Defintion of Racing, PPV's and The Silly Season Begins

No racing for me this past weekend as my wife and I made a quick trip up to Kalamazoo to visit our daughter who is now the Biological Research Director at the Kalamazoo Nature Center. I could not believe the weather as it felt more like mid-October rather than the last weekend in July and my favorite meteorologist Terry Swails is hinting that we could be in for a long cold winter! Yes, I have a favorite meterologist, weird, huh?

I respect people who are not afraid to say what they feel. Okay let me clarify that, I respect people who are identifiable and who are not afraid to say what they feel, so AWP’s on internet forums, twitter, etc. are not included. And while I do respect what was said by the following gentlemen, I can also respectfully disagree with them, just as I am sure that they or anybody else who reads my thoughts here have done from time to time.

I looked up the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of “racing” and found the following:

“the sport or profession of racing horses, cars, etc.”

Okay, so yes the Brickyard 400 technically did fall within that rather loose definition, but for Tony Stewart to try to convince race fans that this is an event worth buying a ticket for was somewhat futile. Tony’s quote can be found within Terry Blount’s recap of the event at ESPN.com, but perhaps the better quote of the day came from one of the ESPN.com race chatters with “More people will pass a kidney stone in the grandstands today than cars will pass each other on the track.” I went to the Brickyard 400 back in 2005 and had a great seat one row from the top in turn one. I was in the shade and there was a cool breeze blowing despite it being a typically hot day in central Indiana and you guessed it, I fell asleep during the race. It is not a fan friendly event and after twenty years the newness has worn off as evidenced by the shrinking crowd. Tony Stewart was the winner that day and I was thrilled for him. I like Tony Stewart not only as a driver, but as a personality as well and perhaps nobody is doing as much for the sport of dirt track racing right now than he is. But he will have a tough time selling the Brickyard based upon the definition of “racing” as fans want quite a bit more than that.

Another gentleman, whom I have mentioned here before, that I admire for speaking his mind recently said in his blog that Pay-Per-View (PPV) does not hurt dirt tracks, but instead helps them. Yet if you read his daily entries both before and after making that assertion you will see multiple instances where he talks about the cost of making a trip to an event, or how late that he might get home from a show so instead of going to an area track and buying a ticket that particular evening he is going to stay home and watch some PPV from some far off track that he will never ever attend in person. I love ya Ron, but you are kind of proving my point!

I don’t know what kind of deals tracks are getting when they host a PPV, but if they truly are getting a good chunk of the revenue from each subscriber then yes, perhaps it is a good thing for that particular evening. But bookmark this entry and mark my words, because if we keep seeing more and more live PPV events we will also eventually see fewer and fewer people actually attending those same events. Trust me, I hope that I am wrong, and I will be more than happy to have any of you come up to me five or ten years from now and say, “Hey, you were an idiot when you thought that live internet broadcasts would hurt dirt racing,” because that would mean that our sport is still at least as strong as it is now.

There is a reason why the Knoxville Nationals is no longer shown on live television and it is probably not the one that most people think it is.

In Overexposure I gave an example of how all of the free next day internet video will eventually erode attendance and I am glad to see that some tracks are now enforcing a “no videotaping” rule. Yes, I know that this is a bummer for a racer’s wife or mother who might just be taping her one car so that the driver can watch it and then make improvements to his or her driving style for the following week, but that’s just the way it is now. Oh yes, and by the way, the event that I refer to in that entry was run again this past Friday night in front of a “smaller than expected crowd”. And you could confirm that by watching more than an hour’s worth of video of the event, including the support classes, that was posted on YouTube the very next day.

I wish that I would have bookmarked it so that I could provide you with more details, but I did read recently that a driver and his team were suspended by a short track for a couple of weeks due to making remarks on an internet forum that went against the track’s policy for social media content. Yes, you have a right to free speech, but keep in mind that a track promoter, just like any other business operator, has the right to refuse service and many tracks have signs posted to remind you of that fact. I know that if I was still a promoter I would also have very strict rules for my staff in regard to posting their opinions on a forum. Promoting the track with facts and information is one thing, but stating opinion and getting into pissing matches with one another is just a downright embarrassment, something that we have seen play out on one of my favorite forum boards over recent weeks.

The “silly season”, where tracks start to open, close or change hands got off to an early start this year when the owners of the Quincy Raceways announced on Sunday night that the quarter-mile bullring is up for sale or lease. And, if nothing is worked out prior to the 2014 season, special events only would be staged and it would be quite possible that those “special events” might not actually be “racing” events (see definition above). It was reported by “Stevie Dirt” that prospective new owners are already in negotiations, so hopefully something can be worked out to keep this Sunday night staple from fading into the sunset.

I’ve ruffled enough feathers for now, time to focus on nine nights of racing in ten days beginning on Thursday when I plug the World of Outlaws Late Models at Independence in between four days each at Knoxville featuring the 360 and 410 Sprint Car Nationals. Hope to see you on the Back Stretch!

Dirt Racing Shines As Austin Dillon Wins At Eldora

"Now this is real racing right here," exclaimed an elated Austin Dillon as he was interviewed in victory lane following the Mudsummer Classic at the Eldora Speedway. I wasn't there, but I was one of hopefully very many who tuned in to the live coverage on SPEED and I am not going to get into depth here. However, in this day and age where it seems like somebody always finds fault with something, I just wanted to say how proud I am of the sport of dirt track racing right now.

Congratulations to Tony Stewart and his entire Eldora Speedway crew. Thanks to Mike Helton and NASCAR for taking this huge step and bringing the sanction back to dirt after a forty-three year absence. The booth announcers of Allen, Parsons and Waltrip did a great job and the duo of Krista Voda and Clint Bowyer, along with their guests filled the downtime very nicely. A tip of the hat to all 35 drivers who participated and to the 30 who qualified and ran a much cleaner race than most expected. Congratulations to journeyman racer Norm Benning who earned his fifteen seconds of fame by keeping his foot to the floor while bouncing off the wall to hang on to the final qualifying spot. Heat races and a Last Chance race at a NASCAR event, you gotta love it!

As expected the star power of Kyle Larson continues to rise and most of all a tip of the cowboy hat to Austin Dillon for coming from a mid-pack starting spot to take the win. The grandson of Richard Childress is no stranger to dirt having raced both Late Models and UMP-type Modifieds the past few years under the tutelage of Dale and Shane McDowell. One of his more recent Late Model starts was at Florence Speedway where he finished third behind Scott Bloomquist and Shannon Babb during a UMP Summer Nationals event at the 1/2-mile oval just miles south of Cincinnati. His combined experience as a former Camping World Truck Series champion along with his time on dirt paid off big time tonight with the historic victory.

I don't see any reason why this event won't be on the schedule again in 2014 and, despite the fact that Brendan Gaughan cautioned NASCAR to not go to the well too often, perhaps a second event on dirt within a season should be considered. I know a classy little track here in south central Iowa that could pack 'em in nicely.

Back Stretch readers know how great dirt track racing is. Hopefully our side of the sport gained some new fans tonight who will be buying a ticket for the first time at a track near them soon!

Trucks On Dirt, No More "Truck Motors" and The Open Trailer Nationals

Some random thoughts on a Wednesday in late July….

After four straight nights of racing last week that included just over 1,000 miles of driving I am taking a rest before the start of Southern Iowa Sprint Speedweeks. I might try to catch the features at Columbus Junction Thursday night following some business in Iowa City, but otherwise my next venture to the track will be on Thursday August 1^st for the opening night of the Arnold Motor Supply 360 Nationals at the Knoxville Raceway.

Speculation is that tonight’s Mudsummer Classic at the Eldora Speedway will be the best attended and will draw the highest television ratings ever for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. I know that I have my DVR set for tonight on SPEED and I just hope that it doesn’t turn into a caution-fest. I see that a lot of my dirt racing friends on The Facebook (I disagreed with Justin Timberlake, they should have kept the “The”) are already finding fault with the announcing crew and their lack of knowledge and terms for the surface. Give it a rest folks, we have live dirt track racing on television on a Wednesday, I could care less what the announcers say, or don’t say. The ladies from The View could be giving the call as far as I’m concerned, I’m tuned in to watch the race!

Social media sucks, especially Twitter. Just ask Aaron Rodgers whom I believe now owes a year’s salary to his followers, or to just one guy that he beat down when he swore that Ryan Braun was clean.

Back to Eldora, drivers such as Kyle Larson, Scott Bloomquist, Dave Blaney, Ryan Newman and Jeff Babcock are being listed as “dirt ringers”. Of course the Dillon boys, Austin and Ty, have done plenty of dirt track racing as well during their rise to stardom and then you have drivers like Matt Crafton who picked up a ride in a dirt Modified earlier this year so that he could get some experience for tonight’s race. One driver that is not being mentioned is Justin Jennings out of LaGrange, Missouri, who raced an IMCA Late Model on dirt for a full season a couple of years ago at the Quincy Raceway. Quincy and Eldora, not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison, but I am thinking that Jennings may have a good showing tonight.

Brandon Sheppard became the youngest driver ever to win the UMP Summer Nationals point title and, on the strength of that “B-Shepp” is also the current UMP Late Model National point leader. Brian Shirley was the 2012 Hell Tour champ and then parlayed that into a national title and Sheppard will now try to do the same. Look for him to now be a Sunday night regular at the Quincy Raceway where you will also likely see other UMP national points contenders in both the Late Models and the Modifieds blow in from time to time as the track is the only Sunday night sanctioned option in the region.

The Summer Nationals was too long this year. The schedule needs to be shortened by a week or two, but how does UMP decide what tracks to drop off the schedule?

My friend Kevin Trittien had an interesting idea as we watched the Hawkeye Dirt Tour event at the Southern Iowa Speedway last week. Noting a couple of Tour events that had drawn low car counts “TapFan” suggested that the HDT should do something similar to the Dakota Modified Tour. Perhaps take one Saturday to Saturday date range during early June (or in July, or late May, or…) and run eight straight nights at tracks within the state of Iowa with the schedule setup where the itinerary is sensible and does not have the drivers zig-zagging back and forth. Stock Cars, Sport Mods, Hobby Stocks, any or all could also be run as part of the series with their own point fund(s) pending sponsorship. Might be something that IMCA would want to look into for 2014…..

Colleague Ryan Clark’s pet peeve is when IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sport Mods are referred to as A-Mods and B-Mods. As for me, I have grown weary of the term “truck motor” as one driver’s rant in early May has seemed to forever label the IMCA Modified crate motor as such. With the growing success of the crate combo I am interested to see how the driver’s list shakes out for the 7^th Annual World Nationals at the Marshalltown Speedway on September 20^th and 21^st where no crate motors (not truck motors) will be allowed.

Since it is now vogue to run an event that excludes drivers based upon the type of equipment they use, perhaps it is now time to bring to reality an event that the Kemp brothers, Kevin, Dusty & Clay and I kicked around a long time ago; The Open Trailer Nationals. No enclosed trailers allowed and no making the switch just prior to the event. We would recruit and post spies at all of the region’s race tracks early in the season and they would report to us who has pulled to the track in an enclosed trailer. That driver would then be added to the ineligible list for that year’s event. My wife and I were driving to a wedding in Burlington late Saturday afternoon and while I noticed the unidentified enclosed haulers making their way toward 34 Raceway west of town, not until we saw the #69s Modified of Quienten Schoffner on an open trailer did she say “hey, are they racing at 34 tonight?”. Geesh Christine, it is a Saturday night in July, how long have you been married to me?? Just goes to show the marketing power of an open trailer…..

The CJ Speedway should have its own forum page on IowaStockCars..... Or there needs to be a page added titled “Other Tracks”.

Who will be in the Buffalo Wild Wings #82 for the two weeks of Nationals at Knoxville? Clint Garner drove it this past Saturday night in the 410 division while driving his own #40 in the 360’s. Garner’s season has just been too strong for him to switch seats for the 360 Nationals and I would think that the 82 Team would like to have one driver to work with for both weeks. Who knows, maybe we will get the answer this Saturday night for the final weekly tune up at the Speedway.

If you are a Sprint Car fan Positively Racing is the place to look for coverage of the Knoxville Raceway over the coming weeks with Eric Arnold’s View From the Stands, Morgan Broeg’s Open Wheel News and Notes, as well as right here on the Back Stretch. No, you won’t find live video, tweets of car numbers following each race or even live blogging here, but you will find a full recap of the previous night’s events as well as some news and notes that we pick up along the way. Hard to believe that just a few short years ago this was the high speed method of delivering news and results. Now we are becoming the “racing papers” of the internet. Oh well, as long as people want more than just the results, we’ll be here…..

I may be taking some time off this week, but here’s hoping that you will get out and support the track of your choice. There is plenty of racing action to be found around the area starting tonight and running all the way through the weekend, so get on out and enjoy. And, with the weather feeling like it is already September, that is just a cruel reminder that we are on the downhill side of the 2013 racing schedule. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you on the Back Stretch!

Back To Form, Sutton Scores Sprint Invaders Win at Jacksonville

Former series champion Matt Sutton has been in a slump and was starting to doubt his abilities, but that self doubt was erased on Friday night as Sutton went flag-to-flag for the Brockway Mechanical and Roofing Sprint Invaders win at the Jacksonville Speedway.

In preliminary action it looked as though the night would belong to the current Sprint Invaders point leader Russ Hall as after making the long tow down from the Des Moines area, Hall dominated both his heat and the Budweiser “King of Beers” Shake Up dash. And after rolling a two to put himself on the front row for the twenty-five lap main event, Hall seemed poised to make it a clean sweep.

Matt Sutton had other ideas though as following a no-start that saw series regular Andy Huston get upside down in turn one, Sutton used his pole position start to take the lead at the drop of the green. Only one lap would be scored though before Tim Moore and Brian Armitage tangled in turn one and the caution waved again on lap six when a broken right front sent Patrick Moore for a spin in turn four.

On the restart Jerrod Hull worked past Hall to take the second spot and he did his best to keep pace with Sutton as the leaders navigated lapped traffic. The caution waved one last time on lap seventeen when Armitage spun in turn one and it was during this caution period that misfortune struck the top two drivers in the point standings. Having run over something on the track, Hall suffered tire issues and drove to the pit area while Ryan Jamison was now fighting steering issues. Jamison was able to stay on the track, but was no longer at speed after running just outside the top five throughout.

Once back to green Hull made one strong run at Sutton diving to the bottom in turns one and two, but the leader shook off that challenge and then maintained at least a five car-length advantage over the final laps to score the $1,200 victory. “I just haven’t been very good lately so the crew said we’ll handle the setup and you handle the driving,” said an elated Sutton in victory lane after executing a perfect 360 in celebration. Jerrod Hull would settle for the runner-up money, Korey Weyant finished third and after fighting mechanical issues in his heat race Jimmy Hurley drove from nineteenth up to fourth. Dustin Selvage who came into the night ranked third in the Invaders point standings closed the gap on the leaders by finishing fifth.

Ryan Blakeman started fifteenth and finished sixth, Paul Nienheiser came in seventh, eighth went to Jimmy Davies, Dave Getchell was ninth and hometown driver Caelb Wankel completed the top ten.

The Brockway Mechanical and Roofing Sprint Invaders return to action for a double-header weekend on Friday August 16^th at the Bloomfield Speedway before moving to 34 Raceway near Burlington on Saturday August 17^th for the “Night of the Twins”.

A Main (started), 25 laps: 1. 3, Matt Sutton, Macomb IL (1) 2. 12, Jerrod Hull, Sikeston MO (3) 3. 99w, Korey Weyant, Springfield IL (5) 4. 35, Jimmy Hurley, Springfield IL (19) 5. 73, Dustin Selvage, Indianola IA (4) 6. 10K, Ryan Blakeman, Jacksonville IL (15) 7. 9, Paul Nienheiser, Chapin IL (6) 8. 99, Jimmy Davies, Oquawka IL (13) 9. 83, Dave Getchell, Sperry IA (10) 10. 5, Caleb Wankel, Jacksonville IL (11) 11. 10T, Tim Moore, Rock Island IL (14) 12. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis IA (8) 13. 45c, Russ Hall, Pleasant Hill IA (2) 14. 9D, Daniel Bergquist, Burlington IA (16) 15. 84, Brian Armitage, Athens IL (17) 16. 20, Steven Russell, Springfield IL (18) 17. 2x, Patrick Moore, Moline IL (12) 18. 15M, Joey Moughan, Springfield IL (9) 19. 40, Andy Huston, Roseville IL (7) Lap Leader: Sutton 1-25. KSE Hard Charger: Davies

Advanced Plumbing & Mechanical Heat One (started, top two to Dash, 8 laps): 1. Jerrod Hull (1) 2. Korey Weyant (3) 3. Andy Huston (2) 4. Dave Getchell (4) 5. Jimmy Davies (5) 6. Daniel Bergquist (6) 7. Steven Russell (7)

Huston Land Improvement Heat Two (started, top two to Dash, 8 laps): 1. Russ Hall (1) 2. Paul Nienheiser (4) 3. Ryan Jamison (5) 4. Caleb Wankel (2) 5. Tim Moore (6) 6. Jimmy Hurley (3)

CenPeCo Heat Three (started, top two to Dash, 8 laps): 1. Matt Sutton (2) 2. Dustin Selvage (4) 3. Joey Moughan (1) 4. Patrick Moore (3) 5. Ryan Blakeman (5) 6. Brian Armitage (6)

Budweiser “King of Beers” Shake-Up Dash (started, 6 laps): 1. Russ Hall (1) 2. Jerrod Hull (4) 3. Paul Nienheiser (2) 4. Dustin Selvage (3) 5. Korey Weyant (5) 6. Matt Sutton (6)

Contingencies

Weld Racing – Tim Moore

Saldana Racing Products – Daniel Bergquist

SBI – Dave Getchell

Kyle Strickler Repeats Harris Clash Triumph

The two winners went flag-to-flag and were virtually unchallenged, but there was plenty of racing to watch behind them at the Harris Clash Thursday night. With 115 cars in the pits at the Knoxville Raceway this event continues to be one of the biggest one-night shows you will find anywhere in the country.

Defending Harris Clash Modified champion Kyle Strickler started alongside rookie (for the division) sensation Jesse Sobbing on the front row for the 25-lap headliner and when Strickler went straight to the lead it was fourth-starting Kevin Stoa who tried to keep pace. On lap three though Stoa slid completely sideways in turn two, made the save by driving up into the infield and returned to the racing surface on the back stretch losing many positions in the process. With Stoa’s misfortune the driver from North Carolina, Strickler, opened up more than a straightaway lead and was not even slowed when he started working traffic. Meanwhile, as we have seen him do several times already this year, Richie Gustin made a big early run after starting deep in the pack. The winner of the first B-Main, Gustin started seventeenth and by the completion of the second lap he was quickly up to seventh. Following the fourth time around the historic half-mile Gustin was in fourth only to find the top three already well ahead of him.


Kevin Stoa (98) saves it from a spin in turn two as Dylan Smith drives by - Barry Johnson photo

The top six cars were pretty spread out when the caution waved on lap nineteen as the fifth-place car of Jeremy Mills slowed to a stop in turn four. Gustin was now up to third and with the Delaware style restart where he would start next to Sobbing right behind the leader, the crowd anticipated that Gustin might be able to mount a challenge on Strickler. When the green flag waved though, it was Sobbing who moved to the second spot as Strickler again pulled away from his competition. With Todd Shute and Randy Havlik right there as well this one turned into a battle for second and as Strickler secured his second straight Harris Clash title it was Gustin who made the pass of Sobbing late to be tonight’s runner-up. Sobbing, Havlik and Shute completed the top-five.

Despite Gustin’s run from seventeenth to second, the hard charger of the race was driver/promoter Mike VanGenderen who came from the twenty-second starting spot to finish sixth.  Luke Wanninger finished in the seventh spot, Mark Elliott was eighth, ninth went to Dylan Smith and Scott Dickey had a nice run up from eighteenth to tenth.

With Strickler reportedly purchasing a crate engine just this week, and with many of the other top finishing drivers also using the “truck motor” combination, the discussion over whether or not the crates are getting too much of an advantage from a rules standpoint has multiplied tenfold today on social media. I will never pretend to be a rules guy, or to know what chassis is the hottest, etc., so I will not even attempt to comment other than to say that the proof is in the pudding. If it appears that drivers are going to the crate because the rules package gives them a competitive advantage, rather than because of the other compelling reasons to use a crate motor, then perhaps those rule allowances need to be adjusted. Unless of course the ultimate goal is to have a vast majority of drivers running crate motors…..

Modified Notes….As evidence that the Clash still has a wide reaching appeal there are still drivers making extremely long road trips for probably just one night of racing in Central Iowa before returning to their home tracks either the next day or Saturday. Mitch McGrath brought his sharp looking #74 over from suburban Milwaukee, won the third B-Main and then ran a respectable 15^th in the main event. Steve Stultz made the trip all the way in from Peoria, Arizona, drew the pole position for the third heat race and then dumped the driveshaft before he could even reach turn one on the start. His crew was able to make repairs and Stultz was able to get some laps in at Knoxville finishing 11^th in the second B-Main. …..Tim Ward who is from Mesa, Arizona, but who has based himself in southeast Nebraska the past two seasons, came up just inches short of qualifying for the main event as Cayden Carter completed a nifty crossover move exiting turn four on the final lap of the fourth B-Main……Josh Gilman started twelfth in the first B-Main and had to make a banzai move on Steve Stewart going into turn three the final time to score the second and final transfer position……That first B-Main got off to a rough start when former Harris Clash champion Clayton Christensen hopped the wheel of Lance Schlicher’s car and went for a tumble. Making things worse for Christensen, being a former winner he had a starting spot secured for the feature even if he would have just pulled in after a lap or two…..Eric Dailey made the most of his former champion provisional starting 25^th and finishing 11^th……I didn’t see how it started, but I did see Chris Abelson’s car high in the air and upside down before it slammed to the ground roof first between turns three and four during hot laps. After several minutes of concern it was good to see Abelson climb out of the car under his own power.


Mitch McGrath (74) races under Jason Murray - Barry Johnson photo

The IMCA Sport Mod division continues to be a suitable support class at the Harris Clash as forty-five drivers made their way to Knoxville to get one of only two chances a year to race this division here. Similar to their big brothers the Modifieds, there was no real drama as far as the lead was concerned during the twenty-lap feature as Doug Smith started on the front row and pulled away from pole-sitter Matt Lettow and the rest of the field to score the convincing win. A couple of late restarts brought the field back to Smith and entertaining battles for the positions just behind him allowed the leader to pull away each time. Former Sport Mod Clash winner Jared Timmerman started ninth and got up to second late only to have Paul Nagle get back around him in the final two laps to tally the second spot. Timmerman would then have to hold off Austin Kaplan to finish third while Lettow rounded out the top five.  Tyler Gross started inside row nine and charged up to sixth at the checkers. Kyle Prauner of Norfolk, Nebraska, was seventh, Eric Elliott came from the eleventh row to run eighth, ninth was Carter VanDenBerg and Ben Kates filled out the top ten.

It was a treat to sit in the air-conditioned press box as I tried to give as much assistance as I could to Bob Wilson who had to input a bunch of drivers who had not pre-entered for the event into the track’s Live Results section on the website. It was literally feature time before we felt like we had everything caught up and corrected, but at least this time I was able to watch the races while Bob did all of the computer entry. Another plus to sitting in the booth was to hear the banter between announcers Jerry Vansickel and Jason Price both on, and off the microphone. It was another huge and impressive night of racing and Modified fans should definitely mark The Harris Clash on their calendar when it is scheduled for 2014.

For more Positively Racing coverage of the Harris Clash check out the 4dFan Report.

After a short night of sleep it is another road-trip tonight as the Brockway Mechanical and Roofing. Sprint Invaders converge on the Jacksonville Speedway. Enjoy your weekend of racing!

Dylan Smith Grabs A Grand, Pinkerton Delights Southern Iowa Fair Crowd At Osky

It was another hot night in Oskaloosa Wednesday as the Southern Iowa Fair hosted its second straight night of auto racing around the “Mahaska Monster”, the Southern Iowa Speedway. All five weekly divisions were on hand with some extra money on the line and all five again used the draw/re-draw format rather than IMCA’s weekly show standard procedure of being inverted by average points.

The Sport Compacts took their traditional spot as the first feature to the race track and with defending champion and current All IowaPoints dominator Merv Chandler drawing the outside front row starting spot, this one was essentially over from the start. Chandler’s teammate Bill Whalen Jr. put up a challenge early before Chandler pulled away for yet another convincing victory here. You know it had to be hot in the cars tonight as Whalen, who usually pops out of his car and hustles over to victory lane to congratulate whomever the winner is, took several minutes to emerge from his runner-up ride in the tech area. Kevin Kirkpatrick started eighth and finished third, John Whalen was fourth and Matt Moore took fifth. Last week this division only had three cars on hand while tonight the count jumped back up to eight. When they do have more cars this class is fun to watch at Osky, so here is hoping that the count can stay at eight or more for the remainder of the year, otherwise after two years of giving it a chance to grow the speedway might want to consider making a change.

Gina Greubel won a Hobby Stock feature earlier this year in Des Moines and she had the pole position for tonight’s 16-lap main event, but it was the driver to her right, Dustin Griffiths, who powered to the lead at the drop of the green. Mike Hughes took up the chase and, while he was able to stay right with Griffiths, he was not able to find a grip on the bottom to make the pass. Griffiths went the distance to take the win, Hughes settled for second, Danny Thrasher chased the lead duo in for third, Tuesday’s winner Bill Bonnett was fourth and Griffiths’ “Blind Squirrel Racing” teammate Dale Porter finished fifth.

I mentioned in yesterday’s entry that Brett Lowry was “fast all night”, yet the best he could do was fourth. Lowry’s luck with the redraw was much better on Wednesday night and he was once again fast going flag-to-flag virtually unchallenged to take the win in the 18-lap Sport Mod feature. Curtis VanDerWal continued his fine season with a runner-up finish, Tuesday’s champ Eric Flander was third while Carter VanDenBerg and Jason McDaniel completed the top five. Ty Luellen made the long trip over from Minburn and finished in sixth.

The exact same eleven Stock Cars that were in competition on Tuesday night were back to have at it again on Wednesday although one, Jeff Joldersma, would not start the feature after going up in a thick cloud of smoke during his heat race. Todd Reitzler would lead the pack for most of the 20-lap distance and he was under constant pressure from first Corey Stout, and then later Brad Pinkerton. With the preferred groove up around the top Pinkerton started to try the bottom with about five laps remaining and as the leaders were coming out of turn four to take the white flag Pinkerton made it stick to secure the top spot. Still a crowd favorite here the move for the lead brought out the cheers and they continued throughout that final trip around the half-mile as Pinkerton repeated his victory of last Wednesday night. Reitzler would race home for second while things got shuffled around quite a bit behind him on the final lap. It is possible that Stout and Damon Murty made contact while racing for third as both ended up with flat tires on the final lap. Murty’s popped in turn two so he pulled off the track on the back stretch while Stout’s went flat exiting turn four and headed for the checkers. This allowed both Jason Cook and Nathan Wood to make up quite a bit of distance to finish third and fourth respectively and as Stout limped across the line in fifth he was hit from behind by Kris Walker. Fortunately Walker was standing on the brakes just prior to contact so hopefully both cars only sustained cosmetic damage.

The IMCA Modifieds were up next and, with a possible $1,000 waiting for the winner, a fine field of 25-cars took the green flag for 22-laps. Former National Champion Dylan Smith from Osceola, Nebraska, drew the pole position and he would have Luke Wanninger racing him hard for the lead early. After shaking off that challenge Smith would pull away and the focus was then put on a few drivers who were steadily making their way toward the front. After spinning and crashing early on Tuesday night, Jacob Murray had his own chassis dialed in nicely as he had started on the inside of row seven and was on the move. Cayden Carter had started next to Murray and was trying to emulate his march to the front while last night’s winner Todd Shute was a rocket after starting eighteenth. There would be no catching Dylan Smith on this night though as he found victory lane on only his second ever appearance here at the speedway. Murray and Wanniger crossed the finish-line side-by-side and while Wanniger was initially announced as the runner-up we later heard announcer Tony Paris revise that stating that Murray had finished in second. North Carolina star Kyle Strickler came back from Tuesday’s disqualification at the scales to finish in the fourth spot while Scott Dickey took fifth. Shute and Carter were next in line, sixth and seventh, wondering what might have been if they could have had a caution to re-bunch the field.

It was another enjoyable Wednesday night of racing spent with good friends in Oskaloosa and Mike VanGenderen and his crew did their usual superb job of running the show with the final checkers waving just a few minutes before ten o’clock.

In this day and age of trying to come up with ways to put fans back in the stands, I am still puzzled by the sequence of events that took place throughout the day and into the evening. XSAN TV announced early in the day on the primary racing forum for the area that they would be broadcasting Wednesday night’s races from the Southern Iowa Speedway live for FREE and that they would also be doing a lot of giveaways for those who tuned in/logged on. Then, on my way to the speedway as I always do, I tuned into the Southern Iowa Speedway pre-race show on 104.9 FM KBOE (your station for racin’) as Tony Paris always does a fantastic job of previewing the night’s events and encouraging people to come on out to the track and enjoy the show. If it is cold, he tells you to bring a sweatshirt. If the skies are threatening he takes a look at the radar and gives you an honest assessment of the chances of getting the show in. And best of all he conducts interviews with drivers and other interesting individuals to give the listeners a feel for the personalities who are involved with this sport that we love.

Tonight’s first guest was the personable young man from XSAN, who was also on the show the night before, and of course the discussion was about the opportunity for fans to be able to log on to xsan.tv and enjoy the broadcast of tonight’s races live from the air-conditioned comfort of their own home, with their own sandwich, chips and the beverage of their choice all for FREE on this hot evening. After several minutes of describing the great service that XSAN is (I have checked it out, it truly is) their representative added, “Of course for those of you who are in the area we encourage you to come on out and enjoy the racing in person.” Of course…..

Tonight I hope to educate Knoxville Raceway historian Bob Wilson on the finer points of Modified racing at the Harris Clash, then on Friday night I make a long overdue return trip to the Jacksonville Speedway for the Brockway Mechanical and Roofing Sprint Invaders. Hope to see you there!

Shute Overtakes Hogan for HDT Win at Oskaloosa

Todd Shute used the outside line coming off of turn four to squeeze between Scott Hogan and the front stretch guardrail to take the lead and the eventual victory as the Karl Performance Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds visited the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa Tuesday night. Five other drivers also found victory lane on a busy night of racing that kicked off the annual Southern Iowa Fair.

Two multi-car crashes early in the 25-lap Modified headliner shortened the field from twenty-four to fourteen and likely created quite a shakeup in the Tour’s point standings. Just after Scott Hogan lead the field past the flagstand for lap number one Jacob Murray got sideways mid-pack in turn one and collected tour regular Zach Less as well as northern Missouri visitor Hunter Marriott. Then on the double-file restart, pole starter Casey Greubel got sideways in front of the field on the low side of turn one and in the scramble there were two tangles of cars, one high and one low once the dust settled. Dirt Tour point contender Richie Gustin was eliminated in that mess while Jimmy Gustin, Andrew Schroeder, Cayden Carter, Colt Mather and Tyler Groenendyk were also involved. Mather stayed in motion, but then drove through the center lane of the infield under caution so he was directed to restart at the rear, a decision that he obviously disagreed with before retiring for the evening. Carter, who scored two big money wins this past weekend, spent as much time as he could in the work area to make repairs before returning to the track well behind the field as the green flag waved for the restart.

Hogan continued to lead the depleted field until the caution waved again on lap five when Brandon Banks lost a battle with the track tire protecting the infield in turn two. From there the race went green for the final twenty laps around the big half-mile with Todd Shute in hot pursuit of Hogan. As the leaders were coming around to score lap number nine Shute went to the cushion in turn four and found a nice bite that allowed him to pull even with the leader down the front stretch. Hogan left him just enough room to squeeze by and Shute took the lead as he entered turn one. As Shute pulled away the rest of the front of the field spaced out as well and it was just a matter of clicking off laps until the checkers waved with “Toddzilla” taking the win. Hogan doesn’t race on half-miles often, but was impressive in second. Track promoter and Hawkeye Dirt Tour point contender Mike VanGenderen was a solid third, 2009 IMCA Modified National Champion Dylan Smith was fourth and Steve Stewart rounded out the top five. The race for sixth had a thrilling finish as Cayden Carter made a move on Mark Elliott similar to the one that Shute made earlier for the lead and when they touched Elliott went for a spin allowing Carter to take sixth while Elliott slid across the line backwards in seventh. Mark Schulte, Nate Caruth and Kyle Brown completed the top ten.

Twenty-nine Modifieds were in attendance for tonight’s event and among the non-qualifers was North Carolina driver Kyle Strickler who was disqualified out of a transfer position in the B-Main when he came up twenty-five pounds light at the scales. This allowed Greg Cox to make the show. The last time that I saw Nate Caruth in action he was driving a Late Model on the pavement at the Lucas Oil Raceway near Indianapolis. Tonight he was in Strickler’s backup car and his top ten finish in the main event started from the eleventh row. Kyle Brown and Hunter Marriott were the Tour’s provisional starters and while Marriott was a late arrival for the first pileup, starting in the twelfth row allowed Brown to take evasive action in both melees and garner valuable points in tenth. Current HDT point leader Ronn Lauritzen finished eleventh. The next event on the Hawkeye Dirt Tour will be on Monday August 5^th in support of the World of Outlaw Late Model show at the Independence Motor Speedway.

Five more divisions were in action on Tuesday night and their features ran off in this order. When the front row of Bill Livezy and A.J. Johnson got a little ragged coming out of turn four for the start of the 16-lap Sport Mod main event third-starting Eric Flander took advantage and had the lead crossing under the waving green flag. Current All Iowa Points leaderCarter VanDenBerg, and the driver that has been almost unstoppable in this division here at Osky in 2013, Curtis VanDerWal took up the chase of Flander in second and third. As the leader approached the now soon-to-be-lapped car of Livezy in the final two laps, Flander chose the high line out of turn two while VanDenBerg raced to the inside of Livezy and took the lead down the back straightaway. Flander came charging right back though in turns three and four to regain the advantage as the white flag waved and when VanDenBerg and VanDerWal swapped the second spot back and forth on the final circuit that was exactly what Flander wanted to see as he collected his first win of the season here at the Southern Iowa Speedway. VanDenBerg and VanDerWal were close behind in second and third, Brett Lowry was fast all night but could do no better than fourth ahead of Tony Johnson.

Eight Mod Lites were on hand to compete tonight and there was no stopping current All Iowa Points leader Josh May from sweeping the division. Andy Hennigar and Mike Morrill both held the lead early in the 12-lap main event, but they were well behind May at the checkers finishing second and third respectively. Todd Shute made a guest appearance in the pink and silver #DC5 car and finished in fourth while Dusty Masolini picked up the fifth-place money.

With two of the top drivers in the state drawing the front row for the 18-lap Stock Car feature it was no surprise when this one turned out to be a two-car breakaway. Jason Cook stayed within no more than four car-lengths behind leader Damon Murty throughout the distance and Cook actually pulled even with Murty going down the back stretch on lap seven. Murty was strong on the high line in turns three and four though to fight off that challenge, and then on the final lap Cook made a strong run again on the bottom of turns three and four. The two came off of four side-by-side, but the momentum off the topside carried Murty back to the checkers first for his seventeenth victory overall this season. Corey Stout made the short tow from across the street to finish in the third spot, last week’s winner Brad Pinkerton was fourth and Kris Walker took fifth.

Nick Murty paced the first two laps of the Hobby Stock feature before fellow front row starter Dustin Griffiths moved past on lap three. The caution waved mid-race and on the restart Bill Bonnett got a great jump and passed Griffiths for the lead before the field reached the flagstand. Griffiths would try to regain the top spot, but after staying with the veteran driver for a few laps he watched him pull away as Bonnett posted the victory. Griffiths was second, Eric Stanton returned to action at Osky with a third-place finish, Murty would hold on for fourth and Justin Hook came from the sixth row to take fifth.

Ten IMCA Late Models would take the green for the final event of the night and, after establishing their positions on the opening lap, nothing changed over the twenty-five lap distance as Nick Marolf picked up the checkered flag. Tommy Elston was the runner-up, Justin Kay took third followed by Todd Cooney and Chad Holladay.

The race track definitely had more than one racing groove on the hot evening, but the luck of the draw/redraw format saw all twelve heat races across the six divisions go without a lead change after the opening lap. We do though look forward to returning again tonight (Wednesday) to see if the luck of the draw goes the other way as Modifieds, Sport Mods, Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts will be back in action at the Southern Iowa Speedway. The Harris Clash at the Knoxville Raceway is on the Back Stretch schedule for Thursday night and on Friday I look forward to a trip to the Jacksonville Speedway for the Brockway Mechanical and Roofing Sprint Invaders. Maybe see you there?

Deery Streaks Continue; Kay Takes Third Straight With Win at West Liberty

The 2013 Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models has been streaky. After Denny Eckrich captured the series opener at 34 Raceway near Burlington, Ray Guss Jr. won the next two races, Brian Harris reeled off the next four and, with his win at the West Liberty Raceway on Wednesday night, Justin Kay has now posted three wins in a row on the tour.

Number three did not come easy though as Kay lined up behind the two all-time winningest drivers on the series as Jeff Aikey and Ray Guss Jr. drew the front row. For Aikey it was a complete turn of fortune as he had actually crossed the line in fifth during in his heat race, but when Nick Marolf was disqualified for using illegal tires Aikey found himself on the stage taking part in the Casey’s General Stores redraw rather than running the 12-lap B-Main. Aikey was able to lead the opening lap of the 40-lap finale before Kay blew by and started to open up a nice lead. Harris had started eighth and when he worked his way past Aikey for second on lap fourteen, Kay was more than a straightaway ahead of him on the big half-mile.

With the leader working through traffic, Harris had cut into that gap by nearly half before the caution flag waved as Tom Goble stopped in turn four with mechanical issues. On the restart Harris was first able to keep pace with Kay and then went to work on trying to make his move for the lead. The current series point leader found a higher line to his liking and was able to make a run on Kay and as the two passed by the flagstand on lap twenty-four, Harris was scored the leader by a nose. Kay came roaring back on the inside though to regain the lead on the following lap and, having thwarted the challenge from his strongest rival, Justin then pulled away over the remaining laps to take the convincing win.

“This car is just so easy to driver right now,” beamed Kay in victory lane, “Tyson (Gheer) really has the setup right now, this is a lot of fun!” With his runner-up finish Harris continued his amazing streak of having been in the top three for all ten of the Deery races run so far in 2013 and he only gave up one point of his lead in the standings. Andy Eckrich moved from fifth to third on the mid-race restart, but he could not keep up with the lead duo and finished back in third. Tommy Elston had a strong run tonight taking fourth while Aikey completed the top five. Kyle Hinrichs continues to impress as he ran sixth, Denny Eckrich started thirteenth and finished seventh, Jason Utter was eighth, Nick Marolf moved from the eighth row to finish ninth and Ray Guss Jr. was tenth.

Seventeen IMCA Modifieds were on hand to run in support of the Deery show and it was Richie Gustin coming from the twelfth starting position to drive by Kurt Kile late and take the win. Ryan Dolan was able to move to second late putting Kile back to third at the checkers as Steve Stewart and Chris Horn rounded out the top five.

This event was originally scheduled for Tuesday night, but after early morning rains forced the postponement track announcer Jerry Mackey called and asked if I could fill in for him on Wednesday night. Jerry had scheduled surgery on his shoulder for Wednesday morning and he knew that he would be in no mood to be announcing races that night. The surgery went well and, as I told the crowd, he won’t be able to pitch again until after Labor Day but he will be back on the microphone this coming weekend at all three SPI tracks. I have always wanted to welcome the crowd by saying “Hello Race Fans!” and it was really cool when they did their best to make sure that Mackey could hear them back at home when they responded “Hello Jerry!”

The next event for the Deery Brothers Summer Series will be this Sunday night July 14^th at the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway where Justin Kay will have the chance to join Gary Webb, Rob Toland and Brian Harris as the only drivers to have won four straight series events. Kevin Feller told me that Dubuque is where Kay won his first-ever Late Model feature so you know that he has to be looking forward to it.

Travel is taking me away from three big events over the next three nights as I normally would have been calling the action as the Brockway Mechanical and Roofing Sprint Invaders enjoy the county fairs in Tipton tonight (Thursday) and in Donnellson on Friday night, then on Saturday night the UMP Summer Nationals returns to 34 Raceway near Burlington. Get on out to those so that you can tell me about them later?

Next week I look forward to three straight nights of racing featuring the IMCA Modifieds at Oskaloosa Tuesday and Wednesday night, and topped off by the Harris Clash at the Knoxville Raceway on Thursday. Hope to see you there!

A Few Things To Discuss Today.....

There are a few things that I wanted to comment on as we come out of the holiday weekend of racing…..

In my entry from Saturday night’s action at 34 Raceway I stated that IMCA Sport Mod driver Bobby Anders had become one of the best in the division. Shortly after making that post I learned that Anders had been suspended and fined by Quincy Raceways for triggering Chris Larson’s nasty barrel-rolling accident there on Tuesday night. I was at that event as well and while watching the incident unfold from the opposite corner of the facility, a grandstand seat near turn one, it looked like something broke on Anders car that caused him to drive straight up the track and into Larson. It was, after all,  the first lap of the first heat race of the night and it was contact with a driver that he does not often race against as Larson has run a sporadic schedule so far in 2013. After reviewing video of the incident QR officials determined that the move was intentional and made the decision to suspend Anders for the remainder of the season. It is the second time that the track has taken action against the driver from Quincy as he was suspended for one month back in 2011 after a run in with Steve Carlin in the Hobby Stock division. I stand by my statement from the 34 Raceway blog as Anders has quickly become one of the top Sport Mod drivers in the area, the race results support that, but if IMCA also takes action Anders may be completely on the sideline for the remainder of the year.

I predicted that there would be a story in Monday’s paper with NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers complaining about restrictor-plate racing and I chuckled as I opened up my Burlington Hawk Eye and found that I was right. I have written about this in more detail before (hint: my way of encouraging you to go back and read older entries of the Back Stretch) so I won’t rehash it all again, but isn’t it amazing how they can race in tight formation just fine for 95% of the distance and then all of a sudden “the rules” cause all of this havoc? And then somehow it becomes the fault of NASCAR and bloodthirsty fans. Hmmmm, maybe you boys (and girl) should go back and watch how the Nationwide drivers were able to actually finish their race Friday night without wadding up a bunch of equipment. How did they pull off this amazing feat? Well, for one thing nobody made any stupid banzai moves trying to get from tenth to ninth entering the tri-oval and as one of those so-called "bloodthirsty" fans I was pretty impressed and pleased that there was not a bunch of wreckage strewn across the infield just beyond the finish line. Sprint Cup drivers need only to get in a room together and look at each other to find what and who is to blame for what happens in the final laps at Daytona and Talladega.

Perhaps the expectations for Farley’s After Market Nationals were set too high as getting 56 Modifieds in for a two-night show smack dab in the middle of the season while many other events are going on is pretty darn impressive. All reports tell me that the racing was very entertaining to watch as well so why is it that some people, especially those who were not able to attend, are acting like the show was anything but a success? The fact that the Sport Mod division drew only 27 cars for $5,000-to-win is getting the most discussion and that may simply be explained by statistics. The next time that you are at an IMCA track look at the cars in the Sport Mod division and see what the proportion is that have “Crate” written on them compared to “Claim”. My unofficial observations have that at about 3:1 so the number of drivers/cars that could have participated in the Farley show is likely much lower than what some people have assumed. I have also seen some internet forum posts basically saying that any Sport Mod drivers who complain about payouts and did not show up for this event should just shut up going forward. Really? If a Sport Mod driver is complaining about the purse at his or her track I would think that the promoter would just say “you drive a Sport Mod, here are the classes that you can race in for more money.”

A popular argument is that drivers are racing for the same money today that they were forty years ago and that is true if you only look at what it pays to win. Pull out an old Hawkeye Racing News and you will see ads for Late Model events that say “$700-to-win”, but then continue on and see that it also proudly boasts a “$2,500 total purse”. Do the math and you will find that this is an average of $95 for the other nineteen starters in a 20-car field. Most tracks now pay the Late Models at least $100 just to start the feature. If drivers in any division, Late Models, Sport Mods, etc., want to race for more money than what is offered now then two things have to happen. One, the number of fans attending has to increase and two the number of divisions need to be reduced. That one class that is only drawing seven or eight cars, you do realize that the feature winner is getting a check that is probably two or three times what the starters in the premier class are getting? Second-place is getting a nice check, third is doing better than most, etc., etc. My opinion is, and always has been, if your track has five or more classes and averages 12 cars or less per class then you have one, two or maybe even three too many classes. Race fans don't want to watch a second set of organized hot laps, otherwise called a "heat race", and then a 15 or 20 lap "feature" race with so few cars in it. Make some cuts at the end of this season, put up with four or five people per discontinued division complaining about it for a few weeks, and then welcome them back with open arms in 2014 when they make their way into one of the remaining classes.

Enough stepping on toes for today, I am looking forward to getting back into action this Tuesday night as the Deery Brothers Summer Series returns to the West Liberty Raceway on Tuesday night then, after missing the last couple of weeks, I look forward to returning to the Southern Iowa Speedway on Wednesday night. Hope to see you on the Back Stretch!

Top Shelf Weekly Racing at 34 Raceway

My wife Christine is a fireworks fanatic, so more often than not I skip most of the races around the Fourth in an effort to somewhat makeup for all of the nights that I am gone the rest of the season. After two straight nights of spectacular displays in our hometown the plan was to take in the fireworks display over the river in Burlington on Saturday night so I hadn't even thought about the possibility of going racing. But at 6:15 when she decided instead to focus on something else for the evening she suggested that I go racing and I was never more thankful to have such a great facility like 34 Raceway just twenty miles down the road.

Sitting between two special events on the track's busy schedule, tonight's weekly show was a five dollar Fan Appreciation night and the place was packed, topped only by the throng that was here a month ago when the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars rolled into town. The pits were plenty full as well with 104 cars signed in across the six divisions. While some tracks are experiencing lower than normal car counts this season that is definitely not the case at 34 Raceway in 2013 and with several fans making their first trip to the speedway this year, most of the drivers brought their cars to front stretch during intermission for an "on track autograph session".

Following the break the IMCA Sport Mods were first up for the six main events with young drivers Dustin Smith and Kyle Hill leading the twelve car field to green. Hill would move to the early lead while Smith found himself in a tangle with the odds-on favorite Bobby Anders on lap three. Both drivers would restart at the rear and once back to green Victor Hastings put the challenge on Hill. Hastings would pull ahead on lap five only to slip high in turn three the following lap allowing Hill to regain the lead. Meanwhile Anders was quickly working his way back toward the front and with five laps remaining he was in second and looking for more.

Hill was running the preferred high line to perfection and held him off for the next three trips around the high-banked 3/8-mile oval, but coming to the white flag the pressure from Anders produced a slight bobble by the leader in turn three. This was the opening that Anders was looking for as his momentum pulled him even with Hill down the back stretch and when he drove into turn three on the low groove he drifted up in front of Hill to take the lead. The youngster was not about to give in though as he pointed the nose of his #14B just inside of Anders and pulled even with him as the duo exited turn four. It was a drag race to the finish line and at the stripe it was Hill by a nose to score his first career feature win. I had the pleasure of watching the grandson of long-time racing supporter Paul Boles score his best career finish up to that point when he finished second at Eldon's fair race in June and it was really fun to watch grandpa give him a big hug here in victory lane on this night. Anders has quickly become one of the best in the division although tonight he settled for second, Hastings was third, Sean Wyett finished fourth while Smith made his way back up to fifth at the checkers.

In my entry from Wednesday night I mentioned that Austen Becerra may be becoming the man to beat in the Four Cylinder ranks at 34 Raceway and when he went from his outside row two starting spot to the lead going into turn one on the opening lap of the 12-lap main event it looked like this one would be a race for second. Brent Hartley started directly behind Becerra and he took up the chase staying within striking distance, but not close enough to make a real challenge. As the leader started to work through the back of the twenty-car field Hartley inched ever closer and when Becerra went a little too high in turn two on lap ten that was all that Hartley needed to takeover the lead. Austen tried to get back to Hartley's rear bumper, but Brent was smooth over the final two laps to secure the win and he celebrated on the roof of his #00H in victory lane. Larry Miller was not too far behind Becerra in third. Ron Kibbe, who delighted the crowd by balancing his car on top of one of the track tires during his heat race finished fourth after starting sixteenth and ageless veteran Wayne Noble took fifth.

Two top contenders, Ryan Jamison and Dave Getchell lost engines during the heat races so it was a twenty-one car lineup for the twenty-lap 305 Winged Sprint main event. On the opening lap Keoni Texeira from Honolulu, Hawaii, went too high into turn one and slid off the top of the racetrack. Texeira was making his first appearance here and listed Moulton, Iowa, as his hometown for the night perhaps basing himself here in Iowa for the next month or so as the area becomes the focal point for sprint car racing with the running of the Knoxville Nationals.

Kyle Peterson ran away with his heat race and set a quick early pace in the feature, but he was no match for the Olson Brothers Custom Shop #1 of Jayson Ditsworth who took the lead on lap four. Three restarts around lap eight saw Donnie Steward emerge as the challenger after he started in tenth and as the two worked traffic late Steward looked as if he might be able to take the lead only to have Ditsworth fight him off each time. It's always a party at 34 when the Olson car takes the win and tonight was no different as Ditsworth celebrated in victory lane. Steward was a solid second, Justin Newberry finished third, John Schulz made it three-wide for the lead on one of the restarts before taking the fourth position and Daniel Bergquist passed his teammate Andy Huston late to finish in fifth.

Fourteen Mod Lites would make the call for their 12-lap headliner as Gary Snyder raced to the lead at the drop of the green. High school senior-to-be Evan Epperson had started tenth and was on the fly using the top side of the track and he swept by Snyder on lap four to take the lead. Daniel Keltner soon moved to second and was sizing up Epperson before contact with a lapped car sent him for a spin in turn three on lap seven in an accident that also collected Justin Bucholz. On the restart Chase Flatt pulled even with Epperson in turn one before spinning in turn two and young Devon Rouse had nowhere to go but into the side of Flatt. Once back to racing Epperson pulled away over the final five laps to secure the victory with Jimmy Halcomb several car lengths back in second. Keltner came charging back up to third at the finish while Snyder and Michael Dominguez completed the top five.

The IMCA Stock Car feature had a hard time getting started, but once it did the racing was fantastic as it always seems to be for this class wherever we go. Abe Huls originally started on the inside of the fourth row and after the driver in front of him jumped the initial start and the pole-sitter suffered a flat tire on the second start, Huls wasted no time in going from third to first once the green flag stayed out. The racing behind him was intense as John Oliver Jr., Jason Cook, Tom Bowling Jr. and Brett Timmerman waged war for the second spot and eventually Bowling emerged from that pack. Huls' lead faded away over the closing laps and when the white flag waved Bowling was able to pull alongside the leader. They raced that way throughout the final lap and the crowd came to their feet as the duo came off of turn four door-to-door. It was a finish that was literally too close to call unless you were stationed right at the finish line pole and announcer Rich Adams even had to pause for a moment before confirming that both scorekeepers had Bowling taking the win by inches over Huls. Oliver Jr. was right there behind them in third followed by Cook and Timmerman for a very tight top five.

Eighteen IMCA Modifieds for twenty laps would close out the evening with Rich Smith gaining the early advantage. Smith was on board the #10 car normally driven by A.J. Fike and the leader had plenty of company as Scott Hogan, Steve Stewart, Mitch Morris and Bill Roberts Jr. made it a five-car battle for the lead often going three-wide on the perfectly prepared surface. Roberts edged ahead to hold the lead on laps ten and eleven before Morris rode the rim to the top spot on lap twelve. Stewart found a new line on the bottom exiting turn two late in the race that would allow him to steal the lead away from Morris down the back stretch only to have Mitch come storming back to the front with the momentum off the high side of turn four. This scenario played out each of the final three laps while Hogan tried to find a line that would allow him to go from third to first and on the final circuit it looked like Stewart might have pulled away from Morris just enough to snare the victory. The cushion was still good though in turn four though and Morris was able to make the pass just prior to the finish line and take the win ahead of Stewart and Hogan. Roberts was right there in fourth holding off Smith who finished in fifth.

During the heart of the season I don't often get a chance to go to a weekly show choosing to instead fill my race nights with the many special events that we are blessed with here in the Midwest. However, a night like this truly reminds me of just how much fun a weekly show can be and this one had not one, not two, but THREE "photo finishes" to make it a great evening. One of my "super fan" friends Nick McCarrick said that it was the most fun that he has had at the races this season and I would have to agree. Of course any night I get to watch the races with Scott Vantiger is memorable!

Thanks to Jeff and Amy Laue and the entire 34 Raceway crew for a spectacular night of racing and don't forget that the UMP Summer Nationals will be here next Saturday, July 13th.

Mid-Season Late Model Points From Across The Country

Following you will find the mid-season top ten in Dirt Late Model points for each state that I track the standings and for the full rundown of the Iowa standings go to the Points page at Positively Racing.

		Alabama
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Jason Hiett	Lincoln	33
2	.	Tim Roszell	Anniston	31
3	.	Jason Wilson	Margaret	24
4	.	Chad Winkles	Falkville	17
5	.	Mark Mears	Decatur	17
6	.	Tim Busha	Boaz	17
7	.	Ross Martin	Talladega	16
8	.	T.J. Alford	Piedmont	14
9	.	Terry Smith	Anniston	14
10	.	Dylan Ames		11

		Arizona
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	R.C. Whitwell	Tucson	32
2	.	Garrett Alberson	Las Cruces NM	21
3	.	Tim Fuller	Watertown NY	19
4	.	Billy Moyer	Batesville AR	14
5	.	Brad Williams	Tucson	13
6	.	Shane Clanton	Fayetteville GA	13
7	.	Will Vaught	Crane MO	12
8	.	Jimmy Mars	Elk Mound WI	11
9	.	Don Shaw	Ham Lake MN	10
10	.	Joey Moriarty	Phoenix	10
11	.	Lonnie Parker Jr.	El Mirage	10

		Arkansas
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Kyle Beard	Trumann	12
2	.	Robert Baker	Bryant	10
3	.	Tony Jackson Jr.	Lebanon MO	10
4	.	Rob Litton	Alexandria LA	8
5	.	Ashley Newman	Ripley TN	7
6	.	Ross Camponovo	Clarksdale MS	7
7	.	Dane Dacus	Lakeland TN	6
8	.	John Blankenship	Williamson WV	5
9	.	Shane Clanton	Zebulon GA	5
10	.	Timothy Culp	West Monroe LA	5

		California
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Bobby Hogge IV	Salinas	20
2	.	Clay Daly	Watsonville	16
3	.	Jeff Decker	Morgan Hill	16
4	.	Brad Pounds	Bakersfield	12
5	.	Nick Bartels	El Segundo	12
6	.	Richard Papenhausen	Chico	12
7	.	Robert Sanders	Bakersfield	12
8	.	Steve Drake	San Luis Obispo	10
9	.	Troy Foulger		10
10	.	Rod Arnold		9

		Delaware
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Ricky Elliott	Seaford	44
2	.	Donald Lingo Jr.	Millsboro	31
3	.	Brandon Dennis		16
4	.	David Hill	Trappe	15
5	.	Austin Hubbard	Seaford	10
6	.	Andrew Mullins		9
7	.	Nick Davis		9
8	.	Dale Lingo	Millsboro	6
9	.	David Pettyjohn	Milford DE	6
10	.	Kerry King		6

		Florida
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Darrell Lanigan	Union KY	27
2	.	Josh Richards	Shinnston WV	25
3	.	Mark Whitener	Middleburg	24
4	.	Don O'Neal	Martinsville IN	23
5	.	Darrell Padgett	Clay Hill	21
6	.	Roger Crouse	Plant City	21
7	.	Scott Bloomquist	Mooresburg TN	21
8	.	Joseph Joiner	Milton	20
9	.	Ivedent Lloyd Jr.	Ocala	19
10	.	Josh Peacock	Dover	17
11	.	Rich Pratt	Anthony	17

		Georgia
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Donald McIntosh		28
2	.	Jason Fitzgerald	Jacksonville FL	18
3	.	Michael Page	Douglasville	18
4	.	Jake Knowles	Tyrone	17
5	.	Dale McDowell	Chickamagua	16
6	.	Jason Croft		14
7	.	Tyler Millwood		14
8	.	Casey Roberts	Toccoa	12
9	.	Frank Ingram	Woodstock	11
10	.	Luther Jenkins		11
11	.	Mark Whitener	Middleburg FL	11
12	.	Ronnie Johnson	Chattanooga TN	11

		Illinois
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Brandon Sheppard	New Berlin	43
2	.	Kevin Weaver	Gibson City	40
3	.	Michael Kloos	Trenton	36
4	.	Scott Schmitt	Tonica	32
5	.	Shannon Babb	Mowequa	30
6	.	Bobby Pierce	Danville	27
7	.	Ryan Unzicker	El Paso	26
8	.	Chad Zobrist	Highland	25
9	.	Steve Sheppard Jr.	New Berlin	23
10	.	Craig Smith	Godfrey	21

		Indiana
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Jeremy Hines	Seymour	38
2	.	Steve Barnett	Franklin	21
3	.	John Gill	Mitchell	15
4	.	Bill Sheets		13
5	.	Joe Godsey		13
6	.	Marty O'Neal	Martinsville	13
7	.	Chris Streeval		12
8	.	Dennis Erb Jr.	Carpentersville IL	10
9	.	Cody Mahoney		9
10	.	Shelby Miles		8

		Kansas
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Delbert Smith	Wichita	28
2	.	Darrick Klima	Belleville	25
3	.	Justin Kinderknecht	Salina	18
4	.	Jimmy Segraves	Valley Center	16
5	.	Russell Portwood		14
6	.	Tony Jackson Jr.	Lebanon MO	13
7	.	Chance Bishop	Bartlesville OK	12
8	.	Jesse Stovall	Galena MO	12
9	.	Ryan Gustin	Marshalltown IA	11
10	.	Jacob McGee		10

		Kentucky
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Victor Lee	Stanford	48
2	.	Greg Johnson	Bedford IN	40
3	.	Jamie Ferguson		34
4	.	Derek Fisher	Olympia	32
5	.	Brandon Fouts	Kite	23
6	.	Mike Jewell	Scottsburg IN	19
7	.	Brad Neat	Dunville	18
8	.	Dustin Linville	Bryantsville	18
9	.	Michael Wright		18
10	.	Tim Tungate	Campbellsville	18

		Louisiana
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Ray Moore	Shreveport	15
2	.	Ronny Adams	Greenwood	13
3	.	Jon Mitchell	Nash TX	11
4	.	Jody Prince	Sibley	8
5	.	Troy Berdan	Minden	7
6	.	Jeff Chanler	Minden	6
7	.	Tyler Erb	Magnolia TX	6
8	.	Allen Tippen	Minden	5
9	.	Bub McCool	Vicksburg MS	5
10	.	Chris Patton		5
11	.	Mickey Trosclair		5
12	.	Shane Hebert	Lafayette	5
13	.	Wendell Wallace	Batesville AR	5

		Maryland
		Late Model	Final
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Jamie Lathroum	Mechanicsville	18
2	.	Gregg Satterlee	Rochester Mills PA	17
3	.	Dale Hollidge		15
4	.	David Williams	Charlotte Hall	15
5	.	Jason Covert	York Haven PA	12
6	.	Kenny Moreland	Waldorf	12
7	.	Kenny Pettyjohn	Milton DE	12
8	.	Dan Stone	Thompson PA	11
9	.	J.T. Spence	Winchester VA	10
10	.	Jeremy Miller	Gettysburg PA	9

		Michigan
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Eric Spangler	Lake City	47
2	.	Zack Olger	St. Johns	45
3	.	Rich Neiser	Fruitport	33
4	.	Ryan Vanderveen	Six Lakes	31
5	.	Scott Baker	Ionia	27
6	.	Brandon Thirlby	Traverse City	20
7	.	Kevin Reeve		20
8	.	David Hilliker		18
9	.	Adam Erickson		15
10	.	Kris Patterson Jr.	St. Johns	15

		Minnesota
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Zach Johnson	Kensington	38
2	.	Jeff Wildung	Nassau	31
3	.	Nick Beyenhof	Rock Rapids IA	27
4	.	Nate Beyenhof	Rock Rapids IA	22
5	.	Pat Doar	New Richmond WI	20
6	.	Eric Breeschoten	Buffalo	19
7	.	Mike Prochnow	Menomonie WI	19
8	.	Don Shaw	Ham Lake	17
9	.	Rick Schroeder	Montevideo	16
10	.	Dustin Strand	Grand Forks ND	12

		Mississippi
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Chris Wall	Holden LA	34
2	.	Eric Cooley	Fulton	33
3	.	David Breazeale	Four Corners	21
4	.	Jamie Tollison		17
5	.	Jason Brock		17
6	.	Rick Rickman	Columbus	17
7	.	Chad Thrash	Meridian	16
8	.	Clay Fisher	Dewitt AR	12
9	.	Bo Gordon	Merigold	11
10	.	Neil Baggett	Shannon	11
11	.	Ross Campanovo	Clarksdale	11

		Missouri
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Jason Russell	Henley	47
2	.	Vance Wilson	Bowling Green	40
3	.	Justin Wells	Aurora	29
4	.	Payton Looney	Republic	28
5	.	Ken Essary	Galena	21
6	.	Jimmy Owens	Newport TN	15
7	.	Tony Jackson Jr.	Lebanon	14
8	.	Jason Bodenhammer	Centerview	12
9	.	Jesse Stovall	Galena	12
10	.	Kenny Mudd		12
11	.	Scott Weber	Festus	12

		Nebraska
		Late Model	Final
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Jase Kaser	Lincoln	34
2	.	Kyle Berck	Marquette	30
3	.	Jim Johnson	Plainview	26
4	.	Robert Osborne	Norfolk	25
5	.	Cory Dumpert		24
6	.	Bill Leighton Jr.	Omaha	23
7	.	Josh Leonard	Gibbon	23
8	.	Tad Pospisil	Norfolk	23
9	.	Travis Birkley		17
10	.	Chad Jensen		14

		New York
		Late Model	Final
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Ron Davies	Warren PA	16
2	.	Dick Barton	Ashville	15
3	.	Boom Briggs	Bear Lake PA	12
4	.	Mike Knight	Ripley	11
5	.	Robbie Blair	Titusville PA	9
6	.	Chub Frank	Sugar Grove PA	7
7	.	Chris Hackett	Corry PA	6
8	.	Dutch Davies	Warren PA	6
9	.	Tim McCreadie	Watertown	6
10	.	Bob Close	Eldred PA	5

		North Carolina
		Late Model	Final
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Casey Roberts	Toccoa GA	18
2	.	Dennis Franklin	Gaffney SC	15
3	.	David Payne	Murphy	13
4	.	Johnny Chastain	Murphy	11
5	.	Tim Allen	Kannapolis	9
6	.	Luke Roffers	Concord	8
7	.	Ricky Weeks	Rutherfordton	8
8	.	Ross Bailes	Blacksburg SC	8
9	.	Tim McCreadie	Watertown NY	8
10	.	Chip Brindle	Chatsworth GA	7
11	.	Scott Autry	Autryville	7

		North Dakota
		Late Model	Final
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Donny Schatz	Fargo	10
2	.	Joey Pederson	East Grand Forks MN	10
3	.	Dustin Strand	Grand Forks	8
4	.	Jeremy Keller	Mandan	8
5	.	Mike Stadel		5
6	.	Brian Bernotas		4
7	.	Mike Balcaen	Winnipeg MAN	4
8	.	Chris Olson	Hibbing MN	3
9	.	Hank Berry	Sidney MT	3
10	.	Paul Mueller		3
11	.	Steven Pfeiffer	Bowbells	3

		Ohio
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Doug Drown	Wooster	52
2	.	Rusty Schlenk	Jackson MI	37
3	.	Charlie Duncan		35
4	.	Jackie Boggs	Grayson KY	35
5	.	Jeremy Misel		33
6	.	John Whitney	Middletown	33
7	.	R.J. Conley	Wheelersburg WV	33
8	.	Dona Marcoullier	Houghton Lake MI	31
9	.	Matt Miller	Whitehouse	31
10	.	Rod Conley	Wheelersburg WV	31
11	.	Tyler Carpenter	Parkersburg WV	31

		Oklahoma
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Glenn Bratti		10
2	.	Justin Wells	Aurora MO	10
3	.	Brandon Hunter		8
4	.	Will Vaught	Crane MO	7
5	.	John Anderson	Omaha NE	6
6	.	Billy Hooten		5
7	.	Brad Looney	Republic MO	5
8	.	Cole Younger		5
9	.	Jeff Roth		5
10	.	Jon Mitchell	Nash TX	5
11	.	Raymond Merrill	Sallisaw	5

		Pennsylvania
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Jeff Rine	Danville	60
2	.	Dave Hess Jr.	Waterford	48
3	.	Rob Blair	Titusville	47
4	.	Matt Parks	Three Springs	46
5	.	Luke Hoffner		41
6	.	Mike Blose		40
7	.	Michael Norris	Sarver	35
8	.	Jared Miley	South Park	34
9	.	Alex Ferree	Saxonburg	33
10	.	Mike Knight	Ripley NY	27

		South Carolina
		Late Model	Final
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Jonathan Davenport	Blairsville GA	12
2	.	Dennis Franklin	Gaffney	10
3	.	Steve Francis	Ashland KY	10
4	.	Ricky Weeks	Rutherfordton NC	7
5	.	Chris Madden	Gray Court	5
6	.	Jared Landers	Batesville AR	5
7	.	Ross Bailes	Clover	5
8	.	Chip Brindle	Chatsworth GA	4
9	.	Steve Shaver	Vienna WV	4
10	.	Brandon Overton	Appling GA	3

		South Dakota
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Chad Becker	Aberdeen	26
2	.	Curt Gelling	Aberdeen	26
3	.	David McDonald	Huron	25
4	.	Kent Arment	Aberdeen	18
5	.	Chad Chenoweth	Huron	15
6	.	Steven Grabow		13
7	.	Brent Nielsen	Rapid City	11
8	.	Brian Diede	Huron	11
9	.	Virgil Randall		11
10	.	Bryan Berger		7

		Tennessee
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Caleb Ashby	Cunningham	41
2	.	Terry English	Benton KY	31
3	.	Billy Ogle Jr.	Knoxville	29
4	.	Chris Shelton	Paducah KY	29
5	.	Clayton Miller	Elkton KY	29
6	.	Steve Casebolt	Richmond IN	25
7	.	Brad Skinner	Spring Hill	24
8	.	Tim Busha	Boaz AL	24
9	.	Carnell Parker III	Clarksville	23
10	.	Jay Brinkley	Raus	21
11	.	Mark Fields	Lawrenceburg	21
12	.	Ray Cook	Brasstown NC	21

		Texas
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Skip O'Neal		25
2	.	Wendall Bolden		23
3	.	Sean Jones		15
4	.	Kevin Sitton	Bayview	14
5	.	Shane Hebert	Lafayette LA	13
6	.	Garrett Alberson	Las Cruces NM	11
7	.	Rob Litton	Alexandria LA	11
8	.	Scott Logston		11
9	.	Robbie Starnes	Dayton	9
10	.	Sherman Barnett		9

		Virginia
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	J.T. Spence	Winchester	39
2	.	Mark Pettyjohn	Milton DE	21
3	.	Rick Eckert	York PA	19
4	.	Gary Stuhler	Greencastle PA	16
5	.	Jason Covert	South Haven PA	14
6	.	Gregg Satterlee	Rochester Mills PA	13
7	.	C.S. Fitzgerald	Lexington	12
8	.	Jamie Lathroum	Mechanicsville MD	12
9	.	Jeremy Miller	Gettysburg PA	10
10	.	Keith Jackson	Odenton MD	10

		West Virginia
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Rick Williams	Beckley	33
2	.	K.C. Burdette		27
3	.	Chris Garnes	Evans	23
4	.	Andy Bond	Coolville OH	21
5	.	Travis Brookover		20
6	.	Zack Dohm	Cross Lanes	19
7	.	Jared Hawkins	Fairmont	17
8	.	Paul Wilmoth Jr.	Clarksburg	17
9	.	Wayne Hughes		17
10	.	Freddie Carpenter		16
11	.	Harold Redman Jr.	Tyler Mountain	16

		Wisconsin
		Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Nick Anvelink	Navarino	31
2	.	Russ Scheffler	Waukesha	28
3	.	Justin Hirt		23
4	.	Chad Mahder	Eau Claire	22
5	.	Ron Berna	Green Bay	22
6	.	Mike Fryer	Freeport IL	20
7	.	Tim Buhler	Glenbeulah	20
8	.	Jake Redetzke	Eau Claire	19
9	.	Tom Naeyaert	Shawano	18
10	.	Rick Scheffler	Waukesha	16
11	.	Troy Springborn	Shawano	16