Simpson, Larson, Hefty and Crist Display Blue Ribbon Performances at Dubuque County Fair

I love it when a county fair charges one admission price at the gate and then allows you to take in the night's grandstand entertainment as you choose. And, when that entertainment for the evening is Dirt Track Racing it is an opportunity for the sport that we love to be exposed to people who otherwise would never even give it a chance. This has been the format used by the annual Dubuque County Fair for many years now and as we settled into our seats just prior to hot laps on Wednesday night I watched two young ladies in front of me marvel at how the cars were sliding through the turns in hot laps. They stuck around through the opening ceremonies and then a couple of heat races before moving on to other activities that the fair had to offer and they were soon replaced by three teenagers who actually set their phones aside and watched while the green flag was out.

That trio disappeared after intermission and once the features started a larger group of teens converged in front of us and the one with a racing t-shirt on was explaining to the others what was happening and who to keep an eye on. I'm not sure how successful he was as the group soon formed a circle and was having a lively conversation about topics other than the racing going on in front of them, but even if they eventually look upon the race track as a place to gather with friends on a Sunday night here, that would be a plus. My point is that if just one of those random "visitors" to the races on this night at the fair makes a point to return to the track in the future, then that is a win for our sport and just one of the many reasons why I enjoy coming to the races at the Dubuque County Fair.

The Karl Chevrolet Premier Late Model Series would be the headliner's on this night with a $3,000 top prize up for grabs while the Modifieds drew in some out of towners with a $2,000 to win incentive and the Hobby Stocks raced for a hefty $1,000 winner's check, and yes, the pun is intended.

The Crown Vics though would be the first feature to the track and Will Schmidt would lead the opening lap in his noticeably numbered 80085 before yielding to the third starting Ross Crist. Derrick Dean who started fifth would soon move in to challenge with the lead duo pulling away from the rest of the field, and while Dean was able to slip a nose under the leader on a couple of occasions Crist would hold on to earn his ninth victory of the season and deny Dean his twelfth triumph. Rob Culbertson started tenth and finished third, Ethan Kammerude who scored a convincing heat race victory earlier in the night moved from sixth to fourth while Jacob Welter filled out the top five after starting from eighth.

The Crown Vic feature would go green to checkers, twelve laps without incident. Unfortunately we did not see anything close to that clean performance in the remaining three features.

It was not that long ago when Dubuque would struggle to hit double digits in the car count for the IMCA Hobby Stock class, but this division has really grown recently and twenty-two drivers, mostly track regulars with a few nearby visitors made up tonight's twenty-two car field for fifteen laps. One lap would be scored before a stack up ahead of him in turn one would force Jared Miles to spin to avoid contact and he would be sent to the rear of the field, a true victim of circumstance.

Once back to racing Kyler Hefty would lead the way just ahead of a torrid battle for second behind him that would lead to the second caution of the race on lap five. Matt Bennett was running second and appeared to get high exiting turn four. This would force Carson Butt to make a quick move the left taking him across the nose of Dalton Weepie's #3 and sending Butt for a spin down the front stretch. As Butt was sent to the back of the field for the restart, Bennett would join him there as well after a visit to the pit area and we would go back to racing.

Blaise Watters who had drawn the #11 after an impressive heat race win would now be Hefty's primary challenger, but only three more laps would be scored before Reegan Merkes would go for a spin in turn one and this time Jared Miles could not avoid contact ending his evening with a damaged radiator. 

One more lap would go in the books before Brandon White's spin in turn two and on this restart Watters would go to work on the leader pulling alongside Hefty and actually nosing him out for the lead on what would have been lap twelve if not for a two car pileup behind them in turn three between Kyle Jared and Mark Neis.

Going back to the last completed lap Hefty would bring the field back to green with Carson Butt now back in the mix moving to the third spot and looking to make it a three car battle for the lead only to have his right rear tire go flat coming to the white flag. That sixth and final caution would give us a one lap shootout where Kyler Hefty was able to hold off Watters to take the win. Lukas Short started from eighth and finished third, division rookie Jaice Tuttle came from seventh to fourth and Matt Bennett battled his was back to the front for a top five finish. A tip of the hat as well to Leah Wroten who struggled with mechanical issues earlier in the evening to start from twenty-first and raced her way up to sixth.

The IMCA Modifieds would fare a bit better with only three cautions over twenty laps, and none of them that added to the storyline other than the restart on lap two when early leader Charlie Mohr stumbled on the cushion entering turn one allowing former National Champion Jeff Larson to go flying by and take a lead that he would not give up the rest of the way. The battle to watch in the closing laps was for second as Matt Gansen fought off the charge of Jed Freiburger, who had started eleventh, to take the runner-up position while Mohr and Austin Stamm completed the top five.

I want to take a moment here to recognize Jed Freiburger, who I hope is very well known around his home tracks, but perhaps is a bit of an unknown outside of northeast Iowa and southwest Wisconsin. Freiburger has been in the top ten of the All Iowa Points each of the past four seasons, finishing as high as third in 2024 and he looks to make that five straight as he currently ranks fourth in the 2026 standings. Back in early June he had a victory well in hand at the IMCA Summer Nationals in Independence before a late caution left him vulnerable to a couple of drivers who had been searching for a better line than the leader and on this night he drew the back of the field in a stout nine car heat race where he dug his way up to the fourth and final redraw spot where he then drew the eleven for the feature. Fair warning, if the #6 from Dubuque finds his way to your track, he will be one to watch!

Twenty-four of the twenty-six Premier Late Models would close out the evening for thirty laps with Jerry King and Nick Marolf bringing the field to green. The initial start was waved off as Marolf was shuffled back to fifth before the flag stand and on the second try he would fare much better racing to the early lead. The first of seven, yes seven cautions would wave on lap two for a driver at the back of the field drilling an infield tractor tire and on this restart Chad Simpson would ride the tall cushion in turns one and two to perfection to charge from fifth to second with his sights now set on Marolf and the lead.

That same high line momentum would propel Chad to the front on lap four and the caution would wave again for debris on lap five. The longest green flag sequence of the event would see Simpson starting to have to deal with a lapper in his preferred line but before Marolf and others could use that to their advantage another caution waved on lap thirteen for driver who had spun in turn two. I will continue to protect the innocent here, except for the lap twenty caution that unfortunately saw an end to Nick Marolf's second place run as he slowed on the high side and then pulled to the infield during the caution.

Two spins by drivers and two more debris cautions would slow the action over the final half of the race and to exacerbate the issue there seemed to be several extra laps under caution where perhaps the series officials were either verifying the realignment or giving drivers extra time in the pits to return, but who didn't, and finally after thirty laps in thirty-eight minutes the checkers waved over Chad Simpson for the $3,000 victory. The eventual battle for second was a spicy one if you happened to be watching them earlier as C.J. Horn and Jeff Tharp had actually nearly wrecked each other while racing for third.

Tharp was on the charge after starting thirteenth and he was driving for the bottom entering turn three when Horn went for that same piece of real estate. Neither driver gave an inch and the right side of Tharp's car actually climbed up the left side of Horn's and they stayed that way for several yards before disconnecting and getting back on the throttle. Under one of those extended cautions there was likely plenty of sign language going on between the two of them and it even looked like there was some slight contact as they weaved to keep the tires cleaned off. Or, who knows, perhaps they were just letting each other know that the damage to both cars was surprisingly minimal given the circumstances!

Tharp would get to second late and on the final restart he was able to pull even with Simpson in turn two only to have Chad pull away in the closing laps. Still it was an impressive run for Tharp in second as Horn settled for third. Early contender Matt Ryan held down the fourth spot while J.D Auringer rallied from fourteenth to fifth.

Even with the multiple cautions, an on-time start of hot laps at 6:30 and a well run program overall still had us on the road at 9:55 and the Dubuque County Fair mid-week show will remain on my "to do" list for years to come!

Next up for me will be both the 360 and 410 Nationals at Knoxville with an opportunity to announce a night at Vinton, plus the long awaited return of the Winged Sprint Cars to Marshalltown in between the two mega events. I will be looking for you out there on the Back Stretch!

Horn's First Win of 2026 And Tharp's First Stock Car Victory Highlight a Fun Night in Vinton

A last minute change of plans found me making the 101-mile trip north to the Benton County Speedway in Vinton on Sunday night for some IMCA weekly racing action spiced up by an appearance by the Karl Chevrolet Premier Late Model tour. I always have, and will continue to shout from the rooftops how much I love IMCA's lineup procedure for weekly racing with inverts by average points as it almost always guarantees plenty of lead changes throughout the night and with a well prepared racing surface on this hot and sunny evening, that was definitely the case. Well, except for one division.....

After winning the season opener here in April, Adam Gates has experienced some tough luck at Benton County finishing 20th twice, 16th and fourth since then so his average points landed him on the front row of the twelve lap Sport Compact feature on this night and after a convincing win of his heat race, Gates seemed poised to run away with this one. However! The racing behind his flag-to-flag run to victory would provide plenty of entertainment as drivers charged through the field.

Lukas Rick was most notable after starting scratch in the fifteen car field after exiting his heat race prematurely due to mechanical issues. Rick quickly moved to the top four bringing the tenth starting Cristian Grady with him and on lap eight disaster would strike the then third place car of Aaron Kirkpatrick.

Contact with another car would peel his rear bumper cover off of his car in turn one just before he drove off the top of turn two and spun. Without the spin, the caution would have been for the debris, but now Kirkpatrick would have to start on the tail and on the restart he would get shuffled off the back stretch and end up on his top outside of turn three.

Once back to green Gates would ease ahead while Rick, Grady, Mike Peyton and Robert Rundle slugged it out behind him and at the checkers it was Gates with the win with Grady prevailing as the runner up. Rick held down third with Rundle and Peyton completing the top five.

The twenty lap feature for the IMCA Modifieds would be up next with Dirk Hamilton setting the pace before the caution waved for debris on lap three. On the restart Troy Cordes would apply the pressure after starting fifth and on lap five Troy would charge to the front. As the leaders raced into turn three possible contact would send Hamilton for a spin, but the track official who had the better vantage point ruled that the caution would be on the former leader and rather than restarting at the rear, Hamilton would then drive to the pit area before the restart.

The tenth starting Jeff Aikey would now try to keep pace with Cordes in second only to see the leader build more than a straightaway advantage. However, when Dennis Betzer slowed with a flat tire as Cordes was taking the white flag that lead would be erased with the caution and a green/white/checkers finish. There would be no stopping Cordes though who again pulled away to score his second win of 2026 and his first of the year here at Vinton. Aikey would be the runner up with Jerry Dedrick and Jesse Belez next in line while Illinois visitor Andrew Hamburg edged out Ethan Krall by inches to complete the top five.

Fifteen laps for the Northern Sport Mods would be up next with young Gage Hilgenberg holding the lead on lap one before Tony Olson came from fifth to the lead on lap two. The caution would fly soon after that change as Harrison Horn came to a halt in turn three and after a three car scuffle on the back stretch following the restart this one would go green the rest of the way.

Ben Chapman started seventh in this one and he was gradually making his way to the front until the final five laps when he emerged in second. His younger brother Blake won a last lap thriller in his AIRS car at Tipton on Thursday night, but Ben did not want to be as dramatic taking the lead from Olson with two laps remaining to post the second win of the week for Dan and Gretchen Chapman's boys. The cousins Olson, Tony and Kyle would join him on the podium with Brett Thomas coming from ninth to fourth. Will Wolf who was sent to the pits for rough driving earlier in the night started sixteenth and finished fifth.

The twenty-five lap headliner for the Premier Late Models would be up next and I was concerned that the sun baked surface might quickly rubber down. That was not the case though as drivers ran the bottom, the top and even used the middle line around the quarter-mile throughout this one , and the final two features as well.

Pole-sitter Luke Pestka would lead the first two laps before current series point leader Matt Ryan charged by on lap three. Just after that the caution would wave for Sean Johnson and Jerry King who were sideways in turn two and following the restart it would be the seventh starting C.J. Horn taking up the chase. With Ryan running the high line on both ends and Horn grabbing the bottom, this would be a good one until C.J. was able to establish himself as the leader on lap eleven.

He would then start to pull away a bit, but with the back of the pack all working that same inside line, Ryan was about to pounce before a caution for Andrew Hamburg's spin in turn three took the lapped traffic out of play with eleven laps to go. One more caution would wave with six laps remaining to bunch the field, but Horn was in control and looked again like he did in 2025 when he was an eight time winner to score his first victory here in 2026. J.D. Auringer would drop Ryan to third at the checkers with Logan Duffy and Andy Nezworski rounding out the top five.

A surprise entry in the Late Models on this night was Wapello, Iowa, native Dan Breuer. Known as "The Professor" around his North Carolina tracks, Breuer is the son of Bill Breuer who was a top competitor in the 1970's and 80's while Danny, as we knew him back in the day, was no stranger to victory lane as well before he moved to the southeast to get closer to NASCAR. I wish that I would have made it here earlier in the evening to visit with him in the pits and to see what had brought him back to Iowa. His sharp looking #7 would finish in the tenth position here at Vinton.

Three of the top seven drivers in the current National Rookie-of-the-Year standings for the IMCA Hobby Stocks were in action here tonight and I will get to that storyline in a moment after I give you the summary of one of the closest finishes that you will ever see. 

Jake Kaiser would set the pace before the caution waved on lap two for one of those RoY contenders as Jaice Tuttle spun in turn two. On the restart the 2023 National Hobby Stock Rookie-of-the-Year, Tucker Richardson would take the lead from Kaiser on lap three and a few laps later the current track point leader Justin Stander slowed at the entry of turn three and was then turned by Brandon Beyer who had no place to go. Another caution would wave on lap eight and on this restart the sixth starting Dalton Weepie would put the heat on the leader.

With three laps to go Weepie would throw a slider in turns three and four causing Richardson to check up to avoid contact and he would become the new leader at the stripe. One more late caution for Tasker Timmerman's spin in turn two would create a green/white/checkers finish and after trying the high line on the first lap, Richardson drove to the bottom of Weepie in turns three and four coming to the checkers.

Yes, there was a bit of rubbing, but it was a "Hobby Stock style clean" challenge and the two cars would race under the checkers in a visual dead heat. However, in this day and age we now have transponder scoring and by a scant 0.008 seconds it would be Weepie celebrating in victory lane where he acknowledged the slider and appreciated how Richardson had raced him to the checkers. Awesome!

Joren Fisher finished in third and fourth went to row five starter Leah Wroten. Now back to that current RoY battle, Timmerman who is currently third in the standings looked to be the best of the trio on this night when he was racing in sixth before his late spin. The fourteen-year-old from Wapello that I have watched grow up in the stands at 34 Raceway over those fourteen years would have to settle for twelfth at the checkers. Bentley Long who is currently seventh on the RoY list had a top ten run going before a flat tire tagged him a with a DNF while Tuttle, who now sits in fourth of the RoY standings battled his way back up to fifth after restarting from the rear of the twenty-car field after his lap two spin.

The IMCA Stock Cars would close out the evening and they would get off to a tough start when the top two in track points, Kyle Olson and John Oliver Jr., tangled in turn one on the second lap. Both drivers were sent to the rear of the twelve car field and on the restart pole-sitter Scooter Dulin would go for a tumble of the top side of turn three. 

Thankfully the veteran driver escaped injury and once back to green it would be Brandon Tharp's night as the second row starter would dominate this one to earn his first career win in the Stock Car division right here at his hometown track. David McCalla posted his best finish of the year as well in second, Cole Suckow came from tenth to finish third, John Oliver Jr. recovered to take fourth as Tony Olson finished in fifth.

The sunset was till in full splendor as I started my drive home thrilled with the action that I witnessed here this evening! I look forward to returning on Sunday August 9th for what was to be my third turn on the microphone at BCS this season, only to have rain wipe out my first two bookings. Thanks to Rick, Kim, Corey, the entire Dripps family and their crew for another great night at the track.

Up next for me is a five night journey featuring the USMTS Modifieds on Wednesday (Park Jeff), Friday (Princeton), Saturday (Ogilivie) and Sunday (Sauk Rapids) surrounding Thursday night's return to the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa for the Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders. Look for us out there on the Back Stretch!

Chris Simpson Dominates For UMP Summer Nationals Win At His Home Track

Yes, it has been six years since Chris Simpson had raced at the West Liberty Raceway, according to his recollection, but this is the track that he grew up at. The track where he started his racing career with he and his brother Chad adopting the car numbers of their West Liberty heroes; #25 for Chad in honor of Dave Birkhofer and #32 for Chris to follow in the footsteps of Mel Morris. And from the moment that the #32 roared into turn one during the first set of hot laps this evening, you could tell that it stood above the rest of the twenty-seven car field assembled for the night's UMP Summer Nationals stop.

Chris would back that up by setting a new rack record in qualifying with a lap of 18.165* and he would then walk away with the opening heat race to put him in the draw for the first three positions of the thirty lap main event. And in that draw he would pull the pole position, much to the delight of the near capacity crowd on a beautiful Tuesday evening.

Fellow heat race winners Dallon Murty and his brother Chad Simpson would keep pace through the first couple of laps before Chris pulled away to just more than a straightaway lead by the mid-race mark even after a lap eight restart, but the race would start to change from there. Curt Schroeder had been added as a provisional and was running at the back of the field and after looking to his outside in turn three, Simpson tucked back in behind Schroeder down the front stretch. This would happen almost the same way for the following three laps and now it was obvious that Schroeder had picked up speed and was now even passing some cars as Simpson continued to trail him.

However, that duo was not faster than Murty and Chad Simpson who were now closing quickly as they themselves exchanged the second spot a couple of times and just as Murty was within a car length and ready to challenge for the lead, the caution would wave on lap twenty for a slowing Mark Voigt. Chad would beat Dallon to turns one and two on the restart and as they picked up their battle for second, Chris again put some distance on them until Murty established himself as the primary chaser on lap twenty-three. With the laps clicking away, Murty would get back to within striking distance until one slight bobble in turn two on lap twenty-eight set him back and it was game over as Chris Simpson recorded the flag-to-flag victory.

Murty was the runner-up in his Hell Tour debut with Chad Simpson in third, Cade Dillard's fourth place finish has the Louisiana driver just three points out of first in the Week Two point standings for the Tour while Dylan Thornton closed out the top five. Billy Moyer, who was the runner-up to Rick Aukland the last time that the Summer Nationals ran at West Liberty in 1995, finished sixth on this night, Jason Feger advanced from eleventh to seventh, Derrick Stewart from nearby Ainsworth had a solid night in eighth, Frank Heckenast Jr. gained five positions to finish in ninth while overall Hell Tour point leader Tanner English used a provisional to start twenty-first and finish in tenth.

Typically the Hell Tour leadership insists on being the first feature on the card at each venue, but on this night two of the five support classes would contest their main events first and while the solid field of twenty Stock Cars put on a great show up front while under green flag conditions, six cautions and a red flag definitely made for a later show than what the Late Model fans had hoped for.

The red flag came on lap six of eighteen when Rusty Zook was on the outside of a three-wide battle down the front stretch and contact got him crossed up entering turn one. He then took a hard hit from Casey Shelliam sending Zook's car up and over a couple of times ending up on his roof. Thankfully both drivers escaped injury in the incident. The six cautions were all for drivers who were running in the back half of the field at laps three (twice), five, eleven (twice) and fifteen all interrupting an amazing battle for the lead between Greg Gill, Norman Bean, David Brandies, John Oliver Jr. and Nathan Wood.

Gill would lead the first six laps before Oliver took the point on lap seven. Brandies, who was making hay by slamming the cushion in turn one and then
aiming for the bottom to exit turn two would take the lead on lap eight and when Wood would mimic that line in turns one and two late in the race, it would give him the run that he needed to drive around the outside of Brandies in turns three and four with two laps remaining to take the lead and then the win in a thriller. Brandies, Oliver, Gill and Bean would complete the top five in that order.

The ten car, fifteen lap Sport Mod feature would also precede the Late Models and a big section of the crowd cheered as Bryson Eckrich established the early pace. Shaun Slaughter would drive by him on lap four, but two laps later when Slaughter went above the cushion in one and two, Eckrich was able to regain the lead on lap seven. On the following lap as Slaughter tried to again go around the outside of Eckrich on the front stretch, contact between the two front runners would send Slaughter into the wall at the entrance of turn one ending his evening.

On the restart Colton Livezy would go to work on the young leader taking the point on lap ten and then driving away to his fourth win of the season. Eckrich would do his cheering section proud by running second followed by Trey Rock, Justin Schroeder and Nick Aupperle.

We kept tabs on the IMCA Modified feature on the way home as front row starters Spencer Diercks and Kurt Kile ran one-two with second row starters Jace Eckrich and Matt Fulton Jr. next in line. Chris Zogg would complete the top five. The Vintage Late Models and the Midwest Jalopies would close out the evening.

It was great to see the West Liberty Raceway, the track that I spent my early years as a race fan at, having a "big show" feel to it with a vendor's row, long lines at the ticket window and only a few open seats come race time. It will be hard to match, but I hope that we see similar crowds for the remainder of the 2026 schedule here with the annual Fair Race on Wednesday July 15th featuring the Premier Late Model Tour, the return of the Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders on Saturday September 5th and the revival of the Liberty 100 featuring the MLRA Late Models on Friday and Saturday October 23rd and 24th.

Watching the radar this morning as I continue to plan my drive to Stuart to fill in for Tony Paris at tonight's Bill Davis Memorial and as of 10:50 a.m. it looks like Davenport is still hoping to run tonight's Hell Tour event. On Friday I look forward to the Sprint Invaders' return to the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri, then on Saturday the Invaders go back to their home track of 34 Raceway west of Burlington.

Thanks to Mike Ruefer for providing all of the photos here!

Plenty of racing for you to find in your area and I hope to see you on the Back Stretch soon!

* Scorer Extraordinaire Kevin Feller reports that the actual track record of 18.148 by Darren Miller still stands

Jackson Cruises With MLRA; Elston Prevails In IMCA Portion Of A Late Model Doubleheader At 34 Raceway

Late Model fans were treated to double the fun on Saturday night at 34 Raceway as Washburne Repair presented the MLRA Late Models on the same card with the track's weekly IMCA Late Model action. Mini Haulers and IMCA Hobby Stocks would lend support as well in what turned out to be a near perfect night for racing weather wise. A slow moving complex of storms about one hundred miles to the west blew out the cloud tops keeping 34 Raceway cool and shady during the couple of hours prior to race time and that was a track preparer's dream with the racing surface staying tacky and fast all night with barely a hint of dust.

After abruptly shutting down prior to an already announced season opener in 2025, Ernie Leftwich has brought the MLRA back to life in 2026 and has scrambled to put together a schedule that might draw a regular roster of drivers. That is not an easy task given the crowded field of regional series in his area with Revival, Comp Cams and the new Heartland Late Model Tour that in part was introduced to fill the void prior to MLRA announcing the comeback. Then when you consider that MARS picked up some of the MLRA's previous event in this area, such as the Slocum 50 here at 34 Raceway, plus the existing presence of the SLMR and the steady growth of the Premier Tour, even eastern Iowa has become nearly saturated with touring Late Model races. This in an area that ten to fifteen years ago was begging for some open Late Model shows after the old Busch series had faded away.

I was thrilled to see twenty-two cars signed in for the MLRA portion of this event and have to wonder just what it would have been if not for the early cancellation of the SLMR voyage north to the Mississippi Thunder Speedway this weekend. MLRA's streaming partner Race On even stepped up to raise the start money to $800 and that is what likely allowed us to clear the twenty car hurdle as a quick look at the MLRA points coming in showed that only seven of the top ten, plus drivers ranked fifteenth and twenty-second in the standings were on hand even though this was just the sixth event to be contested thus far.

You know that a race track is in prime condition when the back half of the qualifying order still has an opportunity to set quick time and on this night the top three qualifiers Aaron Marrant, Caden McWhorter and Jeff Herzog went out eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth respectively. Marrant would dominate the opening heat race to earn the pole position for the main event. Point leader Tony Jackson Jr. would outduel McWhorter early and then drive away to win the second heat and join Marrant on the front row while heat three was the race of the night. 

Herzog and Derrick Stewart waged battle early with the Simpson brothers Chad and Chris giving chase and as the ten laps clicked off quickly Chad made it a three car battle for the front. On the final lap Chad was able to slip under Herzog in turn four to steal the win and he even brought Chris with him to edge out Herzog by inches at the stripe for second.

Later though, just as the feature lineup was about to be read off, it was announced that Chad Simpson's heat race victory had been nullified in tech due to the droop rule resulting in a four position penalty for the five-time MLRA champion so he would now start the the thirty lap main event from fifteenth rather than third.

Marrant and Jackson would race side-by-side through turns one and two as you see here from this great photo provided by Mike Ruefer. Then, with his high line momentum, Jackson would take the lead down the back straightaway and for all intents and purposes the winner of this non-stop thirty lap speed fest had been decided.

My focus was on Chad Simpson who used a wide line in turns three and four on lap two to pass three cars in one nifty move and by lap six he was up to ninth. He would have to wait for a mid-race bobble by Caden McWhorter to get to eighth and at the checkers Chad would nip Daniel Hilsabeck at the line to finish the race in the seventh position. 

With his droop rule violation in the heat race, Chad Simpson (25) moved from fifteenth to seventh in the 30-lap main event here racing with Matthew Larson (8), Jeff Tharp (10T) and Rickey Frankel (33) - Mike Ruefer photo

Dylan Thornton would take second from Marrant on lap seventeen, but by then Jackson was more than a straightaway ahead and working traffic like a pro as he cruised to his third MLRA victory of the season. Thornton was the runner-up not far ahead of Chris Simpson with Marrant and Jeff Herzog completing the top five. 

Chris Simpson (32) and Dylan Thornton (38T)

That was how the night ended right around 9:30 while it was the IMCA Late Models that got the feature racing started with twenty-five laps after a short intermission where only some minor track prep was needed on the near perfect surface. Pole-sitter Denny Woodworth would lead a pack of four front runners through the opening laps with Mark Burgtorf, Tommy Elston and fifth starting Dustin Smith racing hard in a tight formation.

Woodworth and Smith would soon separate from the other two and on lap five Smith would race to the lead. Elston would go to second a few laps later and now those two drivers would pull away with Elston glued to the back bumper of the leader and trying to find a line where he could get by. The caution would wave with nine laps remaining when Jesse Bodin spun in turn four and, while under caution, Smith's #53 slowed to a stop on the front stretch. The car would not start again and he would be pushed back to the pit area with suspected ignition issues.

Elston would assume the lead from there with young Blaise Lewis trying to keep pace while behind them the action heated up for position. In the closing laps Austen Becerra started throwing out sliders like a grill cook at White Castle at 2:00 a.m. following a Grateful Dead concert with only one of them resulting in some contact. He would make his way to third at the checkers and I assume that veteran drivers Woodworth and Burgtorf may have had something to say to him afterwards. You always know that Austen is going to put on a show and the the three-time All Iowa Points champion, once in the Four Cylinders and twice in the Modifieds, did just that here tonight!

The 2023 All Iowa Points Late Model champ Elston would secure the win with the Late Model rookie, coming out of the Modified ranks in 2026, Blaise Lewis coming home as the runner-up.

It is great to see the Hobby Stocks back in action on a somewhat regular basis again at 34 Raceway and a fun field of thirteen put on a nice show in both the heats and the fifteen lap main event. Luke Phillips would set the pace with Tucker Richardson glued to his back bumper and after a couple of failed attempts to use the low line to mount a challenge, the young Richardson made one of the most skilled moves that I have seen in this division. With Phillips driving the cushion on both ends, Tucker would squeeze just under him in turns three and four, pulling even without ever making contact despite being just inches apart.

Richardson would lead lap nine by inches and then drift up the track to shut the door on Phillips in turn two to take the lead. To his credit Luke would battle right back driving to the inside of the new leader and while I have seen this type of race turn into a "door slam" show by Hobby Stock drivers in the past, these two showed great respect for each other.

Phillips was still trying to find his way back to the front when the caution waved for Tristan Wenig's spin in turn four and we were then left with a one lap dash to the finish. Again Phillips drove deep into turn one hoping to make Richardson flinch on the cushion, but rather than banging his way to the front Luke would settle for second as Richardson scored a popular win, his second of the weekend after taking the checkers at Columbus Junction on Friday night as well. I was impressed with the driving of another teenager as Jordan Patz dominated his heat race and then moved from fifth to third in the feature. Kale Hemsley and Garrett Porter would round out the top five.

The Mini Haulers are never short on action here at 34 and they would go four-wide at the front down the back stretch on the opening circuit of their twelve lap finale. Dawson Tipps would emerge as the leader before a caution waved on lap two for Jason Delzell's spin. Caleb Ealey would then go to work on Tipps taking the point on lap five before the final caution waved three laps later when the third-place truck of Nick Wilkerson suffered a flat tire. There would be no stopping Ealey from there as he would come from the back of the seven truck field to score his fifth win of the season in five outings. Tipps would go second, Austin Roose finished third followed by the Delzells, Hayden and Jason.

Always posting one of the most diverse schedules in the sport, 34 Raceway has three big shows coming up soon that I want to highlight here starting with the return of the Mohrfeld Solor Sprint Invaders on Saturday June 20th. Then on Thursday July 2nd LaVeine Sanitation will once again present their Fan Appreciation Night with free admission to the grandstand, plus a hefty purse that will pull in drivers from near and far. Then, just one week later on Thursday July 9th, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series returns to 34 Raceway with this event now serving as the 2026 version of the Slocum 50 with a whopping $15,000 going to the feature winner!

As a I wrap up this report just past 10:00 a.m. on Sunday I am waiting on the weather to see if I will be announcing tonight as planned at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton. They plan to make a final decision around noon and if that one falls by the wayside I will be checking on other options as tonight's MLRA race at Quincy has been postponed. Then later this week I am excited to make the trip north to the Cedar Lake Speedway for The Masters showcasing the USMTS Modifieds on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, before returning to Quincy on Sunday for the Sprint Invaders.

Hope to see you again soon here on the Back Stretch!

Oliver Snakebit Twice As Birck And Agee Snare Late Race Wins At Lee County

With a last minute opportunity to go racing on Friday I made the short trip south to the Lee County Speedway for some IMCA weekly racing action at one of my favorite tracks in nearby Donnellson. One of the things that I love about an IMCA weekly show is the average point invert lineup procedures used by most tracks as it is seldom that you will see a feature race where the winner leads from green to checkers and that was definitely the case on this night. Even the non-sanctioned Mini Haulers who used a draw and redraw format produced a good back and forth battle making for a very entertaining night of racing.

A solid field of eighteen Late Models signed in and their twenty-five lap main event would be first on the card. Hometown driver Jeremy Pundt has had a rough start to 2026 and that is why he would start near the front and after an impressive heat race victory he would move from third to first on the opening lap. Jackson Frankel and Jake Griffin would fall in behind him and that lead trio would break away from the rest of the field until the first caution waved on lap fifteen for debris in turn two.

Jake Griffin - MF Photography

Pundt had been able to keep about a five car length advantage over his chasers prior to the caution, but on the restart Frankel went to the top and sailed around the leader to take the point on lap sixteen and Griffin soon dropped Pundt to third. Now it was the young Quincy driver that looked in control until Christian Miles slowed and drew a caution with just two laps remaining. Again the restart would write the story of this one as Griffin found a bite on the bottom of turns one and two to drive past Frankel and then cruised to his first win of the season as he has returned to dirt late model racing for the first time in twelve years in the Warner Racing #79. You may remember Jake as the driver who once turned heads as a twelve year old racing Late Models for a few years before moving on to pavement racing and more recently he was wheeling a Winged Sprint Car around the Midwest. One of his more notable victories in my book was a pavement Late Model win in Alaska I believe in 2019. 

Frankel would settle for the second spot, Pundt fought off the ninth starting Spencer Havermale for third while the defending track champion Darin Weisinger Jr. came from eleventh to finish fifth.

The Northern Sport Mods would be up next for twenty trips around the D-shaped 3/8th-mile with front row starter Brandon Lambert leading lap one before yielding to John Oliver Jr. in the Goble Racing #55 car. Oliver would stretch the lead over the next few laps until Cole Gillenwater made his way to second after starting eighth and he would then quickly eat away at the margin,

Coming to score lap eleven, Gillenwater would make a nifty high to low move exiting turn four to squeeze under Oliver as they entered turns one and two. Gillenwater would take the lead down the back stretch but then he nearly slapped the guard rail after going too high in turn three. A quick recovery would find his high side momentum enough to edge out Oliver for the lead on lap twelve and on the next visit to turns three and four that same scenario would play out as again Gillenwater nearly grabbed some iron.

After leading lap thirteen he would then take the low line into one and two where he slid sideways at the apex nearly collecting Oliver before coming to a halt and drawing the caution with seven laps remaining. As Oliver brought the field back to green for the restart the back half of the field jumbled up with Olivia Hofmann and Chevy Barnes getting the worst of it as they got tangled up against the front stretch wall. With just one wrecker on hand it took a crowbar and some ingenuity to finally separate the two Sport Mods creating a long delay in what had been a quick moving show.

Once back to green Oliver would lead the field as Cody Agee and Adam Birck battled for second behind him and once Birck cleared Agee he would set his sights on the leader. Adam would make his move in turns one and two to take the lead at the white flag and he would then ease away for his first victory over two abbreviated seasons. Oliver would take the second spot, Agee was close behind in third, Brandon Dale who earlier in the evening made a thrilling high side charge on the opening lap of his heat race to go from sixth to first exiting turn two would take fourth in the finale while Gillenwater was the fastest car on the track making his way back up to fifth.

Caleb Ealey - MF Photography

Nick Wilkerson had won in his last two outings here at Lee County so when he drew the pole position for the twelve lap Mini Hauler main event, the smart money would have been on him. Caleb Ealey had other ideas though and after starting fourth he would put the challenge on Wilkerson making a pass for the lead on lap six. Nick would battle back though and regain the advantage on lap seven only to have Ealey drive back by him on the following lap. This time Caleb would put some distance on him as the final four laps clicked away with Ealey taking the entertaining victory over Wilkerson. Dawson Tipps was not too far behind them in third while Tate Kronfeldt and Austin Meeker closed out the top five.

It is sad that the track that introduced the Four Cylinder division to this area with the "Wild Things" over twenty-five years ago now has such a struggle to draw a double digit field of Sport Compacts anymore, but what was once dubbed as a class that weren't "race cars", but rather "cars that race" has been anything but that in this area with the rules bouncing back and forth between IMCA and the more open UMP rules the past several years.

Only six drivers signed in on this night and when Luke Fraise broke during the Australian Pursuit in honor of the late, great Ramo Stott, only five would start the twelve lap main event. Kimberly Abbott would lead them on lap one before Brandon Reu sailed past and then drove away to another feature victory here at his hometown track. Abbott was second followed by the Prims, David and Ethan, while Bill Bennett was fifth.

Twenty laps for the Stock Cars would follow with third starting Beau Taylor nosing ahead of pole-sitter Rusty Zook at the stripe to lead lap one. The caution would fly after lap two when Jathan Fuller spun in turn three and the restart would see John Oliver Jr. make a thrilling move to be the third car from the bottom in a four-wide stack heading down the back stretch to pick up several positions after starting from ninth.

Derrick Agee - MF Photography

The two-time and defending All Iowa Points Stock Car champion, Oliver would soon make his way to second and he would drive past Taylor to take the lead on lap seven. Already with ten wins on the season, and a big lead at the Memorial Day weekend in the All Iowa Points, John looked like a sure bet to get win number eleven as he pulled away from the field, but in the closing laps Derrick Agee who had worked his way up from eighth was now closing quickly in second. A slower car ahead of him entering turn one on the final lap required the leader to check up a bit and now Agee would have a big run down the back stretch where he went straight to the cushion in turn three.

Oliver may have heard him up there as he would drift up the track exiting turn four to take away the high line, but Derrick had already aimed his car for the bottom and he would nip Oliver at the line by a nose in a thrilling finish! Taylor would hold down the third spot at the checkers with Jason See and Casen Keller who has been making the long trip down from Indianola weekly closing out the top five. 

The Modifieds would close out the evening with twenty laps with Jace Whitt leading the first four circuits before Austen Becerra blew by him. A three-time All Iowa Points champion himself, once in the Four Cylinders and twice in the Modifieds, Becerra was in a class of his own tonight as he would drive away to a dominating victory. The race to watch was for second as Whitt, Jared Eckrich and Mark Burgtorf waged battle and in the closing laps Whitt had to make a sudden move to the outside while passing a slower car allowing Eckrich to grab the runner-up spot. Whitt was third, Burgtorf fourth and Bill Roberts Jr. closed out the top five.

It is good to have Lee County back to Friday night racing and with the IMCA sanction as new promoter Darin Weisnger and his family are pouring their hearts into this effort. If you are in the area make sure the check it out as there needs to be some more butts in the seats to keep this historic track healthy for years to come! 

Heat race action at LCS - Special thanks to Micheil Farr and MF Photogrpahy for the us of his fine work!

Next up for me will be four nights in Independence starting Sunday with the IMCA Summer Nationals that has a banger list of pre-entries in all five divisions. Then I hope to make at least one of the MLRA Late Model shows at Davenport and Burlington on Friday and Saturday followed by a night on the microphone at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton on Sunday the 7th.

Hope to see you again soon on the Back Stretch!