Scelzi Sweeps Invaders, Vandenberg Takes Sport Mod Checkers At Eldon

The Super Half-Mile at the Eldon Raceway was smooth and fast on Thursday night during the Wapello County Fair and while the racing was good, the damage to several race cars would be the story and thankfully all of the drivers involved were able to walk away without injury.

After five rainouts this would be the season opener for the Sprint Invaders and an interesting mix of twenty-three drivers signed in. One of them would be Dominic Scelzi who had made the trip to the Midwest from California to compete with the World of Outlaws this weekend before continuing on to the east for Ohio Sprint Speedweek. Scelzi, the older of the two Sprint Car racing sons of drag racing legend Gary Scelzi is no stranger to the Sprint Invaders as he has won both times that he has pulled in with his own equipment to the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway and has also been the guest driver once for Scott Bonar's Midland Performance car #50.

After winning his heat from the front row Scelzi then drew the pole for the Budweiser Shake Up Dash that he won going away after a lap two incident that saw Jon Agan exit the ballpark in turn two. Apparently something broke in the left front of Agan's car as he went down the straightaway and when the car wouldn't turn he drove up and over the short concrete wall and then tore away a couple of poles that held up a sheet metal fence before going out of sight of the Fair night crowd.

After his victory lane interview from the Dash, Scelzi then pulled the Budweiser can with the #4 on it and he would start the twenty-five lap main event from the outside of row two. Pole-sitter Chris Martin would jump to the early lead only to have the red flag fly on lap three when Harold Pohren got upside down in turn four in an incident that also collected Dustin Selvage and John Schulz. It was a tough night for Schulz as he had already taken a tumble earlier in the evening in a chain reaction accident in turn two during his heat race.

Once back to green it did not take long for Scelzi to drive under Martin to take the lead and he would then stretch it out as the race continued. The battle for second was a good one though as Martin first battled with tonight's driver of the 50 car, Jake Blackhurst, and then later had an entertaining three car battle with Austin McCarl and Mason Daniel. Martin was able to hold them off for several laps until McCarl got to second, but in the final two circuits the youngster from California, Daniel, was able to lock down the runner up spot behind the long gone winner Dominic Scelzi. McCarl would hold down the third position, fourth went to Martin and Jamie Ball came from twelfth to fifth. Ball had originally lined up tenth, but was docked a row for jumping the original start.

Blackhurst would drop to sixth at the checkers, Dustin Clark from just up the road in Agency had a strong showing in seventh, Dustin Selvage behind the wheel of Jarrod Schneiderman's #88 finished eighth, Josh Higday was ninth and Daniel Bergquist filled out the top ten.

Dominic Scelzi celebrates with Wapello County Fair Royalty at Eldon - Dennis Krieger photo

While Agan's crash was scary, the hardest hit of the night was endured by defending Sprint Invaders champion Cody Wehrle who went for a wild ride in turns three and four after Selvage field to clear him with a slide job mid-race. There was not much left of Wehrle's race car after it finally came to a stop and we all held our breath until the Champ scrambled out of the rubble obviously upset with Selvage.

The next event on the Sprint Invaders schedule will be a Thursday night show at the Pepsi Lee County Speedway on July 11th during the annual Lee County Fair.

The hard knocks were not confined to the Sprint Cars as two red flag periods were needed during the sixteen lap Sport Mod feature. On an early restart the second place car of Adam Birck got out of shape heading into turn three and when he slowed considerably up on the cushion he was drilled by a hard charging Austen Becerra. The two top notch competitors in this division are essentially teammates and they will both have to put in some hard work and cash to repair their cars.

The second red flag of the feature came mid-race when Tony Johnson got sideways exiting turn four and with nowhere to go contact from Casey Lancaster sent Johnson's car up and over a time or two. Once again, thankfully all drivers from all of the incidents on the evening were uninjured!

While under the green there was nobody that could keep up with Carter Vandenberg on this night as he went flag-to-flag to take the win. Curtis Van Der Wal found his line mid-race and came from seventh up to second, but not even he could reel in the leader over the closing laps. Colton Livezy who won here five nights ago was third, Brayton Carter fresh off of a $2,000 win at Stuart the night before was fourth and Blaine Webster who had just celebrated his first win at Oskaloosa on Wednesday filled out the top five here on Thursday.

The Wapello County Fair and the Eldon Raceway will again feature dirt track racing tomorrow night, Saturday June 15th.

I had originally planned to make my way to Knoxville tonight for the opener of the Brownells Big Guns Bash featuring the Nos Energy Drink World of Outlaw Sprint Cars, but a call from Tony Paris will instead send me to the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri, tonight to fill in on the mic as the flamboyant announcer will instead be attending his son Tyson's baseball game.

Perhaps I will see you in Memphis tonight and hopefully I can convince Christine that this Father needs to be in Knoxville on Saturday!

Stock Car Thriller At Osky

I have been to the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa four times this year and each time the car count in the Stock Car division has been nine. Not always the same nine drivers, but nine each time and on the first three nights they have shown that you don't need a full field of cars to put on a good race. Last night, on my fourth visit of the season, the nine Stock Car drivers who signed in just might have put on the best feature race that I will see all season long.

Division rookie Jason McDaniel would take the lead from the pole position in the sixteen lap event and he would put about five car lengths between himself and veteran driver Howard Gordon Jr. who was doing his best to ward off the rest of the pack in second. On lap four though Gordon would spin in turn one sending the field scrambling, but with everybody avoiding contact all drivers were able to restart.

McDaniel would continue to lead and would have several drivers move to second to give him a challenge over the next six laps. First it was Dustin Griffiths, then Nathan Wood and soon Brett Lowry was there as well, but each time McDaniel was able to hold them off and appeared to be headed for his first Stock Car win.

The caution waved again on lap ten when Michael Brown spun in turn two and Gordon was also slow on the track with a flat left rear tire so it would be seven cars that would lineup again for the final six laps. This time McDaniel did not get a good start and he would go three wide with Lowry and Wood into turn one. Lowry would nearly clear him down the back stretch, but Jason would use the cushion in turns three and four to get back to the lead as lap eleven was scored.

Lowry would again get under the leader in turns one and two to hold a slight advantage down the back stretch as Wood, and now Scott Dickey would also challenge, but as that tight pack of cars raced through turns three and four McDaniel would again find his favored line and return to the front at the start finish line. With Griffiths also in the hunt this scenario would play out again and again as the lead pack of five thrilled the crowd on a somewhat chilly night for June and as the white flag waved it was "go" time!

They were three wide for the lead entering turn one with Lowry on the bottom, McDaniel in the middle and Dickey up top, but when Dickey caught the cushion he turned the car to the left and slipped through the middle of Lowry and McDaniel out of turn two. With McDaniel now cleared it would be Lowry down low and Dickey up top in turns three and four as Griffths, Wood and McDaniel battled just behind them and with Dickey now running the line that McDaniel had used all race to retain the lead at the stripe it would be Dickey taking the thrilling win with Lowry scored second, Wood third, Griffiths fourth and McDaniel after leading the entire race was shuffled back to fifth on the final lap.

As last week's winner Dickey had started the race from the ninth position.

The sixteen lap Sport Mod feature saw a first time winner here as seventeen year old Blaine Webster started from the pole, held his line and fought off several challenges from Curtis Van Der Wal to take the victory. Colton Livezy was a distant third in the non-stop event while Logan Anderson and Greg Cox completed the top five.

Using the low line in one and two and that higher line in turns three and four Mike Hughes was able to hold off Dustin Griffiths to take the win in the Hobby Stock feature. Griffiths was able to pull even with Hughes on two occasions but would have to settle for second in this one. Clint Nelson, Scott Shull and Rick Goldsberry were next in line.

And in the Sport Compacts Trent Orwig started from the pole and went flag-to-flag to take the win. Brandon Allison prevailed in a good race for second with Nathan Moody while Billy Cain and Lewie Winkelman filled out the top five.

With two other special events going on in the state the field was short at Osky on Wednesday and while the Stock Cars definitely proved that you don't need a big car count to put on a great race, the track could use some more support. Where are you drivers? The purse has been increased and on this night you missed out on a bunch of extra cash that was put up in memory of friends and family who have passed. Yes, it is a Wednesday night, but on this night we were on our way home at 8:50 p.m. so whether you are a driver or a fan, make sure to give the Southern Iowa Speedway a look in the weeks to come.

Tonight the weather will finally cooperate as the Sprint Invaders will hold their first race of the season at the Wapello County Fair in Eldon. Hope to see you there!

O'Brien Flag To Flag For SLMR Win At Stuart

With Joe Kosiski bringing his Malvern Bank Super Late Model Series in our direction for the second time this season we were lured to the Stuart International Speedway for a Wednesday night of Late Model racing backed up by what is becoming a very solid program for the weekly IMCA classes as well.

Twenty-eight Late Models jammed into the pit area with a nice mix of drivers from Nebraska and Iowa along with veteran driver Andy Claiborne making the long pull up from Fort Scott, Kansas. Four heat races were run with passing points used to not only advance the top fourteen drivers into the main event, but to set the feature lineup as well allowing the pole-sitter to "earn" his way up front rather than to pull it from a pill draw as we saw a night before.

Jason O'Brien from just down the road in Atlantic would earn the pole with Corey Zeitner to the outside and they would bring the field of twenty to the green for the twenty-five lap headliner. O'Brien would take the point and the third starting Bill Leighton Jr. would drop Zeitner back to third as the leaders quickly separated themselves from the rest of the pack on the smooth slick surface.

Jason O'Brien - Barry Johnson photo

Leighton was searching for a line that would allow him to close in on the leader with no success until O'Brien closed in on the back of the pack with ten laps remaining. Just like that the gap between the two disappeared as O'Brien showed his patience with the traffic despite the fact that Leighton was able to get alongside of him on a couple of occasions.


The move of the night came on lap eighteen though when O'Brien split the lapped cars of Brad Perdue and Paul Conrad and even though Leighton was able to do the same a lap later, Jason had once again put at least ten car lengths between himself and his challenger. With no mistakes over the closing laps this one was scored complete with O'Brien capturing his first win on the series in 2019. Leighton was solid runner-up as Zeitner followed them in for third. Charlie McKenna had a good showing in his first SLMR start in 2019 with a fourth place run and Ben Schaller took fifth. Andrew Kosiski advanced three positions for sixth, current point leader Nick Deal faded from fourth to seventh over the closing laps with his nearest challenger in the point standings Kyle Berck one spot behind him in eighth. Modified driver Nick Roberts was impressive in McKenna's backup car posting a ninth place finish and one of the B-Main winners Jason Hahne completed the top ten.

The IMCA Stock Cars started off the feature events with a thriller as Buck Schafroth passed Brandon Pruitt on the outside coming out of turn four to take the win by inches. Pruitt had taken the lead from Cody Gustoff on lap three and appeared to have the favored line locked in as Schafroth stayed glued to his bumper running around the bottom. With five laps to go though Shawn Ritter was making up ground on the high line in third and when Schafroth got a peak of Ritter's nose up top he made the decision to move up the track as well. First he went to the middle with four laps remaining and when that didn't work he went all the way to the top with two to go making the pass right at the checkers. Pruitt was second and Ritter was right there in third as well making for a thrilling conclusion to this twenty-lap race. Josh Daniels came from sixteenth to finish fourth and Gustoff took fifth.
Bran

Brandon Pruitt down low, Buck Schafroth in the middle and Shawn Ritter up top - Barry Johnson photo

Schafroth has now won all three nights that I have been at Stuart this year. Does this now make me an honorary member of the VanEatonville Mafia?

Garrett Nelson in victory lane with flagman Jamie Schirm - Barry Johnson photo

After a couple of early cautions the eighteen lap Sport Mod feature hit its groove and gave the large crowd another good race with Garrett Nelson taking the lead on lap three after Kyle Tanner and Jerry Hinton had the honors on laps one and two. Kody Havens had quickly moved from eleventh to second and had his sights set on the leader, but Nelson found a unique line that worked for him and maintained at least a five car length advantage over Havens.

When Mark Menard spun in turn two with four laps remaining that would put previous feature winners Havens and Tyler Inman side-by-side behind Nelson for the restart, but when those two made contact on the first lap back to green that allowed Nelson to get away once again and he finished off the race in style for the win. Havens would pick up the second spot as Hunter Longnecker came from tenth to third. Dusty Masolini finished fourth and Inman filled out the top five.

The Modified feature got off to a rough start when the second place car of Cory Sauerman got sideways in turn four on the opening lap and the rest of the field scrambled and piled up looking to avoid him. Sauerman was able to make the save so he would realign on the front row outside, but Scott Bash and Kyle Brown would have to start at the rear after making quick repairs while Arizona driver Austin Kuehl and the youngster from Nevada Kollin Hibdon were both eliminated.

Matt Meinecke - Barry Johnson photo

Pole-sitter Matt Meinecke would race out to the lead while Josh Gilman quickly moved to second after restarting from fifth. Much like the Sport Mod feature it looked like the challenger would soon overtake the leader, but that was not the case as Meinecke increased his lead over Gilman. A caution for debris on lap eighteen brought Gilman and the rest of the field back to the leader, but Meinecke proved that this was his night to shine as he again drove away over the final two laps to take the win. Gilman warded off Kyle Brown by half a car length to take the second spot, Kansas visitor Clay Money was fourth and Sauerman was fifth at the checkers.

The Late Model feature wrapped up at a respectable time of 9:45 and with almost a three hour drive ahead of me I chose to hit the road instead of catching the Hobby Stock feature where, no surprise, Shannon Anderson came from ninth to take the win. John Watson, Brandon Cox, Nick Foster and Michah Hidelbaugh made up the top five.

My point of reference is from nearly twenty years ago, so I will have to ask my friend the Fast Track Fan Craig Allender to verify but it sure seems like the new owner/promoter Mike VanGenderen has breathed new life into this historic track. As I mentioned above, this was already my third trip to Stuart in 2019 and I doubt that it will be my last.

No racing for me this weekend as we have some other plans for Friday and Saturday and then on Sunday I will say "thank you" to my beautiful wife Christine for putting up with me for the past thirty years. Next week I will keep a promise to myself (Danny knows what I am talking about) and I will be back in my usual seat at Oskaloosa on Wednesday, then on Thursday I am hoping that we can finally get our season opener in for the Sprint Invaders at the Wapello County Fair in Eldon.

Enjoy your racing weekend!

Richie Gustin Takes Dirt Knights Opener At Marshalltown

After losing its first two events on the schedule at Fort Dodge and Vinton, the Arnold Motor Supply IMCA Modified Dirt Knights Tour, formerly known as the Hawkeye Dirt Tour, kicked off the 2019 slate with a Tuesday night show at the Marshalltown Speedway. The weather was perfect for racing including a nice southerly breeze that kept the minimal dust away from the stands, but with a forecast for potential "pop up" showers promoter Toby Kruse and his staff hustled through the program in hope of beating any rain that might develop. In fact during one of the Modified B-Mains we did feel a couple of sprinkles from a little blip on the radar, but that was it as the show was completed just before ten o'clock.

Thirty-six Modifieds checked in, a solid roster from top to bottom meaning that there would be some good drivers who would not even make the twenty-four car feature field tonight. A unique passing points system is now used for qualifying on the Tour events where not only do you gain points for passing cars in your heat race, you also lose points for being passed with the basis still being the position that you actually finish the race in. It is stated that the top twelve in the passing points through the heats will qualify for the feature, although announcer Jerry Vansickel also said that the four heat race winners would be "locked in". So actually it is the four winners and the eight drivers with the most points who didn't win a heat that qualify for the A-Main. That may sound like being a bit picky, but if you start on the pole and win your heat under this system, it is still a possibility that you might not make the top twelve in passing points, but I digress. The point that I want to make is this. When you use a passing points system to qualify through the heats, it would seem logical that the driver who scored the most points would have "earned" the pole position for the feature, but instead those twelve drivers participate in a redraw and on this night it would be Troy Cordes and Tim Ward starting from the front row for the thirty lap feature.

Ward would ride the high line to the lead on the opening lap bringing along the fourth starting Richie Gustin with him into second. The action was hot and heavy behind them with all kinds of three and four wide racing before the caution waved on lap four as Nebraska's Jason Hobscheidt and Nevada's Kollin Hibdon tangled in turn four. On the restart Gustin really went to work on Ward first trying a slider that he couldn't hold, then on lap eight Richie was able to inch ahead of Ward at the stripe to be scored as the leader. Ward battled back though and had regained the lead in turns one and two, but with Cayden Carter now stopped on the track in turn three the caution waved and that narrowest of leads on the last lap scored would now put Gustin out front for the restart.

Five more laps would be completed before Jeff Larson spun in turn one while running sixth and on this restart it would now be Joel Rust who would become that challenger to Gustin's advantage. Rust would pitch a slider of his own that Gustin would shrug off and after making one last try on the inside Rust would retreat back to the top of the race track as Gustin gradually opened up his lead. Jordan Grabouski would get past Rust late for second, but not even the former IMCA National Champion would be able to reel in the leader as Richie Gustin won for the third time with the Tour here on his home track. Behind Grabouski and Rust it would be Arizona natives Ward and Ricky Thornton Jr. that would complete the top five.

Thornton had a top twelve passing points total in the bag during his heat race, but when he slipped off the top of turn three coming to the white flag, he gave back two of the positions that he had gained and wound up winning the second B-Main to start him fourteenth in the feature. The other B-Main winner, California driver Cody Laney came from thirteenth to finish sixth. Jimmy Gustin started next to his brother in the second row, but faded to seventh. Kyle Brown was eighth, Kelly Shryock finished ninth and the pole-sitter Cordes completed the top ten.

The Dirt Knights will now wait another six weeks before embarking on a four race swing July 22nd through the 25th at Park Jefferson, Britt, Alta and Algona.

Two heats and a feature in each of the other four divisions was a perfect compliment to this Tuesday night show and the IMCA Hobby Stocks would be up first for fifteen laps with multi-time National Champion Shannon Anderson drawing the pole position so you can pretty much guess how this one went. The race was red flagged on lap four when Luke Bird was spun sideways entering turn one and then was drilled in the drivers door by Craig Lovig who was racing for position and did not see the stalled Bird until it was too late. The impact was hard enough to turn Bird's car over and he rolled twice down the banking. Thankfully both drivers emerged from their battered equipment uninjured.

Once back to racing Anderson continued his steady drive through the middle groove and even though Dylan Nelson was able to make his way up from sixth to second, he could not get close enough to the leader to mount a challenge as Anderson added to his trophy collection. Kaden Reynolds was the early race challenger, but he would end up third in a car borrowed from Leah Wroten after he demolished his own car here last Friday night. Wroten would follow Reynolds in for fourth as Gary Pfantz took fifth.

Kyle Olson would lead the opening laps of the twenty-lap Sport Mod main event before Hunter McWhirter spun in turn two on lap three. On the first try at a restart a mid-pack scramble piled up five cars on the front stretch and on the next restart Brayton Carter would sail around Olson out of turn two to take the lead. As Carter pulled away the action behind him was intense as drivers shuffled for position. With four laps to go the fourth place car of Cam Reimers spun in turn two right in front of Adam Birck and Josh Foster who were side-by-side for fifth. Birck was able to miss him, but Foster could not and that would send both Reimers and Foster to the rear for the restart.

There would be no staying with Carter as he again pulled away to take the win with Jake McBirnie edging out Dylan VanWyk for second. Olson would pick up the fourth place check while Foster was able to climb back into fifth at the checkers. And here's a bit of trivia for you that race fan and friend Jeff Terhune reminded me about last night, Josh Foster was the winner of the first ever Hawkeye Dirt Tour event that was held at the Independence Motor Speedway.

There were no slouches in the twelve car Stock Car lineup and pole-sitter Austin Even did his best to hold off the challenges, but when the top groove is working at Marshalltown you can put your money on Damon Murty. Starting from the eight spot, Murty was flying around the top of the high banked quarter mile and would take the lead from Even coming off turn four on lap four. Not even Jordan Grabouski could keep pace with Murty as the "Chelsea Charger" took the win ahead of the driver who had won the big money down in Hays, Kansas last week. Todd Reitzler started seventh and finished third with Curt Hook and Even fourth and fifth.

Sixteen IMCA Late Models were on hand as well and with Jeremiah Hurst and Jeff Aikey drawing the front row, it was likely that this would be a shootout between those two. Hurst would take the lead with Aikey putting up several challenges through the opening laps, but after Hurst denied each of those Jeremiah then pulled away and took the win in a race that went twenty laps non-stop. Justin Kay started sixth and once he made it up to third the lead duo already had a full straightway advantage on him that he was not able to erase. Andy Eckrich would finish fourth and, after missing his heat race, hometown favorite Darrel DeFrance rallied to fifth.

I know that the threat of rain had something to do with it, but this was a perfectly presented mid-week event that started right on time, the next event was on the track in a timely fashion all night long and there was no intermission. The result was a bunch of race fans happy to be on their way home at ten o'clock having seen a fantastic night of racing and very likely to come back the next time. Amazing how that works, isn't it?

I also want to give a tip of the fedora to announcer Jerry Vansickel who, as the lone announcer, had to be on his toes to get all of the lineups in as well as give all of the sponsors of the Tour and this particular event the credit that they deserve. And in true JVan fashion he would call it as he sees it when two back markers in a Modified B-Main decided to start beating on each other right in front of the leaders. Well done, Sir!

With an extra hour of sleep that I didn't expect I am now looking forward to tonight's road trip to the Stuart Speedway where the Malvern Bank Super Late Model Series will be in action and where promoter Mike Van Genderen is known for presenting an efficient mid-week show as well. Perhaps we'll see you there.

Thompson and Carter Headline Urbana 5 Iowa Donor Network Night In Vinton

For the second Sunday in a row I made my way north to the Benton County Speedway in Vinton, this time for a special night of racing honoring the "Urbana 5", five young race fans who tragically lost their lives in a traffic accident in 2014. Through organ and tissue donation though, their spirit lives on with over one hundred individuals who were helped and that is why this is an important night for the Iowa Donor Network as well, to encourage everybody to make sure that they are signed up to be an organ and tissue donor. Of course this means a lot to me as organ donation was a key element of the message that we wanted to get out during the four years of the National Kidney Foundation Heartland Tour for a Cure that started in 1998, so if you have not yet indicated your willingness to be a donor, please click on that link and do so.

With $1,000-to-win posted by the track for the Modifieds and Sports Mods, the Urbana 5 group added to that as well making it $1,600-to-win for the Sport Mods and $1,400 for the Mods and for the second week in a row the pit area was overflowing with just shy of 140 race cars in seven divisions.

The Micro Mods were up first come feature time and for the first ten laps I thought that I was re-living last week with Matt Post leading the way and Cole McNeal trying to find an opening under Shawn Fisher for second. On this night though Fisher did leave an opening with two laps to go allowing McNeal to move to second where he then quickly erased the five car length advantage held by Post. Going into turn three for the final time McNeal gave Post a friendly nudge and when Post pushed up the track in four, McNeal zipped under him to take the win at the checkers. Post and Fisher would go second and third, Chad Dugan made the trip down to Waukon to finish fourth and Russ Olson completed the top five.

The Sport Mods were up next for twenty laps and this one would belong to the defending All Iowa Points Champion Cody Thompson. Making the long tow over from Sioux City, Thompson had started last in his heat race, but was able to make his way up to the third and final redraw spot where he pulled the "3". Ryan King and Kevin Goben would make up the front row, but they could not hold back Thompson who would lead the field back to the stripe on lap one.

Just after the second lap was completed fourth starting Kyle Olson spun in turn two collecting Brayton Carter and Tony Olson. The hard contact required Carter's car to be towed to the pits and while Kyle was sent to the back for the restart, Tony was given his spot back since he had spun to avoid.

The caution waved again on lap seven when Ben Chapman spun to the infield on the front stretch and before heading to the pits with his own flat tire, Chapman made sure that Austin Kaplan would join him as he drove up and over Kaplan's left rear during the caution.

Once back to racing Thompson continued to pace the field with Osky regulars Logan Anderson and Dylan VanWyk as well as Super Nationals champ Jake McBirnie trying to keep pace while waging their own battle for position. With just two laps to go Anderson would have his second-place run come to an end with a flat right rear tire and the field was reset for a green-white-checkers restart. That would not effect Thompson though as he again pulled away to win in his first ever appearance at Vinton. VanWyk who is a rookie in the division after racing go karts edged out Tony Olson for the second spot with McBirnie fourth and Austen Becerra coming from twenty-first to fifth.

Later it was announced that Olson had been disqualified in the tech area due to an issue with his carb spacer so that would move McBirnie to third, Becerra to fourth and Kyle Olson, who charged back through the full field after his spin, would now be credited with a fifth-place finish.

The IMCA Stock Cars were up next for twenty laps with front row starters Kevin Rose and Chad Krogmeier completing the first lap side-by-side. Rose would have the advantage on lap two with most of the front runners choosing the low line around the quarter-mile oval. Shawn Ritter chose the top though and he would sail around Rose to take the point on lap three. A pair of cautions on lap nine and lap fourteen kept the field bunched together and Norman Chesmore found that low line to be more productive taking the lead from the high riding Ritter with three laps remaining. Ritter tried to battle back, but could not get it done as Chesmore took the win.

Young Dallon Murty had put his car up and over on its roof during his heat race, but showed no ill effects come feature time as he charged from the back of the twenty car field to finish third ahead of Scooter Dulin and Dusty Vis who had started thirteenth and eleventh respectively.

With Jeff Aikey drawing the pole for the twenty-five lap IMCA Modified headliner I have to believe that many in the large crowd felt that this would be a race for second. Joel Rust had other ideas though as he came from the third spot on the grid to steal the lead from Aikey on the opening lap. With Rust pulling away the action was behind him as Aikey tried to ward off the challenges of Troy Cordes and Richie Gustin and following a lap fourteen caution for Brock Bauman who had driven over the top of turn three you could add the ninth starting Cayden Carter to that mix.

Carter would make his way up to second as the laps clicked off and with four laps to go he had squeezed under Rust entering turn one apparently ready to make a pass for the lead. That effort would be wiped out though as the caution waved one last time when John Oliver Jr. slipped over the top of turns three and four.

Surprisingly Carter would choose the outside of the first double row behind the leader for the restart and he would show just why he made that choice as soon as the green flag waved. With Rust doing his best to guard the bottom, Carter charged into the first corner one line higher and then pitched his car sideways effectively shutting the door on Rust as they made their way into turn two. The plan worked to perfection and as the new leader Cayden Carter would ease way over the final four laps to take the win ahead of Rust and Gustin. J.D. Auringer would finish in the fourth position with Todd Shute coming from fourteenth to finish in fifth.

The Four Cylinders would be up next for twelve laps that would be quite entertaining. Adam Gates and last week's winner Korey Lana would break away from the field with Lana taking the lead away from Gates on lap three with a little contact. Gates was not about to let that slide by so he came battling back and delivered a blow to Lana as well to get back out front on lap five only to have Lana return the favor a lap later.

With the lead duo beatin' and bangin' on each other that allowed the ninth starter Luke Benischek to close in quickly and it would be Benischek who would cleanly take the lead on lap seven. As that battle for second continued behind him, Benischek would drive away to take the checkers with Gates prevailing for second ahead of Lana as the two continued to trade pleasantries on the cool down lap. Ashley Reumann would take the fourth position ahead of Travis Losenicky.

Driving a loaner from Leah Wroten, young Kaden Reynolds raced from third to first on the opening lap of the fifteen lap Hobby Stock feature and appeared to be headed for a convincing win until his right rear tire went flat with five laps remaining. Justin Wacha would assume the lead on the restart with Wroten literally knocking on his back door in the closing laps. Wacha held his line despite the pressure and would go on to take the win ahead of Wroten, Matt Brown, Jake Benischek and Brett Vanous.

An eleven car field of IMCA Late Models would complete the full night of action with John Emerson taking the lead from the pole position and then cruising to a flag-to-flag victory. Nick Marolf started sixth and finished second, Jeff Aikey moved from tenth to third in the Rick Dralle owned car, Dalton Simonson who moved up from the Sport Mods for 2019 finished in the fourth spot and Todd Cooney filled out the top five.

Weekly racing action continues on Sunday nights in Vinton with the next big special event here being on Wednesday July 3rd for the 25th and final running of the Hogan Memorial.

My racing for the week ahead will be limited to mid-week action with plans to be in Marshalltown on Tuesday night for the Hawkeye Dirt Tour event followed up by a trip to Stuart on Wednesday where the Malvern Bank Super Late Model Series will hit the quarter-mile high banks. If Mother Nature allows, we hope to see you there!