No Surprises In Victory Lane At Memphis Spring Nationals

The Spring Nationals appears on the limited schedule for the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri, each year on the third weekend in March and as promoter Mike Van Genderen noted during the driver's meeting, "we usually get it in about once every four years". It actually might be a little more frequent than that, but this year's edition would be trimmed to a one day show as another mid-week storm that first brought rain and then some wet snow left the grounds too wet to race on Friday, but a bright sunny sky with a steady breeze dried things out enough to allow the show to go on for Saturday.

Losing Friday likely cut down the car count some, but as always an interesting mix of drivers made their way to the northeast corner of Missouri on Saturday to try their luck at one of my favorite race tracks. And, in the end, five current or former All Iowa Points champions would make their way to victory lane.

The Stock Cars would be up first and would provide arguably the best race of the night with Derrick Agee taking the early lead with John Oliver Jr. and Maguire DeJong in hot pursuit. That trio would put some distance on the rest of the field and when Agee stumbled on the cushion in turn two, both Oliver and DeJong would slip by to put them at the top of Kevin Feller's scoresheet on lap eight.

A quick sidebar, this would the night number one of Feller's 50th year of scoring races, truly one of the best ever at a job that is still needed even with the advancement of technology. After all, sometimes the computer doesn't work, but Kevin does!

With Oliver now out front, DeJong would go to work on him pulling even at one point only to have Oliver fight off the challenge until the only caution of the race waved on lap seventeen for Rowdee Van Genderen's spin off turn four.

On the restart Agee would take the second spot and make a run at Oliver before DeJong fought back and with his two challengers now waging war for the runner-up position that would allow Oliver, the 2018 All Iowa Points champion and last year's runner-up, to take the victory. DeJong would prevail for second ahead of Agee while Brayton Carter behind the wheel of cousin Carter VanDenberg's #7v would finish fourth ahead of Jason See.

After parking the Stock Car in the tech area, Brayton Carter would climb aboard his Sport Mod that was waiting in the infield as he had drew the pole position for the twenty lap B-Mod main event and when the twice defending and three-time overall All Iowa Points champion starts up front that is not good news for the competition! As expected Carter would race out to a comfortable lead at the drop of the green and again following a lap four restart, but now the sixth starting Cam Reimers had made his way up to second. 

Brayton Carter's new look for 2025

Another caution for Mitch Grummitt's spin on lap thirteen would put Reimers on the back bumper of the leader, but again Carter would pull away over the next three laps before the final caution of the race waved for Tyler Imhoff.

This time Reimers would stay with the leader and would throw a big slider in turns three and fourth to briefly have the advantage. Carter would make the crossover move and the two would race wheel to wheel down the front straightaway with just two laps remaining. With Brayton on the inside he would drive a bit deeper into turn one and then shut the door on Reimers and he would also block the bottom into turn three over the final two laps to take away the opportunity for another slider from Reimers and to secure the victory.

Reimers would have to settle for second as Dawson David worked his way forward from the seventh starting spot to finish in third. Colton Livezy would be fourth and the eighth starting Chris Spalding would fill out the top five.

Only ten of the twelve Modifieds that had signed in would be able to start the twenty lap feature and again, with a two-time and defending All Iowa Points champion on the front row, this one was pretty much decided at the drop of the green. Austen Becerra would race out to nearly a straightaway advantage and with very little lapped traffic to deal with in the green to checkers event Dylan Thornton could not reel him in as Becerra scored the win. Joel Rust drove a red number one Performer Chassis with a small 51 on it as well to a third place finish while Charlie Mofy and Troy Cordes were next in line.

After struggling to make double digits during the past few events at Memphis, the Sport Compacts would boast the largest car count of the night at twenty-three that included two drivers from Minnesota and one from Kansas. And it would be an unusual feature as well after something that we had noticed during two of the three heat races. The DeLonjay brothers from Quincy, Jadon and Jeffrey, both were obviously sandbagging during their respective heat races each finishing in fifth, just one spot out of having to go through tech in the infield before redrawing and I assumed that perhaps they were here to get some laps in using a rules configuration for an upcoming $100,000-to-win Four Cylinder free for all in Kokomo, Indiana, in April.

Their heat race finishes would place them in fourteenth and fifteenth on the starting grid for the fourteen lap feature and I assumed that once again we would see them strategically place fifth and sixth to avoid the tech area.

When the third starting car of Justin O'Haver got sideways in turn three on the first lap, the field went scrambling leaving four cars stopped before the opening lap could be scored and with a full restart the only female driver to ever win an All Iowa Points title (2016), Kimberly Abbott would race out to the early lead with Brandon Reu and Barry Taft in hot pursuit. Meanwhile the DeLonjay brothers were storming through the field and to my surprise Jeffrey would go all the way to the front on lap five passing the leaders on the top side as if they were standing still.

The caution would wave at the mid-race point when Reu made contact with Abbott sending Kimberly sideways into one of the infield tractor tires in turn two and as he came around again it is likely that Brandon stopped to express his apology for the mistake as he would restart at the rear while Kimberly would restart in the first double row.

As the field raced through one and two following the restart it sounded like the right front tire blew on Abbott's #71 as she pushed up the track at the exit of turn two all the way up to the guardrail where Josh Clark and Caleb Giese piled in with Clark's car ending up on it's side. All drivers escaped injury, but their race had come to an early end.

Once back to green DeLonjay went back to his heat race speed allowing Taft to take the lead on lap nine only to come storming back on lap ten on his way to what appeared to be an amazing sixteenth-to-first run to victory. It was no surprise though when promoter Mike Van Genderen waved him out of victory lane prior to a trophy presentation and called up the two-time All Iowa Points champion (2017-18) Barry Taft to victory lane as the official winner. Travis Roush who competes regularly at the North Central Speedway in Brainerd, Minnesota, made the 540 mile trip from his home in New York Mills to be credited with second, pole-sitter Katelynn Watts finished third, Matt Moore was fourth while Joshua Glaspie was fifth.

The Hobby Stocks would close out the evening for fifteen laps and once again if you start a former All Iowa Points champion on the front row, even if he isn't driving his own car, it is likely that your winner has already been determined. That was the case as Dustin Griffiths, who won the 2014 title and finished second last year, drove one of Jim Tull's #22 to a flag-to-flag victory. 

Only one caution would fly in this one and that came with two laps remaining when the second place car of Eric Knutson spun exiting turn four and while Corey VanDerwilt tried to keep up with Griffiths on the restart, he would have to be happy with second ahead of Brad Graham, Tom Killen Jr. and Preston McDonald.

After a 5:30 start of hot laps and a short ten minute intermission following the heat races, this show wrapped up in fine fashion at 9:10 p.m. and as always we want to thank the Scotland County Fair Race Committee as well as MVG for putting on an entertaining show to start the season here in our neck of the woods! Two big events are next on the schedule here at Memphis with the SLMR Late Models making their first ever appearance on Friday April 25th and then on Friday June 20th the Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders return hoping to pack the house again as they did here in 2024. Mark those on your calendar and we hope to see you there!

Stuckey Collects $10,036 With Win At Springfield

The "Back In Time 1989.....Tribute to Ken Essary and Randy Mooneyham" Late Model special continued Saturday night at the Springfield Raceway with another full show for the unsanctioned Late Models paying $10,036 to the winner while the four support classes would complete their weekend with feature races as well. You may remember that when this event was first scheduled last fall, it was to be the 2025 season opener for the series that Essary and Mooneyham started, the MLRA, but just a couple of weeks later it was announced that the series would no longer continue by the Lucas Oil organization that has operated the series for the past several years.

Two drivers that were not in attendance on Friday night, Glenn Powell and John Briggs joined the Late Model field and qualified 25th and 26th respectively, better only than Friday's runner-up Dillon McCowan who jumped the berm in turns one and two after taking the green flag and with hard contact to the universal barrier, McCowan's night was over early.

The Late Models would be the fourth feature to be contested on the night, but we will start our story there with Tony Jackson Jr. and Clayton Stuckey bringing the field to green for the thirty-six lap event. It would be the third-starting Gordy Gundaker that would take the lead on lap one though as he edged under Jackson at the stripe and the caution would wave after lap two went into the books when Mason Oberkramer slowed on the track and did not take the exit off the back stretch.

Following the restart Gundaker established a quick pace out front while Friday's winner Brian Shirley clawed his way up from fourth to second. As most of the field settled in on the bottom, it started to look like the track might rubber down and as Gundaker closed in on the back of the field he did not immediately leave the bottom to try to get around Carl Murphy. Behind him though Shirley had gone back to the top looking for a run to surprise the hesitant leader, but just when it looked like he was ready to pounce, Shirley jumped the berm at the top of turn four and spun to bring out the caution on lap thirteen.

Once back to green, Gundaker had clear track ahead as he stayed on the bottom, while Stuckey who won a Comp Cams series race here in 2024 tried a line that was one car width higher than the leader's and it worked allowing the youngster from Louisiana to take the lead on lap fifteen. The caution would wave again when Dustin Tiger spun in turn three and on the restart Arkansas driver Jon Kirby would take over the second position with Stuckey in his sights.

Five laps later Tony Jackson Jr. who was running fourth at the time, slammed his right rear into the berm that rims the outside of the track and as he slowed the caution would wave again. And then two laps later Justin Wells would clip the inside berm in turn four sending him for a spin with the rest of the field scrambling to avoid contact.

The final twelve laps would be run under green and as Stuckey pulled away to take the win it would be Gundaker climbing back to second ahead of Kirby. Billy Moyer had another impressive drive as the Hall of Famer came from twelfth to fourth while Shirley battled his way back to complete the top five after restarting at the rear of the field.

Five cautions would interrupt a good battle up front during the Midwest Modified B Class main event as Gavin Buckley slipped under Cody Arnett to take the lead on lap twelve and the front row starters would finish one-two with Buckley the winner. Jordon Cater, Braxton Rupp and Darren Burt would complete the top five.

The Legend Cars have put on some good feature races whenever we have visited Springfield in the past, but tonight was not one of those as seven caution flags would tarnish the first fifteen laps of the scheduled twenty lapper and at that point the field was given the green white and checkers to bring this one to a conclusion. The first caution of the race was for Trenton Simon who spun in turn four on the opening lap as he challenged Tanner Foster for the lead sending Simon to the back of the nineteen car field for the restart. With the assist of several restarts Simon would battle back to take the lead from Jay Reynolds on lap eleven and he would stay out front to take the checkers in the shortened event. Reynolds was second, Foster finished third with J.P Harris and Chance Gilbert next in line.

With a salute to the MLRA it was only fitting that the car with the Rex McCroskey paint scheme and #64 would win the Midwest Mod A Class feature. Pete Richardson is the driver and he would lead all twenty laps through three caution periods to take the win over Sundance Keepper and Jerad McIntire. Ben Newell finished in the fourth spot while Carter Harrison was fifth.

The twenty lap B-Modified main event would close out the evening with Matt Brookshire pacing the first two laps before Waylon Dimmitt took the lead on lap three. The caution would wave on lap three when Jerry Lankton spun in turn two and following the restart veteran driver Ken Schrader would apply the pressure on Dimmitt before taking the lead on lap six. Three more cautions would wave before the race would come to a close with Schrader driving away from the field each time to take the victory. Dimmitt would be the runner-up, Cole Campbell started seventh and finished third, Kris Jackson came from eleventh to fourth and Anthony Ferrara finished in fifth.

After a pretty comfortable February Friday night, the winds of March blew colder air and some of the speedway into our faces on Saturday making for a challenging evening, but we truly appreciated all of the efforts put forth by track owner Jerry Hoffman just to present this show only ten days after a six inch snowfall. We look forward to our return to Springfield in November for the Turkey Bowl!

Shirley Finds Redemption In Springfield's "Back In Time" Opener

When was the last time that you went to a dirt race where ten days earlier the track had six inches of snow sitting on top of it? We did just that on Friday night as the "Back In Time 1989.....Tribute to Ken Essary and Randy Mooneyham" Late Model special kicked off at the Springfield Raceway. The two Late Model legends founded the Midwest Late Model Racing Association, or MLRA series in that year and promoter Jerry Hoffman was not about to let the fact that the MLRA abruptly closed up shop about a week after this event was announced, or a big ol' Ozarks snowstorm stop him from presenting this show!

Frankly I was skeptical about this weekend after the snowfall on February 18th, but I knew that if anybody could make it happen that it would be Hoffman. Even while the snow was piling up he was making Facebook posts promoting the event and a couple days after the skies had cleared, with a favorable weather forecast ahead of him, Hoffman even announced his schedule of snow removal and track work in the days ahead. So it was no surprise that after a Thursday night test session, the remaining kinks in the track surface were adjusted and we were treated to some February dirt track racing in the Midwest on this, the first of a two-day show.

Twenty-eight Super Late Models signed in and they were joined by drivers in the B-Mods, Legends and two divisions of the Midwest Modifieds to bring the total car count to ninety-one. While the Late Model count was just a couple cars lighter than I expected, I was really surprised at the low numbers in the support classes with the roster featuring mostly local drivers while Ken Schrader and Cole Campbell were two of the track's non-regulars in the B-Mod class. While the Late Models would be running a full show for $5,036-to-win, the twenty B-Mods would contest two rounds of heat races and the remaining three classes would run their heats to set Saturday night's feature lineups.

One of the things that I loved about the MLRA when I was first exposed to the series was that they would use a passing points system to qualify for most of their events and I think that I even whined about it here on the Back Stretch several years ago when the decision was made to go with the "I'm Fast, Start Me In Front" method of qualifying and then setting the heat race lineups straight up with the first heat race winner earning the pole for the main event. "Back in time" would have been a good excuse to go back to the passing points for this weekend, but instead we saw Brian Shirley set quick time in Group A, win from the pole in the first heat and then start the thirty lap feature from the pole where he was never seriously challenged on his way to victory. Don't pass a car all night and win $5,036, in this case a nice bit of redemption for a driver that struggled through SpeedWeeks.

Clayton Stuckey would chase Shirley early until the caution waved for Kylan Garner's spin on lap four and on the restart the young driver from Louisiana would yield second to the ageless veteran Billy Moyer. Moyer would then stay within striking distance of the leader over the next nine laps before the caution waved again, this time for Jon Kirby's spin in turn four and on the restart Stuckey would fight his way back into second.

The driver on the moved though was Dillon McCowan who was looking to repeat his win from November's Turkey Bowl here at Springfield. Pounding the cushion on both ends the fourth starting McCowan soon made his way into second and appeared to be closing in on Shirley, especially when the leader would leave the cushion from time to time. As the laps clicked away though, McCowan would not get close enough to challenge as Shirley would take the checkers as McCowan was exiting turn four to finish second. Tony Jackson Jr. would finish where he started, in third, Stuckey would slip to fourth and after making string move to the front early, Moyer would settle back in to the same position that he started from, fifth. The Gundakers, Trevor and Gordy would be next in line with Sawyer Crigler in eighth, Mason Oberkramer started nineteenth and finished ninth while sixteen-year-old Eli Ross would complete the top ten.

Night number two is scheduled to take the green this afternoon at 4 p.m. and if you can't make it to the trac, you can watch all the action at springfieldraceway.tv

Weekly Racing and East Moline

This week I was able to send an updated weekly racing schedule for tracks that are included in the All Iowa Points to Webmistress Sue and she quickly uploaded the information here at Positively Racing. You will notice that there is just one track that does not have the dates of the weekly opener and the season championship listed and that is the East Moline Speedway where a search for a new promoter is ongoing.

Many years ago, East Moline was my number one option for Sunday night racing and I would hate to see it sit idle even for just one season as with that tradition and population base one would think that it would offer some good potential. Yes, I know how tough it is to make a weekly show work, but the fact that so many promoters continue to do so still tells me there is some money to be made because I don't believe that there are that many gluttons for punishment out there. So with that, let me pull out my favorite meme and offer up some suggestions for the next promoter at East Moline that just might make some improvements on the bottom line. And actually, as I look through my bullet points, only one is really "specific" to the high banked quarter-mile as the rest could be applied to weekly racing in general. 

#1 - Make Turns Three and Four Great Again

In its glory days, as a race night progressed, drivers would push the cushion all the way up to the wall on both ends of this bullring with sparks flying as drivers pushed things to the limit scraping the right edge of their rear bumper against the concrete wall. This also made the track nice and wide where a skillful throttle massager could creep the bottom, a perfect setup could find a bite in the middle in the closing laps or the best of the best (i.e. Webb, Guss, Weedon, Toland, etc.) would use multiple lines over twenty laps to move their way to the front. My visits to East Moline over the past several years has seen turns one and two still go from the flat of the infield up to the the cushion pushed up against the wall, while in turns three and four you would be lucky to find a line even half way up the banking. And even then, there was no cushion, but rather a bunch of crumbs that would turn to dust as the night went on and if the wind was right, or wrong in this instance, long time score keepers Kevin Feller and Ken Reimers would a pound or two of the dirt surface home with them.

I don't know if it is a track prep situation, or if there needs to be some reconfiguration of that end of the speedway, but please do what you can to make that happen!

#2 - Three and a Half Hours Max

I spent my formative years working for a promoter, Larry Kemp, who would have his team run off a Saturday night weekly show in no more than three and a half hours, from the start of hot laps at 7:00 p.m. with the final checkered flag almost always waving before 10:30 p.m. And that was with more than one hundred cars in the pit area! As the announcer I would remind fans that we would not be taking any "planned" intermission during the night and I encouraged fans to visit the concession stand when their "least favorite" division was on the track. Side note, that meant there was a steady flow of race fans buying food and drinks throughout the evening rather having them all wait in a big line during an intermission with that steady flow likely resulting in more revenue at the concession stand for the night.

Sure, if the flagman had to take a leak we might wait a few minutes, but Doyle Bennett, Bill Newman and Donnie Williams must have had strong bladders because I don't remember that happening often. We would usually have at least one fracas a night that would take some time for the Beckman Towing team to clean up (they have always been fast!) and that would allow the flagman to slip away virtually unnoticed to take care of business.

In my opinion, no weekly show should take more than three and a half hours from hot laps to the final checkers, especially if you have less than one hundred cars in the pits. And that standard should definitely apply to a Sunday night weekly show like what we have here in East Moline where I feel that a promoter should set his or her own personal curfew at 9:30 p.m. in order to get both the fans and the drivers home in good time for an early start on Monday.

Starting hot laps in a hot sun at 4:30 or 5:00 usually leads to a scenario where the track will need to be reworked later in the program in order to put some moisture back into it, so whatever "advantage" that you think that you had by starting early gets blown away later in the evening for track maintenance and now your program ends up being four and a half or five hours long. In other words TOO LONG for that Mom and Dad that brought their kids out to enjoys the races only having to leave before the show is completed.

Per the meme here, if I ran the track I would set a motivator for myself and my team by promising my Sunday night crowd that if the final checkered flag is not waving before 9:30 p.m., bring your ticket stub back with you next week and you will either get a free soft drink at the concession stand or two dollars off on your first drink at the beer stand. Paying attention to #3 will help you to achieve this goal.

#3 - No More Than Five Classes

Four would be better, but as long as the Late Models are still on the card I am good with five. I am amazed at the number of tracks not only in this region, but throughout the country that continue to run mutli-class weekly shows that include divisions that average ten or fewer cars per week. Sure, I can understand if you want to keep a featured class that you believe brings in a large number of unattached fans (ticket buyers who are not just family and friends of the driver), but if you have support classes that are unable to give you two solid heat races and a feature each night, then I have to ask you why that class is still on the roster.

When you run seven or eight classes, you are making out a purse check to seven or eight different feature winners each night and I am betting that even the lowest paid winner is getting at least $200. One of the first things that my friend Larry Richardson did when he became the promoter at Columbus Junction was to cut two divisions that were consistently drawing less than ten cars. Did he hear a lot of bitching and claims that the move would ruin the racing program there at CJ? Of course he did, but he stuck with his plan and by taking some of the purse money that had been paid out each night to those two classes and rolling it into the back of the remaining four divisions, his total car counts soon exceeded what there had been in the pits for the six class program and the weekly show at Junction came back to prominence. Larry had the guts to stick with his beliefs and shake off the negativity in order to put on the best show possible for the fans, and it worked. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him and I am sure that he would smile down on any promoter who displayed that same kind of courage to make a similar move to improve his or her weekly show. Rest In Peace Larry.

While the drivers in the division, or divisions, that are eliminated will make a lot of noise and tell you that they will never be back, just remember that there will be less than ten of them bitching in the first place! Plus, I am still of the theory that if the communities surrounding a race track have eighty drivers who want to race there in order to keep their sponsors happy, if you give them seven divisions to choose from you will end up with car counts that will be plus or minus four from 11.4 per class, but if you give them five divisions that same pool of racers will end up giving you car counts that will be plus or minus four from 16 in each class. Now which weekly show would you want to present? 

#4 - Use An Invert To Lineup Your Weekly Races

I am sure that somebody will point out an exception, but I cannot think of one weekly track offhand that uses a draw/redraw format and has a solid weekly car count. New promoter, do not fall into that trap where the studs, along with the drivers who would really like to use an invert, but who do not want the studs to know that they are against them, push you into using a lineup procedure that is not based upon a weekly points average. It is called "racing" not "chasing" and your drivers, yes even the studs, should be ready to put on a show for your fans by having to pass somebody to win.

Don't even get me started on the weekly shows that time trial and then start "straight up". Uggh.

#5 - Pay Less To Win; More To Start

While we are pissing off the studs, let's continue to do so with a restructuring of your weekly purse. The driver that tries to be there each and every week, but for whatever reason is not a front runner at this point needs that extra money in the purse check in order to return the following week. Let's say that you are currently paying $750-to-win, $500 for second and $75 to start likely from twelfth on back. If you changed that to $500-to-win and $400 for second that would give you $350 that you could then put at the back of the purse and pay $100 to start. 

So now, let's give something back to the studs since we are abiding by suggestion #4 and running our races using an invert. I have always thought that it would be good to offer a bonus to the winner depending upon where that driver started the feature from. Sticking with the example above, if my winner comes from the second row there is a $50 bonus. A winner that starts from the third row earns a $100 bonus. Start from the fourth row and a win adds $150 to the purse check while a win from the fifth row gets a $200 bonus. In an invert system, that's where your top point driver is going to start if there are seventeen or fewer cars and if this new purse structure helps you grow your car count to eighteen or more, then the $250 bonus to win from the sixth row on back takes you right back to the $750 top prize that your studs were already looking at in the first place.

Plus, one of the complaints of using a points invert for weekly shows is that a driver who might just want to drop in for a week knows that he or she will have to start from the back of the invert. Now that comes with an incentive.

This concept should be applied all of your classes except for one if you choose to include them. See #6.

#6 - What To Do With The Four Cylinders

This is the Quad Cities and with this being your "budget" class, or "starter" class, however you want to refer to it, there should be thirty cars a week in your pit area. But instead, the count ranged from seven to thirteen per night during the 2024 season with the division being dominated by a couple of drivers.

If you are a regular visitor to the Back Stretch the title of #6 should look familiar to you as I wrote an entire entry on this subject in September of 2023 complete with statistics from several area tracks. Click on this link if you would like to review it again, or check it out for the first time, but I am going to cut and paste my proposed solution here again.

In order to increase the Four Cylinder car count at East Moline, and at other tracks, I believe that you need to do two things: 1. Remove some of the incentive to spend more money to go faster and look for gray area in the rules, and 2. Make it where the drivers who are not running up front on a consistent basis can still afford to keep coming back each week. And to do that I would rob the concept that the famous Fairbury Speedway used, or still uses for their Hobby Mod class:

Every driver takes home the same amount of purse money each race night

If your current purse structure pays $150-to-win and $20-to-start and you are only averaging ten cars you are likely paying out around $700 in total purse money for the class. My suggestion would be to pay all drivers the same amount, in this example $65, and you would put another $5 per car into your track's point fund to be distributed at the end of the season. By going to this purse structure you reduce the incentive for drivers to spend more money to go fast, plus you keep those drivers who finish deeper in the field a little better paid so that they can come back next week.

Yes, as your car count grows, you will be paying out more in purse money than you would otherwise, but you will also be selling more pit passes and tickets, plus selling more concessions to those who will be there to follow their favorite driver.

In this example let's hope that your average car count grows from 10 to 16 and you have 15 events on the schedule. This would give you a track point fund of $1,200 to distribute at the end of the season with the breakdown as follows:

1st place: 50% of the fund or $600

2nd place: 20% of the fund or $240

3rd place: 15% of the fund or $180

4th place: 10% of the fund or $120

5th place: 5% of the fund or $60

But here is your kicker to even further take away the incentive to spend more money to go fast. If the points champion accepts the 50% cut of the fund, then that driver is not eligible to compete in the Four Cylinder division at your track the following season. If the championship driver wants to stay in the division then he or she will get 25% of the fund or $300 with the remaining 25% distributed equally to drivers placing 6th through 10th in the final standings.

This might not sound like much, but what if your car count grows to 20 or 25 a night on average? At an average car count of 25 over 15 nights your championship driver will have earned $1,625 in purse money and then have the option to take half of an $1,875 point fund, or $937.50 for a total earnings of $2,562.50 on the season.

Do you think that drivers and their friends and family will be pissing and moaning about the track on social media? If they do, they will only be cutting in to their earnings potential, but yes I know that some will not comprehend that. We can only hope though!

Is it possible that somebody might try to take advantage of this system by doing a "start and park" each week just to collect $65? This is racing, so yes that might happen, so the promoter reserves the right to withhold the purse check if they see a driver doing this on a regular basis.

I may be wrong, but I believe that this system can be in place even if your track is sanctioned as long as you continue to follow all rules and lineup procedures as set forth by the sanctioning body.

Will some drivers not like it? Of course, and it will probably be the driver that is consistently running in the top three each week, and they will likely be very vocal about it. But is it possible that this driver is a primary reason why you are only averaging 10 cars a week?

Perhaps it is time to find out.

These six suggestions mean absolutely nothing if somebody does not step up to take on the promotional duties at East Moline for 2025 and whether or not the person that does take on the role follows any of these suggestions I wish them nothing but the best as I would hate to go through an entire racing season without at least one visit to the East Moline Speedway!

Cumulative Missouri Points Stock Cars 2020 Through 2024

Today we wrap up our first round of the cumulative Missouri Points, and if you need more details as to the "what, why and how" we end up with the standings below, please check out the opening paragraph of last Wednesday's entry, with the following edit. We have only been tracking the Stock Car division in he Show Me State since the 2020 season when the division with USRA or IMCA type rules started to spread to more tracks in the state.

Five years and five different Missouri Points champions in the Stock Cars and it only makes sense that the original champ from 2020, Doug Keller would sit atop this list. Another I-35 Speedway regular Jeff Dixon is in second while the 2022 champion Mason Beck ranks third. The defending champ from 2024, Nic Hanes climbs into the fourth position with Mich Ross in fifth.

The 2021 champion David Hendrix and the best of the division in 2023 Waylon Dimmitt are next in line with Will Garner, Bryan White and Robert White given the racey town Lebanon the final three spots in the top ten.

Here's hoping that Jerry Hoffman's Springfield Raceway does not get the twelve or more inches of snow predicted for today as we are looking forward to starting our 2025 season there on February 28th and March 1st for their Late Model special honoring the founders of the now defunct MLRA. The long range forecast shows temps perhaps topping the 60 mark for those two days so you can bet that Hoffman will do everything possible to get the show in if the snow doesn't linger for too long.

See you again soon on the Back Stretch!

Stock Cars Missouri Points

Pos. Driver Hometown 2020 - 2024

1 . Doug Keller Easton 400

2 . Jeff Dixon Jamesport 288

3 . Mason Beck Urbana 227

4 . Nic Hanes Trenton 210

5 . Mich Ross Marysville 195

6 . David Hendrix Waynesville 165

7 . Waylon Dimmitt Camdenton 165

8 . Will Garner Lebanon 157

9 . Bryan White Lebanon 144

10 . Robert White Lebanon 131

11 . Mark Simon Buffalo 130

12 . Rodney Schweizer Kansas City KS 130

13 . J.J. Baumli Lathrop 117

14 . Kristchon Hisel Winston 108

15 . Mike Nichols Harlan IA 103

16 . Chad Clancy Polo 94

17 . Ed Griggs Pleasant Hill 93

18 . Jason Estes Winston 88

19 . Johnny Coats Joplin 86

20 . Darren Phillips Wheatland 83

21 . Austin Bouzek Trenton 82

22 . Jaylen Wettengel Topeka KS 82

23 . Johnny Fennewald Appleton City 81

24 . Derek Brown Stoutland 80

25 . Dean Wille Warrensburg 75

26 . Brad Derry New Market IA 69

27 . Matthew Lance Savannah 63

28 . Robbie Jones Osceola 59

29 . Dylan Keeper Bois D'Arc 58

30 . Randy Smith Jr. Hamilton 55

31 . Chris Dishong Atchison KS 54

32 . Connor Masoner St. Joseph 51

33 . Zeb Keeper Aurora 50

34 . Aaron Sauter St. Joseph 48

35 . Corey Myers Atchison KS 47

36 . Chris Tonoli Hermitage 45

37 . Mike Hailmann Lake Ozark 45

38 . James McMillin Warrensburg 44

39 . Carson Masoner St. Joseph 41

40 . Chris Mercer Exclesior Springs 41

41 . Karla Lampe Fair Grove 41

42 . Nate Barnes Holt 41

43 . Randy Foote Stanton IA 41

44 . Gary Donaldson Rayville 40

45 . Johnny Spaw Cedar Rapids IA 40

46 . John Gamble Strafford 37

47 . John Oliver Jr. Danville IA 36

48 . Cayden Carter Oskaloosa IA 35

49 . Scotty Carter Springfield 35

50 . Danny Holt Topeka KS 34

51 . Dylan Thornton Santa Maria CA 34

52 . Kevin Simon Buffalo 34

53 . Blake Peeler Trimble 33

54 . Burl Woods Republic 33

55 . Louis Lynch Glenwood 31

56 . Anthony Robertson Savannah 30

57 . Bill Carter Kansas City KS 30

58 . Derrick Agee Huntsville 30

59 . Michael Knight Leavenworth KS 30

60 . Scott Brown Meriden KS 30

61 . Lyle Dietrich Bolivar 29

62 . Tim Eaton St. Joseph 28

63 . Kasey Ayres Kansas City 27

64 . Steve Starmer New Hampton 27

65 . Mitch Keeter Webb City 26

66 . Scotty Allen Urbana 26

67 . Tony Manley Osborn 26

68 . Kameron Hanes Trenton 25

69 . Mitch Hovden Decorah IA 25

70 . Shadren Turner St. Joseph 25

71 . Austin Kaplan Collins IA 24

72 . Blake Bolton Appleton City 24

73 . Josh Cain Rio Rancho NM 24

74 . Tommy Ground Liberty 24

75 . Gene Stigall Winston 23

76 . James Leiber Osceola 23

77 . Sam Scott Polo 23

78 . Todd Reitzler Grinnell IA 23

79 . Brad Whitney Trenton 21

80 . Gerald Wahwahsuck Atchison KS 21

81 . James Ellis Richland 21

82 . Pat Graham Ankeny IA 21

83 . Brandon Dixon St. Joseph 20

84 . Christopher Sawyer Buffalo 20

85 . Myles Michehl Fort Dodge IA 20

86 . Colton Bourland Appleton City 19

87 . Rob White Jr. Lebanon 19

88 . Chad Staus Otterville 18

89 . Derrick Brown Meriden KS 18

90 . Scott Carlson Plattsmouth NE 18

91 . Thomas Ground Kansas City 18

92 . Craig Wright Arma KS 17

93 . David Brandies Wilton IA 17

94 . Josh Zieman Plymouth IA 16

95 . Brandon Williams Platte City 15

96 . Jeff Tennant Greenwood AR 15

97 . Brian Labonte Lawrence KS 14

98 . Thomas Roberts Cameron 14

99 . Zack Willis Macks Creek 14

100 . Adam Dunwoodie Polo 14

101 . Derek Green Granada MN 13

102 . Jerry Brown Hume 13

103 . Dallon Murty Chelsea IA 12

104 . Damon Murty Chelsea IA 12

105 . Jayden Bears Kansas City 12

106 . Keith Simmons Truro IA 12

107 . Michael Jaennette Kellogg IA 12

108 . Nathan Ballard Marengo IA 12

109 . Scott Johnson Nevada 12

110 . Andy Morris Fort Gibson OK 11

111 . D.J. Barnes Raymore 11

112 . Jason See Albia IA 11

113 . Kacey Shields Kansas City 11

114 . Randy Rindom Kirksville 11

115 . Steve Jackson Polk City IA 11

116 . Jeremy Vaughn Pocola OK 11

117 . Chase Galvan Kansas City KS 10

118 . Chester Kaufman Jamesport 10

119 . Darrin Schmidt Winchester KS 10

120 . Rowdee Van Genderen Newton 10

121 . Todd Staley Webster City IA 10

122 . Brad Labonte Perry KS 9

123 . Brett Heeter Kansas City KS 9

124 . Chad Summerford Centerton AR 9

125 . Justin Roberts Buffalo 9

126 . Sam Luehrs Lexington 9

127 . Steve Herrick Topeka KS 9

128 . Travis Barker Sioux City IA 9

129 . Bill Crimmins Fort Dodge IA 8

130 . Brandon Conkwright Wamego KS 8

131 . Butch Bailey Novelty 8

132 . Dalton Swalley Gallatin 8

133 . Dennis Elliott Mount Ayr IA 8

134 . Donnie Ginnings Eldridge 8

135 . Eddie Inghram Linn Valley KS 8

136 . Jaymee McGarrah Huntsville AR 8

137 . Justin Allen Urbana 8

138 . Nathan Wood Sigourney IA 8

139 . Robert Garst Topeka KS 8

140 . Andrew Schroder Fremont IA 7

141 . Brian Webster Holts Summit 7

142 . Dustin Griffiths Hedrick IA 7

143 . Jake Sachau Manning IA 7

144 . Jesse Sobbing Malvern 7

145 . Tom Berry Jr. Des Moines IA 7

146 . Tracy Cottrell Buffalo 7

147 . Cole Cihy Hermitage 6

148 . Daniel King Topeka KS 6

149 . James Nighswonger Osawatomie KS 6

150 . Jason Rindom Moberly 6

151 . Rob Moseley Los Lunas NM 6

152 . Tim Shields Kansas City 6

153 . Zach Zeugin Fair Play 6

154 . Kyle Hamby Hackett AR 6

155 . Presley Harrington Oshkosh WI 6

156 . Beau Davis Cheney KS 5

157 . Brett Lowry New Sharon IA 5

158 . Bryan Bennett Tularosa NM 5

159 . Buck Schafroth Orient IA 5

160 . Clayton Brown Mayetta KS 5

161 . Dennie Belknap Bonner Springs KS 5

162 . Dustin Beisley Fort Scott KS 5

163 . Greg Keuhn Trenton 5

164 . Jake Newman Smithville 5

165 . Jon Boller Jr. St. Joseph 5

166 . Josh Foster Newton IA 5

167 . Lance Dixon Topeka KS 5

168 . Maverick Wunder Freeman 5

169 . Ricky Bobby-Crouch St. Joseph 5

170 . Robert Southerland Sallisaw OK 5

171 . Shayne Bailey Lathrop 5

172 . Spencer Coats La Grange 5

173 . Maguire DeJong Montezuma IA 5

174 . Mark Dotson Cameron 5

175 . Terry Schultz Sedalia 5

176 . Abe Huls Carthage IL 4

177 . Chad Shaw Trimble 4

178 . Curtis Barnes Queen City 4

179 . Darek Wiss Centralia 4

180 . Darrell Hurt Camdenton 4

181 . Derek Lampe Springfield 4

182 . Dylan Bowman Purdy 4

183 . Hunter Longnecker Woodward IA 4

184 . James Barker Nevada 4

185 . Jason Newman Kearney 4

186 . Jason Purvis Boone IA 4

187 . Jason Reckker Camdenton 4

188 . Jordan Grabouski Beatrice NE 4

189 . Josh Crump Kansas City 4

190 . Kameron Stoddard Appleton City 4

191 . Kevin Donlan Decorah IA 4

192 . Lucas Perrigo Creston IA 4

193 . Madi Waterbury Jamesport 4

194 . Michiah Hidlebaugh Adel IA 4

195 . Mike Albertson Audubon IA 4

196 . Scott Davis Madrid IA 4

197 . Stacy Hall Bolivar 4

198 . Travis Neeley Grantville KS 4

199 . Xander Treichel Greene IA 4

200 . Brock Badger Bagley IA 4

201 . Justin Custer Liberty 4

202 . Anthony Whitham Lawson 3

203 . C.J. Turner Jamesport 3

204 . Caleb Dennis Chillicothe 3

205 . Chet Yates Cameron 3

206 . Dale Eaton St. Joseph 3

207 . Dominic Thyfault Wakarusa KS 3

208 . Dylan Suhr Waterloo IA 3

209 . Jason Hall Grinnell IA 3

210 . Jason Josselyn Alamogordo NM 3

211 . John Scott Warsaw 3

212 . Josh Steele Platte City 3

213 . Justin Day Lebanon 3

214 . Kevin Anderson Kansas City 3

215 . Kevin Sustaire Emory TX 3

216 . Logan Thompson Galena 3

217 . Lynn Panos Calmar IA 3

218 . Nathan Williams Fulton 3

219 . Payton McDowll 3

220 . Randy Brown Chowchilla CA 3

221 . Ray Pitts Pineville 3

222 . Scott John Warsaw 3

223 . Shane Schmidt Topeka KS 3

224 . Stewart Burton Centralia 3

225 . Aaron Poe Knob Noster 3

226 . Braden Richards Madrid IA 3

227 . Gene Claxton Kansas City 3

228 . Grayson McKiney Springfield 3

229 . Alex Crawford Harrisonville 2

230 . Andrew Borchardt Plymouth IA 2

231 . Bodie Gamble 2

232 . Bradley McDowell Eldon 2

233 . Dalton Phillips 2

234 . Devin Stock Topeka KS 2

235 . Dillon Anderson Decorah IA 2

236 . Don Nunnikhoven Sully IA 2

237 . J.D. Jackson Chouteau OK 2

238 . Jeremy Pitts Warsaw 2

239 . Joseph Richmond Wichita KS 2

240 . Marvin Griffith Jr. Holton KS 2

241 . Matt Smith Stewartsville 2

242 . Mike Miller King City 2

243 . Tim Carman Copperas Cove TX 2

244 . Toby Ott Wheatland 2

245 . Travis Shipman Mason City IA 2

246 . Bo Eads Trenton 2

247 . Clinton Goff Lacona 2

248 . David Davis Trenton 2

249 . Alan VanGorp Des Moines IA 1

250 . Austin Ramey Wichita KS 1

251 . Beau Taylor Canton 1

252 . Brandon Beam 1

253 . Brock Haines Fairfield IA 1

254 . Colin Deming Hobbs NM 1

255 . Conrad Kauffman Gallatin 1

256 . Craig Reynolds St. Joseph 1

257 . Darin Nelson Onaga KS 1

258 . Dylan Holt Topeka KS 1

259 . Elijah Zevenbergen Ocheyedan IA 1

260 . Hayden Linn Little Rock AR 1

261 . Isaiah Penton Huntsville 1

262 . Jason McDaniel Eldon IA 1

263 . Jeremy Christians Horicon WI 1

264 . Jim Adkins Kansas City 1

265 . Jim Masoner Jr. St. Joseph 1

266 . Jordan Junker Beatrice NE 1

267 . Justin Ades Webster City IA 1

268 . Leroy Morrison Raymore 1

269 . Luke Ramsey Bedford IA 1

270 . Matt West Kellerton IA 1

271 . Michael King St. Joseph 1

272 . Paul Carter Kearney 1

273 . Robert Fisk Lathrop 1

274 . Sterling Sorensen Portsmouth IA 1

275 . Tanner Calhoun Hermitage 1

276 . Tim Cooney Corning IA 1

277 . Tyler Grooms Trenton 1

278 . Brent Fielder Liberty MO 1

279 . Christopher Theodore Coweta OK 1

280 . David Oxford Platte City 1

281 . Jason Park Kansas City KS 1

282 . Jeff Metcalf Gentry AR 1

283 . Kris Jackson Lebanon 1

284 . Logan Anderson Eddyville IA 1

285 . Steven Glenn Hamilton 1