Darland Capitalizes On Bacon's Misfortune at 34 Raceway

"The People's Champ" Dave Darland came into 34 Raceway on a hot streak, but on this hot and sultry Friday night Darland would have to catch a break when leader Brady Bacon lost his right rear wheel to take the win and build upon his USAC Sprint Car series point lead. Jayson Ditsworth and Tony Dunker also posted victories in support of the rare appearance by the non-wing Sprint Cars at the 3/8ths-mile high-banked oval near Burlington.

Twenty-two USAC Sprints signed in, but only twenty would take to the track for the 30-lap main event as Mitch Wissmiller flipped hard during qualifying and Aaron Farney, who qualified fourth quick, tumbled several times during the first heat. Both drivers escaped injury. Brady Bacon and Tyler Courtney would go from the front row and on the first try at a start the cars of Mike Houseman Jr., Tyler Shoemaker and Andy Huston tangled in turn two. When the race did get underway Bacon raced out to the lead, one that he would steadily build as Courtney, the leading rookie-of-the-year contender tried to hold back the competition.

Kevin Thomas Jr. finally worked by Courtney for second on the fifth lap and by then Bacon had a full straightaway advantage. And when Thomas could not make up any ground it was Darland who took over second on lap ten now finding Bacon nearly a half lap out front. That all changed in a breathtaking moment though three laps later when the right rear wheel broke away from Bacon's #69 as he raced through turns one and two and, while Bacon's car stayed upright, the wheel vaulted the fence that protects the pit area outside of the race track and while it went high into the air it thankfully landed safely without striking anybody.

On the restart it was now Darland who raced out to a healthy lead as Chris Windom maneuvered himself into the second position and when the caution waved again with ten laps remaining Windom would have his chance. When back to green Windom was able to stay within about ten car-lengths of the leader, but there would be no catching Darland as he would take the popular victory. Windom who was racing about as close as he gets to his Canton, Illinois, home on the tour had a nice cheering section applauding his second-place run, Bryan Calusen was steady in the Tony Stewart Motorsports ride taking third while California natives Justin Grant and Robert Ballou completed the top five. Sixth through tenth at the finish were Chase Stockon, Tracy Hines, Kyle Cummins, Thomas and Courtney.

Despite the near one hundred degree heat and the fact that the area has not seen rain since, like Spring, Jeff Laue and his crew did a masterful job of preparing a smooth and heavy racetrack that would be to the liking of the non-wing drivers. The surface was also more than suitable for the two support classes as well with entertaining feature races in each.

Twenty 305 Winged Sprint Cars lined up for their twenty-lap main event and it was definitely a family affair with three siblings and their uncle all in the field. Josh, Jarrod and Janelle Schneiderman would all fare better than uncle John Schulz though as the newly crowned track champion pulled to the infield late in the event while racing in the top five. Ryan Jamison would hold the early lead but with a heavy cushion this was Jayson Ditsworth's kind of race track and he powered by Jamison on the outside of turn four to take the lead on the fourth lap. The race would go flag-to-flag and while Ditsworth had several close calls while working through traffic there was no doubt that the Olson Brothers Custom Shop Special was the fastest car on the track in this one. Jamison would finish a straightaway back in second, Daniel Bergquist drove Andy Huston's #40 car to a third-place finish, Donnie Steward was fourth and Cody Wehrle was impressive moving from ninth to fifth.

The twelve car Sport Mod field had some out of town visitors and a regular Stock Car driver who has been dabbling in this division over the past few weeks. Brett Timmerman climbed aboard his father Lyle's #44 and would take the early lead with two of the best in the division Carter Vandenberg and Tony Dunker close behind. On the fourth lap Timmerman stumbled on the cushion in turn two allowing Vandenberg to edge ahead down the back stretch, but Timmerman caught the cushion perfectly in three and four to maintain the lead at the line. On the tenth lap Timmerman again bobbled in turn two and this time both Vandenberg and Dunker pulled even with him down the back chute and as they raced three-wide into turn three a bit of contact caused the car in the middle, Vandenberg to slow suddenly and come to a stop exiting turn four. With just six laps remaining Dunker would go back to work on Timmerman diving to the inside in the corners, but "the Jet" held his ground and fought off the challenge until he bobbled one last time in the same spot in turn two. This time Dunker was there to pounce and he grabbed the lead as the white flag waved to then take the win away from Timmerman. Jeff DeLonjay was not far behind the lead duo in third, Korey Meyer made the trip down from Big Rock to finish fourth and Sean Wyett completed the top five.

The entertaining three division program was in the books at 9:45 and the 34 Raceway track crew is now hard at work as they make preparations for another night of action on Saturday night as the Quads and Bikes will take center stage for the Midwest Performance and Power Clash for Cash.

This will likely wrap up my racing for the Labor Day weekend and while a trip to Boone for the final two nights of next week's IMCA Super Nationals is under consideration you will likely find me right back here at 34 Raceway next Friday and Saturday night as the MOWA 410 Sprints run a big money doubleheader.

Gustin Dominates, Hughes Tightens Point Battle As USMTS Returns To Tipton

When you go to a United States Modified Touring Series (USMTS) event you know that you are going to see a professionally run program with a traveling band of Modified competitors where pretty much the entire starting grid has a legitimate shot at taking the feature win. And when you go to a USMTS race at Tipton, on a track that has been expertly manicured by Al Dlouhy, you can count on something special and that was the case on Thursday night as drivers found that they could run top-to-bottom around the quarter-mile at Tipton International Speedway.

Twenty-nine Modifieds would sign in for qualifying that would then set the field for four heat races with the four fastest in each heat inverted. Drivers would then earn points based upon their finishing position and how many cars that they passed to get there with the top twelve going directly to the A-Main while the remaining drivers would run one of two B-Main’s with the top five advancing from each. Two provisional starters would then complete the twenty-four car field for the forty-lap headliner. Qualifying the USMTS cars was something new to me, but by doing it in group fashion the session went quickly and whatever time was taken was more than worth it as the resulting heat race action was spectacular. Two of the four heats featured three-wide racing up front for the entire distance and in the third heat Bruce Hanford held off a late charge from Dan Chapman to win by just seven one hundredths of a second with Jeremy Payne right there as well looking for racing room.

Fourteen-year-old Trevor Hunt would bring the feature field to the green from the pole position and the youngster from Kearney, Missouri, would establish himself as the early leader. The first caution of the event would wave just three laps in when the two provisional starters, Jeff Conner and Daniel Hilsabeck would spin in turn one. On the restart Ryan Gustin made a quick move from fourth to second and was setting up to challenge Hunt for the lead before the caution waved again on lap six after the track tire in turn three had been punted out onto the speedway.

Once back to green the battle for the lead was interesting from the standpoint that Gustin, who currently holds the mark as the youngest driver to ever win a USMTS main event, was trying to keep Hunt from eclipsing that accomplishment and after chasing the teenager for a couple of laps “The Reaper” was able to motor by on the top shelf. As Gustin pulled away the focus was now on the two and three-wide action that was going on for second on back as Hunt tried to hold his ground, but he was soon overwhelmed by the series’ top two points contenders Rodney Sanders and Johnny Scott.

The caution waved one last time at the mid-race point when Stormy Scott started smoking badly and then stopped on the back straightway and on the realignment you found Jason Hughes now up into the top five. Hughes was part of that fantastic third heat race, but suffered front end damage early after contact with Dan Chapman and he was forced to qualify out of the first B-Main. In that event he started ninth and methodically worked his way to the victory putting him in the 13^th starting slot for the feature. On the restart Hughes went back to work and continued his march to the front where he would lock into a three car battle in the closing laps with Zack Vanderbeek and Johnny Scott. As the white flag was displayed Hughes had made his move into second, but there was no catching Ryan Gustin who was on cruise control to the checkers. Hughes who is third in points and still very much in contention in “The Hunt for the Championship” made up a few points on Scott and Sanders who finished third and fifth respectively wile Vanderbeek would cash in the fourth-place check.  Brad Dierks would head up the local contingent in sixth, Hunt would wind up seventh, Lucas Schott finished eighth while Kelly Shryock and Jeremy Payne would fill out the top ten.

The Hunt moves north to Chateau Raceway in Lansing, Minnesota, tonight (Friday), then look for a big field of cars on Saturday night at the Deer Creek Speedway and the four-race weekend wraps up on Sunday night when the USMTS returns to the Cresco Speedway. It was great to catch up with Todd and Janet Staley and their sons Ryne and Logan as it has been two years since I last saw them right here at Tipton. They always ask me when I am going to hit the road with them and while so incredibly tempting I also have to consider the marital consequences of doing so! Maybe someday I will convince Christine that ninety nights in a motorhome at a race track will be sooooo much more fun than she thinks it would.  It has also been two years since I have had a chance to be entertained by series announcer Lon Oelke and there is no doubt that he is one of the most entertaining race announcers in the business as he had all of us laughing out loud on a few occasions.

The Darkside also sprinkled in five support divisions that ran feature races only and while I am sure that they would have liked to have seen more cars sign in, the way that they did things was a perfect addition to the program. The Four Cylinders put on about as good of a four car race as they could as Steven Boyle held off Jake Benischek and Adam Gates to take the win. Lucas Short appeared to have the Hobby Stock main well in hand until he exited the race late and that then lead to a last lap showdown between Brian Carpenter and Sheldon Hunter. The two made some contact as they charged to the checkers with Hunter prevailing by a nose.

In the Legend Car feature Adrianne Hartman was the early leader before veteran Warren Ropp cruised by on the outside. Hartman did not give up though and regained the lead from Ropp late to win the 20-lap event. Ropp dropped out of the race with three laps remaining due to apparent rear axle issues so it was Tyler Kelley chasing the young lady Hartman to the checkers. Craig Peekenschneider would take the third spot just ahead of Tony Stewart’s father, Nelson Stewart.

Wayne Hora started last, fifth, in the Outlaw Super Bomber race and he would pass Josh Neal late to take the victory while the B-Modified main suffered through several cautions including a couple that resulted from a bump-and-bang battle between Ben Chapman and Tyler Soppe. Soppe would lead the race early before being passed by Dan Mohr and after two incidents with Chapman, Soppe would end up heading to the pits before the checkers. Mohr would go on to win the race with young Dustin Smith taking second. Kory Meyer finished third, Chapman was fourth and Mike McGarry recovered from an early caution to take fifth.

The temperatures were hot upon arrival but with the sunsets coming earlier this time of year coupled with a nice east breeze it was a very comfortable night in the stands with several of my racing friends. It was also great to finally meet Chad Seering with IowaStockCars and to do a little bench racing before the night’s action got underway.

We are right back at it tonight as the USAC non-wing or “traditional” Sprint Cars will be at 34 Raceway in Burlington along with 305 Winged Sprints and the Sport Mods. Maybe come and enjoy another beautiful sunset over a race track with us?

 

All Iowa Points Battles Still Hot Heading Into Specials Season

While the “National” points races for the area’s sanctioning bodies have already, or will soon come to a close, the battle for the All Iowa Points title in each division will continue until the final race of the 2013 season has been run. And heading into “specials” season several classes are still up for grabs in the point system where drivers do not get a check for their accomplishments, but if used correctly they can parlay it into additional sponsorship money for seasons to come. Plus there is that sense of pride of being the one and only “best” in your division that lasts forever, just ask some of the previous champions.

The Late Model battle has come down to the veteran who has been close so often, but has yet to win a title, and the young driver who is enjoying a breakout year. Todd Cooney holds a slim three point advantage over Justin Kay right now, but with Kay still in the hunt for the Deery title it is likely that he will be doing more racing in September than will Cooney. For either driver it would be their first AIP championship.

Jesse Sobbing will be the first driver to win an All Iowa Points championship in one division and then move to another and win the following year as he appears set to take the Modified championship in his rookie season.  This will actually be four straight championships in a row for the western Iowa driver as he was the Limited Modified champion in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Chris Abelson is still within striking distance, but would need to have Sobbing completely shut down over the following two months to catch him.

With no past champions competing full-time in the division this year a new AIP champion was guaranteed in the Limited Modified class and there are still six drivers in contention heading into the specials season. Doug Smith is the current leader and he would become the fourth different Smith brother to win a title if he is able to close it out. Carter VanDenBerg, Joel Rust, Tony Dunker, Brett Lowry and Nick Roberts are all still within striking distance.

Just like Todd Cooney in the Late Models, Damon Murty has been very close to winning an All Iowa Points championship on several occasions in the Stock Car ranks only to come up just short. And unless John Emerson goes on a winning rampage at every points-paying event he can find over the next two months Murty will not come up short again in 2013.

Two drivers who already have more than one AIP title are slugging it out at the top of the Hobby Stock list as Devin Smith now holds a nine point lead over Shannon Anderson. But you can’t yet count out Chris Luloff who might still be able to make a run if he races and wins often during the Fall.

Merv Chandler is well on his way to his second straight All Iowa Points Four Cylinder championship and that will make four state titles overall for the veteran driver who was also the Modified champ in 1984 and 1985.

This is the first season to crown an All Iowa Points champion in the Mod Lites division and it definitely looks like it will be Josh May, while in the Sprint Car divisions it appears that three drivers will add to their number of All Iowa Points titles. In the 410’s either Mark Dobmeier or Terry McCarl will again end up on top. Clint Garner holds the lead in the 360’s and it would be his second championship after winning in 2002 although both Gregg Bakker, Skylar Prochaska and Russ Hall could still track down Garner if he sits idle the remainder of the season. And in the 305’s it looks as though Mike Boston will score his first championship in this division after previously winning in the 360 ranks.

A complete rundown for each division can be found on the Points tab at www.PositivelyRacing.com.

IMCA National Points Contenders Converge on Oskaloosa

Drivers battling for IMCA National Championships were on full display at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa on Wednesday night as five of the six divisions included drivers who are currently ranked in the top seven of the standings for their respective class. And in the Modifieds the top two ranked drivers each made long tows to be in competition.

The Sport Compacts were first and Bill Whalen Jr. who is currently ranked second nationally edged out Merv Chandler who is ranked sixth. However, with just three cars in attendance the results probably did not help much.

Twelve cars took the green for the Hobby Stock feature and the front row of Aaron Osweiler and Travis Bunnell did a nice job of holding off the competition early on. First Bill Bonnett and then Mike Hughes shuffled Bunnell back from second to fourth and they then went to work on Osweiler who held his ground for three laps despite the dual challenge. When Bonnett’s bid on the top side was blocked off, Hughes made his move to the inside and went from third to first on the eighth lap. On the following lap Dustin Griffiths went for a spin exiting turn four and in the scramble Bunnell ended up slamming the guardrail hard and nearly getting upside down as his car pinwheeled and spewed fluids all over the track. It was a tough ending for a driver who was having one of the stronger runs that I have seen out of him before. Under the red flag the leader Hughes had to have an oil fire extinguished under his hood and on the restart you could see the smoke trailing from his car as he took the green. Danny Thrasher applied some additional heat for a couple of laps before Hughes pulled away to take the win and once again, in victory lane, the fire extinguishers were needed in the engine compartment of his #11. Thrasher was the runner-up, Bonnett was third, Osweiler was impressive in fourth and Justin Hook took fifth.

Hook had already stuffed a one hundred dollar bill in his driver’s suit as he was the winner of an interesting race that involved the top heat race finishers in all classes but the Sport Compact division. The start was handicapped based upon lap times during the heat race and it was the Hobby Stock driver who prevailed as the two Late Models were closing quick at the checkers.

The Sport Mods were up next with A.J. Johnson racing out to an early advantage in the 16-lap feature event. On lap five the race for third turned ugly when Tony Johnson spun Brett Lowry in turn three and while the yellow waved Lowry stayed in motion, so the caution was attributed to Johnson who was sent to the rear. Carter VanDenBerg who currently ranks seventh in the IMCA National Points Standings used the restart to move into a position to challenge A.J. Johnson and at the mid-race mark VanDenBerg made the pass for the lead. Curtis VanDerWal was chasing VanDenBerg to the front and with four laps to go he made the move on Johnson for second entering turn one. I couldn’t tell if Curtis got a bit sideways first or not, but a bit if contact between the two sent VanDerWal toward the infield and in a classy move he kept the car going to stay green while losing several positions. It was all VanDenBerg from there as he picked up the hometown win ahead of A.J. Johnson, Lowry, Logan Anderson and Eric Flander.

The Stock Cars had given us the “that race was worth the trip” moment earlier in the night during the first heat race that was won by Jason Cook in a thrilling three-wide move around the outside. However, before feature time, Cook would discover engine problems and would just take a lap at the back of the pack before calling it a night. Brad Pinkerton would lead this one from the outside front row building up a solid lead early until Zack Vanderbeek cleared the pack and moved into second. “The Z-Man” would steadily cut into that gap as the laps wound down and as the white flag waved he pulled even with Pinkerton coming down the front chute. Vanderbeek was able to make the move stick on the inside of turns one and two to secure the lead and score the win on the final lap beating Pinkerton by a couple of car lengths. Damon Murty who is currently fourth in National points slowed dramatically coming to the checkers and was at a virtual crawl as he crossed the line with an overheated motor. Murty was scored third ahead of Todd Reitzler and western Iowa visitor Bill Osbahr.

On the way to the track tonight I thought that I might see a showdown between the two drivers atop the Late Model National points standings, but apparently with the two wins that he scored at Dubuque on Sunday night Justin Kay did not need to come to Oskaloosa in order to overtake point leader Todd Cooney. Darrel DeFrance started from the front row and while Cooney made one good run on him following a lap thirteen restart there would be no stopping the veteran from scoring the flag-to-flag win in this twenty-lap feature. Nick Marolf made a late charge that came up about a foot short at the checkers as Cooney finished second while Spencer Diercks and Paul Glendenning both recovered from spins to finish fourth and fifth respectively.

The Modifieds would close out the evening and while Jesse Sobbing is no stranger to the nearly four hour tow to Osky from his Glenwood, Iowa, home you have to appreciate the commitment from current National points leader William Gould who lives just seven miles north of the Texas border in Calera, Oklahoma. Gould wanted to see how he would match up against the driver who is chasing him in the standings, Sobbing, and Wednesday’s show was that first opportunity of the week. On the opening lap of this 20-lap finale some contact in turn three left Sobbing with a flat tire that he changed after causing the caution in turn one. On the restart Andrew Schroeder would lead for another lap before yielding to Tyler Groenendyk, but there would be no stopping Colt Mather who had his Skyrocket hooked up and hauling tonight taking over the lead on lap four and then dominating the remainder of the race for the win. Gould got a quick look at Sobbing as he flew past him early and Sobbing was putting the pressure on Groenendyk for second at the checkers. Cayden Carter would finish in the fourth spot and another western Iowa visitor Nick Deal would take fifth. Gould was steady on his first race on a half-mile in some time as he finished in eight after starting twelfth. In victory lane Mather was asked how he liked running the crate motor and he quickly responded “I hate it.”

The track will take the next couple of weeks off before returning with two more weeks of weekly Wednesday night points racing on September 11^th and 18^th. After that the season will come to a close in fine fashion with the annual running of the Musco Fall Challenge on Friday and Saturday October 4^th and 5^th.

No racing for me this weekend as my wife takes priority after twelve race nights in the first twenty-one days of August. Next week I look forward to catching up with Todd Staley and the USMTS crew as they pull into Tipton on Thursday night August 29^th, then on Friday it will be back down to 34 Raceway near Burlington for the USAC Sprint Cars. See you on the Back Stretch!

Moughan Cruises, Hall Works For Sprint Invader Wins at 34

The Night of the Twins for the Brockway Mechanical and Roofing Sprint Invaders is becoming a traditional way for Sprint Car fans to get their fix after the Knoxville Nationals and with twenty-eight winged sprints in the pits at 34 Raceway Saturday night the stage was set for not one, but two great feature races.

In the first 20-lap event Miranda Arnold and Joey Moughan lined up side-by-side on the front row with Moughan putting the Wilson Brothers Racing #15 to the point at the drop of the green. The car was formerly driven by Donny Schatz and still carries the Armor All #15 paint job and Moughan's domination was reminiscent of the seven-time Nationals champion as he drove away from the field. The race to watch was now for second where Arnold, making her first ever appearance at 34 Raceway, was trying to hold off current Invaders point leader Russ Hall. With just a handful of laps remaining Arnold tried the low line while working traffic, and that allowed Hall to skip around her on the outside to pick up the position that he would then hold to the finish. Paul Nienheiser and Josh Schneiderman would round out the top five.

For Moughan this made for an interesting streak in his last three appearances here at 34 Raceway. Last September he was called upon on race day to drive the car of Mike Hess in the Sprint Invaders season championship, a race that he would go on to win to wrap up the 2012 season. Then on March 30th of this year, Moughan served as the crew chief for 16-year-old Paul Nienheiser who was running his first ever 360 Sprint race and the combination delivered a victory in 2013 opener for the Sprint Invaders. So with the win in tonight's opener Moughan had been involved in three straight victories here at 34 Raceway, a track that he spoke very highly of. "This is such a nice facility, I love this place. I wish that I could run here thirty nights a year," said Moughan. "Jeff and Amy (Laue) do a spectacular job here."

All cars that were on the lead lap at the conclusion of the first feature were inverted for the second twenty-lapper and despite Moughan's dominance, the parity of the field showed as eighteen cars were inverted. Ryan Jamison would race out to a big early lead in this one as drivers who finished near the top of the first main event, for the most part, struggled to make much progress. That is except for Russ Hall who had moved from 17th to seventh when the caution waved on lap eleven for a flat tire on Matt Krieger's car. On the restart the first six cars all went to the bottom in turns one and two allowing Hall to zip around the topside to get all the way up to third as he raced down the back stretch, but with Miranda Arnold failing to come up to speed the caution waved again to wipe out that effort.

After seeing Hall blow by them I would have figured that at least one of those four cars would have went to the cushion on the ensuing restart, but again they all went to the bottom and Hall flew past again to get into the top three. The next lap Hall was in second and on lap fifteen he blew past Jamison for the lead. It was then heartbreak for Jamison a lap later when it appeared that his motor let go and he drove the car to the pit area as the race stayed green. There was no catching Hall as he cruised on to an impressive victory and with Jamison's bad luck it would appear that Hall has the series title all but locked up with one event remaining. That will be the Season Championship for the Sprint Invaders here at 34 Raceway on Saturday, September 21st. Jimmy Davies driving a car borrowed from the Deuce Motorsports Team after damaging his car the night before in Bloomfield drove a solid race to finish in second, Jarrod Schneiderman was third, Justin Newberry posted a strong fourth place run while Dustin Selvage came from the seventh row to take fifth.



Is there anything better in life than a beautiful sunset over a race track???

The UMP Late Models were also on the card tonight and while the count was light the quality was definitely there as all seven drivers were capable of winning the main event. Mark Burgtorf raced out to a big early lead and usually that would mean the race was over here, but Chris Simpson had other plans as he reeled in the leader and then executed the perfect slide job in turns three and four with just a few laps to go to make the pass for the win. Burgtorf would have to be content with second tonight, Dustin Griffin would take third ahead of Denny Woodworth, Ray Guss Jr., Jason Perry and Ron Elbe.

Shon Sanders started on the pole and walked away for the win in the Mod Lites. There was a great battle for second that saw Daniel Keltner make a nifty move late to slip by Evan Epperson and as the two took the checkers Keltner slowed immediately and Epperson had to take evasive action to keep from plowing into the back of Keltner's ride. Not sure if there was contact or not, but Keltner then caught up with Epperson and drilled him in the back bumper as the cars were headed for tech a move that resulted in a disqualification for the night. That moved Epperson to second at the pay window, Justin Bucholz to third, fourth went to Devon Rouse and Gary Snyder was credited with fifth.

As usual there was a nice field of Four Cylinders at 34 Raceway with nineteen cars checking in for the night and it looked as though Rachel Reger was headed to her first ever feature win. Ron Kibbe was challenging and Kimberly Abbott was close behind in third as the white flag waved and when Reger bobbled just a bit in turn two on the final lap that was all that Kibee needed to make the pass and take the win. The cagey veteran Wayne Noble gained two spots on that final lap to finish in second, Reger slipped to third just ahead of Abbott while Austen Becerra completed the top five.

It was an absolutely spectacular night for racing weather-wise and the full program was completed just a few minutes before ten o'clock. Next Saturday will be Season Championship night at 34 Raceway then on Friday night August 30th the USAC Sprint Cars come to town.

Next up for us will be the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa this Wednesday night, August 21st, as the IMCA Late Models will join the weekly program for the evening. Hope to see you there!

"The Professor" Josh Schneiderman Prevails at Bloomfield

Josh Schneiderman pulled off a thrilling third-to-first move on lap nine and then held off a hard challenge from series point leader Russ Hall to take the $1,200 top prize as the Brockway Mechanical and Roofing Sprint Invaders returned to the Bloomfield Speedway on Friday night.

A stout field of twenty-eight winged Sprint Cars along with strong car counts in the track's weekly divisions jammed the pit area outside of the wide and fast 3/8th-mile oval and a nice crowd nearly filled the stands on an absolute perfect night for racing in mid-August here in southeast Iowa.

On the first try at a start for the 25-lap main event Chris Martin got sideways in turn one near the back of the pack and when Jimmy Davies could not avoid him, Davies went for a quick tumble. Amazingly Davies was able to push off and he would be able to restart with a damaged top wing while Martin retired to the pit area with damage on the left front. With the field reset the front row of Mike Houseman Jr. and Jon Agan brought the field to green and those two did not lift as they raced wheel-to-wheel into turn one both trying to secure the early lead. When Agan caught the cushion in turn two that propelled him to the lead down the backstretch. The caution waved on the second lap when Tasker Phillips spun in turn four and the yellow waved again on lap five when Jarrod Schneiderman stopped in nearly the same spot in turn four.

In those two short green flag segments Russ Hall had moved himself into contention after starting on the fifth row and when the field came back to green the race was on. Agan was still the leader, but he now had Hall riding on his push bar and looking for more. Promoter Chris Eggers had his track in near perfect condition and when Josh Schneiderman went up to the top side on both ends he suddenly found the burst of speed that he was looking for on the cushion. On lap nine Hall poked a nose under Agan going into turn one and Schneiderman pounded the cushion to ride around both of them in a thrilling fashion coming off of turn two.

That three-car race quickly dropped to two though as Agan slowed and pulled to the infield down the back stretch as Schneiderman then went to work on building a lead. Hall kept him in his sights though and when lapped traffic came into play Russ looked for his opportunity. With eight to go "The Professor" had to pause for a split second behind Tim Moore and Hall charged to the bottom in turn one to take the lead momentarily. Schneiderman kept his foot on the floor and rode the cushion back around Hall coming off of turn two coming very, very close to making contact as Hall considered completing the slider. With that attempt thwarted Hall had regrouped and was ready to make another challenge when the red flag waved with just five laps remaining.

Tasker Phillips and Evan Martin had tangled in turn four with Martin going for a tumble and, given that Phillips was also involved with Randy Martin's flip during the Budweiser Shake Up Dash earlier in the night, a brief scuffle broke out before cooler heads prevailed.

With clear track now ahead of him there was no stopping Schneiderman as he pulled away over those final five laps to add his name to the list of winners in 2013 for the Sprint Invaders. Hall added to his point lead with an impressive second-place run, California native Justyn Cox started twelfth and finished third, Paul Nienheiser finished where he started in fourth and Dustin Selvage brought the Bragg Ag Drainage #73 in for fifth. Houseman would take the sixth position, Miranda Arnold thrilled the fans by winning the Dash earlier and then was solid in her seventh-place finish as Bobby Mincer, Ryan Jamison and Daniel Bergquist completed the top ten.

You can look for another strong field of Sprint Cars tonight as the Invaders head east to 34 Raceway near Burlington tonight (Saturday) for "The Night of the Twins" where they will run two features with the second one being inverted from the finish of the first. UMP Late Models, Mod Lites and Four Cylinders will also be in action.

Here at Bloomfield, as mentioned earlier, the car counts were very solid in the Stock Cars, Sport Mods, Hobby Stocks and Four Cylinders and with a couple of flips to take care of in the Sprints and some extra cautions in the other divisions it did unfortunately turn into a late night. The Hobby Stock main event was the first of the five features to be run and it was a thriller up front throughout. Dustin Griffiths had won the last four in a row here and with him drawing the front row you might have expected a runaway, but that notion was squelched when Mike Kincaid drove by him for the lead on the second lap. Griffiths fought back though to pull even with Kincaid on lap five, then on the following circuit Dustin was able to regain the lead. There were plenty of challengers close behind though and Nick Ulin emerged from that group to put the heat on the leader. On the final lap Ulin drove hard to the inside in turns three and four and when he exited turn four he had the lead, but Griffiths momentum off the top side was enough to drive him past Ulin to win by a nose at the stripe in a finish that had the big crowd on its feet. Jason See, Dane Blozovich and Kincaid completed the tightly grouped top five.

Michael Grossman moved from his third starting spot to the lead down the back stretch of the opening lap and then cruised to the win in the Sport Compact feature. He was followed by the father and son duo of Kevin and Kassidy Kirkpatrick while Grossman's teammate Jayson Barnes finished fourth. Tim Bevins would get back around Trent Orwig on the final lap to take the fifth spot.

The Sport Mod feature followed the Sprint Cars and while the racing up front was excellent with Carter Vandenberg and Ryan Fullenkamp racing hard for the lead and trading it back and forth, drivers near the back had a hard time keeping it straight as five cautions littered the first nine laps. I really wanted to stay and not only see how this one would turn out, but to also watch what promised to be a fantastic Stock Car feature. But with the midnight hour now upon us I decided to load up and make the 65-mile drive home while I could still stay awake to do so.

Checking results this morning I see that it was Vandenberg who prevailed over Fullenkamp with Jason McDaniel, Brandon Dale and Logan Anderson completing the top five. And in the Stock Car finale it was Abe Huls taking the win over Brandon Savage, Louis Lynch, Tom Bowling Jr. and Jerry Pilcher.

Don't let one late night cloud what Chris Eggers has accomplished at the Bloomfield Speedway. The former Modified driver took over as a rookie promoter in 2012 and one of his first goals was to secure an IMCA sanction in order to boost his car counts. Rightfully so, IMCA is selective about the tracks that they will take on and with a new promoter at a track that had struggled through the previous years, they declined the request. That did not deter the new promoter though as he has proceeded to steadily build his car count with perhaps one of his best business moves being to drop the Modified division from the weekly lineup for 2013. Now with counts regularly in the fifteen to twenty range in his four divisions and still growing I asked Chris if he would be going back to IMCA again to ask for a sanction and his response was, "Do I need to?"

At least three nights of racing remain on the schedule here at Bloomfield for 2013 and I am going to try to make their season finale on September 28th.



Morgan, Allie Liechty and yours truly at Knoxville


 

We have had some noteworthy royalty coming out of Mount Pleasant the past two weeks as soon to be high school senior Kelsey Smith was named as the 2013 Iowa State Fair Queen last week and 2013 MPCHS graduate Allie Liechty was part of the Queen's Court at this year's Knoxville Nationals as Miss Congeniality. Allie is the daughter of my longtime friend Tim Liechty who has definitely passed along his love for Sprint Car racing to his three lovely daughters. Of course Morgan and I were asked often by the other media types why the good looking young girl kept coming over talk to us! Congratulations ladies, you deserved it!

Looking forward to another great night of Sprint Car action tonight at 34 Raceway, hope to see you there!

Low Car Counts Persist At Some Tracks, Changes for Four Cylinder All Iowa Points in 2014

I like the Four Cylinder, Sport Compact, Hornet, or whatever you want to call it division. Especially when there is a good car count where the faster drivers have to start deep in the pack and race their way to the front. That is good racing and while some other fans consider them to be a good bathroom or concession break division, I stay in my seat and watch. If I didn’t like the division, I wouldn’t have started to track them in the All Iowa Points several years ago, but it is what I am seeing while tabulating those points that has finally made me decide to make a change.

History has shown that when a track has a hard time maintaining a respectable car count in a division over a couple of years, that division is eventually dropped. Not so with the Four Cylinders as several tracks continue to run the class with as few as five, four, three or even in a couple of recent instances just two cars showing up to compete. Why a track promoter would continue to run the class with these types of numbers boggles my mind. I have had a couple promoters tell me that “they pay for themselves”, but do they really? And even if they do, what effect is it having on your race fans who don’t care to watch a three car “race” where the competitors are spread out all over the track? Don’t get me wrong Four Cylinder drivers and fans, I would feel the same way about any other division that had the same car counts after two or more years, but there aren’t any because they get dropped.

It may be trivial to everybody else, but to me the tracks that continue to race with low car counts skews the All Iowa Points enough that drivers who race at those low car count tracks are ranked significantly higher than those who actually race, and finish in the top five, against a good field of cars each week. For example, at one of those three car races the winner gets the five points, the runner-up gets four and the last place car, no matter how fast or how slow, collects three points. In comparison, at a track that draws, for example, eighteen cars, the driver who finishes fourth and is likely a very competitive car only gets two points, one less than the straggler at the low car count track. I have waited for a couple of years now for track promoters to resolve this situation themselves by either doing what was needed to grow the car count, or to drop the division, but that has not happened, So instead, for this division only beginning in 2014, I am making a change in how the points will be awarded based upon the car count.

In events where there are only two cars, yes this has happened on a couple of occasions this year, I will continue to do what I have been doing and will not award any points to either driver. Two cars is not a race, it is an exhibition.  In events where there are three to five cars the winner will receive one point. In events where there are six to nine cars the winner will receive three points, second will get two and the third-place driver will be awarded one point. And in events where there are ten or more cars the full standard All Iowa Points five-point pay scale will be in effect.

This will not help myself, or any other fans who are at the tracks watching three or four car feature fields, but at least it will relieve my own frustration when it comes to tracking the point standings.

I had originally planned to catch up with the Corn Belt Clash tonight (Wednesday) at the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, but I now have another commitment. It is back to Sprint Car racing for me again this weekend as the Brockway Mechanical and Roofing Sprint Invaders go to the Bloomfield Speedway this Friday night where I am excited to see the turnaround that second-year promoter Chris Eggers has been able to accomplish. Then on Saturday night the Invaders run the annual “Night of the Twins” at 34 Raceway near Burlington with two feature events for the Sprint Cars, plus UMP Late Models , Mod Lites and Four Cylinders (typically more than twenty of them here).

Hope to see you on the Back Stretch!

From Twenty-First To First, Schatz Scores His Seventh Knoxville Nationals Championship

I predicted that we would see a new name added to the list of champions at the Knoxville Nationals. I was wrong.

Donny Schatz used the 22-lap B-Main essentially as a test session, a race where he came on strong late to pass Lynton Jeffrey on the final lap for a win that would place him in the twenty-first starting position for the 50-lap Nationals Championship feature.

The first try at a start saw Stevie Smith drive too high into turn one where he hopped the cushion, smacked the guardrail and went for a tumble. When the race did get underway it was Brian Brown who would set a fast pace while Schatz began his march to the front. A caution on lap four slowed the field again and Schatz had already moved up to twelfth in the restart order.

As Brown continued to hold a comfortable lead over pole-starter Joey Saldana, Schatz was bringing some drivers along with him from the back of the lineup as Kyle Larson and Chad Kemenah were also on the move. With the race nearing the mid-point and the scheduled five minute break, Schatz locked into a battle for fifth with Kevin Swindell where they would swap the position back and forth just before the caution waved.

Now lined up sixth with twenty-six laps remaining, what many thought before the evening began was not possible was now inevitable, Donny Schatz was going to win his seventh Knoxville Nationals. Yes, Brian Brown had been strong throughout the opening half of the distance, but Schatz had been gaining ground on him even while passing people. There were still twenty-six laps to run and you just knew that it was over.

The green flag waved and Schatz immediately disposed of Swindell for fifth. A few laps later he was in fourth, then third and just two laps later he blew by Justin Henderson for second. By then Brown had a full straightaway lead, but it was not going to be enough, Schatz was coming.

The gap closed quickly and with ten laps to go Schatz was within striking distance, then on lap forty-one he drove by Brown like he was standing still in turn two and that was it. With Schatz pulling away to score his seventh Nationals championship in eight years, Brown now had to hold back a late charge from Henderson to finish second. Paul McMahan worked his way into the fourth position while Chad Kemenah nipped Kyle Larson by inches at the line to take fifth. Kemenah had started 19^th while Larson had come from 17^th. Saldana faded to seventh at the checkers, Danny Lasoski finished eighth, Steve Kinser was ninth and Cap Henry closed out a fine week coming from 18^th to tenth.

“Brown, you’re going to win this someday. Believe me, I know how you are feeling,” said Schatz in the post-race press conference referring to his two years of being the runner-up before he started this amazing winning streak. Schatz actually attributed his win tonight to driving, and winning, some Late Model races earlier this season, “I drove it like a Late Model from the middle out. That experience really helped me with the track conditions as they were tonight.” Schatz scored two Late Model wins on consecutive nights in late May at Williston Basis Speedway and at Nodak Speedway in his home state of North Dakota.

Despite the amazing back-to-front performance the winner was still greeted by a steady stream of boos from the large crowd, something that Schatz knows to expect. “Heck, I was one of the many that were booing Steve Kinser back in the day.” And while Kinser’s mark of twelve Nationals titles is still a record that many think will never be equaled, “the new king in town” as Brian Brown described him moved another step closer on this perfect Saturday night for racing in Knoxville, Iowa.

A big thanks to Brian Stickel and the entire Knoxville Raceway staff for the fantastic hospitality over the past two weeks and I will now look forward to returning the final week of September for the annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals.

Some images from Knoxville....all photos by Barry Johnson....for more pictures from this event and others be sure to "Like" the Positively Racing page on Facebook!

 

Kyle Larson on cruise control to win Friday night's main event



Cap Henry sold his tow rig and then borrowed it for the weekend to make the A-Main at the Knoxville Nationals

You will ofttn find these two working together in the pits when they are not racing each other on the track - Shane Stewart (57) and Rico Abreu (24)

Brooke Tatnell (55) takes the lead away from Jason Johnson (41) in the Speed Sport News World Challenge

Brad Loyet was fast on the cushion in one and two and in turns three and four he was beating down the berm

Larson Goes; Tatnell's Toes; Sammy's Woes Headline Friday Night at Knoxville

It will be another busy Saturday for Kyle Larson. Last week he started the NASCAR Nationwide event at the Iowa Speedway at 7 p.m., ran 250-laps around the paved oval, then hopped a chopper ride down to Knoxville where he would race a winged sprint car in the 360 Nationals main event. Today his travel time will be greater, but his “day job” will actually take place during the day when he runs the road course at Watkins Glen before flying back to Knoxville, this time to compete in Sprint Car racing’s biggest event.

Larson made his schedule as good as it could get for his busy day by cruising to the feature win during Friday’s final night of qualifying at Knoxville locking himself to the 17^th position on the starting grid for the $150,000-to-win Nationals Championship. “Yung Money” served notice earlier in the evening when he made a seemingly improbable comeback during his qualifying heat race. With a stout field of 71 cars on hand passing was not easy in the six heats where only the top three would advance to the night’s headliner. Starting fourth Larson would fade to sixth on the opening lap getting hung out in the middle of turn four. It would take him a full lap to get back up to speed and it wasn’t long before he was headed back to the front proving his strength by making a three-wide pass through the middle of turns one and two. Absolutely the first to make that groove work all night, Larson continued the run all the way up to second and closing on winner Randy Hannagan as the checkers waved.

The phenom would lineup third for the 25-lap main event where the top four finishers would earn their way into Saturday’s grand finale, but the race would come to a grinding halt in turn one of the opening lap. James McFadden would get turned sideways mid-pack at the end of the front stretch and in the scramble the cars of Rager Phillips, Robby Wolfgang, Tim Shaffer and Austin McCarl would all get upside down. Thankfully all drivers emerged unscathed and after the long delay the remaining cars went back to green.

With no invert in tonight’s feature lineup, fast qualifier Chad Kemenah would go to the lead from the pole position but that lead was short-lived as Larson blew by him on the second lap. Even  with a couple of restarts to bunch the field there was nobody that was going to stay with Larson so the focus was now on the other three “transfer” positions. Kemenah was holding down second while crowd favorite Jac Haudenschild ran third and it was Cap Henry who appeared vulnerable on the bubble in fourth. Henry has had a tough season especially in the engine department and when he was able to sell his tow rig a week or so ago it gave him enough funds to put another thumper under the hood and make the trip to Knoxville, thanks to the courtesy of the new rig owner who allowed him to use it for the week.

Henry was on a mission and he was able to make the bottom work to move from fourth to second at the checkers. Kemenah would hold on to the third spot and it looked like it would be impossible to take the smile off of Haudenschild’s face after he completed the distance in the fourth position. Jason Johnson and Brandon Wimmer looked as though they might be able to challenge for that final transfer, but “The Wild Child” never gave them a chance in the closing laps. Wayne Johnson was the hard charger racing from 19^th to 7^th. With the Speed Sport World Challenge still to run Larson would skip the post-race press conference to catch his flight back to New York comfortable in knowing that he was not only in the show for Saturday here, but that he also had a car that was the class of the field on this night.

The World Challenge had an added element of interest this year as the winner (or second or third if the others were already qualified) would earn “the golden ticket” to be the 25^th starter in Saturday’s championship feature. And, with none of the first nine starters already locked in, that ticket was going to be every bit as valuable as the $10,000 top prize. Jason Johnson would pace the field for the first fifteen laps before Brooke Tatnell put the slider on him with ten laps remaining. Tatnell has had a tough season and is still walking with a visible limp after breaking three toes, but the way that he will remember 2013 would change dramatically as held back a late charge from Tim Kaeding to take the win. Daryn Pittman was impressive coming from tenth to third in a successful tune up for Saturday when he will start eleventh. Johnson faded to fourth while Donny Schatz found some speed late to move up to fifth.

The other big story of the night involved Sammy Swindell who just a couple of years ago looked to have his second Nationals victory in sight before shredding a tire just laps from the finish. Last year Sammy failed to qualify for the main event and one as to wonder if the veteran driver will even attempt to run tonight (Saturday) given the monumental task now before him. Sammy qualified third quick on the evening and was an early favorite to secure one of the transfers from tonight’s show, but when Dustin Selvage raced his way back around him on the final lap for the third qualifying spot in the third heat race he then found himself on the pole position for the first B-Main. This twelve-lap race seemed to take forever to run with drivers stopping on the track with issues multiple times and the entire field did a lot of laps under caution. Swindell would show a puff of smoke as he accelerated for each restart, but it was nothing mechanical that would eventually do him in. As the checkers were about to wave Swindell slowed having run out of fuel, but he was still able to coast across the line in the third and final transfer position. He was then pushed to the scales to check for the minimum weight where reportedly he was just a few pounds short of being legal. The resulting disqualification now has Sammy scheduled to start in the third row of Saturday night’s E-Main. Will he try to make the ultimate “Alphabet Run” or will he choose to just be a spectator and a mentor for his son Kevin who will start ninth in tonight’s Championship?

The field is set with an intriguing mix of veterans and young upstarts and my prediction is that we will see a new name added to the list of Knoxville Nationals champions.

Brown Dominates, Saldana Earns Pole At Knoxville Nationals

It was pretty easy to pick a winner when the feature field of twenty-four lined up for Thursday night’s main event at the 53^rd Annual FVP Knoxville Nationals as during the qualifying heats one driver definitely stood out. Brian Brown wasn’t just passing cars earlier in the evening, he was driving by them like they were standing still and that dominance carried over into the main event.

Kerry Madsen made him work for it though as the Aussie traded sliders with Brown early in the race and following a restart Madsen had a run going down the back stretch before Brown literally slammed the door on him. The two drivers joked about that later in the press conference as Brown said “I gave him enough room to lift….I think.” Well at least Brown, joked about it, but Madsen was still happy with a second place run that had locked him into Saturday’s finale.

Thought by many to be the driver with the best chance to knock off perennial winner Donny Schatz, Brown did nothing but confirm that prediction Thursday night and even though Schatz still has some work to do to even get qualified for the main event Brown made it clear that he still feels that Donny’s chances to win a seventh Nationals are still good. “You can start Donny Schatz in Oskaloosa and he would still have a chance to win.”

How about the week that Kevin Swindell has had? Before last week’s 360 Nationals his only dirt race of 2013 came at the Chili Bowl, indoors in January driving a midget where of course he won again in an event where he is establishing his own dynasty like Schatz has here. Back aboard a winged sprint car “The Bulldog” scored podium finishes on both of his race nights in the 360 Nationals, then on Sunday night he conquered a field of 81 410’s to win the second Capitani Classic. On Thursday night you could find him in the press room once again after finishing third to Brown and Madsen, and if this race would have been thirty laps he just might have been able to get around both as Swindell was charging at the end. Will we see him on the podium again on Saturday night? I wouldn’t bet against him!

Joey Saldana posted the fastest time of the night and then overcame adversity in his heat race to make the transfer to Thursday’s A-Main. After a bad start, and an even worse first full lap, the reason became clear when the left rear tire went down on the Motter Motorsports #71m. A quick change in the work area put Joey back on the track in ninth and with the new shoe he was a rocket racing quickly back toward the front to get qualified. In the feature he went pretty much unnoticed until the final few laps when he picked off a few more spots to finish in fifth. Saldana’s night would prove to be the best under the event’s qualifying points structure and the son of the 1970 Nationals champion, Joe Saldana, will start the 2013 version from the pole position on Saturday night.

Rico Abreu’s popularity is obvious as you walk the grounds seeing all of his t-shirts that are being worn by fans young and old, and you hear plenty of cheers whenever he is introduced or interviewed by the announcers. Fans of Bronson Maeschen may not feel the same about Abreu after last night though. The current Knoxville Raceway track point leader had the second fastest time for the night and was in a great position to not only lock himself into Saturday’s big show, but to be in a position near the front of the lineup as well. Abreu also put down a great lap in qualifying, ranking seventh and the two drivers would start side-by-side in the second heat. The two drivers nearly wrecked each other racing off the cushion in turn four on the opening lap and as they both went for the bottom in turn one it was amazing that they didn’t crash harder than they did. Both cars slid up the track and smacked the wall, and while Abreu was actually able to stay in motion, Maeschen was done for the race with a broken front end. Abreu would restart seventh and with some damage from the skirmish he could not advance any further while Maeschen came back to win the C-Main to put him at the back of the B where he only ran a couple of laps before calling it a night. Maeschen, along with all of the other drivers who have not yet made the show or the first ten spots in the B-Main, will give it another try tonight.

It may have gone unnoticed by many but the drive of the night may have been turned in by Cody Darrah who had to come out of the B-Main after failing to transfer from his heat race. Darrah started twenty-second, made a big move early getting up to twelfth and then steadily picked off six cars to finish sixth. That effort was good enough to land him tenth in points and will have him starting on the outside of the fifth row for Saturday’s finale.

It is great to see veteran drivers Steve Kinser and Danny Lasoski back in the Nationals A-Main lineup as their Thursday night performances will place them 12^th and 13^th on the starting grid respectively, and how about the performance of Roger Crockett? The driver who primarily runs the 360’s in the Pacific Northwest held his ground and finished fourth in Thursday’s main event giving him enough points to start 15^th on Saturday night.

The lineups are falling into place for a thrilling Saturday night and they will be finalized here this evening when four more drivers will punch their ticket in the championship event with the spectacular new Friday format. Hope to see you there!

Gravel Wins and A Race For Fourth In A Heat Race Thrills at Knoxville Nationals Opener

For David Gravel the opening night of the 53^rd Annual FVP Knoxville Nationals will be long remembered as the night that he dominated the 25-lap main event and coasted across the finish line having just used his last drops of fuel. But for most, if not all of the fans in attendance, Gravel’s win will likely be the second story that they tell, that is if they can even remember the name of the up and coming speedster from Connecticut.

It was the sprint to the finish for the fourth and final qualifying position in the third heat race that drew the biggest roar of the night. Yes, that’s right, a race for fourth in a heat race stole the show on the opening night of Sprint Car racing’s biggest event.

It is no secret that Donny Schatz has reached that pinnacle in a sports career where many will cheer against him based upon his past success. I’ll admit that I am one of those as while I have absolutely nothing against the six-time Nationals champion, I would like it to be at least another year or two before he makes that title “seven-time Nationals champion.” After qualifying eighth, Schatz started the third heat race from the fourth row needing to crack the top four to advance on to the night’s main event where he would then start somewhere in the first couple of rows. Failing to make the top four would send him to the B-Main where he would again need a top four run to then start no better than twenty-first in the feature race so, as with every position for every driver in every qualifying night event here at Knoxville, a lot was riding on the outcome.

Schatz got hung up behind Danny Dietrich on the start and then when Jonathan Allard shut the door on him a few laps in, he lost his momentum and appeared to be well out of contention in sixth-place and with the laps clicking away. But this is Donny Schatz at the Knoxville Nationals where we have all learned over the past seven years that you can never count him out. As the white flag waved Schatz, now running fifth was closing in on the fourth-place car of Ian Madsen and for most drivers the gap would still be too much to close in just one half of a mile. But close it he did and when Madsen stayed up on the cushion entering turn three for the final time the champ went to the bottom and the two drivers came out of turn four side-by-side. The crowd came to their feet for the drag race to the stripe and when they crossed in nearly a dead heat all eyes immediately went to the scoreboard to see how the transponders had recorded the finish.

I swear that there was a hush for a split-second before the crowd erupted in cheers as Madsen’s #18 stayed on the board in front of the #15 of Schatz. The official margin of…..well not victory, but fourth-placedom I guess was 0.024 seconds, likely too close to call with the naked eye. And that is how a race for fourth outshines a young driver’s first career win at Knoxville.

After snatching the lead from Greg Hodnett on lap three, Gravel was unstoppable, especially showing strength on restarts in a race that unfortunately had many of them. Johnny Herrera stopped on lap one, Don Droud Jr. was running strong and moving into the top five before he slowed on the speedway having picked up a big chunk of mud in his right front wheel. Earlier, Droud had the line of the night following his victory in the first heat race when pitside announcer Natalie Sather asked about his run and after a short answer he told her that her hair looked especially pretty tonight.

On the restart Shane Stewart clipped the cone and was penalized one position for the next try and on a later restart Stewart passed a bunch of cars on the back stretch waving his arm as he was having issues with his seatbelts. Since the stop was to resolve a safety issue, Stewart was allowed to restart in his running position.

Josh Schneiderman was impressive all night running third just ahead of that Madsen/Schatz finish in the third heat and he was solidly in the top five in the feature until something popped in the rear end taking him out of contention. On that final restart Gravel left them in his wake having several car lengths on the field before they even entered turn one and that lead would grow as the race neared its finish. A blown engine on Kraig Kinser’s car with three to go almost resulted in one more caution but the former Nationals champion drove his car to the infield under green, exactly what Gravel needed as he ran out of gas coming down the straightaway to take the checkers. California natives Brad Sweet and Brent Kaeding would finish second and third, Greg Hodnett was fourth and Daryn Pittman came from last (24^th) to complete the top five.

Oh yes, and Donny Schatz ran a nice race to finish inches behind Jason Sides in tenth, a performance that puts him tenth in the point standings after night number one. That means that after tonight Schatz will either be locked in to one of the first five rows of Saturday night’s B-Main, or that he will come back to run the Friday program where a feature win would start him seventeenth in the Championship A-Main. Either way, if Donny Schatz wins the 2013 Knoxville Nationals after starting that far back, I hope that I am not the only one who will be standing and cheering his accomplishment.

Lanigan Repeats Outlaw Win at Indee, Duffy Posts Second Dirt Tour Win of 2013

The last thing that Chad Simpson wanted to see was yet another caution. After leading the race during the early laps before fading back to third, Simpson had come back strong late and was all over Darrell Lanigan looking for the lead before the seventh caution period of the event paused the action. A miscue by Simpson on the restart was all that Lanigan needed to drive away over the closing laps to win his second straight World of Outlaws appearance here at the Independence Motor Speedway Monday night. The Karl’s Performance Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds was also in action with Darin Duffy closing out the evening in victory lane.

With Chad Simpson and Don O’Neal drawing the front row of the 50-lap late model headliner you knew that it was going to be a blistering early pace as Simpson raced to the lead. Single car spins slowed that pace on laps two and four, then on the seventh trip around the fast 3/8-mile oval O’Neal slowed on the back stretch while running fourth. After a quick visit to the pits “The Real Deal” would bring the Moring Motorsports #1 back to the speedway to restart at the rear of the field. The race then found a rhythm as a pair of 25’s battled for the lead with Shane Clanton taking over from Simpson on lap fourteen.

The caution waved again on lap twenty when Chris Simpson slid off the top of turn one and smacked the guardrail that surrounds the speedway’s grounds. Nearly two inches of rain had fallen here this morning so it was quite an effort to retrieve the disabled race car and after several minutes the green flag was back on display. Series point leader Josh Richards had started thirteenth and was now battling Bub McCool for seventh when contact between the two sent Richards for a spin exiting turn two on lap twenty-two. Once back to green Clanton would continue to lead with now Darrell Lanigan pressuring him in second. The defending Outlaw champion would be able to poke a nose under the leader racing through the turns, but Clanton’s momentum off the high side was more than enough to maintain his advantage until lap thirty-six when Lanigan found the bite that he needed to grab the lead.

The caution waved again a lap later when Richards slowed on the track and on the restart it was Chad Simpson who replaced Clanton in the second spot. It was now clear that Simpson had the faster car, especially running around the top side of turns one and two and that he just needed to find the right spot on the race track to make his move on Lanigan. The challenger had tried a few different lines into turn three and appeared ready to pounce until the caution waved again with seven laps to go for Chub Frank who was driving slowly around the topside of turns three and four. The large crowd was settled in and now ready for a shootout between the champ and the local star, but when the green flag waved Simpson got a little too high in turn one, churned up the cushion a bit and allowed Clanton to drive by into second. And while Clanton was able to stay close to the leader over the closing laps, he was not able to apply the same level of pressure as Simpson was before that last caution as Lanigan claimed the $10,000 top prize. Clanton and Simpson were close behind at the checkers, Gregg Satterlee ran a steady race to finish fourth edging out Don O’Neal who made his way back to the front to finish fifth.

Indee WoO Notes…..Kudos to the entire staff at the Independence Motor Speedway for putting forth the huge effort to get this place raceable after heavy rains Monday morning. Evidence of what they had to work with was in the infield and even though there were a few ripples on the racing surface, for the most part it was smooth, fast and multi-grooved…..One of my complaints with the two major Late Model touring series is that they allow their drivers to not only draw cautions for non-apparent reasons, but they then allow that caution period to be extended by having drivers stop by and visit with the series official who then may eventually go pull on some sheet metal. I am sure (I hope) that there was a better reason for the final caution, but since the car never came to a full stop and he just drove on around to rejoin the back of the lineup it would appear that the driver just decided that he needed a break in the action. And, who knows, that “break” may have robbed the fans of a thrilling finish……The 50-lap race took around forty-five minutes to complete although the time that it took to retrieve Chris Simpson’s #32 from the mud could not be avoided…..Josh Richards struggled in qualifying and then raced from seventh to the fourth and final transfer spot in the first heat race. Richards would go to the pits late in the feature allowing both Clanton and Lanigan to make up serious ground on him in the points race…..A car with the #25 on it won each of the first three heat races with Shane Clanton, Jason Feger and Chad Simpson. There were no more 25’s to start the fourth heat so Gregg Satterlee brought his #22 to the checkers…..In that fourth heat Tampa, Florida, based driver Kyle Bronson spun while running third and then recovered to finish fourth and qualify for the main event. That recovery effort was assisted when Dillon Wood and Dan Stone made contact with each of them suffering flat tires…..Stone was later running second in the second B-Main before he pulled off the track with two laps remaining ending the night for the Pennsylvania driver……Current track point leader Tyler Bruening charged past Charlie McKenna in the final two laps to take the final transfer position from the second B-Main……The Outlaws recently made a change in regard to the announcer for the series and, while I am not sure if he has now accepted the full-time gig, it was great to listen to Ben Shelton for the evening…..This was the third year in a row that the Outlaws have race at Indee and it was the first time that I was able to attend. If the jam-packed grandstands are any indication I would say that this event will happily be placed on the schedule again in 2014.

The Hawkeye Dirt Tour Modified 30-lap main event would close out the evening and the fact that much of the crowd stuck around after the Late Models were loading up showed that the Mods were a very suitable companion for this event. Front row starters Justin O’Brien and Troy Cordes crossed the start-finish line in a near dead heat on the opening lap before Cordes established himself as the leader on lap two. A pair of cautions on lap seven and one more on lap nine kept the field tightly bunched as Cordes tried to hold off the challenges of Darin Duffy and Mike VanGenderen while the race just behind them went three-wide on a few occasions. Duffy had started on the fifth row and he was not to be denied on this night driving past Cordes with nine laps remaining and going on to endorse the $1,000 winner’s check. Cordes would settle for runner-up honors just ahead of VanGenderen, Ronn Lauritzen maintained the Tour’s point lead by finishing fourth while current track point leader Tyler Droste finished fifth.

Indee HDT Notes……Lauritzen started tenth and Droste came from eleventh in the main event…..Shawn Ryan was racing Matt Gansen for second in the fourth heat race when Ryan slipped off the top of the back stretch. Ryan’s bad luck continued in the second B-Main when he suffered a flat left rear tire so it was nice to see that he had earned a provisional start in the feature because he was definitely fast enough to have qualified…..Kelly Shryock was a bit of a surprise entry driving the car #8. He won the first B-Main, then started thirteenth and finished sixth in the main event……Steve Stultz continued his Midwest racing vacation as the Peoria, Arizona, driver finished thirteenth…..Duffy is the first repeat winner on the 2013 Tour having also won back in June at Tipton…..Track announcer Ryan Clark did a great job as usual hosting the evening’s activities and providing the call on the Modifieds. The Nic Cage look-alike is also a pretty darn good writer…..The Hawkeye Dirt Tour continues this Thursday night at the Hancock County Speedway in Britt.....Thanks to everybody at the Independence Motor Speedway, especially the nice young lady at the pit gate, for their hospitality and to Dick and Joyce Eisele along with the Ronn Lauritzen fan base for holding a couple of seats for this late arrival. Make sure to visit the 4dFan Report for another take on the night's activities.

No racing for me tonight as I have a yard to mow among other chores that need to be completed before returning to Knoxville for the 53^rd Annual FVP Knoxville Nationals starting on Wednesday. There are two big events going on in the area tonight (Tuesday) though that I do hope that you will attend as the Open Late Model Shootout will be at the West Liberty Raceway and it will be the non-wing sprints in action at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa for the finale of the “Front Row Challenge”.

Enough With Running Second, Kevin Swindell Conquers Knoxville's "Capitani Classic"

Friday night was the first time this season that Kevin Swindell had driven a winged sprint car on dirt. He finished second to Justin Henderson. On Saturday night Swindell fought off Kyle Larson to finish second in the 360 Knoxville Nationals and if not for that battle he may have been able to make a run at the champion Shane Stewart. Most drivers would be thrilled with two runner-up finishes in a major event at the Knoxville Raceway, especially in their first weekend out for the season while the others had been doing it all year. Not Kevin Swindell though as he is not known as “The Bulldog” for nothing.

On Sunday night, despite being the last of 81 entries to take to the track for qualifying, Swindell did what he needed to do to earn his way into the invert for the heat races. He survived a close call along with his father Sammy at the start of his heat race, and then outfoxed one of the craftiest drivers ever to race at Knoxville to take the lead and eventually the win in the second annual Capitani Classic.

That close call came at the start of heat race number four as Kevin lined up in the second row on the outside of Jason Johnson and with Sammy starting just behind his son in sixth. With the top four cars moving on to the A-Main in each of the heat races getting a good start is necessary especially for the two fastest qualifiers who start fifth and sixth as making the top four is the difference between starting in the first four rows of the A-Main, or having to transfer from the B and start the feature in row eleven or twelve. When the green flag waved, the field scrambled up front and Kevin wound up nearly sideways in front of Sammy who had to stomp the brakes and steer to avoid. The six cars starting behind them did the same and somehow everybody kept moving and the race stayed green. Kevin was able to recover and was scored fifth on the opening lap, while Sammy was now well back in seventh and pushing to make up ground. Kevin would get by both Dustin Selvage and Austin McCarl to finish in the third spot while Sammy would run out of laps and finish fifth having to go on and later win the second B-Main to make the show. After the checkers waved both Swindell’s stayed on the gas to catch up with Jason Johnson and they both expressed their displeasure with him on the cool down lap.

Kevin would lineup to the outside of Terry McCarl on the front row for the 25-lap main event and, with his years of experience, you will not find many drivers who are better at gaining the advantage when they are setting the pace here at Knoxville than McCarl. As the green flag waved it was “T-Mac” who would take the lead heading down the back straightaway, but before he could come around to put the opening lap on the scoreboard Ian Madsen would spin in turn two to bring out the caution.

The field was reset and after Wally Price brought the Pella Motors pace truck to the infield off of turn two McCarl slowed to a snail’s pace as he eased the anxious field of twenty-four down the back straightaway. It seemed like it took two or three minutes before the front row hit the chalk line in turn four and McCarl was the first on the trigger moving up in front of Swindell down the front stretch. “The Bulldog” did not lift and steered to the left to enter turn one on the low line where the Indy Race Parts #71 stuck like glue to take the lead down the back stretch. As McCarl had to deal with the challenges of Justin Henderson and Brian Brown, Swindell quickly opened up a big lead only to have it wiped away when Jon Agan spun in turn four on lap number six.

On the restart Swindell again opened a big lead as first Brown and then Henderson were able to get around McCarl and then it was Henderson who raised some eyebrows when he again powered past the driver that many figure will be the chief challenger to Donny Schatz later this week as he dropped Brown back to third. The caution waved again at the mid-race mark when Kyle Larson looped his #1K in turn four and the restart would now give Henderson the opportunity to see if he could keep pace with, and possibly challenge the leader.

He found that he could not though as once again Swindell pulled away and despite having to work lapped traffic through the closing laps there was no catching Kevin as he posted his fourth career win in the 410 division here at Knoxville and collected the $5,000 top prize. Henderson was impressive in running second ahead of Brown who is definitely still a driver to watch at this week’s 410 Nationals. Shane Stewart started eighth and finished fourth while Craig Dollansky was the only World of Outlaws regular to crack the top five after starting fifteenth.

Cappy Classic Notes……Schatz, Steve Kinser and Kraig Kinser were the only Outlaw regulars who did not compete this evening…..Jason Sides was scheduled to start in the fourth row of the second heat, but did not come to staging for the event…..Logan Forler took a nasty ride down the frontstretch at the start of that second heat and after he climbed from his car unscathed some extra time was spent to repair some fencing just below Doug Clark’s flagstand….The fifth heat had three noteworthy items. Joey Saldana pushed off and then pulled back to the infield with steering issues. Local driver Jon Agan, who just recently started running the 410 division as well as his usual 360 ride, scored an impressive win going away from the field. And Terry McCarl made a late pass of Davey Heskin for the fourth and final transfer position, a pass that landed him on the pole position of the main event…..Johnny Herrera and Rico Abreu swapped the lead back and forth in the C-Main where the top four cars would transfer on to the back of the two B-Mains. Herrera would re-take the lead on the final lap to take the win……Lynton Jeffrey won the first B-Main and, just as he did the night before, Randy Hannagan made a big run to complete a pass on the final lap for the final transfer position to the feature. His victim tonight was Joey Saldana…..Sammy Swindell and Cody Darrah waged a back and forth battle for the lead in the second B-Main while Tim Kaeding and Tim Shaffer tried to keep pace. Swindell would take the win followed by Darrah with Kaeding closing, but too late in third……Abreu started 21^st in the second B-Main and charged all the way up to 8^th  in the 12-lap event.

After four straight nights I am going to take the next couple off from Sprint Car racing and hopefully take in either the World of Outlaw Late Models, Hawkeye Dirt Tour Modified doubleheader at Independence tonight (Monday), or the Open Late Model Shootout at the West Liberty Raceway on Tuesday night. Mother Nature may end up playing a part in that decision. Then on Wednesday night it is back up to Knoxville for the 53^rd Annual FVP Knoxville Nationals.

Four In a Row and One For The Thumb; Stewart Dominates 360 Nationals

Shane Stewart overcame two late restarts and the loss of his power steering in the final two laps to win his fourth straight, and fifth overall Arnold Motor Supply 360 Knoxville Nationals Saturday night at the Knoxville Raceway. And while the restarts made it close at the end, it was another dominating performance by the driver from Bixby, Oklahoma.

Wayne Johnson joined Stewart on the front row for the 25-lap headliner and it was Johnson who got the jump when the green flag waved. As the field entered turn three for the first time it appeared that Josh Higday slowed mid-pack and the chain reaction resulted in a spin by Dustin Selvage that also collected Randy Hannagan. With the caution out Lee Grosz stopped in turn two with a flat tire and before the car of Hannagan was towed off the track Scott Winters also pitted for a right rear tire that was going flat. Since the lap was not scored the field was realigned two-by-two and on the next wave of the green it was Stewart who won the sprint into turn one.

By lap four Stewart had Paul Silva's #57 a full straightaway ahead of Johnson as the field battled for position well behind him. Johnson was doing his best to hold back the challenges of Brad Sweet and Kevin Swindell and once lapped traffic came into play, both drivers were able to make the pass yet they were still far behind the leader. Deeper in the pack, as expected, Brian Brown was making steady progress after starting in the tenth row and by mid-race he had cracked the top ten and was looking for more.

It was at that mid-race point when the leader Stewart closed in on the #83 of Terry McCarl and as McCarl was also racing for position, Stewart was unable to put McCarl a lap down. Usually when a race leader gets hung up behind a soon-to-be-lapped car his competition closes in on him quickly, but that was not the case here as McCarl appeared to be running as fast as those challengers. With the laps winding down Swindell was starting to cut into the lead, but not fast enough and it looked as though this one was all over until the caution waved with just three laps remaining. Friday's winner Justin Henderson had stopped in turn two with a flat left rear tire and the large crowd buzzed with anticipation as Swindell, Sweet, Danny Lasoski and Kyle Larson would now line up right behind Stewart for the restart.

When the green waved Swindell looked like he had a nice run out of turn two only to slip a bit in turn allowing Stewart to again pull away, but as he raced under Justin Clark's white flag the ninth-place car of Robby Wolfgang went end-over-end exiting turn four bringing out the red flag and setting up a green-white-checkered scenario. Larson had now moved up to third and Brian Brown become a contender as he lined up sixth for the restart that was now, as we would later learn, much more of a challenge than usual for the leader.

In that last green flag segment Stewart had lost his power steering and he now had a handful, both in the cockpit as well as in the two young drivers lined up just behind him.On the restart Stewart went to the bottom into turn one, Swindell went to the cushion and Larson charged to the bottom as well and as the trio raced down the back straightaway Stewart got the break that he needed as he wrestled his ride into turn three. Swindell and Larson went wheel-to-wheel down the back stretch and when the two went for the same piece of real estate at the bottom of turn three Larson clipped the berm and Swindell had to scramble to avoid major contact allowing Stewart to get away again and complete that final lap unchallenged for the victory. It was the fourth straight and fifth overall triumph by Stewart in this event and despite his dominance there were nothing but cheers as he climbed the stage in victory lane.

Larson showed his displeasure with Swindell on the cool down lap, but as he later said in the press conference by the time they had reached the scales all was good as Swindell would finish as the runner-up with Larson in third. Brown was the hard charger coming from 19th to fourth, perhaps sending a signal for next week, and Brad Sweet filled out the top five.

When asked about the two late restarts Stewart first talked about his loss of power steering and then quipped, "I knew that Kevin was going to be good on the bottom and you never know where this freak (Larson) over here is going to come from." The winner said that with his steering challenge he could not hold the car on the bottom and riding the cushion all the way around was not an option so he was very glad to see the checkered flag. It was an emotional win for Shane as well as he paid tribute to Bob Westphal who passed away in June, proud to have put his Wesmar power back in victory lane.

360 Nats Notes.....This was Swindell's first weekend of Sprint Car racing in 2013 and it definitely did not show.....Both Larson and Sweet ran the 250-lap NASCAR Nationwide Series race that took the green flag just after seven o'clock just up the road in Newton. Understandably Knoxville ran off the night's events in a manner that would allow both drivers to get back in time for the hot lap session for A-Main qualifiers, so it was approaching midnight when the checkers waved here. Larson finished fifth and Sweet was 15th at Iowa Speedway.....When interviewed in the pits before the main event Sweet mentioned the "taxi cabs" that he was racing earlier in the evening.....Lasoski was one of the fastest during the hot lap session, but his motor let go on the final lap. The Burch Motorsports crew immediately pushed the #1M outside the track to make a motor change at the hauler and the veteran driver was very competitive finishing in sixth.....An Indiana driver who usually runs without a wing, Parker Price-Miller ran away with the win in the E-Main, but then came up one spot short of moving from the D to the C......Seth Bergman and Brady Bacon ran one-two in the D-Main, a ten lap race that saw a couple of incidents. In the first, New Jersey driver Robbie Stillwagon tangled with Danny Jennings in turn two and while neither car got upside down, Stillwagon's climbed the guardrail and was pointed skyward before both cars settled to a stop. Robbie quickly climbed out of his car and then began to run down the back stretch. Before he made it into turn three he paused to talk with someone and then turned and ran back toward turn two. A scuffle then apparently broke out, but our view was blocked so we could not see who was involved, although it is a good bet that Stillwagon was now at a disadvantage after running nearly a quarter-mile....The second incident came on a late restart when the fifth-place car of Derrik Lusk faltered just after racing past the cone and the field then scrambled to missed him with Ricky Montgomery getting upside down in turn one.....A bank of lights entering turn one went dark just before the start of the C-Main. They would later power back on, but while they were out the track was still illuminated better than most facilities.....Jamie Ball was in control of the C-Main throughout, but a caution with four laps remaining when Brady Bacon exploded a tire made for an entertaining finish. Dusty Zomer rode the cushion around one and two on the restart and literally flew past Tim Shaffer, Sam Hafertepe Jr. and Dustin Morgan to move from seventh to the fourth and final transfer position and he was not done yet. Zomer then disposed of Mike Houseman Jr. and Jamie Veal over the final laps to finish second to Ball. Veal would transfer in third while Shaffer slipped past Houseman on the final lap to take fourth.....Dave Hall went into turn one too high at the start of the B-Main, slammed the guardrail and then rolled a couple of times. When asked by announcer Mike Roberts about the ride Hall responded, "I don't know, everything was good and then everything was bad." Scott Winters, Don Droud Jr. and Jon Agan would run off with the first three transfer positions while Randy Hannagan passed Mark Dobmeier with two laps to go for the final starting spot in the Championship event.

Nineteen 305 c.i. Winged Sprints signed in to run a full program in support, but two cars lost motors during hot laps leaving seventeen cars to run two heats and a 12-lap main event. Keoni Texiera from Hawaii, who drives a car that is based out of Alaska, went for a tumble during his heat race shrinking the field even further before feature time. Matt Stephenson and J Kinder would race for the lead side-by-side for a couple of laps early before the red flag interrupted their battle when Chris Horton went for a tumble in turn four. On the restart Larry Ball Jr. passed Kinder for second and then blew past Stephenson on the high side of turn four to take the lead mid-race. Ball then cruised to his eight career win here in this division. Kinder would move up to finish in the second spot ahead of Stacy Alexander, Stephenson would hold on for fourth while New Mexico driver Lorne Wofford would take fifth. Ball mentioned in victory lane that he would race one more time in this car before turning it over to one of his crew members and that he would be putting together a ride in the 410 division for 2014.

Southern Iowa Sprint Speedweek action continues tonight (Sunday) as the 410's roll into Knoxville for the second running of the Capitani Classic. Hope to see you there!