Yes, there were bigger events going on to the north, south and west, but I would find it hard to believe that those shows featured any better racing than what myself and my PR.com colleague Ryan Clark saw on Friday night at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis. It was the first of two nights of racing this weekend for the seldom used gem in northeast Missouri as this was the "Grand Championship" event that was weathered out back in March and weather conditions for this weekend could not have been better as 133 cars in five divisions filled the pit area.
A couple of the things that I love about these late season shows are the changes that drivers are making in regard to what division they are racing in giving us a preview for next year and the drivers that pull in from long distances to do some racing against competition that they do not see throughout the rest of the year. There were a few noteworthy instances of each and I'll share those with you after a quick summary of each of the night's five main events.
The Sport Mod division was the most populated with 34 cars and they were the first feature to take to the track around 10:15. Curtis VanDerWal loves the wide racing surface here at Memphis and when he starts on the front row it is going to be next to impossible to beat him here. As VanDerWal raced out front on his own the action behind him was intense with contact sending drivers in the top five for spins on a couple of occasions. In the end it was a pair of Oskaloosa, Iowa, drivers going one-two with VanDerWal taking the win over young Brayton Carter who made his way up from a fifth row start. Bobby Anders, Tony Dunker and Brandon Dale completed the top five.
The Hobby Stock feature had a similar story line as the 2014 track champion at Moberly, Tim Dawson held a lead through the majority of the distance while there was a mad scramble going on behind him for second on back. Dawson would take the victory ahead of another Oskaloosa-based driver Steve Allen, Brandon Symmonds and Dustin Griffiths were next in line while Adams County Speedway regular Luke Ramsey of Bedford, Iowa, completed the top five.
A solid field of eighteen Sport Compacts were on hand and with Austen Becerra and Adam Gates in the lineup it may have been assumed that the rest of the field would be racing for third on back. Not so! Becerra started on the front row and led early only to have Michael Grossman go screaming by. Gates then moved into challenge Becerra for second and contact between the two hindered their chances to catch Grossman. Even a late restart did not change the order as Grossman was very impressive in his run to victory lane over Gates. Kimberly Abbott slipped by Becerra on that final restart to take third and Barry Taft prevailed in a three-wide battle for fifth on the final lap.
Twenty-nine Modifieds signed in with a nice mix of cars as the rules allowed for all three prevailing sanctions in the area, IMCA, USRA and UMP, to run together. Cayden Carter started up front and he would lead the race until the final two laps when tenth-starting Michael Long powered by him on the inside to score the win. Carter held off Andrew Schroeder for the second spot, Jeff Waterman was a challenger late in fourth and Ronn Lauritzen picked off several spots on the final restart to complete the top five.
The Stock Cars would close out the evening and I am not kidding you when I say that I saw at least two instances when drivers were six-wide racing for position. Yes, I said "six-wide" and this was not on a parade lap, it was at speed, something that only the Stock Car division can pull off without massive issues. Nathan Wood was an early leader before yielding to Jason Cook, and as Wood tried to regain the lead on lap eight, contact with Cook would cut down the right front tire on Wood's #52 car. Cook was working the extreme bottom line on both ends and while it was faster in turns one and two, the top side was the way to go in three and four. On the final lap Cook went low and Mike Hughes went high into turn three and, when Cook got a little nudge from behind, that was all that Hughes needed to get the advantage as four cars passed under the checkers four-wide in a thrilling finish and we had to wait for announcer Tony Paris to give us the official results. Hughes, driving Damon Murty's backup car, won by a nose with Jason Cook, Cayden Carter and John Oliver Jr. next in line. Shane Paris was right behind that quartet in fifth.
I had originally established a personal curfew of eleven o'clock, but with the warm weather and the wide race track it was not a tough decision to blow off that curfew and the final checkers waved at 11:55 over that amazing Stock Car finish. Well worth one less hour of sleep!
Austen Becerra has been the dominant Sport Compact driver in the area this season and he did double duty tonight as he brought out his new Sport Mod ride that he will apparently drive in 2015. Becerra looked great in his heat race starting fourth and then racing to the win, but his feature race was one to forget as after two solo spins he was sent to the pits to prepare for his Sport Compact effort. Austen will be the 2014 All Iowa Points Four Cylinder champion this year and don't be surprised if he is the top rookie contender in the Sport Mods in 2015.
Jake Wenig has been a winner in both a Hobby Stock and a Stock Car and on this night he was in a Sport Mod. Jake looked fast during hot laps, struggled in his heat, and then hit the turn one guardrail hard in the B-Main to end his night. His father Dan Wenig was behind the wheel of Jake's Stock Car tonight.
Carter VanDenBerg also entered his Sport Mod in the Modified class tonight and was competitive in both.
Matt Greiner was back behind the wheel of a Stock Car tonight driving the Dopler #57 car.
As mentioned above, Stock Car winner Mike Hughes was driving Damon Murty's backup car and the two of them were in a thrilling three car battle with Cayden Carter during a heat race when the transmission suddenly locked up on Murty's car. He would then become the crew chief for the remainder of the night for Hughes who ironically suffered mechanical issues with his own Hobby Stock throughout the night.
Along with Luke Ramsey, Adams County Speedway in Corning Modified regular Keven Parman made the trip east to Memphis.
Jacob Reiter and Cody Cleghorn each made the long pull from Des Moines with their Sport Compact cars.
The Grand Championship continues tonight at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis and the track will be back in action on Friday and Saturday October 17th and 18th for the annual Fall Championships. I hope to make it back down for at least one of those nights in mid-October!
Tonight I am looking forward to the Season Championship event for the Brockway Mechanical and Roofing Sprint Invaders at 34 Raceway in Burlington. It will also be a National points event for the Mod Lite division, plus Stock Cars, Four Cylinders and the CJ Haulers will be in action as well.
It will be another beautiful night for racing so get on out and enjoy the show in your area!
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