Jeff Aikey started from the pole position and won the 50-lap Ideal Ready Mix Tri-Track Challenge for IMCA Late Models and the $2,000 top prize at the Farley Speedway Friday night. Sounds like it was a pretty easy night for the veteran driver from Cedar Falls, doesn't it? And now for the rest of the story.
Scott Fitzpatrick would start alongside Aikey and as those two battled door-to-door for the lead on the opening lap, sixth-starting Justin Kay hooked the cushion entering turn three and his car shot to the right going up and over the edge of the race track where he would slide quite a distance through the saturated grass before slamming sideways into a fifteen foot tall pile of dirt. It took the wrecker crew several minutes to stretch the cable far enough to hook on to Kay's car and after they were able to pull him in to a dry enough area he was able to start the car and return to the speedway where he would now start from the rear of the 24-car field.
On the restart Aikey would establish himself as the leader with Jason Rauen dropping Fitzpatrick back to third and Late Model fans around here know that when the track is tacky fast, Jason Rauen is going to be in the hunt. After all, they don't just call him "Hammer Down" because it rhymes with his last name. Using the cushion in turn four Rauen drove around Aikley for the lead on lap six and steadily built a cushion even as he was negotiating traffic. With Rauen now in control our attention moved back to the battle for second where young Tyler Droste had moved in to challenge Aikey. Droste who won his first career Late Model feature here at Farley last Friday night was able to get by Aikey as they raced down the back stretch on lap twenty-two, but just as the exchange for position occurred Rauen slowed suddenly on the front stretch stopping just before the entrance to the infield before turn one.
Once the caution waved Rauen quickly scrambled to the infield and then out the back stretch to his pit area frantically pointing at the left front of his car even though there was no visible issue with the car. With the loss of the leader Aikey and Droste would go side-by-side for the restart as Rauen returned to the rear of the field just before Doug Haack's green flag appeared once again. As Aikey again took the lead Rauen went to the tip top of turns one and two to pass five cars on that first circuit, so he was coming once again.
Droste knew that he had been able to dispose of Aikey once, so he went right back to work on the now leader once again and on lap twenty-six the youngster again made the move that this time would put him into the lead. The son of former All Iowa Points Modified champion Steve Droste and the grandson of former All Iowa Points Late Model champion Red Droste was fast once again, but the field would be brought back to him when the fourth-place car of Andy Eckrich slowed on the front stretch on lap twenty-nine. As Eckrich headed to the pits under caution so too did the third-place car of Fitzpatrick and while Eckrich did return for the restart, Fitzpatrick did not.
The race went green for two more laps before Tyler Bruening slowed and following the restart the 18-year-old Droste looked to be well on his way to his second straight victory before the engine let go on his #31 let go with eleven laps remaining. At the same time smoke now billowed out of the left front of Rauen's #98 that was back up to the fourth position taking two of the top contenders out at the same time.
Losing the leader on a caution again created a two abreast restart this time with Johnny Emerson starting next to Aikey and when the green flag waved Aikey was again able to take the lead. The final laps ran off without caution and without any change for position in the top five as Aikey would take the win over Emerson, Curt Martin, Joel Callahan and Justin Kay. Had it not been for a late rainout in Des Moines where Aikey is racing for the extra point fund money, he would not have even been here in the first place and while he started from the pole and won the fifty-lap event, the $2,000 definitely did not come with ease. And as the legendary Paul Harvey would say......
A mechanical issue took out the leader in the IMCA Modified feature as well when J.D. Auringer slowed on lap four of the twenty-lap event turning the point over to Zach Less. Patrick Flannagan applied the pressure on Less and he was able to take the lead going down the back stretch on lap nine, but before the lap was scored the caution waved for debris putting Less back out front for the restart. Flannagan would again grapple for the lead during the second half of the race, but the Wartburg college wrestler Less fought off the challenge to score the take down and take the win over Flannagan. Adam Johnson finished in the third spot, Mark Schulte came from the fifth row to finish fourth and Jerry Luloff was fifth.
The Stock Car field was short again tonight at six, and after Erick Knutsen suffered damage in a heat race scuffle it was just a five-car field that went for fifteen-laps but just like last week the race for the win was very entertaining. At the drop of the green Jerry Miles made it three-wide with the front row of Chris Luloff and Norman Chesmore and it was Miles who would hold the lead on lap one. With that strong start it looked like Miles would walk away with this one, but Luloff had other plans as he closed in on the leader in the final five laps. With just two to go Luloff pulled even with Miles and it wasn't until the final set of turn that Miles was able to shake off the challenge and score the win. Luloff and Chesmore were close behind while Phil Holtz and Uriah Frommelt were scored fourth and fifth.
Same story for the Hobby Stocks that could use more race cars, but you have to hand it to those who were there for putting on some entertaining racing. Quinton Miller won for the third week in a row and, if not for her car failing to come up to speed on a late restart for the second week in a row, Leah Wroten might have been a winner although this week she recovered to finish second. Luke Bird would take third while Eric McDonough and Randy Byerly were scored in fourth and fifth.
Five Micro Mods were on hand tonight with Jamie Whitaker scoring his first win in the division with last week's winner Brandon Maitland chasing him all the way.
And finally we get to the twenty-car IMCA Sport Mod field that started off the list of feature races with an event that seriously challenges the principles of Positively Racing. In a race that saw eight cautions in the first nine laps including a couple where drivers intentionally stopped on the track so that they could duck into the pits and try to make repairs, the fifteen-lap race mercifully came to an end after forty minutes with Austin Heacock in victory lane. The finish was definitely a good one as Tyler Soppe drove hard into turn three on the final lap and rubbed paint with Heacock making for a photo finish at the line. K.C. Ansel took third, mid-race leader Jason Doyle was fourth and Gage Neal who started the marathon from row ten finished in fifth.
After all of the rain from the day before it took quite an effort from promoter Keith Simmons and his staff to get the facility into shape just to have this race and all in attendance have to appreciate those efforts after watching the twists and turns of the Late Model feature. With the unfavorable conditions extra time had to be taken to pack the track on several occasions and that, along with the Sport Mod feature produced a final checkered flag that waved at 11;54 p.m. It was a late trip home for this weary traveler who had driven to Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Minnesota this week, but I had plenty of action to reflect back upon as I made the drive home.
Thanks to Keith, Jerry Mackey, Kevin Feller, Doug Haack and all of the SPI crew for their hospitality and I look forward to returning to the Palace of Speed at least a couple of more times during the 2015 season.
No racing for me tonight and I am hoping that the weather holds out for a trip to the Quincy Raceways on Sunday for the "Scottie 41", an event that drew twenty-six UMP Late Models last year. Enjoy your racing weekend!
Saturday, May 16, 2015
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Frustration
I am frustrated and to make it even worse I feel stupid for being frustrated......so in essence my frustration is enhanced by that fact. Ah, poor me.
With all of the rainouts and cancellations that have been endured by racing not only locally but throughout the nation I for the most part have been pretty lucky when it comes to the events that I had planned to attend. That is until this past week.
My good luck was still in effect for the Sprint Invader show at Oskaloosa last Wednesday, but when the predicted rain rolled in on Thursday and prompted the complete cancellation of the three-day MLRA Late Model swing the frustration began. Yes, I was able drive out of the rain to go racing in Farley on Friday night and then on Saturday the Knoxville Raceway was finally able to open the season (more on that in a minute), but then on Sunday a long line of thunderstorms wiped out plans that were part of a business road trip for that evening.
On Tuesday the Hawkeye Dirt Tour opener was postponed due to cold and wind, plus the rain that had fallen in the past two days, and now on Wednesday when I would normally be joining my friends in the stands at the Southern Iowa Speedway I am instead otherwise engaged in a situation that I thought would get me some racing at a track that I rarely frequent on Thursday. But guess what, the forecast is pretty dead certain that it is going to rain!! My next two chances to return to the track will be on Friday and Sunday where once again the forecast calls for rain. Grrrr.....
When I get frustrated like this I often do something stupid like get involved in an internet forum discussion about how to boost the car counts in the four cylinder division. No matter how one notorious poster likes to twist it, I enjoy the division and I would love to see it succeed. But a low car count in this division is completely different than a low car count in a division like the Modifieds, Stock Cars and Late Models. The general fan will still buy a ticket to watch a short field in these three divisions. Anyway, if you want to join the fun.....
The pits were packed at Knoxville Saturday night with 38 410's, 32 360's, 28 305's and 12 Dirt Trucks and that made for a long night. Looking back I can't really pinpoint any specific delays, other than the scary crash that injured twelve time All Iowa Points Champion Terry McCarl, that resulted in the final checkered flag waving at 12:30 a.m. Can't blame the trucks as they put on a pretty clean and entertaining show that probably didn't add more than twenty minutes and there were no other red flags on the night. Getting home at 2:30 a.m. and then helping prepare for a Mother's Day soiree before then leaving on Sunday afternoon for business is why you didn't see a Back Stretch story on the evening. And you can bet that the crew at Knoxville will review the opening night to see where they can tighten things up going forward.
Here is the recap of the 410 feature and it is on lap two where my heart skipped a beat actually hearing the impact when Brad Loyet t-boned Terry McCarl. Thank goodness that Terry and Brad were both able to escape serious injuring and here's hoping that T-Mac will be in action again soon.
After compiling this weeks national dirt late model points I have a couple of new "favorite race names". Clate Copeman scored two wins this past weekend in Pennsylvania and Buck Roadcap was the feature winner at Virginia Motor Speedway.
Need to wrap this up so that I can grab dinner and a beer to hopefully wash away some of this frustration. Hope they are having fun in Oskaloosa and I hope to see you somewhere dry soon!
With all of the rainouts and cancellations that have been endured by racing not only locally but throughout the nation I for the most part have been pretty lucky when it comes to the events that I had planned to attend. That is until this past week.
My good luck was still in effect for the Sprint Invader show at Oskaloosa last Wednesday, but when the predicted rain rolled in on Thursday and prompted the complete cancellation of the three-day MLRA Late Model swing the frustration began. Yes, I was able drive out of the rain to go racing in Farley on Friday night and then on Saturday the Knoxville Raceway was finally able to open the season (more on that in a minute), but then on Sunday a long line of thunderstorms wiped out plans that were part of a business road trip for that evening.
On Tuesday the Hawkeye Dirt Tour opener was postponed due to cold and wind, plus the rain that had fallen in the past two days, and now on Wednesday when I would normally be joining my friends in the stands at the Southern Iowa Speedway I am instead otherwise engaged in a situation that I thought would get me some racing at a track that I rarely frequent on Thursday. But guess what, the forecast is pretty dead certain that it is going to rain!! My next two chances to return to the track will be on Friday and Sunday where once again the forecast calls for rain. Grrrr.....
When I get frustrated like this I often do something stupid like get involved in an internet forum discussion about how to boost the car counts in the four cylinder division. No matter how one notorious poster likes to twist it, I enjoy the division and I would love to see it succeed. But a low car count in this division is completely different than a low car count in a division like the Modifieds, Stock Cars and Late Models. The general fan will still buy a ticket to watch a short field in these three divisions. Anyway, if you want to join the fun.....
The pits were packed at Knoxville Saturday night with 38 410's, 32 360's, 28 305's and 12 Dirt Trucks and that made for a long night. Looking back I can't really pinpoint any specific delays, other than the scary crash that injured twelve time All Iowa Points Champion Terry McCarl, that resulted in the final checkered flag waving at 12:30 a.m. Can't blame the trucks as they put on a pretty clean and entertaining show that probably didn't add more than twenty minutes and there were no other red flags on the night. Getting home at 2:30 a.m. and then helping prepare for a Mother's Day soiree before then leaving on Sunday afternoon for business is why you didn't see a Back Stretch story on the evening. And you can bet that the crew at Knoxville will review the opening night to see where they can tighten things up going forward.
Here is the recap of the 410 feature and it is on lap two where my heart skipped a beat actually hearing the impact when Brad Loyet t-boned Terry McCarl. Thank goodness that Terry and Brad were both able to escape serious injuring and here's hoping that T-Mac will be in action again soon.
After compiling this weeks national dirt late model points I have a couple of new "favorite race names". Clate Copeman scored two wins this past weekend in Pennsylvania and Buck Roadcap was the feature winner at Virginia Motor Speedway.
Need to wrap this up so that I can grab dinner and a beer to hopefully wash away some of this frustration. Hope they are having fun in Oskaloosa and I hope to see you somewhere dry soon!
Saturday, May 9, 2015
A Family Tradition Continues At Farley
Red Droste won a lot of races and was the first All Iowa Points Late Model champion back in 1967, the first year of coverage by Hawkeye Racing News, and who knows how many more he would have won if there would have been a way for me to back track the state points even further. Steve Droste's auto racing career was relatively short, but very successful as he was the 1996 All Iowa Points Modified champion and Tyler Droste has already proven that he can be a consistent winner in the Modified class as well. On Friday night though, fans in attendance at the Farley Speedway may have been witness to the first of many Late Model wins for the third generation driver as Tyler dominated the twenty-seven car field.
With rain plaguing southeast Iowa throughout the day a check of the radar showed that Farley was in the clear and after confirming with Kevin Feller that the rain had stayed south of the speedway I made the trip up to Farley for what I believe was the first time that I have ever been to a weekly show there. In the season opener here last week I noticed that the IMCA Late Models drew a solid count of twenty-four and it was great to see even more in the pits after making the two hour drive.
Jason Rauen joined Droste on the front row for the twenty-five lap main event and it was Rauen who established himself as the race leader at the drop of the green. However, when Steve Hunter spun in turn three before the first lap could be scored the field was reset and this time it was Droste who would lead the way on the opening lap. Hunter spun again on lap two and on the restart Droste took advantage of the two and three wide racing going on behind him to open up a big lead.
Travis Smock, driving the black #1 that we saw Brian Hunter in earlier this season, moved into the second spot by lap ten and began to cut into the lead as Droste worked traffic, but you would have never known that the youngster was looking for his first career Late Model win as he calmly disposed of the obstacles and again pulled away. The race stayed green the rest of the way and it was a dominating performance for Droste who foreshadowed this by finishing third to Justin Kay and Matt Ryan at the $5,000-to-win show at Davenport back in early April. Smock was impressive with his runner-up finish, Nick Marolf fought off Andy Nezworski to finish third and Jason Rauen completed the top five.
Zach Less would pace the field for the opening laps of the twenty-lap IMCA Modified main event before J.D. Auringer took over on lap three. The caution waved right after that exchange when Rod McDonald spun in turn three and on the restart Auringer pulled out to a solid advantage. The caution flew again on lap seven when the third-place car of Kenny Kostenbader spun in turn one and again it was Auringer pulling away on the restart. With laps winding down the race to watch was for second where Independence drivers Adam Johnson and Jerry Luloff where doing battle, but when the right rear tire on Auringer's car started to go flat that battle for second all of sudden had to make room to get around the slowing leader with three laps to go. Johnson would assume the lead with Luloff still challenging and when Ryan Maitland spun in turn four after the leaders had taken the white flag the race was scored official with Adam Johnson taking the win. Luloff would finish second, Mark Schulte came from tenth to third, Zach Less was fourth and unofficially Matt Gansen was fifth.
The IMCA Sport Mods ran the first feature of the night and they struggled with five cautions in the first nine laps of the fifteen lap distance. Bobby Taggart nipped Troy Bauer to lead lap one, Steve Miller would hold the lead on lap two following a restart and then following another restart Bauer would takeover the point on lap three. Fortunately the final six laps would go green and provide the fans with a good battle for the lead as Tyler Soppe mounted a strong challenge and he completed the pass of Bauer for the lead with three to go. Bauer was not about to give in though as he was able to pull even with Soppe on the following lap, but he could not regain the point as Soppe scored the win over Bauer. Tony Olson was going to finish in third until he looped his car in turn four on the final lap handing the position over to the 2014 Davenport Speedway champion Bryce Garnhart, Miller was fourth and K.C. Ansel took fifth.
The IMCA Stock Car field had just seven cars, but all seven were capable of winning and they put on a very entertaining fifteen lap feature running in a tight pack throughout. Phil Holtz would take the lead from Norman Chesmore on lap two and then hold off a persistent challenge from Jerry Miles to take the win. Tom Schmitt was close behind in third at the checkers with Chesmore and Cole Mather completing the top five.
The Hobby Stock field was even smaller with five cars, but they too put on a show as Leah Wroten had both Quinton Miller and Eric McDonough putting pressure on her until Miller got into the turn one wall with five laps remaining. That flattened the right front tire on Miller's car and he coasted to a stop on the track to draw a yellow so that he could duck into the pits and make the change. As the green flag waved for the restart Wroten's car would not respond and she coasted into the pits as McDonough took the lead and he was now faced with the task of fighting off Miller. With two laps remaining Quinton was finally able to find the lead and he would go on to take his second win in a row at Farley. McDonough was second, Randy Byerly third, Leah Wroten was credited with fourth and Randy VandeVegte completed the field.
Stock Car and Hobby Stock drivers, where are you on Friday night? Both divisions put on some good racing tonight, but it sure would be nice to see some more cars!
Always great to visit with long time friends Kevin Feller, Doug Haack and Jerry Mackey and a big thank you to Jerry for the nice words about what we do at Positively Racing. I enjoyed my trip to Farley and I look forward to seeing the SPI crew more often during 2015 with planned visits to both West Liberty and Dubuque as well.
With a break in the weather this morning it is now time to get some yard work done before a trip to the Knoxville Raceway tonight. Here's hoping that the radar stays clean as the National Sprint League will be in action for what turns out to be the 2015 season opener at Knoxville.
Get out to the track of your choice tonight!
With rain plaguing southeast Iowa throughout the day a check of the radar showed that Farley was in the clear and after confirming with Kevin Feller that the rain had stayed south of the speedway I made the trip up to Farley for what I believe was the first time that I have ever been to a weekly show there. In the season opener here last week I noticed that the IMCA Late Models drew a solid count of twenty-four and it was great to see even more in the pits after making the two hour drive.
Jason Rauen joined Droste on the front row for the twenty-five lap main event and it was Rauen who established himself as the race leader at the drop of the green. However, when Steve Hunter spun in turn three before the first lap could be scored the field was reset and this time it was Droste who would lead the way on the opening lap. Hunter spun again on lap two and on the restart Droste took advantage of the two and three wide racing going on behind him to open up a big lead.
Travis Smock, driving the black #1 that we saw Brian Hunter in earlier this season, moved into the second spot by lap ten and began to cut into the lead as Droste worked traffic, but you would have never known that the youngster was looking for his first career Late Model win as he calmly disposed of the obstacles and again pulled away. The race stayed green the rest of the way and it was a dominating performance for Droste who foreshadowed this by finishing third to Justin Kay and Matt Ryan at the $5,000-to-win show at Davenport back in early April. Smock was impressive with his runner-up finish, Nick Marolf fought off Andy Nezworski to finish third and Jason Rauen completed the top five.
Zach Less would pace the field for the opening laps of the twenty-lap IMCA Modified main event before J.D. Auringer took over on lap three. The caution waved right after that exchange when Rod McDonald spun in turn three and on the restart Auringer pulled out to a solid advantage. The caution flew again on lap seven when the third-place car of Kenny Kostenbader spun in turn one and again it was Auringer pulling away on the restart. With laps winding down the race to watch was for second where Independence drivers Adam Johnson and Jerry Luloff where doing battle, but when the right rear tire on Auringer's car started to go flat that battle for second all of sudden had to make room to get around the slowing leader with three laps to go. Johnson would assume the lead with Luloff still challenging and when Ryan Maitland spun in turn four after the leaders had taken the white flag the race was scored official with Adam Johnson taking the win. Luloff would finish second, Mark Schulte came from tenth to third, Zach Less was fourth and unofficially Matt Gansen was fifth.
The IMCA Sport Mods ran the first feature of the night and they struggled with five cautions in the first nine laps of the fifteen lap distance. Bobby Taggart nipped Troy Bauer to lead lap one, Steve Miller would hold the lead on lap two following a restart and then following another restart Bauer would takeover the point on lap three. Fortunately the final six laps would go green and provide the fans with a good battle for the lead as Tyler Soppe mounted a strong challenge and he completed the pass of Bauer for the lead with three to go. Bauer was not about to give in though as he was able to pull even with Soppe on the following lap, but he could not regain the point as Soppe scored the win over Bauer. Tony Olson was going to finish in third until he looped his car in turn four on the final lap handing the position over to the 2014 Davenport Speedway champion Bryce Garnhart, Miller was fourth and K.C. Ansel took fifth.
The IMCA Stock Car field had just seven cars, but all seven were capable of winning and they put on a very entertaining fifteen lap feature running in a tight pack throughout. Phil Holtz would take the lead from Norman Chesmore on lap two and then hold off a persistent challenge from Jerry Miles to take the win. Tom Schmitt was close behind in third at the checkers with Chesmore and Cole Mather completing the top five.
The Hobby Stock field was even smaller with five cars, but they too put on a show as Leah Wroten had both Quinton Miller and Eric McDonough putting pressure on her until Miller got into the turn one wall with five laps remaining. That flattened the right front tire on Miller's car and he coasted to a stop on the track to draw a yellow so that he could duck into the pits and make the change. As the green flag waved for the restart Wroten's car would not respond and she coasted into the pits as McDonough took the lead and he was now faced with the task of fighting off Miller. With two laps remaining Quinton was finally able to find the lead and he would go on to take his second win in a row at Farley. McDonough was second, Randy Byerly third, Leah Wroten was credited with fourth and Randy VandeVegte completed the field.
Stock Car and Hobby Stock drivers, where are you on Friday night? Both divisions put on some good racing tonight, but it sure would be nice to see some more cars!
Always great to visit with long time friends Kevin Feller, Doug Haack and Jerry Mackey and a big thank you to Jerry for the nice words about what we do at Positively Racing. I enjoyed my trip to Farley and I look forward to seeing the SPI crew more often during 2015 with planned visits to both West Liberty and Dubuque as well.
With a break in the weather this morning it is now time to get some yard work done before a trip to the Knoxville Raceway tonight. Here's hoping that the radar stays clean as the National Sprint League will be in action for what turns out to be the 2015 season opener at Knoxville.
Get out to the track of your choice tonight!
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Ball Holds Off Van Haaften for Invaders Win At Osky
Two of the new regulars with the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders battled it out over the final five laps of the main event at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa Wednesday and when the checkers waved it was Jamie Ball in victory lane for the first time ever with the series. Scott Dickey, Zack VanderBeek, Jason McDaniel, Dustin Griffiths and John Whalen also posted victories on a busy night in front of a solid crowd that ignored the predicted showers and thunderstorms that were in the area, but never made it to the track.
The roster of twenty-five sprint cars was trimmed to a twenty-car lineup for the twenty-lap main event that saw Tony Shilling vault out to a big early lead. By lap five though Shilling had caught the back of the pack and that allowed Jamie Ball to close the gap quickly. As the leaders negotiated a pair of lapped cars in turn four a lap later Ball grazed the back bumper of Shilling turning him sideways at the start of the front straightaway. Somehow Shilling was able to keep the car under power and three cars missed him as he recovered and rejoined the race in fifth.
A lap thirteen caution for a stalled Donnie Steward allowed Nate Van Haaften to make a run at the leader although Van Haaften had to also deal with the third-place car of Terry McCarl. The race was slowed again two laps later when the series champions from the past two years, Russ Hall and Jon Agan tangled and wound up against the fence in turn one. Dakota Hendrickson could not get his car off the cushion in time to avoid the pair joining the accident a few seconds later and fortunately all three drivers escaped injury. Hall had started twelfth and Agan from sixteenth so both drivers were on the move as they were racing each other for fifth at the time of the accident.
With five laps remaining and an open track ahead of them it was now a battle between Ball and Van Haaften as McCarl was not able to mount a challenge to the lead duo. With Ball riding the cushion Van Haaften raced low and was able to pull even in the turns each of the first three laps only to have Ball use his momentum off the top to lead again down the straightaways. With the white flag waving Ball was able to put some distance on his challenger and he continued his mistake-free run to capture his first Sprint Invader victory and the $1,500 top prize. Van Haaften was solid in second, McCarl came from ninth to third, Joe Beaver was fourth and Tony Shilling had to settle for fifth.
Two more Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invader events are on the schedule for this month with Sunday night May 24th at 34 Raceway in Burlington and Friday May 29th at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson.
All five weekly divisions were in action as well at Oskaloosa and John Whalen kicked off the evening with his second straight win in the Sport Compacts over a small, but competitive five-car field. Chuck Fullenkamp made his first appearance of the season here and was a very close second ahead of Bill Whalen Jr., Trent Orwig and Curt Myers.
Let's face it, there was no way that the Stock Cars were going to be able to top last week's three-wide photo finish for the win, but they did their best to live up to that at least for the first half of the eighteen-lap event. Local driver Donnie Pearson would lead a pack that was lined up tightly on his back bumper with first Brad Pinkerton trying to make a move and then Zack VanderBeek. After a few laps with no success "The Z-Man" was able to power by Pearson using the inside of turn four to take the lead on lap ten and while Pearson did his best to try to hold off the other challengers VanderBeek pulled away to take a convincing win. Brad Pinkerton and Todd Reitzler were battling for second on the final lap and contact between the two coming off of turn four allowed Mike Hughes to make a late run. Pinkerton nosed out Hughes to finish second while Reitzler recovered in time to finish in fourth ahead of Cayden Carter.
After having motor issues the week before, Jason McDaniel took full advantage of what last week's DNF did to his point average on this night. McDaniel dominated his heat race and then did the same at feature time leading flag to flag from his front row start for the IMCA Sport Mod win. By the time that Brayton Carter and Curtis Van Der Wal picked their way forward from a fourth and fifth row start respectively McDaniel had well over a straightaway lead as Van Der Wal took second and Carter finished in third. Rookie driver Trent Brink was impressive starting from the pole and finishing in fourth while Brett Lowry took advantage of a slip up by Austin Paul in the final turn to take fifth.
The IMCA Hobby Stock feature saw plenty of action as Aaron Martin paced the pack for the first two trips around the "Mahaska Monster". Bobby Greene who is rejuvenated in his second week behind the wheel of a new car took the lead from Martin on lap three, but there was no holding back Dustin Griffiths who was on the charge from the tenth starting position. Griffith's would take the lead on lap five and there would be no catching the defending All Iowa Points champion from there as he picked up the feature win. Greene had his best showing in some time in second, Danny Thrasher slipped by Martin late for third while Dale Porter moved from fourteenth to fifth at the checkers. Mike Kincaid and Jared Stephens were racing for sixth on the final lap, but they ended up sitting near the turn four guardrail together as the checkered flag waved.
When you give Scott Dickey a fast and tacky racing surface it is usually bad news for the rest of the IMCA Modified competitors and that was the case tonight as Dickey followed up a dominating performance in the heat race with a flag to flag run in the main event. Tyler Groenendyk definitely made it interesting over the final laps though as he was able to stick a nose under Dickey a few times, but the second generation driver from Packwood was up to the challenge and secured the win. Cayden Carter followed Groenendyk in for third, Carter VanDenBerg was fourth and Andrew Schroeder filled out the top five. Afterwards I wanted to ask the winner's father Dan Dickey what was more enjoyable, watching his son win a feature race or kayaking, but I already knew the answer.
Racing got over a little later than usual as fans need to remember that Sprint Cars don't just leave the staging area and take the green in one lap like what they are used to seeing with the other five classes here, but even with the added division I was still home just before midnight following my hour and ten minute drive.
So we beat Mother Nature on night one of this five night swing, here's hoping that we can do it again tonight (Thursday) as the MLRA Late Models return to the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. This was one of the best shows that I saw in 2014 so I hope that I might see you there on the Back Stretch!
Thursday 3 p.m. update: Not only is tonight's MLRA Late Model race at Donnellson cancelled, but so is the entire three-day swing that was to include Davenport and Memphis. Guess I will have to start looking to my backup plans for the next two days......
The roster of twenty-five sprint cars was trimmed to a twenty-car lineup for the twenty-lap main event that saw Tony Shilling vault out to a big early lead. By lap five though Shilling had caught the back of the pack and that allowed Jamie Ball to close the gap quickly. As the leaders negotiated a pair of lapped cars in turn four a lap later Ball grazed the back bumper of Shilling turning him sideways at the start of the front straightaway. Somehow Shilling was able to keep the car under power and three cars missed him as he recovered and rejoined the race in fifth.
A lap thirteen caution for a stalled Donnie Steward allowed Nate Van Haaften to make a run at the leader although Van Haaften had to also deal with the third-place car of Terry McCarl. The race was slowed again two laps later when the series champions from the past two years, Russ Hall and Jon Agan tangled and wound up against the fence in turn one. Dakota Hendrickson could not get his car off the cushion in time to avoid the pair joining the accident a few seconds later and fortunately all three drivers escaped injury. Hall had started twelfth and Agan from sixteenth so both drivers were on the move as they were racing each other for fifth at the time of the accident.
With five laps remaining and an open track ahead of them it was now a battle between Ball and Van Haaften as McCarl was not able to mount a challenge to the lead duo. With Ball riding the cushion Van Haaften raced low and was able to pull even in the turns each of the first three laps only to have Ball use his momentum off the top to lead again down the straightaways. With the white flag waving Ball was able to put some distance on his challenger and he continued his mistake-free run to capture his first Sprint Invader victory and the $1,500 top prize. Van Haaften was solid in second, McCarl came from ninth to third, Joe Beaver was fourth and Tony Shilling had to settle for fifth.
Two more Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invader events are on the schedule for this month with Sunday night May 24th at 34 Raceway in Burlington and Friday May 29th at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson.
All five weekly divisions were in action as well at Oskaloosa and John Whalen kicked off the evening with his second straight win in the Sport Compacts over a small, but competitive five-car field. Chuck Fullenkamp made his first appearance of the season here and was a very close second ahead of Bill Whalen Jr., Trent Orwig and Curt Myers.
Let's face it, there was no way that the Stock Cars were going to be able to top last week's three-wide photo finish for the win, but they did their best to live up to that at least for the first half of the eighteen-lap event. Local driver Donnie Pearson would lead a pack that was lined up tightly on his back bumper with first Brad Pinkerton trying to make a move and then Zack VanderBeek. After a few laps with no success "The Z-Man" was able to power by Pearson using the inside of turn four to take the lead on lap ten and while Pearson did his best to try to hold off the other challengers VanderBeek pulled away to take a convincing win. Brad Pinkerton and Todd Reitzler were battling for second on the final lap and contact between the two coming off of turn four allowed Mike Hughes to make a late run. Pinkerton nosed out Hughes to finish second while Reitzler recovered in time to finish in fourth ahead of Cayden Carter.
After having motor issues the week before, Jason McDaniel took full advantage of what last week's DNF did to his point average on this night. McDaniel dominated his heat race and then did the same at feature time leading flag to flag from his front row start for the IMCA Sport Mod win. By the time that Brayton Carter and Curtis Van Der Wal picked their way forward from a fourth and fifth row start respectively McDaniel had well over a straightaway lead as Van Der Wal took second and Carter finished in third. Rookie driver Trent Brink was impressive starting from the pole and finishing in fourth while Brett Lowry took advantage of a slip up by Austin Paul in the final turn to take fifth.
The IMCA Hobby Stock feature saw plenty of action as Aaron Martin paced the pack for the first two trips around the "Mahaska Monster". Bobby Greene who is rejuvenated in his second week behind the wheel of a new car took the lead from Martin on lap three, but there was no holding back Dustin Griffiths who was on the charge from the tenth starting position. Griffith's would take the lead on lap five and there would be no catching the defending All Iowa Points champion from there as he picked up the feature win. Greene had his best showing in some time in second, Danny Thrasher slipped by Martin late for third while Dale Porter moved from fourteenth to fifth at the checkers. Mike Kincaid and Jared Stephens were racing for sixth on the final lap, but they ended up sitting near the turn four guardrail together as the checkered flag waved.
When you give Scott Dickey a fast and tacky racing surface it is usually bad news for the rest of the IMCA Modified competitors and that was the case tonight as Dickey followed up a dominating performance in the heat race with a flag to flag run in the main event. Tyler Groenendyk definitely made it interesting over the final laps though as he was able to stick a nose under Dickey a few times, but the second generation driver from Packwood was up to the challenge and secured the win. Cayden Carter followed Groenendyk in for third, Carter VanDenBerg was fourth and Andrew Schroeder filled out the top five. Afterwards I wanted to ask the winner's father Dan Dickey what was more enjoyable, watching his son win a feature race or kayaking, but I already knew the answer.
Racing got over a little later than usual as fans need to remember that Sprint Cars don't just leave the staging area and take the green in one lap like what they are used to seeing with the other five classes here, but even with the added division I was still home just before midnight following my hour and ten minute drive.
So we beat Mother Nature on night one of this five night swing, here's hoping that we can do it again tonight (Thursday) as the MLRA Late Models return to the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. This was one of the best shows that I saw in 2014 so I hope that I might see you there on the Back Stretch!
Thursday 3 p.m. update: Not only is tonight's MLRA Late Model race at Donnellson cancelled, but so is the entire three-day swing that was to include Davenport and Memphis. Guess I will have to start looking to my backup plans for the next two days......
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Tuesday Notebook: May 5, 2015
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| A little wine and relaxation on a Sunday afternoon near Defiance, Missouri |
In 1982 when I was nineteen years old promoter Larry Kemp hired me to take care of the stories, results and points at 34 Raceway in Burlington. For twenty-five dollars a night it was my job to get a story written, including the full agate style results, and send it out to the news media as soon as possible so that the track could get good coverage from the local newspapers and radio stations along with the racing publications at the time such as Hawkeye Racing News and Speed Sport. Computers were just starting to evolve at the time so I used an electric typewriter and a great new thing called a fax machine in order to spread the news and to help promote the race track. After all, letting people know who won and how they did it is a very vital part of attracting race fans for future events.
If a show got over early enough I would hustle home (20 miles), write the story and send it out before going to bed that night in order to meet the local paper's deadline, but more often than not I would chase some girls in the pits after the races, get home too late and would instead write it up and send it out before noon on Sunday. That was how tracks did it in the "old days", so why is it that now in the age of Twitter, Facebook and Speednet do some tracks make it such a low priority to get their results out in any kind of a timely manner? They use those first two, plus internet racing forums, to "promote" the hell out of an upcoming event, but then afterwards nothing. Here it is Tuesday afternoon and I am still looking for results from two tracks that raced this past weekend and from one track in Missouri that has now had two weeks of racing with no results to be found. Perhaps someone is out chasing girls in the pits......but for two or three days??? Maybe they are better at catching them than I was.
I enjoy reading Ron Meyer's "The Rest of the Dirt" blog and I get a kick out of it when he compares his ballot in the Dirt On Dirt Late Model Top 25 poll to how the poll actually came out that week. As one of the other twenty-nine people who are invited to send in a ballot each week I usually prefer not to share how I voted as I am sure that my way of doing it is probably not the same as most, but when DoD's Michael Rigsby said the following about Randy Weaver on Monday I wanted to offer up my own opinion.
There are some that will grumble and say this hasn't been "against the best" competition in the country, etc., but the fields that he is beating are still very strong. It's not Lucas Oil or World of Outlaws every night, but he's doing it against strong enough competition that he's the clear-cut number one driver in the country right now, and it's not even close in my opinion.
No grumbling from this voter, I just don't agree that Weaver is "Number 1" despite the fact that he has eight wins in eight starts this season and the main reason for that is mentioned in the quote above. He is not racing against top tier competition and he is running events where the feature race lineup is almost solely based upon qualifying times. Set fast time, start on the pole of the feature, lead flag-to-flag, never have to competitively pass anybody for position, pick up the check at the end of the night and go home. I have watched video of most of Weaver's wins so far and I cannot recall one where he actually had to pass anybody other than a lapped car. And no, it is "not Lucas Oil or World of Outlaws every night", in fact it has not been Lucas Oil or World of Outlaws ANY night so far until perhaps this weekend when Weaver is expected to run with the Outlaws at Smoky Mountain Speedway on Saturday night. If he goes out and beats them this weekend I may have to reevaluate where I have him ranked right now, but then again Chris Ferguson swept the Outlaws this weekend in their North Carolina doubleheader so does that mean that I would have to bump him all the way up to second as well?
Ranking Weaver number one right now would be the equivalent of ranking a Missouri Valley conference basketball team number one in the nation for being undefeated in their conference. Sure they are beating some good competition, but they are not playing the best night in and night out so that is why some of the more elite teams have the right to be ranked ahead of them even though they have a few "losses" on their resume. Yes, it has been three months ago, but Shane Clanton winning four out of five against a stacked field at Volusia just two weeks after winning against the Outlaws at Screven is more impressive than Weaver's eight-for-eight run over the past two months and that is why I continue to rank Clanton in the number one position. And, while I could care less if others feel the same or not, it was good to see that two other voters still had Clanton at number one despite the fact that he dropped to number five in this week's ratings.
One other thing to keep in mind is that unlike my analogy of the undefeated Mo Valley basketball team that must play who is on the schedule that is set for them, for the most part dirt Late Model drivers have the freedom of choice of where they will compete each week and, in turn, who they will compete against. My "clear-cut number one driver" would need to be choosing a little stiffer competition. If you look back to 2014 we had another Late Model driver who put up a very impressive string of victories that went well beyond 8-for-8 and lasted throughout the entire season, yet I doubt that any pollster ever had Justin Kay in their top ten, let alone at number one.
A Weaver win at Smoky Mountain would move him up a few spots in my ballot for next week, but for now he ranks behind Clanton, Scott Bloomquist, Jimmy Owens, Darrell Lanigan, Jonathan Davenport and Josh Richards.
Speaking of the World of Outlaw Late Models, video from their show at Friendship Speedway in North Carolina was amazing in that at times you could no longer see the cars. Even announcer Ben Shelton described it as a dust storm and when you caught a glance of the people sitting in the stands you would see them with hoods up and a nice thick coating of dirt on them. You know how people say that showing videos of your racing on the internet will encourage fans to attend in the future?
Josh Richards and Casey Roberts had another dust up at Friendship likely a continuation of their issues at Screven during Speed Weeks. Now keep in mind that visibility was pretty bad, but it looked to me that Richards drove down the track on the back stretch making contact with the right rear of Roberts and sending him into a high speed spin with most of the field coming right at him. Roberts ran at Richards' car under caution and then apparently things got physical in the pit area after the race leading to a six month suspension for Roberts. The suspension is understandable as running at a moving car and throwing punches cannot be tolerated, however I have to wonder if the officials were able to see how the incident started in the first place as a review of the video would almost have to lead to some kind of penalty for Richards as well if ruled that the contact was intentional.
Okay, so enough "national" dirt Late Model stuff, how about we mention some accomplishments of drivers closer to home?
Congratulations to Blake Woodruff who won his first career IMCA Modified feature at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson Friday night. Talk about coming out of nowhere, Woodruff did not score a single top five during his first year in a Modified or the first month of this season as well before his victory. The kid has some confidence now, so look out!
Hobby Stock driver Chanse Hollatz had a spectacular weekend starting on Friday night when he made the trip down from Clear Lake to win the feature at the Iowa State Fair Speedway in Des Moines. On Saturday night Hollatz won again at the Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City then on Sunday night he completed the weekend sweep by winning on his home track in Mason City. Hollatz was definitely the Master of the Half-Miles in the Hobby Stocks.
UMP Modified driver Michael Long's weekend started rough with a DNF at Tri-City Speedway, but he bounced back strong by winning at Peoria on Saturday night and then again on Sunday night at his home track in Quincy. It was the third straight win for Long at the quarter-mile that also had some drama in the IMCA Sport Mod feature when division rookie Austen Becerra and three-time defending track champion Tony Dunker tangled. As usual "Stevie Dirt" has all of the news from Quincy Raceways covered so I will refer you to him for the details in not just one, but two stories.
Joey Gower was the winner of that Sport Mod feature at Quincy and that now moves him into the lead of the All Iowa Points standings for the Limited Modifieds by just one point over Jenae Gustin. We do still have one lady leading the All Iowa Points though as Kimberly Abbott's feature win at Quincy keeps her on top of the Sport Compact chase. Matt Ryan is the new leader in the Late Model points, the first time that I can recall him being at the top of the standings and defending Modified champion Chris Abelson has returned to the top of that division after his weekend sweep of Denison, Harlan and Raceway Park. The update has been sent over to the webmistress and she will have the new standings posted soon on the Points page at Positively Racing.
Knoxville Raceway has been cursed by the weather so far this season losing its first three events to rain. In fact the track was the only Saturday night show in Iowa to be completely rained out this past weekend and the forecast for this coming Saturday is not favorable at this time. Hopefully things will change though and the legendary speedway can finally kick off 2015 with the added special of having the National Sprint League on hand.
After my St. Louis weekend I now have seven races planned over the next nine nights and obviously I am going to need to have some weather forecasts be wrong in order to reach that number. It starts tomorrow night (Wednesday) when the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders join the weekly program at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa. From there I hope to do all three nights of the MLRA Late Model swing through the region with Donnellson on Thursday, Davenport Friday and Memphis MO on Saturday and of course there will be plenty of worthy backup plans in place both on Friday and Saturday highlighted by that NSL debut at Knoxville. Sunday racing is in the plans as well as a pair of Modified specials next Tuesday and Thursday, but more on those later.
Hope to see you somewhere out there on the Back Stretch!
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