Eighth Super Nationals Title For Hall of Famer Aikey

Thirty-three Late Models somehow found a place to park pitside as the 41st Annual IMCA Super Nationals ramped up on a hot, but breezy Monday at the Boone Speedway where hot laps started at 1 p.m. and racing at 2:00 and nine hours later a champion was crowned as Jeff Aikey held off the defending race winner Cory Dumpert. The full show for the Late Models was squeezed in between qualifying races for 169 Northern Sport Mods and an event record count of 159 Hobby Stocks.

Knowing that I would have the opportunity to spend the day with my Positively Racing colleagues Barry Johnson and Dick and Joyce Eisele, as well as good friends Paul Vetter and David Schlise, I made the three hour trip for a full day of racing and, as always, the Super Nationals delivered with plenty of action and excitement. The schedule for the day was not posted until after we arrived and when I saw how deep the Late Model feature was in the lineup I knew that my hopes of being back home by midnight were dashed.

It was an interesting roster of Late Model drivers including several from Nebraska where the number of sanctioned tracks are now about equal to, or greater than what we have in eastern Iowa, plus there were several drivers that were likely making their one and only appearance at an IMCA Late Model show for 2023. These included longtime Modified and Stock Car competitor Mike Petersilie from central Kansas, versatile Texas driver Dean Abbey, southeast Missouri's Adam Parmeley and Cooper Tilley who lists Omaha as his hometown, but is usually found in the results from the Big O Speedway in Ennis, Texas.

Four heat races provided plenty of three-wide racing and the one B-Main saw a great battle for the four final transfer positions into the fifty-lap feature. In a throw back to the former long running Summer Series, the redraw was done with Casey's Pizza boxes and it would be Nebraska's Alex Banks and National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame member Jeff Aikey starting from the front row. 

Jeff Aikey - Barry Johnson photo

Those two would race side-by-side in the early laps with Aikey's high side momentum getting him to the scoring loop first each time before he started to put some distance on Banks by lap four. Drivers were racing four-wide mid-pack on the freshly groomed surface and the first caution of the race waved on lap thirteen when Tilley and Evan Miller tangled in turn two. It had been an interesting day for Miller as during his qualifying heat, while challenging for the lead mid-race, he spun in turn four and after scrambling to avoid the caution he would still finish last putting him near the back of the B-Main. From there he would race from eleventh to take the fourth and final transfer spot from Kale Kosiski on the final lap to make the feature.

Two laps after the restart Abbey would move to second and set his sights on Aikey who was still cruising the cushion. While he could stay close, the Texan could not find enough grip in the lower lines to mount a challenge for the lead and the caution would wave again on lap twenty-two when Tilley and this time Chance Huston would get together in turn two. When back to green Abbey would find the middle to his liking and he would lead the next three laps before Huston's now ill-handling car spun again in turn two.

Following this restart Abbey would make a self-professed driver's error as he went too low in turns three and four making contact with the buried infield tires and he would then pull to the infield with mechanical issues as Aikey sailed back into the lead. The caution would fly again one lap later when Miller spun in calamity corner, turn two and as the field was realigned we noted that Cory Dumpert was now up to sixth. 

Cory Dumpert (77) works to the outside of Darrel DeFrance and Bobby Hansen - Barry Johnson photo

The soon to be five-time IMCA Late Model National Champion had started fifteenth and did not advance much in the early laps, but he had found his speed now and just five laps after going back to green Dumpert had charged to second and was closing ground on Aikey. The final caution would wave with twelve laps remining when Greg Krohn got into the front stretch wall and after the restart Dumpert was banging the cushion as hard as he could to try to get a run on the leader. Aikey was smooth on the high line that was now obviously dominant and with no lapped traffic to have to deal with in the closing laps the sixty-one year-old driver from Cedar Falls would put his Late Model into victory lane for the seventh time here at the Super Nationals with this one being his first victory since going four straight from 2013 through 2016. Add in his 2018 title in the Modified and this is Jeff's eighth win in a "big Dance" here at Boone and unless cracker jack announcer and historian Ryan Clark tells me otherwise, I am going to proclaim that this is more than any other driver.

Dumpert would settle for second with Joel Callahan taking third after starting from the sixth row. Quad Cities area drivers Andy Nezworski and Joe Beal were next in line while veteran Mike Fryer made the most of just his fourth start of the season finishing in sixth after starting thirteenth. Banks slipped to seventh, J.D. Auringer was the Hard Charger advancing fourteen spots to eighth, Darrel DeFrance maintained his "Ironman" status and finished ninth while Bobby Hansen came from nineteenth to tenth. 

Bobby Hansen again in the middle of three-wide racing, this time with J.D. Auringer (62) and Mike Fryer (5M) - Barry Johnson photo

The race was delayed by another twenty to thirty minutes when, during the track prep session preceding the set of events that included the Late Model feature, one of the track packers had an axle break and then it overturned with about a four foot high pile of sand being left on the high side of turn three. It would take some time to scoop all of that off the black dirt track and then after one set of Stock Car hot laps, the track prep crew came back to the speedway for another farming session. Take that quirk out of the mix and the Late Model portion of the show would have concluded around 10:30 and far be it from me to be critical of how anything is done at this amazing event, but it sure would have been nice if the Late Model feature could have been slotted in before the Race of Champions heat races for the Sport Mods and the Hobby Stocks rather than afterwards. 

We did get to see one of the two twenty-five lap qualifying races held for the Sport Mods on this day and what looked like an impressive victory for Logan Anderson who charged from ninth to first was later wiped out by a disqualification in the tech area for a serpentine belt violation. That would hand the win over to young California speedster Tyler Bannister who, as Paul Vetter stated, would have a "toss off" later with the second Sport Mod winner of the night Jake Sachau to determine who will be the pole-sitter for Saturday's Big Dance. I'm assuming that would be a round of Corn Hole, or a toss of the dice?

It was a long, but enjoyable day and evening of racing enhanced by the conversation and laughter with good friends, but I can tell you that I functioned much better on just four hours of sleep when I was forty than I do now that I am sixty!

I look forward to following along with the results from Boone on MyRacePass for the remainder of the week with my next racing to be another long road trip to the Clay County Fair in Spencer next Tuesday night for the ASCS National Series and Malvern Bank SLMR double header. Look for me perusing the amazing selection of fair food pre-race before we see what transpires on the Back Stretch.

Drama And Destruction In Donnellson Drive For Five Finale

Pushed back six days due to the heat and humidity last week, the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson closed out its regular season on Thursday night with Season Championship racing in four divisions plus the "Drive For Five" finale for the IMCA Late Models. In this promotion the Late Model feature winner would earn the $2,000 top prize, plus collect a $3,000 bonus if they had participated in a good percentage of the qualifying nights held throughout the regular season.

Twenty-two Late Models would sign in on a perfect night for racing from a weather standpoint and after hot laps took some of the grease off the top of the racing surface, the track was wide and multi-grooved for all but the final race of the night without needing any additional work. Qualifying was done using the double heat method with lineups from the first round of heats reversed for the second round, and passing points straight up would set the lineup for a fifty lap feature that would see a ten minute break at the midway point. Crews would be able to do anything except change a tire during the break and maintain their running position for the restart.

Despite having his weekly driver Jeff Guengerich eligible for the extra cash, car owner Lynn Richard had veteran Mark Burgtorf in the #15R and after winning both of his heat races, Burgtorf would earn the pole position alongside impressive newcomer Evan Miller. Burgtorf would have the advantage by a nose to lead the opening lap before Miller used the high line to take over on lap number two.

The young driver who has transplanted from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to Silvis, Illinois, due to work began to open up a good lead as drivers shuffled for position behind him. C.J. Horn would soon take second and that gap would now start to close as we neared the lap ten mark. Horn was now within striking distance and when Miller got above the narrow thin cushion in turn three, Horn would take the lead on lap fifteen.

Ten more laps would be completed before the caution waved for halftime and as the field lined up in Delaware double file fashion, you might not have noticed the driver that was restarting from seventh. Driving Derek Hollenstine's #21 for just the second or third time, Modified ace Austen Becerra was about to thrill the crowd with a big move off the high side of turns one and two. During the first half of the race Becerra had come from twelfth to sixth without much fanfare, but he would go to third down the back stretch and then pass Nick Marolf for second on lap twenty-eight.

With Horn digging around the bottom he was a sitting duck for Becerra's high-side hustle and on lap thirty-one Austen would sail to the front and start to drive away. Everybody loves an underdog and despite his success in first the Four Cylinders, then the Sport Mods and most recently the Modifieds where he is currently trying to defend his 2022 All Iowa Points championship, nobody would have picked Austen to win this one, except for Austen, and you could hear the crowd gasp as he slapped the guardrail with the right rear as he continued to milk all that he could out of that cushion.

Horn was changing grooves trying to keep pace, but even with the right side of his spoiler knocked off, Becerra was still inching away. Then the caution that would change everything would wave on lap thirty-seven for Denny Woodworth who had spun in turn four. 

Setting a very slow pace for the restart, when Becerra started to "turn downhill" out of turn four, both Burgtorf and Horn got on the throttle early and they would exit turn four three-wide with the right front of Burgtorf's car and the left rear of Becerra's making contact. The jumbled start would be called back, but with his left rear tire now flat Becerra waited for Burgtorf to drive past him under caution. He would then drive the nose of his car up over the left rear wheel of Burgtorf's in frustration. The move was inexplicable to those of us in the stands as it was not clear that Becerra had a flat tire and it looked like he was throwing away his chance to try to restart again as the leader.

With Becerra now sent to the pits, Horn and Burgtorf would bring the field back to green side-by-side and again there was contact just before the start as Marolf got into the back of Burgtorf. All would fire though and as the field came up to speed down the front stretch, Marolf would slow as he was pinched up to the wall with the car behind him making contact and turning him hard right into the guardrail at the entrance of turn one. The sickening sound of crumpling sheet metal would seem to go on forever as several cars piled in and once it finally stopped the nose of Marolf's car was wedged in the guardrail about ten yards from where his crumpled car ended up. Denny Woodworth also sustained heavy damage while Gary Webb was able to drive his damaged race car back to his trailer. Thankfully all drivers escaped injury.

After a long cleanup we would get back to racing with Horn, Burgtorf and now Andy Nezworski going three-wide exiting turn two to see who would finally lead lap thirty-eight. It would be Horn, but now we had a new upstart entering the battle in hometown driver Jeremy Pundt. Racing both a Stock Car and a Late Model weekly here at Donnellson, Pundt recently posted on Facebook saying that it was too much work to maintain both cars and he asked his friends for their advice as to which one he should keep. He would then go on to win the Stock Car feature here on August 18th surely giving it the leg up in this decision, but now here he was coming to the front in his Late Model with a potential $5,000 top prize in his grasp.

As Horn ran the bottom, Pundt was closing on the cushion until the leader started to use the high side as well in turns three and four. That seemed to slow the charge as the cushion had now gone away in turns one and two and while Pundt stayed within five car lengths over the closing laps it would be Horn that would collect the win and the Drive for Five bonus cash. Jeremy would still pocket $1,500 for second, more than he has made in one night in that Stock Car! (Can you tell that I voted for him to keep the Late Model in his comments?) Mark Burgtorf would outduel Nezworski for third and Sam Halstead filled out the top five edging Tommy Elston at the stripe. 

Twenty-two Late Models were on hand, but this isn't one of them. This Street Legal Late Model was parked next to me in the parking lot

The Sport Mod feature served as an appetizer for that Late Model race as they went eighteen laps with just one caution for debris. Tom Bowling Jr. would lead for the majority of the distance until the eighth starting Brandon Dale slipped by with four laps remaining and Brandon would then celebrate the feature win along with the 2023 track title in victory lane. Bowling held off Sean Wyett to finish second, John Oliver Jr. was fourth and pole-sitter Josh Holtman slipped to fifth.

Changing from a Friday to a Thursday likely held the Sport Compact count down a bit as there was a four car breakaway in the seven car field. A lap five restart would see Brandon Reu, Josh Barnes and Barry Taft race three-wide for the lead with Reu maintaining the advantage and then it would be Taft taking aim at the lead. Thank goodness for the transponder scoring as it was that close at the line for the final seven circuits with Taft edging ahead on lap nine and lap fourteen only to see Reu take the checkers by a nose on the fifteenth and final lap. Taft and Barnes would fill the podium while Josh's son Chevy would earn the track championship with his fourth place run.

Front row starters Kyle Madden and Dustin Kroening would run side-by-side for the first lap and a half until Chris Zogg shot the gap between them entering turn three. The move would stick and Zogg would take the lead on lap two and while he first drove away from his competition, with twenty-one Modifieds on hand there was a bunch of traffic to deal with in this eighteen lap feature. Picking his way up from sixth, Jarrett Brown would get to second with seven laps remaining and while he would close to within five car lengths at the checkers he could not catch Zogg who secured the win. Dakota Simmons raced from seventh to third, Brandon Banks came from eighth to fourth and Bill Roberts Jr. finished in fifth.

The Stock Cars would close out the evening with Leremy Jackson leading the opening lap before Jason Cook went charging by. By now the cushion was all the way to the rail on both ends so digging around the bottom seemed the way to go, especially after Neal Kohlmorgan showed how treacherous the top could be. With ten laps remaining Kohlmorgan got into turn three too hot and his car launched up and over the guardrail before rolling several times outside of turn four. Thankfully the driver from Keokuk was not injured in the scary crash.

Once back to green it was pretty much a parade around the bottom as Cook stayed well ahead of runner-up John Oliver Jr. Track champion Derrick Agee finished third, Jeremy Pundt rounded out a successful evening in fourth and visitor Jason McDaniel finished fifth.

It was good to catch up with colleague Brian Neal and as always I want to thank promoters Brian and Marcie Gaylord for their hospitality. I will look forward to the next event at the Lee County Speedway coming up on Friday September 22nd when the Sprint Invaders and the HART Limited Modified series will highlight the action.

Next up for me will be tomorrow night (Saturday) when the Sprint Invaders return to the West Liberty Raceway for the first time in several years and it will be a full night of action with Late Models, Modifieds, Stock Cars, Sport Mods and Sport Compacts also on the card. Then it looks like a one day visit to the IMCA Super Nationals in Boone to start next week.

Specials season is upon us, get out and support a track near you! 

The sun is setting on the 2023 regular season. Make sure that you take in as many special events over the next two months as possible!

A Few Thoughts On Departing Promoters And An All Iowa Points Update

As we near the first of September it is time to take a look at where the All Iowa Points stand as we head into "specials season", but before that I wanted to say a few words about the promoters at two of my favorite tracks who have, or will be stepping away.

First let's start with Brian Gaylord who, along with his wife Marcie have been the promoters for several years now at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. Brian announced in July that this would be his final season at the helm of the track that is tucked into the southeast corner of Iowa and, including this coming Thursday night he still has four events remaining on the schedule. Brian and his team at LCS have always done a great job with track prep and race night presentation and he has never been afraid to throw some extra money out there in an attempt to bring in more cars. His "Drive for Five" concept where drivers can earn an extra $3,000 by winning the finale has boosted his Late Model car count for the weekly shows that counted as qualifiers and he has taken care of the Sprint Car fans as well by booking the Sprint Invaders as well as the POWRi 410's. I look forward to being there with the Invaders on Friday, September 22nd, and of course I wouldn't miss the event that will be his finale, "Shiverfest" on Saturday October 28th.

It is my understanding that at least one party has indicated interest in stepping into the role in 2024, but at this point there is nothing solid to report. The Fair had purchased a large section of the grandstands from the I-80 Speedway during its liquidation auction and it was my understanding that the plan was to run the 2024 season through mid-August and then close down to tear down the current grandstand and put up the new one. I wonder that if they do not have a promoter step up before March of next year if that project will get moved to the Spring and early Summer instead perhaps making the facility even more attractive to a promoter who might want to those events that would require a higher seating capacity.

Thank you Brian and Marcie for all that you have done for racing in the tri-state area for the past several years and for the hospitality that you have extended to all of us at Positively Racing! See you this Thursday night for the "Drive for Five" finale and season championships.

In a move that is even making national news, Ricky and Brenda Kay announced that they are stepping out of the promotional duties immediately at the Davenport Speedway. This came at the conclusion of the World of Outlaws Late Model tripleheader on Saturday sponsored by Hoker Trucking. I had heard rumors that the Kay's were not happy with some things that had been going on at the track, so this did not come as a complete surprise, and they must have been truly challenging to walk away from what they and their team had accomplished over the past few years.

With Ricky and "The Dirt Doctor" Al Dlouhy leading the way, they transformed the quarter-mile into a wide, progressively banked track that by feature time on most nights drivers could literally run six to eight different lines and be competitive based upon how they had setup their car. With the population base to support it, the track started hosting bigger and bigger events and as more national touring drivers had the chance to race it, the more of them proclaimed it as "my favorite track to race at." A MARS sanctioned race in July of 2021 was named the "Race of the Year" by Dirt On Dirt and another national series event was the runner-up in that category last year.

Several people have taken to social media to "provide the facts" behind the decision while Ricky and Brenda showed the class that I would expect from them in their press release. "Yes, last night was the last race for K Promotions at the Davenport Speedway located on the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds. We can't thank Shawn Loter, Vicky Speth and the entire Mississippi Valley Fairboard enough for giving us the opportunity four years ago. There were a lot of learning curves along the way and last night once again proved to us that national tours belong at the Davenport Speedway. We can't express enough gratitude towards the racers, the fans, Jeff and Penny Hoker, our family and especially our staff for all of the support over the last four years to make Davenport Speedway a top racing destination in the country. As the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds looks for their next promoter please show your support. We are sure they will be able to find someone that will step up and be a better and stronger promoter."

I was asked publicly on a Facebook comment to interview the two of them and "get the facts" behind the decision, but given that other people were already relating the "facts", or at least how they have seen them, I politely declined. To me Ricky and Brenda handled it perfectly knowing that they still want racing to continue at the Davenport Speedway. For me to "dig deeper", in my opinion would have been an insult to two people that I greatly respect and appreciate.

So what happens next at Davenport? Even with solid car counts weekly racing can be a tough nut to crack financially if the promoter only gets the race night ticket and pit pass revenue to cover the expenses, so the board may have to "give a little" in their agreement with the new promoter if it has been what I have understood it to be. Also, a prospective promoter might have to hope that perhaps the most prominent supporter of dirt track racing in this area, Jeff Hoker, continues to soften his stance a bit coming out of this breakup. In a Facebook post from Sunday Hoker wrote, "I can't support something that won't support the people who made this place what it is, and trust me without them it will never be what it is now." And he finished it by stating, "Hopefully in some form we will be able to make something happen elsewhere, but it won't be here."

On Monday night Jeff made it clear that he did not feel like the situation was the fault of the fairboard and he also indicated that he sees one way, and one way only that a national show like the Quad Cities 150 returns and that he is pretty sure that this option will be presented soon.

Stolen from the Davenport Speedway - K Promotions Facebook page

Whatever that is, or however it may be I do hope that we continue to see racing at the Davenport Speedway in 2024 and beyond. I know that our Sprint Invaders teams absolutely love to race there and it would be a shame to have the favorite track of Brandon Overton, Hudson O'Neal, Devin Moran and so many others fade into oblivion.

Now I look forward to sitting with Brenda in the stands again, just like we did that night in Tipton when we first met watching Justin racing his Four Cylinder. Thank you Ricky and Brenda Kay for an amazing four year run at Davenport!

Okay, so let's take a look at the nine divisions of the All Iowa Points and see how the Fall Specials might decide who will be the 2023 champions.

In the Late Models Andy Nezworski holds a comfortable 20-point advantage over five-time champion Justin Kay. Nick Marolf, Denny Woodworth and Tommy Elston are technically still in the hunt, but all of them will need to make a big move over the next few weeks as Late Model shows become far and few between as we near the end of September. With the AIP's 5-point scale with one point increments, the challengers will have to be within five points by the time Shiverfest rolls around to deny Nezworski of his first AIP championship.

Late Model Top Ten as of August 27th

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Andy Nezworski Buffalo 96

2 . Justin Kay Wheatland 76

3 . Nick Marolf Moscow 69

4 . Denny Woodworth Mendon IL 68

5 . Tommy Elston Keokuk 68

6 . C.J. Horn Cedar Rapids 64

7 . Cade Richards Lincoln NE 51

8 . Eric Pollard Dubuque 49

9 . Bobby Pierce Oakwood IL 48

10 . Jason Perry Payson IL 44

Austen Becerra appeared to be on his way to a second straight All Iowa Points Modified championship leading the standings throughout the first half of the season. However, both Jeff Larson and Jeremy Mills have surged past Becerra in the last two weeks so Specials Season will definitely decide this one. And, with Joel Rust currently next on the list that means all of the top four drivers will be looking for their second AIP Modified title.

Modifieds Top Ten as of August 27th

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Jeff Larson Freeport IL 136

2 . Jeremy Mills Garner 132

3 . Austen Becerra Carthage IL 125

4 . Joel Rust Grundy Center 109

5 . Chris Zogg New Liberty 106

6 . Todd Shute Des Moines 101

7 . Jed Freiburger Dubuque 91

8 . Tim Ward Gilbert AZ 87

9 . Travis Denning Sterling IL 87

10 . Jarrett Brown Ainsworth 84

With a sixty point advantage it is pretty safe to say that Brayton Carter will earn his second AIP Championship in the Limited Modified division. The rest of the top ten is tightly bunched though, so who will join "Speedy Bray" on the podium?

Limited Modifieds Top Ten as of August 27th

1 . Brayton Carter Oskaloosa 186

2 . Colby Fett Algona 126

3 . Dan Hovden Decorah 125

4 . Jarrett Franzen Maquoketa 122

5 . Tony Olson Cedar Rapids 119

6 . Logan Anderson Eddyville 111

7 . Alec Fett Thompson 110

8 . Ty Griffith Webster City 105

9 . Matthew Looft Swea City 104

10 . Ben Chapman Clarence 102

I love how Blogspot will suddenly change the layout even though you did the exact same thing as before. Anyway......

Derek Green's 29-point bulge in the Stock Car division is pretty solid so the question comes as to how much will the top contenders race over the next nine weeks? For Green it would be his first All Iowa Points title while for Kelly Shryock he will look to add the Stock Car championship to his three Modified crowns where the first one came way back in 1989. Keep an eye on John Oliver Jr. as well who would be looking to match his 2018 AIP Stock Car championship.

Stock Cars Top Ten as of August 27th

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Derek Green Granada MN 139

2 . Kelly Shryock Fertile 110

3 . John Oliver Jr. Danville 106

4 . Mitch Hovden Decorah 105

5 . Kaden Reynolds Cedar Rapids 103

6 . Mike Albertsen Audubon 100

7 . Mike Nichols Harlan 95

8 . Damon Murty Chelsea 88

9 . Kevin Donlan Decorah 87

10 . Elijah Zevenbergen Ocheyedan 84

We can crown Mike Smith as the 2023 All Iowa Points Hobby Stock Champion right now as his amazing total of 231 points boosted by 34 feature wins is 111 points better than Chris Hovden's impressive 120 point total. Randy Lamer snatched the 2022 AIP championship away from Smith in what turned out to be the final Hobby Stock race of the year. That won't happen this time as Mike will become the fourth member of the Smith family from Lake City to win an All Iowa Points championship.

Hobby Stocks Top Ten as of August 27th

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Mike Smith Lake City 231

2 . Chris Hovden Cresco 120

3 . Brandon Nielsen Spencer 115

4 . Dylan Clinton Edgewood 105

5 . Randy Lamar Buffalo 104

6 . Dustin Gulbrandson Hartford SD 103

7 . Kevin Bruck Dunlap 92

8 . Luke Ramsey Bedford 87

9 . Jeremy Crimmins Fort Dodge 83

10 . Tracy Halouska Worthing SD 79

        Tucker Richardson Morning Sun 79

When I did this story in 2021 I essentially handed the Four Cylinder championship to Caine Mahlberg at the time. However, Cyle Hawkins had a goal in mind and not only did he mount a huge comeback, he used a borrowed car to take the All Iowa Points title during the final race of that season in Columbus Junction. Then in 2022 Hawkins backed it up with what was essentially a wire-to-wire run to his second straight championship. He has got a lot to overcome to make it three straight though as Kolby Sabin holds a 59 point lead going into the Fall. That would mean that Hawkins would have to win twelve times against fields of ten or more cars just to catch the leader and that would assume that Kolby does not earn any additional points going forward. Cyle taught me to "never say never", but Sabin looks like a first-time AIP champ to me.

Four Cylinders Top Ten as of August 27th

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Kolby Sabin Des Moines 164

2 . Cyle Hawkins Blue Grass 105

3 . Brad Stahl Ossian 100

4 . Shannon Mahlberg Dunlap 98

5 . Levi Volkert Correctionville 90

6 . Tyler Thompson Sioux City 85

7 . Michael Gardner Jr. Des Moines 83

8 . Caine Mahlberg Dunlap 81

9 . Trent Reed Missouri Valley 77

10 . Jacob Welter Farley 74

         Terry Bickford Shannon City 74

In the Sprint Cars we could see something that has never happened before as Chase Randall could be the first driver to win the All Iowa Points Championship in two different divisions in the same season. If he pulls it off it will be the second straight 360 title for the Texas teenager. With only two more 410 races on the schedule that I can see at this point, Aaron Reutzel and defending champion Austin McCarl still have a shot at him while Reutzel will need to debut with the Sprint Invaders in September to catch Randall in the 360's. It is a two man race in the 305's where defending champion Lee Goos Jr. has surged to the lead recently leaving Tyler Drueke in "catch up mode" if he wants to score his third AIP title.

410 Winged Sprints Top Ten as of August 27th

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Chase Randall Waco TX 43

2 . Aaron Reutzel Clute TX 40

3 . Austin McCarl Altoona 39

4 . Brian Brown Grain Valley MO 35

5 . David Gravel Waterford CT 27

6 . Rico Abreu Rutherford CA 26

7 . Buddy Kofoid Penngrove CA 25

8 . Kyle Larson Elk Grove CA 25

9 . Carson Macedo Lemoore CA 24

10 . Kerry Madsen St. Marys NSW 24

360 Winged Sprints Top Ten as of August 27th

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Chase Randall Waco TX 47

2 . Aaron Reutzel Clute TX 42

3 . Garet Williamson Columbia MO 31

4 . Paul Nienhiser Chapin IL 23

5 . Jamie Ball Knoxville 19

6 . Cody Ledger Omaha NE 15

7 . Chris Martin Ankeny 14

8 . Jason Martin Lincoln NE 13

9 . Scott Bogucki Mclaren Vale SA 13

10 . Stuart Snyder Waverly NE 13

305 Winged Sprints Top Ten as of August 27th

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Lee Goos Jr. Hartford SD 84

2 . Tyler Drueke Eagle NE 73

3 . Gunnar Pike South Bend NE 49

4 . Andrew Sullivan Arnolds Park 45

5 . Cody Wehrle Burlington 45

6 . Dusty Ballenger Harrisburg SD 40

7 . Brandon Bosma Rock Rapids 31

8 . Stu Snyder Waverly NE 31

9 . Tanner Gebhardt Burlington 30

10 . Kade Higday Pleasant Hill 27

You can find the full rundown of the All Iowa Points in all nine divisions at any time by going to Positively Racing and clicking on the Points page.

Seven Titles Decided On A Busy Night In Vinton

With last week's postponement of what would have been the season championship races for the six weekly divisions at the Benton County Speedway moved to August 27th, that would make for a busy night as now the champion for the inaugural season of the PRO Late Model Tour would also be decided. Now mix that in with Vinton's annual Boomtown events where the the track prep team for promoters Rick and Corey Dripps were unable to put water on the surface for the two days leading up to race night, and that made for a full and challenging evening. But as usual here at the Bullring, the grandstands were packed and ready for action and the 109 drivers on hand, for the most part, delivered with an eventful evening of racing where seven champions were crowned.

First off, let me state that there is no better announcer for a night like this than Ryan Clark. Not only did he keep us all updated on the point championship scenarios and who needed to finish where in order to clinch, or overtake their competition to win the track title for 2023, but he was also able to give us a list of all previous track champions and even the winners of the season championship features throughout the history of the Benton County Speedway. Now, to some of the younger fans, that might not have meant much, but for all of those longtime BCS regulars it had to be a treat to hear some of those great names of the past! Not only does Ryan do an exceptional job of calling the races, his historical statistics are second to none and it just adds so much to the enjoyment of an evening such as this one.

Great job my friend!

It would be features only for the six weekly divisions with the lineups set as follows. If you were in the top twelve in the current point standings, and you were in attendance here tonight, you would be included in the invert. For example, in the Sport Compacts, nine of the top twelve ranked drivers were on hand and therefore point leader, and now 2023 track champion Lukas Rick lined up ninth on the seventeen car starting grid.

The PRO Late Model Tour would line up their heats straight up by points staggered across the three of them using a passing point system that would then have the high point man, Curt Martin, draw a card from Ace to eight to determine the invert for the thirty lap feature. He would draw the four.

From a fan's standpoint I thought that both lineup procedures were pretty cool for use on a Season Championship night, much better than starting the features straight up by current points.

The Legend Cars would be first and with it only being about 5:50 p.m. the sun was still high, the breeze was blowing and the track that did not get its normal drink of water over the past two days was a bit dry and dusty. Soon the entire sixteen car field was rooting for the bottom and passing only happened when someone slipped up out of the groove in the turns. Pole-sitter Griffin McGrath, who also pilots a pavement Late Model around the upper Midwest and who heads up the Legends Direct dealership in Cedar Rapids grabbed the lead early and never made a mistake in taking his first win here in Vinton. Kacey Korsmo kept the heat on in second, Danny Lehmkuhl did make his way up from twelfth to third, Michael Weber sealed the track title by finishing fourth and Cole O'Brien filled out the top five. Legends Direct will be putting some big money on the line for the Legend Cars this coming Sunday, September 3rd, as they will be part of a four class program here that we will tell you about later.

The Sport Mod feature would be up next for fifteen laps with championship contenders Sam Wieben and Tony Olson lining up eleventh and tenth respectively. Now you know that you might be in for a case of yellow fever when the first caution waves for a Modified driver that had asked to be able to take a couple of hot laps behind the field. He didn't even make it out of turn four before spinning. Once back to green, front row starters Robert Patava and Aaron Waller left the door open for Josh Banes to take the point and he would lead through lap eight when Bradley Ivy spun in turn three.

On the restart Brady Hilmer would go to work on Banes for the lead and as the lead duo raced side-by-side into turn one on lap eleven, my eyes were on the slowing car of Tony Olson who had been running fourth at the time. As he coasted over the top of turn one heading to the pit area it was Hilmer who was now crossing the start/finish line with the lead, but where was Banes? His #28 was in the infield near the end of the back stretch and when the caution waved for a car that had spun in turn three after lap twelve was scored, he would climb out and show Hilmer "that he was number one.....twice" as described my Mr. Clark.

The race would go back to green with just three laps remaining and four drivers from Dysart leading the way and just as Hilmer was exiting turn four to take the checkers, the caution waved instead for Hunter Wimer who was sitting sideways in turn one. Now I know that this has to be a snap decision, but in our new world of Raceceiver technology it would seem that we could go ahead and throw the checkers with the green light still on while saying "there's a car sideways in turn one so be careful". Not only that, but we have to go back to a two lap restart, so thankfully nothing changed up front over those extra two laps and Hilmer scored the win with Wieben earning the track championship in second. Joe Docekal came from seventh to third making it an all Dysart podium while Kyle Olson finished fourth. Will Wolf had come all the up from sixteenth to fifth, but he was nipped at the line for the position by Patava at the end of overtime.

We talked about Lukas Rick earlier, he was the only driver to come into the night assured of a track championship without even having to show up, but he did so anyway. First a few side comments, congratulations to the Sports Compact drivers here at Vinton for coming out seventeen strong on championship night and for having a solid car count all season. While other tracks in the state struggle to get to double digits and others continue to run the class when they only get three or four cars each week, it is nice to see that Vinton can still pull them in. Perhaps somebody needs to share the secret?

I have heard some of the reasons why the car counts are down at some tracks and it seems that the fault would lie within the competitors and their fans in those cases. One All Iowa Points track that averaged more than twenty a week dropped them from the roster a couple of years ago "because of all the drama" that they generate and I know that one track this year finally told the drivers that they can tech themselves because the promoters were tired of the whining and bitching. Another track, the CJ Speedway has already said that the class has been cut for 2024, so when you see a track like Mason City that had two cars show up last night, you have to wonder just how much longer will this division continue. 

But I digress.

This race showed how entertaining the class can be as pole-sitter Stephen Randall would set the pace for the first five laps with drivers going three and four wide while jockeying for position. A caution for debris would give Nolan Tuttle the chance to get up to speed quicker on the restart as he would now take the lead and Lukas Rick would have to do his track championship interview later as his car was being towed back to the pits after dropping a transmission while running fifth with six laps remaining.

Cristian Grady had started outside of the invert in twelfth, but he would be riding the back bumper of Tuttle in the closing laps. As the white flag waved, Grady was able to squeeze under Tuttle exiting turn two and they raced wheel to wheel down the back stretch with Grady earning the Christe Door Company $100 last lap pass bonus by taking the win by less than a car length over Tuttle. Randall would hold on for third, Colton Stewart finished fourth with Robert Rundle fifth.

Ten Stock Cars lined up next for fifteen laps with Leah Wroten needing a top three finish to wrap up her second track championship here at Vinton. I knew this because she was among the former Hobby Stock track champions mentioned a little later in the night. Kaden Reynolds was her challenger and he wasted no time blasting from sixth to first on the opening lap. With Norman Chesmore and Jeff Wollam battling for second, and for determining who would be third in the final point standings, Leah was looking like fourth might be the best that she could do until Wollam dropped out with mechanical problems during a lap seven caution.

Two laps after the restart Wroten made the pass on Chesmore and then rode out one more late race caution to seal the deal as Kaden won the battle, while Leah won the war. Chesmore finished third, Kyle Olson in the #49 formerly driven by Ian Huff was fourth and Sport Compact graduate Logan Clausen was fifth.

The Hobby Stocks rolled out next for fifteen laps and while both Cory VanderWilt and Justin Wacha were still within reach, it would have taken a poor showing from point leader Joren Fisher to see any change at the top of the standings. Pole-sitter Bradly Graham would get all the way sideways in turns three and four on the opening lap, but somehow make the save without collecting the field, but he did lose several positions. This would allow Dalton Weepie to take the lead and through two more restarts he was unbeatable driving away to take the win. It was the kind of performance that would have made you doubt the fact that this was just his second career feature win and Weepie's first victory at Vinton. Matt Brown came from eighth to second, Fisher closed out his second title in three years by running third, Graham battled back to fourth and Michael Kimm closed out the top five.

I made my way down trackside to catch this picture of Troy Cordes as he waved to the crowd during introductions. Troy came into the 2023 season ranked fifth on the list in the Cumulative All Iowa Points for Modifieds since the year 2000 and I believe that Ryan mentioned that he has the most career wins here at Vinton. After taking the lead from Chase Weimer on lap two and then swapping it with Jacob Snyder on laps four and five, it looked like Cordes might add to that win total. But after the fourth caution of the race, track champion Joel Rust drove under Cordes to take the lead on lap twelve and he would drive away over the final eight laps for the convincing win. The only track champion to also win his or her feature tonight. Cordes would take the runner-up money, Brennan Chipp came from eleventh to third, Patrick Flannagan was fourth and Snyder finished fifth.

The thirty lap PRO Late Model Tour finale would close out the evening and, after eighteen feature race cautions thus far, our hope would be that this one would go flag-to-flag so that we could go raid Bobby Hansen's cooler full of retro beer for one cold one before making the 101 mile drive home.

Nope.

It would take four tries to get the twenty-two car field to finally score a lap, but now that we were racing this would be a good one. And I mean a REALLY good one that featured eight official lead changes among three drivers. Bryan Klein and Corey Dripps had started from the front row and basically they would race side-by-side for the first seventeen laps. Klein down low and Dripps up high. Who would lead each lap would be determined by who had best hit their marks during that trip around the quarter-mile oval and thankfully due to the scoreboard, new to the track here in 2023, and the electronic scoring I can tell you that the leader was:

Laps 1-7: Klein

Lap 8: Dripps (he actually took the lead when he had to squeeze under the lapped car of Michael Trulson forcing him to the middle line in turns three and four)

Laps 9-10: Klein (Dripps went back to the top in three and four allowing Klein to get back to the lead)

Lap 11: Dripps

Lap 12: Klein

Lap 13: Dripps (the leaders now each had a lapped car just ahead racing in their line)

Laps 14 -17: Klein

The caution would wave at this point for Chase Brunscheen who had spun in turn four and we would now notice that J.D. Auringer, who had started the Brandon Davis owned #62 from twelfth, had worked his way up to third for the restart. Once back to green this would now become a three car battle with Auringer trying to find some racing room and when he would give the middle a try, the crowd would buzz with the three-wide action for the lead.

Dripps would regain the lead on lap twenty and, once he dropped Klein to third, Auringer would go to work on the leader. Corey would fight him off for a couple of laps, but with five remaining Auringer would take the lead and then go on to score the entertaining victory. Nick Marolf would slip by Dripps late to finish second and with his third place finish Dripps would become the PRO Late Model Tour points champion in its first season. Corey achieved the same thing 25 years ago when he was the first ever NKF Tour Modified Champion back in 1998.   

Klein would have to settle for fourth while C.J. Horn rounded out the top five. It was an impressive finish to the first PRO Late Model Tour season that also debuted here at Vinton back in June with just ten cars signing in for that first show. With twenty-two on hand tonight, organizer Brandon Davis has to be excited to build upon that over the offseason as he prepares for the sophomore edition.

It is always good to see both Rick and Corey Dripps as we developed a great friendship back in those NKF Tour days and they, along with their fine staff here at the Bullring are always very welcoming to all of our Positively Racing writers. Since we often sit in the same area it is also good to say hi to the friendly people in the stands and I even made a few new friends on this night since I broke out the vintage Roger Dolan race shirt that we printed back in 1992.

There is one more night of racing on the schedule in Vinton, and that will be this Sunday September 3rd, when the Sprint Invaders make their second appearance of the season joined by the Sport Compacts, the American Iron Racing Series and the aforementioned Legends Direct Midwest Shootout. Pack those stands again!

Reutzel Wards Off Wimmer To Score IRA Checkers At 34 Raceway

The heat broke just in time for a fun night of Sprint Car racing at 34 Raceway Friday night as the Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprint Car Series returned to southeast Iowa for the second time in 2023. Unfortunately with the scorching weather throughout most of the day, the start of Iowa high school football and perhaps a few people who chose to stay home and watch on Flo, the grandstands were bit light but those who were in attendance were treated to an entertaining thirty lap feature to close out the evening.

A pair of Knoxville regulars Austin McCarl and Aaron Reutzel earned the front row starting positions and they would swap the lead on the opening lap with Reutzel getting back to the loop first. As Reutzel started to pull away IRA regular Danny Schlafer would snatch second away from McCarl only to have Austin take it back a few laps later when he started to work the low line in and out of turns one and two.

With Reutzel cruising the cushion on both ends and most of the lapped traffic down low, the leader was not really being slowed, however McCarl was still closing the gap until he too reached those lappers down in his preferred line. Sixth starting Brandon Wimmer had made his way up to third and he was now closing in on the lead duo as well while working the cushion in both sets of turns. The top three would be within about eight car lengths of each other around lap eighteen when Reutzel seemed to sense that his high line was no longer the fastest and once he went to the bottom he would again put some distant on his challengers who were now in their own battle for second.

With the laps winding down Reutzel looked to have this one well in hand only to have Joel Myers Jr. slow in front of him exiting turn four. The leader would get by him and Wimmer would nip McCarl at the stripe just before the caution waved with just two laps now remaining. On the restart Reutzel went to the bottom and stayed there while Wimmer followed him into turn one and then drifted to the cushion out of two. With a big run down the back stretch Wimmer pounded the cushion in turns three and four giving him the momentum to sail by Reutzel down the front stretch, if only he had the room to do so.

The leader would exit turn four off the bottom and then drive up the track toward the flagstand where the cars would make contact. A big crash was avoided though when Wimmer stood on the brakes and once back up to speed there would be no catching Reutzel who would complete the flag-to-flag victory. Wimmer would settle for second with McCarl taking third while Zach Hampton slipped by IRA point leader Brenham Crouch in the final two laps to finish fourth. Paul Nienhiser started thirteenth and was quickly up to fifth mid-race before finishing in sixth. Jordan Goldesberry and Jake Blackhurst were next in line while Travis Arenz came from sixteenth up to ninth. Knoxville's Riley Goodno would complete the top ten. 

Aaron Reutzel from a couple of weeks ago at Knoxville - Barry Johnson photo

The IRA Sprint Cars now head south to the Federated Auto Parts I-55 Speedway in Pevely, Missouri, for what I believe to be their first ever appearance at that facility on Saturday night.

In support class action the American Iron Racing Series ran a non-stop fifteen lap feature with Dennis Etten pacing the field through the early laps. Hometown driver Doak Allen Jr. was on a mission though to win here at 34 and on lap six he drove his Sterzings Potato Chips #01 under Etten in turns three and four to take the lead. With Allen now pulling away the battle for second heated up and when Etten and Robin Atkins made contact on the front stretch with six laps remaining it would cut down the left front tire on the car of the early leader.

Allen was in control and would close out the final laps to take the victory with Atkins a distant second. Bart Miller started tenth and finished third, Bruce Yoerger was fourth and Owen Hayes filled out the top five while Etten nursed his #23 in for eighth.

This would be the final point race of the season for the Mini Hauler division here at 34 and when regular winner and point leader Brian Tipps exited from his heat race early it looked like the door might be open for a new winner on this night. Eric Detlefsen would lead the way early before the caution waved on lap five for a fire under the hood of Larry Hooper's truck. On the restart Jeff Bockes would go to work on Detlefson and the driver who took a twenty-plus year hiatus after racing in the old Sportsman division here would take the lead on lap eight and pace the final four laps for his second win of the season. Tipps, who had started the race from seventh, slipped by Detlefson exiting turn four on the final lap to take second and earn the track title while Sheldon Brockett and James Ruble closed out the top five.

I had a great time sitting with my Sprint Invaders announcing partner Bill Wright, just enjoying a night of racing with no microphone anywhere near us. Outside of perhaps my long time guru Kurt Moon, there is nobody that knows more about the drivers and owners in the world of winged Sprint Car racing. Make sure that you have his website Open Wheel 101 bookmarked!

The forecast for Saturday night looks fantastic for racing and 34 Raceway will be back in action with their Pepsi Season Championship event with an adult admission price of just five dollars. Time to pack those stands for some more great racing action this Saturday night at 34!