Donny Schatz has reached a dubious point in his racing career, one that I have only really witnessed first-hand twice in my over forty years of attending races. As Schatz pulled into victory lane on Saturday night at the Knoxville Raceway, following one of the most entertaining feature races that I have seen in sometime, the large crowd greeted him with a resounding chorus of boos. Not because of the manner in which he won, as he had worked his way cleanly to the front after starting on the inside of row four, but because of the simple fact that he had won once again at the Knoxville Raceway. For me that puts him in the same company as two of the legends of the sport, Dale Earnhardt and Steve Kinser, drivers who became so dominant for a time that the fans just wanted to see someone else take a win and every time that they didn't see someone else in victory lane, they would let the driver know it. As the three time defending champion of the Knoxville Nationals, Donny Schatz is now in that elite category.
It was a family reunion on the front row for the twenty-five-lap main event as Brian Brown and his uncle Danny Lasoski earned the top spots by finishing one-two in the Dash. Brown grabbed the early lead with Terry McCarl taking up the chase in second and, in just three laps, Schatz moved from seventh to third. An early yellow for a slowing Tony Bruce Jr. bunched the field for a restart and the crowd came to life as both Brown and McCarl were able to fight off a challenge from Schatz. With leaders working lapped traffic on lap fifteen Brown jumped the cushion in turn four just enough to allow McCarl to slip by for the lead with ten remaining. And as Brown tried to regain his momentum Schatz flew by him into second just a few car-lengths behind the new leader.
The surface of the half-mile oval tonight was wide and fast and drivers could run anywhere from top to bottom, but as the laps wound down the fastest groove appeared to be right in the middle and that was exactly where Dusty Zomer was running as the lead trio closed in on him. As McCarl tried to pick his way around Zomer without making too drastic of a move, Schatz made a couple of runs on McCarl as well with Brown right there behind them waiting for a mistake. When McCarl shook off the first slider from Schatz, the crowd moved to the edge of their seats, and when he held him off once again with six laps to go they rose to their feet in anticipation that the local driver-turned-Outlaw, who by the way has heard his share of boos after winning a bunch of features here not so long ago, just might be able to hold off Schatz. It was not going to happen though as on the next lap, with McCarl still following Zomer through the middle, Schatz went to the cushion and hit it perfectly allowing him to rocket into the lead off of turn four with just four laps remaining.
Schatz quickly built a full straightaway advantage and was coming off turn four to take the win when instead of the checkers he saw the caution flag fly as Tony Bruce Jr. had once again stopped on the track. World of Outlaws rules state that the race must end under two consecutive laps of green flag racing so the partisan crowd, if you could call a crowd pulling for "anybody but Schatz" partisan, was abuzz as McCarl, Brown and Steve Kinser lined up directly behind the leader for a two-lap shootout. McCarl was set to try a slide job in turn one on the restart only to have Schatz pinch him off by running a lower groove as well and that was the race as the now man to beat at Knoxville earned the victory. McCarl was the runner-up with Kinser slipping by Brown for third on the restart. Jac Haudenschild drove a steady race starting fourth and finishing fifth. And, as pitside announcer Mike Roberts welcomed him back to the podium at Knoxville, the chorus of boos had to be music to the ears of Donny Schatz, a tune that he would love to hear once again here in mid-August.
The story in the 360 c.i. division was completely different as many in the crowd were probably wondering who that driver was that absolutely dominated the stout 57-car field by running away with both his heat race and the feature. Matt Covington out of Glenpool, Oklahoma, plans to run the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour in 2009, but with an open night on that schedule he pulled into Knoxville with the goal of getting more experience on the fabled oval. Covington started on the pole of his heat race and went unchallenged to the win landing him on the outside of row two for the fifteen-lap main event. As the field came off turn four for the start Covington moved up on the speedway to get a run and then darted down low going into turn one to fly by the front row of Matt Sutton and Gregg Bakker. That start was wiped out buy a first lap caution, but on the second try he did the exact same move with the same result.
By lap ten Covington had nearly a half lap advantage as Clint Garner, who had started tenth, emerged from the pack in second. With the help of a couple of lapped cars Garner closed the gap quickly and as Covington took the white flag Garner was still about ten car lengths back, but within striking distance. With a clear track ahead of him Covington did not flinch as he picked up his first career sprint car feature win at, of all places Knoxville. Garner showed that he could be a top contender for the 360 track title with his impressive second place run, Bakker held on for third followed by Ryan Roberts and Jon Agan.
Knoxville Notes.....There were forty-seven 410's on hand to make it a very full pit area with a total of 104 racecars. While the 410 roster didn't have any surprises the 360's seemed to come from just about everywhere with drivers from Washington to Colorado to Texas up to Ohio and of course Florida where track regular R.J. Johnson still lists as a home state......Craig Dollansky was a big mover in the Outlaw A-Main. After winning the B feature Dollansky started in row eleven and by lap nine he was already up to tenth. His progress pretty much stopped from there though as he picked up one more spot in the final laps to finish in the ninth position.....In that Outlaw B-Main Kerry Madsen broke while leading, but came back to run the feature using a World of Outlaw provisional and Sammy Swindell's night came to an early end when his motor went up in smoke as he was closing in on the final transfer spot.....Lucas Wolfe missed qualifying as he was busying changing engines. He started twelfth in his heat and just missed a transfer spot when he couldn't get past Sam Hafertepe Jr. landing Wolfe at the back of the C-Main. In that race Wolfe missed the transfer to the B by just one spot and it looked like his night was over. With Swindell's blown motor though, Wolfe was now in line to use a provisional and he salvaged a 20th-place finish on the night......North Dakota driver Lee Grosz was the hard charger in the 360 Main event and he almost didn't have the opportunity. On the final lap of the 360 B-Main Jesse Gianetto had a run on Grosz off turn two and the two cars made contact midway down the back stretch racing for the fourth and final transfer spot. Both drivers stayed in the gas and they raced side-by-side into the final turns with Grosz up high and Gianetto down low. To Jesse's misfortune though there was a slower car working that bottom groove and when he had to climb the inside berm off turn four to get around that car it allowed Grosz to earn the 24th and final position on the grid for the A-Main. Grosz made the most of it as he charged through the field to finish ninth in the feature.....Another hard charger was the B-Main winner Brady Bacon who started 20th and finished 11th in the A.....There was only one incident in the 360 A-Main and that came on lap two when Ohio driver Darren Long got too high coming off of turn four and as he recovered he made contact with Jon Corbin sending Long for quite a tumble down the frontstretch. Others including Dan Thornburg, Johnny Anderson, Eric Baldaccini and Seth Brahmer had a wing bender during the evening and all of them, including Long, were uninjured.....There were two youngsters with very recognizable names in the sport making their Knoxville debut tonight. In the 410's Austin McCarl started his rookie campaign here with a fifth-place run in the C-Main against the stacked field of Outlaws. And in the 360's Robby Wolfgang drew the worst number possible coming through the gate fighting an uphill battle all night ending it with an eighth-place finish in the C-Main.....While Outlaws announcer Johnny Gibson and veteran Knoxville announcer Tony Bokhoven did their usual fantastic job of informing and entertaining, young Blake Anderson sounded very smooth as well in his first night behind the mic at Knoxville. Just what us old announcers love to see, new young talent coming along to take all of our gigs! And yes Tony, I still consider you to be a "young" announcer.
Knoxville's race schedule really does not include many if any "regular" race nights as this coming Saturday the IRA Sprint Cars come to town to take on the local heroes.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Talladega Thoughts.....
I love Talladega. I have been to five Cup race weekends over the years at the Alabama superspeedway including Dale Earnhardt's thrilling victory where he came from mid-pack with five laps remaining to win with Kenny Wallace pushing him all the way. Sadly, as it turned out, it was Earnhardt's final victory. I have been to seven other Cup tracks over the years and they have all paled in comparison to what I have experienced at Talladega. In fact I can honestly say that I would only buy a ticket to one of those other seven, but I am always looking for some friends to join me on an Alabama road trip. Of course the fact that we can wander down to the dirt track (Talladega Short Track) on Friday and Saturday night while there just adds to the fun.
Watching the finish of Sunday's race at Talladega was downright scary. Our sport dodged a bullet when the catch fence did its job and thankfully only seven fans suffered non-life threatening injuries. I love Carl Edwards as well, how could I not? He is a hard driving midwestern boy who cut his teeth on many of the dirt tracks that we cover here at PR.com, but I cringed when he made the statement that NASCAR is going to race this way until they kill someone before making any changes. This type of statement is nothing new as many drivers, both Sunday and for years, have said that changes need to be made to the restrictor plate racing. But here is my question, just what "changes" do they suggest?
Do they want NASCAR to take the plates off? If Edwards would have been going 220 mph instead of 195 he likely would have floated even higher into the air and, heaven forbid, cleared the fence. Yes, taking the plates off might spread the field out a little more, but there will still be packs of cars drafting off of each other and with the increased speeds the margin of error will be decreased even further than it is now. I seriously hope that this is not the change that the drivers are looking for!
Do they want NASCAR to start penalizing for "blocking"? If Carl would have held his line, would this accident have happened? Seems to me that just about every Cup race at Talladega and Daytona finishes under caution anymore. Wasn't it great to see the Nationwide race finish under green on Saturday? And what a finish it was as David Ragan came from fourth entering the tri-oval to first at the finish. When did the Cup drivers become so unconcerned about the monetary cost of trashing a car just to pick up, or hold on to one position? I would think that in today's economic climate it would be much more beneficial to not throw that block on the final lap (and I'm not just talking about Edwards) and put the car in the transporter in one piece with a slightly lower purse check. Yes, the plates keep the field bunched together, but does it make you wonder how they can race three-wide ten cars deep lap after lap with no issues until the final ten laps? Can NASCAR legislate "common sense" by penalizing for blocking? Only after the fact, and that is usually after the wreck.
Do they want NASCAR to take away the "out of bounds" line? Brad Keselowski knew that Regan Smith was faced with the same scenario last year at Talladega and when he went below the yellow line to "win" the race, he was penalized to the back of the lead lap cars. No wonder Brad didn't go below the line when Edwards came down on him, after all he wanted to win the race. Should he have gone below the line anyway and settled for second since you are only penalized if you improve your position? I should hope not, he faked high and then went low and had the momentum needed to make the pass for the win! The problem is that I think that the "out of bounds" rule was established by NASCAR a few years back when drivers said that "changes need to be made", so how can they overturn it now?
I'm the first to admit that I am not a "rules guy" especially when it comes to the mechanical aspect of the sport, so maybe there is something more that can be done there. I hope so, because I really don't see any of the above as workable solutions which leads me to the one "change" that I truly hope is NOT on the minds of the drivers; to no longer race at Talladega.
Ugh....I saw a recap of an interview with Jimmie Johnson today (Thursday) stating that the change that he is looking for would be a new configuration of the track. Get the bulldozers out and reduce the banking so that drivers have to let off the gas going into the corners. My initial thought was "don't we already have other tracks like that?" :)
CJ Speedway has cancelled their races for Friday May 1st due to wet grounds.
Watching the finish of Sunday's race at Talladega was downright scary. Our sport dodged a bullet when the catch fence did its job and thankfully only seven fans suffered non-life threatening injuries. I love Carl Edwards as well, how could I not? He is a hard driving midwestern boy who cut his teeth on many of the dirt tracks that we cover here at PR.com, but I cringed when he made the statement that NASCAR is going to race this way until they kill someone before making any changes. This type of statement is nothing new as many drivers, both Sunday and for years, have said that changes need to be made to the restrictor plate racing. But here is my question, just what "changes" do they suggest?
Do they want NASCAR to take the plates off? If Edwards would have been going 220 mph instead of 195 he likely would have floated even higher into the air and, heaven forbid, cleared the fence. Yes, taking the plates off might spread the field out a little more, but there will still be packs of cars drafting off of each other and with the increased speeds the margin of error will be decreased even further than it is now. I seriously hope that this is not the change that the drivers are looking for!
Do they want NASCAR to start penalizing for "blocking"? If Carl would have held his line, would this accident have happened? Seems to me that just about every Cup race at Talladega and Daytona finishes under caution anymore. Wasn't it great to see the Nationwide race finish under green on Saturday? And what a finish it was as David Ragan came from fourth entering the tri-oval to first at the finish. When did the Cup drivers become so unconcerned about the monetary cost of trashing a car just to pick up, or hold on to one position? I would think that in today's economic climate it would be much more beneficial to not throw that block on the final lap (and I'm not just talking about Edwards) and put the car in the transporter in one piece with a slightly lower purse check. Yes, the plates keep the field bunched together, but does it make you wonder how they can race three-wide ten cars deep lap after lap with no issues until the final ten laps? Can NASCAR legislate "common sense" by penalizing for blocking? Only after the fact, and that is usually after the wreck.
Do they want NASCAR to take away the "out of bounds" line? Brad Keselowski knew that Regan Smith was faced with the same scenario last year at Talladega and when he went below the yellow line to "win" the race, he was penalized to the back of the lead lap cars. No wonder Brad didn't go below the line when Edwards came down on him, after all he wanted to win the race. Should he have gone below the line anyway and settled for second since you are only penalized if you improve your position? I should hope not, he faked high and then went low and had the momentum needed to make the pass for the win! The problem is that I think that the "out of bounds" rule was established by NASCAR a few years back when drivers said that "changes need to be made", so how can they overturn it now?
I'm the first to admit that I am not a "rules guy" especially when it comes to the mechanical aspect of the sport, so maybe there is something more that can be done there. I hope so, because I really don't see any of the above as workable solutions which leads me to the one "change" that I truly hope is NOT on the minds of the drivers; to no longer race at Talladega.
Ugh....I saw a recap of an interview with Jimmie Johnson today (Thursday) stating that the change that he is looking for would be a new configuration of the track. Get the bulldozers out and reduce the banking so that drivers have to let off the gas going into the corners. My initial thought was "don't we already have other tracks like that?" :)
CJ Speedway has cancelled their races for Friday May 1st due to wet grounds.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
IMCA Late Model "Drive for Five" Helps to Kickoff the 2009 Season at Lee County Speedway
It was a night that had been anticipated since last October. That was when promoters Terry and Jenni Hoenig held a meeting for area Late Model drivers to announce a unique "series" of events for the IMCA Late Model division that would culminate in a Deery Brothers Summer Series event on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend where a driver who had supported the Late Model events at Lee County could win $5,000 rather than the standard $2,000 winner's purse for a Deery race. If that wasn't enough of an incentive the ten race schedule in Donnellson would pay a healthy $1,000-to-win and $150-to-start each night due to the support of several sponsors, many of them directly associated with one of the Late Model teams that would likely compete. Former LCS promoter and long-time driver/owner Lynn Richard played a major role in pulling this all together and Late Model fans and drivers had six months to get prepared for The Pilot Grove Savings Bank/Ideal Ready Mix "Drive for Five".
Thirty-three IMCA Late Models helped jam the pits at Lee County Speedway with a total of 114 cars for the season opener Friday night. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the car count in the Miller Lite IMCA Modifieds with twenty-nine drivers in attendance and as I scanned the roster it looks to me like at least twenty-two of those cars should be here on a weekly basis. On Thursday evening an unexpected blob of showers tracked across the southeast corner of Iowa and dumped nearly an inch of rain on the speedway. The extra moisture played havoc with the surface that is usually immaculate, but on this night the drivers had to navigate a rough track as they tried to start the season with a top points paying feature win.
Tom Darbyshire sprinted out to a hefty advantage during the early laps of the Late Model feature while the rest of the field sorted themselves out well behind him. It was no surprise that it was the two Quincy hotshoes, Mark Burgtorf and Jason Frankel, who emerged from the pack and gave chase. When the caution flag waved on lap ten for a flat left rear tire on Jay Johnson's mount, Darbyshire's lead was wiped out and the race was on. For the next ten laps the large crowd was treated to an entertaining battle for the point as Burgtorf repeatedly tried to slingshot by the leader on the bottom groove and finally, with just four laps remaining, Burgtorf made it stick and took the lead down the front straightaway. Darbyshire tried to fight back on the outside in turns one and two and pulled nearly even with Burgtorf coming out of the corner as they quickly closed on the soon-to-be-lapped car of Tony Fraise. As Darbyshire tried to maintain his run on Burgtorf, Fraise was in his groove and the two made contact sending Fraise for a complete spin in the middle of the backstretch. Tony kept the car fired allowing the green flag to stay out and that was all Burgtorf needed as he pulled away over the final laps for his third straight feature win paying four figures. Darbyshire, whose trucking company that he operates along with his wife Sheila is one of the presenting sponsors of the series, finished in the second spot with Frankel not far behind in third. Terry Schlipman had another impressive run in Tom Goble's #69 as he started tenth and finished fourth while Curt Martin made the trip down from Independence to finish fifth.
For the past two years Michael Long has been winning about everything in the area running in the USRA and UMP type Modifieds, and in 2009 he has teamed up with Jim Gillenwater to compete in the IMCA Modifieds at the Lee County Speedway. Long served notice on Friday night that he just might be ready to dominate here as well as he started eighth and powered past Tyler Cale on only the third lap on his way to a convincing win. Young Nate Caruth from Ames slipped by Josh Foster and Cale late in the race to finish second while Rich Smith coasted across the line in fifth after dumping his driveshaft on the final lap.
The IMCA Stock Car feature was another great battle between good friends Jason Cook and Jeff Mueller. Mueller made several attempts to pass Cook using the bottom groove, but just could not find enough of a grip to grab the lead as Cook, the defending track champion in the Stock Cars, captured the opening night victory. Mueller was a car length back in second and John Oliver Jr., who was right there ready to pounce if the leaders made a mistake, settled for third. The race had a unique incident early on as then leader Abe Huls jumped the cushion in turn three and spun out. His brother Doug Huls was running mid-pack and, in his attempt to avoid Abe, he slid sideways and his wheels dug into the tack surface and the car rolled over onto its top. The banking then caused Doug's car to roll back the other direction where it ended up on all four wheels. After track officials checked on the condition of the driver he fired it up and took his place at the tail of the field for the restart. This drew a big cheer from the crowd and one fan even told promoter Terry Hoenig that he would add a fifty dollar bill to the winning purse if Doug could come back to win the race. Abe fared better though as he came back to finish fourth ahead of Chris Webb while Doug picked up a lot of new fans with his unusual seventh place finish.
The IMCA Sport Mods had a solid field of fifteen for opening night and the feature winner was decided literally by inches. Thad Gaylord picked up the lead from the start, fought off a mid-race challenge from Todd Holman and appeared to be headed to an easy win. Holman had other thoughts as he mounted one last run pulling even with Gaylord coming out of turn four looking for the checkers. At the line it was Gaylord by a bumper over Holman with Philip Cossell, Jacob Smith and Derek Coleman not far behind. It was an emotional win for Gaylord as he noted that his wife of ten years this day was not here to witness it as she was home with a sick child. You can bet that they were very excited when they got the call from Thad about the opening night triumph.
Doug Fenton was the 2007 Hobby Stock Track Champion here and he set the tone for a return to the throne by going flag-to-flag for the fifteen-lap feature win. 2006 champ Dan Wenig gave Fenton a challenge and crossed the line second followed by John Oliver Jr. who had started on the eleventh row. The official finish though was shuffled in the tech area as both Wenig and Oliver, along with the fourth place car of Derek Kirkland were disqualified due to assorted issues in the rearends of their cars. This moved Rob Wilsey from fifth to second and sixteen-year-old Derek St. Clair wound up third. Speaking of former Hobby Stock track champions, the 2008 titleist Dean Kratzer had a rough start as he dropped out early with a flat tire.
The Lee County Speedway returns to action next Friday night May 1st and the Late Model "Drive for Five" returns on May 8th. Check out the full schedule that also includes Midgets and Sprint Cars, plus my favorite event "Shiverfest" at http://www.leecountyspeedway.com/.
Race fans, if you would like to catch the videos of Tommy Elston's Late Model races this season go to www.richardrealtyauction.com and click on the Team 15 link.
Thirty-three IMCA Late Models helped jam the pits at Lee County Speedway with a total of 114 cars for the season opener Friday night. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the car count in the Miller Lite IMCA Modifieds with twenty-nine drivers in attendance and as I scanned the roster it looks to me like at least twenty-two of those cars should be here on a weekly basis. On Thursday evening an unexpected blob of showers tracked across the southeast corner of Iowa and dumped nearly an inch of rain on the speedway. The extra moisture played havoc with the surface that is usually immaculate, but on this night the drivers had to navigate a rough track as they tried to start the season with a top points paying feature win.
Tom Darbyshire sprinted out to a hefty advantage during the early laps of the Late Model feature while the rest of the field sorted themselves out well behind him. It was no surprise that it was the two Quincy hotshoes, Mark Burgtorf and Jason Frankel, who emerged from the pack and gave chase. When the caution flag waved on lap ten for a flat left rear tire on Jay Johnson's mount, Darbyshire's lead was wiped out and the race was on. For the next ten laps the large crowd was treated to an entertaining battle for the point as Burgtorf repeatedly tried to slingshot by the leader on the bottom groove and finally, with just four laps remaining, Burgtorf made it stick and took the lead down the front straightaway. Darbyshire tried to fight back on the outside in turns one and two and pulled nearly even with Burgtorf coming out of the corner as they quickly closed on the soon-to-be-lapped car of Tony Fraise. As Darbyshire tried to maintain his run on Burgtorf, Fraise was in his groove and the two made contact sending Fraise for a complete spin in the middle of the backstretch. Tony kept the car fired allowing the green flag to stay out and that was all Burgtorf needed as he pulled away over the final laps for his third straight feature win paying four figures. Darbyshire, whose trucking company that he operates along with his wife Sheila is one of the presenting sponsors of the series, finished in the second spot with Frankel not far behind in third. Terry Schlipman had another impressive run in Tom Goble's #69 as he started tenth and finished fourth while Curt Martin made the trip down from Independence to finish fifth.
For the past two years Michael Long has been winning about everything in the area running in the USRA and UMP type Modifieds, and in 2009 he has teamed up with Jim Gillenwater to compete in the IMCA Modifieds at the Lee County Speedway. Long served notice on Friday night that he just might be ready to dominate here as well as he started eighth and powered past Tyler Cale on only the third lap on his way to a convincing win. Young Nate Caruth from Ames slipped by Josh Foster and Cale late in the race to finish second while Rich Smith coasted across the line in fifth after dumping his driveshaft on the final lap.
The IMCA Stock Car feature was another great battle between good friends Jason Cook and Jeff Mueller. Mueller made several attempts to pass Cook using the bottom groove, but just could not find enough of a grip to grab the lead as Cook, the defending track champion in the Stock Cars, captured the opening night victory. Mueller was a car length back in second and John Oliver Jr., who was right there ready to pounce if the leaders made a mistake, settled for third. The race had a unique incident early on as then leader Abe Huls jumped the cushion in turn three and spun out. His brother Doug Huls was running mid-pack and, in his attempt to avoid Abe, he slid sideways and his wheels dug into the tack surface and the car rolled over onto its top. The banking then caused Doug's car to roll back the other direction where it ended up on all four wheels. After track officials checked on the condition of the driver he fired it up and took his place at the tail of the field for the restart. This drew a big cheer from the crowd and one fan even told promoter Terry Hoenig that he would add a fifty dollar bill to the winning purse if Doug could come back to win the race. Abe fared better though as he came back to finish fourth ahead of Chris Webb while Doug picked up a lot of new fans with his unusual seventh place finish.
The IMCA Sport Mods had a solid field of fifteen for opening night and the feature winner was decided literally by inches. Thad Gaylord picked up the lead from the start, fought off a mid-race challenge from Todd Holman and appeared to be headed to an easy win. Holman had other thoughts as he mounted one last run pulling even with Gaylord coming out of turn four looking for the checkers. At the line it was Gaylord by a bumper over Holman with Philip Cossell, Jacob Smith and Derek Coleman not far behind. It was an emotional win for Gaylord as he noted that his wife of ten years this day was not here to witness it as she was home with a sick child. You can bet that they were very excited when they got the call from Thad about the opening night triumph.
Doug Fenton was the 2007 Hobby Stock Track Champion here and he set the tone for a return to the throne by going flag-to-flag for the fifteen-lap feature win. 2006 champ Dan Wenig gave Fenton a challenge and crossed the line second followed by John Oliver Jr. who had started on the eleventh row. The official finish though was shuffled in the tech area as both Wenig and Oliver, along with the fourth place car of Derek Kirkland were disqualified due to assorted issues in the rearends of their cars. This moved Rob Wilsey from fifth to second and sixteen-year-old Derek St. Clair wound up third. Speaking of former Hobby Stock track champions, the 2008 titleist Dean Kratzer had a rough start as he dropped out early with a flat tire.
The Lee County Speedway returns to action next Friday night May 1st and the Late Model "Drive for Five" returns on May 8th. Check out the full schedule that also includes Midgets and Sprint Cars, plus my favorite event "Shiverfest" at http://www.leecountyspeedway.com/.
Race fans, if you would like to catch the videos of Tommy Elston's Late Model races this season go to www.richardrealtyauction.com and click on the Team 15 link.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Burgtorf Still The Master at Quincy; Tomlinson Tops Stocks
Late Model drivers have known for the past several years that when you come to the Quincy Raceway the man to beat is Mark Burgtorf. So it was no surprise on this Thursday night that it was Burgtorf who parked in victory lane after the fifty lap main event for stop number three of the 2009 Deery Brothers Summer Series.
Ray Guss Jr. took the early lead and held off a challenge from Terry Schlipman who is filling in for an injured Tom Goble. Burgtorf slipped past Schlipman on the highside on lap seven and then went to work on Guss for the lead. On the eleventh circuit of the beautifully prepared quarter-mile Burgtorf had a nice run off the cushion of turn four only to have Guss shut the door at the flagstand. Two laps later the scene was repeated, but this time Burgtorf was able to squeeze between the leader and the wall donw the frontstretch and he completed the pass off turn two. With no cautions the remainder of the distance Burgtorf worked traffic like a pro and opened up a full straightaway advantage.
The battle for second was a good one to watch as Jeff Aikey and Jason Frankel joined Guss in traffic. Guss made a nifty move on a lapped car late to put some space on his challengers and he wound up a distant second to Burgtorf. Frankel, who started fifteenth, picked up the third spot with Aikey finishing fourth. Local favorite Jerry "the hippie" Weisenberger completed the top five.
Ron Elbe (3) and Dustin Griffin (20) battle in qualifying action - BWJ Photo
Ray Guss Jr. took the early lead and held off a challenge from Terry Schlipman who is filling in for an injured Tom Goble. Burgtorf slipped past Schlipman on the highside on lap seven and then went to work on Guss for the lead. On the eleventh circuit of the beautifully prepared quarter-mile Burgtorf had a nice run off the cushion of turn four only to have Guss shut the door at the flagstand. Two laps later the scene was repeated, but this time Burgtorf was able to squeeze between the leader and the wall donw the frontstretch and he completed the pass off turn two. With no cautions the remainder of the distance Burgtorf worked traffic like a pro and opened up a full straightaway advantage.
The battle for second was a good one to watch as Jeff Aikey and Jason Frankel joined Guss in traffic. Guss made a nifty move on a lapped car late to put some space on his challengers and he wound up a distant second to Burgtorf. Frankel, who started fifteenth, picked up the third spot with Aikey finishing fourth. Local favorite Jerry "the hippie" Weisenberger completed the top five.
Ron Elbe (3) and Dustin Griffin (20) battle in qualifying action - BWJ Photo
Tom Darbyshire (42) and Joey Gower (31) were two of the nine cars that finished on the lead lap placing 7th and 9th respectively - BWJ Photo
It was just a couple of years ago when I watched Kevin Tomlinson dominate Burgtorf and the rest of the field to win the opening night Late Model feature here at Quincy and that was following a season where he chased the Deery series in quest of the rookie-of-the-year honors. This year Tomlinson has decided that an IMCA Stock Car better fits his racing budget and in his first two outings he has served notice that there is a new contender in the division. After finishing third on opening night Tomlinson picked up his first career Stock Car victory on this night as he passed Abe Huls with only two laps remaining. Huls held on for runner-up honors followed by another Stock Car rookie Terry Houston. Chris Wibbell and Jason Cook completed the top five while Jeff Mueller, who won on opening night here April 12th, finished sixth. Mueller suffered a flat tire in his heat race and started the feature race from the seventh row.
Jim Powell completed an entertaining night of racing by taking the Hobby Stock checkered flag that flew at 9:50 p.m.
Andrew Griffin (25) works the low groove under Steve Steinkuhler (04s) in IMCA Stock Car action at Quincy Raceway - BWJ Photo
"Q" Notes…..The event was originally scheduled for Sunday April 19th, but was washed out by rain. The track dodged a bullet with the weather on Thursday when an upper air disturbance tracked from Kansas City to Chicago with a cluster of storms that passed about fifteen miles north of the speedway…..Forty Late Models were on hand tonight giving the series an average car count of 55.7 after three events……Quincy drivers (Burgtorf and Frankel) have won all three Deery events so far in 2009. We’ll see if that streak continues on Wednesday May 20th at Highway 3 Raceway in Allison…..Burgtorf started eighth in the first heat and passed Justin Kay on the final lap for the third and final transfer spot.….Frankel came from tenth to fifth in heat two and then ran second to Lonnie Bailey in the first B-Main. In the feature he made a big move early coming from row seven up to eighth in the first seven laps.….Schlipman started sixth and passed Darrell DeFrance late to win the fourth heat race. Jeff Aikey came from row five to qualify third in that same race..…Keith Pratt put his Late Model on its roof after jumping the cushion in turn one early in the second B-Main....Billy Genenbacher was running strong in a transfer spot in that second B before mechanical issues put him on the sidelines. Denny Woodworth capitalized on Genenbacher’s misfortune and passed Dustin Griffin coming to the white flag for the final transfer spot.
Thanks to the Quincy Raceway staff for their great hospitality and a very well run show on a very racy surface!
Check the ad our homepage at http://www.positivelyracing.com/ for the season opener at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson Friday night. Perhaps we’ll see you there?
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Exciting Features Spice Up Fast Moving Show at Vinton
The Benton County Speedway in Vinton was the only Sunday night track to escape the rain and a good crowd was on hand all bundled up to ward off a cold sustained northwest wind. One of the things that I love about the racing at Vinton is that you know that Mick Trier and his crew will start on time and that the show will be run off without any delays. And on a chilly night like this that was enough to convince me to make the 100-mile drive to take in the action at the quarter-mile oval known as the birthplace of the IMCA Modified.
The Hobby Stocks were the first feature to hit the track tonight and they set the tone for some great racing the remainder of the evening. Vince Bucholz paced the field for the first five circuits before exiting with mechanical problems turning the lead over to Wes Stanek Jr. Last week’s winner Bill Bonnett worked his way up from the middle of the pack and went to work on Stanek trying to nose under the leader on several occasions, but Stanek was up to the challenge each time. The third place car of Brad Forbes also joined the battle over the closing laps and, on the final circuit, when Bonnett drove under Stanek into turn three they both drifted high and got a bit sideways after making contact. This was exactly what Forbes was hoping for and he drove to the inside to pass both of them coming to the checkered flag for the win as Bonnett edged out Stanek by a nose for second.
The IMCA Sport Compact feature saw Bill Whalen Jr. emerge from the pack as they bunched up in turn two on the opening lap leaving Nathan Chandler, Gary Pfeiffer and the rest of the field a full straightaway behind. Whalen hails from Riverside and you will find him just about anywhere in the Midwest where they are racing four cylinders so it was good to see him in victory lane.
The Sport Mods were up next and it only took four laps for Austin Kaplan to come from row five to take the lead from Ryan Coleman. Kaplan looked to have things well in hand for a second straight feature win at Vinton until a late caution bunched up the field. On the restart both Drew Fish and Jesse Sobbing were able to keep pace with Kaplan and on the final lap Sobbing was able to pull even with the leader coming out of turn two. Kaplan kept his cool though and regained the advantage through the final two turns to take the victory. Sobbing, who is in his first full year of running a Sport Mod coming out of the Hobby Stock ranks, made the long trip from the western Iowa town of Glenwood pay off by finishing second while Jim Buhlman passed Fish late to take the third spot.
The IMCA Stock Cars seem to always put on a good show no matter what track I am watching them at and tonight was no different. Norman Chesmore started from the pole and hugged the bottom groove to take the lead, but my eyes were on Damon Murty as he charged from sixteenth to sixth in the first three laps. Up front it was a tight four-car battle as Chesmore had Justin Temeyer and Paul Shepard often running side-by-side right behind him with Rod Grother also looking for racing room. With three laps remaining Temeyer had a run going on the outside of Chesmore and looked like he would make the pass for the lead only to have a lapped car spin right in front of the leaders brining out the caution. On the restart Temeyer tried the bottom and Shepard went to the top groove both trying to find a way past the leader. In turn four Chesmore checked up just a bit as he got loose and, after just a bit of contact, he got turned toward the infield allowing the next six cars to get around him before he scrambled back onto the racing surface. Shepard made one last bid over the final two laps only to come up short as Justin Temeyer picked up the exciting win. Murty wound up in third followed by Grother and Jason DeShaw.
The IMCA Modifieds next on the card and while their feature did not have quite the drama of the features before them, there was plenty of good racing nonetheless. Don Erger had a plain white car with a number six taped on it in orange and he started from the pole position for the twenty-lap event. This entry would have finished last at the car show, but looks aren’t everything as Erger drove away from the pack for a flag-to-flag victory. So the question now is does he save the "Feature Winner" sticker and put it on after the car is painted and lettered, or should he just leave it as is and keep adding more of those stickers? Troy Cordes made up a lot of ground in the closing laps as Erger patiently dealt with a couple of lapped cars and finished second. Joe Docekal took home the third spot ahead of Max Corporan who originally started thirteenth. Buster Pate drove a solid race to round out the top five.
What a fun night! Great racing and we were back in the car and headed home at 8:25 p.m. Now that is what Sunday night racing is all about!
The Deery Brothers Summer Series event that was rained out at Quincy on Sunday April 19th has been rescheduled for this Thursday April 23rd. This sets up a great doubleheader that we plan to take advantage of as the following night will be the season opener at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson featuring the Pilot Grove Savings Bank/Ideal Ready Mix "Drive for Five" IMCA Late Model series. Hope to see you there!
The Hobby Stocks were the first feature to hit the track tonight and they set the tone for some great racing the remainder of the evening. Vince Bucholz paced the field for the first five circuits before exiting with mechanical problems turning the lead over to Wes Stanek Jr. Last week’s winner Bill Bonnett worked his way up from the middle of the pack and went to work on Stanek trying to nose under the leader on several occasions, but Stanek was up to the challenge each time. The third place car of Brad Forbes also joined the battle over the closing laps and, on the final circuit, when Bonnett drove under Stanek into turn three they both drifted high and got a bit sideways after making contact. This was exactly what Forbes was hoping for and he drove to the inside to pass both of them coming to the checkered flag for the win as Bonnett edged out Stanek by a nose for second.
The IMCA Sport Compact feature saw Bill Whalen Jr. emerge from the pack as they bunched up in turn two on the opening lap leaving Nathan Chandler, Gary Pfeiffer and the rest of the field a full straightaway behind. Whalen hails from Riverside and you will find him just about anywhere in the Midwest where they are racing four cylinders so it was good to see him in victory lane.
The Sport Mods were up next and it only took four laps for Austin Kaplan to come from row five to take the lead from Ryan Coleman. Kaplan looked to have things well in hand for a second straight feature win at Vinton until a late caution bunched up the field. On the restart both Drew Fish and Jesse Sobbing were able to keep pace with Kaplan and on the final lap Sobbing was able to pull even with the leader coming out of turn two. Kaplan kept his cool though and regained the advantage through the final two turns to take the victory. Sobbing, who is in his first full year of running a Sport Mod coming out of the Hobby Stock ranks, made the long trip from the western Iowa town of Glenwood pay off by finishing second while Jim Buhlman passed Fish late to take the third spot.
The IMCA Stock Cars seem to always put on a good show no matter what track I am watching them at and tonight was no different. Norman Chesmore started from the pole and hugged the bottom groove to take the lead, but my eyes were on Damon Murty as he charged from sixteenth to sixth in the first three laps. Up front it was a tight four-car battle as Chesmore had Justin Temeyer and Paul Shepard often running side-by-side right behind him with Rod Grother also looking for racing room. With three laps remaining Temeyer had a run going on the outside of Chesmore and looked like he would make the pass for the lead only to have a lapped car spin right in front of the leaders brining out the caution. On the restart Temeyer tried the bottom and Shepard went to the top groove both trying to find a way past the leader. In turn four Chesmore checked up just a bit as he got loose and, after just a bit of contact, he got turned toward the infield allowing the next six cars to get around him before he scrambled back onto the racing surface. Shepard made one last bid over the final two laps only to come up short as Justin Temeyer picked up the exciting win. Murty wound up in third followed by Grother and Jason DeShaw.
The IMCA Modifieds next on the card and while their feature did not have quite the drama of the features before them, there was plenty of good racing nonetheless. Don Erger had a plain white car with a number six taped on it in orange and he started from the pole position for the twenty-lap event. This entry would have finished last at the car show, but looks aren’t everything as Erger drove away from the pack for a flag-to-flag victory. So the question now is does he save the "Feature Winner" sticker and put it on after the car is painted and lettered, or should he just leave it as is and keep adding more of those stickers? Troy Cordes made up a lot of ground in the closing laps as Erger patiently dealt with a couple of lapped cars and finished second. Joe Docekal took home the third spot ahead of Max Corporan who originally started thirteenth. Buster Pate drove a solid race to round out the top five.
What a fun night! Great racing and we were back in the car and headed home at 8:25 p.m. Now that is what Sunday night racing is all about!
The Deery Brothers Summer Series event that was rained out at Quincy on Sunday April 19th has been rescheduled for this Thursday April 23rd. This sets up a great doubleheader that we plan to take advantage of as the following night will be the season opener at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson featuring the Pilot Grove Savings Bank/Ideal Ready Mix "Drive for Five" IMCA Late Model series. Hope to see you there!
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