The three race IMCA Frostbuster weekend closed out at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton on a warm and windy Sunday evening and if your last name started with the letter "S" you stood a good shot at being a winner in one of the four sanctioned divisions.
The Sport Mods were up first and with Tyler Soppe drawing the pole position for the twenty lap main event this one was essentially decided even before it took the green as the driver who finished a close second in the National points chase in 2016 has been on a tear during the opening weeks of this season already earning more than $5,000 with three wins. Make it four after this one as Soppe was never challenged with Jonathan Logue chasing him the entire distance. Sam Wieben settled into third early and that is where he finished with outside pole sitter Kyle Olson in fourth. Jake McBirnie, who earlier in the night waged a thoroughly entertaining battle with last year's Sport Mod National Champion Tony Olson during the second heat race, started eighth and finished fifth.
Scooter Dulin would lead the opening lap of the Stock Car feature before Colorado driver Angel Munoz drove by him on the outside. The winner last night at Boone, Munoz then had to deal with Damon Murty who would drive under him on a lap four restart. The groove was on the bottom now and Munoz was trying get a nose under Murty when the engine compartment in John Adams' car fittingly numbered 911 went up in flames to bring out a caution. On the restart all of the leaders again lined up on the bottom, but when Murty pitched it too far sideways in turns one and two it caused a six car pileup that Murty would then drive away from unscathed.
Officials determined though that he was the cause of the caution though so Murty was sent to the rear for the restart with six laps remaining and Jay Schmidt, the driver who was scored in seventh on lap fourteen, inherited the lead. Kyle Brown in Murty's backup car who had started at the back of the field was now second and while he was able to keep pace with the new leader, Brown was unable to mount a challenge as Jay Schmidt was a surprised winner. In victory lane he noted that the groove was around the bottom, but that he had just decided to try the high line on that lap and it wound up being a winning move. Wisconsin's Larry Karcz finished in third with front end damage from the incident and John Oliver Jr. somehow raced his battered Stock Car back up to fourth at the checkers ahead of Devin Snellenberger. Murty would finish in sixth.
August Bach would establish a quick pace in the 18-lap Hobby Stock main event until the caution waved on lap ten for a spin in turn two. This was a lucky break for Nathan Ballard who had just had a right rear tire go down while running fourth so he was able to duck into the pits and make the tire change before going back to green. On the restart Eric Stanton moved into second and began to pressure Bach for the lead. With Bach protecting the bottom Stanton showed his nose to the outside and the two would swap the lead during lap fourteen, but as Stanton got under Bach in turn one with three to go the right rear tire went down on Bach's car dropping him out of the lead and the event. Stanton would then close out the final two laps to take his second Frostbuster win in a row after winning at Boone on Saturday. Matt Pohlman posted a strong second-place showing ahead of Leah Wroten and Justin Wacha while Ballard made his way back into the top five at the checkers.
It was a stout field of twenty-four IMCA Modifieds that lined up for the 25-lap headliner as Patrick Flannagan would put the #57B out front at the drop of the green. A stack up in turn three left Corey Dripps and Casey Skyberg sideways on lap two and when David Brown stopped on the front stretch another caution was needed on lap five. Once back to racing Kyle Brown would make his way past Flannagan for the lead on lap seven and following him right into second would be Johnny Scott before caution waved again, this time for Mitch Manternach who was off the top side of turn four.
On the restart things got wild in the top ten as drivers raced four-wide into turn three sending Hunter Marriott for a spin where he then collected three other cars including Jeff Aikey who was giving his Modified a ride for the first time tonight.
Scott had started twelfth on the field and after coming to the front quickly he now settled in to size up the leader who was hugging the bottom on both ends of the speedway. On lap seventeen when Brown left just the slightest of openings, Scott dove to the inside and pulled even with Brown. If there was contact it was minimal as Brown fought off this first challenge, but when Scott did it again on lap nineteen this time he did not give an inch entering turn one forcing Brown up and out of his groove. And after Justin Medler mailed the tire marking the entrance to turn one before going for a spin to require one more caution on lap twenty-one, Brown pulled even with Scott to express his thoughts as they slowly circled the track.
You know that Brown would have liked to have returned the favor over the closing laps, but he could not catch up to Scott as the New Mexico native who now has a shop in Cameron, Missouri, earned his second Frostbuster win on the weekend. He had raced his way up from deep in the pack at Marshalltown on Friday to take the win as well. Kyle Brown would be the runner up holding off Jason Wolla in third, Scott Hogan finished in fourth with Joel Rust completing the top five.
Young Dallon Murty was the winner of a single-file Micro Mod feature with Curt Hilmer in second.
Other than the Stock Car pileup the show was fast moving and we were on our way home by 8 p.m., something that happens quite often on Sunday nights here in Vinton. Perhaps you should check it out sometime in 2017!
Sunday, April 9, 2017
Nienheiser Walks In IRA Return To 34 Raceway
It has been several years since the Wisconsin-based Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association (IRA) Sprint Cars had visited 34 Raceway and Saturday night would be the season opener for the long running 410 winged Sprint Car series at the southeast Iowa oval near Burlington. Eighteen IRA regulars made the trip in and with another eleven drivers from both the MOWA series and Knoxville, as well as a pair of locals, it was a balanced field of twenty-nine cars and stars that filled the pits on the warm and breezy evening.
Austin McCarl in his first night out with the TKS Motorsports team set quick time on the night as MOWA regulars Paul Nienheiser and Jim Moughan won the first two heat races before the defending IRA champion Jeremy Schultz took the third heat. Ryan Bowers, the former UMSS 360 Sprint champion picked up the pace after a slow start to his evening by winning the B-Main from the third row and the 24-car field was set for the 30-lap main event.
Veteran driver Lynton Jeffrey drew the pole position and he would lead the opening two laps before the twenty-year-old Nienhesier muscled by him on the inside entering turn three. Just after that third lap was scored the red flag waved when Kris Spitz took a wild ride entering turn three, one that he would be able to walk away from uninjured.
On the restart Nienheiser quickly left the field in his wake only to have the caution wave again on lap five when Scott Neitzel spun off the top of turn two. Again Nienheiser would have ten car lengths on the field before entering turn one on the restart so the nice crowd on hand turned their focus to the many battles for position as Jeffrey tried to ward off both Schultz and Josh Schneiderman for second. Jake Blackhurst soon joined that battle as well and just as Blackhurst cleared Schultz for third on lap seventeen the defending champ would slow suddenly trapping Schneiderman behind him. Former IRA champ Bill Balog then looped his car in turn two to avoid the logjam and the caution waved as Schneiderman was somehow able to keep his car moving after disengaging from the rear bumper of Schultz.
Nienhesier now had Jeffrey, Blackhurst and Schneiderman lined up behind him for the restart, but perhaps his biggest threat would be Tim Kaeding who was now in sixth after pitting during the early red to resolve a brake line issue. Nienhesier was again fast off the line and would build a solid lead as Blackhurst shuffled Jeffrey out of second and Kaeding continued his charge now up to third. This one was all but over until the caution waved one last time with three laps to go when Matt Vandervere stopped at the exit of turn four with front end damage on his sprinter.
With Blackhurst and Kaeding now ready to pounce, Nienheiser immediately removed any doubt of who would win this one by again rocketing away from his contenders at the drop of the green and he would go unchallenged to take the win nearly four years to the day after he won his first Sprint Invaders feature here at 34 Raceway when he was just sixteen. Blackhurst was able to ward off Kaeding to make it a one-two sweep for the MOWA regulars. Josh Schneiderman gave his hometown fans plenty to cheer about as he passed Brad Loyet on the final lap to regain fourth as Loyet filled out the top five. Jeffrey held on to finish in sixth with Scotty Thiel the best of the IRA contingent in seventh. Austin McCarl was eighth, Bret Tripplett was ninth and Jordan Goldesberry who had to make a last lap pass in the B-Main to earn the final transfer spot was tenth.
It was a treat for this southeast Iowa fan to see eighteen drivers that I would not get to see without making a trip to Wisconsin and the great thing was that there was no clear cut favorite in the field. I was very impressed with Jeremy Schultz and had he not suffered mechanical issues the defending IRA champion looked to be headed for a podium finish The show drew a solid crowd and hopefully Steve Sinclair will agree to start the IRA season here again at 34 in 2018. If not, then I will be forced to make at least one trip into Wisconsin as I have a new announcer crush on Ray Underwood, the voice of the series who not only brings a passion to the mic, but a wealth of information and flair as well. Plus, his rendition of the Star Spangled Banner was incredible!
It was also the opening night of points racing for three of 34 Raceway's weekly divisions and all three turned out with solid car counts and some good racing even though some fast guys started up front in the draw and redraw format.
Brandon Rothzen always puts on a show at 34, but tonight all he had to do was cruise after drawing the pole position for the twenty-lap Modified main event leaving the racing behind him. The battle for second was a good one between Mitch Morris and Late Model convert Colby Springsteen as the two would swap the position high to low and low to high several times over the final ten laps with Morris prevailing as the runner-up. Dennis LaVeine charged from the sixth row to muscle past Springsteen for third in the closing laps while Bobby Six came from tenth to finish fifth. Rothzen did not yet have his car wrapped so he had taped Go Cubs Go in white on his black Modified and told me as he checked in that if he won tonight I had to play the song. That was a request that I was happy to oblige much to the chagrin of the Cardinal fans in attendance.
For the past several seasons in the Stock Car division at 34 Raceway you could usually count on a battle between John Oliver Jr. and Tom Bowling Jr, for the win after both drivers had to race up from the fifth row due to the points inverted start. On opening night though Bowling had the immediate advantage drawing out the number one pill while Oliver drew the eight, but it did not take long for John to get to the front and once he did the familiar race was on! Oliver was able to get his nose under Bowling on a couple of occasions and the battle was spiced up even more with Dustin Griffiths right there waiting for a mistake, but as usual the two veterans raced hard and clean with Bowling holding on to take win over Oliver. Griffiths was very impressive in his first ever Stock Car appearance at 34 as a close third, Jake Wenig came from tenth to fourth and Jason Cook filled out the top five.
The Sport Mods were the first feature of the night and the only thing that would slow Brandon Lennox during the twenty-lap distance were the three cautions that were needed during the race. Lennox blew by lap one leader Levi Laymon on the first restart and would then go unchallenged to the convincing victory. The race for second was a fun one to watch as Kyle Hill came from his sixth starting spot to get to second and then fought off Brandon Dale in the final laps to keep the runner-up honors. Jake Morris powered his way to fourth after starting in the tenth row while Austin Howes finished in fifth.
Next up at 34 Raceway is the 9th Annual Slocum 50 that will pay a whopping $10,555 to the winner of the Super Late Model feature. Event organizers Brad Stevens and Jessi Mynatt told the fans to keep an eye on the Slocum 50 Facebook page and the 34 Raceway page this week for exciting announcements as to who some of the Late Model competitors might be, plus they reminded everybody that this is also a big event for the Stock Cars and the 305 Sprints. In fact, late in the evening it was announced that Dave Getchell and Getchell Farms will add $555 to the Sprint Car purse to make it $1,555-to-win, likely the best payout for a single day 305 Sprint show in the Midwest this year. We hope to see you there!
Tonight I close out a rare, for me at least, three-race weekend with a trip north to the Benton County Speedway in Vinton for the final night of the IMCA Frostbusters, Look for me on the Back Stretch.
Austin McCarl in his first night out with the TKS Motorsports team set quick time on the night as MOWA regulars Paul Nienheiser and Jim Moughan won the first two heat races before the defending IRA champion Jeremy Schultz took the third heat. Ryan Bowers, the former UMSS 360 Sprint champion picked up the pace after a slow start to his evening by winning the B-Main from the third row and the 24-car field was set for the 30-lap main event.
Veteran driver Lynton Jeffrey drew the pole position and he would lead the opening two laps before the twenty-year-old Nienhesier muscled by him on the inside entering turn three. Just after that third lap was scored the red flag waved when Kris Spitz took a wild ride entering turn three, one that he would be able to walk away from uninjured.
On the restart Nienheiser quickly left the field in his wake only to have the caution wave again on lap five when Scott Neitzel spun off the top of turn two. Again Nienheiser would have ten car lengths on the field before entering turn one on the restart so the nice crowd on hand turned their focus to the many battles for position as Jeffrey tried to ward off both Schultz and Josh Schneiderman for second. Jake Blackhurst soon joined that battle as well and just as Blackhurst cleared Schultz for third on lap seventeen the defending champ would slow suddenly trapping Schneiderman behind him. Former IRA champ Bill Balog then looped his car in turn two to avoid the logjam and the caution waved as Schneiderman was somehow able to keep his car moving after disengaging from the rear bumper of Schultz.
Nienhesier now had Jeffrey, Blackhurst and Schneiderman lined up behind him for the restart, but perhaps his biggest threat would be Tim Kaeding who was now in sixth after pitting during the early red to resolve a brake line issue. Nienhesier was again fast off the line and would build a solid lead as Blackhurst shuffled Jeffrey out of second and Kaeding continued his charge now up to third. This one was all but over until the caution waved one last time with three laps to go when Matt Vandervere stopped at the exit of turn four with front end damage on his sprinter.
With Blackhurst and Kaeding now ready to pounce, Nienheiser immediately removed any doubt of who would win this one by again rocketing away from his contenders at the drop of the green and he would go unchallenged to take the win nearly four years to the day after he won his first Sprint Invaders feature here at 34 Raceway when he was just sixteen. Blackhurst was able to ward off Kaeding to make it a one-two sweep for the MOWA regulars. Josh Schneiderman gave his hometown fans plenty to cheer about as he passed Brad Loyet on the final lap to regain fourth as Loyet filled out the top five. Jeffrey held on to finish in sixth with Scotty Thiel the best of the IRA contingent in seventh. Austin McCarl was eighth, Bret Tripplett was ninth and Jordan Goldesberry who had to make a last lap pass in the B-Main to earn the final transfer spot was tenth.
It was a treat for this southeast Iowa fan to see eighteen drivers that I would not get to see without making a trip to Wisconsin and the great thing was that there was no clear cut favorite in the field. I was very impressed with Jeremy Schultz and had he not suffered mechanical issues the defending IRA champion looked to be headed for a podium finish The show drew a solid crowd and hopefully Steve Sinclair will agree to start the IRA season here again at 34 in 2018. If not, then I will be forced to make at least one trip into Wisconsin as I have a new announcer crush on Ray Underwood, the voice of the series who not only brings a passion to the mic, but a wealth of information and flair as well. Plus, his rendition of the Star Spangled Banner was incredible!
It was also the opening night of points racing for three of 34 Raceway's weekly divisions and all three turned out with solid car counts and some good racing even though some fast guys started up front in the draw and redraw format.
Brandon Rothzen always puts on a show at 34, but tonight all he had to do was cruise after drawing the pole position for the twenty-lap Modified main event leaving the racing behind him. The battle for second was a good one between Mitch Morris and Late Model convert Colby Springsteen as the two would swap the position high to low and low to high several times over the final ten laps with Morris prevailing as the runner-up. Dennis LaVeine charged from the sixth row to muscle past Springsteen for third in the closing laps while Bobby Six came from tenth to finish fifth. Rothzen did not yet have his car wrapped so he had taped Go Cubs Go in white on his black Modified and told me as he checked in that if he won tonight I had to play the song. That was a request that I was happy to oblige much to the chagrin of the Cardinal fans in attendance.
For the past several seasons in the Stock Car division at 34 Raceway you could usually count on a battle between John Oliver Jr. and Tom Bowling Jr, for the win after both drivers had to race up from the fifth row due to the points inverted start. On opening night though Bowling had the immediate advantage drawing out the number one pill while Oliver drew the eight, but it did not take long for John to get to the front and once he did the familiar race was on! Oliver was able to get his nose under Bowling on a couple of occasions and the battle was spiced up even more with Dustin Griffiths right there waiting for a mistake, but as usual the two veterans raced hard and clean with Bowling holding on to take win over Oliver. Griffiths was very impressive in his first ever Stock Car appearance at 34 as a close third, Jake Wenig came from tenth to fourth and Jason Cook filled out the top five.
The Sport Mods were the first feature of the night and the only thing that would slow Brandon Lennox during the twenty-lap distance were the three cautions that were needed during the race. Lennox blew by lap one leader Levi Laymon on the first restart and would then go unchallenged to the convincing victory. The race for second was a fun one to watch as Kyle Hill came from his sixth starting spot to get to second and then fought off Brandon Dale in the final laps to keep the runner-up honors. Jake Morris powered his way to fourth after starting in the tenth row while Austin Howes finished in fifth.
Next up at 34 Raceway is the 9th Annual Slocum 50 that will pay a whopping $10,555 to the winner of the Super Late Model feature. Event organizers Brad Stevens and Jessi Mynatt told the fans to keep an eye on the Slocum 50 Facebook page and the 34 Raceway page this week for exciting announcements as to who some of the Late Model competitors might be, plus they reminded everybody that this is also a big event for the Stock Cars and the 305 Sprints. In fact, late in the evening it was announced that Dave Getchell and Getchell Farms will add $555 to the Sprint Car purse to make it $1,555-to-win, likely the best payout for a single day 305 Sprint show in the Midwest this year. We hope to see you there!
Tonight I close out a rare, for me at least, three-race weekend with a trip north to the Benton County Speedway in Vinton for the final night of the IMCA Frostbusters, Look for me on the Back Stretch.
Saturday, April 8, 2017
Four Drivers Overcome Challenging Conditions to Collect Big Paychecks at Davenport's Rebel 5K
Two weeks in a row of cold, windy, rainy weather left promoter Bob Wagener with a mess at the Davenport Speedway, but with sunny and warmer weather predicted for race day he did everything that he could to provide a surface for the drivers to race on for opening night. The track started out being dusty during hot laps, but as the sun went down the moisture came up and the track began to chunk out leaving drivers with a choice to either find the smoother high line, or attack the rougher lower grooves that still proved to be faster. The result was four feature races that were very entertaining for the solid crowd on hand, but had to be physically challenging on both the drivers and their equipment.
The Street Stocks were first up for twenty laps with $1,000 going to the winner in all three of the night's support classes. Dwayne Smith Jr. drew the pole position, quite a change from earlier in the evening when it looked like his throttle stuck during hot laps sending him sailing off of the top of turn four and sliding through the wet grass all the way over to turn four of the half mile. That was a distant memory now though as Smith would lead the first four laps before the caution waved for spins in both turn one and turn four. On the restart Joe Bonney would race to the lead on lap five before the caution waved again, this time for a fire under the hood of Cary Brown's car. The Speedway Fire fighting crew assessed the situation and Brown was given his place back in the realignment despite the fact that the fire would flare back up again under green.
Another caution on lap six gave Randy Lamar the chance to steal the lead from Bonney, but it would be just for a lap before Joe fought back as Smith stopped the race with a flat tire on lap nine. Three cars piled up in turn one on the restart and once back to racing it was Jeff Struck Jr. who would power his sharp looking car to the point on lap eleven. One last caution waved for a Rob Henry spin in turn two and the race would then stay green for the rest of the distance and it looked like Struck had things well in hand until lap eighteen when he turned into the infield off turn two handing the lead over to Brandon Setser who would lead the white flag lap. Bonney had been riding up high in third, but with Struck's departure it seemed to give Bonney a spark as he went elbows up on the final lap to drive around Setser in turns three and four to take the win. Setser settled for second, Lamar was third, Henry took fourth and Jimmy Comins finished fifth.
After six cautions in the first feature I thought that we were going to be in for a long evening, but that concern was put aside as the Modifieds went twenty laps non-stop for their main event. The names in the first two rows of the lineup looked like a Late Model field with Justin Kay, Bob Dominacki, Rob Toland and Stephan Kammerer with Toland coming from the inside of row two to take the lead on the opening lap in the #99 normally driven by Doug Curless. Kay would keep the pressure on as both drivers worked the faster, but more treacherous lower line and on lap eight Kay was able to drive around Toland for the lead.
The driver on the move though was Cayden Carter who had started in row six and with the scoreboard clicking towards twenty Carter had moved into second and was closing quickly on the leader. Taking a peek under the leader coming to the white flag, Carter was there to challenge on the final lap and as the duo exited turn four one last time he was able to get under Kay only to come up a half of a car length short of stealing the win. Toland would hold down the third position, Bryce Garnhart was fourth and Kammerer who has made the switch from the Late Models to the Modifieds earned his second top-five finish in his first two starts.
The Sport Mods had the largest field of the night with thirty-three cars signing in looking for a grand and it would be Brandt Cole leading the way in the early going of the twenty-lap main event. Brayton Carter used the same line as his older brother to get to the front on lap six only to have Cole retake the lead two laps later, The caution flew on lap ten when Jacob Whittington shucked a spring, something that also happened to him in the heat race, and on the restart Tyler Soppe was now in a position to challenge for the lead and he would take it from Cole on lap thirteen. The final caution of the night waved soon after when three cars tangled in turn one and Jeremy Gustaf looked like he might be Soppe's one remaining challenge once back to racing. That thought changed though during the caution as something broke on Gustaf's car leaving the rear end sitting low and when the green flag waved Gustaf faded fast and pulled off the track after one lap. Soppe would then pull away over the final laps to score his third four figure victory in the past four weeks. Gage Neal came from the fourth row to finish second, Cole was impressive in third, Keith Blum ran fourth and Austen Becerra made the long pull north from Memphis, Missouri, to take fifth after starting from the eighth row.
The Late Models were the headliners and with $5,000 on the line a solid field of thirty-one drivers were on hand and with forty laps facing them on a very challenging surface, it would be a well earned paycheck for the winner. Jeremiah Hurst would take the point at the drop of the green with his fellow front row starter Nick Marolf close behind. Five cars, including fourth starting Denny Eckrich pulled off the track after the first lap was completed and two more would join them on lap two, but those who did stay in action were racing hard especially up front where Marolf took the lead on lap six. Jesse Sobbing who started fifth and Matt Ryan who had started ninth were working their way to the front and on lap nineteen Sobbing made a power move on Marolf squeezing under him in turn three to take the lead.
Ryan would soon after make his way to second and set his sights on Sobbing getting by him to take the lead away with eight laps remaining, but as the IMCA Late Model crowd will quickly learn Jesse Sobbing does not just fade away if you take a lead away from him. Sobbing fought back using the even rougher second line up the track and on lap thirty-five he would again nose ahead of Ryan for the lead. Matt came back to take the lead with four laps to go and on lap thirty-seven the two drivers drove the crowd wild as they swapped the lead back and forth throwing caution to the wind. Both cars were bouncing and darting this way and that as the two drivers did whatever they could to get to the checkers first and it would be Matt Ryan taking a popular win at his hometown track while Sobbing impressed those same fans with his second place effort. Marolf was not far behind in third, Justin Kay closed out a good night in fourth and Cayden Carter had another nice run coming from the ninth row to finish fifth.
Rebel 5K Notes......Joe Bonney has won a lot of races over the years, but he stated that this was his first win ever at Davenport......Jimmy Comins drives an IMCA legal Stock Car against the Quad City area Street Stocks.....Brandon Setser was leading the All Iowa Points Four Cylinder division before he switched to the Street Stock class in mid-August last season.....Nineteen Modifieds for $1,000-to-win was a bit of a surprise since the class usually draws thirty or more for the track's weekly Friday night program. One driver who was not in action was Bruce Hanford who took the night off to celebrate his 60th birthday.....With his wins at Memphis MO, Tipton and Davenport Tyler Soppe has won more than $5,000 already in 2017 in a Sport Mod!......Austin Howes also made the tow up from northeast Missouri and Wisconsin driver Jeff Schmuhl, a top competitor at Beaver Dam and the Oshkosh Speed Zone, won a B-Main and then finished eighth in the Sport Mod feature......There were some new faces in the Late Model division in Phil Anderson, Joe Beal and Troy Hovey, but only Hovey made the A-Main where he was one of the eight cars still on the track at the checkers.....Bob Wagener now has two weeks to get the quarter-mile back in shape as next Friday's action will be on the Davenport Speedway half-mile when the MARS West and Corn Belt Clash Super Late Models come to town for the Midwest Sanction Showdown and hopefully Mother Nature will work with him better than she has the past two weeks.
Thanks to Carrie Rouse and the entire Davenport Speedway crew for the hospitality and for an entertaining night of racing!
Tonight I will be at 34 Raceway west of Burlington as a large field of 410 winged Sprint Cars are expected as the Interstate Racing Association (IRA) Sprint Cars make their return to the high-banked 3/8th-mile oval. IMCA sanctioned Modifieds, Sport Mods and Stock Cars will also be in action.
The Street Stocks were first up for twenty laps with $1,000 going to the winner in all three of the night's support classes. Dwayne Smith Jr. drew the pole position, quite a change from earlier in the evening when it looked like his throttle stuck during hot laps sending him sailing off of the top of turn four and sliding through the wet grass all the way over to turn four of the half mile. That was a distant memory now though as Smith would lead the first four laps before the caution waved for spins in both turn one and turn four. On the restart Joe Bonney would race to the lead on lap five before the caution waved again, this time for a fire under the hood of Cary Brown's car. The Speedway Fire fighting crew assessed the situation and Brown was given his place back in the realignment despite the fact that the fire would flare back up again under green.
Another caution on lap six gave Randy Lamar the chance to steal the lead from Bonney, but it would be just for a lap before Joe fought back as Smith stopped the race with a flat tire on lap nine. Three cars piled up in turn one on the restart and once back to racing it was Jeff Struck Jr. who would power his sharp looking car to the point on lap eleven. One last caution waved for a Rob Henry spin in turn two and the race would then stay green for the rest of the distance and it looked like Struck had things well in hand until lap eighteen when he turned into the infield off turn two handing the lead over to Brandon Setser who would lead the white flag lap. Bonney had been riding up high in third, but with Struck's departure it seemed to give Bonney a spark as he went elbows up on the final lap to drive around Setser in turns three and four to take the win. Setser settled for second, Lamar was third, Henry took fourth and Jimmy Comins finished fifth.
After six cautions in the first feature I thought that we were going to be in for a long evening, but that concern was put aside as the Modifieds went twenty laps non-stop for their main event. The names in the first two rows of the lineup looked like a Late Model field with Justin Kay, Bob Dominacki, Rob Toland and Stephan Kammerer with Toland coming from the inside of row two to take the lead on the opening lap in the #99 normally driven by Doug Curless. Kay would keep the pressure on as both drivers worked the faster, but more treacherous lower line and on lap eight Kay was able to drive around Toland for the lead.
The driver on the move though was Cayden Carter who had started in row six and with the scoreboard clicking towards twenty Carter had moved into second and was closing quickly on the leader. Taking a peek under the leader coming to the white flag, Carter was there to challenge on the final lap and as the duo exited turn four one last time he was able to get under Kay only to come up a half of a car length short of stealing the win. Toland would hold down the third position, Bryce Garnhart was fourth and Kammerer who has made the switch from the Late Models to the Modifieds earned his second top-five finish in his first two starts.
The Sport Mods had the largest field of the night with thirty-three cars signing in looking for a grand and it would be Brandt Cole leading the way in the early going of the twenty-lap main event. Brayton Carter used the same line as his older brother to get to the front on lap six only to have Cole retake the lead two laps later, The caution flew on lap ten when Jacob Whittington shucked a spring, something that also happened to him in the heat race, and on the restart Tyler Soppe was now in a position to challenge for the lead and he would take it from Cole on lap thirteen. The final caution of the night waved soon after when three cars tangled in turn one and Jeremy Gustaf looked like he might be Soppe's one remaining challenge once back to racing. That thought changed though during the caution as something broke on Gustaf's car leaving the rear end sitting low and when the green flag waved Gustaf faded fast and pulled off the track after one lap. Soppe would then pull away over the final laps to score his third four figure victory in the past four weeks. Gage Neal came from the fourth row to finish second, Cole was impressive in third, Keith Blum ran fourth and Austen Becerra made the long pull north from Memphis, Missouri, to take fifth after starting from the eighth row.
The Late Models were the headliners and with $5,000 on the line a solid field of thirty-one drivers were on hand and with forty laps facing them on a very challenging surface, it would be a well earned paycheck for the winner. Jeremiah Hurst would take the point at the drop of the green with his fellow front row starter Nick Marolf close behind. Five cars, including fourth starting Denny Eckrich pulled off the track after the first lap was completed and two more would join them on lap two, but those who did stay in action were racing hard especially up front where Marolf took the lead on lap six. Jesse Sobbing who started fifth and Matt Ryan who had started ninth were working their way to the front and on lap nineteen Sobbing made a power move on Marolf squeezing under him in turn three to take the lead.
Ryan would soon after make his way to second and set his sights on Sobbing getting by him to take the lead away with eight laps remaining, but as the IMCA Late Model crowd will quickly learn Jesse Sobbing does not just fade away if you take a lead away from him. Sobbing fought back using the even rougher second line up the track and on lap thirty-five he would again nose ahead of Ryan for the lead. Matt came back to take the lead with four laps to go and on lap thirty-seven the two drivers drove the crowd wild as they swapped the lead back and forth throwing caution to the wind. Both cars were bouncing and darting this way and that as the two drivers did whatever they could to get to the checkers first and it would be Matt Ryan taking a popular win at his hometown track while Sobbing impressed those same fans with his second place effort. Marolf was not far behind in third, Justin Kay closed out a good night in fourth and Cayden Carter had another nice run coming from the ninth row to finish fifth.
Rebel 5K Notes......Joe Bonney has won a lot of races over the years, but he stated that this was his first win ever at Davenport......Jimmy Comins drives an IMCA legal Stock Car against the Quad City area Street Stocks.....Brandon Setser was leading the All Iowa Points Four Cylinder division before he switched to the Street Stock class in mid-August last season.....Nineteen Modifieds for $1,000-to-win was a bit of a surprise since the class usually draws thirty or more for the track's weekly Friday night program. One driver who was not in action was Bruce Hanford who took the night off to celebrate his 60th birthday.....With his wins at Memphis MO, Tipton and Davenport Tyler Soppe has won more than $5,000 already in 2017 in a Sport Mod!......Austin Howes also made the tow up from northeast Missouri and Wisconsin driver Jeff Schmuhl, a top competitor at Beaver Dam and the Oshkosh Speed Zone, won a B-Main and then finished eighth in the Sport Mod feature......There were some new faces in the Late Model division in Phil Anderson, Joe Beal and Troy Hovey, but only Hovey made the A-Main where he was one of the eight cars still on the track at the checkers.....Bob Wagener now has two weeks to get the quarter-mile back in shape as next Friday's action will be on the Davenport Speedway half-mile when the MARS West and Corn Belt Clash Super Late Models come to town for the Midwest Sanction Showdown and hopefully Mother Nature will work with him better than she has the past two weeks.
Thanks to Carrie Rouse and the entire Davenport Speedway crew for the hospitality and for an entertaining night of racing!
Tonight I will be at 34 Raceway west of Burlington as a large field of 410 winged Sprint Cars are expected as the Interstate Racing Association (IRA) Sprint Cars make their return to the high-banked 3/8th-mile oval. IMCA sanctioned Modifieds, Sport Mods and Stock Cars will also be in action.
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Wednesday Notebook: April 5, 2017
This was supposed to be the night that the IMCA Frostbusters kicked off 22 miles from my front door!
With the dismal weather forecast for mid-week a shuffle of the schedule was announced on Monday that moved the Frostbuster at Vinton from Thursday to Sunday while Donnellson switched from Wednesday, when they were predicting an inch of rain or even an inch or two of wet snow, to Thursday when it is supposed to be fifty degrees with a thirty mile per hour north wind. But hey, at least the sun is supposed to be out! Well even those of us with poor judgment like me who would have been there sitting in the stands with four layers on and huddled up in my sleeping bag will not have that opportunity now as the Lee County Speedway has cancelled their Frostbuster event for Thursday night.
My sinuses are thankful.
Have to hand it to Benton County Speedway promoter Mick Trier though as he traded in a chilly Thursday for a warm Sunday and that will be where I will try to see my one Frostbuster event for 2017.
In last week's Notebook, written on Tuesday, I tried to preview the first somewhat busy weekend of racing only to have the events start dropping like flies over the next two days. Hopefully, by waiting until Wednesday we have a better feel for what will, or will not take place this weekend as even though it is cold and rainy right now the forecast clears off on Thursday and then looks nice and progressively warmer through the weekend. Remember that you can always check out the upcoming special events in the area on the Calendar at Positively Racing. We always remind you to confirm each event though as the Webmistress does not update it in real time (she has a life to lead after all) and one race that is still on the list, but that is already canceled for this weekend is Saturday's show at the Bloomfield Speedway. The grounds have been too wet to work the track so they are going to wait until a later date and, despite the favorable weekend forecast, other tracks may have to do the same.
It was simply amazing what 34 Raceway pulled off last weekend and I say that as I was there to witness it, but I am guessing that the effort required to pull off the Darkside Spring Fling in Tipton was just as huge so hats off to both. Hopefully 34 won't have to work quite as hard to get the place in shape for this Saturday night's IRA 410 Sprint show as it should be a good one bringing several drivers into the area that we don't often see as the Wisconsin based Bumper to Bumper sponsored series opens its schedule in southeast Iowa. Many time IRA champion Bill Balog has been at 34 in a 410 before and last year's IRA runner-up Scotty Thiel has joined the Sprint Invaders there a few times, but for the rest of the top ten including defending champion Jeremy Schultz it will be a trip that at most they might have made one other time. Not only will the drivers intending to chase the IRA points title in 2017 be on hand, but with the Neal Tire MOWA series running the night before in Jacksonville look for several of those drivers to pull on up to Burlington on Saturday. Then, to top it all off, with Knoxville not opening until next weekend you can look for some of their regulars to be on hand as well perhaps raising the car count to well over thirty. IMCA sanctioned Modifieds, Sport Mods and Stock Cars will also see their first action of the season at 34 Raceway this Saturday.
We were thrilled to have 33 drivers sign in for the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders opener at 34 on Saturday night and as I mentioned last week we are seeing a serious youth movement in the roster. So much so that I was teasing 19-year-old Brayden Gaylord that he was considered to be "old" with Bailey Goldesberry, Tanner Gebhardt, Hunter Lane and defending Invaders champion Chris Martin all being younger than him. Martin had a night that he would like to forget, Gebhardt qualified for the Budweiser Shake Up Dash and then ran a solid ninth in the main event, Goldesberry led much of a B-Main then finished 18th in the "A" and Gaylord made the most of an opportunity to run the main event finishing 14th. Brayden had actually missed a transfer from the first B-Main by one position, but when John Schulz was forced to scratch with mechanical issues Gaylord was added to the field.
I was also impressed with 17-year-old Hunter Lane who was running away with the second B-Main before pulling to the infield with mechanical issues. And of course I also need to mention that the winner on the night, Carson McCarl, is just in his early twenties. Hopefully all of the young guns will continue to follow the Invaders schedule for most if not all of the 2017 campaign.
It was also great to see the Deery Brothers Summer Series IMCA Late Models return to 34 Raceway for the first time since 2013 with a solid field of 31 cars signing in. This is impressive in that none of these drivers were competing at their "home track" so I am optimistic about how the series will go in 2017. It was awesome to see "The Ironman" Darrel DeFrance have such a solid opener as it seems like he has been playing from behind when it comes to the Deery series the past several years. With his runner-up finish to Nick Marolf at 34, Darrel has to be looking forward to this Saturday's show at West Liberty not just so that he can continue the streak, but that he is in contention for what would be his first series title in thirty-one attempts. I hope to catch up with the Deery series again on April 14th in Farley and, if not there, perhaps Sunday April 23rd in Dubuque.
Will I be able to pull off a "double" that day by also attending the Spring Classic at Rockford that afternoon??
Several of the Late Models had some "new looks" that were very sharp. Both Jonathan Brauns and the Roberts Motorsports Team and their new driver Jeremiah Hurst were using a teal green and blue combo that looked great and Matt Ryan's #07 made me do a double take as the blue, red and white colors are definitely a departure from his traditional black and gold. I also had to chuckle because painted on the hood it said "Trying Not To Suck Since....." and I'm sorry that I can't recall the year! I was quite busy Saturday night :)
Jordan Grabouski pulled the big money out of Tipton and carted it back with him to Beatrice, Nebraska, along with his Modified. Stock Car winner Elijah Zevenbergen made the long pull down from his northwest Iowa home of Ocheydan while Tyler Soppe kept the Sport Mod cash close by with his second win of the young season during the Darkside Spring Fling. Nearly the full feature results were provided on Facebook, they were missing a couple of names, but if anybody has the full roster of the more than 200 cars that signed in I would love to see who all was there.
I am concerned that it will be difficult to get results, at least early in the season, from tracks that have been using SpeedNet in the past as a change in ownership now has some of those tracks using MyRacePass while others have switched to SpeedScoreOne. Three examples for you early on. The Springfield Raceway in Missouri has not skipped a beat as their results have popped up on SpeedNet within hours after their races are completed as if nothing has changed. The Farmer City Raceway, another track that used to always have its results up on SpeedNet shortly after races ended thought that their results from last weekend were there, but when it was pointed out that they were not they discovered that they now have to link up through MyRacePass in order to have the results on the net. They hope to have that resolved soon. I will bet you that other tracks will also assume that their results are out there only to find that they have to do something new with MRP to make that happen. 34 Raceway is the first that I have seen to switch to SpeedScoreOne and I don't like a couple of things about it. One is that it takes a lot more clicking to get the results for each race from each class and the other is that the drivers' hometowns are not listed. Boo!
Of course this is all better than a couple of tracks in the thirteen state region that I follow who make no effort at all to post their results in any manner. The fact that they don't just boggles my mind, so promoters or publicists make sure that whatever software you are now using is actually putting the results out there where someone like me, and the many other interested fans can find them without feeling like we are on some kind of a scavenger hunt!
From checking some results over the past weekend I noted that Kelly Shryock went south to win the IMCA Modified feature at the Tri-State Speedway Keggar in Pocola, Oklahoma Saturday night. Stanton, Iowa's Jeff James finished second with former NASCAR star Ken Schrader in third. Schrader was also the winner of the USRA Modified portion of that program and then made the trip over to Terre Haute, Indiana where he finished fourth in the UMP Modified feature that was won by his buddy Kenny Wallace on Sunday afternoon. I believe that Schrader is slated to run a couple of the IMCA Frostbusters this weekend.
It was a sad night at the newly named Red Dirt Raceway as veteran Sprint Car driver Steve Smith from Edmond, Oklahoma passed away from an apparent heart attack while at the track. It was the season opener at the track in Meeker Friday and Smith had won the non-wing Sprint Car heat race earlier in the evening.
Get on out to a race of your choice this weekend and thank you for checking in on the Back Stretch!
With the dismal weather forecast for mid-week a shuffle of the schedule was announced on Monday that moved the Frostbuster at Vinton from Thursday to Sunday while Donnellson switched from Wednesday, when they were predicting an inch of rain or even an inch or two of wet snow, to Thursday when it is supposed to be fifty degrees with a thirty mile per hour north wind. But hey, at least the sun is supposed to be out! Well even those of us with poor judgment like me who would have been there sitting in the stands with four layers on and huddled up in my sleeping bag will not have that opportunity now as the Lee County Speedway has cancelled their Frostbuster event for Thursday night.
My sinuses are thankful.
Have to hand it to Benton County Speedway promoter Mick Trier though as he traded in a chilly Thursday for a warm Sunday and that will be where I will try to see my one Frostbuster event for 2017.
In last week's Notebook, written on Tuesday, I tried to preview the first somewhat busy weekend of racing only to have the events start dropping like flies over the next two days. Hopefully, by waiting until Wednesday we have a better feel for what will, or will not take place this weekend as even though it is cold and rainy right now the forecast clears off on Thursday and then looks nice and progressively warmer through the weekend. Remember that you can always check out the upcoming special events in the area on the Calendar at Positively Racing. We always remind you to confirm each event though as the Webmistress does not update it in real time (she has a life to lead after all) and one race that is still on the list, but that is already canceled for this weekend is Saturday's show at the Bloomfield Speedway. The grounds have been too wet to work the track so they are going to wait until a later date and, despite the favorable weekend forecast, other tracks may have to do the same.
It was simply amazing what 34 Raceway pulled off last weekend and I say that as I was there to witness it, but I am guessing that the effort required to pull off the Darkside Spring Fling in Tipton was just as huge so hats off to both. Hopefully 34 won't have to work quite as hard to get the place in shape for this Saturday night's IRA 410 Sprint show as it should be a good one bringing several drivers into the area that we don't often see as the Wisconsin based Bumper to Bumper sponsored series opens its schedule in southeast Iowa. Many time IRA champion Bill Balog has been at 34 in a 410 before and last year's IRA runner-up Scotty Thiel has joined the Sprint Invaders there a few times, but for the rest of the top ten including defending champion Jeremy Schultz it will be a trip that at most they might have made one other time. Not only will the drivers intending to chase the IRA points title in 2017 be on hand, but with the Neal Tire MOWA series running the night before in Jacksonville look for several of those drivers to pull on up to Burlington on Saturday. Then, to top it all off, with Knoxville not opening until next weekend you can look for some of their regulars to be on hand as well perhaps raising the car count to well over thirty. IMCA sanctioned Modifieds, Sport Mods and Stock Cars will also see their first action of the season at 34 Raceway this Saturday.
We were thrilled to have 33 drivers sign in for the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders opener at 34 on Saturday night and as I mentioned last week we are seeing a serious youth movement in the roster. So much so that I was teasing 19-year-old Brayden Gaylord that he was considered to be "old" with Bailey Goldesberry, Tanner Gebhardt, Hunter Lane and defending Invaders champion Chris Martin all being younger than him. Martin had a night that he would like to forget, Gebhardt qualified for the Budweiser Shake Up Dash and then ran a solid ninth in the main event, Goldesberry led much of a B-Main then finished 18th in the "A" and Gaylord made the most of an opportunity to run the main event finishing 14th. Brayden had actually missed a transfer from the first B-Main by one position, but when John Schulz was forced to scratch with mechanical issues Gaylord was added to the field.
I was also impressed with 17-year-old Hunter Lane who was running away with the second B-Main before pulling to the infield with mechanical issues. And of course I also need to mention that the winner on the night, Carson McCarl, is just in his early twenties. Hopefully all of the young guns will continue to follow the Invaders schedule for most if not all of the 2017 campaign.
It was also great to see the Deery Brothers Summer Series IMCA Late Models return to 34 Raceway for the first time since 2013 with a solid field of 31 cars signing in. This is impressive in that none of these drivers were competing at their "home track" so I am optimistic about how the series will go in 2017. It was awesome to see "The Ironman" Darrel DeFrance have such a solid opener as it seems like he has been playing from behind when it comes to the Deery series the past several years. With his runner-up finish to Nick Marolf at 34, Darrel has to be looking forward to this Saturday's show at West Liberty not just so that he can continue the streak, but that he is in contention for what would be his first series title in thirty-one attempts. I hope to catch up with the Deery series again on April 14th in Farley and, if not there, perhaps Sunday April 23rd in Dubuque.
Will I be able to pull off a "double" that day by also attending the Spring Classic at Rockford that afternoon??
Several of the Late Models had some "new looks" that were very sharp. Both Jonathan Brauns and the Roberts Motorsports Team and their new driver Jeremiah Hurst were using a teal green and blue combo that looked great and Matt Ryan's #07 made me do a double take as the blue, red and white colors are definitely a departure from his traditional black and gold. I also had to chuckle because painted on the hood it said "Trying Not To Suck Since....." and I'm sorry that I can't recall the year! I was quite busy Saturday night :)
Jordan Grabouski pulled the big money out of Tipton and carted it back with him to Beatrice, Nebraska, along with his Modified. Stock Car winner Elijah Zevenbergen made the long pull down from his northwest Iowa home of Ocheydan while Tyler Soppe kept the Sport Mod cash close by with his second win of the young season during the Darkside Spring Fling. Nearly the full feature results were provided on Facebook, they were missing a couple of names, but if anybody has the full roster of the more than 200 cars that signed in I would love to see who all was there.
I am concerned that it will be difficult to get results, at least early in the season, from tracks that have been using SpeedNet in the past as a change in ownership now has some of those tracks using MyRacePass while others have switched to SpeedScoreOne. Three examples for you early on. The Springfield Raceway in Missouri has not skipped a beat as their results have popped up on SpeedNet within hours after their races are completed as if nothing has changed. The Farmer City Raceway, another track that used to always have its results up on SpeedNet shortly after races ended thought that their results from last weekend were there, but when it was pointed out that they were not they discovered that they now have to link up through MyRacePass in order to have the results on the net. They hope to have that resolved soon. I will bet you that other tracks will also assume that their results are out there only to find that they have to do something new with MRP to make that happen. 34 Raceway is the first that I have seen to switch to SpeedScoreOne and I don't like a couple of things about it. One is that it takes a lot more clicking to get the results for each race from each class and the other is that the drivers' hometowns are not listed. Boo!
Of course this is all better than a couple of tracks in the thirteen state region that I follow who make no effort at all to post their results in any manner. The fact that they don't just boggles my mind, so promoters or publicists make sure that whatever software you are now using is actually putting the results out there where someone like me, and the many other interested fans can find them without feeling like we are on some kind of a scavenger hunt!
From checking some results over the past weekend I noted that Kelly Shryock went south to win the IMCA Modified feature at the Tri-State Speedway Keggar in Pocola, Oklahoma Saturday night. Stanton, Iowa's Jeff James finished second with former NASCAR star Ken Schrader in third. Schrader was also the winner of the USRA Modified portion of that program and then made the trip over to Terre Haute, Indiana where he finished fourth in the UMP Modified feature that was won by his buddy Kenny Wallace on Sunday afternoon. I believe that Schrader is slated to run a couple of the IMCA Frostbusters this weekend.
It was a sad night at the newly named Red Dirt Raceway as veteran Sprint Car driver Steve Smith from Edmond, Oklahoma passed away from an apparent heart attack while at the track. It was the season opener at the track in Meeker Friday and Smith had won the non-wing Sprint Car heat race earlier in the evening.
Get on out to a race of your choice this weekend and thank you for checking in on the Back Stretch!
Sunday, April 2, 2017
Marolf and McCarl Prevail at a Muddy 34 Raceway
"Herculean" was how my colleague Bill Wright perfectly described the effort put forth by the track crew headed up by Jeff Laue at 34 Raceway Saturday and he would be the first to tell you that it would not have happened without the help of several friends and racers who loaned out their equipment and their time. More than four inches of rain had fallen at the speedway during the week and with cool temperatures and only some filtered sunshine on Saturday they somehow got the facility to a point where the season openers for two long running regional racing series could take the green.
This amount of effort would not have been put forward had this been a weekly show. This was a highly anticipated first time pairing of the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models and the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders, two series that were started right here at 34 Raceway some sixteen years apart. When we arrived at four o'clock the race haulers were lined up all the way back to the railroad tracks and it would be another half hour before they started to pull them into the pits and, when one of the first large haulers to give it a try got stuck, it took several minutes for a four-wheel drive tractor to pull it out of the muck. Lessons were quickly learned though and soon the race cars were steadily making their way to the pits with 33 Sprinters and 31 Late Models on hand.
In their Facebook announcement that the races would go on, the track stated that conditions will be less than ideal and while the track itself was definitely a challenge for the drivers and one that they are likely feeling the effects from on this Sunday morning, for the most part it stayed raceable throughout the night with roughest parts, as they so often do, developing in the fastest line. Cowboy up if you want to win!
The night got off to rough start for defending Sprint Invaders champion Chris Martin who tangled with Christian Bowman as the green flag waved on the first heat race and both cars got upside down on the front stretch. That would end the night for Bowman who was trying to make his first laps in a 360 after winning the 305 title at the Knoxville Raceway in 2016. Martin was able to make repairs and return for a B-Main where he had raced his way into the final transfer position only to have a right front tire go flat in the closing laps. If there is going to be a title defense in 2017, Martin will need to return to the dominance that he exhibited in his championship season to make up the points that he lost out on in this DNQ.
It was also a rough start to the season for Late Model driver Andy Eckrich who was racing for a transfer spot in his heat race when he and Jesse Sobbing made contact entering turn three. This made Andy's car climb to the top of the wall and then do a nose stand before it tumbled onto its roof. The incident was very similar to the one that happened here a few years ago when World of Outlaws driver Brad Sweet had his sprint car split in half, but since then a change in how the wall rises from the back stretch to the entrance of turn three kept the same from happening to Eckrich.
Another scary incident happened during the first Sprint Car B-Main when contact at the front of the field sent Justin Bucholz for spin just past the flagstand and when Levi Michener made an evasive move he lost control and veered into the infield striking the sponsor signs just in front of the scales where several of the track officials stand during the races. The impact shattered two large signs and knocked one the employees to the ground, but fortunately he was only shaken and not injured.
Two of the three Phillips brothers in action on the night would start from the front row in the 25-lap Sprint Invader feature with Tasker taking the lead at the start. When he bicycled in turn four on lap eleven though older brother Rager was there to accept the lead that he would hold for three laps before an incident with Jamie Ball. As the leader was trying to put Ball a lap down he ran out of room on the front stretch and jumped the right rear wheel sending Phillips over the top of turn one somehow staying upright. This would allow Carson McCarl to assume the lead for the restart and while Jon Agan was able to keep pace he was not able to mount a serious challenge on the leader as Carson joined his father Terry and grandfather Lenard as feature winners here at 34 Raceway. Agan finished second ahead of Jake Blackhurst, fourth went to Josh Schneiderman as Ryan Jamison completed the top five. Look for Blackhurst to be one of the many drivers on hand here next Saturday night, April 8th, when the IRA 410 Outlaw Sprint Cars return to 34 Raceway.
It has been four years since the Deery Series has been at 34 despite the fact that is got its start here back in 1987 and it was only fitting that two drivers who were at that first-ever event would draw the front row for tonight's 35-lap feature. Darrel DeFrance was on the pole and not only was he at the first Summer Series race, he has been at all of them over the past thirty years and starting next to him was the winner of that inaugural race, Jay Johnson. And even though the track conditions would not be considered favorable for the older guys their cars looked like they had teenagers behind the wheel in the opening laps as DeFrance would set a fast pace. Nick Marolf had started in the second row and after dominating his heat race earlier, he knew that he had a setup where he could leave the preferred bottom line and make it stick and he did just that driving around DeFrance for the lead. The race would be for second after that as Marolf would drive away from the field after each restart leaving the veteran to fight off challenges from Johnson, Matt Ryan and Tyler Bruening. This was a race of attrition as less than half of the field made it to the finish with Marolf taking his second career Summer Series victory ahead of DeFrance who was an impressive runner-up. Chad Holladay made a late move to finish in third ahead of Ryan and Bruening. The Summer Series returns to action next Saturday night at the West Liberty Raceway.
The wet conditions made this show a challenge for all, including the fans who had to look for a dry parking spot in the grassy lot, but the fact that this night of racing happened at all was triumph. Let's hope that we can do it again to kickoff the 2018 season under more ideal circumstances!
This amount of effort would not have been put forward had this been a weekly show. This was a highly anticipated first time pairing of the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models and the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders, two series that were started right here at 34 Raceway some sixteen years apart. When we arrived at four o'clock the race haulers were lined up all the way back to the railroad tracks and it would be another half hour before they started to pull them into the pits and, when one of the first large haulers to give it a try got stuck, it took several minutes for a four-wheel drive tractor to pull it out of the muck. Lessons were quickly learned though and soon the race cars were steadily making their way to the pits with 33 Sprinters and 31 Late Models on hand.
In their Facebook announcement that the races would go on, the track stated that conditions will be less than ideal and while the track itself was definitely a challenge for the drivers and one that they are likely feeling the effects from on this Sunday morning, for the most part it stayed raceable throughout the night with roughest parts, as they so often do, developing in the fastest line. Cowboy up if you want to win!
The night got off to rough start for defending Sprint Invaders champion Chris Martin who tangled with Christian Bowman as the green flag waved on the first heat race and both cars got upside down on the front stretch. That would end the night for Bowman who was trying to make his first laps in a 360 after winning the 305 title at the Knoxville Raceway in 2016. Martin was able to make repairs and return for a B-Main where he had raced his way into the final transfer position only to have a right front tire go flat in the closing laps. If there is going to be a title defense in 2017, Martin will need to return to the dominance that he exhibited in his championship season to make up the points that he lost out on in this DNQ.
It was also a rough start to the season for Late Model driver Andy Eckrich who was racing for a transfer spot in his heat race when he and Jesse Sobbing made contact entering turn three. This made Andy's car climb to the top of the wall and then do a nose stand before it tumbled onto its roof. The incident was very similar to the one that happened here a few years ago when World of Outlaws driver Brad Sweet had his sprint car split in half, but since then a change in how the wall rises from the back stretch to the entrance of turn three kept the same from happening to Eckrich.
Another scary incident happened during the first Sprint Car B-Main when contact at the front of the field sent Justin Bucholz for spin just past the flagstand and when Levi Michener made an evasive move he lost control and veered into the infield striking the sponsor signs just in front of the scales where several of the track officials stand during the races. The impact shattered two large signs and knocked one the employees to the ground, but fortunately he was only shaken and not injured.
 |
| Carson McCarl celebrates his win - Barry Johnson photo |
It has been four years since the Deery Series has been at 34 despite the fact that is got its start here back in 1987 and it was only fitting that two drivers who were at that first-ever event would draw the front row for tonight's 35-lap feature. Darrel DeFrance was on the pole and not only was he at the first Summer Series race, he has been at all of them over the past thirty years and starting next to him was the winner of that inaugural race, Jay Johnson. And even though the track conditions would not be considered favorable for the older guys their cars looked like they had teenagers behind the wheel in the opening laps as DeFrance would set a fast pace. Nick Marolf had started in the second row and after dominating his heat race earlier, he knew that he had a setup where he could leave the preferred bottom line and make it stick and he did just that driving around DeFrance for the lead. The race would be for second after that as Marolf would drive away from the field after each restart leaving the veteran to fight off challenges from Johnson, Matt Ryan and Tyler Bruening. This was a race of attrition as less than half of the field made it to the finish with Marolf taking his second career Summer Series victory ahead of DeFrance who was an impressive runner-up. Chad Holladay made a late move to finish in third ahead of Ryan and Bruening. The Summer Series returns to action next Saturday night at the West Liberty Raceway.
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| Nick Marolf is joined by promoter Jeff Laue and flagman Grant Oskvig in 34 Raceway's victory lane - Barry Johnson photo |
The wet conditions made this show a challenge for all, including the fans who had to look for a dry parking spot in the grassy lot, but the fact that this night of racing happened at all was triumph. Let's hope that we can do it again to kickoff the 2018 season under more ideal circumstances!
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