Points

1 David Scott Garland PA 34

2 Dutch Davies Warren PA 32

3 Doug Eck Corry PA 26

4 Chris Hackett Corry PA 25

5 Dick Barton Ashville 20

6 Boom Briggs Bear Lake PA 17

7 Andy Boozel Clymer 16

8 Dave Hess Jr. Waterford PA 15

9 Bump Hedman Sugar Grove PA 12

10 Chad Valone Warren PA 11

11 Mike Knight Ripley 11

12 Ron Davies Warren PA 10

13 Dan Stone Thompson PA 9

14 Jimmy Owens Newport TN 9

15 Greg Oakes Franklinville 8

16 Rod Maloy Panama 8

17 Rich Gardner 7

18 Earl Pearson Jr. Jacksonville FL 6

19 Matt Urban 6

20 Rick Eckert York 5

21 Scott Johnson Wattsburg PA 5

22 Tim McCreadie Watertown 5

23 Chub Frank Sugar Grove PA 4

24 John Blankenship Williamson WV 4

25 Russ King Bristol OH 4

26 Dennis Lunger Jr. Albion PA 3

27 Jason Dupont Cyclone PA 3

28 Josh Richards Shinnston WV 3

29 Randy Lobb Jamestown 3

30 Austin Hubbard Seaford DE 2

31 Billy Decker Unadilla 2

32 Don O'Neal Martinsville IN 2

33 Nathan Short 2

34 Darrell Bossard Centerville PA 1

35 Jared Landers Batesville AR 1

36 John Lobb Jamestown 1

37 Tim Fuller Watertown 1

38 Vic Coffey Watertown 1

North Dakota Dirt Late Model Points

1 Brad Seng Grand Forks 72

2 Ricky Weiss Winnipeg MAN 55

3 Mike Balcaen Winnipeg MAN 35

4 Joey Pederson East Grand Forks MN 22

5 Troy Schill Grand Forks 17

6 Jeff Wildung Nassau MN 14

7 John Kaanta Elk Mound WI 14

8 Jake Redetzke Eau Claire WI 13

9 Steve Anderson Grand Forks 13

10 Zach Johnson Kensington MN 12

11 Pat Doar New Richmond WI 9

12 Steve Laursen Cumberland WI 7

13 Brandon Burke Grand Forks 6

14 Bill Mooney Selkirk MAN 5

15 Corey Seckerson Jamestown 5

16 Adam Hensel Barron WI 5

17 Tim McCreadie Watertown NY 5

18 Cody Skytland Edmore 4

19 Jimmy Mars Elk Mound WI 4

20 Joel Cryderman Thunder Bay ONT 4

21 Marshall Fegers Mound MN 4

22 Matt Aukland Fargo 4

23 Brady Smith Solon Springs WI 4

24 Austin Hubbard Seaford DE 3

25 Chad Becker Aberdeen SD 3

26 Dustin Strand 3

27 Eric Breeschoten Buffalo MN 3

28 Kyle Peterlin Hibbing MN 3

29 Darrell Lanigan Union KY 2

30 Bryan LePier 2

31 Lance Matthees Winona MN 2

32 Mitch Johnson Fargo 2

33 Tom Corcoran East Grand Forks MN 2

34 Steffen Snare 2

35 Chad Williamson Watertown SD 1

36 John Buchner 1

37 Justin Fegers Mound MN 1

38 Paul Mueller 1

39 Rick Eckert York PA 1

South Dakota Dirt Late Model Points

1 Kent Arment Aberdeen 64

2 Chad Becker Aberdeen 58

3 Brian Diede Huron 42

4 Curt Gelling Aberdeen 38

5 Chad Williamson Watertown 37

6 David McDonald Huron 34

7 Jake Redetzke Eau Claire WI 18

8 Seth Brede 15

9 Adam Hensel Barron WI 14

10 Marshall Fegers Mound MN 14

11 Scott Anderson Rapid City 13

12 Bryan Berger 12

13 John Bey Sturgis 12

14 Lance Matthees Winona MN 12

15 Tony Leiker 12

16 Chad Chenoweth Huron 10

17 Eric Mass Rapid City 10

18 Brent Nielsen Rapid City 9

19 Corey Seckerson 9

20 Jason Fritzsche 8

21 Justin Fegers Mound MN 8

22 Ricky Weiss 8

23 Steve Laursen Cumberland WI 8

24 John Kaanta Elk Mound WI 7

25 Eddie Kirchoff Gillette WY 5

26 Jimmy Mars Elk Mound WI 5

27 Eric Breeschoten Buffalo MN 4

28 John Skorczewski 4

29 Lynn Amick 4

30 Scott Ward 4

31 Chris Johnson 3

32 Jeff Provinzino Hibbing MN 3

33 Mike Stadel Rapid City 3

34 Rick Goth 3

35 Dan Henrikson Rapid City 2

36 Jeremy Keller Bismarck ND 2

37 Nick Beyenhof 2

38 Pat Doar New Richmond WI 2

39 Paul Mueller 2

40 John Kaiser 1

41 Matt Sheesley 1

42 Mike Prochnow Menomonie WI 1

43 Pat Weisgram 1

44 Ryan Engels 1

45 Zach Johnson Kensington MN 1

Taking A Step Back In Time

2011-11-10T15:26:00.000-08:00

A couple of entries back I referenced the old Mississippi Valley Speedway Club (MVSC) as I pondered the possibility of three area fairgrounds tracks possibly coming together to work as one in regard to weekly racing.

A few days later I received a phone call from Randy Foor of Morning Sun who said that he had a bunch of pictures from the MVSC days and wanted to know if I might be interested in sharing a few of them here on the Back Stretch. Uh, yeah!!

So over the next few weeks I will be putting up some of the photos that Randy has provided to me from his collection. His only request is that you don't download them, copyright them and then try to sell them. Cool? Cool.

Okay so here goes......on some of these I will venture a guess as to who I might think it is, but if I am wrong or if I have not even tried to identify the driver, please feel free to let me know who it is and where the photo is from.

A BIG thank you to Randy Foor at Louisa Communications for sharing these gems!

I believe that this is Stan Crooks at West Liberty

Big Johnny Moss

Ron Prymek?

Need some help on this one

I believe that this is Bobby Smith on the front stretch at Mt. Pleasant

Doak Allen at Columbus Junction

Need your help on this one

Mel Morris after a rough ride

Ron Hemsted at Columbus Junction

Dale Gegner

That's it for now. Keep checking the Back Stretch for more and if you use Facebook you can follow the PositivelyRacing.com page where you will be notified whenever new blog entries are put up.

Quincy Changes Its Mind

2011-11-05T08:06:00.000-07:00

The run for the ULMA Late Models at the Quincy Raceway was a short one as following a change in the ownership structure the track has now decided to go UMP Late Model racing in 2012. Speaking purely from the standpoint of being a fan, I love this decision as I have always enjoyed the action provided by the UMP Late Model division. This past year the closest UMP weekly show to me was in Peoria, just over two hours away from home, but to get there I would have had to drive right past a pretty darn good weekly show that was only twenty miles from my driveway, so I never made the trip. But now with Quincy only being an hour and a half away, and with no track in action on the route, I see myself making several Sunday night trips to the south over the coming years. With Shepp's Speedway moving to Friday nights, Quincy becomes the only track that will be running UMP Late Models on a Sunday night in the region so not only will there be a nice core group of Late Models from the Quincy area, but there will always be the element of surprise entries that may pull in from the St. Louis area, the Springfield area, the Peoria area and points beyond. In fact, it is likely that the UMP Late Model National Championship will pass through the Quincy Raceway in 2012.

When the ULMA sanction was being considered at Quincy I speculated on what effect a change to that sanction might make at 34 Raceway in Burlington, given the fact that nearly half of their weekly Late Model field was based out of Quincy. The ULMA rules would have allowed for a relatively easy change for the IMCA cars and vice versa, but you just never know whether or not drivers would want to make that change to race at both tracks, especially when the two tracks race back-to-back nights. I thought that it was a possibility that the ownership at 34 might even consider going ULMA as well. However with the change to UMP, and the complete change in rules that totally separates the two "divisions" of Late Models, that possibility is no longer there and, with the press release yesterday from co-promoter Amy Laue, it is clear that 34 Raceway will continue to be the anchor track for the IMCA Late Models. And before any of you take issue with me calling 34 "the anchor track" for IMCA Late Models, keep in mind that the track was a charter member for the sanctioned division and the first-ever Summer Series event was held there.

The owners at Quincy met with their Late Model drivers and in their press release noted perhaps up to 90% positive feedback on the move to UMP before making the decision, but with 34 Raceway's announcement that they will remain IMCA it does give those drivers who may not want to make the move the opportunity to race weekly within a reasonable distance. Plus, until a new promoter is found and the race program is announced for the Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa, 34 Raceway has the possibility of drawing in those Quad City area cars that prefer racing on a short track rather than a half-mile on a Saturday night. So for now, even though there are still many uncertainties, this race fan is pleased to know that the ownership group at 34 remains and is looking forward to hosting another great season of racing in 2012, and that the UMP Late Models are now that much closer to my doorstep racing on Sunday nights in Quincy!

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I will admit when I am wrong and it is now obvious that I was when I said that promoters avoid the forum boards like the plague as two promoters have currently made some interesting posts on Iowastockcars

Shane Davis who just completed his first season at the Quad City Speedway has an interesting thread going right now as the fairboard considers who will be the promoter at the track in 2012. I, like many others, was surprised that the position was up for grabs in the first place as it appeared to me that Davis was the perfect fit for the job.

And, after posting her press release on the future of 34 Raceway, Amy Laue took one of the board's regulars to task for statements that were made that were opposite of what was actually happening at her track.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, there is a TON of mis-information that gets posted as "fact" on message boards (not just the one I referenced above). And when someone either challenges that mis-information such as Knoxville is going bankrupt due to sharply declining car counts, or refutes the report that Fairmont is going WISSOTA with a factual report from the track itself, the common response is "well that was what I heard".

Heard from who?

The guy who bags my groceries tells me every time that either a tornado outbreak or a blizzard, depending upon the season, is on its way. But before I would get on a weather forum under my profile name, anonymous or not, and say "Big Storm Coming" I would instead do my own research to make sure that it was true. After all, even my anonymous reputation would mean enough to me to risk it with unsubstantiated bogus information from a source that is not trustworthy. Readers of forum boards, for that matter, should always consider the source as well.

Now lets sit back and see what new information comes to light this week!

Just A Thought

2011-10-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

When I was young, and I mean really young, I recall going to the Mississippi Valley Speedway Club (MVSC) races at West Liberty, Columbus Junction and even a night or two in Mount Pleasant. If my memory serves me right, the location of the race events were staggered from week to week in that one week we would go to West Liberty and the following week the races were run at Columbus Junction. I'm not sure why the shows were run like that, or even if this is just something that I dreamed up since I no longer have my grandparents around to confirm it (they were the ones that took me each week), but this memory was running through my head as I drove home from Memphis last Saturday night.

The Pepsi Doc 360 Fall Nationals were a success under first-time promoter Brandon Savage and I have not heard whether or not he is interested in pursuing the role of promoter on a weekly basis there in 2012. I see that Bloomfield is actively seeking proposals from parties who may be interested in promoting there next season. And in Eldon, it appears that the fairboard may have settled in to running four or five nights a year under its own direction. It is my hope that all three of these facilities find a promoter and return to having regular successful programs. However, if all three find themselves still looking for a new promoter come January, I wonder if a format similar to the old MVSC might just work?

It is obvious that each of the three fairboards have people on them who love and support dirt track racing. The question is, can these three fairboards come together in a manner that would allow for racers and fans to have one "weekly" show that would fit the budget of the many racers and fans in the region? No more spreading cars, and fans, out across two of these tracks on the same night. No more stretching the budgets of those same drivers and fans by having two nights of racing on the same weekend. Can something like this work?

- Each of the three fairboards will have two members on a race committee

- The race committee will come to an agreement on a standard set of rules for each class across all three tracks. They will also establish a standard weekly purse as well as admission prices and pit pass costs that will be in effect at all three tracks.

- The race committee will establish a schedule that will rotate from week to week beginning in early April and running through September. The schedule will basically say that on this week running from Monday to Sunday, this facility will host the race event for that week on its chosen night. (This way Bloomfield could still run its shows on Friday nights if it chooses while the other two would likely stick with Saturday). The "Monday through Sunday" designation allows the track to pick a different night in case there is another event in the area that they do not want to bump up against, or to fit the best night for its entertainment lineup for the county fair. Of course the schedule would be set in a fashion that each county fair has the racing event for that week.

- The race committee hires a Races Director that will oversee each event, no matter the location, to make sure that all rules and procedures are applied consistently across all tracks. Otherwise, each track is responsible for the remainder of the crew at its facility (announcer, flagman, officials, etc.)

- The race committee hires a publicist who will be responsible for a common website for all three tracks, pre-race publicity and efficient post-event reporting of stories and results to area media.

- The race committee pursues one "title sponsor" for each of the divisions that will race at all events with all of that money to be designated as the point fund for that division. This will be the only money that will be "pooled" between the three tracks. Points will be earned at each and every race event regardless of the race night or the facility.

- For each event, all revenues and expenses (including the cost of the Race Director and Publicist), are self-contained within each fairboard. After the title sponsors for each division are "sold", each track can work on their own to sell sign sponsors, night sponsors, etc. There will be no "pooling" of funds between the three facilities.

- All three facilities will cross-promote their events. For example, during a race night at Eldon, there will be flyers up promoting the upcoming events at Memphis and Bloomfield and the announcer will do the same.

So there are the basics, obviously there are a bunch of other details and challenges that would need to be worked out, but in my mind at least, I think that it just might work for these three facilities if something else is not worked out. This same scenario just might work up in northeast Iowa as well perhaps at Cresco and West Union. TB, what do you think?

Feel free to drop me a comment or additional suggestions, but as always I want to know who it is coming from. Nothing will likely ever come of it, but you never know, we just might be on to something! It was just a thought while driving home from a great night of racing in Memphis.

The Decision Has Been Made In Quincy

2011-10-25T15:21:00.000-07:00

As a follow-up to "A Decision To Be Made In Quincy" today I received the following press release from the track regarding the change to ULMA as the sanctioning body for the track's Late Model division in 2012.

Quincy Raceways to Sanction Late Models with ULMA for 2012 Season

Quincy Raceways owners and promoters Tony Rhinberger and Paul Holtschlag have announced that the Late Model Division at Quincy Raceways will be sanctioned by the ULMA for the 2012 season.

Rhinberger says “that in an effort to maintain the great late model tradition at Quincy Raceways a change in sanctioning bodies was needed to present the opportunity for other late model competitors in the area to compete at Quincy Raceways”. The current IMCA Late Models who have competed at Quincy Raceways will be legal to race under the ULMA banner with only minor changes such as adding weight and using different tires. The change will also allow all the IMCA Late Models who race at Quincy to be able to run IMCA Sanctioned events as well as Deery Brothers Summer Series races at other tracks with only minor changes

The 2012 payoff for the ULMA Late Models will be the same as was used in previous years at Quincy Raceways with the winner receiving $700 and paying $125 to start the main event. There is a distinct possibility that there will be a few increased payoff special events as well for the ULMA Late models at Quincy during the 2012 season. There will be more details released as they become available. Visit the ULMA website at www.ulmaracing.com or the Quincy Raceways website at www.quincyraceways.com for more information on rules and scheduling.

Seven Repeaters and Two New Faces Are All Iowa Points Champs for 2011

2011-10-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

Seven of the nine All Iowa Points divisions saw repeat champions in 2011 while the other two had drivers winning their first ever title. This was the highest percentage of “repeat champions” since the points have been compiled back to the 1967 racing season with the previous high being six of eight in 2002.

Newly inducted Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame member Ray Guss Jr. is once again the All Iowa Points Late Model champion in 2011 for the third year in a row. “The River City Hustler” now has six AIP titles on his resume’ with the other three also coming in succession twenty years ago in 1989, 1990 and 1991. As the compiler of these points, I was very proud to have seen the All Iowa Points titles listed on Ray’s profile that was released to voting members of the Hall of Fame last spring and I congratulate him on his honor. Guss was once again dominant posting 18 wins and 52 top five finishes on AIP tracks essentially clinching the title in early August as he finished seventy-two points ahead of runner-up Todd Cooney. It was the second runner-up finish for Cooney in the state points as he was second to champion Brian Harris in 2008. The 2005 Late Model champion, and last year’s runner-up Terry Neal finished in the third spot this season while Andy Eckrich and Billy Leighton posted their best ever finishes in fourth and fifth respectively.

Last season Ryan Dolan had to rally late to earn his first All Iowa Points Modified championship by a slim ten point margin. In 2011, Dolan established himself as the man to catch early on and nobody could as he cruised to his second straight championship on the strength of 50 “top fives” and 20 feature wins. This propelled the second-generation driver, whose father Roger Dolan was a two-time AIP Late Model champ in 1985 and 1987, to a fifty-point edge over his nearest competitor. Two-time champion Mark Schulte (2006 & 2007) was that nearest competitor in second while central Iowa driver Randy Havlik finished in third. Steven DeLonjay and J.J. Wise both enjoyed their best seasons so far finishing fourth and fifth. It should also be pointed out that after winning three straight All Iowa Points Stock Car titles, Dustin Smith made a successful move to the Modified division where he finished in a tie for 11th out of the 495 drivers who earned points this year.

The highest point total of any driver this year came in the Limited Modified division where Jesse Sobbing roared to his second straight AIP championship. The Glenwood based driver posted an amazing 45 feature wins on points-paying tracks and more than fifty overall, numbers that few drivers will ever achieve in a career let alone one season. Behind him was another driver who had an amazing season, but still finished 80 points behind the champion. Young Cayden Carter had 31 feature wins on his scoresheet and 209 points that, in most years, would have been more than enough to earn him his first championship. Another of the fantastic racing Smith family out of Lake City, Doug Smith finished in the third position with Brandon Hare fourth and Tyler Droste, grandson of the 1967 Late Model champion Red Droste and son of the 1996 Modified champion Steve Droste, in fifth.

The Stock Car division saw a new name at the top of the list as Timmy Current outdistanced Damon Murty and Derek Green even though those two drivers had nine and ten more top five finishes respectively than did the champion. Twenty-seven of Current’s thirty-four “top fives” were feature wins and that was enough to keep Murty, one of the top Stock Car drivers throughout the past several years, from grabbing his first AIP championship. The Minnesota driver, Green posted his best finish yet in third while fellow Minnesotan Dustin Larson was fourth. Two-time Hobby Stock titlist Donavon Smith (2004 and 2006) finished in fifth.

Devin Smith kept the tradition of All Iowa Points championships in the family alive and well by taking his second straight Hobby Stock title in dominating fashion posting forty feature wins on the season. This marks the ninth All Iowa Points championship for the brothers out of Lake City. Michael Murphy edged out two-time champion Shannon Anderson (2008 & 2009) by three markers for second while Shane Klaassen and John Watson completed the top five.

It was a family feud for the 2011 All Iowa Points Four Cylinder honors as two-time AIP Modified Champion Merv Chandler (19845 & 1985) and two of his sons, Nathan and Brad, swept the top three positions with Nathan Chandler emerging as the champion. With twenty-one feature wins Nathan scored ten more points than did Brad Chandler who scored fifteen wins himself. With Merv taking eight wins and a division leading 56 top-five finishes there is no doubt who the “First Family” of Four Cylinder racing is in the state of Iowa for 2011. Jacob Ellithorpe enjoyed a solid season as well with fourteen wins to rank fourth in the final standings while Tyler Whalen nosed past Megan Lappegard by a single point to finish fifth.

Moving to the winged sprint car divisions, a strong second half of the season that included his best-ver performance at the Knoxville Nationals propelled Mark Dobmeier past early leader Danny Lasoski for his second straight and fifth overall All Iowa Points championship in the 410 division. Dobmeier, whose previous titles cam in consecutive fashion in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and then of course last year, recorded nine feature wins on during AIP events this year. Ten-time champion Terry McCarl (1994, 1996, 1998 – 2004 and 2009) rallied to finish in the second position while the five-time champ Lasoski (1986, 1987, 1990, 1992 and 1993) ranked third. Native Australian Lynton Jeffrey was fourth while Gregg Bakker was fifth. Dobmeier and McCarl have now won thirteen of the last fourteen AIP 410 Sprint championships with Wayne Johnson taking the other one in 2005.

After sharing the 360 honors last year with Eric Lutz, Jack Dover repeated as the champion in 2011 on the strength of five feature wins and eighteen top-five finishes. The 2009 champion Mike Boston was this year’s runner-up followed by the 2002 champ Clint Garner in third. Stuart Snyder posted a fourth-place ranking while Gregg Bakker also found himself in fifth in this division.

A new champion was crowned in the 305 division as Bill Boles rode nine feature wins and five second-place runs to his first AIP title. 2006 champion Bruce Anderson was not far behind in second followed by Ryan Jamison, Jayson Dittsworth and Jordan Nordstrom.

A full listing of each division of the All Iowa Points can be found on the Points page at http://www.positivelyracing.com/

A Nice Way To Close Out The 2011 Season

2011-10-23T07:53:00.000-07:00

I didn't realize last year when I went to the second night of the Fall Nationals at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri, that it would be my final race of the 2010 season as rainy weather the following week wiped out Shiverfest. Last night, as I made the relatively short trip to the south and west, I did know that it would be my final racing adventure for 2011 and that made a quality night of action even sweeter under perfect October weather conditions.

As track announcer Andy Middleton said at one point during the evening, this season has been a weird one in Memphis as the weekly Saturday night program, like so many other tracks in this region, fought Mother Nature to even get a show in the books during the spring and by late summer the racing faded away as track promoter Rick Girard and the fairboard here went different ways. The annual Fall Nationals looked like they would not happen this year until Keokuk IMCA Modified driver Brandon Savage decided to take on the role of promoter for the first time and, with the support of the local Pepsi bottling company and many other fine sponsors, the show went on.

Friday night's action would set the first three rows in each feature event while heat races, plus a B-Main in the Stock Cars, would set the field for each of five divisions for the Pepsi Doc360 Fall Nationals at the Scotland County Speedway.

SportMods would be first up with twenty-five cars taking the track for an 18-lap distance. Outside front row starter Scott VanBuskirk would take the lead at the drop of the green with Friday's winner Chris Larson in hot pursuit. Jim Gillenwater moved up quickly from his fourth row start to make it a three-car race for the point before the red flag waved on the fourth circuit. Tommy Lathrop and Rick Paulson had tangled on the back stretch with Paulson reportedly rolling his car three times before coming to rest on his top. The large crowd on hand waited in silence until the report came from Middleton a few moments later that the driver had emerged from the wreckage without injury.

On the restart Gillenwater got sideways in turn one and ended up driving through the infield to recover, but he had dropped to the back of the field before returning to the track on the back straightaway. Local favorite Brandon Dale slipped by Larson into second and started to give VanBuskirk some heat for the lead before the caution waved again at the mid-race point for a spinout in turn four. On this double-file restart Gillenwater had a much better outcome as he passed several cars and quickly found himself in the top six and looking for more. Dale kept the pressure on the leader the remainder of the race, but could not make the pass as Scott VanBuskirk picked up the first trophy of the night. Dale got a nice round of applause for his runner-up finish with Larson taking third. Gillenwater had actually passed Larson for that position late in the race, but when he got a bit loose in turn three with two laps remaining he faded to fifth behind Curtis VanDerWal.

The Four Cylinders were up next for 12-laps with Friday's feature winner Nick Wilkerson grabbing the lead at the drop of the green. With Wilkerson building an advantage the race for second was a good one between a pack of five cars before the caution waved for a car that had broken down in turn two on lap six. On the restart Michael Grossman went to work on Wilkerson pulling alongside the leader on two occasions while the third-place car of Adam Gates searched for racing room. What looked like would be a thrilling three-car battle to the checkers came to a spectacular end though as, while racing down the front stretch to the white flag, Gates" #007 car burst into flames at full speed giving all of us in the grandstand a bit of warmth before the fire blew out as he coasted into the infield. Following a lengthy cleanup of the fluids on the track Grossman made one last run at Wilkerson, but he couldn't make it stick and Nick settled into victory lane for the second night in a row. Craig Bangert was third behind Grossman while Kimberly Abbott and William Michel rounded out the top five.

With the first two features each only having two interruptions I was excited to see if the Stock Car division, that at least in my experience has the knack for being the "cleanest" division around, could go twenty laps non-stop around this perfectly prepared (great job guys!) race track. The opening lap saw the twenty-four-car field go five-wide through turns one and two with Todd Reitzler coming from his third starting spot to take the lead by a nose at the stripe, but the first caution waved just after the rest of the field cleared the scoring tower as Derek Kirkland spun in turn one. A six-car pile up in turn four was the result of the first restart and on the second try to get back to action Lonnie Greiner and Kirkland spun in turn one. The third restart did give us a couple of racing laps before Aaron Brocksieck stopped on the front stretch in turn four with a flat tire and once back to green, the battle up front was good before the fourth-place car of Abe Huls spun on lap seven. Come on Stock Cars, don't let me down like this!!

The caution for Huls would be the final one of the event and thank goodness for that as the race for the lead in this one will go down in memory as one of the best that I have seen. Todd Reitzler and Matt Greiner were never separated by more than a car-length over the final thirteen laps as they jockeyed back in forth for position. And this wasn't a case where one guy was running the cushion and the other was working way down low so there was always a lot of room between them. No, they were both working the lower line of the speedway and even though they were often looking for the same piece of real estate, I don't recall them ever even making contact once! Unofficially I had Greiner leading by the flagstand on laps twelve and thirteen with Reitzler back out front on lap fourteen. Greiner had the edge again the following two laps before Reitzler nosed ahead on lap seventeen. It was a virtual dead heat with two laps remaining while Greiner had the edge at the white flag and as they raced side-by-side into turn three for one last time, Greiner found the bite that he needed to win it by a car-length over Reitzler. In this day and age where it seems like some will do whatever it takes in order to get that win, both drivers should get a big pat on the back for racing hard and clean all the way to the checkers. Terry Houston had to be entertained with the show as well as he was close enough to pounce on a mistake in third while Beau Taylor and Mike Harward completed the top five. Harward had started the race from outside of row ten.

That was an impossible act to follow, but the Hobby Stocks put on a nice show as well after getting past a couple of early cautions. Clayton Crump had the early lead before third-starting Bobby Anders made the move on lap seven to take the lead and the eventual victory. Crump would hold on for the second spot ahead of Friday's winner Brandon Symmonds. Andrew Hustead took fourth and Council Bluffs traveler David Orr finished fifth.

A solid field of Modifieds would close out the evening with a 25-lap finale and it was pole-sitter J.D. Auringer who took the lead at the drop of the green. Steven DeLonjay was the primary challenger while many in the crowd watched the progress of Michael Long who had started ninth. Running way up high in turn one and then shooting low off turn two, Long moved steadily toward the front passing DeLonjay for second on lap nine, but Steven fought back regaining the position on lap thirteen. A caution for Robert Thompson with nine laps remaining slowed the field and during that break DeLonjay pulled to the infield with an apparent flat tire. Once back to green Auringer surprised the crowd a bit by pulling away from Long, but the many-time feature winner here searched for the best line around the speedway and reeled in the leader as the laps wound down. With a lap and a half to go Long had a big run going down the back stretch and drove hard into turn three, but Auringer's car was in the same groove and the two collided with Long's right front tire going up and over Auringer's left rear. The two cars were stuck together briefly before Long broke loose and spun to the infield. Despite the damage Auringer was able to race on and with Long now out of it the question was whether or not Auringer's left rear tire would hold up for the final circuit. It did and the checkered flag waved for the final time in 2011 here with J.D. Auringer taking the win ahead of Bruce Hanford, David Wietholder, Steve Stewart and Jeff Waterman.

Congratulations and a big thanks to Brandon Savage for stepping up and putting on a great show here this weekend. A successful Fall Nationals last year lead to Girard signing on as the weekly promoter in 2011. Will we see the same situation with Savage for 2012? That remains to be seen. If not, I have a suggestion for Memphis and a couple of other area tracks that I will share in a blog entry here soon.

My 2011 season is over, but there is still some racing to be found here in the upper Midwest so hopefully you can get out and enjoy some more late season action.

Two Down (Maybe), But Still Too Many More To Go

2011-10-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

I was pleased to see the official announcement made last evening that Dave and Yvonne Sapp have reached an agreement to purchase the racing operations of the Lee County Speedway from Terry and Jenni Hoenig. For the full press release click here. I know that they would have liked to have made the announcement during last week's Shiverfest event at the speedway, but it was better to make sure that all of the details were worked out prior to making an announcement.

Former Lee County Speedway owner Terry Hoenig (left) congratulates new LCS owner Dave Sapp after the pair reached a deal for the sale of the racetrack Thursday evening - Photo provided to the Back Stretch by Terry Hoenig

I was also pleased to learn that Dewain Hulett has been tabbed by the Sapps to be the Promoter/Race Director at the speedway. Dewain has been the voice of the Lee County Speedway for the past four years and has experience with just about every other position at a speedway as he has worked at several, and in several roles throughout the years. His association with the Hoenigs and his familiarity with the drivers, pit crews, and track workers will make for a smooth transition into the new ownership. Now that we know that there will be weekly racing at Donnellson in 2012, we can sit back, relax and wait on the new management team to let us know their plans.

So that takes care of Donnellson. The message boards have indicated that Gary Jacobson will take over as the new promoter at the Fairmont Raceway, however a Google search does not show any official announcement of that so far. Other tracks such as Maquoketa, Oskaloosa, Bloomfield and Eldon are still without a promoter for weekly racing at this point, while a couple of others have promoters that are rumored to be on the way out. Here's hoping that something can be worked out at all facilities for a successful 2012 season.

The Back Stretch received a comment recently from an AWC stating that I practiced "shoddy journalism". If I considered myself a journalist, it might have hurt my feelings a bit, but I don't so it didn't. All comments are welcome, both positive and negative, but as I have always said throughout my years of writing during the internet era; If you believe enough in what you are saying, then make sure that people know who is saying it. Put your name to it.

I am in tough negotiations with my beautiful wife to see if I can attend the Saturday night portion of the Fall Nationals at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri. If I am successful, I'll see ya there!

Two Traditional Autumn Specials In One Weekend

2011-10-16T11:51:00.000-07:00

Amazing! I saw 287 different race cars within a ninety-five mile trip this weekend. Yes, I know that you can see that many and more by attending the IMCA Super Nationals in Boone, but to achieve this in Iowa in mid-October is quite noteworthy.

Friday night I made the trip up to the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa for opening night of the Musco Lighting Fall Challenge. This marked the Silver Anniversary of this event that traditionally draws in a large field of cars and with all four classes boasting $1,250-to-win and $250-to-start purses it was no surprise to see the infield packed with 165 cars. All of the work that goes in to tracking the All Iowa points each year pays off for me at an event like this as it is great to match a name to a car for those drivers that I just never get to see in action during the season, and that was definitely the case here tonight. There were also several names that I didn't recognize as drivers pulled in from all around the upper Midwest to compete this weekend. The Hobby Stock field included Minnesota drivers Guy Kimpton and Dan Eckbland, while South Dakota drivers Brock Hess, Dave Kennedy, Jeremiah Christiansen and Tyler and Tracy Johnson were on hand to do battle in the B-Mod division. After all, with $250 just to start the feature, that is what some tracks pay to win on a weekly basis for these two classes.

This night would be a full show with heats and last chance races in each division to determine eighteen-car starting fields for the main event that would serve as "qualifiers" for Saturday night's main events. Promoters Todd & Janet Staley put an interesting twist on things though when they put forth a unique format making this a "Gamblers Race". With a total of 72 cars starting the four feature races they had 72 envelopes each containing cash with amounts ranging from $700 to $50. Only two of those envelopes had the higher amount while the $50 prize was the most common. The top eight finishers in each race would then have to make a choice at the end of the night. They could either lock in their starting spot in the first four rows of Saturday's A-Main, or they could open their envelope, keep the cash and attempt to qualify again through the heats and Last Chance races on Saturday night knowing that they would start behind the drivers who chose to give back their envelopes. And the cash that was turned back in from the qualified drivers in each division would then be spread evenly across the top eight finishing spots on Saturday. Yes, it was a complicated format, but it was very unique and the turnout for the weekend showed that it was very well received.

After soaking up around two inches of rain two days earlier, the big half-mile was moist and fast allowing for some great racing, but also for some nasty accidents as drivers were very aggressive trying to get qualified for the eighteen-car main events. The show started right on time with the first of seventeen heat races taking the green at 7:30 p.m., but with the numerous incidents including a couple of rollovers that final heat race did not take the checkers until 10:10. Staley's crew, as they always do, kept things moving along at a quick pace, but they can't do anything about the number of incidents created by the drivers and it was obvious that we were headed for a conclusion after the midnight hour. With a commitment to be somewhere early in the morning and another big event to attend on Saturday night, I made the tough decision to head for home following the heat races.

Colt Mather who was flat out flying in his heat race went on to win the Modified feature, Shane Weller picked up the Stock Car win, Cayden Carter was no surprise in the B-Mods and Bill Bonnett walked away with the Hobby Stock win. For details please check out the blogs of my Positively Racing colleagues Kevin Trittien and Dick & Joyce Eisele and for the full story and results, including the details about the three drivers who gave up their starting spots to open their envelope, click here.

I want to thank Todd & Janet Staley and their entire crew for the hospitality that they have shown to this writer over the years, not only here at Oskaloosa, but throughout the Midwest at their USMTS shows. I am always confident that I am going to see a professional and well-run show when I attend one of their events and with this weekend perhaps being their last promotion at Osky I was thrilled to see the full pit area and a solid crowd in the stands on a football Friday night in Iowa. I spoke with driver Mike VanGenderen before the show as he has been rumored as a potential promoter for the facility in 2012 and Mike said that if nobody steps forward to run the track weekly in 2012 that he would not be surprised to see Staley run five or six specials here. And, with the success of this weekend, why not?

I also had a great conversation with one of my favorite Late Model drivers from days gone by, Dan Dickey, who was preparing his son Scott's Modified for the night ahead. I was pleased to learn that Dan is a regular visitor to the Back Stretch and, like him, I do hope that somebody will step in and continue the steep tradition of Wednesday night racing in 2012 at this fine facility.

After spending the day Saturday with my lovely daughter who was back in the area briefly from her studies in Edmonton, I hustled down to the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson arriving just in time for the always fun pre-race trick-or-treating session of "Shiverfest". As always the participating drivers came through in fine fashion as an amazing number of children left the frontstretch with bags full of candy and other treats. I even spotted Stock Car driver Jimmy Lynch and one of his crewmen going the extra mile by getting into costume themselves as Mario and Luigi.

The five division program had pulled in 122 cars and with bright sunshine and a steady breeze the hot lap sessions just before trick-or-treating had already sucked the moisture off the top of the surface. So following a quick spray down by promoter Terry Hoenig, the show took the green flag at a few minutes before five o'clock. The Sport Mod division ran off their three heat races in fine fashion with not a single caution flag and when I noted that fact following the conclusion of the third heat, it was a like a jinx on the rest of the evening. Actually the heats in the other four classes weren't all too bad though as each division had at least one of the three qualifiers that went flag-to-flag and the first of five features took to the track just as the sun completed its daily dive below the west horizon providing for a beautiful backdrop off of turns three and four.

The Sport Mods were up first and for the early portion of the race it looked like they might just go caution free all night, but that string was broken on lap six. The racing up front was very good as Chris Larson and Phillip Cossel slipped by early leader Aric Becker and then proceeded to swap the lead back and forth between themselves in between the numerous cautions. The 25-minute time limit (number of laps, plus five) expired and the drivers would race to the checkers or the next caution, whichever came first. Unfortunately the next caution was just a lap away and the win went to the leader at the time Chris Larson who was driving a car that was purchased a month ago from Jesse Sobbing. A fast car paired with a good driver, and it was no surprise to see Larson in victory lane.

The Hobby Stocks had a similar scenario where the racing up front was intense only to have numerous cautions and one scary red-flag incident interrupt the action all too often. The red flag appeared mid-race when two cars tangled in the middle of the track in turn one and, with nowhere to go, Ethan Thompson went nearly full throttle into the guardrail sending him into a series of wild barrel rolls. When it all ended the car had shed all of its sheet metal and was sitting upside down in a mangled steaming mess. Almost miraculously though Thompson was able to get out under his own power as the one thing that did hold up on his car was the driver compartment roll cage and the ambulance gave him a ride back to his trailer. Awhile later the ambulance was called to the pits during the Wild Things feature though and while I never did hear the details it may have been for Thompson. Once back to racing the battle up front continued with young Tanner Klingele taking on two or three different challengers during the course of the event. Rob Wilsey had raced his way to the front and passed Klingele for the lead just before another caution waved and the signal was given to the drivers that time limit had expired. They would now race to the checkers or until the next caution, whichever came first. On the restart Wilsey and Klingele again raced wheel-to-wheel with Wilsey holding the advantage on the next scored lap, but as they raced into turn one Wilsey got sideways causing the lead pack to stack up with one of the cars sliding to a halt. Wilsey saved his car from the sideways slide and never stopped even though several cars passed him in the process. When one car remained stopped in turn one though the caution waved and this announcer knew that the victory lane interview was going to be interesting. I was already sitting in the stands waiting for the conclusion of the event when all this took place and as the field circled the track a couple of more times under caution before the checkered flag was displayed, I tried to figure out how I was going to handle this unique situation. I never did hear what the official decision was, but when Wilsey was directed to go to victory lane I did my best to explain the apparent ruling. The time limit had been reached and the drivers were shown that they would be racing to either the checkers or the next caution. Since the track rules state that only the car, or cars, stopped when the caution waves are to be penalized, this meant that Wilsey would not be penalized and therefore going back to the last completed lap he would be declared the winner.

Was it right? Going by the rules, yes, this was the correct way to score the finish. Was it popular with the fans? No, not so much, and it was the first time that I can remember doing a victory lane interview where we were being drowned out by a chorus of boos and catcalls.

The four cylinder Wild Things were next up and with the solid level of talent on hand, this was quite a race to watch with two and three-wide action upfront among the top ten contenders. Only a couple of cautions, plus the red-flag period while the ambulance was called back to the pits slowed this one as Bill Whalen Jr. paced the field early before being passed by Adam Gates. Gates was looking to run away with this one, but when a lapped car decided to rub on him a bit that was the break that Todd Nelson needed to reel in the leader. Nelson was flying around the high side and pulled even with Gates, but contact between the two caused Nelson to slap the wall on the back stretch and when he exited turn four his right rear wheel broke loose. Before the caution waved a hard charging Michael Grossman caught the rolling wheel on the front stretch and it literally launched his car into the air coming back down on all fours putting on quite a thrill show for the crowd.. Once back to green Gates held off a late charge from Chuck Fullenkamp to take the win and I was thrilled to be able to conduct a more traditional victory lane interview. That came to a quick close though when one of Adam's young crew members, in his excited run from the pits, tripped over the leg of the inflatable black cat that was nearby and he went sprawling to the ground head first in front of the two of us. Thank goodness the young man sprung to his feet and though quite embarrassed and obviously a bit shaken, he stood proud with the winner for the photo session. So that was "something new" for the memory book as well. I was glad to see the youngster at a full sprint again a few minutes later as he headed back to the pit area!

The Stock Cars were up next and on a night where cautions are the norm, you can usually count on this class to run pretty clean and they came through with flying colors. With only two cautions to slow the field it was Abe Huls taking the win over a hard charging Jeremy Gustaf. For Huls, by his account, it was his first win at the Lee County Speedway since 2009. A surprise to me as it seems like he is always a contender whenever I see him at Donnellson. The Stock Car class had a unique entrant as Jeff Beggs pulled his #54 over from Putnamville, Indiana, for the chance to compete against his brother-in-law Jason Cook. Unfortunately for Beggs though, his powerplant had other ideas as it smoked early and often causing him to drop out from both his heat race and the feature.

The Modifieds were set to round out the show and once again the racing up front was intense early on as James Leffew, Jeff Waterman and Tyler Cale did battle much to the delight of the crowd, the majority of which had stuck around to the final event. The preferred groove was down low and as all three leaders entered turn one they all went for the same general piece of property and contact was made sending Leffew for a spin. Other cars had nowhere to go and the scramble was on with several drivers, including Leffew stopped on the track when the caution waved. No cars were seriously damaged and most were able to drive away under their own power, but as the one or two remaining were being attended to Leffew drove into Cale's car on the back stretch just in front of the pit entrance, then back up and entered the pits where he was promptly met by several agitated Cale fans and crew members. The fight was on and it took a few minutes for the track officials and security personnel to get it under control. It was at that point where I was finally comfortable with the decision that I made nearly a year ago when I told Terry and Jenni that I would no longer be directly involved with this event, as otherwise I would have felt obligated to be over there right in the middle of things trying to restore peace. From what I heard over the radio, I was glad that I was not and I regret that race officials are sometimes put into this position.

Wyatt Lantz inherited the lead once racing resumed and he was being challenged by Ray Cox Jr. who had made the trip down from Maquoketa. Cox was working a higher groove than Lantz and on each restart it appeared that he had a run on the leader only to have Lantz establish himself once again on the bottom. After the fight it seemed like whatever could go wrong would in this one as cautions appeared for parts flying off of cars, a mine tire being punted on to the racing surface and other minor spins. Once again the time limit was reached and following the final restart, with three laps remaining of the scheduled twenty-five, the final caution waved along with the checkers to bring the 2011 racing season at the Lee County Speedway, and likely the tenure of long-time promoters Terry and Jenni Hoenig to a close with Wyatt Lantz taking the win. It was now ten o'clock and as the remaining crowd headed for the gates I thought to myself that while this thirteenth year of Shiverfest may have been frustrating, it was definitely interesting!

Whether or not this will be the last Shiverfest now depends on what happens with the leadership of the track, but once again kids and drivers alike had fun with trick-or-treating, fans saw an interesting mix of local drivers and visitors, and some money was raised to help the individuals and families who are battling kidney disease at the Southeast Renal Dialysis locations in the area. I for one hope that this is an event that lives on somehow, somewhere!

One more weekend of racing to be had in this neck of the woods as Modified driver Brandon Savage sets aside the helmet and puts on the Promoter hat for the Doc 360 Pepsi Nationals at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri, next Friday and Saturday October 21st and 22nd. Here's hoping that this nice autumn weather holds up for at least one more week and that I see you down there!

A Decision To Be Made In Quincy

2011-10-13T15:15:00.000-07:00

Racing friend Gary Lee this week called to my attention a story written by “Stevie Dirt” in regard to the possibility that the Quincy Raceways may drop the IMCA sanctioning for Late Models in 2012. One of the reasons for considering the possibility is the uncertainty of the situation at the two IMCA Late Model tracks to the north of Quincy as both 34 Raceway and the racing operations of the Lee County Speedway are currently up for sale. As the southern most sanctioned track, Quincy could find itself completely separated from the rest of the IMCA tracks if neither Burlington or Donnellson run late models on a regular basis in 2012. Alternate sanctioning bodies being considered at Quincy are the UMP and the ULMA with the ULMA currently being thought of as the front-runner if a change is to be made. The ULMA Late Models are very similar to the IMCA rules package and the track could potentially then draw in cars that compete weekly on Friday nights at Callaway Raceway in Fulton, Missouri.

A message from the promoters of 34 Raceway on the track’s website indicates that if the track is not sold by December that they plan to see everybody once again in the spring of 2012. And as potentially one of the very few weekly shows in the area next year given the uncertainties in Donnellson, Columbus Junction, Eldon, Bloomfield, Memphis and even Oskaloosa, the prospects would look pretty good there, except in the Late Model division if a change is made in Quincy. Seven of the top fifteen in the 2011 Late Model point standings at 34 Raceway would consider Quincy as there home track, so if those drivers convert to another sanction they would likely be no shows at 34 on Saturday nights making a significant dent in a car count that started out at 22 on the opening night of points this season and faded to as low as 11 on a Saturday night in July.

I completely understand why Quincy is considering their options as despite a combination points package with 34 this past season, they saw little if any support from the drivers based to the north so they cannot assume that those drivers will decide to race at Quincy in 2012 if their options are further limited. If they think that there will not be weekly IMCA Late Model racing at 34 in 2012, then a switch to the ULMA would appear to be the most reasonable choice, however Quincy will not know that piece of the puzzle until at least December.

So let’s take this to the next step and assume that Quincy announces the change to the ULMA. Does 34 Raceway, whomever runs the track in 2012, consider the same move in order to keep nearly 50% of their car count from this past season? If so this combination of events would be a very significant blow to the IMCA Late Model division as it would lose several licensed drivers as well as two of its premier events on the Summer Series schedule with the Slocum 50 and the Pepsi USA Nationals.

This will definitely be a story to watch over the next couple of months.

Two All Iowa Points Titles Still Up For Grabs, But.......

2011-10-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

Two division titles remain up for grabs as the All Iowa Points season enters its final two weeks for 2011, however it appears that the drama factor may be minimal in each. Two race nights at Oskaloosa and one at Donnellson are on the card for this coming weekend, while two points-paying nights at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri, on October 21st and 22nd will close out the season.

In the Stock Car division Timmy Current holds a narrow nine-point edge over Damon Murty. Current, who races at the eastern Iowa tracks where the Stock Car rules are a bit more “loose” than the IMCA or USRA rules, will not be legal at any of the remaining events unless he borrows a car from someone else, but if history holds true he will not have to go to that effort. In the recent past Murty has ended his racing season once the IMCA points season concludes at the end of September, so it is likely that the #99D that has closed the gap quite a bit over the past month is now parked in the garage for the off-season. But if not, then things could get interesting as both drivers look for their first All Iowa Points title.

The other title that remains up for grabs is in the Four Cylinder division where three drivers are still in contention for the championship over the three remaining race nights. (There are no four cylinders at Osky). But some of the “drama” is removed by the fact that all three contenders have the same last name. Nathan Chandler leads his brother Brad by ten points while their father Merv Chandler, the 1984 and 1985 All Iowa Points Modified champion, is in third and fourteen points from the top. It is a good possibility that all three will be in action this Saturday at Lee County Speedway’s annual “Shiverfest” and that event will either clinch the championship for Nathan, or send it to the final weekend in Memphis.

The championships in the remaining seven divisions have all been clinched with six of them being repeats from 2010. For a full rundown of all divisions of the All Iowa Points, visit the Points page at http://www.positivelyracing.com/ Our webmistress should have the latest update uploaded soon.

The weather is looking good for racing action at both Oskaloosa and Donnellson this weekend and I hope to see you at both!

First "New Track" Of the Season

2011-10-02T15:59:00.000-07:00

The need to catch a flight out of St. Louis early on Sunday in a way brought me to the St. Francois County Raceway near Farmington, Missouri, Saturday night and it was that same reason that forced me to leave before the final checkered flag waved on the track's annual finale, the Queen's Royale.

This is a neat little quarter-mile with long straights and tight turns located about an hour south of the St. Louis metro area and one of the few tracks in the Midwest that still runs a weekly show featuring the 410 winged sprint cars. Twenty-six winged warriors were on hand tonight with no surprises and it was nice to finally see drivers that I have only read about previously in stories and results. The one thing that did catch me off guard a bit was that the Alan Barton owned #7AB formerly driven by Brandon Wimmer and by Billy Alley at the Knoxville Nationals, had local favorite Tommy Worley Jr. at the controls. The track was quick, wide and racy during the qualifying events with plenty of action and wheelstands and it was Joey Boyd who set the quick time with a lap of 11.448.

While the sprints are the headliners here at SFCR, it was obvious that the fans love the A-Mods as well especially when Rusty Griffaw and Billy Smith waged a barn burner during the dash to determine that front half of the starting lineup for the main event. Much of the nearly full grandstand were on the edge of their seat, or up off of it as Griffaw picked up the win in this one.

All of the qualifying for the four divisions wrapped up right at 9 p.m. and the announcer told the Pure Streets that their feature would hit the track in fifteen minutes. The sixteen car field took the green at 9:16 p.m. and things went really bad from there. This had to be one of the most agonizing forty-five minutes that I have ever spent at a race track as not only was the race stopped by several cautions, but the leader Dusty Homan was never even challenged when the race was green. Even when it looked like it would be over, it wasn't as a backmarker spun in turn four as the leader was racing down the back stretch for what we thought would be the final time. The flagman started the field one more time waving both the green and the white and, of course a driver, spun out in turn one. The corner flagman in turn one started waving his caution flag, but the chief starter kept the green light on and threw the checkers even though the car that had spun in turn one started driving back toward the field heading for the exit off turn one. The frustration of the starter showed as he spiked both the checker flag and his headset as the race finally came to an end and those in the crowd who saw him do that gave him a round of applause as they too shared that frustration. My suggestion for next year would be to have either a time limit, or a number of cautions limit so that something like this does not happen again.

The twenty-lap feature for the A-Mods was up next and even though it was littered with cautions too, at least the race for the lead was very entertaining as Griffaw and Smith resumed their battle from the dash. With five laps remaining Matt Eaton made it a three-car scramble for the point and when Smith went into turn three too hard, he drove up the wall and rolled his #14 over once in turn four bringing out the red flag with three laps remaining. The crowd gave Smith quite an ovation as he was definitely putting on a show before this incident. On the restart Eaton hugged the bottom line and edged ahead of Griffaw by a nose as the two took the white flag. Griffaw had a run on Eaton down the back stretch on the final lap and he tried to slam the door on that bottom groove going into turn three, but Eaton was not to be stopped and he pulled ahead of Griffaw exiting turn four to take the win by just less than a car length at the stripe.

That was a good one and with the clock now showing 10:30 p.m. and the B-Modified feature up next I made the tough decision to hit the road for my hotel so that I could salvage five hours of sleep before doing the airport routine. I would have loved to have seen the Sprint Car feature, won from the front row by Tim Montgomery, but the order of events and the Pure Street marathon didn't allow it. Still, I will mark this facility as one that I will definitely want to visit again!

Owens Scores On Opening Night Of Knoxville Late Model Nationals

2011-09-30T10:41:00.000-07:00

Sixty-four cars blew into Knoxville, literally, Thursday for the opening night of the 8th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals at the fabled half-mile oval. With the passing of a cold front earlier in the day, sustained winds out of the northwest howled between thirty and forty miles per hour early in the evening before “calming" to fifteen to twenty after the sun went down. The winds were so strong that at least two vehicles suffered minor damage in the parking lot behind the grandstand when a tree limb was blown down. Thankfully the temperatures were still in the sixties and despite the windy conditions the racetrack held its moisture and the action was intense until the final ten laps of the main event as Jimmy Owens pulled away for the opening night victory.

As the second car out for qualifying Scott Bloomquist established the quick time and then shocked this scribe when he was the first car to report to staging for the first heat race. If you have watched “Black Sunshine” over the years you will know how unusual this is! He obviously knew that he had the setup dialed in as he steadily picked his way to the front after starting tenth and passed Chris Simpson with two laps remaining to take an impressive win. Chad Simpson followed his brother in for third while Brad Neat transferred to the A-main in fourth.

The second heat got off to rough start when Bub McCool and John Duty made contact in turn two sending McCool sideways in the middle of the track in front of the entire field. Matt Furman drilled McCool in the right-side door and nearly rolled him over while four other cars made contact as well bringing out the red flag. None of the drivers were injured with McCool, Furman and Mike Marlar unable to restart. As the second fastest qualifier for the evening Brian Birkhofer originally started tenth, but found himself outside of row two when the green flag waved again and by the time the field exited turn two Birky was in the lead. There was no catching Birkhofer as he cruised to the win while Will Vaught chased down and passed Shannon Babb for second late in the twelve-lap distance. Eric Wells qualified in fourth.

Late Model fans here in the Midwest have perhaps heard a lot about nineteen-year-old Austin Hubbard, and he introduced himself in fine fashion here in the third heat race when the youngster from Delaware passed Billy Moyer on the final lap to take the win. Hubbard was the third fastest qualifier and was slated to start tenth, but slid up a row when Billy Moyer Jr. did not make the call. The driver who swept all three nights here last year, Moyer finished second followed by Scott James and Jimmy Owens.

The fourth heat race saw the quickest qualifier on the grid Steve Francis drive from his fifth row start to go past John Blankenship late to take the win. Former Nationals winner Brian Shirley qualified in third with Dan Schlieper taking fourth.

The trend of the fastest qualifier in each heat racing his way to victory came to a screeching halt early in the fifth heat when Don O’Neal suffered front-end damage during an accordion effect incident in turn two ending his evening. The battle for the lead was a good one between Jason Utter and Jimmy Mars, but when Mars passed Utter down the front stretch, Jason went into turn one too hard and drilled the outside guardrail. The red flag waved as Utter’s #31 required a rollback to be returned to the pit area and despite a sore arm the driver was uninjured. Once back to green Mars drove away for the win followed by Dale McDowell, Darrell Lanigan and Jason Rauen. Lanigan was behind the wheel of the #1 car normally wheeled by Josh Richards as the young phenom is competing in a NASCAR Truck Series race this weekend.

The scheduled lineup for the C-Main was stacked, but several drivers either couldn’t make repairs in time, or just decided to wait until Friday to take another shot at posting a good point total as a big shuffle had to be made before turning the field loose. With four cars poised to transfer to the back of the B-Main, this was a good one with a great battle up front including some lapped traffic for extra excitement. Ray Cook looked as though he would run away with this one only to have Jack Sullivan close in on him late. Then, with laps winding down, Chris Spieker came out of nowhere to make it a three-car battle for the lead. Spieker was leading the first heat earlier in the night before he slapped the turn four guardrail and he found his speed once again here making a great pass of Cook and Sullivan in traffic to take the lead and the eventual win. Sullivan would put the GRT house car in second with Cook finishing third, and it was Dave Eckrich edging out Mike Fryer at the line to take fourth.

The B-Main saw plenty of action as well as the final four starters in tonight’s main event would be determined here. In his first-ever appearance at Knoxville, Kent Robinson looked strong early before yielding to Jason Feger and Tim McCreadie and Iowa driver Rob Moss was running a strong fourth before the caution waved with four laps remaining. It was a tough break for Moss as before that he looked to be a lock for that final transfer spot, but on the restart both Jared Landers and Tyler Reddick went charging by. Feger would go on for the win ahead of McCreadie while the 15-year-old “California Kid” Reddick would take third. Landers was all over the track in the final two laps, but managed to hold off Robinson for fourth.

During the break it seemed like the consensus pick to win the 25-lap A-main was Darrell Lanigan who would start from the outside of row one and it was no surprise when he launched the Rocket house car to the early lead. Second row starter Jimmy Owens kept pace and following a caution for a slowing Steve Francis on lap seven, Owens drove past Lanigan for the lead. Lanigan fought back and moved to the front two laps later and on lap twelve Owens again made the move to the front. Jason Rauen spun in turn four on the following lap and as the field was set for the restart the top five were Owens, Lanigan, Austin Hubbard, Brian Birkhofer and Shannon Babb. Once back to green, and with Owens now pulling away, the field settled into the low groove for the final ten laps and that top five remained the same to the checkers with Owens taking his first career victory at Knoxville. Scott James finished in the sixth spot, Billy Moyer made a nice run up from sixteenth to seventh, Will Vaught finished eighth, Scott Bloomquist faded early and then came back to take ninth while Dale McDowell completed the top ten.

It was an entertaining opening night for the three-day event and Late Model fans headed for Knoxville should see plenty more action tonight and Saturday!

Before the show I was thrilled to have the opportunity to shake the hand of long-time Knoxville Race Director/Promoter Ralph Capitani and wish him well in his retirement. In all my years of being around racing I have never seen a promoter command the attention and respect that “Cappy” did when he entered a room, he is truly an icon in this sport who will be missed.

McCarl Collects Four Grand at 34

2011-09-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

The Monster Energy Drink MOWA 410 Sprint Cars returned to 34 Raceway in Burlington Saturday night and there was no stopping Terry McCarl as he cruised to a victory worth $4,000.

Twenty-nine sprinters took to the 3/8-mil oval for qualifying and it was McCarl who established a new track record for the facility that has hosted the World of Outlaws the past couple of years. Heat race action saw the top six in each of the three events inverted with four cars advancing to the A-Main and each heat race had a great battle for that fourth and final transfer position.

In the first heat McCarl moved quickly to the fourth position at the drop of the green, but on lap four who pushed up the track in turn two allowing Jeremy Standridge to slip by. McCarl recovered though and was able to get back around Standridge with two laps remaining to transfer. Heat number two was a wild one as late in the event the third place car of Jim Moughan started to sputter and slow down the backstretch. Lynton Jeffrey and Danny Smith both dove to the low line entering turn three to get under Moughan and they made heavy contact, but both drivers regained control and continued down the frontstretch. Smith, with apparent damage from that contact spun in turn two and was clipped by Dustin Selvage who thing went for a hard tumble. Selvage would climb from his wrecked car uninjured, but he would be done for the night while Smith would have to come back and transfer out of a B-Main. In the third heat it was Joey Moughan who had to make a hair-raising drive to the outside of Korey Weyant on the final lap off turn two and right up next to the concrete barriers to take the last transfer position.

After finishing one-two in the Dash, Jordan Goldesberry and Terry McCarl started on the front row of the 25-lap main event with McCarl taking off and running away after the drop of the green. It wasn't long before the leader reached lapped traffic and this allowed Goldesberry to stay within a straightaway while the show to watch was Danny Smith. One of the winningest 410 drivers in the country this year, the veteran started twelfth and was picking off cars every other lap. By lap eighteen he was up to third and still had a long way to go to catch the leaders, but his opportunity came on lap twenty-one when the caution waved for Austin Johnson. The rookie 410 driver out of Minnesota had been impressive all night running just outside of the top five before his right rear tire went flat.

On the restart McCarl again put distance on the field as Smith made a run at Goldesberry, but Jordan held him off and the top three positions stayed the same to the checkers with T-Mac taking the win over the youngster from Springield, Illinois, Goldesberry and the veteran from Ohio, Danny Smith. MOWA point leader Jerrod Hull took the fourth spot while Lynton Jeffrey completed the top five. The Season Championship for the Monster Energy™ Sprint Car Series will be Friday, September 30 at the Jacksonville Speedway in Jacksonville, Illinois.

Stock Cars and Four Cylinders provided support action on the night and while both features were won by a driver leading every lap, the racing behind him was two and three wide through most of the distance. Blaine Dopler was never challenged on his way to the Stock Car win and it was Brett Timmerman who took the runner-up honors by a bumper over Ryan Cook. Matt Greiner was a close fourth and John Oliver Jr. edged out Chris Webb for fifth. Nick Wilkerson went the distance in the Four Cylinder finale with Adam Gates passing Wayne Noble on the final lap to take second. Chuck Fullenkamp and Michael Grossman completed the top five.

This event closed out the 2011 season at 34 Raceway and this fine facility remains up for sale as it has been since last Fall. With the fate of several other tracks in this area uncertain at this point, it would be a shame to see this one drop from the weekly ranks as well. Hopefully that won't happen!

What Do Hugh Hefner and Ralph Capitani Have In Common?

2011-09-24T08:42:00.000-07:00

Catchy title, huh? The answer is pretty basic really in that they can both draw Social Security, but hang with me here for a bit and you'll see why today's Back Stretch is titled as such.

Despite my common sense telling me differently, I have found myself caught up in a few interesting threads on the Iowastockcars.com Iowa Dirt Racing Forum. Some of you might say "hey, I thought you hate internet forums, so why would you be participating on them?" Without going into detail, I don't "hate" internet forums, they are for the most part a valuable source of information and can be a good place for responsible people to discuss both sides of an issue. What I do hate is when an internet poster, who is often an AWP, makes a blanket statement that makes the assumption that everybody is in agreement, or when someone posts something that is absolutely false. That's when I say to myself "aww crap" and I log in and get involved. There was one subject this week that saw an example of each.

The Knoxville Late Model Nationals is on the horizon and first of all it is amazing to me how the attitude toward this event has changed over the years. I remember back when the event started and how the chatter of the forum boards was surprisingly negative talking about how a track that focuses so much on sprint cars will never be able to put on a first class Late Model show and how the qualifying format will never work since the "big name" drivers will never want to race with full inverts. It seemed like everybody wanted to predict failure before the first green flag waved. Fast forward to present day and I am happy to see that the event has now become one that Late Model fans mark on their calendar each year and speak of very positively on the forum boards.

Over the years the Late Model Nationals have had support classes such as the Dirt Trucks and the 305 Sprints and have had nights where there was no support class. Last year, for the first time, IMCA Modifieds were included as a support class on an invitation-only basis and while I love the Modifieds, and thought that it was nice to be able to see them on the big half-mile once again last year, for this event to me they were a support class that was not necessary esepecially on the qualifying nights. And when they had a couple of lengthy cautions during the Thursday night show I started thinking that maybe it would have been nice if they had not been included since they were then making the show grow longer before my two hour drive home. So this past week when I saw a thread titled KNOXVILLE SUPPORT CLASS I just had to look.

"Does anyone know what,if any,support class will run on Thursday and Friday at Knoxville LM Nationals? IMCA type Modifieds by invitation will run on Saturday night like last year. It would be a shame not to have some support class run on Thursday and Friday---fans will feel cheated."

So there it was, a classic "blanket statement" post stating that fans will feel cheated if there is no support class on Thursday or Friday. Not "some" fans will feel cheated, not "many" fans will cheated, not even the most appropriate "I" will feel cheated, but instead the assertion that everybody feels the same way and that it would be a shame if Knoxville cheats all of the fans coming to this event by NOT having a support class on Thursday and Friday. So I, ol' melmorris32, had the honor of making the first response of "This fan won't feel cheated."

It was no surprise that Papa-Mac answered in a similar manner as did a few more, but because there was another active post going on about the addition of the Sport Compacts to the event at Marshalltown this weekend, that argument spilled over to this one and the next thing you know it was twisted around where those of us who perhaps felt that a support class was not needed were all of a sudden against Modifieds in general, that Knoxville didn't care about anything but Sprinters despite the fact that they are once again presenting the highest paying Late Model show anywhere next week and then somehow it became a pissing match between the IMCA Super Nationals and the Knoxville Nationals.

Then came the absolutely false statement. "Yeah Knoxville pays out huge money at the Sprint Car Nationals...and they are going bankrupt."

I couldn't stay away from that one. But since I have responded to false statements made by this individual two times before only to have him come back with a personal attack on my announcing skills the first time, and the second time on why I reported something factual about a confrontation between a driver and a flagman in my blog (one of the known risks of an internet disagreement between someone who has identified themself and someone who has not), I decided to take a different route this time around. So I simply pulled his quote and typed "?".

The next post by Kendirt summed it up perfectly stating "Facts are not important. This is the internet after all" and was reminiscent of the old saying that "it doesn't matter if it is true as long as it is interesting!" But it didn't stop there as the poster then tried to support his position by saying "This has been discussed before on here. Several people said Knoxville has been losing a lot of money the last couple years from this event. Isn't the head guy at Knoxville stepping down? There's a reason for that."

This was disturbing to me on two counts. First is that it supports my theory that a lot of people who read these forums believe that everything that is said on them has some level of truth behind it with "this has been discussed here before." And second that this statement was being made by someone who obviously knows VERY little, or absolutely nothing about the Knoxville Raceway with "isn't the head guy at Knoxville stepping down? There's a reason for that." I just had to respond to that and again, instead of being argumentative I went with "Um, because he's in his late 70's?"

And that my friends is when the inspiration for the title of this entry of the Back Stretch was given with perhaps one of the most mind-boggling analogies that I have ever seen as his response.

"Hey look at Hugh Hefner. You don't see him retiring do you."

There ya go Cappy, if they want you to stick around for another couple of years demand that they surround you with some Playboy bunnies up in the Press Box on race night. I know that Bill W would support that demand. I will be up every night next year to help Bill check in cars, fill in for Tony when he is out doing his TV gigs or to be in charge of keeping the window from fogging over, anything to be in that Press Box!

Would this drastic piece of misinformation gone unchecked if I would have stayed out of the mix? Of course not, our old friend Speedbump would have cleaned it up with facts, but in this case the falsehood of the statement that Knoxville was going bankrupt was so obvious that it was easy to shoot it down. How much other stuff like this goes unchecked and is allowed to fester until it eventually becomes accepted as truth and damages a track's or a person's reputation? Unfortunately this happens more than many forum board users will admit, so while I will once again tell myself to stay off of them and to instead use this venue, the Back Stretch, to support the sport as best that I can, don't be surprised if I just can't help myself again soon!

While I am once again discussing antics on the forum board I need to hopefully close the book on a blog entry from a couple of weeks ago titled "The Internet Promoters Are Getting An Early Start". This one took an interesting turn as it started to become obvious that the AWP who had started the thread was perhaps a second user name for one of Iowastockcars.com's most infamous users who cannot be considered an AWP since the "A" for Anonymous cannot be applied. The mysterious thread-starter made one last effort to keep the thread rolling this week only to see that he was only having a conversation with himself now. RIP dirtyskull.

Okay, enough talking about the internet, it is time to get back out to the race track and I am looking forward to doing that tonight as the MOWA 410 Sprint Cars return to the facility that kicked off their inaugural season in fine fashion back in April. The weather looks like it will be perfect for the sprints to tour the high-banks of 34 Raceway near Burlington tonight and the show will be supported by Stock Cars and Four Cylinders. If I don't see you there I do hope that it is because you are out attending another event of your choice!

The Gasman Holds Off Dunker for $1,000

2011-09-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

The Lee County Speedway in Donnellson was back in action on a cool, but pleasant Saturday night featuring the annual Steve Kirchner Memorial honoring a popular B-Mod racer from Keokuk who tragically lost his life away from the track a few years back. With the support of Steve's Muffler and Arrowhead Bowl in Keokuk the IMCA Sport Mods were racing for a $1,000 top prize tonight drawing in a nice field of twenty-eight cars. This event closed out the evening, but let's first start with the support classes.

The Hobby Stock division was first on the list of five feature races and it was Jake Wenig who quickly moved from his row two start to the front of the fifteen-car starting field. Wenig, driving the #45 tonight normally wheeled by Matt Gavin, was unstoppable as he cruised to a flag-to-flag triumph over Ray Raker. Former track champion Doug Fenton stepped back into the car that he used to drive to finish in third, Vic Hastings moved up from a fifth row start to take fourth and Dan Wenig, who started next to Hastings was fifth. A tip of the hat to Jacob Keiser who brought his IMCA-legal car down from Marengo to do battle with the "outlaw" cars as he started fifteenth and raced his way up to seventh.

The four cylinder Wild Things were up next and Darin Smith avoided disaster as he was spun sideways in front of the eighteen-car field exiting turn two on the opening lap. Amazingly only one car made contact with him and both drivers were able to restart the race at the rear. Nick Wilkerson jetted from the inside of row three to the front on the second try at a start and he would never be challenged despite having to deal with a bunch of lapped traffic over the final two circuits in going on to victory. Chuck Fullenkamp prevailed over Michael Grossman in a good battle for second. Smith made a great run back up to fourth and pole-starter Craig Bangert came home fifth.

Damon Murty made the trip down from Chelsea and opened up a sizable lead during the early laps of the Stock Car main event. A series of cautions on lap nine though bunched the field and Murty then had his hands full with former track champion Jason Cook. Cook, who surprisingly had been shut out of victory lane here thus far in 2011, hugged the bottom line around the 3/8-mile layout and pulled ahead of Murty with four laps to go to take a satisfying victory. Murty showed why he is one of the best in this division anywhere by taking second despite the fact that he has only raced here a few times in the past, Corey Strothman was not far behind in third and John Oliver Jr. was solid in fourth. Todd Reitzler, in what I believe was his first appearance here in a Stock Car, came from a sixth row starting spot to complete the top five.

The 305 Sprint Cars had a solid field of fifteen on hand for action with Nate VanHaaften securing the lead at the drop of the green for their twenty-lap finale. Chad Huston was on the fly though and drove past VanHaaften for the lead on lap three. Huston appeared to have the event well in hand, but as he was working lapped traffic on lap twelve he drove into turn three too hard, pitched the car sideways trying to scrub off some speed in turn four and spun to a halt bringing out the caution. This handed the lead back over to VanHaaften who then was error free over the final eight laps to take the win. Dustin Clark would chase him in for second while Huston had moved all the way back up to third before a brush with the turn three guardrail allowed Mark Widmar to get back by him for the position. Josh Schneiderman returned from an unusual incident in his heat race to finish fifth from a seventh row start. In the heat Schneiderman clipped the track tire exiting turn four breaking something on the left front of his car. The momentum and the damage turned him left into the infield where the beautiful show car of Brandon Symmonds was sitting as it was being used tonight as the pace car. Thankfully pace car driver Rick Huff was okay and Josh was able to walk off a limp as he headed back to the pits to help make repairs to his #44 for the feature. The pace car will need some work!

After twenty laps of Sprint Car racing the track had changed dramatically from what the Sport Mod drivers had seen during their qualifying heats and the first seven laps were run one at a time. Once a few of the cars were eliminated due to the two spin rule things settled down and the crowd was treated to a great battle up up front culminating in a thrilling finish. Derek Coleman paced the field through the first six laps before Tony Dunker slipped by him in three-wide fashion with Cayden Carter also challenging on the high side. Carter's groove won out over Dunker's two laps later as he took over the lead and I thought that he would then pull away to an easy victory. Not so as the veteran Dunker started searching around for a different line and he found one to his liking starting high in turn one, then driving off turn two low and using the middle through three and four. This allowed the challenger to pull even with the leader entering turn three each of the final five laps of the race and on that final lap Dunker drove it into turn three just a little bit harder and edged ahead by half a car length. It would have been tempting for Dunker to put a classic slidejob on the kid, but in a classy fashion he left the top line open and Carter kicked off the cushion in turn four just right to come back and take the checkers by half a car-length. It was a fantastic finish for a race that I nearly gave up on after the sixth caution on lap seven. Thank goodness that I stayed!! Carter VanDenBerg crossed the line in third, but was apparently penalized two positions for failing to stay in a nose-to-tail fashion on the final restart as he was credited with fifth in the final rundown behind Coleman and Jim Gillenwater.

It was another great night of racing at the Lee County Speedway presented by the promotional duo of Terry and Jenni Hoenig and their entire crew. It is hard to believe that they are down to the final race of their tenure after announcing that the 2011 season will be their last a few weeks back. Make sure that you mark Saturday October 15th on your calendar for "Shiverfest" to not only catch a great afternoon and evening of racing, but also to send these two off in fine fashion.

Next up for me will be the MOWA 410 Sprint season championship event at 34 Raceway in Burlington this coming Saturday night September 24th. If you missed the MOWA opener at 34 back in April, you missed one of the best nights of racing that I have seen this year and I have been looking forward to their return to the classy high-banked 3/8-mile oval ever since. Should be a strong field of cars and I hope to see you there!

Bruening, Ellithorpe Take Big $$$ at Dubuque's "Race for the Lights"

2011-09-12T10:34:00.000-07:00

The Dubuque County Fair Board along with a bunch of great volunteers and sponsors presented “The Race for the Lights” Sunday evening as a fundraiser to put in Musco lighting at the high-banked 3/8-mile oval. And, with it being one of my favorite tracks and since I have not yet been to Dubuque in 2011, I made the trip up for an entertaining night of action.

IMCA-type Late Models were the headliners and with $1,600 on the line for the winner the show would have probably drawn thirty cars if not for a couple of stray rain showers in Davenport Friday evening that washed away the Deery show that was then rescheduled for the same night as this event. Still it was a solid field of sixteen that took the green for the 35-lap finale with pole-sitter Ron Klein getting the early advantage. Veteran driver Greg Kastli blew past Klein on a lap three restart only to have Luke Goedert drive by him for the lead on lap five. Kastli came charging back on the outside to regain the lead on lap eight while Goedert kept the heat on the veteran by working the extreme bottom line. As that battle for the lead continued Tyler Bruening was the man on the move after starting eighth on the grid. As one of the drivers with perfect attendance on the Deery series through Labor Day I was a bit surprised to see Bruening here, but his choice of events would seem to payoff from a cash flow standpoint as he took the lead from Kastli on lap seventeen and then drove away for the convincing victory. Goedert would prevail for the runner-up spot, Dan Shelliam moved from a fifth row start to take third followed by Kastli and Joel Callahan. Prior to the start of this event the Late Model drivers did a four-wide parade lap each carrying a small flag of the United States in recognition of the tenth anniversary of 9/11. And as the parade lap went by the flagstand announcer Doug Collins pointed out the amazing coincidence that the time on the scoreboard clock was exactly 9:11 p.m.

Late Model drivers worked four different lines around the speedway during the final race of the night and, in the race just before them, the Modifieds also reminded me why Dubuque is one of my favorites as the three-wide race for second over the final laps had me on the edge of my seat. No surprise that Ron Barker rocketed from a row two start to the lead at the drop of the green for the twenty-lap main event, but it was a surprise when Barker’s #37B faltered after a lap eight restart as he faded back into the pack and eventually dropped out on lap fourteen. Matt Crist had put on quite a show earlier in the night using the high line to come from the back to the front in his heat race and in the feature that same line was working for him again as he snared the lead from Barker at the mid-race point. With Crist setting a torrid pace, the battle for second was the one to watch as Mike Burbridge and Mark Schulte raced side-by-side for several laps. With four laps remaining J.D. Auringer made that a three-car battle as he continued his march from back to front after dropping out of his heat race. Auringer used the extreme top of the speedway to his advantage and he moved to second with two laps remaining and Crist still half a straightaway ahead of him. On the final lap Auringer pulled to within two car lengths entering turn three, but Crist did not falter and held off Auringer for the win. Burbridge edged out Schulte for third while pole-sitter Brian Webb completed the top five.

Thirty Sport Compacts signed in to do battle for the $1,000 top prize in the John Flury Memorial race and it was Jacob Ellithorpe who went flag-to-flag virtually unchallenged for the win. The action was furious behind him though with plenty of door banging action as drivers raced three-wide several times for the second spot. Brian Klein prevailed in that battle as he was the runner-up with Joe Zrostlik coming from a ninth row starting spot to take third. Brannon Bechen was part of that three-wide battle mid-race before cutting a tire, but he returned from the back of the pack to take fourth while Gary Peiffer finished in fifth. Brad Chandler was part of that battle for second until he cut a tire with two laps remaining and faded to the back.

The Street Stock feature started off on a sour note as Jerry Miles and Joe Bonney tangled exiting turn two racing for the lead on the first lap and both drivers were sent to the rear for the restart. Contact between the two again caused a caution on lap two and during the realignment the two sat side-by-side and, hopefully, agreed that enough was enough and they would now go racing. Back up front it was Terry Rittmer who was leading the pack before Current All Iowa Points leader Timmy Current drove past him on lap five. Current held his line through a series of restarts and when the sixth caution of the race came out following the white flag the event was called complete with Current taking the win. Rittmer would take the second-place money with Chip Kohl in third, while the truce worked out well for Bonney and Miles as they came back to finish fourth and fifth.

Brannon Bechen went flag-to-flag to take an apparent win in the Hobby Stock feature, but it was later announced that he had been disqualified putting Jeremy Campbell on top of the final rundown. Kile Vohringer was second, Vince Bucholz third and Bill Bonnett was credited with fourth.

The Sport Mod main started off the list of six features and it was a good one featuring four lead changes over the twelve-lap distance. Hope Schmerbach led lap one before Nick Marolf flew by her on the second circuit. Yes, you read that right, Late Model driver Nick Marolf was driving the #25 SportMod usually driven by Austin Moyer who I am guessing will soon be Nick’s brother-in-law and he moved to the lead on lap two with Josh Sherbon in hot pursuit. When Marolf pushed up the track in turn four, Sherbon drove under him to lead lap six and seven before Nick came back to the front on lap eight, but when Marolf pushed again in turn four on lap nine that was all that Sherbon needed to take the lead and the win just ahead of Marolf. Kyle Hoffman finished in the third spot, Hope Schmerbach was fourth and Matt Miller completed the top five.

The fair board and all of its volunteers should be thanked for all of their efforts as this was a well-presented show featuring just under 100 race cars on an absolutely perfect night weather wise. The crowd was solid, but not as big as I honestly expected given the level of community involvement. Hopefully they did raise some good money to go towards the lights as it is definitely VERY dark in turn two and on down the back straightaway. If you are going to have three and four-wide racing, you want to make darn sure that all of the fans get a great view of it under those bright Musco lights!

It was a gorgeous night for racing in Dubuque

It is easy to see why this event was needed. See how dark it is in turn two?

It struck me that there seemed to be a lot of former All Iowa Points champions in action tonight and looking back in the records today, my hunch was right. Eight former champions raced tonight including Mark Schulte, Ron Barker, Greg Kastli, Brannon Bechen, Joe Zrostlik, Jim Brokus, Scott Welsh and Dan Shelliam. Plus, if they hold on over the next six weeks you can add Timmy Current and either Nathan Chandler or Brad Chandler to that list. I now wonder if I have attended a race night that had as many or more AIP champs in action on the same night?

The Yankee Dirt Track Classic in Farley takes center stage this week and there are several other specials around the Midwest as well. Get on out and support the track of your choice!

The Internet Promoters Are Getting An Early Start

2011-09-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

It happens every year, but usually it waits until the current season is over. Not this year. Forum posters are already making "suggestions" to promoters on how to make their shows more driver and fan friendly and it always makes me cringe a bit when I see an AWP say something to the effect of" let's tell promoters how to put more butts in their seats and more cars in their pits." Really?

First of all, forum board posters need to learn that few if any promoters EVER look at a forum board because most of the time it is just too painful. So even if you do have a good suggestion it will more than likely go unnoticed if you only post it on the internet. If you really want to make a difference at your favorite track, then go introduce yourself to the promoter and talk to them. Put a name and a face to your thoughts as a race promoter is much more likely to consider advice from somebody that they talk to in person rather than somebody known only as "dirtyskull" or "eventhater".

Second, suggestions like "pay more money because the sport is expensive" and, or "charge less money to get in" probably make a lot of sense to someone who has a car or who buys a ticket, but to a promoter who is looking at his P&L statement for 2011 it is probably the last thing that they would want to consider right now. So if you are prone to post "suggestions" to promoters on how to make a race program better, make sure that you consider all three entities (drivers, fans and promoters) because whether you like it or not, the promoter needs to make money for their efforts. Otherwise they will leave and you will have no race track to attend, or to coach from your keyboard.

I was very happy to see that my friends Ron McKeever and Warren Busse share one of my thoughts right now in that we have too many classes at several race tracks. Do you want to "raise" the purse for the drivers? Do it by keeping your total purse the same, or slightly lower, but eliminate two or three divisions. When a "back gate" division that used to draw fifteen or twenty cars is now only drawing six to ten then perhaps it is time to put that class on the shelf. It appears that the economy has had even more of an effect on the divisions that require lower budgets because those drivers had lower budgets to start with. And, if having that division is not helping you sell tickets to general fans, then it is no longer a profitable division for the track.

The same thing can be said about the premier division. If your top class is only drawing five, six, seven or eight cars a week, then it is likely that they are costing you money rather than helping you present a successful weekly program. The general fan that used to buy a ticket to watch this class when it had enough cars for two or three full heats, and a feature that would still have more than ten cars in action when the checkers flew, are likely not buying that ticket to your weekly show anymore. They are either staying home and waiting for a special event, or they are driving down the road to another track where the featured division has a full field. As an example, if a weekly track has six Modifieds and twenty-two Sport Mods on average in 2011, that track needs to provide some sort of incentive to move at least six of those Sport Mods to Mods in 2012, or it needs to drop the Modifieds and spread that $1,000 that it was paying to those six drivers across the remaining divisions. In the early 1980's, the thought of a track running an IMCA Modified as the premier division for its weekly show was scoffed at, but soon there were several tracks thriving with exactly that concept. The Sport Mods of today are faster and more competitive than what those Modifieds were thirty years ago. Who will be the first promoter to take the risk and run the Sport Mods as the "featured" division during their weekly show?

So there. First I tell you that if you want to give a promoter some advice, you should do it face-to-face. Then I turn around and offer up general advice on the internet. Oh well, at least if a promoter stumbles across this he or she will know who said it!

And by the way, your comments and feedback are always welcome here, but for them to be published you will need to provide your name and hometown. Unless of course you completely agree with me, then you can remain an ANP (Anonymous Nice Poster).

I look forward to being at night one of the annual Pepsi USA Late Model Nationals at 34 Raceway near Burlington Friday night and hopefully I can steal the microphone away from Rich Adams for a race or two. I got a chuckle from the Facebook post regarding the discussion with the Hobby Stock drivers at 34 about rules for next year and the prospect of going to the 9:1 compression motors or all the way to the IMCA rules for the division. What do you suppose the outcome would be if you asked twenty guys who were racing equipment that would basically have to be totally replaced in order to go to IMCA, if they wanted to go IMCA? There was probably a couple of drivers who felt that it would be good for the future of the division, but speaking up for IMCA would have been the same as saying "I say we let him go" in that crowd. Oh well, nothing like having a race car that you can only race weekly at one track.

Other commitments including a wedding will keep me away from the tracks for the rest of the Labor Day weekend, but here's hoping that you catch as much racing as possible at a track near you. And let's be careful out there!

Johnny Scott Takes Tipton USMTS Trophy

2011-08-27T07:46:00.000-07:00

The United States Modified Touring Series rolled into the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton for the first time Friday night and, even though it was the first full night of high school football, a large crowd of race fans filled the bleachers and grandstand to watch. And with a nice mix of travelers and locals the field of forty did not disappoint.

Five qualifying heats set the stage for the finale with the first three being won by drivers (Donovan Lodge, Richie Gustin & Dan Bohr) who neither follow the series regularly, or race at Tipton every Friday night. The Tour regulars dominated heat four with Zack VanderBeek, Johnny Scott and Jon Tesch going one-two-three and the fifth heat would set the crowd abuzz with a couple of incidents involving the USMTS Hunt point leader Ryan Gustin. "The Reaper" had started sixth, charged toward the front and was battling Jason Hughes for second with three laps remaining when Gustin spun in turn three to cause a caution. On the restart Gustin tried to get back to the front squeezing through a small opening and when that didn't work he tangled with local favorite Ryan Dolan with the two beating and banging with each other coming to the white flag. Gustin was able to separate himself and run the final lap while Dolan limped to the pits, but officials scored Dolan ahead of Gustin on the official finish. Dolan would later come back to transfer out of the second B-Main in fifth while Gustin rode around in the back knowing that he had a provisional start in his back pocket.

When the twenty-six car field thundered to the start of the forty-lap main event it was Ryan's older brother, Richie Gustin, who would lead them back to lap one before pole-starter Johnny Scott drove under him for the advantage on lap two. The driver from Las Cruces, New Mexico, Scott was coming off a win the night before in Winston, Missouri, and he looked strong here as well while drivers raced three and four wide behind him. Much of that action was in the back third of the field where drivers such as Ryan Dolan, Ryan Gustin and Noah Coppes were picking their way to the front after all starting 22nd or deeper.

The first caution waved on lap eleven as Dan Bohr and Kevin Pittman tangled in turn three and following the restart it was Jon Tesch who went to work on Scott. Using a little higher line than the pace-setter, Tesch was able to power by Scott for the lead on lap fourteen only to have the caution appear again two laps later as Brad Dierks slowed on the back stretch. On this restart Zack VanderBeek came to life and drove by Tesch to the lead before the caution waved again for Donovan Lodge on lap eighteen. VanderBeek maintained control following the restart while most watched to see if Ryan Gustin could continue his run to the front as he was now approaching the top five after starting 25th. The caution last waved on on lap twenty-seven when Minnesota teenage speedster Lucas Schott spun to a halt in turn one.

Once back to green VanderBeek continued to lead before Scott found his stride once again and drove around Zack for the lead with nine trips around the quick quarter mile remaining. Nobody but his own friends and family picked him to win tonight, but there was no keeping Johnny Scott from taking the big money for the second night in a row as he held off VanderBeek for the win. Jason Hughes was solid for third, Ryan Gustin's run to the front leveled out in fourth and Jon Tesch completed the top five. Kelly Shryock moved from row seven to sixth, Dereck Ramirez moved from the ninth row to seventh, Al Hejna came from an eighth row start to finish eighth, Rodney Sanders started next to Hejna and finished ninth while Dustin Boney completed the top ten. Noah Coppes made the most of his track provisional to come from 26th to 11th.

With the large crowd, the solid car count and the great racing I would say that it is a pretty good bet that The Hunt for the USMTS Championship will pass through Tipton once again in 2012.

In support class action Darrin Plett went from green to checkers to win the B-Mod main event. A weekly competitor in the track's A-Mod division, Plett made the changes necessary to be "B-Mod legal" tonight, drew the front row and then cruised to the non-stop fifteen-lap victory. Troy Hovey who was the last car to arrive at the track after making the pull down from Decorah, drove from the seventh row to pass Roy Pestka on the final lap to take second while Brian Wendel took fourth. The Legend cars had some good racing action and a couple of scary moments when cars were engulfed in flames, but fortunately both drivers escaped without serious injuries. Eric Barth would take the victory while Adam Bell recovered from an early mishap that almost put him a lap down to take second.

Bruce Yoerger and Ben Carpenter raced side-by-side early in the Hobby Stock feature with Yoerger prevailing for the win in a race that also went flag-to-flag with no cautions. Carpenter was the runner-up followed by Josh Neal, Gene Ehlers and Jamie Chappell. And in the Four Cylinders Jacob Ellithorpe and Mitch Bielenberg waged a good battle mid-race with Bielenberg taking over the point, then holding off a fast-closing Steve Miedke to take the win. Miedke took second after starting at the back, Ellithorpe picked up third followed by Bob Lake and Duayne Herb.

This made three trips to Tipton for me this year and on all three visits I have seen fantastic racing. Plus, I started off each night with a stop at Bart Montgomery's Happy Joe's location for a great pizza before the show. I will look forward to the release of the 2012 schedule for the Cedar County Raceway so that I can target my next visit to this fine facility.

Brown and Lasoski Thrill A Huge Missouri State Fair Crowd

2011-08-22T07:26:00.000-07:00

With three premier divisions, the ASCS Warrior Region Sprints, the MLRA Late Models and Modifieds, the annual Missouri State Fair race in Sedalia is always one that I try to work into my schedule and for the first time in a few years I was able to do that Sunday night. The big half-mile is not a high-speed track like Knoxville and on this warm and sunny evening it was even "slower" than usual, but the dry-slick surface never locked down and the 98 drivers on hand were able to work one of three grooves around the speedway.

Heat race action went off pretty well with only a couple of minor incidents although the Sprint Car drivers who started on the outside of the back rows absolutely abused the flagman. With no chalk line off turn four and since not one single start was called back on the night, several drivers channeled the chorus of this 1984 hit from Van Halen. It was so bad that on the fourth and final heat the driver starting outside of row four was side-by-side with the pole-sitter as the field entered the front stretch.

The Modified feature was first on the card and it turned into a forty minute drama with several story lines across nine cautions. Jason Bodenhammer was the leader at the drop of the green with Jim Moody challenging early using the high line through the corners. The first caution waved on lap five and on the double file restart Moody was shuffled back with Richard Foster now picking up the challenge before a caution on lap ten waved for debris. From there, things got a little wild. Foster and Jason Thompson made contact off turn two following the restart and after Foster showed his displeasure on the track the extra curricular activities between the two continued in the pits. Back to the racing Terry Schultz was now Bodenhammer's challenger only to have his right front tire go flat entering turn one on lap sixteen and when Schultz slowed the caution appeared. The hometown favorite changed the tire and returned to the back of the field for the restart where he picked off about five cars on the first lap before the caution waved again on lap seventeen.

On this restart the crowd went wild as the leader Bodenhammer was tagged by Shad Badder in turn one spinning Bodee and bringing out another caution. Some cheered and some booed as Bodenhammer tried to return to the front of the realignment, but he was sent to the rear while Badder retired to the pits likely disappointed in himself for his involvement in the incident. Kyle Westerhold picked up the point from there but a lap later Bodenhammer was sliding sideways down the front stretch after being pinched into the wall and that ended his evening. On the restart Moody got a nice restart and drove under Westerhold coming to the green and while Westerhold gave it his best to take that lead back over the final six laps he could not get the job done as Moody took the win. Westerhold was second followed by Curt Potter, Mark Hoover and Schultz.

John Anderson had only one moment of concern in the 30-lap Late Model feature and that was when the lapped car of Bob Cummings spun right in front of him entering turn one on lap eighteen. Other than that Anderson made this one a bit of a yawner going flag-to-flag from the pole position, a starting spot that he earned by racing from sixth to first in his qualifying heat earlier in the night. Al Purkey prevailed in the battle for second with David Turner while Brantlee Gotschall and Alan Vaughn completed the top five.

The stage was now set for the 25-lap Sprint Car main that through the first half of the race looked as though it would be a walkaway for Danny Lasoski. The Dude started fourth and came across the start-finish line in a dead heat with Brad Loyet on lap one before establishing himself as the leader into turn one. Lasoski enjoyed nearly a straightway lead over Loyet and Brian Brown when on lap thirteen he got into the back push bar of Dakota Carroll coming off turn four turning her nearly sideways on the frontstretch and the caution waved when Carroll coasted to a halt in front of the judges stand. On the restart Brown used the high line off turn two to take the lead from Lasoski with the two touching going down the back stretch bringing back memories of their famous tussle at Knoxville several years ago. Lasoski fought back and put a slider on Brown in turn two to regain the lead on lap nineteen and as the laps wound down the two approached slower traffic. Coming off of turn four to the white flag Lasoski chose the high line and Brown took the very bottom around a lapped car and Brown's line was the better choice as he took the lead from Lasoski and then held him off over the final lap for the win. Randy Martin came home third ahead of Tony Bruce Jr. while the Warrior Region point leader Loyet settled for fifth.

It was great to be in a grandstand full of race fans and even though the track conditions were on the dry side, the racing was definitely worth the trip!

End Of An Era In Donnellson

2011-08-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

Terry and Jenni Hoenig announced last night that they will not return as the promoters of the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson for 2012. The Hoenigs were young and excited when they took over the lease on the facility fourteen years ago and I have had the pleasure to get to know them very well during their tenure at the 3/8-mile D-shaped track nestled into the southeast corner of Iowa. To me they are still young and while the past couple of seasons have been a challenge for them, they have not lost that excitement about putting on the best show possible for the drivers and fans who support the facility.

Terry has taken a full-time position in the area as the comfort of a steady paycheck and a different type of daily challenges was just too much to pass up for this father of two lovely daughters who will now be able to see all of those dance recitals and softball games that he has had to miss fairly regularly in the past. On a much smaller scale I completely understand, as that was the reason why I stopped announcing races weekly leaving Knoxville in 1998.

I had the pleasure of getting to know these two working with them on Shiverfest each year and that partnership on one race a year grew into a full-time friendship very quickly. Terry and Jenni love racing, they love the fans and most of all they love the racers. After all, Terry was a racer himself having been a track champion in the Hobby Stock ranks while Jenni is the daughter of car owner Leonard Carlson who fielded a Pro Stock numbered 75 that several drivers drove to victory lane back in the 1980's and 90's. While many drivers feel that promoters are only in it for the money (a notion that is wrong 99% of the time), I am pretty confident that the drivers who made the effort to actually know Terry and Jenni would have never made that accusation of these two. Were they always right? Heck no, and they were humble enough to admit when they made a rare mistake and usually it was because they were asking me for advice! Thank goodness they were smart enough to not always follow it. They would always try to do what was best for all involved and unfortunately over the past few years, what was best for racing was not what was best for their family and being the truly good people that they are, they made the decision that was announced to all last night at the speedway.

So what now becomes of the Lee County Speedway? I believe that there are nine years remaining on the current lease held by the Hoenigs and while the weekly program here is not as vibrant as it was a few years ago, it is definitely not broken. There is a solid following of drivers, fans and sponsors who will no doubt be looking to support anybody who would want to step in, purchase the lease, and continue to hold weekly racing at this fine fairgrounds facility. Another possibility would be to see what we just witnessed up in Webster City this season where the fairboard steps in, hires a race director and either runs a weekly schedule or, in this case perhaps a "specials" schedule. Or this fine facility could sit idle until somebody else decides to step in. I'd hate to see that, but let's face it, the possibility is there.

Terry and Jenni, I know that I speak for many when I say "thank you" for all of the great nights of racing that you have brought to everybody in Donnellson, as racetrack promoters you will be sorely missed. Now, as a friend though, I look forward to having you hop in the car with me much more often to go enjoy the efforts of another of the many hard working promoters out there, wherever that track may be.

A Look Back At The 51st Annual Knoxville Nationals

2011-08-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

On this day after the conclusion of this spectacular four-day event, following are my thoughts without the use of a notebook (left in the car all week as I said I would earlier) and without a single visit to the press room since the luncheon has now apparently been moved permanently to Thursdays when I still have to work.

After a wet spring and a scorching summer we couldn't have asked for better weather during this four-day run. Even a 60% chance of rain for Friday night never materialized and the temperatures and humidity were comfortable throughout.

If not for a an engine going south over the final two laps in 2010 this would have been the sixth straight Nationals win for Donny Schatz who was lightning fast all week, except of course when his powerplant went up in flames during Wednesday's feature. That little hurdle put him in row seven for the finale and it only took him fifteen laps to get to the front. Another driver to be discussed next will be remembered, for awhile at least, for all the cars that he passed this week, but Schatz passed all that he needed to, and fast, on his way to his fifth Knoxville Nationals crown. Love him or hate him, you still have to respect his accomplishment.

Shane Stewart once again made a ten-day visit to Knoxville look like he should be contending for a World of Outlaws title rather than racing 360's full time. But then again, I think that works just fine for Stewart and car owner Paul Silva. Last Saturday night Stewart captured his second straight 360 Nationals title starting from the pole and then holding back a late charge from Tim Shaffer on a night when drivers like Shaffer and many others also raced in the 410 division. Not Stewart though. In 2010 Shane found himself on the podium for the 410 Nationals as well charging up to a third-place finish and this week he even caught the attention of people who just attend for the social aspect (my wife) with his thrilling runs from back to front. On Wednesday night he started 24th and finished 4th in the A-Main. The fact that Stewart even made the A on Wednesday was the result of one of the gutsiest moves of the week when he pulled off a slider on Bronson Masechen in the final laps to get that last transfer out of the B-Main. During Friday's show the grudge draw placed Stewart in 17th for the start of the Race of Champions and he was closing fast in second when pole-sitter Tim Shaffer took the checkers. Then in the World Challenge race Shane started 13th and ran out of laps before he could catch front row starter Lucas Wolfe who took the win. Everybody was pumped to watch the Rockstar do it again in Saturday's headliner and he did not disappoint closing to within five car lengths of Schatz at the checkers. And to think, it was the second heat race on Wednesday night, when Stewart started fifth but had both Donny Schatz and Austin McCarl go blowing past him dropping him back to sixth, two positions out of a transfer, that put him in "catch up mode" in the first place. Look for Stewart to now go on and close out another ASCS National Tour Championship here in 2011.

At fifty-seven years old Sammy Swindell may be running out of legitimate chances to back up his 1983 Knoxville Nationals title and I think I heard that in his voice during his podium interview Saturday night. Sammy racked up the most points through the qualifying events and started from the pole position, but a bobble early off the berm in turn three allowed Brad Sweet to lead and then late, when it looked as though Sammy was closing in for the kill on Schatz, that same berm bit him again. With four laps remaining Swindell went into turn three just a smidge too low making contact with the berm and kicking him out into the middle of the track. Sammy said that it felt like he had parked there for lunch, and for his fans like me it was an agonizing split second as his momentum was now lost, and Schatz was gone. Stewart pounced as well to take over the second spot and Sammy recovered for third which is still better than how he ended his run last year upside down in turn four. As a Swindell fan I do hope that he continues to be a contender for years to come, but I have a harder time driving home each year at age 48, so I can't even imagine the effect that each passing year has on someone in a winged missile touring a half-mile oval in 15 seconds.

The only way to live up to winning last year's Knoxville Nationals for Tim Shaffer was to do it again, but the "Steel City Outlaw" has to be pretty happy with how his Southern Iowa Sprint Week went. Last Saturday he was the runner-up to Shane Stewart in the 360 Nationals and finished fourth on the same night in the All Stars sanctioned 410 show. Shaffer had a good night going on Wednesday before his motor went south in the feature, but with a grudge draw gift from Danny Holtgraver (the pole position) he won the Race of Champions on Friday night, then came from 19th to fourth in the Championship race on Saturday. It is safe to say that Shaffer has Knoxville dialed in right now.

Daryn Pittman was pretty quiet all week until he made a run at Schatz for the lead following the mid-race caution. His fifth-place finish was a nice finish to the week.

Four-time All Iowa Points champion Mark Dobmeier established himself as a contender by disposing of Danny Lasoski late in the first heat race and then prevailed through some thrilling sliders with Brian Brown and Jason Meyers to take Thursday night's feature win. Dobmeier started seventh and was never a threat to win the finale on Saturday, but posted a solid sixth-place finish for one of the upper Midwest's best drivers.

Speaking of Lasoski, after he was passed by Dobmeier for the final transfer spot in Thursday's first heat the week went downhill from there mercifully coming to an end with a fifth-place finish in Saturday's D-Main. "The Dude" has been solid here all season only finishing outside of the top-five twice all year. He now needs to regroup to see if he can hold back Dusty Zomer for the Knoxville season points championship. And speaking of Zomer, his week ended just one position ahead of Lasoski in that D-Main, an event he dropped to when his left rear tire exploded while leading the first Semi-Main on Friday night.

Brian Brown had a solid Nationals finishing in seventh-place, but you can bet that he won't want to repeat his "training method" to get to it as he was very sore following a hard crash the week before in the 360 Nationals.

Brad Sweet subbed for the injured Joey Saldana in the Kasey Kahne racing #9 and earned a front row start for the Championship race on Saturday night. I knew he was screwed though when he told Mike Roberts during pre-race introductions that "this one is for Joey" as Saldana NEVER has any luck during the Nationals. Sweet finished eighth.

If not for young Rager Phillips running out of fuel on the final lap of the B-Main, Lance Dewease would have been watching the championship race from the infield. But he made the most of his opportunity and came from 24th to 9th. It was an incredible heart breaker for Phillips who has been maligned for his involvement in accidents here the past year or so. Tonight the kid was a stud driving past big name drivers to apparently make the big show only to come up a half a lap short in the end. Brady Bacon also suffered B-Main heartbreak when his right rear tire went flat just before a late restart forcing him to pit while sitting in second.

Craig Dollansky, one of my two pre-event picks finished tenth while the other one, Jason Meyers was 22nd. That's why nobody should listen to me when I try to pick a winner.

I hated to see eighteen-year-old Austin McCarl crash hard on the first lap of his first National Championship race. Austin is exactly what this sport and this track needs to get the young crowd hooked on the sport as many of his Southeast Polk high school class mates come to Knoxville each week to cheer him on. I understand that Austin will be playing basketball for Grand View College this winter?

Morgan tells me that Cody Darrah has been taking a lot of heat on the forums for tearing up Kasey Kahne's equipment on the World of Outlaws trail this season. The youngster set quick time on Thursday night, but could not make the A that night even after starting on the pole of the B-Main. Then on Saturday night he stuffed the #91 in the turn three fence on the opening lap of the B-Main, so I'm sure that didn't help the situation.

Speaking of the forum boards, I noticed one thread where some AWP tried to make the case that the Knoxville Raceway did not care about Sprint Car fans when there was no way that he could watch Saturday's show live except for actually being at the track. Then, to top it off, he asked sarcastically how attendance had been for the week so far. Well, I'll be the first to admit that the Wednesday and Thursday night crowds were as small as I have seen them since the back stretch stands were added many years back and while the crowd picked up a bit on Friday, it still was light in comparison to recent years. Now it is my understanding that all three of these nights could be watched live online, while Saturday night you had to buy a ticket and be there to see it live. Saturday night's crowd was pretty darn good, so I wonder if there is any correlation there? I came darn close to missing the first three nights due to a work commitment, and if I had been stuck in a hotel on the east coast I would have loved to had the opportunity to watch the show live online. However, it is my opinion that the Knoxville Raceway needs to do what it has to do in order to put more butts in the stands and if that means no "live" telecast of the event on any night, then so be it. Sorry AWP, but you made yourself look like a jerk with that argument.

Better late than never. Announcer Johnny Gibson reminded fans to stay seated when the green flag waves after the initial start where Austin McCarl flipped in turn one. Johnny is fantastic at getting the crowd fired up with his "you wanted the best, you got 'em four abreast, often imitated, never duplicated, the World of Outlaws" call during the parade lap, but his next line needs to be something along the lines of "remember race fans, this is dirt track racing loved by fans young and old, short and tall, so when everybody sits, everybody sees.....after all this ain't NASCAR!" I know that the three young fans in the row behind us would appreciate that and it would be a good lesson for the folks who seem to think that their shaky and far-off looking smartphone video is important enough to block the view of everybody behind them. If you are reading this and thinking "what a stupid thing to be writing about, you stand up because it is exciting", then you are obviously somebody who has only started going to the Nationals over the past ten years. We never had this problem before then.

I did hear that an announcement was made during Thursday's press luncheon that John McCoy would move up to the booth next year to take over Ralph Capitani's race night duties, but that the Promoter/Track Manager position was still open. McCoy is the perfect choice for making the calls from the booth and I have a had a few people tell me that I should apply for the open position remaining. But my thought is that replacing a legend is almost always a losing proposition and that replacing the person who replaced the legend has a much better success rate. I have heard a few names that are supposedly in contention and all sound like they would be a good choice, although one of them would need to learn how to take a breath while giving an interview.

The 51st Knoxville Nationals was a bittersweet one for me as it may be the last time for awhile that I get to spend all four nights, plus the 360 Nationals the week before, with my son Morgan by my side. He left today to return to the University of Tulsa to begin his senior year and we of course are hoping that he will land a good job following his graduation in May. However, unless that job is back here in southeast Iowa it is likely that a newbie will not have vacation days available to him after three months to be here for the whole week, so Saturday night's finale in 2012 will probably be the best that he can do. I went to a lot of Nationals before he even came along, but this event took on a whole different level of enjoyment once he started going. It just won't be the same to go back without him next year. I hate getting old......

Osky's Ultimate Challenge

2011-08-10T10:31:00.000-07:00

Yea, I’m a liar as I closed my last entry by saying that I would not be back until after the Nationals with a summary of the week. But comments made by two drivers during the intermission on-track entertainment at the Ultimate Challenge last night just had to be shared.

Morgan and I usually make a point of attending this event since it is one of only two nights where we can catch non-wing Sprint Car action close to home. Of course the other night is just two days earlier when the USAC Sprints run at Knoxville, but despite the fact that we see basically the same field of cars, the two events offer up two completely different types of shows. At Knoxville the format calls for two laps of qualifying, one set of heat races with the top four finishers advancing, a B-Main and a feature. At Oskaloosa drivers draw for starting positions in a first round of heat races and, following those heats, passing points are tabulated to run a second round of heats where the top six are inverted in each. Points from both rounds of heat races are then tallied with the top sixteen moving to the A-Main and the rest running the Last Chance race. I’m not sure how the drivers feel about it, but from a fan’s standpoint the Osky format of qualifying is fantastic!

The one thing that we don’t like about this event is that we know that it will always be a late night unless it is threatened by approaching weather. Now, while that may sound like a “slam”, let me clarify. The Osky Challenges have always been promoted as a party where a race breaks out and it caters to the thousands of sprint car fans who have flocked to the area for the Knoxville Nationals. We know that there are not many people sitting around us that will have an eighty-minute drive home following the final checkered flag and an alarm that will chime at 6:30 the next morning to start a normal day at work so it was no surprise when the advertised “Race time” of 7:15 p.m. came and went without a hint of even the track being packed in yet. And we were actually happy to be on the road for home after watching young Kyle Larson take the win just prior to 11:30. Yes, it gets us off to a weary start for the Nationals, especially since we do an “up and back” for the Wednesday show as well, but for a night of non-wing sprint action close to home we’ll catch up on our sleep later!

Last night when the first set of hot laps sent up a dust cloud around the half-mile it was a clear indication that the track was going to be a dry-slick tire eater even after the water truck tried to catch up a bit around the edges after hot laps. Given the less than ideal track conditions I was pleasantly surprised by the action that we saw during the first set of heats and there were at least three occasions where my heart jumped due to amazing moves by drivers during the second round of heats. No, it was definitely not the mud-slinging, cushion-pounding action you expect from the “traditional” sprints, but it was still entertaining. During intermission though, two drivers clearly expressed their opinion on the track prep although I am still unclear as to whether that task was the responsibility of the promoter, Terry McCarl, or the sanctioning body, USAC.

“The Madman” Robert Ballou actually got in three different swipes during his interview starting off by saying that whoever prepared this track needs to be fired. He then noted that the track condition the night before for the winged cars would have been much better for tonight’s show adding that wings are for birds. Then, when presented with a right rear Hoosier tire for winning one of the heats, he noted that it was nice to race on a tire brand that doesn’t blow up all the time. Morgan and I were happy to see Ballou get through a race night without getting upside down as maybe now our jinx is lifted (see the blog entry of August 8th). When announcer Blake Anderson made his way to Dave Darland his first comment was that somebody should have gotten McCarl out of bed this morning to come work on this track which drew some cheers and jeers from the good-sized crowd. Brady Bacon then won the foot race just ahead of a tumbling Bryan Clausen and the B-Main was soon on the track.

By feature time the top groove was pretty much gone as proven by defending race-winner Bud Kaeding who went backwards trying to work the cushion and by lap ten right rear tires were smoking as drivers did their best to save some rubber for the end. A red-flag for Dustin Morgan at the mid-point of the thirty-lap affair saw ten drivers, including the third running Ballou, make the decision to bolt on a new right rear tire and restart at the back, or in Ballou’s case ahead of the other nine guys who went with the same strategy. Kyle Larson who was in the Hoffman #69 for the first time, and Knoxville’s Sunday night winner Brady Bacon swapped the lead following the restart before Larson (The NorCal Ninja…..gotta love Blake) pulled away for the convincing win. Brady Bacon settled for second with “The People’s Champ” Dave Darland in third. Shane Cottle finished fourth while Jerry Coons Jr. posted the best finish of the ten drivers who took on new rubber in fifth.

More water on the track before hot laps would have made for a better show, but overall I’ve seen much worse and this event will still be on our “to do” list in 2012. Check back in later this week as Barry Johnson has promised that he will get some action shots from the USAC show at Knoxville to me for display here on the Back Stretch.

While I’d love to see Sammy Swindell in victory lane this Saturday night I am going to predict another first-time Nationals champion in either Jason Meyers or Craig Dollansky.

Knoxville USAC Sprints - Sunday Notebook

2011-08-08T11:19:00.000-07:00

For the story and full results visit the Knoxville Raceway website.

Former Knoxville track announcer Blake Anderson is back in the booth tonight as he is now the regular USAC voice and he has sprung a new nickname on us for Dustin Morgan, While most nicknames are pretty obvious and shared by drivers in other divisions or regions, Morgan’s “Full Blown Chaos” moniker is truly an original.

Group qualifying for the twenty-five 305’s on hand has had its share of issues with wheels coming off, spinouts and drivers trying to race each other rather than spreading out. What should have taken ten minutes is now nearing a half hour.

Brady Bacon establishes the quick time for the USAC Sprints while Levi Jones blows a right rear tire on his second lap.

USAC 1st heat – Daron Clayton hooks the cushion in turn one on the opening lap and takes a tumble. On the second start Hunter Schuerenberg bicycles in the same spot, brings it back down on all fours, bounces off the wall and continues on but will be headed to the B-Main after finishing seventh. Bacon backs up his fast time with the heat race victory.

USAC 2nd heat – I am thinking that I am a jinx for Robert Ballou as I swear that whenever I see him race he ends up flipping. That trend continues tonight as Ballou jumps the cushion in turn four and flips while leading this one. “The Wild Man” would return to start the A-Main at the back and work his way up to 11th at the finish. I’ll test the jinx theory again on Tuesday at Oskaloosa.

USAC 3rd heat – Justin Grant gets by Damion Gardner on the final lap to take the fourth and final transfer spot in a race won by Californian Keith Bloom Jr.

USAC 4th heat – It’s Full Blown Chaos as Dustin Morgan takes the win.

305 A-Main – Current All Iowa Points leader for the division Bill Boles is scheduled to start third, but does not make the call. Former IMCA Modified competitor down at Missouri’s I-35 Speedway and the now defunct Jamesport Speedway, Chad Huston starts from the pole and dominates the twelve-lap affair for his first career win at the Knoxville Raceway. Jamie Ball chases him all the way and finishes second, 2010 All Iowa Champ in the 305’s Casey Friedrichsen comes from sixth to third while the race to watch was for fourth as Matt Stephenson and Carson McCarl traded sliders over the final laps with Stephenson prevailing.

USAC A-Main – Jon Stanbrough jets to the lead working the bottom line on both ends of the half-mile. The red flag flies on lap two when veteran Dave Darland gets upside down in turn one. On lap eight defending race winner Bud Kaeding sweeps by Stanbrough on the cushion to take the lead and a lap later Brady Bacon follows Kaeding into second. Bacon stays close, but Kaeding looks in control until his car hops the cushion in turn two on lap thirteen and spins to a stop with a flat left rear tire. Bacon assumes the lead on the restart with Chris Windom now challenging on the bottom. Windom takes the lead going down the back stretch on lap fifteen only to have Bacon drive right back around him on the topside of turn four. Brady then drives to the low groove entering turn one to cut off Windom’s momentum and the moves works great as Windom is now fifteen car lengths back down the back stretch. Lapped traffic allows Windom to cut into that gap and on on the final lap he makes one last run into turn three, but he cannot hold it on the bottom and Bacon completes the clean sweep with the feature win. Jerry Coons Jr. comes from rown four to finish third, Stanbrough holds down fourth and Bryan Clauson comes from a tenth row start to take fifth.

Our tickets are purchased and we are looking forward to spending the week with our friends in Section I rows 19, 20 and 21, so there will not likely be daily updates from the Knoxville Nationals here this week as I will leave the notebook in the car. Plus, with the Press Luncheon now moved to Thursday each year I no longer have the opportunity to report on that. Check back in next week and hopefully I’ll have a summary of the week for you.

Enjoy the Nationals or the racing event that you choose to attend this week!

21st Annual Arnold Motor Supply 360 Knoxville Nationals - Saturday Notebook

2011-08-06T23:31:00.000-07:00

For story and full results visit the Knoxville Raceway website.

410 1st heat - Fast qualifier Daryn Pittman got a very nice start. Ian Madsen gave up the lead to Sammy Swindell and then came back to pass him back for the victory. Then, after the checkers, Madsen's motor blew up on the back stretch ending his night.

410 2nd heat - On the initial attempt at the start pole-sitter Mark Dobmeier got on the gas too early and was penalized one row for jumping the start. On the second try David Gravel got a very nice start, but it was defending Knoxville Nationals champ Tim Shaffer who took the win.

410 3rd heat - Lynton Jeffrey had a very good start. Rookie A.J. Moeller started outside of row one and spun sideways exiting turn two sending the field scrambling. Johnny Herrera could not avoid Moeller and both cars went for a tumble. Brian Brown goes on to win this one, a very impressive feat considering that he spent most of Friday night at the hospital getting x-rays.

410 C Main - Jessica Zemken was running second when her right front tire came off as she raced down the back stretch.

410 Dash - The six-car field fanned out four wide as they hit the chalk line for the start. Tyler Walker went on to win while Terry McCarl took an extra lap to perhaps express his thoughts on the start.

360 C Main - Ronnie Blair tagged the turn one guardrail on lap two. Henry Van Dam was impressive coming from the fifth row to take the win. The final transfer out of the D-Main Brady Bacon charged through the field to finish fifth, just one spot out of moving up to the B-Main.

360 B Main - The final lap of this one was a thriller as Daryn Pittman, who started ninth, passed leader Clint Garner in turns one and two. Racing into turn three Pittman was forced to the cushion as he tried get around Larry Ball Jr. so Garner hugged the berm and the two raced wheel-to-wheel off of four with Garner taking the win by an eyelash, or 0.032 seconds.

410 A Main - Brian Brown avoided disaster when he hopped a wheel on Jason Johnson's #41 as the two raced full speed down the back stretch on lap one. Fortunately Brian was able to keep it on all fours as another hard ride could have been very serious. Kevin Swindell came from a row two start to take the lead on the opening lap and when his father Sammy spun as he was trying to pull to the infield in turn two on lap nine his margin was wiped away. Once back to racing Tyler Walker riding the high line was able to stay within six car-lengths of Swindell who was working the low line around the half-mile. With five laps remaining the leader was closing quickly on Robby Wolfgang and Bud Kaeding who were racing up in Walker's line, but when Kaeding drove to the bottom into turn one Swindell had to turn his car nearly sideways to keep from hitting Kaeding. Kevin recovered nicely and stayed ahead of Walker over the remaining laps to take the win. Walker was the runner-up for the second week in a row here followed by fifth row starters Danny Lasoski and Tim Shaffer. For the second week in a row Mark Dobmeier made a big run coming from row ten to take fifth.

360 A-Main - With lightning flashing to the west the field took the green and then went to red as Dustin Selvage bicycled and then went end over end sending his tail tank vaulting over the wall in turn two. The race went red again on lap three as Derek Hagar hopped the berm and then went for a tumble in turn one. Once back to green Sammy Swindell drove past Randy Hannagan for second and then set his sights on leader Shane Stewart. Swindell had erased the lead and was ready to pounce on Stewart when the caution flag waved on lap eleven for Clint Garner who was sitting next to the guardrail in turn one. On the restart Stewart hit the button perfectly and pulled out to a big margin over Swindell. The lightning was getting very close as Swindell cut back into that lead and with lapped traffic again coming into play it looked like Sammy was ready to make another run at lead until he jumped the cushion in turn one with five laps remaining. That was exactly what Stewart needed to pull away for his second straight 360 Nationals Championship while Sammy's bobble allowed Tim Shaffer to slip by him for second. Bill Alley followed Swindell in fourth while Davey Heskin completed the top five.

If anybody was wondering what effect the Nationwide Series race at Newton would have on tonight's crowd, the answer is apparently "none" as the front stretch grandstand was as full as you would usually see for a Wednesday night at the 410 Nationals. Reports are that the Iowa Speedway was packed tight as well to see a thrilling finish with former sprint car phenom Ricky Stenhouse Jr. being shoved across the line by Carl Edwards. Two big crowds within thirty miles of each other shows that Iowa truly is the heartland of racing.

We didn't stick around to see the scramble to get 135 sprint cars loaded up and out of the pits before a line of strong thunderstorms swept through with high winds and heavy rain. The weather is supposed to clear for Sunday night's USAC non-wing sprint show here supported by the 305's.

21st Annual Knoxville 360 Nationals - Friday Notebook

2011-08-06T10:18:00.000-07:00

For full results visit the Knoxville Raceway website

With the rainout of Thursday night's qualifier the two nights were combined and, in essence, it was a typical two "division" program. The only difference was that both of those "divisions" (Thursday and Friday) each had on lap of qualifying and the heat races were staggered.

The next time anybody tries to make a case about how the Knoxville Raceway doesn't care about the fans keep this in mind. The large crowd here tonight paid the same ticket price $20 as they would have for a normal qualifying night. That also means that the track lost out on between $60,000 and $100,000 in revenue by not having the Thursday show as a stand-alone event.

A total of 97 cars filled the pits with 49 cars for Thursday and 48 for Friday, however during hot laps it looked like we might lose several of them due to engine issues. Smokers included J.D. Johnson, Alan Ambers, Jeff Swindell, Austin Alumbaugh, Brooke Tatnell, Danny Lasoski, Tim Crawley, Cody Baker and Brian Brown. Garry Lee Maier add a nice fireball to his smoke and while Brown was the only one to leave the track to change a motor, all drivers came back to compete.

Also during hot laps Seth Bergman had his left top wing panel break away and rookie driver Tyler Groenendyk had his entire left rear wheel and axle pull out from the center section exiting turn four sending on piece of equipment floating through the air and landing safely in front of the grandstand. Groenendyk was the B-Modified track champion last year at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa.

Tonight's show was delayed by rain that fell between 4:30 and 6:00 p.m. Qualifying started at 8:55 p.m. and was complete at 9:45.

Thursday 1st Heat - Dylan Peterson was running a strong third before his nose wing shifted and he faded to ninth. Dave Hall had the race locked up before the last place car of Cody Ambers smacked the guardrail exiting turn two and rolled with two laps remaining. Fast qualifier Zach Chappell used the restart to pass Hall on the final lap as he continued his quest for a perfect score in qualifying night points.

Friday 1st Heat - Fast qualifier Danny Lasoski was running one spot out of a transfer in fifth mid-race before his motor let go ending his evening. The report from pit announcer Mike Roberts was a burnt piston.

Thursday Heat 2 - Florida native R.J. Johnson was a bit of a surprise as the second fastest qualifier and he backed it up by qualifying for the main event taking fourth in this heat.

Thursday Heat 3 - After changing motors earlier Brian Brown was only able to post the 43rd fastest time putting him in row five for this heat. On the start contact between Tyler Groenendyk and Alan Zoutte sent Zoutte up the track and into Brown in turn one. Both Zoutte and Brown went for a series of hard flips including contact with the guardrail and the Goodyear billboard high above the track. After a couple of tense moments Zoutte emerged from his mangled ride unscathed and a few minutes later Brown gingerly walked from his car to the ambulance that would take him in for x-rays.

Friday Heat 3 - Tony Shilling gets faster every time we see him and in this one he stayed well ahead of one the best 360 racers in the country, Shane Stewart, to take the win.

Thursday Heat 4 - After setting quick time last Saturday night young Tasker Phillips did not punch the clock as fast tonight ranking 29th, but nobody could catch him during this heat race even when his right rear tire went flat coming off turn four. Two favorites, Travis Rilat and Terry McCarl, could not crack the top four and would have to run the B-Main.

Thursday Heat 5 - This was the Lone Star heat as Texas drivers Kolt Walker, Eric Baldaccini, John Carney II, Sam Hafertepe Jr. and Aaron Reutzel finished first, second, third, fifth and eighth respectively.

Friday Heat 5 - Tim Shaffer finished fourth in this one and Morgan noted that this was probably the first time ever that the defending 410 Knoxville Nationals Champion was in competition at the 360 Nationals. Bill W., can you confirm that?

B-Mains - Not much drama to speak of in either one of these as the drivers who started in the top four finished in the top four in both to transfer on to their respective features.

Thursday A-Main - Dave Hall went for a cartwheel after jumping the cushion in turn one on the start. On the restart third-starting Jeff Swindell did not come up to speed at the chalk line and Chad Humston had his front end pointed to to sky after driving over Swindell's right rear. When Humston hit the gas the front end of his ride rose up again and by the time he was back in control he had dropped to the rear of the field. The green satyed on and pole-sitter Lee Grosz shot to the lead with Davey Heskin in hot pursuit. The red flag waved again on lap six when Matt Covington went for a tumble coming out of turn two. Zach Chappell spun in turn two with three laps to go and on the restart Jon Agan and R.J. Johnson both flipped in turn two collecting Kolt Walker. There was no catching Grosz over the final three laps as he picked up his first career win at the famed Knoxville oval. Heskin, Jason Johnson and Jeff Swindell each finished where they started in second, third and fourth. Billy Alley was the big mover here coming from the twelfth row to finish fifth, Derek Hagar was sixth and Dustin Elvage was seventh. Sam Hafertepe Jr. came from row eleven to take eighth.

Friday A-Main - After taking the final transfer in the B-Main Jack Dover sat in the staging area with his hood off as the field took the green flag. Wayne Johnson paced the field early while Ryan Anderson and Sammy Swindell swapped sliders just behind him. The only caution of the race came on lap two when Larry Ball Jr. coasted to a halt in turn four. On the restart the race for second continued to entertain as the budget racer Anderson did his best to fight off the legend Swindell, before Sammy took the spot for good on lap eight. Next Swindell went after Johnson and on lap twelve Sammy drove under Wayne for the lead in turn four. There was no catching the new leader over the final eight laps as Swindell posted the win with Wayne Johnson second. Shane Stewart worked his way forward from a fourth row start to take third and post the highest point total of the night to earn the pole position for Saturday's championship event. Randy Hannagan will start next to Stewart after finishing fourth in this one and kudos to Ryan Anderson for a solid fifth-place run. Tennessee driver Justin Carver was impressive in sixth followed by 410 regulars David Gravel, Tim Shaffer and Daryn Pittman. Pittman started this race in row ten.

The lineups for Saturday's Championship night are here and the 360's will be joined by a full show for the 410's sanctioned by the All Stars.

All Iowa Points Chase Starting Home Stretch

2011-08-05T11:26:00.000-07:00

I thought that I would be writing about the opening night of the Arnold Motor Supply Knoxville 360 Nationals this morning, but with the steady light rain that fell on the track for three hours that show will be combined with Friday’s qualifier to make for one very full night of racing this evening. So instead let’s take a look at the All Iowa Points as they stand through the end of July.

With the Webmistress on vacation right now we still have the July 27th update up on the Points page right now, so you can go there to find where your favorite driver ranks a week ago compared to the top drivers that we’ll talk about here as we enter the final month of the “weekly racing” season. If a driver needs to make a move, August is the month to do it not only in the weekly shows, but with the weeknight special events as well.

In the Late Models it appears that Ray Guss Jr. is well on his way to his third straight All Iowa Points title and as his sixth championship overall as he holds a firm 41-point lead over both Terry Neal and Todd Cooney. Ray’s other three championships also came in succession in 1989, 1990 and 1991. Nothing like doing something amazing all over again a full twenty years later!

Ryan Dolan made a big move in August last year to take the 2010 Modified championship and this year he enters the month with a 15-point advantage over Randy Havlik. Two-time champ Mark Schulte (2006 & 2007) is still within striking distance 29 points back in third while J.J. Wise and Steven DeLonjay are some new faces gracing the top five.

Timmy Current enjoys a 30-point lead right now in the Stock Car division as he tries to nail down his first All Iowa Points championship. Drivers are stacked up behind him as Damon Murty, David Smith and Derek Green are all tied for second and two-time Hobby Stock champ Donovan Smith (2004 & 2006) is one point behind them in fifth.

The two most dominant drivers in 2011 reside in the Limited Modified division where both Jesse Sobbing and Cayden Carter are on their way to more than 30 wins this season. Sobbing is already at that plateau and holds a 62-point lead on Carter as both look for their first All Iowa Points championship. Brandon Hare and Doug Smith are both having great seasons as well, but are a distant third and fourth.

Devin Smith is looking like he will defend his 2010 AIP Hobby Stock title as he has a 48-point cushion over 2008 and 2009 champ Shannon Anderson. If Devin wins it will be the eighth time in the last nine years that at least one of the Smith brothers from Lake City have won an All Iowa title. Michael Murphy and John Watson are both enjoying fine seasons and are ranked third and fourth with more than 100 points each.

The Chandler family is in control of the Four Cylinder standings at this point with Nathan leading his father Merv by just two points and his brother Brad by twenty-four. Megan Lappegard, Jacob Ellithorpe and Tyler Whalen are looking to beak up the family though and crack the top three.

The three Sprint Car divisions sometimes see a bit of a shake up near the top during Knoxville Nationals time, especially if any of the “regulars” are able to crack the top five on a qualifying night or in the finale. Going into August five-time champ Danny Lasoski (1986, 1987, 1990, 1992 & 1993) holds a five point lead over four-time titlist Mark Dobmeier (2006, 2007, 2008 & 2010) in the 410 division with Gregg Bakker and ten-time champ Terry McCarl (1994, 1996, 1998-2004 & 2009) tied for third only 11-points out of the lead. Jack Dover shared the 2010 360 Sprint title with Eric Lutz and it looks like he might win it on his own this year as “The Gasman” enjoys an 18-point cushion over 2009 champ Mike Boston. And in the 305’s it is Bill Boles leading 2006 champ in what appears to be a two horse race at this point.

On to another subject……if you are regular here you likely know that I have a “love/hate” relationship with the forum boards associated with our sport. I love to use them to obtain information that I otherwise wouldn’t find, or know to look for, and much to the chagrin of at least two AWPs, I love to use the forums to make sure that people who are looking for more complete coverage of an event know where they can find that coverage provided by myself or other Positively Racing bloggers. On a side note, apparently those people who raise a fuss about this practice must think that we are all getting rich off of this hobby of ours, or something, as I cannot understand why they would be so against people who are actually promoting the sport that they also claim to love.

I hate the forums when posts are made that do nothing but damage the sport either by tearing down a track, a promoter, an event, a driver, an official, etc., etc. And 95% of the time those posts are made by what long-time Sunset Speedway promoter Craig Kelley called Anonymous Weasel Posters or AWPs. They shroud themselves in the “freedom of speech” mantra even though our founding fathers would have never envisioned a medium where one’s speech did not have to be backed up by at least a little bit of fact (Doesn’t matter if what you are posting is true, it just has to be interesting), or to have the speaker’s opinion backed up by the reputation of the individual voicing the opinion (not possible because they are anonymous, so you have no idea of their motive or bias)……but I digress.

I guess I went through all of that above to let you know that even though the forums drive me crazy, I’m still addicted to them, and on one them right now there is a thread that caught my eye titled “what should Supernationals 2012 purse be?” The thread was started by our buddy “fasttrackfan” who I don’t always agree with, but who I completely respect because he goes to a ton of races and obviously loves the sport. The post is based upon the assumption that drivers will stay away “in protest of this years race” and as a result they will have 200 cars less than they had in 2010, so I guess we should first see if this assumption actually turns out to be true or not. The thread is up to four pages now and of course the common theme is that an event that draws so many cars and so many fans each year should be paying a MUCH larger purse and my question is “why”?

The annual Ice Bowl at the Talladega Short Track in Alabama has a similar discussion on the forum boards each year as people say that an event that draws 80 Super Late Models each year should be paying a lot more than $5,000-to-win. “The promoters are making a killing, it’s unfair!” Of course nobody ever seems to take a step back and say, if the current purse structure draws 80 Super Late Models, why mess with it? If 240 IMCA Modified drivers pull in from all over North America for $2,000-to-win plus contingencies, why does someone think that the system is broken? In the thread people try to “make a point” by stating what other events pay to win……but those other high-paying events don’t come close to the same car counts.

Could it be that the comparatively low purse is actually a reason why the car counts are so high? Raise the Ice Bowl purse to $10,000 or $15,000 to win and watch the car count drop to around 40 Super Late Models. Why? Because, those five “big name” drivers that will now grace the event with their presence will now chase away 45 other drivers who no longer feel they are capable of making the show, or even taking the victory. The “big names” of IMCA are already at the SuperNationals but here’s a random thought. Make it $10,000-to-win and perhaps you take a lot of the fun out of it and make it a much more serious affair? Does that result in a decline in car count instead of what most would think would be an increase? We may never know, but I do know this. When a promoter or sanctioning body has built up an event over time that becomes a “signature event”, they deserve to make a nice profit on it.

Speaking of which, times up and I’m headed to Knoxville. Check in here regularly for updates over the next nine days from Sprint Car heaven. And if you have a moment, here is an interesting point of view on the Brickyard 400 by one of my favorite bloggers Mark Titus. Enjoy!

Cedar County Raceway Delivers Once Again

2011-08-02T22:24:00.000-07:00

It is not often that I leave a race track after a driver goes flag-to-flag to win the forty-lap main event thinking "wow, that was a heck of a show", but that was the case Tuesday night as the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models returned to the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton. Of course it didn't hurt that the support class feature saw eight lead changes between four drivers in its thirty-five-lap feature, but more on that later.

The Deery Series had not been to this quarter-mile oval for fourteen years and please put me down as voting for only a nine to twelve month absence this time around. Nate Beuseling, who just dominated a week ago at Knoxville to win his first career series race, drew the pole position for the main event here tonight and since I have already given away the fact that somebody led every lap I might as well just tell you now that he made it two in a row here this evening. First though, the young driver from Silvis, Illinois, had to earn his way to the re-draw opportunity after starting in the last row of the third heat race. Beuseling patiently picked his way through the field and on the final lap he muscled his way past T.J. Criss on the inside of turn four to take the third and final transfer spot. He then drew the "one" during intermission and, well you know the rest as far as Nate is concerned, win number two in convincing fashion.

Defending series champion Ray Guss Jr. started right behind Beuseling in third and after the race's second caution on lap four, Guss went to work on the leader. Ray tried to work the next groove up from the low-riding Beuseling and was able to draw even a couple of times on laps five and six before Beuseling shook off the challenge and pulled away. The focus now was on the young man from nearby Wheatland, Justin Kay. Kay had already thrilled his fans, especially Brenda (I'm pretty sure that's his Mother) who stood in front of us during most of the first B-Main, as he rode the extreme topside of the speedway to come from the back of the pack to run second to winner Justin Reed. She apologized and said that now that he was safely in the feature she would just sit and watch that one. But we told her that once he got into the top five, we expected and encouraged her to be standing! Starting on the inside of row eight Kay raced those first four laps down low just like most everybody else, but following the restart he went back up to that high side and magic happened once again.

Lap by lap he started to move forward and even though the leader Beuseling was nearly half a lap ahead of him at the mid-race mark, with lapped traffic starting to come into play you just knew that Kay might just have a chance. He was ninth, then eighth, then seventh, then he passed Reed who was also coming toward the front for sixth and being a smart driver himself, Reed moved up the track a bit as well and maintained Kay's quick pace. Brenda moved down a few rows in the bleachers just before Justin took over the fifth spot because there was absolutely no way that she was going to stay seated now. Andy Eckrich had now replaced Guss in the second spot and with the traffic heavy he was closing in on the leader as well. Kay drove past Guss for third with about five laps to go while Reed stayed right with him and as the white flag waved Kay was even with Eckrich for second with Beuseling about five car lengths ahead picking his way through traffic. As the pack went down the back stretch Kay's bite off two was phenomenal once again and he edged ahead of Eckrich for second, but there were lapped cars involved as well and it was mad scramble through the final two turns. Beuseling was smooth and hugged the bottom to take the checkers first while Kay slipped his right rear wheel off the top side of turn four.

That slightest of bobbles was enough to let both Eckrich and Reed drive by him for second and third and it appeared that Guss also edged out Kay by inches for the fourth spot. With the final checkers flying at 9:20 p.m. I took a moment to cross the track to see if I could get the official finish and I was told that the scorers were still trying to sort things out. So the top five as I give it to you here is completely unofficial, but I will update it with the proper finish if this is wrong. Yes folks, it was that wild of a finish and if they had a finish line camera system they might still be looking at it to determine the actual finish.

Late Model Notes......Thirty-six drivers checked in although only thirty-three ran in the heat races. Jeff Aikey's trailer had issues on the trip down from Cedar Falls and the #77 car never did make it to Tipton. Bart Miller had to be disappointed that he did not get to compete on the track that he has raced at so often in a Modified as he scratched after hot laps as did Rookie-of-the-Year leader Eric Sanders......T.J. Criss had a tough night as not only did Beuseling beat him on the final turn for the last transfer out of the heat race, Chad Patch did the same thing to Criss on the final lap of the second B-Main. Fortunately for T.J. he was in line for one of the points provisionals tonight so he ran the A-Main......Terry Neal turned up light at the scales after winning the second heat and then raced his way into the feature by running fourth in the first B-Main......Mark Burgtorf drove the Richard Realty & Auction #15 tonight and used one of his points provisionals to start the feature. He retired to the pits early......We are going to have to stop talking to Amber Moyer, as for the second time in a row her fiance' Nick Marolf was caught up in an early incident and did not get a chance to participate in this thriller.......The next stop for the Summer Series will be Monday, August 15th at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines.

I have been to three Late Model specials here at Tipton over the last eleven months and each time the A-Modified division has set the table nicely by providing excellent racing action during their portion of the show, and tonight's feature may just have been the best. Johnny Spaw used the top shelf to snare the early lead, but when he slipped off the top of turn two on lap nine Noah Coppes was right there to take advantage and grab the lead. A caution on lap twelve bunched the field and Dan Chapman, who had started eleventh, would now restart in second. Once back to green Brad Dierks made his presence known and on lap sixteen it was Chapman, Coppes and Dierks three-wide for the lead much to the delight of the fans around us. Coppes and Dierks made contact going for that top groove in turn one with both recovering to chase Chapman before the final caution of the race waved on lap eighteen.

On this restart it was Dierks who blew by Chapman to take the lead and a lap later Coppes moved into second and went back to work down on the low line. With Coppes down low and Dierks up high, the race lead was pretty much up for grabs at the start-finish line each lap and from my vantage point down toward turn four a bit, I had 'em like this: Dierks 19-22, Coppes 23-24, Dierks 25, Coppes 26, Dierks 27-29 and on lap thirty Coppes went ahead to stay. Dierks nearly got back by him two laps later, but over those final three circuits Noah took away the need for a camera at the line winning this one by about five car lengths. Dierks was second, Chapman took third, Tom Pestka finished fourth and Nick Nevins was fifth.

A big thanks to promoters Al & Kathy Dlouhy and their entire crew for their hospitality and for once again putting on a fantastic mid-week program that concluded before 9:30 p.m. Racing continues here on Friday nights and their next special event is set for Friday August 26th as the USMTS brings their Hunt for a Championship to the Cedar County Raceway. I'm hoping to be back for that one as well!

Dauderman and Reed Late Model Winners At Quincy

2011-07-31T22:26:00.000-07:00

The lure of two different Late Model divisions on the same night pulled me down to the Quincy Raceway as the PCRA Crate Late Models joined the full regular roster of classes at the quarter-mile on Sunday night. The Crates only pulled in a ten car field and that had to be disappointing for the folks at QR, but for me it was ten more Late Models that I had not yet seen during the 2011 season.

Those ten cars and drivers put on an entertaining 25-lap non-stop feature race with pole starter Bobby Dauderman taking the lead at the drop of the green. Mark Oller kept the pressure on while Nick Lyons worked his way forward from the middle of the pack. Lyons was definitely the man on the move as he drove past Oller into second and then applied the pressure on the leader. On lap twelve Lyons had his nose under Dauderman coming out of turn four and contact put the leader almost completely sideways. Dauderman recovered nicely, drove hard into turn one and drifted up the track to pinch off Lyons who was trying take the lead off the cushion. As the challenger checked up to avoid more contact, Oller seized the opportunity and moved back into second. For the next ten laps Lyons and Oller raced side-by-side for second with Dauderman only three car lengths ahead of them and when Lyons finally cleared Oller for second he ran out of laps to make another run at Dauderman who took the $1,000 victory. Lyons and Oller were next in line followed by Tim Ratajczyk and Dustin Griffin.

The 30-lap IMCA Late Model main saw Darin Weisinger do his best to market his #11 that was sporting a For Sale on the right rear quarter panel tonight. Weisinger was in control until a caution waved on lap ten for a track tire that had been kicked out onto the speedway. On the restart Justin Reed made his move and took the lead while Denny Woodworth soon moved to second. Those two then went at it wheel-to-wheel for several laps similar to what was just witnessed in the race for second in the Crate main and it was Reed's higher line that proved to be superior tonight as he extended his track point lead with the victory. The racing attorney Woodworth settled for second with Matt Bailey in third while Joey Gower nipped Weisinger at the line for fourth.

The UMP Modifieds had an interesting feature to start the night with Brandon Savage leading the first six laps before a caution re-aligned the field in a complete double file formation. Three attempts at restarts all saw Savage lose the lead, but they also all saw another caution before the seventh lap could be completed. The next attempt would be in single file style and Savage retained the lead into turn one only to have his left rear wheel pop off. With the field right behind him the scramble was on with Jared Schlipman making contact and losing his driveshaft while Steven DeLonjay suffered a flat tire as well. DeLonjay's crew changed the tire quickly and Steven restarted ninth on the field as Vance Wilson inherited the lead. Wilson had his own issue as his left rear tire was nearly flat, but he fought it out for the lead with Robbie Reed for the next several laps with Reed leading laps seven and eight, and Wilson nine through eleven before Reed took the lead again on lap twelve. By now DeLonjay was back in the mix and on lap 18 he drove past Reed and then cruised the rest of the way to his sixth win in a row at Quincy. Reed was second with the young speedster Jake Griffin in third. Wilson rode his three-legged horse in for fourth while Ryan Meyer wound up fifth.

Kelly Bartz was the first lap leader, Andrew Griffin paced lap two and Abe Huls tookover on lap three of the 15-lap IMCA Stock Car main event. The nine car field raced those first few laps in tight formation sometimes going four wide before they settled down with Huls going the rest of the way for the victory. Terry Houston was the runner-up with Griffin, Beau Tayor and Jerry Janssen completing the top five.

When the IMCA Late Model feature took the checkers at 9:10 p.m. I headed for home and was back in MP well before 11 making it another enjoyable evening at the Quincy Raceways.

Zomer and Garner Post Crowd Pleasing Wins At Knoxville

2011-07-31T10:07:00.000-07:00

Late race passes in both features Saturday night sent the large crowd home abuzz as the Knoxville Raceway perfectly set the stage for the start of the Southern Iowa Sprint Speedweek. Clint Garner and Dusty Zomer did Sioux Falls proud and found themselves in victory lane on Candi's Flowers night at the famous dirt oval.

The fifteen-lap main event for the 360's was the first to be run and the initial start was waved off when fast qualifier Tasker Phillips spun in turn one on the opening lap. On the second try at a start pole-sitter Gregg Bakker jumped to a sizable lead with Dennis Moore Jr. doing his best to keep up. The caution waved again on lap three when Ryan Anderson lost a battle with the turn four guardrail and Bakker's leaded was wiped away for the restart. That didn't matter though as Bakker again opened up a big gap on the field when racing resumed. Clint Garner had started eighth and was working his way forward moving past Moore for second with less than five laps remaining. With Bakker working lapped traffic, Garner was cutting into his lead a bit but was still well back as Bakker exited turn four looking for the checkered flag. Instead he saw yellow as Jack Dover was coasting around the topside near the guardrail of turns one and two. What was to be a clear victory for Bakker with just a straightaway left to go would now have to be defended in a green-white-checkered restart.

Back to green Garner went to the middle of turns one and two and pulled even with Bakker, then in turns three and four that same groove allowed Clint to complete the pass. Bakker drove hard into turn one on the final lap trying to reclaim what had been taken away from him by the caution, but could not find the grip he needed and Garner secured the victory. Bakker had to be disappointed with second, Moore Jr. was steady in third, Billy Alley was consistent as he started fifth and finished fourth while Chad Humston took fifth after starting sixth.

360 Notes.....A nice field of forty cars were on hand for the final tune up before the Arnold Motor Supply Knoxville 360 Nationals that will run this coming Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. New visitors included Oregon's Roger Crockett who started thirteenth and finished eighth in the A-Main. Arizona transplant Calvin Landis who raced out of Knoxville in the 410 division for many years drove a team car to Glendale Arizona's Joshua Williams. Landis was second quick in qualifying and finished the feature in the same position that he started it, in eleventh. Henry Van Dam of Enumclaw Washington drove another Ingalls #91, one of Dusty Zomer's cars, and made the show as the final transfer out of the B-Main barely holding off Chad Heimbaugh. Aussie Brad Foster was also in action but did not make the main event.......Jack Dover had made a big move before his race changing caution. "The Gasman" had started sixteenth and was up to eighth before he slowed passing under the white flag......Jordan Boston made a big move around the cushion of one and two on the opening lap going from 22nd to 14th, but he did not advance any further taking 13th at the finish due to Dover's DNF.

The racing in the 410 division had been fantastic all night with the first two heat races featuring a battle for the lead that had the crowd to the edge of their seat through the eight-lap contests. The first heat was a shootout between Tyler Walker and Ricky Logan that saw Logan come back to snare the lead and the win away from Walker off turn four of the final lap. Little did we know at the time how this would foreshadow events later in the night. And in the second heat Robby Wofgang used every inch of the track to try to hold off Kerry Madsen only to have "The Mad Man" slip by him in the final turn to take the win.

Moving ahead to feature time, the twenty-lap headliner got of to a slow start with cautions waving for incidents at the back of the pack on the first two attempts to set the race in motion. On the third try Dusty Zomer would lead laps one and two from his pole position start only to have the caution wave again for rookie 410 competitor A.J. Moeller. That was the final caution though as the remaining 18-laps went green and an entertaining 18-laps they were. On all three starts of the race, recent King's Royal champion Tyler Walker had vaulted from sixth to third and with the restart he quickly closed in on Zomer. With Dusty working the bottom and the California kid up on the cushion, Walker's line proved better and he drove into the lead on lap seven. As it looked like Walker would drive away with this one our attention turned to what was another of the night's many stories.

On the opening lap of the first heat, Mark Dobmeier and fast qualifier Bronson Maeschen tangled in turn one with both cars going for a nasty ride that knocked down a section of a billboard above the guardrail in turn two. Dobmeier's crew went to work when the Hewitt's wrecker dropped off the messed up #13 and they had it ready to run in time for the B-Main. Not only did they have it ready to run, they had it ready to fly as Dobmeier dominated the B-Main and then on the opening lap of the feature he moved from 19th to 11th. The North Dakota driver's charge to the front continued and he was up to fifth with five laps remaining perhaps the fastest car on the track at that point and hoping for a caution to see if he could prove it. By now though, the half straightaway lead enjoyed by Tyler Walker over Dusty Zomer was starting to shrink so the attention was put back up front as "Zoom Zoom" was making one last run.

With two laps to go Zomer was in striking distance and as the white flag waved the crowd was on their feet as Zomer made a run at Walker down the back stretch. Zomer stayed glued to the bottom of turn three and found the bite that he need out of four to complete the pass and nip Walker by a little more than a car-length in the thrilling finish. Brian Brown was making up some ground on the lead duo as well, but had to settle for third after starting in the fourth row. Lynton Jeffrey, who started next to Brown, finished just behind him in fourth and Kevin Swindell got back around Dobmeier late to take fifth. Hats off to Mark Dobmeier and his crew on salvaging a sixth-place run after the hard crash to start the night. Kerry Madsen was seventh, point leader Danny Lasoski was eighth with Austin McCarl and Don Droud Jr. rounding out the top ten.

410 Notes.......Thirty-three cars were in the pits tonight as the count grows leading up to next Saturday's All Star Circuit of Champions event and then the 51st running of the Goodyear Knoxville Nationals August 10th through the 13th......The third heat saw an unusual incident after the checkered flag waved. Ian Madsen and Dusty Zomer had finished one-two with Ben Gregg a bit back in third. As the top two cars slowed down the back stretch after the checkers Gregg stayed on the gas and then tried to avoid them hitting the guardrail and rolling hard ending his night......Rookie-of-the-Year contender J.D. Johnson was running in the third transfer position in the B-Main before he blasted the turn two guardrail and rolled......Another pair of incidents in the heats led to an interesting comment during intermission and I will do my best to describe them here with facts only. The initial start of the second heat was waved off when it appeared that sixth-starting Danny Lasoski stepped out of nose-to-tail formation behind fourth starting Austin McCarl. The field was warned by starter Doug Clark and they restarted in the original order. In the fourth heat sixth-starting Terry McCarl definitely stepped out of nose-to-tail formation and the start was waved off. Clark then pulled the black flag and sent McCarl back one row to the tail of the field for the restart. During intermission McCarl was one of the drivers scheduled to come to the grandstands to sign autographs and pit announcer Mike Roberts took the opportunity to interview T-Mac about his annual stint as a promoter with the Front Row and Ultimate Challenge events coming to Oskaloosa on August 8th and 9th. At the end of the interview McCarl said "I don't know about the rest of you, but I thought that was a bogus call by Doug Clark." Roberts let it drop at that and, since both Austin and Terry had qualified out of their heats anyway, and given the fact that under tonight's qualifying procedures it didn't matter where you finished in your heat as long as you were in the top five, I thought that perhaps McCarl was just chiding Clark in a good-natured manner giving the many, many nights that they have raced and flagged together. However, as Terry walked back across the track and under the flagstand a few minutes later, that did not appear to be the case given the body language by each observed from many yards away. Ah, nothing like a little controversy to spice up the onset of the two Nationals weeks!

As Morgan and I were walking out at the end of the night you could tell that everybody else around us felt the same way. This was a night of racing that makes you count the days until you can come back and it is now only four days away until Thursday, the opening night of the 360 Nationals at Knoxville! Bookmark us if you are looking for this type of coverage at Knoxville as we plan on being at all eight nights of racing here over the next two weeks.

Next up though will be a pair of Late Model events as the PCRA Crate Late Models join the regular program tonight (Sunday) at the Quincy Raceway, then on Tuesday night the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models returns to the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton. Hope to see you at the track soon!

It's A Family Affair At CJ

2011-07-28T22:13:00.000-07:00

Go Sly.....

A pair of brothers started the feature event from the front row and another pair of brothers finished first and second as the Dart Corn Belt Clash Late Models visited the Louisa County Fair and the CJ Speedway Thursday night. And, if you follow this series at all, you probably already know which set of brothers drove out of Columbus Junction with the big purse checks.

Kurt and Kevin Kile would lead the fifteen-car field to the green for the 30-lap Late Model feature with Kurt jumping out to the early lead. The Kile brothers have turned a lot of laps on this southeast Iowa oval and they hoped that experience would be enough to hold back the high flying Simpson brothers who have dominated the Clash series again in 2011. Chad Simpson had started ninth, one spot worse than his brother Chris, and on the opening lap Chad darted quickly up to sixth. When Nick Marolf would slide off the top side of turn four on the fourth lap, Chad would restart fifth and on the first lap back to racing he was up to third with Jason Utter between he and the leader. Utter had been strong in the early laps as well running the low groove to move from seventh to second, but as he entered turn one on lap seven he apparently clipped the large track tire marking the start of the corner and he coasted to a stop with front end damage.

Once back to green Kurt Kile looked ready to defend his lead from the CBC Master, but on the tenth lap Kile hopped the cushion in turn one and nearly drove off of the track allowing Chad Simpson to sweep past him into the lead. A caution for Todd Hansen two laps later bunched the field once again allowing Chris Simpson to take over the second spot on the restart. As the Simpson brothers drove away the race for third and fourth provided the action until Kurt Kile went too hard into turn one again on lap eighteen and this time he disappeared off the top of the track to bring out the final caution. The final twelve laps ran non-stop and Chris could not maintain Chad’s pace as the brothers once again finished one-two in a convincing fashion. Kevin Kile would hold down the third spot at the checkers, Wisconsin driver Tim Isenberg followed him in for fourth while Jeremiah Hurst took fifth.

CBC CJ Notes……Seventeen Late Models were on hand tonight and a light shower just before the first Late Model heat race delayed the action by about thirty minutes……As that first heat took some hot laps to get the track ready for racing, Skip Frey went sailing off of turn three and hit the retaining wall on the old half-mile ending his evening……Chad Simpson started eighth in that first heat and could only move up to fifth on the fresh track…..Jake Meier qualified for the dash, but then puffed his motor on the opening lap of that race……Clash announcer Ryan Clark did a great job as usual and provided some interesting statistics on the series during the rain delay. With the win tonight Chad Simpson has now won 16 of the 29 events ever staged by the series. Nobody else has more than two wins. Can you say dominant?......Utter and all the drivers had no problem spotting the track tires tonight as Mark and Dianna Winkel, and Lexie, painted them bright and white during the heat of the day…..I enjoyed talking with Amber Moyer who was sat in front of me in the sauna, err grandstands. Amber is the daughter of Dubuque driver Bobby Moyer and she is engaged to Late Model driver Nick Marolf. Seems like every daughter of a Dubuque racer marries another racer, but of course I only know Amber and Ron Barker’s girls so maybe that assumption is a bit of a stretch……Most of the remainder of the Corn Belt Clash 2011 schedule will be up north with events at Cedar Lake, Redwood Falls, Cresco, Chateau and Elko.

In support class action it was Steve Stewart taking advantage of a bobble by Shaune Lewis to take the lead mid-race and win the Modified main event. Lewis had second wrapped up only to slow with mechanical issues on the final lap. Alex Buffington inherited the second spot followed by Zach Less, Mark Winkel and Tim Sands. Justin Bucholz went flag-to-flag for the win in the Mod Lite feature. Troy “Stinky” Philpott raced his way up from row four to take second followed by Jonathan Huston, Rob Guss and Evan Epperson. And in the IMCA Sport Compact feature it was Tyler Whalen who went the distance from a front row start to win it. Brad Chandler inherited the second spot after his brother Nathan drove off the top side of turn one early. John Whalen finished third, James Roose was fourth and Billy Stanford took fifth.

Thanks to CBC Director Cam Granger and to the CJ Speedway promoters and crew for their hospitality tonight. Despite the rain delay the final checkers waved at 10:20 p.m.

With my son, the sprint car freak, coming home from Oklahoma for the next two weeks it is likely that we will be hitting the road for somewhere this weekend. I’m trying to push a trip to Deer Creek and even though he loves the USMTS, the winged warriors definitely take top billing this time of year. Hopefully you can beat the heat and get out and enjoy some racing action near you this weekend!

Beuseling and Sobbing Dominate Night Two of the Harris Clash

2011-07-27T10:20:00.000-07:00

Nate Beuseling and Jesse Sobbing both parlayed front row starting spots into flag-to-flag non-stop feature wins during part two of the annual Harris Clash at the Knoxville Raceway Tuesday night.

Beuseling beat fellow front row starter Todd Cooney to turn one at the start of the 35-lap main event for the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models while the field shuffled for position behind them. Third-starting Brian Harris drifted up the track in turn two allowing third and fourth row starters Mike Garland and Jay Johnson, as well as fourth starting Matt Strassheim, to charge past exiting turn two and down the straightaway. A racetrack that saw drivers using at least three grooves during the qualifying events now saw everybody scrambling for the bottom to quickly make this one a single-file affair. The top six mentioned above did not change position for the remainder of the race, but there was some movement mid-pack. Series point contenders Ray Guss Jr. and Andy Eckrich had started thirteenth and fifteenth respectively and after being a part of the parade for the first half of the event, Guss found that the next line up on the track was usable as he drove around Darrel DeFrance in turns three and four. Seeing this both Nick Marolf and Eckrich followed suit and the trio made up a full straightaway on the sixth-place car of Harris before running out of laps.

Beuseling, who led for most of the 2010 Slocum Memorial at 34 Raceway before yielding to Mark Burgtorf, nearly avoided a big mistake when he went to the cushion in turn one trying to get by the lapped car of Todd Malmstrom. This allowed Cooney to close in quickly but Nate was able to get back to the bottom before the veteran from Des Moines could take away the preferred groove. From that point on Beuseling used patience with lapped traffic and went on to take his first career Deery Series victory on the big stage that is the Knoxville Raceway. Cooney, Garland, Johnson and Strassheim completed the top five with Harris, Guss Jr., Marolf, Eckrich and Justin Reed next in line.

LM Notes…..Todd Malmstrom earned his feature start by riding the cushion past T.J. Criss on the final lap of the second heat to take the third and final transfer position……Criss later inherited the fourth and final transfer out of the first B-Main when Mike Murphy Jr.’s engine belched fire on the final lap while running fourth…..None of the top four in Series points were able to transfer out of the heat races as Andy Eckrich, Ray Guss Jr., Terry Neal and Tom Darbyshire all started seventh or worse in the qualifiers. The fifth ranked driver in points, Tyler Bruening, started fourth and won the fourth heat race in a tight battle with Nate Beuseling. Neal was 14th in the main event, Bruening was 16th and Darbyshire finished 18th……Spencer Diercks raised some eyebrows as the Hard Charger provisional, but numbers don’t lie……Points provisionals were Darbyshire, rookie-of-the-year contender Eric Sanders and Joel Callahan….. Mike Murphy Jr. would have been a points provisional if not for the broken motor and Charlie McKenna turned down the opportunity to start saving his provisional (drivers are limited to three a year I believe) for another night…..Thirty-eight Late Models were in attendance including my first look this year at Drew Johnson and Dave Hubbard…..The Deery Series next moves to the quarter-mile oval at the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton on Tuesday, August 2nd.

With fifty-nine Sport Mods on hand there was plenty of talent throughout the field, but I couldn’t help to hope for a shootout between the state’s two winningest drivers in any division this year, Jesse Sobbing and Cayden Carter. That did not happen.

Sobbing started outside of row one for the twenty-lap feature and even though pole-sitter Beau Kaplan had the advantage going into turn one at the drop of the green, Sobbing powered through the middle groove and went down the backstretch with a lead that was already starting to grow. This field of twenty-four did not all decide to run the bottom after watching the Late Model feature as drivers worked the half-mile from bottom to top although that inside line still seemed to be the way around. With Sobbing on the fly, the race for second was a good one mid-race as sixth-starting Austin Kaplan closed in on Jim Gillenwater. The two battled it out for a few laps before Kaplan took the spot and then tried to run down the leader. A little further back Cayden Carter was trying to get to the front after starting in row four, but on this night it would be his cousin Carter VanDenBerg who would make the big move. The redraw loser, VanDenBerg started twelfth and gradually drove past the competition taking fifth from his cousin mid-race. VanDenBerg would later get by Beau Kaplan for fourth while Carter would fade to ninth at the checkers.

Even though Austin Kaplan was able to cut into the lead a bit, Sobbing still won by a full straightaway taking his 28th All Iowa Points paying win of 2011, and that does not count the number of times that he has won on Thursday nights in Columbus, Nebraska. Gillenwater was solid in third, VanDenBerg took fourth with Beau Kaplan fifth. Young Tyler Droste finished in sixth, Doug Smith finished where he started in seventh, while Racer Hulin moved from the seventh row up to eighth. Cayden Carter and Andy Tiernan rounded out the top ten.

Cautions were few and far between during the qualifying events and as mentioned both features went flag-to-flag so we were on our way home shortly after 10:30. A big thanks to Bob Harris for all he does with this event and we look forward to spending a lot of time at the Knoxville Raceway over the next two weeks for the Sprint Car Nationals. Next up on our schedule is the Corn Belt Clash event at the CJ Raceway this Thursday night, then with Morgan returning home from school on Saturday he has his sights on one or both of the MOWA Sprint Car events scheduled for this weekend. We’ll see what his Momma has to say about that…..

Gustin Dominates, Two Features Decided On Final Lap at Davis County Fair

2011-07-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

When Hollywood thinks of what a county fair in Iowa would be like for a movie shoot, the Davis County Fair in Bloomfield has to be the prototype. A midway bustling with kids young and old drinking lemon shakeups or trying to get an ice cream cone down before it melts away on a hot July night. The bingo numbers are being called out to players who have filled every seat available and the aroma of the fine food being served by the Cattleman’s Association and the Pork Producers is drifting through the air. And, for race fans like us, the crowning touch is the roar of racing engines in front of the grandstand making it the absolute perfect setting for a Thursday night of fun at the Fair.

With no weekly racing this year at Bloomfield I was amazed at how perfect the track conditions were for the five division program featuring the Casey’s General Stores USMTS Modifieds. Jim Lynch, Lonnie Taylor and everybody involved with pulling this show together deserve a hearty pat on the back for their efforts and it was good to see the bleachers nearly full of race fans to watch the action.

The featured event of the night was not one that will be remembered for the competition, but rather for the dominance exhibited by young Ryan Gustin. He and Ron VerBeek started the 35-lap Modified finale on the front row, but it was the winner from the previous night in Oskaloosa Zack VanderBeek who slipped past those two to take the lead on the opening lap. It didn’t take long for Gustin to find his groove though and he drove past VanderBeek again on the third circuit of the 3/8-mile oval. A caution on lap six bunched the field together and then two more cautions on restart attempts slowed the pace, but once back to green “The Reaper” was gone! Gustin’s lead grew noticeably lap after lap and by the time the checkers waved he was more than half a lap ahead of the runner-up VanderBeek. Terry Phillips who is celebrating his 25th year of racing looked good tonight in third. Kelly Shryock who came to Bloomfield with a perfect record of five wins in five appearances is now batting .833 after finishing fourth and Corey Dripps backed up last night’s runner-up finish with a fifth-place run here at Bloomfield. Rodney Sanders was sixth and Jason Krohn seventh, the final cars running on the lead lap.

While the Modified feature was a blowout, the two USRA Ironman Series events saw last-lap passes for the win. In the Stock Cars it looked as though Mike VanGenderen would make it two in a row after winning the night before in Oskaloosa as he paced the strong field from his pole position start until a caution waved with four laps remaining. With the double-file restart the action over these final four laps was beyond intense. (Yes, I will admit that in this case the double-file restart was awesome!) Justin Temeyer emerged from a three-wide battle to take the lead with numerous contenders scrambling for racing room behind him. Jeff Joldersma emerged from that pack and went to work on Temeyer pulling even with him as the white flag waved. The western Iowa driver Joldersma had his #66 hooked up on the bottom groove and he found the bite there over the final lap to ease ahead and take the victory. He then made one young man in the crowd very happy by handing over the beautiful trophy that will now likely sit proudly on his dresser here in Davis County. VanGenderen, who had been shuffled back to fifth as the lead pack took the white flag, clawed his way back to second nipping Temeyer by inches at the stripe. Shane Weller finished fourth and Tom Schmitt took fifth in this thriller.

That Stock Car feature came right after the B-Mod feature that saw Mark Mundell pass race-long leader Jared Timmerman on the final lap to take a popular victory. The early portion of the scheduled twenty-lapper was plagued with cautions that saw nearly half the field eliminated before three laps were completed and it was decided at that point that the race would be cut to fifteen laps. That was just enough for the veteran driver from nearby Ottumwa to work the bottom groove to perfection in the final two corners to edge Timmerman by half a car-length at the checkers. Ironman Challenge point leader Matt Lettow finished third, Carter VanDenBerg recovered from an early incident to take fourth and Mike Shelton had sheet metal flopping all over the place but still managed to bring his damaged ride in for fifth.

Dustin Griffiths continued his hot streak by going flag-to-flag to win the Hobby Stock feature over Derek Kirkland, Mike Hughes, Craig Brown and Jason McDaniel while Cassidy Kirkpatrick took the win in the Four Cylinder feature that was slowed by several cautions. Devin Still fought off the winner’s father Kevin Kirkpatrick to finish second, Larry Hopkins was fourth and Mike Fisher in the Arkansas Bow Hunters sponsored #191 was fifth.

It was nice to catch up a bit with Wayne Hale as I signed in at the pit gate. Wayne was always one of my favorite competitors when he raced in the Hobby Stock division a decade or so ago as he always seemed to have a smile on his face win, lose or draw. And I enjoyed sitting next to Kirksville area race fan Gary Lee who knows a heck of a lot more about what is going on with racing than I do these days. I’m still trying to convince him that a blog on PR.com would suit him well!

Needless to say I had a great time at the Davis County Fair and if you are in the area you can check it out tonight (Friday July 22nd) for more racing action with the Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invader 360 c.i. Sprints along with the 305 Sprinters.

Three Way Thriller for USMTS At Osky

2011-07-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

He was far enough ahead going down the back stretch on the first lap that the engraver could have started to work on the trophy plate. And when he enjoyed a full straightaway lead on lap ten of the thirty-lap distance that engraver would have already had the “R”, the “y”, the “a” and the “n” completed and it would have been pretty safe to start on the last name with a capital “G”. But a pair of drivers had other plans and the final eleven laps of Wednesday night’s USMTS Modified feature at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa will go down as one of the best we’ll probably see this season.

Ryan Gustin has been the man to beat on the series for the past year and a half and that is even more the case when “The Reaper” takes to the “Mahaska County Monster” half-mile, so when he drew the pole position for the main event it was a pretty good assumption that tonight’s race to watch would be for second. At the drop of the green on the 30-lap finale Gustin powered into turn one and as he came out of turn two and aimed the Gressel Racing #19R down the back straightaway he already enjoyed a ten car-length advantage over the talented field of eighteen. On lap ten Gustin had a full straightaway on Zack VanderBeek who was now in second, but over the next several laps that gap slowly shrank. With Gustin running the cushion and “The Z-Man” working down low, VanderBeek had closed it down to two car lengths before the caution waved on lap nineteen for Shane DeMay who had coasted to a halt in turn three.

As the cars were aligned for a double-file restart Gustin’s crew must have signaled to their driver that he was soon to be challenged on the bottom as that is where the leader headed when the green flag waved once again. With Gustin throwing the block on VanderBeek down low, Corey Dripps rode the cushion and passed both drivers to take the lead on lap twenty. From that point on the crowd was on the edge of their seats as Gustin tried to fight back on the bottom pulling even with Dripps in the corners only to have Corey pull back ahead going down the straightaways and all along you had VanderBeek riding right behind Gustin waiting for his opportunity. With three laps remaining Gustin tried a little higher line in his challenge on Dripps and VanderBeek charged past Gustin into second. Dripps was able to fight off the first charge by his new challenger on lap 28, but as the white flag waved VanderBeek pulled even with Dripps entering turn one and he took the lead in turn two. Dripps hit the cushion hard one last time in turn three and he had a great run out of turn four pulling back to within one car-length as VanderBeek scored a thriller on his home track. Gustin was not far back at the checkers in third, Colt Mather finished in the fourth spot and Kelly Shryock took fifth.

The USRA Iron Man Series for the Stock Cars and B-Mods pulled in a variety of drivers in each division, but it was two track regulars who ended up in victory lane. The Stock Cars went five-wide down the back stretch on lap one racing for the third spot as Jason Minnehan established the early pace. Justin Temeyer was part of that early shuffle and he moved from sixth to the lead on lap four, but when the steam started coming from under the hood he pulled his #56 to the infield two laps later. Mike VanGenderen who had started seventh was now in line to inherit the lead and he was solid the rest of the way to earn his second victory here in the past nine days. Minnehan was second followed by last Tuesday night’s Shootout winner Kevin Donlan in third. The next few spots were a scramble as contact on the front stretch racing for the checkers sent Matt Greiner hard into the guard rail cutting down his right rear and he dropped back to seventh behind Jeff Joldersma, Nathan Wood and Tom Schmitt. Wood had raced his way back to the front after contact with a track tire required his front end sheet metal to be removed in the work area. Schmitt raced his way up from a tenth row start.

In the B-Mod feature young Ben Kates from the Kansas City area would lead lap one, then the “Kool-Aid Kid” Andrew Schroeder would take the point on lap two only to have Cayden Carter go sweeping past him a lap later. Carter has been phenomenal this year and his drive from a fourth row start to the front in three laps is now almost expected and he went the rest of the distance unchallenged to take his 20th win overall in 2011. His cousin Carter VanDenBerg chased him in for second, Schroeder would take home the third-place check, the father of the runner-up John VanDenBerg would finish fourth and Curtis VanderWal was fifth. Despite his dominance Cayden is still chasing Jesse Sobbing who is also putting up huge numbers this year in the current All Iowa Points standings for Limited Modifieds.

Only nine Hobby Stocks started the feature race and five of them were side-by-side racing for second in turn one of the opening lap. Dustin Griffiths went from the outside of row three to the front on that first lap and he was never headed over the 7.5 mile distance taking another Southern Iowa Speedway victory. Donovan Nunnikhoven was the runner-up followed by Todd Reitzler, Steve Allen and Kris Walker.

Announcers Tony Paris and Lon Oelke kept the evening lively with their banter and as always did a great job of keeping all of the fans informed of who was driving each car, where they were from, qualifying procedures, etc. All of us at PositivelyRacing.com appreciated the mention they made of our work as well. Thanks guys!

The USMTS and USRA Iron Man action moves to Bloomfield tonight for the Davis County Fair and I hope to see you there!