This seems to happen to us at least once each Spring. Mother Nature decides to have one more winter fit and it wipes out an entire weekend of early season special events and, or season openers. I had planned on catching two nights of the Lucas Oil ASCS National Sprint Series in Oklahoma City this weekend, but officials wisely pulled the plug on that in the middle of the week as over four inches of snow is predicted for portions of the Sooner state. Usually I am a bit skeptical about canceling an event days in advance based upon a weather forecast, but it was hard to argue with this call.
Todd Staley made a similar decision mid-week as events at LA Raceway in La Monte MO and Thunderhill Speedway in Mayetta KS were postponed from this week to next week setting up a unique quadrupleheader. It is not often that you find a mid-week race in April, actually it is not often that you find a mid-week race in Missouri period, but that will be the case on Thursday night April 2nd when the USMTS Mods tackle LA Raceway with the first heat race scheduled for 7 p.m. The series then moves to West Siloam Springs OK for two nights that were originally scheduled before heading back north to Mayetta for a 5:30 p.m. start on Sunday.
Eagle Raceway canceled this week's Icebreaker early on, Malden Speedway has pulled the plug on their weekly opener for tonight (March 27th) and as of this writing the Shop 'N Save Modified Special for Saturday afternoon at I-55 in Pevely is still on, but please check before making the trip as the forecast is not favorable.
Hopefully the weather straightens out a bit for next weekend as the Iowa tracks start to spring to life with the season opener at the State Fairgrounds in Des Moines and the Frostbuster at the Marshalltown Speedway on Friday night. Two more "Frostbusters" are on the slate for Saturday night at Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City and 34 Raceway near Burlington, the "SuperNationals Shakedown" will take place at the Boone Speedway, and the Sunday Frostbuster is set to go at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton. Park Jefferson has a two-day "Spring Thaw" event set for Friday and Saturday, the WDRL Late Models open their season on Saturday night in Davenport while the MLRA Late Models kick off their 2009 tour at I-80 Speedway on Saturday.
LA Raceway comes back on Saturday night the 4th with a 360 and 305 Sprint Special and there are regular season openers scheduled for Friday night at Chateau Raceway and Fairmont Raceway in Minnesota as well as Tri-City Speedway in Illinois. Saturday season openers are set for Algona, Deer Creek, Adrian, I-55, Montgomery County, Saint Francois County, Valley and West Plains, while Sunday season openers are on tap at I-35 Mason City, Quincy and Monett. Plenty to choose from! And remember that you can always click on the "Calendar" tab at www.PositivelyRacing.com to find out who is racing in our coverage area!
Let's just hope that Mother Nature gives us the green flag next week.....right now she's hiding it behind her back.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
34 Raceway Car Show
After last week's road trip we stayed close to home this weekend, but while working in the yard on Saturday it about drove me nuts as the weather was absolutely perfect for racing. On Sunday we visited the annual 34 Raceway car show at Westland Mall and, as always, I was very impressed with the hard work that the drivers and crews in this area put into their racing machines. Having been around this track for the past thirty years it seems that at some point a precedent was set where everybody, from the Hobby Stocks to the Late Models, would make sure that their cars were not only fast, but sharp looking as well. That tradition continues in 2009, take a look at the car show pics below and you'll see what I mean. And this is only a sampling of the many great looking cars on display!
34 Raceway opens it season on Saturday April 4th with a "Frostbuster" event.
34 Raceway opens it season on Saturday April 4th with a "Frostbuster" event.
Best Appearing Modified: Mike Weikert Jr.
Tanner Thomann's award winning Hobby Stock
Matt Strassheim took "Best of Show" for the Late Model division
A new look for Kirk Kinsley in the IMCA Stock Cars
To check out where all of the early season specials are in Iowa and Missouri, and to see when your favorite track is set to open its weekly schedule, click on the "Calendar" tab at http://www.positivelyracing.com/.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Holzkamper Tops USMTS Mods at Humboldt
After weighing our options and checking the weather we decided to stick with our original plans and head to Humboldt, Kansas, for the Sunday afternoon USMTS show rather than return to Springfield for the three remaining feature events. It was my first trip to Humboldt and I was very impressed with the neatness of this facility from the new tower atop the grandstands all the way down to some of the cleanest restrooms I have ever seen at a dirt track. Toss in a well configured racing surface and the fans of east central Kansas have a hidden gem to attend every Friday night.
Fifty-three USMTS Modifieds stars, including Kenny Wallace and Ken Schrader, had their cars at Humboldt this afternoon along with a good field in both the B-Mods and the Factory Stocks. The track was packed down hard after Saturday night's show and despite a pretty stiff south wind along with a good amount of sunshine it produced one of the best afternoon shows that I can ever remember attending. This was evidenced by Steve Holzkamper coming from the back row to win the sixth and final Modified heat race. Yes, the track did lock down come feature time, but there was still plenty of action and a bit of drama to send the fans home buzzing.
Johnny Fennewald was another driver who came from deep in the starting grid to win his heat race and when he drew the pole position for the forty-lap main event he instantly became the man to beat. When Fennewald slipped up on an early restart fellow front row starter Brian Bolin seized the advantage with Bryan Rowland glued to his back bumper. The two new leaders opened a nice advantage until Holzkamper slipped past Fennewald for third and started to close the gap. With just eight laps remaining Bolin slipped a little high off of turn two and Rowland charged to his inside down the back straightaway. The two entered turn three wheel to wheel and they both drifted up the racetrack. This was exactly what Steve Holzkamper was hoping for as he stayed glued to the bottom and prepared to rocket from third to first. But, when Bolin got too high in turn four, he spun out and the caution flag flew.
The officials ruled that both Rowland and Bolin would be charged with the caution and both drivers would have to go to the back for the restart. Rowland stopped on the front stretch to plead his case and by his hand gestures you could tell that he felt that since he had entered the turn even with Bolin he should not be penalized for the incident. Initially I would have agreed with Rowland, but he did drive into turn three deeper than he had been and had he kept the car on the bottom line Bolin would not likely have spun. Besides, the final selling point for me was the fact that if Rowland had not also been credited for the caution he would have restarted the race in front of Holzkamper, something that would not have been the case if the caution had not been needed as the Gentry, Arkansas, driver would have definitely taken the lead off of turn four. In other words, Rowland would have directly benefitted from the caution flag. It was a tough call to make as Rowland clearly was not trying to "take out" the leader Bolin, but the call was made and was made without hesitation, something that you can always expect at a USMTS event.
Holzkamper walked away from the field over the final eight laps as fellow Arkansas driver Johnny Bone Jr., who had started from row five, slipped past Fennewald to finish second. Bone told me earlier that he hated daytime racing so perhaps his thoughts may have changed after collecting that nice second-place check. Dustin Boney, who started alongside Bone finished fourth behind Fennewald while Gary Langworthy turned in an impressive fifth-place performance.
You will note that this top five does not include any of the names that we are used to seeing near the top of a USMTS event results list. Kelly Shryock's day ended abruptly after one lap when he must have clipped one of the infield track tires in turn four sending him sliding to the infield with a broken left front suspension. Jason Hughes pulled the snowman (the eight) in the redraw so he tried the freshly watered top groove in the early laps and actually made a bit of progress before that moisture went away. Zack VanderBeek used a provisional and was not a factor all day while last week's winner in Nebraska, Tommy Myer, and former series champion Jason Krohn failed to make the show. I will be interested to see how this event shuffles up the early season point standings after three events.
The United States Modified Touring Series is one of the top touring events going right now regardless of whether you are talking about Late Models, Sprint Cars or Modifieds. You are virtually guaranteed a diverse field of cars including touring regulars, regional stars and local heroes, and the format lends itself to plenty of on-track action. Plus with Todd and Janet Staley, their sons Ryne and Logan, Ron Reefer, Lon Oelke and the rest of the traveling crew you know that you are going to get a tight, well presented racing program. Check out their schedule and make sure that you pick up one or more of their shows when they are in your area.
Fifty-three USMTS Modifieds stars, including Kenny Wallace and Ken Schrader, had their cars at Humboldt this afternoon along with a good field in both the B-Mods and the Factory Stocks. The track was packed down hard after Saturday night's show and despite a pretty stiff south wind along with a good amount of sunshine it produced one of the best afternoon shows that I can ever remember attending. This was evidenced by Steve Holzkamper coming from the back row to win the sixth and final Modified heat race. Yes, the track did lock down come feature time, but there was still plenty of action and a bit of drama to send the fans home buzzing.
Johnny Fennewald was another driver who came from deep in the starting grid to win his heat race and when he drew the pole position for the forty-lap main event he instantly became the man to beat. When Fennewald slipped up on an early restart fellow front row starter Brian Bolin seized the advantage with Bryan Rowland glued to his back bumper. The two new leaders opened a nice advantage until Holzkamper slipped past Fennewald for third and started to close the gap. With just eight laps remaining Bolin slipped a little high off of turn two and Rowland charged to his inside down the back straightaway. The two entered turn three wheel to wheel and they both drifted up the racetrack. This was exactly what Steve Holzkamper was hoping for as he stayed glued to the bottom and prepared to rocket from third to first. But, when Bolin got too high in turn four, he spun out and the caution flag flew.
The officials ruled that both Rowland and Bolin would be charged with the caution and both drivers would have to go to the back for the restart. Rowland stopped on the front stretch to plead his case and by his hand gestures you could tell that he felt that since he had entered the turn even with Bolin he should not be penalized for the incident. Initially I would have agreed with Rowland, but he did drive into turn three deeper than he had been and had he kept the car on the bottom line Bolin would not likely have spun. Besides, the final selling point for me was the fact that if Rowland had not also been credited for the caution he would have restarted the race in front of Holzkamper, something that would not have been the case if the caution had not been needed as the Gentry, Arkansas, driver would have definitely taken the lead off of turn four. In other words, Rowland would have directly benefitted from the caution flag. It was a tough call to make as Rowland clearly was not trying to "take out" the leader Bolin, but the call was made and was made without hesitation, something that you can always expect at a USMTS event.
Holzkamper walked away from the field over the final eight laps as fellow Arkansas driver Johnny Bone Jr., who had started from row five, slipped past Fennewald to finish second. Bone told me earlier that he hated daytime racing so perhaps his thoughts may have changed after collecting that nice second-place check. Dustin Boney, who started alongside Bone finished fourth behind Fennewald while Gary Langworthy turned in an impressive fifth-place performance.
You will note that this top five does not include any of the names that we are used to seeing near the top of a USMTS event results list. Kelly Shryock's day ended abruptly after one lap when he must have clipped one of the infield track tires in turn four sending him sliding to the infield with a broken left front suspension. Jason Hughes pulled the snowman (the eight) in the redraw so he tried the freshly watered top groove in the early laps and actually made a bit of progress before that moisture went away. Zack VanderBeek used a provisional and was not a factor all day while last week's winner in Nebraska, Tommy Myer, and former series champion Jason Krohn failed to make the show. I will be interested to see how this event shuffles up the early season point standings after three events.
The United States Modified Touring Series is one of the top touring events going right now regardless of whether you are talking about Late Models, Sprint Cars or Modifieds. You are virtually guaranteed a diverse field of cars including touring regulars, regional stars and local heroes, and the format lends itself to plenty of on-track action. Plus with Todd and Janet Staley, their sons Ryne and Logan, Ron Reefer, Lon Oelke and the rest of the traveling crew you know that you are going to get a tight, well presented racing program. Check out their schedule and make sure that you pick up one or more of their shows when they are in your area.
Kenny Wallace takes on the USMTS regulars at several shows on the 2009 TourThanks for stopping in and checking us out! Don't forget to add http://www.positivelyracing.com/ to your "favorites" and stop by often. If you would like to learn more about the theme behind this website, plus hear some other other random race discussion go to http://www.leecountyspeedway.com/ and listen to their March 14th podcast.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Springfield (Day One.....or is it Two?)
The 2nd Annual Turkey Open Wheel Classic at the Springfield Raceway will now be a three-day show......stretched over three and a half months. Promoters Jerry Hoffman and Doug Bland must feel that this show is cursed as it misted and eventually snowed to wipe out the racing on the original date last Thanksgiving weekend and, on Saturday, off and on rain tortured the large throng of racers and fans. Finally, after six and a half hours the decision was made to finish the final three features for the Sprint Cars, Modifieds and Midgets at 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
The one division that did get its feature completed was the Sport Mods where Colt Cheever totally outclassed the thirty-three car field. Cheever won his heat by two-thirds of a lap over J.C. Morton and in the main event he charged from the inside of row two to grab the lead down the backstretch on lap one. As Cheever sped away the race for second was intense with five drivers dicing back and forth throughout the event. That group bunched up though when Darrell Jackson got sideways and stripped the right side body work off of Steven Muilenburg's car leaving the rest of the field scrambling and crashing down the back stretch. As the wreckers cleared the speedway and the remaining cars prepared for a green-white-checkers restart the rain started to fall once again. This cost Morton as he spun out while running third on the final lap and Cheever skated to the dominating victory. Muilenburg wound up second with Jackson taking third.
As the Midgets took to the track for their feature race the rain fell harder and the decision was then made to delay until Sunday.
Sprint Car Notes
Brian Brown started at the back of the first heat and earned the maximum amount of passing points possible by winning the qualifier.....16 year-old Taylor Walton went for a tumble off of the top of turn three.....Oklahoma driver Sean McClelland ran away with the second heat while local favorite Toby Brown was second.....The third heat was stacked and Tyler Blank was impressive as he went flag-to-flag for the win. Johnathon Cornell was second and Derek Hager passed Robby Wolfgang late for third.....There were 26 cars in attendance, the exact number that Bill W. predicted as we talked to him on Friday night. Bill, do you have any stock tips?
The one division that did get its feature completed was the Sport Mods where Colt Cheever totally outclassed the thirty-three car field. Cheever won his heat by two-thirds of a lap over J.C. Morton and in the main event he charged from the inside of row two to grab the lead down the backstretch on lap one. As Cheever sped away the race for second was intense with five drivers dicing back and forth throughout the event. That group bunched up though when Darrell Jackson got sideways and stripped the right side body work off of Steven Muilenburg's car leaving the rest of the field scrambling and crashing down the back stretch. As the wreckers cleared the speedway and the remaining cars prepared for a green-white-checkers restart the rain started to fall once again. This cost Morton as he spun out while running third on the final lap and Cheever skated to the dominating victory. Muilenburg wound up second with Jackson taking third.
As the Midgets took to the track for their feature race the rain fell harder and the decision was then made to delay until Sunday.
Sprint Car Notes
Brian Brown started at the back of the first heat and earned the maximum amount of passing points possible by winning the qualifier.....16 year-old Taylor Walton went for a tumble off of the top of turn three.....Oklahoma driver Sean McClelland ran away with the second heat while local favorite Toby Brown was second.....The third heat was stacked and Tyler Blank was impressive as he went flag-to-flag for the win. Johnathon Cornell was second and Derek Hager passed Robby Wolfgang late for third.....There were 26 cars in attendance, the exact number that Bill W. predicted as we talked to him on Friday night. Bill, do you have any stock tips?
"Blackjack" Brian Brown returned on Sunday afternoon to win the Sprint Car feature
Modified Notes
The fifty-three car field was split into five qualifying heats. Two of the top contenders were eliminated early in the day. Johnny Fennewald had some handling issues during hot laps and he collected Jeremy Payne. Payne's damaged car was soon seen leaving the pits on a small trailer so that his crew could get a head start on the repairs at the shop. Jesse Stovall was leading his heat race when he dropped out on lap four.....The first rain of the day came during the running of the first heat and when Scottie Bough got upside down on the frontstretch, the track became too slick to race and the delay was an hour and forty minutes.....The best two races of the day followed the rain delay as Mitch Keeter held off the challenges of Terry Phillips for the win. Then when leader Rex Merritt lost his power steering he could not fight off the run of James McMillin who made the pass of Merritt on the final turn for the win.....Jason Pursley, David Hendrix and Jody Tillman were the other heat race winners.....Tillman was the 2008 Factory Stock champion at the track and was very impressive driving away from Dusty Campbell and the track's 2008 Modified runner-up Erik Maggard......Austin Wulf made the long trip down from Algona Iowa but failed to qualify.
Midget Notes
The twenty-three car field is headlined by Brad Loyet and Dustin Morgan, but it will be the Heavelow brothers Phil and Beau starting from row number one when the show resumes at 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
This was my first ever trip to Springfield Raceway and I will make sure that it will not be my last as this little quarter-mile proved to be very racy from top to bottom. Hoffman and Bland took a lot of unwarranted heat with how they handled the initial rainout of this event and I hope that the internet jockeys stay under the rocks on this one. Outside of one small delay to get the scoring team caught up just before the Sport Mod feature, they kept everything moving at a steady pace and did all that they could to get this show in on Saturday. Sometimes though, the weather wins.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
One Night (For Me) of March Madness at KLMS
A promoter in this part of the country knows that when you schedule a dirt track race for the first weekend in March you are taking a calculated risk. If you get below normal temperatures, heck if you even get normal temperatures (the normal high temperature for March 6th in Calvert City Kentucky is 55) you know that you will likely get a pretty full pit area and sell a lot of pit passes, but you likely won't get too many ticket buying race fans. However, if Mother Nature treats you just right and you end up with temperatures in the 70's, the risk will likely pay off very nicely just as it did this weekend at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway.
Promoter Sherri Heckenast has taken this early March risk on a regular basis since taking over this beautiful speedplant just twenty miles west of Paducah and it was great to see a pit area full of 50 Late Models and 71 Modifieds along with a solid crowd on hand Friday for night number one of "March Madness". Up until Wednesday of this week I had no plans of making this trip, but as I kept checking the unbelievable forecast throughout the week I finally decided that it might be until mid-May before I can watch another race in just a sweatshirt. I had to be there!
Jeep VanWormer was the first car out for Late Model qualifying and he posted the fastest lap putting him on the pole for heat race one. The Michigan driver ran away from Jason Feger and the rest of the field in that one landing him on the pole for the night's thirty-lap finale. Southwest Missouri driver Will Vaught started alongside VanWormer and was able to put a nose under him twice in the first three-laps, but when Vaught had to get on the binders to keep from slapping the wall off of turn four, Jeep was then long gone. The only caution of the feature flew with just three laps remaining when Ray Cook had a right rear tire go down. Cook, who already has wins this year at the Ice Bowl, the Bama Bash and at Boyd's Speedway in Georgia was running fourth at the time.
Billy Moyer restarted on VanWormer's bumper, but could not mount a challenge as there was no doubt who was the fastest Late Model competitor on this night with Jeep picking up a $5,000 check for his clean sweep. Moyer was the runner-up with Vaught taking third. Steve Francis, driving Tim Logan's car #11 was impressive coming from thirteenth to finish fourth while Steve Casebolt completed the top five.
The Modifieds earned their starting spots in the main event through the passing points system and an impressive charge from row number six to finish second in heat race number one landed Scott Weber (Festus MO) on the pole of the 28-car starting grid. Mike Spatola started on the outside of row two and immediately took up the chase of Weber, but try as he might Spatola could never pull even with the St. Louis area veteran. Weber, who admits that the 2008 season was one for him to forget, was an excited driver in victory lane making sure to thank Sherri Heckenast for putting on this special event and for paying such good money. He collected two grand for the wire-to-wire victory. Spatola, who hails from Manhattan Illinois and is known to show up just about anywhere that UMP Dirt Modifieds are racing, finished in the second spot while Kent Robinson finished third. I thought that Robinson was going to be the man to beat as he charged from thirteenth to third in the first few laps, but he could never mount a challenge on the lead duo. Tommie Seets (Godfrey IL) started next to Robinson in row seven and followed him in for fourth while Jason Miller, who started eighteenth after winning one of the three Last Chance races, completed the top five.
Kudos to Heckenast and her staff at KLMS as late model qualifying was completed and heat race action took the green briefly after the advertised starting time of 7:00 p.m. and the final checkered flag flew on a full program just before 11 o'clock. Special thanks for the hospitality shown to this late arriving columnist who didn't make up his mind about going until minutes before making the six hour drive. Wish I could have stayed for night number two!
Late Model Notes
Jeremy Grady (Story City IA) was third in his heat and finished thirteenth in the main event just ahead of a couple of big names in the sport; Shannon Babb and Dennis Erb Jr......Denny Woodworth (Mendon IL) looked good but failed to qualify running seventh in the first B-Main.....Chris Simpson (Mount Vernon IA) finished third behind Moyer and Jordan Bland in his heat race but pulled out midway through the main event and was credited with 23rd.....Jeff (Bone) Larson (Freeport IL) was one of two drivers doing double duty on the night and he qualified for both feature races. Larson wound up 21st in the Late Model main, but in the Modified he flirted with the top five late before dropping back to seventh......Tommy Weder Jr. (Woodward OK) has spent the last few years competing at most of the UMSTS Modified events. Now, in his rookie season behind the wheel of a Late Model, Weder was impressive down in Florida and he turned some heads tonight finishing second to Vaught in heat race number two and finishing seventh in the main event.....Eric Turner (Hermitage MO) has been consistently in the top ten on his trips down south early in his rookie Late Model campaign, but he struggled here tonight and did not make the show.....other PR.com drivers who were on hand included the 2008 All Missouri Points Limited Late Model Champion Billy James (Sikeston MO), Mike Hammerle (St. Charles MO) and Bryan Collins (Elsberry MO).
Modified Notes
Drivers from as far away as Michigan, Ohio and Minnesota helped boost the field over seventy, but nobody probably drove as far as Hermantown Minnesota's Darrell Nelson. Unfortunately the long trip ended in disappointment tonight as Nelson's engine appeared to expire during his heat race.....Ken Kostenbader (Freeport IL) had a team car to Jeff Larson, but could not get qualified this night.....Wyatt Lantz (Augusta IL) started from the pole of the second heat and was running third before pulling to the infield and in his Last Chance race he was challenging for the final transfer spot before dropping out on the final lap.....Larry Hull (Old Appleton MO) was also in attendance.
Hopefully the weather will once again cooperate this coming weekend as the USMTS Mods run two shows in Kansas, Friday night at Caney Valley Speedway and Saturday night at Humboldt Speedway, and the first 2009 All Missouri points race will take place this Saturday March 14th with the Turkey Open Wheel Classic at the Springfield Raceway.
Promoter Sherri Heckenast has taken this early March risk on a regular basis since taking over this beautiful speedplant just twenty miles west of Paducah and it was great to see a pit area full of 50 Late Models and 71 Modifieds along with a solid crowd on hand Friday for night number one of "March Madness". Up until Wednesday of this week I had no plans of making this trip, but as I kept checking the unbelievable forecast throughout the week I finally decided that it might be until mid-May before I can watch another race in just a sweatshirt. I had to be there!
Jeep VanWormer was the first car out for Late Model qualifying and he posted the fastest lap putting him on the pole for heat race one. The Michigan driver ran away from Jason Feger and the rest of the field in that one landing him on the pole for the night's thirty-lap finale. Southwest Missouri driver Will Vaught started alongside VanWormer and was able to put a nose under him twice in the first three-laps, but when Vaught had to get on the binders to keep from slapping the wall off of turn four, Jeep was then long gone. The only caution of the feature flew with just three laps remaining when Ray Cook had a right rear tire go down. Cook, who already has wins this year at the Ice Bowl, the Bama Bash and at Boyd's Speedway in Georgia was running fourth at the time.
Billy Moyer restarted on VanWormer's bumper, but could not mount a challenge as there was no doubt who was the fastest Late Model competitor on this night with Jeep picking up a $5,000 check for his clean sweep. Moyer was the runner-up with Vaught taking third. Steve Francis, driving Tim Logan's car #11 was impressive coming from thirteenth to finish fourth while Steve Casebolt completed the top five.
The Modifieds earned their starting spots in the main event through the passing points system and an impressive charge from row number six to finish second in heat race number one landed Scott Weber (Festus MO) on the pole of the 28-car starting grid. Mike Spatola started on the outside of row two and immediately took up the chase of Weber, but try as he might Spatola could never pull even with the St. Louis area veteran. Weber, who admits that the 2008 season was one for him to forget, was an excited driver in victory lane making sure to thank Sherri Heckenast for putting on this special event and for paying such good money. He collected two grand for the wire-to-wire victory. Spatola, who hails from Manhattan Illinois and is known to show up just about anywhere that UMP Dirt Modifieds are racing, finished in the second spot while Kent Robinson finished third. I thought that Robinson was going to be the man to beat as he charged from thirteenth to third in the first few laps, but he could never mount a challenge on the lead duo. Tommie Seets (Godfrey IL) started next to Robinson in row seven and followed him in for fourth while Jason Miller, who started eighteenth after winning one of the three Last Chance races, completed the top five.
Kudos to Heckenast and her staff at KLMS as late model qualifying was completed and heat race action took the green briefly after the advertised starting time of 7:00 p.m. and the final checkered flag flew on a full program just before 11 o'clock. Special thanks for the hospitality shown to this late arriving columnist who didn't make up his mind about going until minutes before making the six hour drive. Wish I could have stayed for night number two!
Late Model Notes
Jeremy Grady (Story City IA) was third in his heat and finished thirteenth in the main event just ahead of a couple of big names in the sport; Shannon Babb and Dennis Erb Jr......Denny Woodworth (Mendon IL) looked good but failed to qualify running seventh in the first B-Main.....Chris Simpson (Mount Vernon IA) finished third behind Moyer and Jordan Bland in his heat race but pulled out midway through the main event and was credited with 23rd.....Jeff (Bone) Larson (Freeport IL) was one of two drivers doing double duty on the night and he qualified for both feature races. Larson wound up 21st in the Late Model main, but in the Modified he flirted with the top five late before dropping back to seventh......Tommy Weder Jr. (Woodward OK) has spent the last few years competing at most of the UMSTS Modified events. Now, in his rookie season behind the wheel of a Late Model, Weder was impressive down in Florida and he turned some heads tonight finishing second to Vaught in heat race number two and finishing seventh in the main event.....Eric Turner (Hermitage MO) has been consistently in the top ten on his trips down south early in his rookie Late Model campaign, but he struggled here tonight and did not make the show.....other PR.com drivers who were on hand included the 2008 All Missouri Points Limited Late Model Champion Billy James (Sikeston MO), Mike Hammerle (St. Charles MO) and Bryan Collins (Elsberry MO).
Modified Notes
Drivers from as far away as Michigan, Ohio and Minnesota helped boost the field over seventy, but nobody probably drove as far as Hermantown Minnesota's Darrell Nelson. Unfortunately the long trip ended in disappointment tonight as Nelson's engine appeared to expire during his heat race.....Ken Kostenbader (Freeport IL) had a team car to Jeff Larson, but could not get qualified this night.....Wyatt Lantz (Augusta IL) started from the pole of the second heat and was running third before pulling to the infield and in his Last Chance race he was challenging for the final transfer spot before dropping out on the final lap.....Larry Hull (Old Appleton MO) was also in attendance.
Hopefully the weather will once again cooperate this coming weekend as the USMTS Mods run two shows in Kansas, Friday night at Caney Valley Speedway and Saturday night at Humboldt Speedway, and the first 2009 All Missouri points race will take place this Saturday March 14th with the Turkey Open Wheel Classic at the Springfield Raceway.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
PR.com Coverage Area Drivers Fare Well in Texas
Modified and Late Model drivers from our primary coverage area did quite well this weekend at the Texas World Dirt Track Championship at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track.
Terry Phillips (Springfield MO) captured the $3,000 top prize besting a field of more than 200 Modifieds. Phillips also won the qualifying race on Friday night. Tommy Myer (Blooming Prairie MN) earned $1,250 for his fourth-place finish, Scott Drake (Webb City MO) finished eighth and Eric Turner (Hermitage MO) was tenth. Others who made the A-Main were Rich Lewerke (Garner IA) 16th, Vance Wilson (Frankfort MO) 18th, Brian Bolin (Fort Scott KS) 25th and Mike Hansen (Alton IA) 26th. Non-qualifiers included Chris Abelson, Jay Noteboom, Justin Boney, Kelly Shryock, Jordan Grabouski, Reese Coffee, Tony Jackson Jr. and Adam Larsen.
In the SUPR Late Model portion of the program, Kurt Kile (Nichols IA) finished seventh, Jeremy Grady (Story City IA) was tenth, Kevin Kile (West Liberty IA) was 17th and John Anderson (Omaha NE) was 22nd. The race was won by Louisiana driver Rob Litton. Kurt Kile was the winner of heat race number two. Non-qualifiers included Rick Dralle, Shad Badder, Greg Larsen and Eric Turner.
Racing action gets a lot closer to home this weekend as the USMTS Modifieds open their 2009 campaign in McCool Junction, Nebraska. PR.com blogger Kevin Trittien is making the trip so we'll look forward to his comments next week. Also, Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway hosts their two-day March Madness event this coming Friday and Saturday with both Late Models and Modifieds on the card.
My daughter Ashley, who is currently in Seoul South Korea for a full year teaching english to kindergartners says that she reads this blog on a regular basis just to stay in touch with what is going on with Dad. That's sweet, especially since Ashley really doesn't care that much about racing, although she is the only one in the family (thank goodness!) that has been kissed by Terry McCarl.
Terry Phillips (Springfield MO) captured the $3,000 top prize besting a field of more than 200 Modifieds. Phillips also won the qualifying race on Friday night. Tommy Myer (Blooming Prairie MN) earned $1,250 for his fourth-place finish, Scott Drake (Webb City MO) finished eighth and Eric Turner (Hermitage MO) was tenth. Others who made the A-Main were Rich Lewerke (Garner IA) 16th, Vance Wilson (Frankfort MO) 18th, Brian Bolin (Fort Scott KS) 25th and Mike Hansen (Alton IA) 26th. Non-qualifiers included Chris Abelson, Jay Noteboom, Justin Boney, Kelly Shryock, Jordan Grabouski, Reese Coffee, Tony Jackson Jr. and Adam Larsen.
In the SUPR Late Model portion of the program, Kurt Kile (Nichols IA) finished seventh, Jeremy Grady (Story City IA) was tenth, Kevin Kile (West Liberty IA) was 17th and John Anderson (Omaha NE) was 22nd. The race was won by Louisiana driver Rob Litton. Kurt Kile was the winner of heat race number two. Non-qualifiers included Rick Dralle, Shad Badder, Greg Larsen and Eric Turner.
Racing action gets a lot closer to home this weekend as the USMTS Modifieds open their 2009 campaign in McCool Junction, Nebraska. PR.com blogger Kevin Trittien is making the trip so we'll look forward to his comments next week. Also, Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway hosts their two-day March Madness event this coming Friday and Saturday with both Late Models and Modifieds on the card.
My daughter Ashley, who is currently in Seoul South Korea for a full year teaching english to kindergartners says that she reads this blog on a regular basis just to stay in touch with what is going on with Dad. That's sweet, especially since Ashley really doesn't care that much about racing, although she is the only one in the family (thank goodness!) that has been kissed by Terry McCarl.
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