With a stationary front draped across the state of Iowa from east to west you had to go as far south as possible to find some reasonably warm racing Friday night and the Lee County Speedway is the southern most track in the state tucked into southeast corner. Six divisions were in action with five of them sporting double figure car counts topped by the Stock Cars at twenty strong and what a race they had to highlight the evening.
Jeremy Pundt and John Oliver Jr. would bring the field to green and they raced side-by-side to cross the stripe in a virtual dead heat for lap one. With the caution waving after that lap it would be Pundt who would lead the field back to green only to have a second caution wave after lap two. Okay, so now they were ready to race and boy oh boy did it get interesting.
Hugging the bottom Pundt would maintain the lead until lap ten when Oliver was able to get enough of a run off the top of turn four to take the lead. Jason Cook was digging on the inside as well waiting for Pundt to leave an opening and both David Brandies and Todd Reitzler were now in the mix as well. Six cars were racing for the lead with no more than four car-lengths from the front to the back of the six pack with drivers going three and nearly four wide at times. Brandies appeared to have a run at the top of turn three on lap thirteen, but when that four wide pack ran out of room some contact nearly sent him spinning and that allowed Abe Huls to emerge from the bottom take the lead. Reitzler would take the point on the following lap only to have Huls charge back on the bottom with five to go.
Reitzler was searching out lines over those final laps trying to find something that would propel him back to the front, but Huls was too stout and he would take the win in this thriller. Reiztler was right there in second followed closely by Oliver Jr., Pundt, Cook and Brandies.
It looked as if there would be a first time winner in the Steffes Late Model division tonight as Todd Frank shook off the early challenges of his son Gunnar and then opened up a comfortable lead in the twenty lap main event. It would all go by the wayside though with six laps remaining when the motor let go on the leader's car dropping a big oil streak down the front straightaway. After the cleanup Gunnar tried to keep the win in the family, but he could not hold off Sam Halstead who charged by on the restart to take the win. Jay Johnson finished second, Ron Boyse edged out the younger Frank at the line for third and Tommy Elston completed the top five. Three drivers making their first appearance of 2108 Aric Becker, Brandon Queen and Darin Weisinger all looked good in their debut.
After some tough luck during the first two point races Austen Becerra, Brandon Dale and Brandon Lennox lined up one, two and three in the average point format for the feature and they would be the class of the field over the 18 lap distance. Becerra would lead the first four circuits before Dale took over for two laps and then Lennox powered by on the outside of turn to take the lead and eventually the win. Dale would fight off a late slider by Becerra to finish second, Sean Wyett was fourth and point leader Dakota Sapp finished fifth.
Blake Woodruff and Craig Spegal were early leaders in the IMCA Modified feature, but after Jeff Waterman took the lead on lap five he would walk away from the field over the remaining fifteen circuits to win in dominating fashion. Waterman had started seventh on the grid. Spegal had his best run at LCS as the runner-up, Bill Roberts Jr. recovered from mechanical issues in hot laps to finish third, Woodruff was fourth and Dakota Simmons filled out the top five.
Defending All Iowa Points champion Barry Taft took the lead from Mike Reu on lap five and then held off a late challenge from Kimberly Abbott to win the 14-lap Sport Compact headliner. Abbot was half a car length back at the checkers in second, Brandon Reu finished ahead of his father Mike in third while Chuck Fullenkamp was fifth.
Five Hobby Stocks started the feature. One pulled to the infield with handling problems and two of them Broc Hopwood and Nathan Ballard fell out with flat tires, Ballard while leading. Aaron Martin was there to clean up by taking the win while Gene Nicklas was second.
As always there were a bunch of great sponsors supporting the show at Lee County, plus the track's scorekeeper and our colleague here at Positively Racing Brian Neal put up an extra $350 that was collected by four of the night's winners. There was a good crowd on hand and the track was smooth, wide and racy. Back to normal at Donnellson!
After three straight nights at the track it is on to some Mother's Day weekend traditions for me with my next racing action scheduled for Wednesday night at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa. Here's hoping that you can get out to a show or two at the track of your choice this weekend!
Friday, May 11, 2018
Thursday, May 10, 2018
Bergman Runs Down Smoke For KC Classic Win at Lakeside
Tony Stewart appeared to have the race well in hand until a red flag with eleven laps remaining changed the story at the McCarthy Auto Group KC Classic Thursday night. It was the annual NASCAR race weekend special featuring the Lucas Oil ASCS National Series at Lakeside Speedway just a few miles north of the Kansas Speedway.
Stewart started the twenty-five lap main event from the third position, but he moved to the front on lap two when he flew around pole-sitter Jack Dover. From there the former NASCAR Cup champion would open up a nice lead until lapped traffic came into play and on lap nine when Harli White slowed in turns one and two the caution waved giving the leader a clear track once again. On the restart Paul Nienheiser tangled with the lapped car of Robbie Price at the entrance of turn one and with both drivers spinning it sent the rest of the field scrambling. Nienheiser was able to keep his car running though so he would return to his fifth position for the next go at a green.
After dropping a position on the first lap, Nienheiser then went on a tear passing two cars to move to fourth until lap twelve when he slowed and hit an infield track tire as he drove to the infield. Stewart now had a full straightaway lead over Dover and Seth Bergman, but that would be wiped away when Jamie Ball and Chris Martin got together on the back stretch with Martin taking a tumble on lap fourteen.
After the cleanup "Smoke" would bring the field back to green and he would again pull out to a solid lead as Bergman shuffled Dover back to third. With the laps counting down Bergman started searching for a different line and when he found one a little lower than the leader the gap closed quickly. With just five laps remaining Bergman would put the slider on Stewart into turn one to take the lead and he would then pull away for the victory. Brian Brown also made a late pass of Tony Stewart to finish second while Dover and Sam Hafertepe Jr. completed the top five.
Bergman had started fourth and Brown came from eleventh while the rest of the top five started one, two and three.
E-Mods and B-Mods ran as support classes in front of a large crowd. In the E-Mod feature the defending track champion and current point leader Billy Spillman took advantage of the front row starters Eddie Ingram and Trevor Hand banging wheels in turn three on the opening lap to take the lead and he would survive a couple of early cautions to go the distance for the win. Ben Stockton mounted a challenge after the final restart though he would have to settle for second, Matt Dorsam came from the fifth row to finish third, Hand was fourth and Jessie Mulich took fifth.
The B-Mod field was stacked with talent as pole-sitter Tim Powell grabbed the early lead. The winner here the past two Friday nights looked to be in command until Brad Smith found the high line to his liking, especially in turns three and four and on lap ten of the twenty-lap event Smith would nose ahead at the stripe. Powell was still faster on the bottom in one and two so he would lead down the back stretch only to see Smith again sweep past him up top off of four. This time after again taking the lead off turn two Powell moved up the track in three and four to take away Smith's line as well as the lead and that would be how they would race for the next six laps.
Coming to the white flag Powell had stretched it out a bit so Andy Bryant had room to throw a slider on Smith and it would stick for second but the 2016 USRA National Champion could not run down Powell who captured his third straight win at Lakeside. Bryant and Smith were next in line while J.C. Morton and Jim Moody competed the top five.
It was a warm and windy evening on the northwest side of Kansas City with thirty 360 Sprint Cars signed in for action. Racing started right on time at 7:30 and with a couple of lengthy breaks the final checkers flew right around 10:30.
I will make it three nights in a row for the first time this season with Friday night action at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. Hope to see you there!
Stewart started the twenty-five lap main event from the third position, but he moved to the front on lap two when he flew around pole-sitter Jack Dover. From there the former NASCAR Cup champion would open up a nice lead until lapped traffic came into play and on lap nine when Harli White slowed in turns one and two the caution waved giving the leader a clear track once again. On the restart Paul Nienheiser tangled with the lapped car of Robbie Price at the entrance of turn one and with both drivers spinning it sent the rest of the field scrambling. Nienheiser was able to keep his car running though so he would return to his fifth position for the next go at a green.
After dropping a position on the first lap, Nienheiser then went on a tear passing two cars to move to fourth until lap twelve when he slowed and hit an infield track tire as he drove to the infield. Stewart now had a full straightaway lead over Dover and Seth Bergman, but that would be wiped away when Jamie Ball and Chris Martin got together on the back stretch with Martin taking a tumble on lap fourteen.
After the cleanup "Smoke" would bring the field back to green and he would again pull out to a solid lead as Bergman shuffled Dover back to third. With the laps counting down Bergman started searching for a different line and when he found one a little lower than the leader the gap closed quickly. With just five laps remaining Bergman would put the slider on Stewart into turn one to take the lead and he would then pull away for the victory. Brian Brown also made a late pass of Tony Stewart to finish second while Dover and Sam Hafertepe Jr. completed the top five.
Bergman had started fourth and Brown came from eleventh while the rest of the top five started one, two and three.
E-Mods and B-Mods ran as support classes in front of a large crowd. In the E-Mod feature the defending track champion and current point leader Billy Spillman took advantage of the front row starters Eddie Ingram and Trevor Hand banging wheels in turn three on the opening lap to take the lead and he would survive a couple of early cautions to go the distance for the win. Ben Stockton mounted a challenge after the final restart though he would have to settle for second, Matt Dorsam came from the fifth row to finish third, Hand was fourth and Jessie Mulich took fifth.
The B-Mod field was stacked with talent as pole-sitter Tim Powell grabbed the early lead. The winner here the past two Friday nights looked to be in command until Brad Smith found the high line to his liking, especially in turns three and four and on lap ten of the twenty-lap event Smith would nose ahead at the stripe. Powell was still faster on the bottom in one and two so he would lead down the back stretch only to see Smith again sweep past him up top off of four. This time after again taking the lead off turn two Powell moved up the track in three and four to take away Smith's line as well as the lead and that would be how they would race for the next six laps.
Coming to the white flag Powell had stretched it out a bit so Andy Bryant had room to throw a slider on Smith and it would stick for second but the 2016 USRA National Champion could not run down Powell who captured his third straight win at Lakeside. Bryant and Smith were next in line while J.C. Morton and Jim Moody competed the top five.
It was a warm and windy evening on the northwest side of Kansas City with thirty 360 Sprint Cars signed in for action. Racing started right on time at 7:30 and with a couple of lengthy breaks the final checkers flew right around 10:30.
I will make it three nights in a row for the first time this season with Friday night action at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. Hope to see you there!
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Van Der Wal Repeats; Wood, Stanton and Housley Find Victory Lane At Osky
The Southern Iowa Speedway put race night number two in the books on a sunny, but windy Wednesday evening in Oskaloosa. Another respectable car count was on hand and the crowd was good with several groups of young people in attendance as both high school and college students were admitted free of charge for the evening. This was great to see and perhaps something that can be done more often here and at other tracks to hopefully expose the teens and young adults to the sport.
Sport Compacts were first up come feature time with Billy Cain leading the way on lap one. Brandon Housley was on the move quickly though from his fifth starting spot and he would take the point on the second circuit. Kyle Boyd who started sixth also charged to the front of the field and he would chase, but could not catch Housley who picked up the win in the ten lap affair. Boyd was second with his teammate Cody Phillips in third, pole-sitter Brandon Allison was fourth and Cain crossed the line for fifth just before his motor let go in a big cloud of smoke.
The sixteen lap Stock Car main event was the race of the night with Dustin Griffiths racing out to the early lead. Mike Hughes and Cayden Carter both started from the fifth row and by lap four Hughes was up to challenge for the lead. Hughes would take the lead on lap five only to have Griffith battle back and as they raced hard for the lead both Nathan Wood and Carter closed in to make it a four car battle. The four raced two-by-two nose-to-tail into turns three and four on lap nine, but with contact between those first two Hughes suffered a flat tire and dropped out of the race.
The scramble allowed Wood to steal the lead as Carter followed him to second and over the final seven lap Cayden would search for a line that would be faster than the new leader. After taking the white flag Carter went in a bit higher in turn one and appeared to have a run on Wood down the back stretch, but Nathan closed the door down low entering turn three and the defending All Iowa Points champion in the Stock Cars would earn his first win of 2018. Carter was a close second followed by Griffiths in third, Michael Petersen was right there in fourth and Derrick Agee completed the top five.
The Sport Mod feature got off to a scary start when Cory Van Zante got too high exiting turn two, clipped one the new implement tires on the outside and rolled his car hard. Fortunately the driver escaped injury, but it was the second incident of the night involving those new track tires as they also claimed Dan Banker's new Sport Mod during hot laps. Perhaps the need for these and how they "protect" the pit entrance road off the back stretch will be re-evaluated after these incidents.
Once under green Jason McDaniel opened up a big lead, half a straightaway over Brayton Carter and a full straightaway over Curtis Van Der Wal, but when Jarrett Vandenberg got upside down in turn three the red flag waved with seven laps remaining. On the restart Van Der Wal quickly moved to second and on the following lap he drove hard to the inside of McDaniel in turn one to take the lead and eventually another win. McDaniel and Carter were second and third, Blaine Webster finished fourth and Logan Anderson aboard the #53 car tonight was fifth.
Twenty-three Hobby Stock drivers signed in tonight and they would all be chasing Eric Stanton who took the lead on a lap one restart and never looked back on his way to victory. Griffiths made the podium in two classes tonight taking the runner-up honors in this one, Jamie Songer was third Aaron Martin was fourth and Mike Kincaid came from the eighth row to finish fifth.
Racing resumes in Oskaloosa next Wednesday night for Budweiser Memorial Night where fans and racers can donate any amount of money they want, from five dollars on up, to the purse in memory of anybody they choose. Should be another great Wednesday night for racing and we hope to see you there!
Next in the plans for me are the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour Sprint Cars at Lakeside Speedway on Thursday night, then on Friday I look forward to filling in on the microphone for the baseball Dad Tony Paris at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson.
Sport Compacts were first up come feature time with Billy Cain leading the way on lap one. Brandon Housley was on the move quickly though from his fifth starting spot and he would take the point on the second circuit. Kyle Boyd who started sixth also charged to the front of the field and he would chase, but could not catch Housley who picked up the win in the ten lap affair. Boyd was second with his teammate Cody Phillips in third, pole-sitter Brandon Allison was fourth and Cain crossed the line for fifth just before his motor let go in a big cloud of smoke.
The sixteen lap Stock Car main event was the race of the night with Dustin Griffiths racing out to the early lead. Mike Hughes and Cayden Carter both started from the fifth row and by lap four Hughes was up to challenge for the lead. Hughes would take the lead on lap five only to have Griffith battle back and as they raced hard for the lead both Nathan Wood and Carter closed in to make it a four car battle. The four raced two-by-two nose-to-tail into turns three and four on lap nine, but with contact between those first two Hughes suffered a flat tire and dropped out of the race.
The scramble allowed Wood to steal the lead as Carter followed him to second and over the final seven lap Cayden would search for a line that would be faster than the new leader. After taking the white flag Carter went in a bit higher in turn one and appeared to have a run on Wood down the back stretch, but Nathan closed the door down low entering turn three and the defending All Iowa Points champion in the Stock Cars would earn his first win of 2018. Carter was a close second followed by Griffiths in third, Michael Petersen was right there in fourth and Derrick Agee completed the top five.
The Sport Mod feature got off to a scary start when Cory Van Zante got too high exiting turn two, clipped one the new implement tires on the outside and rolled his car hard. Fortunately the driver escaped injury, but it was the second incident of the night involving those new track tires as they also claimed Dan Banker's new Sport Mod during hot laps. Perhaps the need for these and how they "protect" the pit entrance road off the back stretch will be re-evaluated after these incidents.
Once under green Jason McDaniel opened up a big lead, half a straightaway over Brayton Carter and a full straightaway over Curtis Van Der Wal, but when Jarrett Vandenberg got upside down in turn three the red flag waved with seven laps remaining. On the restart Van Der Wal quickly moved to second and on the following lap he drove hard to the inside of McDaniel in turn one to take the lead and eventually another win. McDaniel and Carter were second and third, Blaine Webster finished fourth and Logan Anderson aboard the #53 car tonight was fifth.
Twenty-three Hobby Stock drivers signed in tonight and they would all be chasing Eric Stanton who took the lead on a lap one restart and never looked back on his way to victory. Griffiths made the podium in two classes tonight taking the runner-up honors in this one, Jamie Songer was third Aaron Martin was fourth and Mike Kincaid came from the eighth row to finish fifth.
Racing resumes in Oskaloosa next Wednesday night for Budweiser Memorial Night where fans and racers can donate any amount of money they want, from five dollars on up, to the purse in memory of anybody they choose. Should be another great Wednesday night for racing and we hope to see you there!
Next in the plans for me are the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour Sprint Cars at Lakeside Speedway on Thursday night, then on Friday I look forward to filling in on the microphone for the baseball Dad Tony Paris at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson.
Monday, May 7, 2018
Heat Race Issues Turn Out For The Best At Quad Cities Deery Show
Justin Kay suffered a flat tire on the second lap of his heat race and dropped out. Joe Zrostlik suffered a flat tire when Late Model rookie David Norton got sideways in front of him at the start of his heat race. And as for Ryan Dolan, well it appears that he was just tardy to staging as he was announced as part of the second heat race lineup, but did not drive on to the track until heat race three where he was then sent to the infield. All three would start from the back of the twenty-five car field as the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models would go fifty laps at the Quad City Speedway Sunday and while one took the win, the other two recorded top four finishes in a wild race.
This one was far from pretty folks, so instead of trying to describe it to you in a story format like I usually do I am instead going with more of a "Power Point" type of presentation with sequential bullet points. Here goes.....
- Cayden Carter would break out to the early lead riding the high line around the speedway with third-starting Curt Martin challenging down low
- Chuck Hanna spins in turn three on lap four
- A "domino effect" situation occurs on lap five when Ray Guss Jr., driving Joe Beal's #77, and Darrel DeFrance get together, but it would be Jeremiah Hurst who would spin and bring out the caution. Hurst would have to restart at the rear.
- Shawn Mulvaney noses into the turn three wall on lap six, but since the favored line is so low on that end of the speedway and the track is so wide, nobody really notices him for a lap and a half.
- Chuck Hanna spins in turn two on the restart
- Something breaks in the rear end of the leader's car causing Cayden Carter to slow on lap ten. His night is over
- Justin Kay, expected to put on a hard charge from the tail, is not making up much ground. Likely due to the fact that he has a left rear tire going down, but he will restart with it that way. Ryan Dolan on the other hand is about to crack the top five.
- Curt Martin will bring the field back to green as the new leader, but Rob Toland drives under him to the point on lap eleven. Toland's left front wheel is just along for the ride as the control arm is obviously broken.
- Ryan Claeys spins at the high side entrance of turn one on lap seventeen in front of the leaders. Toland, running the low line, has no problems but both Curt Martin and Matt Ryan spin to avoid. Both drivers are given their spots back for the restart. Justin Kay ducks into the pits to change that left rear tire and returns for the restart.
- One lap later the pole-sitter Nick Marolf spins in turn two. I believe that Marolf said earlier during the heat race winners' redraw that this was the first time that he has ever raced at East Moline.
- The race goes thirteen laps without a caution as Toland continues to use the throttle and only the right front wheel to steer the car in the lead. Andy Nezworski who had been running in the top five since the start pulls to the infield with a smoker on lap twenty-two.
- Eric Sanders spins in turn two. Dolan now up to second, Kay is finally on the move.
- Racing for position Todd Cooney and Matt Ryan run out of room on the front stretch with Ryan parking it against the wall in turn one on lap thirty-two. Ryan shows his displeasure with Cooney under caution before going to the back for the restart.
- One lap after the restart Toland gets a bit sideways in turn two and is hit by Chad Holladay sending Toland the rest of the way around. Holladay is sent to the rear for his involvement while Toland, faced with the chore of having to start at the back with his three-legged horse decides to call it a night instead.
- Dolan and Kay bring the field back to green side-by-side. Dolan races to the lead riding the high line through one and two before diving low in three and four. Kay does the opposite at both ends. On lap thirty-eight they switch lanes in one and two and Kay hammers the cushion perfectly to fly around Dolan and take the lead down the back stretch.
- Ryan brings out the eleventh and final caution of the event when he spins in turn three with ten laps remaining.
- The final ten laps go green with Kay in command for the win from the twenty-fourth starting position. Jeremiah Hurst, who you may recall also had to restart at the rear earlier in the race makes his way up to finish second. Joe Zrostlik who started 22nd finishes third ahead of Dolan who faded to fourth after coming from 21st to lead some laps and Nick Marolf also returned from a back of the field restart to finish fifth.
- The rest of the top ten were Cooney, Martin, Holladay, Sam Halstead and Gary Webb.
So let's just say that while it definitely was not one of the "cleanest" fifty lap races I have ever seen, it certainly was interesting.
Support class action also had its share of story lines starting with the first feature of the night, the IMCA Sport Mods. After a last place finish in last week's season opener Justin Veloz took full advantage of this week's lineups by inverted points starting from the pole position in both his heat race and the fifteen lap feature. Veloz had to survive six caution flags including one that was caused by himself when he punted the track tire marking the inside of turns three and four onto the speedway, apparently a non-punishable offense, before taking the win. Jared Waterman threw a slider at the leader in turns one and two with three laps to go and then rubbed wheels with Brandon Setser on the front stretch before finishing second. Setser who has moved from the Four Cylinders to the Street Stocks and now to the Sport Mods over the past three seasons continued his strong start to 2018 with a third place finish while Dustin Schram and Gage Neal completed the top five.
Nick Proehl would lead the Four Cylinder feature early until Brandon Forbes went by on lap six. Proehl stuck his nose under Forbes rear bumper entering turn three after the pass, but nearly lost it himself dropping back to the fifth position. As the field took the white flag Rob Harding Jr. was trying to make a run at the lead while behind them Lisa Benningfield was having a nice run trying to hold off Cody Brewster and Proehl. But when Proehl dove under Brewster going into turn one he came up the track and drilled Bennigfield in the left rear lifting it up and sending her car into a series of hard barrel rolls. Thankfully Lisa climbed out of the battered ride under her own power and the race was scored complete with Forbes taking the win over Harding. Brewster was credited with third followed by Trevor Carpenter and Josh Lane. It was later announced that Proehl had been disqualified for the night and that he will serve a two week suspension for the incident.
Guy Morse passed Jon Padilla on the final lap to best the seven car feature field of Mod Lites. Clint Morehouse, Brian Tipps and Michael Dominguez were also running at the finish.
Rob Toland spun in turn four on the opening lap of the IMCA Modified feature collecting Milo Veloz Jr. with both drivers going to the back of the fifteen car field. On the second try at a start Doug Crampton went for a spin in turn three so he would join them making it three potential winners at the rear of the field. Eric Barnes would take the lead once racing and he looked strong until lap fourteen when a wisp of smoke appeared as well as what looked like a brief fire under the hood of the leader's car. Barnes pressed on though and I wondered if he would even be able to restart when the caution waved with three laps to go for a three car tangle involving Mark Vervynck, Toland and Crampton.
On the restart smoke would again billow from the rear of the leader's car and you could see it firing from the exhaust, but the motor was still strong enough to get Barnes to the checkers to take the win ahead of Brandon Durbin and Matt Werner. Veloz and Toland both fought their way back to complete the top five in fourth and fifth respectively.
After a couple of light showers slipped by to the west and south it was a beautiful night for racing that saw hot laps get underway just past the advertised time of 5:15. And despite all of the cautions and the red flag scenario, plus a thirty-five minute intermission following the heat races, the final checkers waved at 9:10 p.m.
Here's hoping that the weather forecast improves for a night of racing at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa Wednesday night and on Thursday I am hoping to be at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City for the Lucas Oil ASCS National Series event. Hope to catch you on the Back Stretch!
This one was far from pretty folks, so instead of trying to describe it to you in a story format like I usually do I am instead going with more of a "Power Point" type of presentation with sequential bullet points. Here goes.....
- Cayden Carter would break out to the early lead riding the high line around the speedway with third-starting Curt Martin challenging down low
- Chuck Hanna spins in turn three on lap four
- A "domino effect" situation occurs on lap five when Ray Guss Jr., driving Joe Beal's #77, and Darrel DeFrance get together, but it would be Jeremiah Hurst who would spin and bring out the caution. Hurst would have to restart at the rear.
- Shawn Mulvaney noses into the turn three wall on lap six, but since the favored line is so low on that end of the speedway and the track is so wide, nobody really notices him for a lap and a half.
- Chuck Hanna spins in turn two on the restart
- Something breaks in the rear end of the leader's car causing Cayden Carter to slow on lap ten. His night is over
- Justin Kay, expected to put on a hard charge from the tail, is not making up much ground. Likely due to the fact that he has a left rear tire going down, but he will restart with it that way. Ryan Dolan on the other hand is about to crack the top five.
- Curt Martin will bring the field back to green as the new leader, but Rob Toland drives under him to the point on lap eleven. Toland's left front wheel is just along for the ride as the control arm is obviously broken.
- Ryan Claeys spins at the high side entrance of turn one on lap seventeen in front of the leaders. Toland, running the low line, has no problems but both Curt Martin and Matt Ryan spin to avoid. Both drivers are given their spots back for the restart. Justin Kay ducks into the pits to change that left rear tire and returns for the restart.
- One lap later the pole-sitter Nick Marolf spins in turn two. I believe that Marolf said earlier during the heat race winners' redraw that this was the first time that he has ever raced at East Moline.
- The race goes thirteen laps without a caution as Toland continues to use the throttle and only the right front wheel to steer the car in the lead. Andy Nezworski who had been running in the top five since the start pulls to the infield with a smoker on lap twenty-two.
- Eric Sanders spins in turn two. Dolan now up to second, Kay is finally on the move.
- Racing for position Todd Cooney and Matt Ryan run out of room on the front stretch with Ryan parking it against the wall in turn one on lap thirty-two. Ryan shows his displeasure with Cooney under caution before going to the back for the restart.
- One lap after the restart Toland gets a bit sideways in turn two and is hit by Chad Holladay sending Toland the rest of the way around. Holladay is sent to the rear for his involvement while Toland, faced with the chore of having to start at the back with his three-legged horse decides to call it a night instead.
- Dolan and Kay bring the field back to green side-by-side. Dolan races to the lead riding the high line through one and two before diving low in three and four. Kay does the opposite at both ends. On lap thirty-eight they switch lanes in one and two and Kay hammers the cushion perfectly to fly around Dolan and take the lead down the back stretch.
- Ryan brings out the eleventh and final caution of the event when he spins in turn three with ten laps remaining.
- The final ten laps go green with Kay in command for the win from the twenty-fourth starting position. Jeremiah Hurst, who you may recall also had to restart at the rear earlier in the race makes his way up to finish second. Joe Zrostlik who started 22nd finishes third ahead of Dolan who faded to fourth after coming from 21st to lead some laps and Nick Marolf also returned from a back of the field restart to finish fifth.
- The rest of the top ten were Cooney, Martin, Holladay, Sam Halstead and Gary Webb.
So let's just say that while it definitely was not one of the "cleanest" fifty lap races I have ever seen, it certainly was interesting.
Support class action also had its share of story lines starting with the first feature of the night, the IMCA Sport Mods. After a last place finish in last week's season opener Justin Veloz took full advantage of this week's lineups by inverted points starting from the pole position in both his heat race and the fifteen lap feature. Veloz had to survive six caution flags including one that was caused by himself when he punted the track tire marking the inside of turns three and four onto the speedway, apparently a non-punishable offense, before taking the win. Jared Waterman threw a slider at the leader in turns one and two with three laps to go and then rubbed wheels with Brandon Setser on the front stretch before finishing second. Setser who has moved from the Four Cylinders to the Street Stocks and now to the Sport Mods over the past three seasons continued his strong start to 2018 with a third place finish while Dustin Schram and Gage Neal completed the top five.
Nick Proehl would lead the Four Cylinder feature early until Brandon Forbes went by on lap six. Proehl stuck his nose under Forbes rear bumper entering turn three after the pass, but nearly lost it himself dropping back to the fifth position. As the field took the white flag Rob Harding Jr. was trying to make a run at the lead while behind them Lisa Benningfield was having a nice run trying to hold off Cody Brewster and Proehl. But when Proehl dove under Brewster going into turn one he came up the track and drilled Bennigfield in the left rear lifting it up and sending her car into a series of hard barrel rolls. Thankfully Lisa climbed out of the battered ride under her own power and the race was scored complete with Forbes taking the win over Harding. Brewster was credited with third followed by Trevor Carpenter and Josh Lane. It was later announced that Proehl had been disqualified for the night and that he will serve a two week suspension for the incident.
Guy Morse passed Jon Padilla on the final lap to best the seven car feature field of Mod Lites. Clint Morehouse, Brian Tipps and Michael Dominguez were also running at the finish.
Rob Toland spun in turn four on the opening lap of the IMCA Modified feature collecting Milo Veloz Jr. with both drivers going to the back of the fifteen car field. On the second try at a start Doug Crampton went for a spin in turn three so he would join them making it three potential winners at the rear of the field. Eric Barnes would take the lead once racing and he looked strong until lap fourteen when a wisp of smoke appeared as well as what looked like a brief fire under the hood of the leader's car. Barnes pressed on though and I wondered if he would even be able to restart when the caution waved with three laps to go for a three car tangle involving Mark Vervynck, Toland and Crampton.
On the restart smoke would again billow from the rear of the leader's car and you could see it firing from the exhaust, but the motor was still strong enough to get Barnes to the checkers to take the win ahead of Brandon Durbin and Matt Werner. Veloz and Toland both fought their way back to complete the top five in fourth and fifth respectively.
After a couple of light showers slipped by to the west and south it was a beautiful night for racing that saw hot laps get underway just past the advertised time of 5:15. And despite all of the cautions and the red flag scenario, plus a thirty-five minute intermission following the heat races, the final checkers waved at 9:10 p.m.
Here's hoping that the weather forecast improves for a night of racing at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa Wednesday night and on Thursday I am hoping to be at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City for the Lucas Oil ASCS National Series event. Hope to catch you on the Back Stretch!
Friday, May 4, 2018
Chad Completes Simpson Brothers Sweep of Davenport
Two weeks ago it was Chris Simpson with a dominating performance on the historic half-mile oval and tonight his brother Chad had an equally strong performance on the short track to give the Simpson brothers a clean sweep of the 2018 MLRA Late Model action at the Davenport Speedway.
Heavy rains from the past two nights left standing water in turns three and four, but with the pumps running, the sun shining and the wind blowing somehow promoter Bob Wagener and his crew were able to salvage a race track so that the show could go on with near perfect weather conditions come race time. And, even with all of the rain, the track was better than expected with two challenging holes on the inside line in both turns two and four that did create some havoc during the evening.
Twenty-five MLRA Late Models signed in with a few of the regulars such as Mason Oberkramer, Jesse Stovall, Cole Wells and Raymond Merrill surprisingly absent. The field was solid though top to bottom and with the passing points method of qualifying in place tonight the three heat races provided plenty of action. The top two drivers in the MLRA point standings, Chad Simpson and Tony Jackson Jr. earned the front row for the 40-lap main event, but it would be the third starting J.C. Wyman who would drive under both of them coming out of turn two on the opening lap. The caution would wave as five cars piled up at the exit of turn four, but unlike two weeks ago here when a similar scenario played out the MLRA officials went ahead and scored the opening lap giving Wyman the lead for the restart.
Simpson would go to the cushion and pull even with the leader on the restart only to have Wyman beat him back to the line before the caution waved again following Jordan Yaggy's spin in turn one. On the restart Simpson again went top side and after coming up short on lap three he was able to make it stick off turn four to take the lead away on lap four. Wyman fought back though pulling even with the new leader in turns one and two, but Chad was able to shake him off and then open up a comfortable lead over the next several laps. Will Vaught had moved to third and was about to mount a challenge for position on Wyman, but he slowed suddenly coming off tun four on lap thirteen and exited the short track onto the half-mile apparently out of the race.
The caution waved though as Vaught drove to the work area and after several courtesy laps were given his car still sat there as the race went back to green. Nobody would be able to stay with Simpson now and as he drove away the battle for second heated up with Rookie-of-the-Year contender Mitch McGrath briefly taking it away from Wyman. J.C. came back though to regain the position and now it was the leader's brother, Chris Simpson who was the show as he steadily picked up positions after starting from the inside of row seven. At the checkers it would be Chad Simpson scoring the impressive win with Wyman making a solid run in second. McGrath will move into the top five in points with his third place finish while Chris Simpson rallied to fourth at the finish. Payton Looney had a steady night in fifth followed by Jackson Jr., Justin Kay, Jonathan Brauns, Tyler Bruening and Dave Eckrich.
The Lucas Oil MLRA Late Models now load up and head east for a Saturday night show at Tony Izzo Jr.'s LaSalle Speedway.
Street Stocks, Sport Mods and Modifieds were also on the card running for track points for the second time in the young season. Despite the four caution flags the 15-lap Street Stock feature was a good one with Gene Ehlers pacing the field through the first half of the race. On a lap seven restart Jeff Struck Jr. would pull even with Ehlers down the back stretch and when the leader drove into turn three a bit harder to try to protect that lead he left the door open downstairs where Jesse Owen snuck in to go from third to first on lap eight. Owen would maintain control until just two laps remained when a back marker spun for the second time and during that caution Jeremy Gustaf, who had started last in the thirteen car field after missing his heat race, exited the speedway after climbing all the way to third.
With just two laps remaining on the restart Struck decided to try the low line this time and it worked as he was able to get under Owen and take the lead coming to the white flag. Struck then held it over the final lap to win for the second time here in 2018 after also winning on the half-mile when the MLRA was in town two weeks ago. Owen would have to settle for second, Ehlers was third, Kevin Goben clawed his way up to fourth and Austin Riggs came back from an early spin to take fifth.
The Sport Mods had issues early on in their feature as Jeff Haines spun on lap two to generate the first caution. On the restart four cars piled up in turn two with defending All Iowa Points champion Tyler Soppe getting the worst of it as his car left on a tow truck. Two more cautions followed with only one lap being scored and after some rules were enforced the race went green and stayed that way for the remainder of the event. Keith Blum would lead all fifteen laps to pick up the win with Jared Waterman chasing him throughout in second. Joe Nemitz made a nice run to pick up the third position with Brandon Setser fourth and Mike Goben holding off many time winner here Tony Olson to finish in fifth.
The IMCA Modifieds would close out the night for twenty laps of racing and they too had some issues with multi-car scuffles. Mid-pack starters Justin Kay and Rob Toland would spin in turn three on the opening lap and when Toland's car took a shot from another competitor last week's winner here would be done for tonight. Kay would have to restart at the back of the remaining twenty car field, but he did not stay there long as Stephan Kemmerer set the early pace. Kay was already in the top ten when John Ahlers spun on lap eight and when five cars stacked up in turn four on lap twelve it eliminated top five competitors Chris Zogg and Bob Dominacki.
One the restart Kay sailed around the top side going from fifth to first passing Kammerer for the lead off turn four. The third place car of Doug Crampton then spun in turn four on the following lap leaving Todd Mahlmstrom with no place to go. Despite taking a pretty good hit in the front from the piled up mud in the infield as well as the contact from Mahlmstrom, Crampton was able to restart at the tail as Kay drove away from the field. There would no challenge from there as like Struck did in the Street Stocks, Kay also repeated his performance from MLRA night on the half-mile two weeks ago by taking the win in his Modified. Kurt Kile who started the race from the sixth row finished in second, Bryce Garnhart took third, Eric Barnes was fourth and Crampton fought back to complete the top five.
A big thanks to the entire Davenport Speedway staff for their hard work just to have this show tonight. Weekly racing action continues here on Friday nights and you can check the Positively Racing calendar page to see when they put up the big bucks, $2,000-to-win for different classes as the season rolls on.
If I get caught up enough after a hectic week I hope to take in the Deery Brothers Summer Series show on Sunday night at the Quad Cities Speedway in East Moline. Get out and enjoy a race of your choice this weekend!
Heavy rains from the past two nights left standing water in turns three and four, but with the pumps running, the sun shining and the wind blowing somehow promoter Bob Wagener and his crew were able to salvage a race track so that the show could go on with near perfect weather conditions come race time. And, even with all of the rain, the track was better than expected with two challenging holes on the inside line in both turns two and four that did create some havoc during the evening.
Twenty-five MLRA Late Models signed in with a few of the regulars such as Mason Oberkramer, Jesse Stovall, Cole Wells and Raymond Merrill surprisingly absent. The field was solid though top to bottom and with the passing points method of qualifying in place tonight the three heat races provided plenty of action. The top two drivers in the MLRA point standings, Chad Simpson and Tony Jackson Jr. earned the front row for the 40-lap main event, but it would be the third starting J.C. Wyman who would drive under both of them coming out of turn two on the opening lap. The caution would wave as five cars piled up at the exit of turn four, but unlike two weeks ago here when a similar scenario played out the MLRA officials went ahead and scored the opening lap giving Wyman the lead for the restart.
Simpson would go to the cushion and pull even with the leader on the restart only to have Wyman beat him back to the line before the caution waved again following Jordan Yaggy's spin in turn one. On the restart Simpson again went top side and after coming up short on lap three he was able to make it stick off turn four to take the lead away on lap four. Wyman fought back though pulling even with the new leader in turns one and two, but Chad was able to shake him off and then open up a comfortable lead over the next several laps. Will Vaught had moved to third and was about to mount a challenge for position on Wyman, but he slowed suddenly coming off tun four on lap thirteen and exited the short track onto the half-mile apparently out of the race.
The caution waved though as Vaught drove to the work area and after several courtesy laps were given his car still sat there as the race went back to green. Nobody would be able to stay with Simpson now and as he drove away the battle for second heated up with Rookie-of-the-Year contender Mitch McGrath briefly taking it away from Wyman. J.C. came back though to regain the position and now it was the leader's brother, Chris Simpson who was the show as he steadily picked up positions after starting from the inside of row seven. At the checkers it would be Chad Simpson scoring the impressive win with Wyman making a solid run in second. McGrath will move into the top five in points with his third place finish while Chris Simpson rallied to fourth at the finish. Payton Looney had a steady night in fifth followed by Jackson Jr., Justin Kay, Jonathan Brauns, Tyler Bruening and Dave Eckrich.
The Lucas Oil MLRA Late Models now load up and head east for a Saturday night show at Tony Izzo Jr.'s LaSalle Speedway.
Street Stocks, Sport Mods and Modifieds were also on the card running for track points for the second time in the young season. Despite the four caution flags the 15-lap Street Stock feature was a good one with Gene Ehlers pacing the field through the first half of the race. On a lap seven restart Jeff Struck Jr. would pull even with Ehlers down the back stretch and when the leader drove into turn three a bit harder to try to protect that lead he left the door open downstairs where Jesse Owen snuck in to go from third to first on lap eight. Owen would maintain control until just two laps remained when a back marker spun for the second time and during that caution Jeremy Gustaf, who had started last in the thirteen car field after missing his heat race, exited the speedway after climbing all the way to third.
With just two laps remaining on the restart Struck decided to try the low line this time and it worked as he was able to get under Owen and take the lead coming to the white flag. Struck then held it over the final lap to win for the second time here in 2018 after also winning on the half-mile when the MLRA was in town two weeks ago. Owen would have to settle for second, Ehlers was third, Kevin Goben clawed his way up to fourth and Austin Riggs came back from an early spin to take fifth.
The Sport Mods had issues early on in their feature as Jeff Haines spun on lap two to generate the first caution. On the restart four cars piled up in turn two with defending All Iowa Points champion Tyler Soppe getting the worst of it as his car left on a tow truck. Two more cautions followed with only one lap being scored and after some rules were enforced the race went green and stayed that way for the remainder of the event. Keith Blum would lead all fifteen laps to pick up the win with Jared Waterman chasing him throughout in second. Joe Nemitz made a nice run to pick up the third position with Brandon Setser fourth and Mike Goben holding off many time winner here Tony Olson to finish in fifth.
The IMCA Modifieds would close out the night for twenty laps of racing and they too had some issues with multi-car scuffles. Mid-pack starters Justin Kay and Rob Toland would spin in turn three on the opening lap and when Toland's car took a shot from another competitor last week's winner here would be done for tonight. Kay would have to restart at the back of the remaining twenty car field, but he did not stay there long as Stephan Kemmerer set the early pace. Kay was already in the top ten when John Ahlers spun on lap eight and when five cars stacked up in turn four on lap twelve it eliminated top five competitors Chris Zogg and Bob Dominacki.
One the restart Kay sailed around the top side going from fifth to first passing Kammerer for the lead off turn four. The third place car of Doug Crampton then spun in turn four on the following lap leaving Todd Mahlmstrom with no place to go. Despite taking a pretty good hit in the front from the piled up mud in the infield as well as the contact from Mahlmstrom, Crampton was able to restart at the tail as Kay drove away from the field. There would no challenge from there as like Struck did in the Street Stocks, Kay also repeated his performance from MLRA night on the half-mile two weeks ago by taking the win in his Modified. Kurt Kile who started the race from the sixth row finished in second, Bryce Garnhart took third, Eric Barnes was fourth and Crampton fought back to complete the top five.
A big thanks to the entire Davenport Speedway staff for their hard work just to have this show tonight. Weekly racing action continues here on Friday nights and you can check the Positively Racing calendar page to see when they put up the big bucks, $2,000-to-win for different classes as the season rolls on.
If I get caught up enough after a hectic week I hope to take in the Deery Brothers Summer Series show on Sunday night at the Quad Cities Speedway in East Moline. Get out and enjoy a race of your choice this weekend!
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