Jackson Opens 2011 Hawkeye Dirt Tour With A Win

The first mid-week special of the 2011 season played out in record warmth for the date as the JR Motorsports Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds kicked off at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton on Tuesday night. Temperatures in the low 90's and no threat of rain brought out a solid roster of forty-four drivers for the Tour opener although the crowd count was not as strong as the two weekly shows that I have already seen here this season. 

Five qualifying heats would transfer the top two from each to the thirty-lap main event and, with a sticky-fast racing surface at their disposal, to say that the driving style for most was "aggressive" would be an understatement. All five heats had at least one caution that was caused by somebody either running into, or being run into by someone else, and several crews were put to work trying to repair their equipment for another chance to transfer out of one of the three B-Mains later in the night.

Jason Snyder dominated the opening heat race that saw track regular Tony Olson power by Quad City area driver Todd Reed in turn one of the final lap to transfer in second. The winner of the second heat was decided on the final turn of the final lap as Wyatt Lantz drove under race-long leader Larry Herring coming off of turn four for the checkers. Then, as Lantz got off the throttle, white smoke billowed from his #22 as he headed for the infield tech inspection. Lantz would start the feature later, but would pull to the infield on the first lap requiring a tow back to the pits. Vern Jackson was in control of heat three while a thrilling battle developed for second between Jeff Streeter and Jeff Waterman. Streeter, who I believe is a native Iowan who now calls Madera California his home, had held the second spot for most of the race before Waterman edged past him in turn one of the final lap. Trying to fight back Streeter drove hard into turn three, but jumped the cushion and drove over the top of the track never making it to the checkers. The fourth heat saw Mitch Morris take the win with defending Hawkeye Tour champion Mike Jergens holding off 2010 All Iowa Points Modified champ Ryan Dolan for the second transfer position. The fifth and final heat also saw some last lap drama when Rich Smith slipped under the driver who won the inaugural HDT event about a year ago in Independence, Josh Foster exiting turn four for the transfer spot behind winner Mark Elliott. Yes, the five heats were a little on the rough side, but they definitely produced plenty of late race drama as well.

Cautions are more expected in B-Mains, or "last chance" races as drivers know that they need to produce or put it on the trailer and so it was no surprise when all three B's had a caution or two. Dolan dominated the first one with local favorite Joe Docekal in second and Kurt Krauskopf, who had spun twice in his heat race earlier in the night, taking third. Jacob Waterman had the fourth and final transfer wrapped up until he got sideways in turn two on the final lap and could not recover sliding to the infield. Jason Seegmiller then held off defending track champion Scott Hogan over the final lap for the last transfer position although Hogan would then use the track's provisional to start the feature from 24th. Californian Kellen Chadwick is spending the summer racing a Rage chassis based out of West Union, Iowa, and he showed that he was a fast learner of tracks new to him by winning the second B-Main. Adam Bolin, Foster and Mike Burbridge would also move on. The final qualifying event of the night saw two of the pre-race favorites starting from the final row as both Richie Gustin and Ron Barker suffered damage from incidents in their respective heat races. A first lap brush up in turn two of this event saw both drivers trying to spin to avoid and once again they restarted from the rear. Gustin would be able to race his way up to third at the checkers behind Ronn Lauritzen and Mike VanGenderen, but after Barker spun while trying to use the high-side of the quarter-mile to advance, he drove his #37b to the pits and put it on the trailer. Shawn Ryan would punch the final ticket to the main event.

Richie Gustin (19G) and Ron Barker (37B) start from the back of the third B-Main - Photo by Scott Tjabring, Action Track Photography

By feature time the track had slicked off while remaining nice and smooth giving the drivers a choice of three distinct grooves and we were treated to a race for the lead that would use all three. Larry Herring and Mitch Morris would draw the front row with Herring setting the pace using the low line of the quarter. Two early cautions delayed the action, but the fun really picked up on lap three. Using the cushion Morris drove by Herring for the lead going down the back stretch while Vern Jackson found a bite on the very bottom and passed Herring as well for second. With his left front wheel jacked high up in the air, Jackson continued to milk every bit of traction there was on the bottom of turns three and four to drive by Morris and officially lead lap number four. Not to be outdone, the second-generation driver out of Eldridge, Iowa, hooked the cushion perfectly in one and two to fly past Jackson and takeover the lead on the fifth lap.

Morris continued to lead riding up high with Jackson digging around the bottom close behind in second and soon they were joined by Ryan Dolan who had moved forward from his row six starting spot. A caution for a spinning Tony Olson on lap 18 bunched the field up one last time and on the restart Jackson thought about testing another line until he saw the nose of Dolan's car underneath him. Vern closed that door and went right back to work on Morris taking the lead with nine laps remaining. A former track regular here, Jackson opened up a bit of an advantage only to see Morris close back in as the laps wound down, but the veteran driver out of Waterloo did not make any mistakes and held on for the victory. Morris, still a relative unknown in the IMCA ranks likely changed that a bit by finishing second, Dolan was solid in third, Kellen Chadwick moved from twelfth to fourth while Mark Elliott completed the top five. Richie Gustin made the most he could out of a tough night with a sixth-place finish just ahead of Rich Smith, and Scott Hogan came from last to finish eighth.

Vern Jackson (64) digs for traction around the low groove to get by leader Mitch Morris - Photo by Scott Tjabring, Action Track Photography

Two other notes of interest in regard to the starting field in the feature; Mike Jergens drove from staging right back to the pits and did not take the original green flag for the race. After Tony Olson spun in lap two on the first attempt at green, the field was reset for an original restart and Jergens pulled onto the track seemingly ready to race, but then after one slow lap he drove right back into the pit area ending his night. The Dirt Tour provisional for the feature was given to Mark Schulte who was a victim of a multi-car tangle in his heat race suffering enough damage that he did not start his B-Main. Schulte then scratched from the feature as well leaving one to wonder how this will be handled in regard to points and "provisionals used" as the Tour had a limit of two per driver in 2010. The next in line for the Tour provisional on this night would have been Greg Cox, but he also suffered considerable damage in his heat and did not start a B, while Dennis Betzer would have been next on the chart. (Note: Dirt Tour organizer Bucky Doren notified us later in the week that attempts were made to fill the provisional spot after Schulte scratched, but time ran out before the feature was set to take the track. Officially only 23 cars started the feature and were paid purse money and points. Schulte was not charged for a provisional)

The I-35 Speedway in Mason City is next up for the JR Motorsports Hawkeye Dirt Tour on Memorial Day Monday May, 30th. Check out the website and mark your calendar to make sure that you catch the shows near you!

Support class action produced two very entertaining features at Vinton Tuesday night. In the Sport Compacts Bill Whalen Jr. and Brad Chandler ran the middle portion of the race door-to-door for three laps before Chandler finally edged ahead and went on to victory behind the wheel of the #51 car normally driven by Bryce Bailey. Whalen stayed within striking distance to the checkers and finished second ahead of the winner's brother Nathan Chandler in a twelve-lap event that went non-stop. Steve Miedke started in the fifth row and slipped by Brett Vanous on the final corner to take fourth.

Brad Chandler (51) and Bill Whalen Jr. (00) do battle during the IMCA Sport Compact feature - Photo by Scott Tjabring, Action Track Photography

The IMCA Sport Mod headliner was a thriller with the lead changing twice in the final two laps. Visiting driver Carter VanDenBerg led lap one only to have a two-time winner already this season here, Danny Dvorak, drive by him on lap two. A couple of early cautions interrupted the action, but from there the race went green with Austin Kaplan finding the high groove to his liking. Kaplan had started ninth and was up to second late when Dvorak made the slightest of bobbles in turn two with a lap and a half remaining. Kaplan seized the opportunity and sprinted to the front down the backstretch taking the white flag as the new race leader. Dvorak was determined to erase his error though and stormed back on the bottom pulling even with Kaplan down the back stretch and then hitting his marks perfectly in three and four to take the win by a car-length. As the runner-up in a great race, Austin was one of the first to greet Danny in victory lane to congratulate him on the victory. VanDenBerg came home in the third spot, Joel Rust was fourth and fifth went to Jake Strayer.

Danny Dvorak (3R) slips by Carter VanDenBerg (7) for the early lead of the Sport Mod feature at Vinton - Photo by Scott Tjabring, Action Track Photography

A big thanks to promoter Mick Trier and track manager Dana Benning for their hospitality, and to HDT head man Bucky Doren for all of the work that he puts in to running to Tour. This was a very entertaining event that saw the final checkered flag wave just before ten o'clock allowing travelers like me to still be home and in bed before midnight on a Tuesday evening. Also thanks to announcer Ryan Clark for the Positively Racing mention. For more news and notes on this event check out In Staging and TapFan's Tours.