As I was pulling out of the Benton County Speedway Sunday night, at 8:25 p.m. no less, I called my Positively Racing colleague Barry Johnson and said, "anybody who thinks that you can only find good racing at big special events has obviously never been to a weekly show at Vinton!" A big part of the charm is the fact that the crowd is always vocal and while it wasn't filled to capacity on this night, the gaps in the grandstands were much, much smaller than what you would have seen at the day's NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Richmond. Plus at Vinton, except for the gathering just outside of the beer stand, nobody stands up during green flag racing so that means everybody can see all of the action. Take the hint NASCAR.
IMCA Late Models would join the track's regular five classes on this night as the opener of their Sunday Series that is shared with the Stuart Speedway and a solid field of fifteen signed in for action with the Late Model main serving as the finale for the evening. We will get to that later though as it was the Micro Mods that were on tap first for feature racing. Veteran driver Don Erger dropped to the inside from his third starting spot to take the lead at the wave of the green and he was never seriously challenged on his way to victory in the 12-lap race. Jeff Davis tried to keep pace early, but when he spun mid-race that really left Erger all alone. Young Dallon Murty made a nice run through the field after being caught up in an early incident to finish second while Cole McNeal made a final lap pass to take third.
The Hobby Stock count required three heats and it was Daniel Wauters and Justin Wacha starting from the front row of the 15-lap main event. A scramble near the back of the pack as the field took the green saw Jim Ball's car end up on its side to bring out the red and safety crews helped Ball climb out of the driver's side window opening unscathed. Once under green Wauters would lead the first two laps around the quarter-mile before yielding to Wacha on lap three. Nathan Ballard who started ninth was now at the front to challenge and he used the extreme low line to squeeze past Wacha in turn four on lap five. The caution would wave for Mike Kimm's spin in turn one on lap seven and following the restart August Bach found the high line around the speedway to his liking moving quickly from fifth to second. With Ballard still thinking that the bottom groove was the only way to go Bach surprised him by driving around him to the lead with five laps remaining. One of the best in this division in eastern Iowa though, Ballard fought back moving up the track himself and then using the lapped car of Kyle Dulin as a bit of a pick on Bach to regain the lead with two to go. Bach would make one last run at the leader, but there would be no stopping Ballard from taking the checkers. Wacha would finish behind Bach in third while Wauters and Brett Vanous were next in line.
The IMCA Sport Mod 16-lap feature was up next and as the field took the green Curt Hilmer and the defending All Iowa Points champion Tony Olson tangled with both drivers going off the top of turn one and into the grass. For Hilmer the damage was terminal as his car was towed back to the pit area while Olson scrambled back to the pits to change a flat tire. He returned to start at the rear of the now fourteen car field and as they worked through turns three and four Olson moved to the outside and passed four cars before the race went back to green. A four car spin in turn one required another caution that actually turned out to be a break for Olson who would have otherwise been docked at least those four positions at the pay window regardless of where he would have finished if the race would have went green.
Tony behaved on the next restart and the race stayed green with Dakoda Sellers leading the way until lap four when Olson's cousin, Kyle Olson took over the lead. When Matt Petrzelka sun in turn one on lap nine the restart saw a wild three-car race for the lead between the two Olson's and Dan Drury before Tony slipped over the top of turn four on lap ten. Drury would keep pace, but could not make a strong run at the leader in the closing laps as Kyle Olson visited victory lane for the second night in a row after Saturday's win in Independence. Drury would take the second spot ahead of Danny Dvorak who recovered nicely after having to change a tire from that early four car tangle. Mitch Manternach was consistent in fourth with thirteenth starter Joey Schaefer in fifth. Tony Olson scrambled back to seventh at the checkers.
Twenty IMCA Modifieds lined up for their 20-lap feature with a driver roster that included two from Texas who made the trip north for the weekend and a Medford, Oregon, driver who has taken up residence in Iowa for the racing season. Pole-sitter Zach Less would snare the early lead and hold it until lap six when Mike Burbridge went over the top of turn four to bring out the caution. On the restart Less was under attack as J.D. Auringer passed him low and the Oregon driver Tom Berry went around him on the high side with Auringer holding the lead by inches on lap seven. With Auringer digging down low and Berry riding the cushion up high it would be the scorer's choice as they crossed the line the next three laps until Burbridge again needed a caution when he parked in the grass outside of turn four.
Berry would lead lap eleven by half a car length before Less went off the top of turn four and the caution would wave again on lap thirteen when Austin, Texas, driver Jerry Frydrych also ran out of cushion in turn three. The Auringer/Berry battle of racing lines would continue for three more laps under green before both Less and Frydrych wanted to get a closer look at the pine trees well beyond the end of turns three and four and both drivers were sent to the pits for causing their second caution. Scott Hogan and Ronn Lauritzen looked like they might make it a four car race for the lead in the closing laps, but Berry handled that obviously treacherous cushion in turns three and four with care and held on to take his first win in the state of Iowa after racing here late in 2015 as well. Auringer was the runner-up with Hogan in third. Lauritzen finished fourth, Patrick Flanagan was fifth and Darin Duffy came from the eighth row to finish sixth. David Goode of Copperas Cove was the other Texas driver in action.
Stock Cars were up next for 18 laps with Scooter Dulin moving from third to first on the opening lap. Bob Ahrendsen, who started right behind Dulin in fifth, followed him to the front and then drove under him to take the lead on lap three. With Ahrendsen pulling away, the race for second provided plenty of entertainment as Dulin tried to fight off the challenges of Norman Chesmore and Jared Daggett. Ahrendsen would ease to victory in the non-stop event with Chesmore claiming second at the pay window. Daggett picked up the third spot with Dulin in fourth while Justin Stander completed the top five. Zach Spillman of Marble Falls, Texas, arrived late at the speedway after reportedly running an Enduro race at Stuart earlier in the day and raced at the back of the Stock Car A-Main.
The Late Model feature was set to close out the night and as the field assembled on the track prior to 25-laps of racing Ryan Dolan, who had dominated to win the second heat race, was lined up on the outside of row four, the position that he landed in during the redraw, and Jerry King who had finished sixth in that same heat race was lined up twelfth. Apparently the lineup card that the scorekeeper had did not have King's #70 on it and the drivers were told to swap positions. Dolan did not stop to contest the switch that was an obvious error and the field went to green with pole-sitter Todd Cooney sliding up in front of fellow front row starter John Emerson in turn two to take the lead. The top side was the fast way around for the Late Models and Emerson did his best to match Cooney's pace until the caution waved for Luke Pestka who had driven off the top side of turn two and was checking to see if the adjacent field would be planted with corn or beans this year.
The restart gave the fans a thrill as Emerson used a move similar to what Cooney threw at him on the opening lap to take the lead in turn two and as Cooney fought back in turns three and four both Joe Zrostlik and Darren Ackerman were in the mix making it a four car battle as Emerson crossed the line in the lead on lap eight. Cooney would get back around Emerson on the following lap and then proceed to open up a full straightaway lead before he closed in on three slower cars racing for position with eight laps remaining. Cooney would put a lap on Kip Siems, but then had to be very patient with Chris Snyder and Mark Hurst who were racing side-by-side with each other allowing Emerson and now a third running Ryan Dolan to quickly close the gap.
The leader caught a break when Hurst slipped over the top of turn four on lap nineteen, but came back to the track to keep it green, although Emerson now seemed to be ready to make a run at Cooney for the lead. That ended though with three laps remaining when the chaser, Emerson dropped a right rear off the track while going down the back stretch. As Cooney pulled away Dolan dove to the inside of turn three to take over second, but only briefly as Emerson crossed him over to regain the spot going down the front stretch with two to go. All Cooney had to do now was avoid a mistake and the veteran driver did just that to capture the win ahead of Emerson and Dolan. Joe Zrostlik would finish in the fourth position while Darren Ackerman took fifth.
The IMCA Late Models return to the Benton County Speedway on Sunday May 22nd.
A big thanks to promoter Mick Trier and race director Mike Van Genderen for another great night of action at the Benton County Speedway and it was also nice to visit with IMCA's Ryan Clark, a former writer with us here at Positively Racing. You will see that we keep his In Staging blog up on the home page in hope that our readers will still go back and see some of the great work that Ryan did there, and of course in hope that he will someday resume those efforts!
I also want to thank Jeff and Dean for holding a great seat for me around some friendly people as I was off visiting with others in the pits right up until race time. Hopefully the rainy week that is forecasted will have enough breaks in it to allow us to go racing on Wednesday night in Oskaloosa and then on Friday and Saturday it will be a different type of competition around the blue oval as I take in the Drake Relays for the first time. A Big 10 UMP Late Model series event at the Quincy Raceways is then my target on Sunday night.
Stay dry, stay warm and hopefully you can find some racing action to attend this week!
Monday, April 25, 2016
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Wednesday Notebook: April 20, 2016
No races tonight at the Southern Iowa Speedway due to rain, hopefully we can get back up there next Wednesday night.
Some things that you might have missed from this past weekend......
The Route 45 Speedway in Flora, Illinois, has made the bold switch to sanction with the USRA in 2016 right in the heart of UMP country and this past weekend they hosted a $5,000-to-win two day show for the B-Mods titled the "Dealbreaker 50". Robbie Eilers took the checkered flag and apparent victory, but was later disqualified in tech handing the big money over to Iowa's Austin Kaplan. Kansas driver Andy Bryant was paid for second while Decorah's Troy Hovey was third. Route 45's Facebook page later had a comment from Eilers which they appropriately described as "the way a TRUE CHAMPION responds to a disqualification."
"Its what the rules are... we should have spent the extra time making sure things were fully checked... i have all kinds of set up tools for suspension but needless to say my digital valve spring guage will be in wednesday lol thats why i love usra. They will inspect and they will disqualify"
Speaking of USRA, long-time IMCA Modified competitor Todd Shute from Des Moines has turned his attention to both the USMTS and USRA this season and on Friday night Shute was the feature winner over the always stout field at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City. Then, on his way home Saturday, Shute scored a third-place finish at the I-35 Speedway just north of Cameron, Missouri.
Former NASCAR Sprint Cup driver David Reutimann drove a Modified during Cedar Lake Speedway's two-day opening weekend finishing fifth on Friday night and eleventh on Saturday. Reutimann is no stranger to the Modified division as both he and his legendary father Buzzie raced them during Speedweeks in Florida again this year.
Mike Hansen used to call the northwest Iowa town of Alton home, but he now hails from Dickinson, North Dakota. Back in March he was a USRA Modified feature winner at the Humboldt Speedway in Kansas and this past weekend Hansen picked up an IMCA Modified win at the Tri-State Speedway in Pocola, Oklahoma.
The plot has thickened in what should be an interesting year for Sprint Car drivers and fans here in our region. The I-90 Speedway in Hartford, South Dakota, has ceased operations for at least the next three years when its owner Lyle Howey was hired as the Assistant General Manager of Facilities at the Badlands Motor Speedway, formerly Husets Speedway, in nearby Brandon. I-90 has raced weekly for the past several years on Saturday nights and with Badlands adding a weekly Saturday night program to go along with their traditional Sunday night shows, Badlands owner Chuck Brennan approached Howey to ask if he would move to Friday nights. Instead an employment agreement was reached and now the former Sprint Car driver who was the 1995 Rookie-of-the-Year at Husets will be in charge of track prep at Badlands, a track that now has one less track in competition for drivers and fans on Saturday nights.
Sprint Car driver Harli White had a big week as first of all, even though I can't find anything that actually says "wedding", it would appear from the pictures on the Harli White Racing Facebook page that she got married this past weekend. And the only reason that I even stumbled upon that was because I wanted to grab you a link to her press release announcing plans to race in Australia next winter. This tough competitor is a crowd favorite and we wish her nothing but the best!
I have mentioned in the past that I hate complete restarts where nobody gets penalized and I also hate it when a track or series runs two B-Mains. In the event that you disagree, I encourage you to search through past Back Stretch posts to find my full list of reasons for both. Watching the video highlights from Sunday's MLRA Late Model feature at Sedalia, the start of the feature sees pole-sitter Justin Asplin spin in front of the field in turn one with announcer Trenton Berry describing the pile up as a calamity. Cut to the restart and there is Asplin once again on the pole. Now I will admit that when I rewind I can see that Asplin may have been helped around by Randy Timms and, while four or five cars do come to a stop, Asplin was not one of them as he completed the full spin and then continued on. Some tracks and series do have a rule that if multiple cars are involved in a first-lap caution that everybody gets their spot back which I am fine with as long as that multi-car tangle wasn't caused by one guy doing a solo spin in front of everybody. The apparent contact from Timms gives this pole-sitter a pass.
Going through the results from the Eagle Raceway Icebreaker this past weekend I was however very pleased to see that the track ran a C-Feature in a couple of divisions on Friday night rather than splitting the large field into two or, heaven help us, three B's. Good job Roger Hadan and Eagle Raceway! Even more reason why I want to make a trip out for one of your spectacular weekly shows soon.
Bryan Clauson's Circular Insanity Tour had a good weekend that started with a USAC Sprint Car win in Bloomington, Indiana, on Friday night. On Saturday Clauson did double duty at the Knoxville Raceway season opener winning the 360 main event and finishing second to Danny Lasoski in the 410's, then on Sunday he ventured down to Sedalia where he finished fifth on the locked down daytime race track. Clauson will head south for Texas this weekend for the World of Outlaws doubleheader at Devil's Bowl Speedway.
Colfax, Iowa's, Robert Bell is a cult hero in the Sprint Car world and after chasing the full USAC National Sprint Car schedule in 2015 it looks like Bell is using that experience to his advantage as he races a bit closer to home this year. Saturday night at the Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Missouri, Bell finished fifth in the non-wing Sprint Car main event that saw Cody Baker defeat a field of 18 cars. Bell also wheeled a midget that night where he finished fourth out of a field of 19 cars in a race won by Riley Kreisel.
Quincy, Illinois, teenager Jake Griffin won the Late Model feature on the paved high banks at Lebanon's I-44 Speedway in southwest Missouri Saturday night.
There was a huge crowd on hand Saturday night for the 8th Annual Slocum 50 at 34 Raceway near Burlington, Iowa, Saturday night and there was another grandstand packed full of race fans up in Wisconsin the same night as fans came out in droves to remember long-time Late Model racer M.J. McBride at the Shawano Speedway. Nick Anvelink took the win in the headling Late Model division. Nothing better than seeing jam-packed grandstands!
I'm not sure yet what is on tap for me this coming weekend other than I know that I have another commitment on Saturday night. Sprints and midgets in Jacksonville or Super Late Models in Lincoln have me thinking about crossing the river into Illinois on Friday night, but that Saturday commitment will likely keep me closer to home which still gives me plenty of solid weekly shows to choose from. If I don't go racing Friday, then a "crazy" road trip to Atchison, Kansas, or La Crosse might be a possibility. Where are you going this weekend?
Some things that you might have missed from this past weekend......
The Route 45 Speedway in Flora, Illinois, has made the bold switch to sanction with the USRA in 2016 right in the heart of UMP country and this past weekend they hosted a $5,000-to-win two day show for the B-Mods titled the "Dealbreaker 50". Robbie Eilers took the checkered flag and apparent victory, but was later disqualified in tech handing the big money over to Iowa's Austin Kaplan. Kansas driver Andy Bryant was paid for second while Decorah's Troy Hovey was third. Route 45's Facebook page later had a comment from Eilers which they appropriately described as "the way a TRUE CHAMPION responds to a disqualification."
"Its what the rules are... we should have spent the extra time making sure things were fully checked... i have all kinds of set up tools for suspension but needless to say my digital valve spring guage will be in wednesday lol thats why i love usra. They will inspect and they will disqualify"
Speaking of USRA, long-time IMCA Modified competitor Todd Shute from Des Moines has turned his attention to both the USMTS and USRA this season and on Friday night Shute was the feature winner over the always stout field at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City. Then, on his way home Saturday, Shute scored a third-place finish at the I-35 Speedway just north of Cameron, Missouri.
Former NASCAR Sprint Cup driver David Reutimann drove a Modified during Cedar Lake Speedway's two-day opening weekend finishing fifth on Friday night and eleventh on Saturday. Reutimann is no stranger to the Modified division as both he and his legendary father Buzzie raced them during Speedweeks in Florida again this year.
Mike Hansen used to call the northwest Iowa town of Alton home, but he now hails from Dickinson, North Dakota. Back in March he was a USRA Modified feature winner at the Humboldt Speedway in Kansas and this past weekend Hansen picked up an IMCA Modified win at the Tri-State Speedway in Pocola, Oklahoma.
The plot has thickened in what should be an interesting year for Sprint Car drivers and fans here in our region. The I-90 Speedway in Hartford, South Dakota, has ceased operations for at least the next three years when its owner Lyle Howey was hired as the Assistant General Manager of Facilities at the Badlands Motor Speedway, formerly Husets Speedway, in nearby Brandon. I-90 has raced weekly for the past several years on Saturday nights and with Badlands adding a weekly Saturday night program to go along with their traditional Sunday night shows, Badlands owner Chuck Brennan approached Howey to ask if he would move to Friday nights. Instead an employment agreement was reached and now the former Sprint Car driver who was the 1995 Rookie-of-the-Year at Husets will be in charge of track prep at Badlands, a track that now has one less track in competition for drivers and fans on Saturday nights.
Sprint Car driver Harli White had a big week as first of all, even though I can't find anything that actually says "wedding", it would appear from the pictures on the Harli White Racing Facebook page that she got married this past weekend. And the only reason that I even stumbled upon that was because I wanted to grab you a link to her press release announcing plans to race in Australia next winter. This tough competitor is a crowd favorite and we wish her nothing but the best!
I have mentioned in the past that I hate complete restarts where nobody gets penalized and I also hate it when a track or series runs two B-Mains. In the event that you disagree, I encourage you to search through past Back Stretch posts to find my full list of reasons for both. Watching the video highlights from Sunday's MLRA Late Model feature at Sedalia, the start of the feature sees pole-sitter Justin Asplin spin in front of the field in turn one with announcer Trenton Berry describing the pile up as a calamity. Cut to the restart and there is Asplin once again on the pole. Now I will admit that when I rewind I can see that Asplin may have been helped around by Randy Timms and, while four or five cars do come to a stop, Asplin was not one of them as he completed the full spin and then continued on. Some tracks and series do have a rule that if multiple cars are involved in a first-lap caution that everybody gets their spot back which I am fine with as long as that multi-car tangle wasn't caused by one guy doing a solo spin in front of everybody. The apparent contact from Timms gives this pole-sitter a pass.
Going through the results from the Eagle Raceway Icebreaker this past weekend I was however very pleased to see that the track ran a C-Feature in a couple of divisions on Friday night rather than splitting the large field into two or, heaven help us, three B's. Good job Roger Hadan and Eagle Raceway! Even more reason why I want to make a trip out for one of your spectacular weekly shows soon.
Bryan Clauson's Circular Insanity Tour had a good weekend that started with a USAC Sprint Car win in Bloomington, Indiana, on Friday night. On Saturday Clauson did double duty at the Knoxville Raceway season opener winning the 360 main event and finishing second to Danny Lasoski in the 410's, then on Sunday he ventured down to Sedalia where he finished fifth on the locked down daytime race track. Clauson will head south for Texas this weekend for the World of Outlaws doubleheader at Devil's Bowl Speedway.
Colfax, Iowa's, Robert Bell is a cult hero in the Sprint Car world and after chasing the full USAC National Sprint Car schedule in 2015 it looks like Bell is using that experience to his advantage as he races a bit closer to home this year. Saturday night at the Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Missouri, Bell finished fifth in the non-wing Sprint Car main event that saw Cody Baker defeat a field of 18 cars. Bell also wheeled a midget that night where he finished fourth out of a field of 19 cars in a race won by Riley Kreisel.
Quincy, Illinois, teenager Jake Griffin won the Late Model feature on the paved high banks at Lebanon's I-44 Speedway in southwest Missouri Saturday night.
There was a huge crowd on hand Saturday night for the 8th Annual Slocum 50 at 34 Raceway near Burlington, Iowa, Saturday night and there was another grandstand packed full of race fans up in Wisconsin the same night as fans came out in droves to remember long-time Late Model racer M.J. McBride at the Shawano Speedway. Nick Anvelink took the win in the headling Late Model division. Nothing better than seeing jam-packed grandstands!
I'm not sure yet what is on tap for me this coming weekend other than I know that I have another commitment on Saturday night. Sprints and midgets in Jacksonville or Super Late Models in Lincoln have me thinking about crossing the river into Illinois on Friday night, but that Saturday commitment will likely keep me closer to home which still gives me plenty of solid weekly shows to choose from. If I don't go racing Friday, then a "crazy" road trip to Atchison, Kansas, or La Crosse might be a possibility. Where are you going this weekend?
Monday, April 18, 2016
Callahan, Wilson, Soppe and Miles Conquer Early Opener at Dubuque
Over the past several seasons drivers and fans would have to wait until mid-May before they could enjoy a Sunday evening at the Dubuque Speedway, but in 2016 the season opener was set for an April 17th date that turned out to be an absolutely perfect night for racing. The result? Four divisions running off an efficient and entertaining program that saw the final checkered flag wave just before 8:45 p.m.
This opener was so early that it couldn't even be a track or national point race yet for the IMCA Late Models, that chase will start at all IMCA Late Model tracks next weekend, but still a solid field of fourteen signed in for action. Jon Merfeld started third and slipped under the front row of Joel Callahan and Jeff Tharp to take the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap headliner and he was then joined by Callahan in a two car breakaway from the field. With Callahan still five to ten car-lengths back, Merfeld appeared to have this one well in hand until lap nineteen when Jeremiah Hurst spun as he entered turn three. A car racing just in front of the leader veered right to miss Hurst, but Merfeld could not avoid the disabled car and made hard contact. While Hurst was able to drive away, Merfeld confirmed the damage and then dejectedly walked away from his car that otherwise surely would have soon been parked in victory lane.
Callahan would take the lead on the restart and even though he was second best on this night, it would be more than enough to take the win at his hometown track. Jon Poll had a nice run in second, Luke Merfeld rode the high line in for third, Jeff Tharp finished in the fourth position while Becky Roth held down fifth.
The racing surface is so wide at Dubuque that you can put track tires about the distance of two car widths out in the corners and still have plenty of room to race and that was the scenario until the start of the Modified main, the penultimate race of the night. Nobody was happier than Brandon Wilson to see those tires pulled in as he quickly went to the rail from his fourth starting spot and drove past Mark Schulte for the lead on lap two. As Wilson pulled away it was Mark Gansen who was making his way through the field using a combination of lines around the speedway to come from ninth up to battle Bryce Garnhart for the third position. Gansen slowed though on lap 14 and when he was able to make his way to the infield the race would stay green for the final six laps allowing Wilson to complete his victory in dominating fashion. "I'm glad they took those tires in," the winner told announcer Jerry Mackey in victory lane, "as everybody knows this car likes the bottom!"
Schulte would go unchallenged in second, Garnhart who has stepped up from a couple of solid seasons in the Sport Mod division was impressive in the third spot, Derek Thompson finished fourth and Jason Schueller filled out the top five.
Mike Mills has changed the number on his Sport Mod to 85m this year to honor his father Randy Mills who passed away unexpectedly during the offseason and when Mike drew the pole position for the 15-lap main event you just knew that everybody in the house was pulling for him on this opening night. Mills was solid out front and had no trouble opening up a lead despite three cautions during the first six laps. Tyler Soppe had started tenth and soon after the lap six restart he made a brilliant move in three-wide fashion to take over the second spot. It then took Soppe a couple of laps to reel in the leader and with just three circuits remaining Soppe made a nifty high to low move, off of turn four and entering turn one, to take the lead away from Mills. There would be no catching the new leader and after taking the checkers Tyler invited Mills into victory lane with him where he then presented the trophy to Mike in honor of his father. It was a classy move that shows just how strong the "racing family" can be.
Justin Becker finished in the third position behind Mills while Ryan Schilling and Nic Coates completed the top five.
Seven IMCA Stock Cars were in battle on opening night and here's hoping that this class can continue to add to the numbers here because as always this division offered up some good racin' and rubbin'. Jerry Miles and Tommy Thompson started on the front row with Miles gaining the early advantage. Some contact from Thompson exiting turn four on lap eight of the 15-lap feature got Miles a little squirrley down the front stretch and as they raced side-by-side into turn one Tim Helle tried to take advantage on the inside. Helle would run out of room though and had to pinch it sideways causing a caution that saw Miles and Thompson then have a bit of a "discussion" as they eased around the track prior to the restart. The renewed battle would be short-lived though as Thompson slowed with mechanical issues on lap ten and from there it would be all Miles for the win. Lucas Short would be tonight's runner-up as Helle recovered to finish third while Tim Schneider and Brian Kammerude were next in line.
I always appreciate the hospitality by the SPI crew and what more can you say about being on your home before nine o'clock on a Sunday night? I pulled into my garage right at eleven knowing that I will definitely make the trip up to Dubuque again soon. Don't forget that they have the MLRA Late Models there on Friday night May 13th.
After a triple header race weekend the weather forecast and activities other than racing have me scratching my head as to when or where my next race will be. Keep an eye out for me on the Back Stretch!
This opener was so early that it couldn't even be a track or national point race yet for the IMCA Late Models, that chase will start at all IMCA Late Model tracks next weekend, but still a solid field of fourteen signed in for action. Jon Merfeld started third and slipped under the front row of Joel Callahan and Jeff Tharp to take the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap headliner and he was then joined by Callahan in a two car breakaway from the field. With Callahan still five to ten car-lengths back, Merfeld appeared to have this one well in hand until lap nineteen when Jeremiah Hurst spun as he entered turn three. A car racing just in front of the leader veered right to miss Hurst, but Merfeld could not avoid the disabled car and made hard contact. While Hurst was able to drive away, Merfeld confirmed the damage and then dejectedly walked away from his car that otherwise surely would have soon been parked in victory lane.
Callahan would take the lead on the restart and even though he was second best on this night, it would be more than enough to take the win at his hometown track. Jon Poll had a nice run in second, Luke Merfeld rode the high line in for third, Jeff Tharp finished in the fourth position while Becky Roth held down fifth.
The racing surface is so wide at Dubuque that you can put track tires about the distance of two car widths out in the corners and still have plenty of room to race and that was the scenario until the start of the Modified main, the penultimate race of the night. Nobody was happier than Brandon Wilson to see those tires pulled in as he quickly went to the rail from his fourth starting spot and drove past Mark Schulte for the lead on lap two. As Wilson pulled away it was Mark Gansen who was making his way through the field using a combination of lines around the speedway to come from ninth up to battle Bryce Garnhart for the third position. Gansen slowed though on lap 14 and when he was able to make his way to the infield the race would stay green for the final six laps allowing Wilson to complete his victory in dominating fashion. "I'm glad they took those tires in," the winner told announcer Jerry Mackey in victory lane, "as everybody knows this car likes the bottom!"
Schulte would go unchallenged in second, Garnhart who has stepped up from a couple of solid seasons in the Sport Mod division was impressive in the third spot, Derek Thompson finished fourth and Jason Schueller filled out the top five.
Mike Mills has changed the number on his Sport Mod to 85m this year to honor his father Randy Mills who passed away unexpectedly during the offseason and when Mike drew the pole position for the 15-lap main event you just knew that everybody in the house was pulling for him on this opening night. Mills was solid out front and had no trouble opening up a lead despite three cautions during the first six laps. Tyler Soppe had started tenth and soon after the lap six restart he made a brilliant move in three-wide fashion to take over the second spot. It then took Soppe a couple of laps to reel in the leader and with just three circuits remaining Soppe made a nifty high to low move, off of turn four and entering turn one, to take the lead away from Mills. There would be no catching the new leader and after taking the checkers Tyler invited Mills into victory lane with him where he then presented the trophy to Mike in honor of his father. It was a classy move that shows just how strong the "racing family" can be.
Justin Becker finished in the third position behind Mills while Ryan Schilling and Nic Coates completed the top five.
Seven IMCA Stock Cars were in battle on opening night and here's hoping that this class can continue to add to the numbers here because as always this division offered up some good racin' and rubbin'. Jerry Miles and Tommy Thompson started on the front row with Miles gaining the early advantage. Some contact from Thompson exiting turn four on lap eight of the 15-lap feature got Miles a little squirrley down the front stretch and as they raced side-by-side into turn one Tim Helle tried to take advantage on the inside. Helle would run out of room though and had to pinch it sideways causing a caution that saw Miles and Thompson then have a bit of a "discussion" as they eased around the track prior to the restart. The renewed battle would be short-lived though as Thompson slowed with mechanical issues on lap ten and from there it would be all Miles for the win. Lucas Short would be tonight's runner-up as Helle recovered to finish third while Tim Schneider and Brian Kammerude were next in line.
I always appreciate the hospitality by the SPI crew and what more can you say about being on your home before nine o'clock on a Sunday night? I pulled into my garage right at eleven knowing that I will definitely make the trip up to Dubuque again soon. Don't forget that they have the MLRA Late Models there on Friday night May 13th.
After a triple header race weekend the weather forecast and activities other than racing have me scratching my head as to when or where my next race will be. Keep an eye out for me on the Back Stretch!
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