Wednesday was an interesting day in our region with a couple of weekly shows and several special events going on around the area. Unfortunately there was also rain in the forecast for nearly all of these events so decisions were made and as they always have been, even before the glorious world of social media, one way or another those decisions are being second guessed.
The two Wednesday night weekly shows at Alta and Oskaloosa were both canceled. I don't know the circumstances out in northwest Iowa, but at Oskaloosa a Flash Flood Watch had been issued and the rain chances were at 60% or higher for both the afternoon and evening so, in my opinion at least, it is hard to blame them for making the call to cancel the races early in the afternoon even though it had not yet rained at the track. Come on folks, even if your weekly show was pulling in 100 cars a week and filling the grandstand you probably would have canceled under these conditions, but when your margin for running a profitable show is already slim, you definitely make this call. And of course, once they did, the line of storms built up to the east of Oskaloosa and the track stayed dry all night even though my yard here in Mount Pleasant finally got a two inch drink of water. All things considered, still the right call.
Fair races are different, they are often structured based upon the assumption that your crowd is going to be larger during the Fair so you are more likely to run the risk against a gloomy weather forecast and proceed. That appears to be the case last night at West Union where a Facebook posts announces that the races are still on, however I have not seen any results so hopefully they got their complete show in.
The "Porker 40" at the Hamilton County Fair in Webster City was rained out last night and I am assuming will not be rescheduled. Why, some may ask? Well, because the purse was based upon the event happening during the county fair when you are more likely to catch some casual or first time fans, so running it on a makeup date is not as feasible because those folks won't come.
By having three nights of racing during its six night run the Dubuque County Fair has the unique option to push ahead with a race, in particular the first two, on an iffy weather night because if the rain arrives before the show can be completed, as it did last night, you can come right back with makeup features on the Sunday show. So, if you were not at Dubuque last night, you can now even get more bang for your buck on Sunday night when all you have to pay is the $10 admission to the Fair.
By far though the worst headache comes when you have a mid-week special scheduled for a regional racing series and the rain arrives before you can complete the program. Such was the case last night in Peoria with the MOWA Sprint Cars. A solid field of more than thirty Sprint Cars completed their four heat races before the rain fell and wiped out the remainder of the show and now here is the dilemma for the track promoter and the series director. If Peoria does not already have another MOWA event on the schedule where they could run another full show plus the makeup feature they have a decision to make that either way the drivers or the fans are not going to be happy.
Qualifying heats are complete, the drivers want to be paid and to do that the promoter must use the ticket revenue from tonight's show to do so meaning that the ticket stubs that those fans are holding on to are not worth anything going forward. The fans are mad.
If the promoter insists on not paying the drivers, they are mad, and the promoter must now give the fans options on how they can use their ticket stubs for future races at the track or perhaps even issuing a refund. After all, if you don't pay the drivers, you can't keep the ticket revenue.
If they identify a night to bring the drivers back to only complete the program, run just the feature, nobody is very happy with that, drivers, the promoter or the fans. And if the track and the series can come together to schedule another full event where the makeup feature will also be included the fans who think that their ticket stub from last night should be worth something will be mad when they have to buy another ticket to pay the purse for the full show. You see they the forget that their first ticket is paying the purse for the makeup race.
So as you can see, this scenario pretty much has no good solution, but my suggestion for all future events like this would be as follows. Post a sign on the ticket booth and the pit shack that says something like this:
"There is a threat of rain tonight and we thank you so much for coming. This is a touring series event and there are minimal options for making up this race should Mother Nature interfere. If the qualifying heat races are completed and rain cancels the feature the drivers will be paid the total purse in a manner decided upon by the series director and, since your ticket pays this purse, your rain check will have no value. If rain should arrive before the qualifying events are completed you will have the option of using your rain check for its face value at any of the remaining events on the track's 2017 schedule, or you may request a refund by sending it along with a self addressed stamped envelope to...."
And just as a follow up I would have my announcer tell the crowd one more time what the policy is just before the National Anthem is played and give fans the opportunity to leave now with a refund if they choose to do so.
When Terry & Jenni Hoenig and I presented the end of the year event Shiverfest we had a scenario like this on a Sunday, meaning that we were already using our "rain date" and while we did not think ahead enough to post the sign at the ticket booth or the pit gate, we did explain the plan during the drivers' meeting and I announced it to the crowd before the races started and after the heat races were completed. As forecast the rain arrived while we were running the B-Mains and the rest of the show was washed out so we split the purse as we had explained we would to the drivers and, while disappointed that they did not get to see the features, the fans went home knowing what the situation was and that the drivers had been paid.
We had no complaints and yes, Facebook and racing forums were in use at the time.
The next time that Mother Nature threatens or intervenes, put yourself in the shoes of the decision maker(s) and think about the big picture rather than how it just effects you. That is what a regular reader of the Back Stretch would do.
The forecast looks great for this weekend so go support the sport at the track of your choice!
Thursday, July 27, 2017
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Scelzi In Awe Of His Challengers in Dubuque Sprint Invaders Victory
When twenty-year-old Dominic Scelzi pulled in to the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway Tuesday night he likely had no idea that in his first ever appearance with the Shottenkirk.com Spint Invaders he would be racing against a seven-time IRA Sprint Car champion and a member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. That was the case though and after Scelzi was able to beat them both, as well as the rest of the twenty-one car field, he was obviously thrilled with his accomplishment.
John Schulz, who won here last year during the annual Dubuque County Fair, and Carson McCarl would make up the front row for the 25-lap main event, but it would be Scelzi who would charge to the point at the drop of the green from his fourth starting position. The lap would not be scored though as Carson McCarl would spin in turn four with Schulz also going sideways to keep from making major contact.
The restart would move Hall of Famer Terry McCarl and Scelzi to the front row and the veteran would flex his muscles by driving up in front of the youngster in turn two to take the lead. The caution would wave again on lap two for a Cody Wehrle spin and once back to racing the large county fair crowd was treated to some great racing as McCarl and Scelzi swapped the lead on two occasions over the next five laps. In both cases Scelzi was able to throw a slider at McCarl in turns one and two only to have T-Mac come charging back on the inside down the back stretch. On the eighth lap Scelzi had completed the pass for the lead, but a spin by Tim Moore in turn two wiped that out and McCarl would again lead the field back to green.
Two more criss-cross moves would follow until Scelzi would complete the pass of McCarl on lap eleven with IRA champ Bill Balog now closely following in third. Rookie-of-the-year contender Tanner Gebhart would slow on lap thirteen bringing an early end to his evening after he raced in the top five through the opening laps. Scelzi was able to pull away from McCarl on the restart while Balog was now involved in a thrilling four car battle for third with Jamie Ball, Jon Agan and Jarrod Schneiderman as they each used different lines around the perfectly prepared surface. Schneiderman had come from the eighth row to try to crack the top five, but when he spun in turn four on lap seventeen he would have to return to the back of the field for the final restart.
Scelzi would again drive away over the final eight laps to complete the $2,000 win and after climbing to his wing in jubilation and then hustling over to shake hands with McCarl, he told the crowd what a thrill it was to hold off two of then men that he admired the most. Scelzi also expressed his love for the Dubuque Speedway, "this place place is amazing, it is definitely one of the best tracks that I have ever raced on!" Terry McCarl gave the winner a thumbs up in victory lane after finishing second, Balog drove Scott Bonar's #50 to third after starting eighth and Jon Agan tightened up the Sprint Invaders point race by finishing fourth just ahead of point leader Jamie Ball.
Next on the schedule will be the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders Nationals doubleheader with Friday night action at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson on August 18th before moving just up the road to 34 Raceway near Burlington on Saturday August 19th.
Results
25-lap A-Main - 1. Dominic Scelzi, Fresno CA 2. Terry McCarl, Altoona 3. Bill Balog, Hartland WI 4. Jon Agan, Knoxville 5. Jamie Ball, Knoxville 6. Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis 7. John Schulz, West Burlington 8. Dustin Clark, Agency 9. Carson McCarl, Altoona 10. Harold Pohren, Lowell 11. Justin Bucholz, Davenport 12. Daniel Bergqusit, Burlington 13. Brayden Gaylord, Wever 14. Jarrod Schneiderman, West Burlington 15. Rob Weuve, Oakland Acres 16. Cody Wehrle, Burlington 17. Tim Moore, Rock Island IL 18. Tanner Gebhart, Burlington 19. Dave Getchell, Sperry 20. Ben Wagoner, Emden IL 21. John Greenwood, Woodward
Randall's Performance Heat One - 1. Schulz 2. Scelzi 3. Agan 4. Pohren 5. Wagoner 6. Schneiderman 7. Moore
Cen-Pe-Co Lubricants Heat Two - 1. T. McCarl 2. Gebhart 3. Balog 4. Jamison 5. Bucholz 6. Getchell DNS: Wehrle
Mohrfeld Electric Heat Three - 1. Ball 2. C. McCarl 3. Clark 4. Bergquist 5. Gaylord 6. Weuve 7. Greenwood
Golden Eagle Distributing Budweiser Shake Up Dash - 1. T. McCarl 2. Scelzi 3. Gebhart 4. Ball 5. Schulz 6. C. McCarl
The Arnold Motor Supply Hawkeye Dirt Tour drew thirty IMCA Modifieds but they would all be chasing Justin Kay by the end of the night. Kay had to work for it though as he started at the back of his qualifying heat before making his way to second and then started a few rows back in the thirty-lap feature. Kenny Kostenbader was able to hold off Kay's challenges for several laps, but Justin is just too tough here at Dubuque and after he got past Kostenbader he was gone! Kelly Shryock worked his way up to second at the checkers and he will once again have the point lead as the Tour closes out the 2017 schedule with events at Spencer and Alta.
Timmy Current made his way to the front of the Sport Mod main event and then maintained a large lead to the checkers as Tyler Soppe chased him in second. Racing continues tonight, weather permitting, at the Dubuque County Fair with Late Models taking center stage.
John Schulz, who won here last year during the annual Dubuque County Fair, and Carson McCarl would make up the front row for the 25-lap main event, but it would be Scelzi who would charge to the point at the drop of the green from his fourth starting position. The lap would not be scored though as Carson McCarl would spin in turn four with Schulz also going sideways to keep from making major contact.
The restart would move Hall of Famer Terry McCarl and Scelzi to the front row and the veteran would flex his muscles by driving up in front of the youngster in turn two to take the lead. The caution would wave again on lap two for a Cody Wehrle spin and once back to racing the large county fair crowd was treated to some great racing as McCarl and Scelzi swapped the lead on two occasions over the next five laps. In both cases Scelzi was able to throw a slider at McCarl in turns one and two only to have T-Mac come charging back on the inside down the back stretch. On the eighth lap Scelzi had completed the pass for the lead, but a spin by Tim Moore in turn two wiped that out and McCarl would again lead the field back to green.
Two more criss-cross moves would follow until Scelzi would complete the pass of McCarl on lap eleven with IRA champ Bill Balog now closely following in third. Rookie-of-the-year contender Tanner Gebhart would slow on lap thirteen bringing an early end to his evening after he raced in the top five through the opening laps. Scelzi was able to pull away from McCarl on the restart while Balog was now involved in a thrilling four car battle for third with Jamie Ball, Jon Agan and Jarrod Schneiderman as they each used different lines around the perfectly prepared surface. Schneiderman had come from the eighth row to try to crack the top five, but when he spun in turn four on lap seventeen he would have to return to the back of the field for the final restart.
Scelzi would again drive away over the final eight laps to complete the $2,000 win and after climbing to his wing in jubilation and then hustling over to shake hands with McCarl, he told the crowd what a thrill it was to hold off two of then men that he admired the most. Scelzi also expressed his love for the Dubuque Speedway, "this place place is amazing, it is definitely one of the best tracks that I have ever raced on!" Terry McCarl gave the winner a thumbs up in victory lane after finishing second, Balog drove Scott Bonar's #50 to third after starting eighth and Jon Agan tightened up the Sprint Invaders point race by finishing fourth just ahead of point leader Jamie Ball.
Next on the schedule will be the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders Nationals doubleheader with Friday night action at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson on August 18th before moving just up the road to 34 Raceway near Burlington on Saturday August 19th.
Results
25-lap A-Main - 1. Dominic Scelzi, Fresno CA 2. Terry McCarl, Altoona 3. Bill Balog, Hartland WI 4. Jon Agan, Knoxville 5. Jamie Ball, Knoxville 6. Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis 7. John Schulz, West Burlington 8. Dustin Clark, Agency 9. Carson McCarl, Altoona 10. Harold Pohren, Lowell 11. Justin Bucholz, Davenport 12. Daniel Bergqusit, Burlington 13. Brayden Gaylord, Wever 14. Jarrod Schneiderman, West Burlington 15. Rob Weuve, Oakland Acres 16. Cody Wehrle, Burlington 17. Tim Moore, Rock Island IL 18. Tanner Gebhart, Burlington 19. Dave Getchell, Sperry 20. Ben Wagoner, Emden IL 21. John Greenwood, Woodward
Randall's Performance Heat One - 1. Schulz 2. Scelzi 3. Agan 4. Pohren 5. Wagoner 6. Schneiderman 7. Moore
Cen-Pe-Co Lubricants Heat Two - 1. T. McCarl 2. Gebhart 3. Balog 4. Jamison 5. Bucholz 6. Getchell DNS: Wehrle
Mohrfeld Electric Heat Three - 1. Ball 2. C. McCarl 3. Clark 4. Bergquist 5. Gaylord 6. Weuve 7. Greenwood
Golden Eagle Distributing Budweiser Shake Up Dash - 1. T. McCarl 2. Scelzi 3. Gebhart 4. Ball 5. Schulz 6. C. McCarl
The Arnold Motor Supply Hawkeye Dirt Tour drew thirty IMCA Modifieds but they would all be chasing Justin Kay by the end of the night. Kay had to work for it though as he started at the back of his qualifying heat before making his way to second and then started a few rows back in the thirty-lap feature. Kenny Kostenbader was able to hold off Kay's challenges for several laps, but Justin is just too tough here at Dubuque and after he got past Kostenbader he was gone! Kelly Shryock worked his way up to second at the checkers and he will once again have the point lead as the Tour closes out the 2017 schedule with events at Spencer and Alta.
Timmy Current made his way to the front of the Sport Mod main event and then maintained a large lead to the checkers as Tyler Soppe chased him in second. Racing continues tonight, weather permitting, at the Dubuque County Fair with Late Models taking center stage.
Friday, July 21, 2017
Abelson and Van Der Wal Score At Knoxville's Dynamic Drivelines Dirt Duel
Drivers and fans were faced with another scorching hot evening in south central Iowa and while the heat wave had an effect on both the car count and the attendance, there was no lack of enthusiasm from the folks at Dynamic Drivelines as they presented their second "Dirt Duel" at the Knoxville Raceway Thursday night. The title sponsor started the evening with a reception that included free food and drinks in one of the track's air conditioned halls, a gesture that was greatly appreciated by those of us who arrived early.
With the heat index nearing 110 degrees, hot laps were pushed back to 7:30 and the drivers were slow to check in but by race time there were exactly 37 cars in both the IMCA Northern Sport Mods and the IMCA Modifieds with this event being a stop on the Arnold Motor Supply Hawkeye Dirt Tour.
Qualifying races were run off in fine fashion and the feature fields of twenty-four were set as clouds gradually thickened to the west and lightning was in the distance as the 20-lap Sport Mod feature took the green.
With the drivers running at the front this seemed like "West Osky" as Brayton Carter left pole-sitter Shawn Cooney behind to lead the opening laps only to have his Wednesday night nemesis Curtis Van Der Wal right there to challenge. Both in his heat race, and as he passed Carter for the lead on lap three, Curtis proved that nobody can drive a Sport Mod deeper into a corner and make it stick as he can and that is why he continues to rack up wins wherever he goes in 2017. Add Knoxville to that list as Van Der Wal would repeat his victory in this event from 2016 although Tim Plummer was actually closing the gap on him ever so slightly as the laps wound down. It would be Plummer's second straight runner-up finish at the Dirt Duel and is it just a coincidence that both of these drivers have had previous success running on the pavement at Hawkeye Downs?
Brayton Carter would hold down the third position while Boone's Randy Roberts was the best of the short trackers in fourth. Carter VandenBerg made it three Osky drivers in the top five as Cody Olsen, Brett Lowry, Sam Wieben, Dusty Masolini and Ethan Braaksma completed the top ten.
The lightning was more vivid as the Modifieds took the green for their 25-lap finale with Chris Abelson and Hunter Marriott making up an interesting front row. Marriott has had a fantastic season thus far winning big events in several different states and is fresh off a championship performance on the Dakota Tour. Abelson on the other hand has had a quiet 2017 with just four feature wins compared to seventy-one victories over the past two seasons. The night before in Oskaloosa it was Marriott who was dominating the main event before a brake line broke while Abelson was a non-factor so when Abelson drove deep into turn three on the opening lap and then slid up to shut the door on Marriott it looked like the former IMCA National Championship wanted to remind the young driver of who he is.
After establishing himself as the leader Abelson then opened up a gap on Marriott who was also pulling away from the pack and in fact the top six or seven cars got pretty spread out through the first half of the race. There was plenty of action to watch behind them though as sixth row starters Todd Shute and Jeff Aikey were making their way to front as was last night's winner Cayden Carter who had to win one of the two B-Mains tonight to start fourteenth.
Lapped traffic did not look like it was going to be a factor and without a caution this could have been considered all but over until lap nineteen when Abelson slid up in front of the lapped car of Brandon Banks in turn two. With momentum off the cushion Banks ran into the rear bumper of Abelson which then jerked Banks' car to the right where it made hard contact with back stretch guardrail. The damage was substantial enough that a rollback was needed to pick up the #22 and the red flag waved with just six laps remaining.
Ricky Thornton Jr. and Marriott would line up side-by-side behind the leader and one lap after the restart as they were racing for second Thornton had the advantage entering turn one where he drove in just above the cushion and then kicked left to try to get a run on Abelson. As Thornton came off the cushion though he came across the nose of Marriott and the resulting contact sent the #30 of Thornton for a spin in turn two where he was then pounded by central Nebraska driver Justin Gregg. This will end up being one of those "You Make The Call" clips from IMCA.tv, but the official decision would be that Marriott would be sent to the rear as both Thornton and Gregg were through for the night.
This would now move Richie Gustin and Todd Shute into the first row behind the leader for the restart with five laps remaining and it would first be Gustin to make a run at Abelson and then Shute. The Sioux City driver did not flinch though and maintained his advantage while Shute tried out the cushion for one last run. When the white flag waved it looked like Shute might have a chance, but when his car pushed up the track in turn one he was instead trying to recover and hold on to second as Abelson completed the flag-to-flag victory. Shute would hang on for second just ahead of Gustin as normal Late Model shoes Jeff Aikey and Justin Kay filled out the top five. Kay had started the race from fifteenth while Cayden Carter improved eight positions to sixth at the checkers. Troy Cordes was seventh, Joel Rust eighth, Kelly Shryock finished ninth and Marriott rallied to finish tenth.
Shryock and Rust came into the night tied for the point lead in the Hawkeye Dirt Tour so now Rust will have a one point advantage when the Tour joins the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders as the Dubuque County Fair opens its annual run on Tuesday night.
Thanks to my colleague Barry Johnson for providing the photos here and he told me that there was some discussion from the folks at Dynamic Drivelines in the infield that not only are they excited about hosting this event again in 2018, but they are also considering another night of action at Knoxville for the Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks.
No racing for me this weekend as it is bridal shower weekend for my daughter with her, and several of her friends coming to town from Michigan and beyond. Next up will be that Tuesday date at the Dubuque County Fair and then Wednesday night I will be filling in for Tony Paris on the mic at Oskaloosa as he travels to northern Minnesota to watch his son Tyson and the rest of the Ottumwa 13 and under baseball team try to qualify for the Nationals.
Enjoy your racing weekend!
With the heat index nearing 110 degrees, hot laps were pushed back to 7:30 and the drivers were slow to check in but by race time there were exactly 37 cars in both the IMCA Northern Sport Mods and the IMCA Modifieds with this event being a stop on the Arnold Motor Supply Hawkeye Dirt Tour.
Qualifying races were run off in fine fashion and the feature fields of twenty-four were set as clouds gradually thickened to the west and lightning was in the distance as the 20-lap Sport Mod feature took the green.
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| Curtis Van Der Wal |
Brayton Carter would hold down the third position while Boone's Randy Roberts was the best of the short trackers in fourth. Carter VandenBerg made it three Osky drivers in the top five as Cody Olsen, Brett Lowry, Sam Wieben, Dusty Masolini and Ethan Braaksma completed the top ten.
The lightning was more vivid as the Modifieds took the green for their 25-lap finale with Chris Abelson and Hunter Marriott making up an interesting front row. Marriott has had a fantastic season thus far winning big events in several different states and is fresh off a championship performance on the Dakota Tour. Abelson on the other hand has had a quiet 2017 with just four feature wins compared to seventy-one victories over the past two seasons. The night before in Oskaloosa it was Marriott who was dominating the main event before a brake line broke while Abelson was a non-factor so when Abelson drove deep into turn three on the opening lap and then slid up to shut the door on Marriott it looked like the former IMCA National Championship wanted to remind the young driver of who he is.
After establishing himself as the leader Abelson then opened up a gap on Marriott who was also pulling away from the pack and in fact the top six or seven cars got pretty spread out through the first half of the race. There was plenty of action to watch behind them though as sixth row starters Todd Shute and Jeff Aikey were making their way to front as was last night's winner Cayden Carter who had to win one of the two B-Mains tonight to start fourteenth.
Lapped traffic did not look like it was going to be a factor and without a caution this could have been considered all but over until lap nineteen when Abelson slid up in front of the lapped car of Brandon Banks in turn two. With momentum off the cushion Banks ran into the rear bumper of Abelson which then jerked Banks' car to the right where it made hard contact with back stretch guardrail. The damage was substantial enough that a rollback was needed to pick up the #22 and the red flag waved with just six laps remaining.
Ricky Thornton Jr. and Marriott would line up side-by-side behind the leader and one lap after the restart as they were racing for second Thornton had the advantage entering turn one where he drove in just above the cushion and then kicked left to try to get a run on Abelson. As Thornton came off the cushion though he came across the nose of Marriott and the resulting contact sent the #30 of Thornton for a spin in turn two where he was then pounded by central Nebraska driver Justin Gregg. This will end up being one of those "You Make The Call" clips from IMCA.tv, but the official decision would be that Marriott would be sent to the rear as both Thornton and Gregg were through for the night.
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| Richie Gustin (19G) makes his challenge on Chris Abelson - Barry Johnson |
This would now move Richie Gustin and Todd Shute into the first row behind the leader for the restart with five laps remaining and it would first be Gustin to make a run at Abelson and then Shute. The Sioux City driver did not flinch though and maintained his advantage while Shute tried out the cushion for one last run. When the white flag waved it looked like Shute might have a chance, but when his car pushed up the track in turn one he was instead trying to recover and hold on to second as Abelson completed the flag-to-flag victory. Shute would hang on for second just ahead of Gustin as normal Late Model shoes Jeff Aikey and Justin Kay filled out the top five. Kay had started the race from fifteenth while Cayden Carter improved eight positions to sixth at the checkers. Troy Cordes was seventh, Joel Rust eighth, Kelly Shryock finished ninth and Marriott rallied to finish tenth.
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| Chris Abelson (1x) fights off a final challenge from Todd Shute to win the Dynamic Drivelines Dirt Duel at Knoxville - Barry Johnson |
Thanks to my colleague Barry Johnson for providing the photos here and he told me that there was some discussion from the folks at Dynamic Drivelines in the infield that not only are they excited about hosting this event again in 2018, but they are also considering another night of action at Knoxville for the Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks.
No racing for me this weekend as it is bridal shower weekend for my daughter with her, and several of her friends coming to town from Michigan and beyond. Next up will be that Tuesday date at the Dubuque County Fair and then Wednesday night I will be filling in for Tony Paris on the mic at Oskaloosa as he travels to northern Minnesota to watch his son Tyson and the rest of the Ottumwa 13 and under baseball team try to qualify for the Nationals.
Enjoy your racing weekend!
Thursday, July 20, 2017
Dirt Tour's Best Chase Hometown Boy In Oskaloosa
The Arnold Motor Supply Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds rolled into Oskaloosa on a hot, sultry Wednesday evening for their annual appearance during the Southern Iowa Fair and while the car count may have been down, the quality of drivers in the field was exceptional. The heat likely played a role in the season low HDT count of twenty-one, plus you have to also consider the fact the only five or six Modified drivers have supported the weekly show here in 2017 so there was not that base of "home track" drivers that the Tour can usually count on and in fact only two of those signed in last night. And one of them kept the $1,000 winner's purse in Oskaloosa.
Fresh off of a successful run on the Dakota Tour, Brookfield, Missouri's Hunter Marriott drew the pole position for the twenty-five lap main event and given his dominating performance in tonight's third heat race he had to be considered the favorite. Marriott lived up to expectations quickly racing away from the field and building up more than a straightaway lead through the first ten laps. Hometown driver Cayden Carter started sixth and worked his way past Kyle Brown into second around lap ten and what started out as a gradual reduction of the gap between himself and the leader soon saw the lead shrinking considerably until Carter was within striking distance of Marriott on lap fifteen.
Marriott fought off the first challenge from Carter and on the following lap as the leader raced high to get around the lapped car of Dan Brockert, Carter charged into turn one low only to have Brockert get sideways right in front of him. As Brockert completed the full spin in turn two be backed into the implement tire marking the infield which caused his car to lift up and roll over onto its top necessitating a red flag stoppage of the race.
During the red Marriott drove to his trailer with a broken left rear brake line that he had struggled with for several laps perhaps explaining how fast his lead had melted away in the Iowa heat.
Carter would assume the point for the restart with Brown and Ricky Thornton Jr. lined up behind him in double wide formation. Thornton had driven Todd Cooney's #30 up from a fifth row start and he now appeared to have the best shot at challenging the new leader, but when the green flag waved Cayden Carter quickly proved that there would be no challenge as he pulled away over the final nine laps to take the win. Thornton would finish in the second spot with Joel Rust in third. Current Tour point leader Kelly Shryock had muscled past Kyle Brown for fourth with five laps to go, but when Shryock smacked the guardrail in turn one with three laps remaining he gave the position back to Brown as Shryock settled for fifth.
The Hawkeye Dirt Tour continues tonight at the Knoxville Raceway and it will be interesting to see if, and how much the car count grows from tonight. Last year after scheduled events at Des Moines and Oskaloosa were rained out on the two nights before it, the Dynamic Drivelines Dirt Duel at Knoxville drew 44 Modifieds and 52 Sport Mods. It was very hot last year as well, so we will see if the once a year opportunity for drivers in these two classes to race at the legendary speedway is still a draw. I sure do hope that it is!
Support class action at Osky stayed predictable in two of the divisions although both Shannon Anderson and Curtis Van Der Wal definitely had to put on a show in order to park in their traditional spot, victory lane, at the end of their respective features.
Anderson would start the 14-lap Hobby Stock feature from the inside of the fifth row although it would only take him three laps to get to second. On lap four his father Jeff would cause the only caution of the race when his car stopped against the rail on the front stretch and required a tow back to the pits with front end damage. Early leader Christian Huffman was no match for Anderson who took the lead in turn one on the restart and he then went the rest of the distance unchallenged for his eleventh win in eleven starts here in 2017. North Iowa driver Chanse Hollatz, who is currently ranked as the second most successful Hobby Stock driver in the state, chased him in for second for the second night in a row, Mike Kincaid was third, Steve Allen fourth and Huffman completed the top five.
Curtis Van Der Wal started fifth in the ten car Sport Mod field that went fourteen laps non-stop. Carter VandenBerg established a quick pace matched only by his cousin Brayton Carter as well as Van Der Wal and the lead trio gave the large crowd a thrill mid-race. Brayton had been making a run at VandenBerg diving low into the turns and while he was able to pull even it would be VandenBerg who would maintain the lead down the straights as Van Der Wal raced close behind. On lap eight with the leader VandenBerg going to the cushion in turn three and the challenger Carter racing to the bottom, Van Der Wal split the difference and was somehow able to make it stick to drive right through the middle of the two cousins and take the lead coming off of turn four. It has become obvious that the Osky crowd has a split opinion now of Curtis Van Der Wal, but even the boo birds had to applaud that move as he then pulled away over the closing laps to take the win. Brayton Carter would take the runner-up position with Carter VandenBerg third, Dan Drury finished in fourth and Tony Johnson was fifth.
The Stock Car count doubled from the night before, but the fourteen lap feature was essentially a replay from Tuesday of Dustin Griffiths hugging the bottom and Nathan Wood waiting for a mistake. Griffiths, a former All Iowa Points Hobby Stock champion, is too good of a driver to make one though and he would lead the distance to take his second win in two nights. Wood took one look to the outside in the final set of turns, but could not make a run as he finished second and maintained his current lead in the All Iowa Points for Stock Cars, as Mike Hughes, Derrick Agee and Danny Thrasher rounded out the top five.
The Sport Compact main event had some similarities to Tuesday's action as well with Levi Heath taking the early lead and then fighting off a mid-race challenge for a couple of laps before yielding the point on this night to Ryan Havel. Unfortunately though for Heath he would then retire to the pits with mechanical issues as Havel closed out the victory with the rest of the top five being Bill Whalen Jr., John Gill, Nathan Moody and Dalton Winkleman.
I want to thank Cedar Rapids Gazette scribe Jeremiah Davis for the info on Hunter Marriott's issues and also my colleague Barry Johnson who gave me the report from the claim area after the Sport Mod feature where a brief scuffle broke out after Colton Livezy filed a claim on Curtis Van Der Wal's engine. The claim was disallowed due to the fact that Livezy does not have perfect attendance at the track in 2017, an IMCA rule and, according to Barry, Van Der Wal still offered to let them use the motor if they still wanted to, but.....well, you know, the heat of July often causes tempers to flare.
The other thing that can flare up at this time of the year is the speculation of what might happen in the future for a track that is struggling with car counts although I must say that, other than Tuesday's fair race, the crowd here has remained solid. And while I am just a "lowly blogger" I think that I have a good suggestion for 2018, but it is only to share with anybody who might be involved with the operation next year. So in other words, I am just like everybody else who has an opinion on how to make it better!
The bottom line though is that I love my weekly Wednesday night option and I never want to see it go away!
Make sure that you also check out The 4dFan Report and One Fan's Travels for additional coverage of this week's racing and Paul Vetter, it was great to see you again my friend. Hopefully one day I can come to California and catch some shows with you in your home state!
Fresh off of a successful run on the Dakota Tour, Brookfield, Missouri's Hunter Marriott drew the pole position for the twenty-five lap main event and given his dominating performance in tonight's third heat race he had to be considered the favorite. Marriott lived up to expectations quickly racing away from the field and building up more than a straightaway lead through the first ten laps. Hometown driver Cayden Carter started sixth and worked his way past Kyle Brown into second around lap ten and what started out as a gradual reduction of the gap between himself and the leader soon saw the lead shrinking considerably until Carter was within striking distance of Marriott on lap fifteen.
Marriott fought off the first challenge from Carter and on the following lap as the leader raced high to get around the lapped car of Dan Brockert, Carter charged into turn one low only to have Brockert get sideways right in front of him. As Brockert completed the full spin in turn two be backed into the implement tire marking the infield which caused his car to lift up and roll over onto its top necessitating a red flag stoppage of the race.
During the red Marriott drove to his trailer with a broken left rear brake line that he had struggled with for several laps perhaps explaining how fast his lead had melted away in the Iowa heat.
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| "The Gasman" Cayden Carter doing just that at Osky - Barry Johnson |
Carter would assume the point for the restart with Brown and Ricky Thornton Jr. lined up behind him in double wide formation. Thornton had driven Todd Cooney's #30 up from a fifth row start and he now appeared to have the best shot at challenging the new leader, but when the green flag waved Cayden Carter quickly proved that there would be no challenge as he pulled away over the final nine laps to take the win. Thornton would finish in the second spot with Joel Rust in third. Current Tour point leader Kelly Shryock had muscled past Kyle Brown for fourth with five laps to go, but when Shryock smacked the guardrail in turn one with three laps remaining he gave the position back to Brown as Shryock settled for fifth.
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| Cayden Carter celebrates his hometown victory - Barry Johnson photo |
Support class action at Osky stayed predictable in two of the divisions although both Shannon Anderson and Curtis Van Der Wal definitely had to put on a show in order to park in their traditional spot, victory lane, at the end of their respective features.
Anderson would start the 14-lap Hobby Stock feature from the inside of the fifth row although it would only take him three laps to get to second. On lap four his father Jeff would cause the only caution of the race when his car stopped against the rail on the front stretch and required a tow back to the pits with front end damage. Early leader Christian Huffman was no match for Anderson who took the lead in turn one on the restart and he then went the rest of the distance unchallenged for his eleventh win in eleven starts here in 2017. North Iowa driver Chanse Hollatz, who is currently ranked as the second most successful Hobby Stock driver in the state, chased him in for second for the second night in a row, Mike Kincaid was third, Steve Allen fourth and Huffman completed the top five.
Curtis Van Der Wal started fifth in the ten car Sport Mod field that went fourteen laps non-stop. Carter VandenBerg established a quick pace matched only by his cousin Brayton Carter as well as Van Der Wal and the lead trio gave the large crowd a thrill mid-race. Brayton had been making a run at VandenBerg diving low into the turns and while he was able to pull even it would be VandenBerg who would maintain the lead down the straights as Van Der Wal raced close behind. On lap eight with the leader VandenBerg going to the cushion in turn three and the challenger Carter racing to the bottom, Van Der Wal split the difference and was somehow able to make it stick to drive right through the middle of the two cousins and take the lead coming off of turn four. It has become obvious that the Osky crowd has a split opinion now of Curtis Van Der Wal, but even the boo birds had to applaud that move as he then pulled away over the closing laps to take the win. Brayton Carter would take the runner-up position with Carter VandenBerg third, Dan Drury finished in fourth and Tony Johnson was fifth.
The Stock Car count doubled from the night before, but the fourteen lap feature was essentially a replay from Tuesday of Dustin Griffiths hugging the bottom and Nathan Wood waiting for a mistake. Griffiths, a former All Iowa Points Hobby Stock champion, is too good of a driver to make one though and he would lead the distance to take his second win in two nights. Wood took one look to the outside in the final set of turns, but could not make a run as he finished second and maintained his current lead in the All Iowa Points for Stock Cars, as Mike Hughes, Derrick Agee and Danny Thrasher rounded out the top five.
The Sport Compact main event had some similarities to Tuesday's action as well with Levi Heath taking the early lead and then fighting off a mid-race challenge for a couple of laps before yielding the point on this night to Ryan Havel. Unfortunately though for Heath he would then retire to the pits with mechanical issues as Havel closed out the victory with the rest of the top five being Bill Whalen Jr., John Gill, Nathan Moody and Dalton Winkleman.
I want to thank Cedar Rapids Gazette scribe Jeremiah Davis for the info on Hunter Marriott's issues and also my colleague Barry Johnson who gave me the report from the claim area after the Sport Mod feature where a brief scuffle broke out after Colton Livezy filed a claim on Curtis Van Der Wal's engine. The claim was disallowed due to the fact that Livezy does not have perfect attendance at the track in 2017, an IMCA rule and, according to Barry, Van Der Wal still offered to let them use the motor if they still wanted to, but.....well, you know, the heat of July often causes tempers to flare.
The other thing that can flare up at this time of the year is the speculation of what might happen in the future for a track that is struggling with car counts although I must say that, other than Tuesday's fair race, the crowd here has remained solid. And while I am just a "lowly blogger" I think that I have a good suggestion for 2018, but it is only to share with anybody who might be involved with the operation next year. So in other words, I am just like everybody else who has an opinion on how to make it better!
The bottom line though is that I love my weekly Wednesday night option and I never want to see it go away!
Make sure that you also check out The 4dFan Report and One Fan's Travels for additional coverage of this week's racing and Paul Vetter, it was great to see you again my friend. Hopefully one day I can come to California and catch some shows with you in your home state!
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Anderson and Van Der Wal Roll On At Osky
Tuesday night's Fair Race at the Southern Iowa Speedway was an appetizer for tonight's main course when the Arnold Motor Supply Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds comes to town and, while two of the night's winners were very predictable, it was a fun night of racing enjoyed with friends from near and far.
The Modifieds had the night off and this one was not a points race for the remaining four classes so that showed in the car count with just forty in the pits. Thank goodness for the Hobby Stocks who fielded seventeen drivers, sixteen of them hoping to collect the $300 bounty on Shannon Anderson who came into the night nine for nine on the season here in Oskaloosa.
Anderson drew the inside of row three to start the 14-lap main event and on the first try to get a lap in his father, Jeff Anderson, spun down the back stretch sending him to the back for a restart. Pole-sitter Bradley Graham would pace the opening trip around the big half-mile only to have both Chance Hollatz and Shannon Anderson drive past him on lap two. Hollatz and Anderson came across the stripe side-by-side and when the caution waved soon after it would be Anderson that had been scored the leader as he would bring the field back to green on the restart.
Hollatz was able to keep the leader in sight, but not mount a challenge while the driver to watch was Jeff Anderson who was making his way back to the front in Corey Roe's car #8R. The caution waved with two laps remaining when two cars tangled in turn two and we had to wonder if it would actually be Jeff Anderson who might be able to collect the bounty on his son. That was not to be though as Shannon pulled away to win his tenth straight here and twenty-eighth feature overall in 2017 meaning that the bounty will still be in place tonight. Hollatz finished second ahead of Jeff Anderson while Steve Allen and Christian Huffman completed the top five.
Ten cars would start the 14-lap Sport Mod feature after Cory Van Zante scratched and Dan Drury, who arrived at the pit gate as the second heat for this division was on the track, apparently decided to turn around and head back home. Young Blaine Webster did a nice job of fighting off the challenges from A.J. Johnson for the first three laps before Johnson was able to use the high line to get around Webster in turn four. As he tried to get back to the lead Webster hit a track tire down in turn one (I thought we had gotten rid of these once the others were buried) and when it settled in the racing groove the caution waved.
On the restart Curtis Van Der Wal charged to the inside of Johnson into turn one to takeover the lead on lap five, but when the caution waved again Van Der Wal was penalized a position for the contact involved with that pass. Once back to racing Johnson was able to hold him off for a lap, but when the leader slipped high in turn three Van Der Wal made the pass and would drive away to yet another convincing win at his hometown track. Colton Livezy would race his way into the runner-up position with Jason McDaniel in third. After finishing fourth Johnson paid a visit to victory lane to express his thoughts to the winner as Webster filled out the top five.
Only five Stock Cars signed in to race tonight and after Mike Hughes smacked the guardrail exiting turn four on the second lap and Donnie Pearson pulled off mid-race only three remained. Those three put on a good show though as both Nathan Wood and Danny Thrasher tried to find a different line that would get them around the leader Dustin Griffiths who was hugging the bottom. That low line would prevail though with Griffiths taking the win over Wood and Thrasher. Look for more Stock Cars to be on hand tonight.
The Sport Compacts had a good race for the lead as well with Levi Heath doing his best to ward off Nathan Moody. Moody would be able to take the lead entering each set of turns only to have Heath come charging back down the straightaways, but with just two laps to go Moody was able to slide up and shut the door to earn his first career feature win. Heath was second as Bill Whalen Jr, returned to action in third. Bryan Clausson and Dalton Winkleman completed the field.
Tonight's action at the Southern Iowa Speedway will get underway with hot laps at 7:00 and racing to follow. Yes, it will be hot so put on your shorts and wear a loose fitting light colored shirt and come on out to enjoy the Fair. Plenty of good things to eat and drink as well!
The Modifieds had the night off and this one was not a points race for the remaining four classes so that showed in the car count with just forty in the pits. Thank goodness for the Hobby Stocks who fielded seventeen drivers, sixteen of them hoping to collect the $300 bounty on Shannon Anderson who came into the night nine for nine on the season here in Oskaloosa.
Anderson drew the inside of row three to start the 14-lap main event and on the first try to get a lap in his father, Jeff Anderson, spun down the back stretch sending him to the back for a restart. Pole-sitter Bradley Graham would pace the opening trip around the big half-mile only to have both Chance Hollatz and Shannon Anderson drive past him on lap two. Hollatz and Anderson came across the stripe side-by-side and when the caution waved soon after it would be Anderson that had been scored the leader as he would bring the field back to green on the restart.
Hollatz was able to keep the leader in sight, but not mount a challenge while the driver to watch was Jeff Anderson who was making his way back to the front in Corey Roe's car #8R. The caution waved with two laps remaining when two cars tangled in turn two and we had to wonder if it would actually be Jeff Anderson who might be able to collect the bounty on his son. That was not to be though as Shannon pulled away to win his tenth straight here and twenty-eighth feature overall in 2017 meaning that the bounty will still be in place tonight. Hollatz finished second ahead of Jeff Anderson while Steve Allen and Christian Huffman completed the top five.
Ten cars would start the 14-lap Sport Mod feature after Cory Van Zante scratched and Dan Drury, who arrived at the pit gate as the second heat for this division was on the track, apparently decided to turn around and head back home. Young Blaine Webster did a nice job of fighting off the challenges from A.J. Johnson for the first three laps before Johnson was able to use the high line to get around Webster in turn four. As he tried to get back to the lead Webster hit a track tire down in turn one (I thought we had gotten rid of these once the others were buried) and when it settled in the racing groove the caution waved.
On the restart Curtis Van Der Wal charged to the inside of Johnson into turn one to takeover the lead on lap five, but when the caution waved again Van Der Wal was penalized a position for the contact involved with that pass. Once back to racing Johnson was able to hold him off for a lap, but when the leader slipped high in turn three Van Der Wal made the pass and would drive away to yet another convincing win at his hometown track. Colton Livezy would race his way into the runner-up position with Jason McDaniel in third. After finishing fourth Johnson paid a visit to victory lane to express his thoughts to the winner as Webster filled out the top five.
Only five Stock Cars signed in to race tonight and after Mike Hughes smacked the guardrail exiting turn four on the second lap and Donnie Pearson pulled off mid-race only three remained. Those three put on a good show though as both Nathan Wood and Danny Thrasher tried to find a different line that would get them around the leader Dustin Griffiths who was hugging the bottom. That low line would prevail though with Griffiths taking the win over Wood and Thrasher. Look for more Stock Cars to be on hand tonight.
The Sport Compacts had a good race for the lead as well with Levi Heath doing his best to ward off Nathan Moody. Moody would be able to take the lead entering each set of turns only to have Heath come charging back down the straightaways, but with just two laps to go Moody was able to slide up and shut the door to earn his first career feature win. Heath was second as Bill Whalen Jr, returned to action in third. Bryan Clausson and Dalton Winkleman completed the field.
Tonight's action at the Southern Iowa Speedway will get underway with hot laps at 7:00 and racing to follow. Yes, it will be hot so put on your shorts and wear a loose fitting light colored shirt and come on out to enjoy the Fair. Plenty of good things to eat and drink as well!
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