Four All Iowa Points Titles To Be Decided In October

One of the things that has always surprised me about compiling the All Iowa Points for the past thirty-four years is just how seldom it is that a championship goes right down to the wire. Usually by mid-August it was pretty clear who would be sitting on top of the standings at the end of the year as drivers like Gary Webb, Ed Sanger, Curt Hansen, Roger Dolan, Ray Guss Jr., Ron Barker, Danny Wallace, Greg Kastli, Jeff Anderson, Dustin Smith, Jesse Sobbing, Bryan Nevins, Joe Zrostlik, Terry McCarl, Randy Smith and many more have essentially ran off and hid when it comes to winning the All Iowa Points. That has always amazed me, just how dominant one driver can be within a division across an entire state as you would figure that at least one or two other drivers might have similar spectacular seasons in a different region.

Once again in 2013 we have several divisions that are “runaways”. After two straight years of dominating the Limited Modified standings Jesse Sobbing has done the same during his rookie year in the Modified class and will earn his fourth straight All Iowa Points crown.  Damon Murty shattered his trend of leading the Stock Car points early and then fading by continuing to dominate throughout the 2013 season and he will win his first Stock Car AIP championship with ease. For the second year in a row Merv Chandler made a mockery of the Four Cylinder point race and in this, the first year of tracking the Mod Lite division in the All Iowa Points, Jimmy May ran away from the pack. Two of the Sprint Car divisions, the 410’s and the 305’s were closer battles, but with no more events on the schedule for each they are now decided with Mark Dobmeier and Mike Boston claiming titles.

So that now leaves us with something that we haven’t seen in awhile, four divisions where the All Iowa Points championships will be determined by the results of the October special events schedule that gets underway this coming weekend in Oskaloosa and West Liberty, and that is currently scheduled to conclude at Lee County Speedway’s “Shiverfest” on October 26^th.

In the Late Model division Justin Kay leads Todd Cooney by a mere three points although the two remaining events for the division at West Liberty and at I-80 Speedway are not likely on Cooney’s schedule. On the other hand look for Kay to run in both the IMCA and the Open Late Model fields at West Liberty this weekend.

There is still plenty of Limited Modified racing to be had in October and, since qualifying night features at two-day shows pay the same point structure as the main events, four drivers are still mathematically in contention. After Doug Smith’s win in Spencer on Thursday night and Carter VanDenBerg’s victory in Webster City over a field of 51 cars on Saturday night, these two drivers are separated by just one-point as they both look for their first AIP championship. Not only does VanDenBerg hold that one-point advantage, but for Smith to prevail he will need to do some traveling as all of the remaining events are at tracks that he does not run at on a regular basis. Both Joel Rust and Tony Dunker can still win it, but they would need to win just about every race night remaining and have VanDenBerg fail to run in the top five even once during the month for that to happen.

In the Hobby Stock division the two drivers who have split the past five championships are again at the top with Devin Smith leading Shannon Anderson by one feature win, five points. The remaining events are all at tracks that neither driver have raced regularly at this year, so this one just might be over although Chris Luloff would still have a mathematical chance of by-passing both if he would hit the road and win often.

The final 360 Sprint Car event of the season will be at I-80 Speedway on October 12^th and Gregg Bakker is now just two points behind Clint Garner. Garner, the Knoxville track champion, seems to have shut down for the season while Bakker has been known to travel to southeast Nebraska in the past. He would need to finish fourth to tie, and third or better in that final race to win his first All Iowa Points title.

The 9/29 update of the All Iowa Points should be posted at Positively Racing soon. And, for your Missouri drivers and fans, I hope to be caught up in the next couple of weeks well before the final race of the Show Me state on November 23^rd in Springfield. Keep checking in here for the updated standings soon.

There are plenty of special events on the schedule for this weekend around the region as well so make sure that you get out and enjoy the action near you. A couple of shows that are coming up and are not yet on our specials schedule is an October 19^th event at the Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa. Also, the season finale at the Upper Iowa Speedway in Decorah that was rained out this past Saturday will now run on Saturday October 12^th.

With family and social commitments for this coming weekend I had hoped that I could fit in either the Friday night show of the Liberty 100 or the Sunday finale of Oktoberfest in La Crosse. But now it looks like my only chance to go racing this week will be on Thursday night for the Sunflower Showdown featuring the USMTS Modifieds at Lakeside Speedway. Maybe see you there!

Richards Rules On Opening Night of the Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals

It was a beautiful late September night in south central Iowa as the Tenth Annual Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals kicked off in front of a nice crowd on a Thursday night and it was a pair of World of Outlaw regulars who would finish up front on the first night of qualifying.

Brandon Sheppard and Jason Utter started the twenty-five lap, $7000-to-win main event from the front row with the youngster Sheppard taking the early lead. A four car scramble in turn three on lap seven left Joel Callahan and Dennis Erb Jr. up against the guardrail and in need of a tow. Jimmy Owens and Austin Hubbard were also involved and headed to the pits during the red-flag cleanup for repairs.On the restart Josh Richards threw the slider on Sheppard and when Brandon got into the guardrail exiting turn two he dropped back to fifth. Darrell Lanigan then took up the chase of Richards with Jason Feger racing in third and Sheppard trying to make his way back to the front. Just as Lanigan put a nose under Richards in turn three on lap fourteen Scott Bloomquist slowed on the front stretch with apparent suspension issues slowing the field once again.

Lanigan continued to pressure Richards following the restart as Dale McDowell moved to the fourth spot, but the caution came out three laps later as Frankie Heckenast jumped the cushion and drilled the guardrail in turn two. It was a tough break for the Chicagoland driver who had been fast all night riding the high side. Bub McCool, who had started thirteenth was now up to fifth for the single-file restart as Richards would bring Lanigan, Feger and McDowell back to the green with eight to go. Lanigan was able to pull even with Richards on three occasions, but could not complete the pass as "Kid Rocket" would score the victory. Lanigan was second, Feger and McDowell swapped the third spot back and forth following the final restart with Feger joining the podium while McDowell and McCool filled out the top five. Billy Moyer finished in the sixth position, Chad Simpson was seventh, John Blankenship came from the back to finish eighth, Sheppard faded to ninth and Earl Pearson Jr. started last and finished tenth.

Qualifying Notes.....Seventy-two Late Models signed in for the tenth edition of this event that grows in popularity each year. The field has been split in two for qualifying as the first 36 cars out to time will run heat races one two and three while the second half of the field will run heats four, five and six. Don O'Neal established the early mark to beat at 17.363 while young Ryan Gustin posted the second quickest time in his first appearance here at the legendary half-mile. Scott Bloomquist qualified third quick in that first group behind O'Neal and Gustin despite being impeded on his first lap by Canadian Stewart Hayward. Brian Birkhofer has to be disappointed with his 28th best time in that first group ......The second group is now qualifying with Dale McDowell establishing the time to beat at 17.718 and that will hold up. Jesse Stovall is the final car out to qualify and he goes second quick in this group while 2006 race winner Brian Shirley is third in group two......All eight former champions of this event are in competition with Scott Bloomquist being the only two-time champion.....Eight cars are inverted in each of the six qualifying heats with the top three going to the A-Main, the next three to the B, seventh through ninth to the C and the remainder of the field will be running the D-Main......Fast qualifier Don O'Neal suffered a flat left rear tire on the opening lap of the first heat race. Rodney Sanders would lead the field back to green for the restart, but he then slowed to a halt in turn two, a tough break for the USMTS Modified star who has been moonlighting in a Late Model in 2013. Brian Harris was running second mid-race before motor issues forced him pitside. Billy Moyer would take the win, Jared Landers finishes second and Jason Feger holds off a late charge from O'Neal to take third.....Ryan Gustin caught the berm in turn three on the second lap of heat number two and then spun up the track collecting Chris Spieker. Former winner Tim McCreadie stopped on the front stretch on lap three, but pushed off and restarted far back from the field. Bub McCool passed Ryan Unzicker on the lap three restart and then held on for the win. Unzicker was the runner-up and Austin Hubbard fought off World 100 champ John Blankenship to qualify in third. Brian Birkhofer picked up some speed and finished in fifth.....Yankee Dirt Track Classic champion Joel Callahan fought off UMP Summernationals champ Brandon Sheppard by a nose at the stripe to win the third heat. Callahan had just taken the lead from Kent Robinson two laps earlier. Frank Heckenast Jr. passed Robinson for fourth while Scott Bloomquist is going to the B-Main in fifth....Earl Pearson Jr. spun on the second lap of the fourth heat. A few of the drivers were caught sleeping on the restart allowing Dale McDowell to make a big move up to second. Matt Furman dropped out while fourth on lap six of twelve. Tony Jackson Jr. ran away with the victory over McDowell and Jason Utter.....Congratulations to my niece Maeve Broeg who was just named the Homecoming Queen at Williamsburg High School!.....Texas native Morgan Bagley opened up a big lead early in heat race number five only to have it erased when Tim Isenberg spun in turn four with three laps remaining. Bagley then held back Josh Richards on the restart to complete the win. Chad Simpson moved to third ahead of B-Main transfers Brady Smith and Jimmy Owens.....The field went four-wide down the front stretch at the drop of the green for the sixth heat. Steve Francis, Darrell Lanigan and Dennis Erb Jr. were the top three and Jimmy Mars passed Justin Kay on the final lap for fourth.....Jesse Stovall has a hole in his radiator and has scratched for the night.....Jason Jaggers smoked a motor in hot laps and did not qualify.....Unofficial event rookies include Gustin, Sanders, Michael Smith (West Virginia), Dennis Vandermeersch, Stewart Heyward, Greg Kimmons, Travis Dickes, Ray Sveegen and Jonathan Brauns.....Mike Fryer and Andy Eckrich were also early scratches for the evening......Four cars will move from the D-Main to the C-Main. A pair of young Iowans Ryan Gustin and Spencer Diercks started form the front row in the D. Gustin was gone from the drop of the green  and won by a full straightaway over Rodney Sanders, Tim McCreadie and Matt Furman. It was a new 10-lap track record for the Late Models at Knoxville with a time 3.12.000.....Once again the top four will move up out of the C-Main to the B-Main and Gustin will be one to watch scheduled to start 19th. Chris Simpson dropped out on the first lap after starting third and on the third lap the caution waved for a slowing Jonathan Brauns. Brian Shirley hopped the cushion in turn two on the opening lap allowing fourth starting Shannon Babb to take the lead. Babb would dominate for the win with Mike Marlar second. Brian Shirley and Terry Phillips raced for the third spot while Ryan Gustin made an amazing charge in the closing laps erasing a straightaway difference to challenge for the final transfer on the final lap. Gustin was able to pull even with Phillips in turn three as Phillips tried to pass Shirley and when Phillips came up the track in turn four he closed the door on Gustin and held him off by a car-length at the checkers. Gustin will regroup and come back on Friday to try to improve his point total.....The B-Main lineup was stacked with O'Neal, Bloomquist, Owens, Blankenship, Mars, Pearson and Birkhofer among the drivers who were looking for the final six transfer positions in the 15-lap event. Eddie Carrier Jr. opened up an early lead as O'Neal, Owens and Bloomquist raced for second and this one went non-stop with no change of position in the top five. Carrier was the winner followed by O'Neal, Owens, Bloomquist and Blankenship. The sixth and final transfer came down to the final lap and when Denny Eckrich stumbled a bit coming off of turn two that allowed Earl Pearson Jr. to blow past him entering turn three and make the A-Main.

A second round of qualifying will ire off on Friday night with the big finale on Saturday. Unfortunately I have other plans for the next two nights so make sure that you check in with the live results at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com to stay up-to-date on the results and notes from Bill Wright.

Selvage Scores A Win, Hall Secures a Championship at 34 Raceway

The 2013 schedule for the Brockway Mechanical and Roofing Sprint Invaders drew to a close Saturday night on the high banks of 34 Raceway near Burlington and it was the top two drivers in the final point standings that battled it out for victory in the 30-lap main event. At the checkers it was Dustin Selvage who would take the race win while runner-up Russ Hall secured his first series championship.

A stout field of thirty-two Winged 360 Sprint Cars were on hand for the season finale, two more than were here for the opener back on March 30th putting a nice cap on a successful season for the organization. C.J. Houseman in his first night out for 2013 would earn the pole position for the finale with Hall lining up to his outside needing to only take the green flag to clinch the Invaders title. It was Houseman who would sprint to the front though at the drop of the green with Hall and a fourth-starting Dustin Selvage in hot pursuit. Selvage would take advantage of a slight mistake by Hall to move to second on lap seven and when Houseman hesitated for a split second working traffic two laps later, Selvage moved to the lead. In his haste to try to regain the lead Houseman then went too hard into turn one and slid over the top of the corner to bring out the caution. And that caution quickly turned to red when the #10T of Tim Moore got upside down in turn four.

Once back to racing Joe Beaver, Jon Agan and Jerrod Schneiderman tried to add their names to the battle up front, but Agan's charge was squelched when he slipped off the top of turn two on lap eleven. The driver from Knoxville recovered, but lost several positions as Selvage and Hall again pulled away from the pack. As the leaders got back into traffic Hall was able to stick a nose under Selvage on three occasions while Schneiderman, now running third, was trying to make it a thrilling three car battle. The caution waved again with seven laps remaining when Jimmy Davies slowed in turn two and that was a break for Selvage as with open track in front of him the rest of the way, Hall was not able to mount another challenge as "The Shocker" placed the Bragg Ag Drainage #73 squarely in victory lane. Hall celebrated a series championship as the race runner-up on this night, Jerrod Schneiderman was solid in third, Joe Beaver was fourth and young Paul Nienheiser charged from fifteenth to fifth at the checkers.

A diverse field of nineteen Modifieds were on hand as one of two support classes and it was local driver Bill Roberts Jr. who raced to the front as the twenty-lap main event took the green. Three Independence Motor Speedway regulars had made the trip down and two of them, Chris Snyder and Josh Sherbon, took up the chase of Roberts. A caution on lap six for a spinning Dugan Thye then led to two more cautions on the next two attempted restarts and once back to green flag action Sherbon moved to second as Roberts maintained the lead. Steve Stewart and Tyler Glass were on the move now and they became the primary challengers as the laps wound down with Sherbon's night coming to an early end as he pulled to the infield with three laps to go. With Stewart and Glass waging their own battle for second it appeared that Roberts had the win locked up when the caution light had to come on for a spin by Levi Smith just after the white flag had been shown to the leaders.

A green-white-checkers restart was now in order and when Stewart went high entering turn one he dropped back to fourth, but another caution for a spin by Skyler Stark before the lap was completed saved Stewart and put him back in second for the next restart. Again the leader showed his strength and with his two challengers doing some bumping and grinding of their own Bill Roberts Jr. completed the victory in a flag-to-flag fashion. Glass, who had started tenth on the grid would prevail over Stewart in the battle for second, Snyder would hold on for fourth while 2013 track champion Mitch Morris came from twelfth to finish in fifth.

Nine Four Cylinders added to the show as well with Adam Gates scoring the win. Ken Stogdell and Wayne Noble held early leads before yielding to Gates who had started on the outside of row four. Brian Mehaffy made a late charge to take second ahead of Justin Chamberlin who was fast in his first night ever in a race car. Stogdell and Shawn Baker were the final two cars on the track at the checkers.

This will wrap up the oval track action at 34 Raceway for this season, but coming up next Saturday night September 28th the facility will host another exciting night of Quads and Pit Bike racing on a motocross course in the infield. Gates open early and racing starts at 5 p.m.

The Knoxville Raceway springs back to action this coming weekend with the annual Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night and I hope to at least make one of those shows. Hope to see you there!

Season Championship Night Is The Last Wednesday Race of The Year at Osky

I love going to the races on a Wednesday night as, for me at least, it fits my schedule the best. My lovely wife usually has something of her own going on, or she at least doesn’t have me scheduled to be with her at whatever she is doing that evening and a night at the races is a perfect way to break up the work week. Add to the fact that since it is a night when there is seldom competition from other tracks you just never know who might show up. Last night was my 57^th night at the races in 2013 and 14 of them (24.6%) have been on a Wednesday night, two more than my next closest race night Friday (12) and four more than the night that probably leads the list for most fans, Saturday with ten. My first race of 2013 was actually on a Wednesday when I huddled up with Ed and Linda Reichert on a chilly night in Tucson,Arizona, and sadly last night would be my last Wednesday night event of the year as it was season championship night at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa where I have now spent nine of those Wednesdays. It was only fitting that I said “hi” to the Wisconsin traveler Ed Reichert as we were leaving the grandstands after another fine mid-week show that even on the final night of the regular season had some interesting visitors in the pit area.

Merv Chandler was the best of a three-car field in the IMCASport Compacts as that division kicked off the five feature races.

Aaron Osweiler continues to improve in this his rookie season behind the wheel of an IMCA Hobby Stock and he would hold back the challenges of Doug Sylvester through the first six laps before the caution waved for Dustin Griffiths who had stopped in turn four. On the restart Osweiler was able to lead for one more lap before Danny Thrasher went flying by and when Bill Bonnett tried to follow him through he made contact with Osweiler entering turn one. Aaron was able to recover, but dropped three positions as Bonnett, now in second, tried to chase down Thrasher although that bid ended just a half-lap later when Bonnett’s right rear tire went flat forcing him to the pits. Sylvester then came back to life and closed in on Thrasher and with just three laps remaining the two raced side-by-side down the back stretch. Thrasher used the high line in turns three and four to retain the lead that he would then hold to the checkers. Sylvester was impressive in second, Craig Brown was in town to tune up for the 27^th Annual Musco Lighting Fall Challenge to be held here on October 4^th and 5^th and Brown came from the outside of row four to finish third. Mike Hughes and Justin Hook completed the top five.

The Modifieds were up next and while their car count was a bit light with nine, all of them were capable of taking the checkered flag in the 16-lap feature. Bill Davis Jr. was a rocket at the drop of the green as he moved from the outside of row two to the lead before the field hit turn one for the first time. With Davis threatening to make this a runaway that field of nine was whittled down a bit on lap five when Casey Greubel, Brandon Banks and Scott Dickey tangled in turn four. Greubel drove away from the scene, Banks had to change a tire and Dickey was towed to the infield. On the restart Davis was still fast, but Cayden Carter was now at least keeping him within his sights. Around lap ten Davis started having some minor handling problems and Carter began to close the gap. Then, with three laps remaining, it became evident that the right front tire was going down on the leader’s ride. Davis was trying to muscle his way to the checkers and when he slipped high in turn three coming to the white flag Carter slipped by for the lead and, one lap later, the win. Somehow Davis was able to maintain enough speed and still turn the car for one more lap around the big half-mile and he crossed the line just ahead of Andrew Schroeder to finish second. Tyler Groenendyk and track champion Jacob Murray would fill out the top five.

The IMCA Sport Mods were up next for 16-laps with another improving rookie Logan Anderson leading the way in the early going. A caution for a spin by Eric Flander in turn one slowed the pace with four laps down and on the restart Curtis VanDerWal showed why he is the 2013 track champion as he made a big move to the front. The competition is tough here at Osky each week though as the 2013 IMCA Super Nationals Sport Mod champion hails from here as well and Carter VanDenBerg closed in on VanDerWal as the laps clicked away. With two to go VanDenBerg drove hard to the bottom line in turn one and made it stick as he passed VanDerWal and the young speedster then pulled away by a few car lengths to take the win. VanDenBerg’s victory puts him back on top of a very tight All Iowa Points race in the Limited Modified division. VanDerWal was the runner up while the third-place driver was Matthew Looft from the north central Iowa town of Swea City. Looft was tied for second in the IMCA National Points going into last weekend and he was very impressive here in what I believe to be his first ever trip to the Southern Iowa Speedway as he started eleventh and finished third behind two of the best in the region. Tyler Heckart held down the fourth spot at the checkers while Brett Lowry was fifth.

Fifteen IMCA Stock Cars would close out the evening for 18-laps and an opening lap melee changed the roster of competitors quickly. The tightly packed field was racing through three and four when one of the lead cars got a bit too sideways. This sent another driver spinning and the rest of the field scrambling with six cars piling into each other in turn four. Several drivers went to the work area while the car of soon-to-be All Iowa Points champ Damon Murty had to be towed to his trailer. On the restart the Stock Cars went right back at it Southern Iowa Speedway style as Rich Vogt, Don Nunnikhoven, Brad Pinkerton and Corey Stout raced four-wide for the lead off of turn two and all the way down the back straightaway! Nunnikhoven would emerge from that pack as the leader and he would continue to set that pace until the caution waved on lap five. This caution was due to debris from an apparent blown engine on a car #18c driven tonight by winged Sprint Car driver Russ Hall of Pleasant Hill. It was my first time to see this car and it was painted similar to the car #45c that Hall races at Knoxville and around the upper Midwest so perhaps he will be doing some Stock Car racing this Fall as well. Russ will look to wrap up the 2013 Brockway Mechanical and Roofing Sprint Invaders point championship this coming Saturday night September 21^st at 34 Raceway near Burlington.

While under the caution Nunnikhoven pulled into the pit area handing the lead over to Pinkerton and as the laps wound down Todd Reitzler mounted a challenge on the lead and with just a couple of laps to go Cayden Carter made it a three-car battle for the win. Pinkerton would fight off the challenge though to take the popular win while Reitzler would finish in second. Carter would take third in his first night out with four fenders driving a Roger Kelderman entry with a #10cc on it. Corey Stout and Jason Minnehan were next in line at the checkers as only six cars went the distance.

It was another entertaining night of racing presented by Mike VanGenderen and his crew with the final checkered flag waving at 9:40 p.m. While Wednesday night racing is now complete for the season here don’t forget the Fall Challenge mentioned above on October 4^th and 5^th. I am hoping to make the Friday night edition of that event which will pull “the best day of the week” one closer to “hump day”.

Plenty of great Special Event racing coming up so get on out and support the show of your choice. I will be in Burlington this Saturday night and I do hope to see you on the Back Stretch!

Chad Simpson and Jason Schueller Find Victory Lane on Friday At Yankee Dirt Classic

It has been way too long since I have attended the Yankee Dirt Classic at the Farley Speedway so when the schedule fell into place on Friday I made the two hour drive north for night number three of the four night affair. There was a bit of chill in the air and I had that feel of a "big show" atmosphere as I made my way into the stands where the ticket takers were doing a fantastic job moving the growing crowd through. And, with the pits jammed full of haulers for tonight's two division show of Deery Brothers Summer Series Late Models and Karl Performance Hawkeye Dirt Tour Modifieds, we were all ready for a full night of action on the fast half-mile.

A whopping field of fifty-four IMCA Late Models ran six heats and three B-Mains to set the twenty-four car feature field and it was Tommy Elston and Denny Eckrich who drew the front row for the forty-lap main event. Elston had to be thrilled with his situation as earlier in the evening he had finished third, one spot out of a transfer position in the sixth heat race. But when race winner Terry Neal was disqualified for an illegal rev limiter chip, Elston found himself in the redraw where he was the one whose box only contained one slice of Casey's pizza. The veteran out of Keokuk took full advantage and raced out to the lead at the drop of the green and with Eckrich in hot pursuit the lead duo started to separate themselves from the rest of the pack.

Meanwhile, further back in the pack, Chad Simpson continued to get the feel for his ride for the weekend, the #30 normally wheeled by Justin Diercks. Simpson had started near the back of his heat race and made some progress to earn a starting spot toward the front of the second B-Main where he looked as though he would run second until young Brunson Behning slipped high off of turn four coming to the checkers. That B-Main win lined him up on the outside of row seven and it was now obvious that Chad was comfortable and ready to charge. He was up to sixth by lap seven and on lap fifteen Simpson moved past Matt Ryan for fifth.

At that point the leaders were approaching lapped traffic for the first time and when Elston tested the high line in turn four Eckrich took advantage and moved to the lead on lap eighteen. That traffic allowed both Ron Klein and Jason Rauen to close in on the leaders as well and when flagman Doug Haack signaled the mid-race point Simpson blew past Rauen for fourth. On the next lap we all pretty much figured out who was going to win this one as Simpson drove around the outside of Klein in turn two and then drove under Elston as he rocketed down the back stretch to take over the second spot. It was just one lap later when Simpson disposed of Eckrich just before the first caution of the race waved when Tom Goble slowed on the track.

Just one more lap was completed before series point contender Justin Kay spun out in turn two and once the race was back to green Simpson drove away. The top five of Simpson, Elston, Eckrich, Rauen and Klein seemed well establish as the laps clicked away and several fans started to head for the gates, but the caution waved again with just three laps remaining when Ryan Dolan stopped in turn four. Elston chose the low line for the double-file restart and as Simpson closed out his convincing victory both Eckrich and Klein used their outside line to advance a position with the top five at the checkers now being Simpson, Eckrich, Elston, Klein and Rauen.

Yankee Deery Notes......The opening heat race got off to rough start when Kyle Neels got sideways in turn one and was drilled by Luke Merfeld nearly turning Neels' car over. The driver from Freeport, Neels was able to return to run the B while Merfeld was done for the night......Aggressive driving was the norm in that first heat and when Tom Goble charged under Rob Toland late to take the final transfer Toland showed his displeasure with the move both on the track and in the tech area. Earlier in the race Toland had made a similar move on Rob Moss.....Veteran driver Greg Kastli took the win in that first heat race and then failed to show up for the redraw. The joke was that he was somewhere taking a nap so announcer Jerry Mackey stood in for him and ended up with the eleven.....Ron Klein took the win in the second heat while Jeff Aikey came from ninth to finish second......Justin Kay started eighth in the fourth heat and charged up to third to come up one position short of a transfer.....Toland was running in the third and final transfer of the first B-Main when he had a tire go down with two laps to go allowing Joe Zrostlik to make the A-Main. Chris Simpson, driving Rick Wendling's #78 finished one position out in fourth......Ryan Dolan driving a plain black car with a big white X taped on it passed Chad Holladay on the final lap to win the third B-Main. Holladay wanted to discuss that pass on the cool down lap. Dolan's ride was his first in a Late Model in five years and he was excited to be given the opportunity by Rick Dralle and to have the setup help from Curt Beckler.....Terry Neal advanced from 14th to fifth, but would watch the feature from the pits.

They announced that there were forty-one IMCA Modifieds in attendance, but when the lineups had to be re-worked for this draw show following hot laps it caused about a fifteen minute delay in the start of racing as drivers could not hear the announcement throughout the pits both inside and outside of the track. Once everybody was rounded up there were four heat races, one that had twelve cars in it, and two B-Mains to establish the starting field for the thirty-lap main event. Mark Schulte would lead early, but he was no match for the Skyrocket house car #44 driven tonight by Jason Schueller who eased into the lead on lap four. A pair of cautions for Jason Roth on lap seven and lap fifteen slowed the field and each time erased a straightaway lead for Schueller. Nobody could stay with the Dubuque driver as he survived three more restarts on his way to a convincing victory. Schueller's dominance overshadowed impressive drives by the second and third place finishers as Mark Elliot moved quickly toward the front from his ninth row start and he was in second by lap fifteen. After making that charge I thought that Elliott might have something for Schueller, but he could not mount a challenge. Mike VanGenderen's run to the front was a bit more gradual than Elliott's and after starting twelfth MVG made one last bid on Elliott for second in the closing laps. Shulte would hold on to take fourth at the checkers while Jerry Luloff held off Richie Gustin for fifth.

Yankee HDT Notes......In the first heat race two drivers learned that you don't want to put a slidejob on Tyler Madigan. First it was VanGenderen who had Madigan drive up over his left rear causing VanGenderen to drop three spots and two laps later it was Elliot who tried the same move with the same results. That contact allowed VanGenderen to come back and score the third and final redraw spot in the closing laps.....Madigan's front bumper was busy again in the first B-Main when he spun Mike Burbridge on a restart.....Ron Barker got by Steve Stewart on the final lap for the last redraw spot in the second heat.....The third heat took forever to run with several first lap cautions including a back stretch spin by Kelly Shryock resulting in a flat tire. Shryock came back to finish second to Elliott in the first B-Main.....Jason Wolla of Williston, North Dakota, made a late move to score the third and final transfer out of the second B-Main.....Tour point leader Ronn Lauritzen spun in turn one on the first start of the main event and on lap twenty-one he was involved in a caution with Troy Cordes that then saw him head to the pits. Lauritzen's DNF along with VanGenderen's third-place finish puts Mike on top of the points going into tonight's finale.

A big thanks to the entire Simmons Promotions staff for their hospitality and for continuing the tradition of this BIG end-of-the-season event. The Yankee Dirt Classic draws to a spectacular close tonight (Saturday) with full programs again for both the Late Models and Modifieds on the half-mile, plus feature races in four other divisions on the 3/8th-mile oval. I wish that I could be there as it sure looks like fun out on the Back Stretch!

NASCAR, Johnny Football, Tipton and More.....

I cannot decide whether I am greatly disappointed in Clint Bowyer or if I feel sorry for him. I have been asked to do things by my employer for the “good of the company” that I was not thrilled with and I wasn’t on live television when I did it. I cringed when I watched his post-race interview and in the interviews that he has done after the penalties he still has not said that he spun out intentionally. But after “spinning” a story about a tire going down he will be admitting that he was a blatant liar then by now telling the truth now. MWR put Bowyer in a terrible position and I am betting that from the moment that Clint “itched his arm” he wished that he would not have done it. I still like the guy, but I am biased. After all, how cool would it be to have a former NKF Tour Modified Feature Winner become the NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion!?

Just how stupid are these guys though? Did they all forget that their radio communications are heard by many and are recorded by NASCAR? And now we also hear about Joey Logano getting a free extra point from David Gilliland for “future considerations”. NASCAR wanted more interest and publicity when they put together “the Chase” format, but I doubt that they ever thought it would be from these types of scenarios. This doesn’t change anything for me though. I will still DVR the Talladega weekend and watch it at my convenience. Then I will continue to scan through the results in the morning paper for the other chase races. (In other words, not much interest…..)

Just how warped is our society now when coverage of George Zimmerman’s divorce is a lead story on Good Morning America?

Last season I watched Texas A&M’s upset of Alabama with great interest and cheered on the Aggies and Johnny Manziel as they scored the win. Then, with a great deal of stoking from the media and the Heisman voters “Johnny Football” became his own biggest fan and after his disgusting on-field antics during the Rice game I am hoping that he is rolled under by the Crimson Tide on Saturday. It will be the only game this season that I will be pulling for Alabama unless of course they somehow end up playing Notre Dame again in a bowl game. I really hope that we don’t eventually end up with a matchup between Johnny Football and the Golden Domers as my head would then explode.

The “big game” in Iowa this weekend does not have the pzazz that it usually does after both teams stumbled out of the blocks. The Hawkeyes are favored by the oddsmakers for the thirteenth straight year in this matchup despite the fact that Kirk Ferentz has a six and eight record in his career against the Cyclones. It should be another close one that I think the Cyclones will prevail in although I am hoping that I will be at the Yankee Dirt Track Classic instead of watching the five o’clock kickoff.

The promotional group headed up by Ken Dobson that has operated the Jacksonville Speedway the past two years was announced this past Monday as the new promoters at the Quincy Raceway for 2014. I had a chance to talk with Dobson at length a couple of years ago as he was starting up the Midwest Open Wheel Association (MOWA) Sprint Car series and I was impressed with his enthusiasm and knowledge of the sport. I am looking forward to see what Dobson and his crew can do with Quincy as having the tie in with Jacksonville may produce an increase in car counts right away.

I’m not sure what to think about the situation at Tipton. I love the track as it often produces great racing, but with a solid Friday night program not far to the east and a Friday night track apparently on the upswing to the north, the road to success on that night is one that will be difficult to navigate. The track is too close to West Liberty and Maquoketa to run on Saturday night and, while Sunday night may be an option, it is doubtful that a new promoter would be able to secure an IMCA sanction given the proximity to both Vinton and East Moline. Could somebody swoop in there and try to make it the Island for Open Modifieds? I suppose, but that would then truly test the assertions that supporters of the class make in regard to the number of drivers and fans that would be committed to sticking with the division They may not like the results.

Perhaps Tipton could run a specials only slate in 2014 as those types of events seemed to draw very nicely the past two years. Or they might want to partner with another struggling fairgrounds track in the area to run aprogram like this.

With the blazing hot weather that we have had it is hard to believe that we are now firmly into the Fall Specials schedule, but it sounds like Friday night’s forecasted low temperatures will readjust our sense of the time of the year.

Leave it to Mike VanGenderen to blaze a new trail and this is one that no other promoter has probably had a chance to offer before. MVG will be promoting five straight weekends of special events at four different tracks starting the final weekend of September in Webster City and ending in Donnellson on October 26^th for Shiverfest. Any driver in any division that competes in all five specials will receive a $250 bonus with the schedule including the Musco Fall Challenge at Oskaloosa as well as two-day October extravaganzas at Donnellson and in Memphis, Missouri. It will be interesting to see just how many drivers will collect the bonus.

While my target is the Yankee this weekend, Barry plans to return to Harlan for the Tiny Lund Memorial. We are still looking for a blogger or two from the western part of the state who would want to join the PositivelyRacing family for 2014 so drop us an e-mail or track down Barry this weekend if you are interested.

The Open Wheel crowd has a great pair of events on tap for this weekend with the Herb Barlow Memorial at the Jacksonville Speedway on Friday night and the Tom Knowles Memorial at the Spoon River Speedway on Saturday night. Both events will feature the MOWA 410 Winged Sprints and the POWRi Midgets. If you are looking for a special event or two to attend yet as the 2013 racing season winds down make sure that you visit the Calendar page at Positively Racing and we hope to see you somewhere soon on the Back Stretch!

Outsiders Crash The MOWA Party at 34 Raceway

34 Raceway near Burlington put up some nice cash over two nights for the Midwest Open Wheel Association (MOWA) Sprint Cars this weekend, but it was five drivers who do not compete regularly on the tour who crashed the party and took away the lion's share of the purse.

In Friday night's opener Danny Lasoski wheeled the Mark Burch owned #1M to the $4,000 victory and if he could repeat that effort on Saturday night not only would "The Dude" collect the $5,000 winner's check, he would also be awarded an additional $1,034 for pulling off the clean sweep. And after winning the dash, Lasoski was well in position to do just that as he started Saturday's 34-lap main event from the pole.

The racing surface was now wide and slick with nearly all the drivers choosing the low line through turns one and two while on the other end of the speedway it was driver's choice between the top and the bottom. Lasoski quickly opened up a solid advantage over Jason Johnson and Brian Brown and it was not long before the leader had to deal with lapped traffic. The chasers were able to close the gap a bit as the veteran was patient, especially not forcing the issue in turns one and two, and while Johnson and Brown were able to keep him within striking distance, Lasoski continued to lead.

When Johnson entered turn one a little too hot to stay on the bottom on lap nineteen Brown slipped by him for second and now finding some extra speed around the top side of three and four he was able to close in quickly on his uncle Danny. Just when it looked like Brown might have a run on Lasoski, the leader drove by a pair of lapped cars racing side-by-side on the front stretch leaving them for Brown to deal with in turn one and when it caused him to hesitate for just a split second that was all that Lasoski needed to secure the win.

Johnson came back to make a run at Brown in the final three laps, but could not complete the pass as Brown would finish second ahead of " The Cajun Sensation" who now bases his racing operation in Missouri. Ian Madsen was one driver who did use the tip top of turns one and two to his advantage tonight as he raced in for fourth while the night's fastest qualifier Terry McCarl was fifth. This was the exact same order that these five drivers finished on Friday night as well. Jimmy Light drove a solid race to take the sixth position, hometown favorite Josh Schneiderman was seventh, Chris Urish came from the ninth row to run eighth, current MOWA point leader Jerrod Hull was ninth and Paul Nienheiser filled out the top ten.

The pits were full of Sprint Cars Saturday night as twenty-five 305 Winged Cars ran as one of three support divisions and the main event was definitely all about family in the closing laps. The 20-lap race got off to a rough start though when Shawn Whiting and Nick Guernsey tangled in turn one on the second lap sending the pole-starter Guernsey for a hard tumble off the top side of the track. While Nick was uninjured the ambulance did have to attend to somebody who had issues in the grandstand so after a short break the field was pushed off once again with Jerrod Schneiderman leading the pack. His uncle John Schulz was running second and he would keep his nephew within his sights as the laps clicked away. With three laps remaining Jerrod closed in on the lapped car of his little sister Janelle and as he showed the patience of a loving big brother, the pair's uncle tried to take advantage. When Jerrod found his opening a lap later though he eased by Janelle and was able to close out the victory in the Sebastian Sandblasting and Powder Coating #14S. Schulz, the 305 Sprint track champion at 34 Raceway this season would have to settle for the second spot. Bobby Mincer drove Corey Timmerman's #20T in for third, Ryan Jamison was fourth and Matt Krieger made a stellar run in Damian Getchell's #83D as he came from the outside of row nine to finish in fifth.

Twenty-one Mod Lites were on hand as they geared up for next Saturday's STARS Mod Lite National show here at 34 Raceway. The mini speedsters got off to rough start tonight as three cautions littered the first four laps and that was disappointing as the action was phenomenal up front with drivers racing four-wide for position. Randy Bryan held the lead for those on and off early laps until Shon Sanders was able to take advantage of a more extended green flag run on lap six. Collin Ball was on the fly after starting twelfth as we was using the extreme top of turn one to then get a run off the banking and pass one or two cars each lap flying by Sanders on lap eight to take the apparent lead. However, when Shawn Adair spun in turn two before the full lap could be scored, Ball would have to restart behind Sanders in second. Shon was able to hold off the high side assault for a couple of laps before Ball again found his niche on that high line and once out front the driver from Wapello was in control to the checkers. Bryan was able to get by Sanders late to take the second spot as they along with Jimmy May and Chase Flatt raced four-wide for second into turn one on the final lap. Flatt would spin to the infield in turn two while May would finish fourth and Charlie Brown would round out the top five.

The Four Cylinder feature had a bizarre ending that saw the winning car towed away from the front stretch with heavy front end damage. Bill Whalen Jr. started third but quickly went to the front at the drop of the green only to have his fellow row two starter Jacob Brown cruise by him on lap three. Austen Becerra was on the charge though after starting twelfth and he blew past Brown at the mid-race point of the twelve-lap event. On the following lap Becerra got a bit sideways in turn three and Brown loosened him up even more in four, but somehow Austen managed to make the save and retain the lead. As the leaders raced down the back straightaway and into turn three on the final lap the car of Larry Miller slowed and stopped suddenly up against the wall directly under the flagstand. As the flagman scrambled to switch the light from green to yellow and to trade out the checkered flag for the caution three of the back markers, including Dustin Ravelin who had been driving the last few laps with his hood up completely blocking his vision, missed Miller. Becerra was not so lucky though as he drilled the stalled black car at full speed. Fortunately both drivers were able to scramble out of their heavily damaged cars uninjured obviously upset with the circumstances. After a few moments it was determined that Becerra had crossed the start-finish line which is several yards before the flagstand here at 34 Raceway prior to the caution light coming on and so he was declared the winner. And while a tow truck hooked onto his crippled car behind him, Becerra managed a smile for the victory lane photos at the site of the crash. Brandon Lambert would be scored in second ahead of Brown and Whalen while fifth would go to Brian Mehaffy.

34 Notes......The two-day event for the MOWA 410 Sprints drew solid fields of thirty and twenty-nine cars.....Sixteen-year-old Paul Nienheiser was the highest finishing MOWA regular on Friday night with a sixth-place run.....The four fastest cars in each heat race are inverted with the top four advancing to the feature. Josh Schneiderman was the only driver from outside of the top four tonight to make a transfer as he nipped Californian Cole Wood at the line as Wood slowed coming to the checkers. Wood would come back to score the B-Main win holding off a late charge from Ben Wagoner.....The racing for the sixth and final transfer out of the B-Main heated up when Robbie Standridge and Critter Malone got together down the back stretch causing Malone to execute an airborne spin that looked like a flip, but really wasn't. Either way his car had to be returned to the pits on a hook ending his night......Jeremy Standridge would end up taking that final transfer position while Robbie Standridge would earn the MOWA provisional. Jerrod Schneiderman would start the A-Main as a track provisional....During the B-Main droplets of moisture started to fall from the sky, something that I remember from long ago that I believe they once called "rain" and as the checkers waved on that race this phenomenon actually increased to a point where some of the fans headed for cover. This shower of "rain" was brief though and our arid desert-like conditions soon returned allowing for the show to continue......One of the top contenders in the 305 division was eliminated early in the night in a hard crash during the first heat race. Jayson Ditsworth took the win here eight days ago during the USAC show and when he hopped the right rear wheel of Daniel Bergquist exiting turn two the Olson Brothers Custom Shop car #1 veered head on into the wall dropping down from the pit exit. Fortunately a big implement tire cushioned the blow some and Ditsworth was able to climb out of his damaged ride unscathed.....I have to make mention of a very sportsmanlike move by Mod Lite driver Evan Epperson, a driver that you often find running at, or near the front here at 34 Raceway in this division. As mentioned above the main event had gotten off to a slow start with three early cautions and on the restart following that third caution Epperson spun in turn two. It would have been real easy for him to just sit there and wait for the fourth caution, but instead he fired it back up and continued on even though he was now a full straightaway behind the rest of the field. Good job Evan, much more classy than the Mod Lite driver who spun into the infield on the front stretch during his heat race and then drove back to the edge of the track to intentionally pull a caution......If there is a track in the area that consistently has any better racing in the Four Cylinder division than does 34, I would like to see it.

Thanks to Jeff & Amy Laue and their entire staff for another solid night of racing that wrapped up just past eleven o'clock. The track is back in action next Saturday night September 14th with the Pepsi and Smoke E. Bones Challenge featuring the STARS National points race for the Mod Lites. The 305 Sprints, Stock Cars and Sport Mods will also be in action. Then on Saturday night September 21st, 34 Raceway will host the season championship for the Brockway Mechanical and Roofing Sprint Invaders with Four Cylinders and Modifieds also in action.

Coming up this week I would love to be able to be in Oskaloosa on Wednesday night for weekly action in September, but business commitments will keep me away. So my target is now at least one night, either Friday or Saturday, of the Yankee Dirt Classic at the Farley Speedway. Look for us there on the Back Stretch!