When competing in a stock car race, or actually a race of any kind, being out front is the ultimate goal and on Sunday afternoon during the 52nd running of the National Short Track Championship at the Rockford Speedway only one driver achieved that goal during the 200-lap distance. And, by being out front, Alex Prunty stayed ahead of the rough and tumble action taking place behind him that essentially eliminated all other serious contenders by lap 112.
Prunty would start the race from the outside of row one and take the lead from the drop of the green with one potential contender, Brad Mueller pulling to the infield even before that green flag waved. On the third lap two more contenders would suffer damage when Jon Reynolds Jr. got loose in turn four and former Slinger Speedway champion Chris Blawat vaulted his right front wheel over the left rear tire of Reynolds. The front of Blawat's Super Late Model rose high into the air and then slammed back down forcing him to the pits for several laps while Reynolds would now spend the rest of the afternoon trying to make repairs under caution in order to stay in contention. And believe me, there were plenty of cautions.
Young Grant Greisbach would spin Matt Berger as they were racing for fourth on lap nineteen and the stack up behind them eliminated James Swan for the afternoon. On lap twenty-eight fast qualifier Austin Nason stopped on the track to pull a caution before ducking to the pits to change a tire. He would go down a lap to the leaders for doing this, but with the "Lucky Dog" rule in place Nason would eventually be back on the lead lap by the mid-race break.
Dana Czach and Jeremy Spoonmore tangled on lap 85 and on the restart Matt Berger would spin to the infield on the front stretch. With the caution laps counting along the way that would get us to the mid-race break with Prunty still in front followed by Brian Johnson Jr., Michael Bilderback who was looking to sweep the weekend after winning the Weekly Warriors Late Model event on Friday night and the Big 8 Late Model series event on Saturday, pole-sitter Dennis Prunty and the veteran Rich Bickle Jr. making up the top five.
Once back to green Bickle would pull to the infield on lap 110, then two laps later the crash that essentially decided the race happened. With what looked to be the fastest car on the track Nason had moved from seventh at the break up to third and was set to challenge for second, but when he drove too deep into turn one he pushed up the track sending both himself and Brian Johnson Jr. hard into the turn one wall. Dennis Prunty could not avoid contact and the damage to the right front of his car was terminal. Bilderback had the right side of his car peeled away and the spoiler of Griesbach's car had to be picked up by the safety crew in turn two.
After a long red flag period to clean up the mess the remainder of the field was led back to green by Alex Prunty who was still enjoying his Sunday drive. The fifteen-year-old Griesbach then got a lesson in aerodynamics as on the first lap back to green he raced hard into turn three and, with no spoiler, his car slid up the track and climbed the wall nearly going upside down before it settled back to the track on all fours.
Again the race was stopped to clean up the signage that had been knocked down and now Prunty had to be feeling good about things with the fourteenth fastest qualifier Rob Braun, the slowest qualifier in the twenty-two car field, Jake Gille, and the car of Jon Reynolds Jr. that had essentially been duct taped back together being his only challengers on the lead lap. One more caution on lap 137 for a Czach and Adam Peschek dust up slowed the pace, but from there the 25-year-old Prunty would cruise to the win. Braun, Reynolds Jr. and Gille were next in line while Josh Nelms was a lap down in fifth.
A nice field of Mid-American Stock Cars had to be whittled down to a twenty-four car starting field for the 50-lap preliminary event with current series point leader Dan Gilster starting from the pole. It would be Ryan Gutknecht who would lead the opening laps though until the caution waved when Chad Procter spun to the infield. On the restart Gutknecht did not come up to speed allowing Gilster to take the lead and the caution waved for the early leader to head to the pits. On the restart veteran driver Bill Prietzel's day came to an early end after hitting the wall in turn one and on the restart Kevin Gentile made a strong move on Gilster to take the lead.
On lap ten Kenny Benson was sent for a spin down the back stretch and then the field settled into some good green flag action with Gentile leading the way and under fire from defending race winner Ron Vandermeier Jr. The two leaders would go door-to-door for a couple of laps until on lap 31 when Vandermeier forced Gentile high in turn two where he kissed the wall and dropped back several spots as Vandermeier claimed the lead. Cautions on laps 33, 34, 37 and 47 would slow the pace, but nobody was going to stop the repeat as Vandermeier would again go to victory lane during the Short Track Championships. Gilster padded his point lead heading to the finale at this weekend's Oktoberfest at LaCrosse Speedway by finishing second, Bobby Gutknecht was third, Mark Pluer took fourth and Jeremy Bloomberg completed the top five.
As somebody who came here for the first time in the early 80's and who has made only sporadic visits since, it really sparks old memories to walk into the grand old facility that the urban sprawl has now overtaken. Announcer Eric Huenefeld did a great job as always informing and entertaining the crowd and the concessions at Rockford are some of the best that you will find. Yes, there were a few too many cautions and it was disappointing that so many good cars were essentially eliminated in one wreck, but it was still an entertaining afternoon of action enjoyed with fellow Back Stretch "bleacher creatures" Doug Haack and Kevin Feller as we wrapped up one great racing weekend!
Monday, October 2, 2017
Saturday, September 30, 2017
Duffy Leads The Lap That Counts For Rumble On The River Win
The IMCA Modifieds took center stage Saturday night at the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway, the final night of two for the Rumble On The River, and the feature race came right down to the wire with Darin Duffy stealing the $3,000 win from Mark Schulte. Luke Goedert, Scott Busch, Joe Bonney and Brett Marshall were also winners as the 2017 season came to a close at the wide high-banked 3/8th-mile oval.
Thirty laps would be the distance for the Modified headliner with Schulte going to the lead from the pole position. Fellow front row starter Travis Denning went to the topside only to give up the second spot to fifth starting Jason Schueller. With both drivers hugging the bottom Schulte and Schueller were pulling away from the field until the caution waved on lap eight when Rob Toland got sideways in turn one and collected four others.
On the restart Kenny Kostenbader made a run at the leaders, but he soon faded as Denning again picked up the chase in third. Bryce Garnhart was running fourth until Darin Duffy swept by him on the outside and when Denning sailed around Schueller for second with nine laps remaining, suddenly Schulte was the only one of the top five still running the bottom. The caution waved a lap later though for debris and on the restart drivers scrambled to decide what line they should be using to try to catch Schulte.
The leader appeared to be on his way to victory, but another caution for debris on lap 26 would set the stage for a thrilling finish as Schueller and Duffy lined up side-by-side behind Schulte for the final restart. When the green flag waved Duffy went to the top and steadily picked up ground and, if you have never been to Dubuque before, there is quite a difference in the distance around this place from the bottom to the top.
As the white flag waved Schulte and Duffy crossed the stripe in a virtual dead heat and on the final lap Duffy again worked the cushion to perfection on both ends of the speedway to sweep past Schulte off of turn four and win by two car lengths. Schulte would have to settle for runner-up pay, not too tough of a pill to swallow at $2,500 while Schueller held on for third. Denning used the high side for nearly every lap to finish fourth while Garnhart completed the top five.
Sport Mod ace Tyler Soppe was impressive behind the wheel of the #116 Modified normally driven by George Spence III as he came from deep in the pack to win a Last Chance race early in the evening. Soppe then started the A-Main from thirteenth and raced his way up to seventh at the checkers in the stout field.
A nice field of twenty-one Late Models were a part of tonight's program as well with Luke Goedert leading the way from the drop of the green. Goedert's short way around the track was putting some distance on Dan Shelliam who was chasing around the top before the caution waved on lap nine for Luke Merfeld who had been racing in the top five. On the restart a lot would change in just the one lap that would be scored before the caution waved again for two separate incidents. Racing into turn three Joel Callahan door slammed Dirk Hamilton sending Callahan for a spin while just ahead of them the second place car of Eric Pollard spun coming out of turn four. The fifth-place car of Ryan Dolan clipped Pollard knocking down the right front on Dolan's car brining his night to an early end..
Once back to green Goedert again pulled away until he closed in a on three cars racing for position at the back of the field. Showing great patience Goederrt worked carefully through the traffic over four laps of racing allowing both Shelliam and Terry Neal to cut the lead to just a couple of car lengths. With eight laps remaining Goedert cleared traffic and then left his challengers behind to take the $1,000 victory. Shelliam and Neal were next in line as Doug Nigh and Dirk Hamilton completed the top five.
The Sport Mods had a tough night with multiple cautions interrupting what could have been a pretty good race up front. Justin Becker would lead the first three laps before a debris caution would unleash the yellow fever. Jacob Arp would spin in turn two on lap four and following the restart Scott Busch would slip under Becker for the lead on lap six. Right after giving up the lead Becker would spin in turn four, but apparently a caution for debris had been called just before allowing Becker to restart from the second position.
A four car pileup would slow the race on the restart and two laps later Darren Clendenen spun in turn three. On this restart Nic Coates and Tyler Soppe lined up behind Busch and when the green waved Soppe tried to get to the bottom entering turn one. Coates was already there though and did not yield and the two seemed to turn into each other until they ground to a stop at the exit of turn two. Both drivers would hustle into the infield to change flat tires before restarting at the rear and one more lap was scored before Cody Calam spun in turn three.
Under track rules the lap count would click up one more with each caution so the race would officially restart with ten laps down and ten to go and this time we would actually get five laps of racing in. Troy Bauer was able to get under Busch coming off of turn two, but the leader shut the door and Bauer had to back off to keep from spinning them both. Jarrett Franzen had raced into the top five from the seventh row, but with smoke pouring from the back of his car it finally came to a stop on the back stretch with the scoreboard now showing sixteen laps scored.
When two cars couldn't make it to the green flag for the restart the lap counter moved to seventeen and it would be a three-lap race to the checkers that would see Scott Busch hold on for the feature win. Bauer would take second as Jaden Fryer came from nowhere in the final laps to take third. He had started in the sixth row. Tony Olson would finish in the fourth position while Jerry Miles was fifth.
The Stock Car feature was an official's nightmare as the seven car field all clamored for the bottom line with nobody willing to even try the top. Brett Wenzel who had made the tow in from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, (Keep 'er Movin') started on the pole and essentially dared somebody to go around him on the outside by hugging the inside guardrail. Jesse Owen would spin on lap three and on the restart Greg Gill would take up the challenge on Wenzel. After trying the next line up unsuccessfully Gill then tried to squeeze under the leader and he would spin with three laps remaining to cause the caution. The race went downhill from there. Owen would spin again in turn four with two laps to go, but perhaps due to the low car count he was allowed to stay in the race. On this restart Joe Bonney got a run on Wenzel and entered turn one door-to-door with him entering turn one. Tim Schneider then tried get under Wenzel and contact would send the leader for a spin off of turn two.
The drivers circled the track for several laps until the field was reset with only Wenzel going to the rear behind even Cory Murphy who had completed a couple of 360's while racing well behind the field and had just returned to the track from the infield. Bonney would bring the group back to green, but as the white flag was waving for the leader first Schneider would spin in turn three and Wenzel would get dumped again, this time by Kyle Merkes exiting turn four. Mercifully the checkers would then wave along with the caution with Bonney officially leading just one lap to take the win. Owen would be credited with second, Merkes third, Murphy fourth and Wenzel fifth.
Coming to the track after the Sport Mods and Stock Cars the Sport Compacts reset the mood by going flag-to-flag for ten laps with Brett Marshall taking a convincing win. John Campbell was more than a half-lap behind in second while Brian Marshall was third.
All in all it was an entertaining night of racing that wrapped up early with the final checkers waving not long after 9 p.m. On Sunday I will get my pavement racing fix in for the year by attending the National Short Track Championship finale at the Rockford Speedway. Look for Doug, Kevin and I on the Back Stretch.
Thirty laps would be the distance for the Modified headliner with Schulte going to the lead from the pole position. Fellow front row starter Travis Denning went to the topside only to give up the second spot to fifth starting Jason Schueller. With both drivers hugging the bottom Schulte and Schueller were pulling away from the field until the caution waved on lap eight when Rob Toland got sideways in turn one and collected four others.
On the restart Kenny Kostenbader made a run at the leaders, but he soon faded as Denning again picked up the chase in third. Bryce Garnhart was running fourth until Darin Duffy swept by him on the outside and when Denning sailed around Schueller for second with nine laps remaining, suddenly Schulte was the only one of the top five still running the bottom. The caution waved a lap later though for debris and on the restart drivers scrambled to decide what line they should be using to try to catch Schulte.
The leader appeared to be on his way to victory, but another caution for debris on lap 26 would set the stage for a thrilling finish as Schueller and Duffy lined up side-by-side behind Schulte for the final restart. When the green flag waved Duffy went to the top and steadily picked up ground and, if you have never been to Dubuque before, there is quite a difference in the distance around this place from the bottom to the top.
As the white flag waved Schulte and Duffy crossed the stripe in a virtual dead heat and on the final lap Duffy again worked the cushion to perfection on both ends of the speedway to sweep past Schulte off of turn four and win by two car lengths. Schulte would have to settle for runner-up pay, not too tough of a pill to swallow at $2,500 while Schueller held on for third. Denning used the high side for nearly every lap to finish fourth while Garnhart completed the top five.
Sport Mod ace Tyler Soppe was impressive behind the wheel of the #116 Modified normally driven by George Spence III as he came from deep in the pack to win a Last Chance race early in the evening. Soppe then started the A-Main from thirteenth and raced his way up to seventh at the checkers in the stout field.
A nice field of twenty-one Late Models were a part of tonight's program as well with Luke Goedert leading the way from the drop of the green. Goedert's short way around the track was putting some distance on Dan Shelliam who was chasing around the top before the caution waved on lap nine for Luke Merfeld who had been racing in the top five. On the restart a lot would change in just the one lap that would be scored before the caution waved again for two separate incidents. Racing into turn three Joel Callahan door slammed Dirk Hamilton sending Callahan for a spin while just ahead of them the second place car of Eric Pollard spun coming out of turn four. The fifth-place car of Ryan Dolan clipped Pollard knocking down the right front on Dolan's car brining his night to an early end..
Once back to green Goedert again pulled away until he closed in a on three cars racing for position at the back of the field. Showing great patience Goederrt worked carefully through the traffic over four laps of racing allowing both Shelliam and Terry Neal to cut the lead to just a couple of car lengths. With eight laps remaining Goedert cleared traffic and then left his challengers behind to take the $1,000 victory. Shelliam and Neal were next in line as Doug Nigh and Dirk Hamilton completed the top five.
The Sport Mods had a tough night with multiple cautions interrupting what could have been a pretty good race up front. Justin Becker would lead the first three laps before a debris caution would unleash the yellow fever. Jacob Arp would spin in turn two on lap four and following the restart Scott Busch would slip under Becker for the lead on lap six. Right after giving up the lead Becker would spin in turn four, but apparently a caution for debris had been called just before allowing Becker to restart from the second position.
A four car pileup would slow the race on the restart and two laps later Darren Clendenen spun in turn three. On this restart Nic Coates and Tyler Soppe lined up behind Busch and when the green waved Soppe tried to get to the bottom entering turn one. Coates was already there though and did not yield and the two seemed to turn into each other until they ground to a stop at the exit of turn two. Both drivers would hustle into the infield to change flat tires before restarting at the rear and one more lap was scored before Cody Calam spun in turn three.
Under track rules the lap count would click up one more with each caution so the race would officially restart with ten laps down and ten to go and this time we would actually get five laps of racing in. Troy Bauer was able to get under Busch coming off of turn two, but the leader shut the door and Bauer had to back off to keep from spinning them both. Jarrett Franzen had raced into the top five from the seventh row, but with smoke pouring from the back of his car it finally came to a stop on the back stretch with the scoreboard now showing sixteen laps scored.
When two cars couldn't make it to the green flag for the restart the lap counter moved to seventeen and it would be a three-lap race to the checkers that would see Scott Busch hold on for the feature win. Bauer would take second as Jaden Fryer came from nowhere in the final laps to take third. He had started in the sixth row. Tony Olson would finish in the fourth position while Jerry Miles was fifth.
The Stock Car feature was an official's nightmare as the seven car field all clamored for the bottom line with nobody willing to even try the top. Brett Wenzel who had made the tow in from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, (Keep 'er Movin') started on the pole and essentially dared somebody to go around him on the outside by hugging the inside guardrail. Jesse Owen would spin on lap three and on the restart Greg Gill would take up the challenge on Wenzel. After trying the next line up unsuccessfully Gill then tried to squeeze under the leader and he would spin with three laps remaining to cause the caution. The race went downhill from there. Owen would spin again in turn four with two laps to go, but perhaps due to the low car count he was allowed to stay in the race. On this restart Joe Bonney got a run on Wenzel and entered turn one door-to-door with him entering turn one. Tim Schneider then tried get under Wenzel and contact would send the leader for a spin off of turn two.
The drivers circled the track for several laps until the field was reset with only Wenzel going to the rear behind even Cory Murphy who had completed a couple of 360's while racing well behind the field and had just returned to the track from the infield. Bonney would bring the group back to green, but as the white flag was waving for the leader first Schneider would spin in turn three and Wenzel would get dumped again, this time by Kyle Merkes exiting turn four. Mercifully the checkers would then wave along with the caution with Bonney officially leading just one lap to take the win. Owen would be credited with second, Merkes third, Murphy fourth and Wenzel fifth.
Coming to the track after the Sport Mods and Stock Cars the Sport Compacts reset the mood by going flag-to-flag for ten laps with Brett Marshall taking a convincing win. John Campbell was more than a half-lap behind in second while Brian Marshall was third.
All in all it was an entertaining night of racing that wrapped up early with the final checkers waving not long after 9 p.m. On Sunday I will get my pavement racing fix in for the year by attending the National Short Track Championship finale at the Rockford Speedway. Look for Doug, Kevin and I on the Back Stretch.
Five Drivers Win Six Features On A Busy Night In Memphis MO
The race cars just kept rolling in as the sun started to set on the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis Friday for the first of two nights of racing on a beautiful Fall weekend in northeast Missouri. The final count was 136 cars in six divisions and the racing was high, wide and handsome on a well prepared racing surface.
The Hobby Stock division would be the first feature pulled from the six pack with Aaron Martin grabbing the lead for the opening lap. Mike Hughes would take it away on lap two before the caution waved for a Christian Huffman spin on lap three as he was racing in third. On the restart Hughes would pull away before a grinding crash in turn three brought out the red flag on lap seven. Heather Baum barrel rolled her car at least three times and thankfully she climbed out of the damaged Hobby Stock uninjured.
Once back to green Hughes would maintain about a five car length advantage over Martin as he completed the win, Martin would hold off Nick Ulin to finish second as Tim Dawson and Jamie Songer completed the top five.
A stout field of twenty-three Sport Compacts would be up next for twelve laps of racing with Jake Benischek taking the lead from the pole position. The four cylinders would flare out to four wide racing down the straightaways as drivers tried to improve their positions until the red flag waved when Cody Cleghorn smacked the guardrail in turn one and went upside down. Cleghorn was okay, but the railing needed some time to repair and after the delay Benischek brought the field back to green. Jadon DeLonjay's spin would slow the field on lap five and William Michel was turned by Nicholas Van Hemert on lap seven, but once back to green Benischek would keep Brandon Reu a few car-lengths back as he closed out the flag-to-flag win. Reu would be the runner-up ahead of eighth starting Barry Taft in third, Chuck Fullenkamp came from the fifth row to take fourth and Brandon Housley took fifth.
Forty-three Sport Mods from all over the region were in action and with the depth of talent on hand it was difficult just to make the twenty-four car cut for the 18-lap main event. After a three win weekend last week Austen Becerra had to be considered the pre-race favorite and when he drew the outside front row of the feature that pretty much sealed the deal. Austin Howes had other ideas though as he drove around the outside of Becerra coming off of turn four for lap two, but the pass was negated when three cars tangled just behind them in turn three.
Not only is Becerra fast, he is smart as well and following the restart he moved up the track in turn four to take away Howes' line and maintain the lead until another three-car dust up in turn four on lap five. Another caution for a flat tire on Tim Plummer's car slowed the field mid-race and it was now apparent that Logan Anderson was on the move. Anderson had started twelfth and was now in the top five and he would then make his way up to second before the final caution waved with three laps remaining when Brett Lowry and Austin Kaplan tangled in turn one.
On the restart Anderson did his best to stay with the leader, but there would be no stopping Becerra who made it four wins over the past eight days with two of them paying four figures. Anderson was impressive in second, Brandon Lennox started ninth and finished third, Brayton Carter came from the back of the field after changing a tire during the first lap caution to take fourth while Howes drove the Obsession Race Cars #49 to fifth.
A mix of eleven Late Models signed in, but only eight of them would start the twenty-lap main event with pole starter Tommy Elston taking the lead in his Crate. Cayden Carter would be there to challenge in his IMCA car and he would put a nice slider on Elston in turn three to take the lead on lap two. It was all over but the shouting from there as Carter then cruised to the win over Sam Halstead, Kevin Blackburn and Derek Liles.
Twenty-nine Stock Cars were on hand, some of the best in the region and as they always seem to do here at Memphis the division put on some of the best racing of the night. I kid you not, during a late restart in one of the heat races they raced six-wide through turns one and two without a single hint of contact and when a driver like Damon Murty has to come from the B-Main you know that the competition is stout!
Getting the feature started was a chore though as on the first try both Jeff Mueller, driving Corey Strothman's #C4, and Johnny Spaw spun in turn one. Then, on the second try, a multi-car melee in the back half of the field left Jason See with a badly damaged car sitting in the middle of the back stretch. A flat tire under the caution sent pole-sitter Brandon Jay into the work area moving Abe Huls up to the pole for the third try and he would lead the opening lap. Lap two would test the score keepers as Nathan Wood squeezed under Huls coming off of turn four and Dustin Griffiths had the momentum off the top side to make it three wide at the stripe with Wood's low line prevailing to take the lead on lap three. Huls would try to keep pace as Wood continued to hug the bottom while both Spaw and Mueller picked their way to the front . Spaw moved to second and twice over the final five laps he would pull even with Wood entering turn three but he couldn't make it stick on the second groove and the current All Iowa Points Stock Car leader Nathan Wood would take the win over Spaw, Mueller, Huls and Griffith.
Twenty-three Modifieds would close out the evening with twenty-laps of feature racing with pole-sitter Kyle Brown setting a fast pace. Cautions would slow the field three times during the first half of the race, on lap four for a Tyler Shaw spin, on lap seven when Andrew Schroeder went over the top of turns three and four and on lap ten when young Colton Prevo spun in turn three. After starting eighth Cayden Carter was now poised to challenge Brown and when he had a big run off of turn two on lap fourteen Carter threw a slider at Brown entering turn three. Kyle countered with a crossover move exiting turn four to retain the lead and the caution then waved again a lap later when Justin Fuller went over the top of turn three.
Robert Thompson spun and sat in turn two on the restart so when they tried it again Carter nailed the cushion perfectly in turns one and two allowing him to drive under Brown going down the back stretch and this time he was able to make it stick in turns three and four to take the lead. One more caution for Jerad Fuller's spin came with three laps remaining and on the restart there was no staying with Carter who scored his second win of the evening. Brown had to settle for runner-up pay, Jardin Fuller made a nice run on his hometown track finishing third, Bruce Hanford was fourth and Jeff Waterman completed the top five.
The track held a practice session during the afternoon and the racing surface was re-worked and watered before the night's action. That made for a later start than planned, although the delay was well worth it for the track that was provided, but with the large field, the two rollovers, guardrail repair and more cautions than what we are used to seeing here the final checkers flew just past midnight. You can bet that won't be the case tonight as the racing is scheduled to start an hour earlier with hot laps at 6 p.m. so if you are in the area I would highly recommend your attendance!
I will be headed a different direction though with tonight's show putting me closer to my Sunday target of the National Short Track Championships in Rockford and as of right now I am trying to decide between three different events. Check in tomorrow morning to see which Back Stretch I was prowling.
Go racing tonight!
The Hobby Stock division would be the first feature pulled from the six pack with Aaron Martin grabbing the lead for the opening lap. Mike Hughes would take it away on lap two before the caution waved for a Christian Huffman spin on lap three as he was racing in third. On the restart Hughes would pull away before a grinding crash in turn three brought out the red flag on lap seven. Heather Baum barrel rolled her car at least three times and thankfully she climbed out of the damaged Hobby Stock uninjured.
Once back to green Hughes would maintain about a five car length advantage over Martin as he completed the win, Martin would hold off Nick Ulin to finish second as Tim Dawson and Jamie Songer completed the top five.
A stout field of twenty-three Sport Compacts would be up next for twelve laps of racing with Jake Benischek taking the lead from the pole position. The four cylinders would flare out to four wide racing down the straightaways as drivers tried to improve their positions until the red flag waved when Cody Cleghorn smacked the guardrail in turn one and went upside down. Cleghorn was okay, but the railing needed some time to repair and after the delay Benischek brought the field back to green. Jadon DeLonjay's spin would slow the field on lap five and William Michel was turned by Nicholas Van Hemert on lap seven, but once back to green Benischek would keep Brandon Reu a few car-lengths back as he closed out the flag-to-flag win. Reu would be the runner-up ahead of eighth starting Barry Taft in third, Chuck Fullenkamp came from the fifth row to take fourth and Brandon Housley took fifth.
Forty-three Sport Mods from all over the region were in action and with the depth of talent on hand it was difficult just to make the twenty-four car cut for the 18-lap main event. After a three win weekend last week Austen Becerra had to be considered the pre-race favorite and when he drew the outside front row of the feature that pretty much sealed the deal. Austin Howes had other ideas though as he drove around the outside of Becerra coming off of turn four for lap two, but the pass was negated when three cars tangled just behind them in turn three.
Not only is Becerra fast, he is smart as well and following the restart he moved up the track in turn four to take away Howes' line and maintain the lead until another three-car dust up in turn four on lap five. Another caution for a flat tire on Tim Plummer's car slowed the field mid-race and it was now apparent that Logan Anderson was on the move. Anderson had started twelfth and was now in the top five and he would then make his way up to second before the final caution waved with three laps remaining when Brett Lowry and Austin Kaplan tangled in turn one.
On the restart Anderson did his best to stay with the leader, but there would be no stopping Becerra who made it four wins over the past eight days with two of them paying four figures. Anderson was impressive in second, Brandon Lennox started ninth and finished third, Brayton Carter came from the back of the field after changing a tire during the first lap caution to take fourth while Howes drove the Obsession Race Cars #49 to fifth.
A mix of eleven Late Models signed in, but only eight of them would start the twenty-lap main event with pole starter Tommy Elston taking the lead in his Crate. Cayden Carter would be there to challenge in his IMCA car and he would put a nice slider on Elston in turn three to take the lead on lap two. It was all over but the shouting from there as Carter then cruised to the win over Sam Halstead, Kevin Blackburn and Derek Liles.
Twenty-nine Stock Cars were on hand, some of the best in the region and as they always seem to do here at Memphis the division put on some of the best racing of the night. I kid you not, during a late restart in one of the heat races they raced six-wide through turns one and two without a single hint of contact and when a driver like Damon Murty has to come from the B-Main you know that the competition is stout!
Getting the feature started was a chore though as on the first try both Jeff Mueller, driving Corey Strothman's #C4, and Johnny Spaw spun in turn one. Then, on the second try, a multi-car melee in the back half of the field left Jason See with a badly damaged car sitting in the middle of the back stretch. A flat tire under the caution sent pole-sitter Brandon Jay into the work area moving Abe Huls up to the pole for the third try and he would lead the opening lap. Lap two would test the score keepers as Nathan Wood squeezed under Huls coming off of turn four and Dustin Griffiths had the momentum off the top side to make it three wide at the stripe with Wood's low line prevailing to take the lead on lap three. Huls would try to keep pace as Wood continued to hug the bottom while both Spaw and Mueller picked their way to the front . Spaw moved to second and twice over the final five laps he would pull even with Wood entering turn three but he couldn't make it stick on the second groove and the current All Iowa Points Stock Car leader Nathan Wood would take the win over Spaw, Mueller, Huls and Griffith.
Twenty-three Modifieds would close out the evening with twenty-laps of feature racing with pole-sitter Kyle Brown setting a fast pace. Cautions would slow the field three times during the first half of the race, on lap four for a Tyler Shaw spin, on lap seven when Andrew Schroeder went over the top of turns three and four and on lap ten when young Colton Prevo spun in turn three. After starting eighth Cayden Carter was now poised to challenge Brown and when he had a big run off of turn two on lap fourteen Carter threw a slider at Brown entering turn three. Kyle countered with a crossover move exiting turn four to retain the lead and the caution then waved again a lap later when Justin Fuller went over the top of turn three.
Robert Thompson spun and sat in turn two on the restart so when they tried it again Carter nailed the cushion perfectly in turns one and two allowing him to drive under Brown going down the back stretch and this time he was able to make it stick in turns three and four to take the lead. One more caution for Jerad Fuller's spin came with three laps remaining and on the restart there was no staying with Carter who scored his second win of the evening. Brown had to settle for runner-up pay, Jardin Fuller made a nice run on his hometown track finishing third, Bruce Hanford was fourth and Jeff Waterman completed the top five.
The track held a practice session during the afternoon and the racing surface was re-worked and watered before the night's action. That made for a later start than planned, although the delay was well worth it for the track that was provided, but with the large field, the two rollovers, guardrail repair and more cautions than what we are used to seeing here the final checkers flew just past midnight. You can bet that won't be the case tonight as the racing is scheduled to start an hour earlier with hot laps at 6 p.m. so if you are in the area I would highly recommend your attendance!
I will be headed a different direction though with tonight's show putting me closer to my Sunday target of the National Short Track Championships in Rockford and as of right now I am trying to decide between three different events. Check in tomorrow morning to see which Back Stretch I was prowling.
Go racing tonight!
Friday, September 29, 2017
Harrison and Unzicker Open Mod-Mania Triple At Tri-City
Two of the hottest drivers in UMP racing, and perhaps the entire Midwest, went to victory lane Thursday night as the Tri-City Speedway just across the river from St. Louis kicked off three straight nights of "Modified Mania". Mike Harrison has likely wrapped up the 2017 UMP Modified National points title and his victory was likely just icing on the cake while Ryan Unzicker may need to win again on Friday, Saturday or both in order to reel in current point leader Rusty Schlenk as he chases the UMP Late Model championship.
Fifty-six Modifieds signed in for the evening with Group qualifying setting the lineups straight up for eight heat races where only the winner advanced. One C-Main helped fill out the field for two B-Mains where eight drivers from each filled out the 24-car field for the 30-lap main event. Mike Harrison was one of a couple drivers who were able to win from somewhere other than the pole position and when fast qualifier and first heat race winner Nick Hoffman spun the wheel the #3 landed Harrison on the pole for the feature.
Michael Long started on the outside of row one and he did his best to stay even over the first two laps until Harrison eased ahead and started to build a lead. Long would keep the leader in sight and traffic soon came into play during the non-stop event. The driver to watch was Late Model star Bobby Pierce who had his own #32 Modified on the move after starting eighth, but by the time he moved to third both Harrison and Long had more than a straightaway lead on him plus there were two or three lapped cars separating them as well.
Pierce made up that ground during the final ten laps with Nick Hoffman following and while those two were able to track down Long they could not catch Harrison as he collected the $3,000 opening night victory. Pierce would finish in second, Hoffman passed Long on the final lap for third while Kenny Wallace was fifth. Sixth went to David Wietholder, Shannon Babb started his Modified in fourth but dropped to seventh at the checkers, Danny Schwartz was eighth, Brent Mullins was ninth and Rick Stevenson finished tenth after starting eighteenth.
Joining Babb and Pierce, Iowan Chris Simpson also did double duty on the night as he drove Kelly Kovski's car #10K, but Simpson dropped out of his B-Main while racing outside of a transfer spot.
Babb and Tim Manville made up the front row for the 30-lap Late Model headliner and the two waged quite a battle through the opening laps with Babb racing down low and Manville primarily banging off of the cushion. Manville was ahead by a nose on lap one, Babb was scored the leader on lap two and Manville came back to secure the lead on lap three. The caution would then wave for debris and on the restart Ryan Unzicker would take the second spot away from Babb and pick up the challenge for the lead.
Manville did his best trying to pinch off Unzicker, but he could not keep his car glued to the bottom and on lap twelve Unzicker would takeover the lead. As the laps clicked away Manville would stay within striking distance should a mistake ever come, but Unzicker has been on a winning streak lately and mistakes are far and few between from the #24 as Ryan cruised to the win and the $2,000 winner's check. Manville defended his home turf nicely as the runner-up with Chris Simpson in third. Babb faded to fourth as Bobby Pierce finished fifth, sixth went to Frank Heckenast Jr. while Tony Jackson Jr. drove Raymond Merrill's #12M to a seventh-place finish after starting twelfth. Jason Feger was eighth, Rusty Schlenk was ninth and Daryn Klein completed the top ten.
In his Late Model Pierce had to battle back all night after an unfortunate turn of events during qualifying. He was the first of three cars in his group to come to the track to take two laps on the clock and just as he was completing his first lap the caution waved for the second car on the track that had coasted to a stop on the back stretch. As Pierce and the third car circled the track under caution, the disabled Late Model was pushed to the pits, but just before the green flag was about to wave again Pierce pulled to the infield with a flat right front tire. With no official qualifying time Bobby started seventh in the second heat and raced his way up to second at the checkers to earn a big round of applause from the fans who, let's face it, never get to see a run like this under the UMP race format.
There is a stellar field of cars here at Tri-City and the car count might even grow tonight and Saturday, but that format is a big reason why I will head back north tonight to the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri, for night one of two for the Jerry Barrickman Memorial. Perhaps I will see you there!
Fifty-six Modifieds signed in for the evening with Group qualifying setting the lineups straight up for eight heat races where only the winner advanced. One C-Main helped fill out the field for two B-Mains where eight drivers from each filled out the 24-car field for the 30-lap main event. Mike Harrison was one of a couple drivers who were able to win from somewhere other than the pole position and when fast qualifier and first heat race winner Nick Hoffman spun the wheel the #3 landed Harrison on the pole for the feature.
Michael Long started on the outside of row one and he did his best to stay even over the first two laps until Harrison eased ahead and started to build a lead. Long would keep the leader in sight and traffic soon came into play during the non-stop event. The driver to watch was Late Model star Bobby Pierce who had his own #32 Modified on the move after starting eighth, but by the time he moved to third both Harrison and Long had more than a straightaway lead on him plus there were two or three lapped cars separating them as well.
Pierce made up that ground during the final ten laps with Nick Hoffman following and while those two were able to track down Long they could not catch Harrison as he collected the $3,000 opening night victory. Pierce would finish in second, Hoffman passed Long on the final lap for third while Kenny Wallace was fifth. Sixth went to David Wietholder, Shannon Babb started his Modified in fourth but dropped to seventh at the checkers, Danny Schwartz was eighth, Brent Mullins was ninth and Rick Stevenson finished tenth after starting eighteenth.
Joining Babb and Pierce, Iowan Chris Simpson also did double duty on the night as he drove Kelly Kovski's car #10K, but Simpson dropped out of his B-Main while racing outside of a transfer spot.
Babb and Tim Manville made up the front row for the 30-lap Late Model headliner and the two waged quite a battle through the opening laps with Babb racing down low and Manville primarily banging off of the cushion. Manville was ahead by a nose on lap one, Babb was scored the leader on lap two and Manville came back to secure the lead on lap three. The caution would then wave for debris and on the restart Ryan Unzicker would take the second spot away from Babb and pick up the challenge for the lead.
Manville did his best trying to pinch off Unzicker, but he could not keep his car glued to the bottom and on lap twelve Unzicker would takeover the lead. As the laps clicked away Manville would stay within striking distance should a mistake ever come, but Unzicker has been on a winning streak lately and mistakes are far and few between from the #24 as Ryan cruised to the win and the $2,000 winner's check. Manville defended his home turf nicely as the runner-up with Chris Simpson in third. Babb faded to fourth as Bobby Pierce finished fifth, sixth went to Frank Heckenast Jr. while Tony Jackson Jr. drove Raymond Merrill's #12M to a seventh-place finish after starting twelfth. Jason Feger was eighth, Rusty Schlenk was ninth and Daryn Klein completed the top ten.
In his Late Model Pierce had to battle back all night after an unfortunate turn of events during qualifying. He was the first of three cars in his group to come to the track to take two laps on the clock and just as he was completing his first lap the caution waved for the second car on the track that had coasted to a stop on the back stretch. As Pierce and the third car circled the track under caution, the disabled Late Model was pushed to the pits, but just before the green flag was about to wave again Pierce pulled to the infield with a flat right front tire. With no official qualifying time Bobby started seventh in the second heat and raced his way up to second at the checkers to earn a big round of applause from the fans who, let's face it, never get to see a run like this under the UMP race format.
There is a stellar field of cars here at Tri-City and the car count might even grow tonight and Saturday, but that format is a big reason why I will head back north tonight to the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri, for night one of two for the Jerry Barrickman Memorial. Perhaps I will see you there!
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Wednesday Notebook: September 27, 2017
My original plan for tonight was to be in Batesville, Arkansas, for the big IMCA Modified show, but there is just no good direct route from southeast Iowa to there.
So last week's Notebook post sort of went viral.....well at least as "viral" as any Back Stretch entry has before and I received several compliments at the track this past weekend. Kyle Ealy called it the most negative column that he had ever read, and coming from Kyle Ealy that was a compliment! This week though I just don't have that anger as I haven't had time to troll the idiots who might have been track bashing this past week, although I was told about one guy who was demanding results from an area track shortly after they had been completed on Facebook and when someone asked him why he didn't just go and pay his ten dollars his reply was that he would never go to the races there anyway. Begs the question then, so why would you need the results so bad?
The big announcement at 34 Raceway Saturday night was that the sale of the track to Brad Stevens and Jessi Mynatt is all but finalized and that the Laue, Parrish and Bowling families who have operated the facility for the past eleven years are happily retired. Brad and Jessi have been the driving force behind the annual Slocum 50 at 34 Raceway so they do have promotional experience and, as Brad mentioned after being introduced at the drivers' meeting, "you all like me now!" During her announcement Amy Laue cautioned everybody to give Brad and Jessi a few weeks to get settled in to their new roles before bombarding them with questions and suggestions, so there really is no new news to report and I will look forward to hearing their plans, but......
Just like I did when the Gobles took over the Quincy Raceways a few weeks ago, I will go ahead and throw out a few suggestions that may be right or wrong, they are simply based upon my opinion.
1. Cut back on the number of classes. At least three that were rotated in and out this year consistently drew less than ten competitors a night. Tell them now that they are not coming back in 2018 and it will give those drivers time to decide if they want to sell what they have now and race in one of the classes that will stay, or make plans to tow somewhere else next season.
2. Contact Larry Kemp and ask him what he did several years ago to take the cupping out of the banking. Back in the 1980's the track had gotten to the point where the top groove was dominant just as it is now and Larry made changes during the offseason that brought the track back to life with two and three wide racing.
3. After doing #1 it should be easier to start your races later with hot laps at 7:00 and racing at 7:30. And, if you are really good at clicking off an efficient show, change that to 7:30 and 8:00 during July and August because it is just not economically feasible to move the grandstands to the back stretch so they are not facing the sun.
Otherwise I have to agree with the statement that Brad made on several occasions Saturday night, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
Speaking of Quincy Raceways, Jason and Robert have weathered the early storm of social media controversy after announcing that the Late Models would not be included for at least the rest of this season, and the tide has turned positive after their first four nights of racing. Today on Facebook they posted this picture of the track's scoreboard that supposedly had been unusable this season due to assorted problems. Apparently the purchase of some new light bulbs did the trick, something that the new owners could swing now that the bottom line is looking better. Quincy races every Sunday through October 22nd!
I had hoped to get up to the Davenport Speedway this past Friday night for their Iowa Governor's Cup event that paid $5,000 to Modified winner Justin Kay and $2,000 to Sport Mod winner Austen Becerra, but Christine had other plans for me. That event served as a spring board for both drivers as Kay then went to West Liberty on Saturday night and came from the back of a B-Main to win the 100-lap Deery Brothers Summer Series Late Model finale while Becerra made it a triple for the weekend by winning at 34 Raceway on Saturday and at Quincy on Sunday. In that Sport Mod feature at Davenport Friday you had Becerra, the 2014 All Iowa Points Four Cylinder Champion in first, Tyler Soppe the soon-to-be 2017 All Iowa Points Limited Modified Champion in second and Tony Olson the 2015 and 2016 All Iowa Points Limited Modified Champion in third. By the way, they are the top three in the current standings as well, plus the driver who is currently on top of the Illinois standings, Dustin Schram finished fifth.
I was thinking just how impressive it was for the Schneiderman brothers, Josh and Jarrod, to finish one-two in the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders season championship at 34 Raceway Saturday night until I took a look at the results from the Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City from that same night. The Smith brothers from Lake City, Dustin, Devin and Donavon finished first, second and third in the Stock Car main event while Doug took the checkers in the Sport Mod feature! I did though get to meet the next generation of Schneiderman speeedsters when Josh was joined by his son Bryar in victory lane.
In an effort to stay away from the Facebook garbage last week I instead tuned into Dirt Late Model Live on Tuesday night from Dirt on Dirt and to Track Talk with The Racin' Boys on Saturday morning, two internet shows that you too should be checking out on a regular basis. This week the two tied together a bit as on Tuesday host Michael Rigsby was interviewing Late Model driver Chase Junghans about the World of Outlaws three-day swing through his home state of Kansas and asking him questions about how great that would be if he could get a win in his home state. After a bit it dawned on me that perhaps Rigsby was confused about the actual location of Saturday's show as it was to be run at the Salina Highbanks Speedway located in northeast Oklahoma and not at the Salina Speedway in Salina, Kansas. As you can guess, that is an easy mistake to make, but during an interview on the Racin' Boys Saturday morning I really got a chuckle as it became obvious that the "big time" Late Model crowd truly was making its first trip to that region in some time. WoO point leader Brandon Sheppard had won the Friday night opener of the tripleheader at the Lakeside Speedway near Kansas City and Kirk Elliott asked him if he had ever been to the Salina Higbanks before. Sheppard said that no, he had not, but that he had been watching video of the USAC Midgets there and that it looked like a really fast place. Chances are pretty good that B-Shepp was watching video from the Belleville Highbanks since the midgets don't go to Salina, but at least somebody on the crew of the Rocket House car knew where to go on Saturday since Sheppard won again at the Salina (Oklahoma) Highbanks and then swept the weekend by winning at the 81 Speedway near Wichita.
Perhaps some of my Wisconsin readers can shed more light on this, but I am seeing once again that this past Saturday's race at the Oshkosh Speedzone might have been the last ever there. I say "once again" since I recall that being said as well last year and with just a brief look at what's going on now it appears that the current promoters made a bid to lease the speedway again in 2018 that was turned down by the county. Until it is transformed into a pond with houses built on it like Hawkeye Raceway "last ever" might not be an accurate description and I do hope that there will be racing there in the future as The Zone has been on my "to do" list for several years now. I am still looking for results from that "last ever" show this past Saturday night as the Fall Classic included Asphalt Late Models on the dirt, something very unique.
When a track does close down it always seems to make everybody start lamenting about how the sport is steadily dying, but the statistics doesn't seem to support that at least when it comes to the number of race tracks in operation. Take Wisconsin for example where The Hill Raceway in Sturgeon Bay came back to life this year, The Outagamie Speedway picked up where the Seymour Speedway left off and TNT Speedway reopened in August after sitting idle for some time. Now, as the future of Oshkosh is uncertain, I see that Gravity Park USA in Chilton will have oval track racing on October 6th and 7th so if you hear some news this offseason that a track near you might not run in 2018, don't think that it is the end of the world. Just yet at least....Oh yeah, and I love this guy!
Knowing just how much I love the format, you might be surprised to learn that I am headed to Modified Mania at the Tri-City Speedway on Thursday night before returning to the Scotland County Speedway on Friday for the opening night of the Jerry Barrickman Memorial. Weather is looking good so get on out to a race in your area this weekend!
So last week's Notebook post sort of went viral.....well at least as "viral" as any Back Stretch entry has before and I received several compliments at the track this past weekend. Kyle Ealy called it the most negative column that he had ever read, and coming from Kyle Ealy that was a compliment! This week though I just don't have that anger as I haven't had time to troll the idiots who might have been track bashing this past week, although I was told about one guy who was demanding results from an area track shortly after they had been completed on Facebook and when someone asked him why he didn't just go and pay his ten dollars his reply was that he would never go to the races there anyway. Begs the question then, so why would you need the results so bad?
The big announcement at 34 Raceway Saturday night was that the sale of the track to Brad Stevens and Jessi Mynatt is all but finalized and that the Laue, Parrish and Bowling families who have operated the facility for the past eleven years are happily retired. Brad and Jessi have been the driving force behind the annual Slocum 50 at 34 Raceway so they do have promotional experience and, as Brad mentioned after being introduced at the drivers' meeting, "you all like me now!" During her announcement Amy Laue cautioned everybody to give Brad and Jessi a few weeks to get settled in to their new roles before bombarding them with questions and suggestions, so there really is no new news to report and I will look forward to hearing their plans, but......
Just like I did when the Gobles took over the Quincy Raceways a few weeks ago, I will go ahead and throw out a few suggestions that may be right or wrong, they are simply based upon my opinion.
1. Cut back on the number of classes. At least three that were rotated in and out this year consistently drew less than ten competitors a night. Tell them now that they are not coming back in 2018 and it will give those drivers time to decide if they want to sell what they have now and race in one of the classes that will stay, or make plans to tow somewhere else next season.2. Contact Larry Kemp and ask him what he did several years ago to take the cupping out of the banking. Back in the 1980's the track had gotten to the point where the top groove was dominant just as it is now and Larry made changes during the offseason that brought the track back to life with two and three wide racing.
3. After doing #1 it should be easier to start your races later with hot laps at 7:00 and racing at 7:30. And, if you are really good at clicking off an efficient show, change that to 7:30 and 8:00 during July and August because it is just not economically feasible to move the grandstands to the back stretch so they are not facing the sun.
Otherwise I have to agree with the statement that Brad made on several occasions Saturday night, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
Speaking of Quincy Raceways, Jason and Robert have weathered the early storm of social media controversy after announcing that the Late Models would not be included for at least the rest of this season, and the tide has turned positive after their first four nights of racing. Today on Facebook they posted this picture of the track's scoreboard that supposedly had been unusable this season due to assorted problems. Apparently the purchase of some new light bulbs did the trick, something that the new owners could swing now that the bottom line is looking better. Quincy races every Sunday through October 22nd!I had hoped to get up to the Davenport Speedway this past Friday night for their Iowa Governor's Cup event that paid $5,000 to Modified winner Justin Kay and $2,000 to Sport Mod winner Austen Becerra, but Christine had other plans for me. That event served as a spring board for both drivers as Kay then went to West Liberty on Saturday night and came from the back of a B-Main to win the 100-lap Deery Brothers Summer Series Late Model finale while Becerra made it a triple for the weekend by winning at 34 Raceway on Saturday and at Quincy on Sunday. In that Sport Mod feature at Davenport Friday you had Becerra, the 2014 All Iowa Points Four Cylinder Champion in first, Tyler Soppe the soon-to-be 2017 All Iowa Points Limited Modified Champion in second and Tony Olson the 2015 and 2016 All Iowa Points Limited Modified Champion in third. By the way, they are the top three in the current standings as well, plus the driver who is currently on top of the Illinois standings, Dustin Schram finished fifth.
 |
| Photo courtesy of D&M Photography and Design |
In an effort to stay away from the Facebook garbage last week I instead tuned into Dirt Late Model Live on Tuesday night from Dirt on Dirt and to Track Talk with The Racin' Boys on Saturday morning, two internet shows that you too should be checking out on a regular basis. This week the two tied together a bit as on Tuesday host Michael Rigsby was interviewing Late Model driver Chase Junghans about the World of Outlaws three-day swing through his home state of Kansas and asking him questions about how great that would be if he could get a win in his home state. After a bit it dawned on me that perhaps Rigsby was confused about the actual location of Saturday's show as it was to be run at the Salina Highbanks Speedway located in northeast Oklahoma and not at the Salina Speedway in Salina, Kansas. As you can guess, that is an easy mistake to make, but during an interview on the Racin' Boys Saturday morning I really got a chuckle as it became obvious that the "big time" Late Model crowd truly was making its first trip to that region in some time. WoO point leader Brandon Sheppard had won the Friday night opener of the tripleheader at the Lakeside Speedway near Kansas City and Kirk Elliott asked him if he had ever been to the Salina Higbanks before. Sheppard said that no, he had not, but that he had been watching video of the USAC Midgets there and that it looked like a really fast place. Chances are pretty good that B-Shepp was watching video from the Belleville Highbanks since the midgets don't go to Salina, but at least somebody on the crew of the Rocket House car knew where to go on Saturday since Sheppard won again at the Salina (Oklahoma) Highbanks and then swept the weekend by winning at the 81 Speedway near Wichita.
Perhaps some of my Wisconsin readers can shed more light on this, but I am seeing once again that this past Saturday's race at the Oshkosh Speedzone might have been the last ever there. I say "once again" since I recall that being said as well last year and with just a brief look at what's going on now it appears that the current promoters made a bid to lease the speedway again in 2018 that was turned down by the county. Until it is transformed into a pond with houses built on it like Hawkeye Raceway "last ever" might not be an accurate description and I do hope that there will be racing there in the future as The Zone has been on my "to do" list for several years now. I am still looking for results from that "last ever" show this past Saturday night as the Fall Classic included Asphalt Late Models on the dirt, something very unique.
When a track does close down it always seems to make everybody start lamenting about how the sport is steadily dying, but the statistics doesn't seem to support that at least when it comes to the number of race tracks in operation. Take Wisconsin for example where The Hill Raceway in Sturgeon Bay came back to life this year, The Outagamie Speedway picked up where the Seymour Speedway left off and TNT Speedway reopened in August after sitting idle for some time. Now, as the future of Oshkosh is uncertain, I see that Gravity Park USA in Chilton will have oval track racing on October 6th and 7th so if you hear some news this offseason that a track near you might not run in 2018, don't think that it is the end of the world. Just yet at least....Oh yeah, and I love this guy!
Knowing just how much I love the format, you might be surprised to learn that I am headed to Modified Mania at the Tri-City Speedway on Thursday night before returning to the Scotland County Speedway on Friday for the opening night of the Jerry Barrickman Memorial. Weather is looking good so get on out to a race in your area this weekend!
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