Sport Compacts Deliver A Three-Wide Finish At CJ

The Sport Compact division rarely gets lead billing, and on this warm and windy Tuesday evening where the track conditions were not conducive to good racing in the other two divisions the four cylinders delivered with a thrilling race that went right down to the wire. This was the first of four Tuesday night specials that the CJ Speedway in Columbus Junction will hold in 2017 as a compliment to their weekly Friday night races.

Twenty-three Sport Compacts were on hand racing for a healthy $500-to-win with a solid payback throughout the field and many of the best in the area were in attendance. Dan Campbell would emerge as the leader on the opening lap of fifteen before Darin Smith slipped under him on lap two. Kimberly Abbott then moved into second and would shadow Smith until the red flag waved on lap six. Brady Wilkerson and Alyssa Steele had collided in turn one and track officials wanted to check on the drivers after a hard hit. Both were okay, although there was apparently a discussion in the pits later in the evening.

On the Delaware double-file restart Smith moved to the bottom to block the run from Abbott leaving the outside open for Daniel Fellows who pulled even with the leader in turn one and then nosed ahead at the exit of turn two. Smith kept digging though and he would stay to the inside of Fellows entering turn three to retain the lead as lap seven was scored, and in the scramble it would be Jake Benischek who would move to second. Abbott was able to get back by Benischek for second on lap eight only to have Jake return the favor on lap nine as Smith tried to slip away.

Once he settled into second Benischek quickly closed back in on Smith with Abbott close behind in a three car breakaway from the rest of the field and as the laps clicked away they ran single file bumper to bumper waiting for Smith to make a mistake. That was not going to happen though so as the white flag waved Benischek made his move muscling to the inside of Smith going into turn one. The power move worked and Benischek was the new leader going down the back stretch, but Smith was not about to give in and when Jake left the door open just enough in turn four Darin applied his own aggressive move to get underneath and the two drivers now had a drag race to the checkers ahead of them. Abbott was right there as well hoping for contact between the two in front of her and as they crossed the stripe it was Smith the winner by half a car length over Benischek in second and just a car length over Abbott in third. Austen Becerra and Craig Bangert who both started in the fifth row completed the top five. It should also be noted that Benischek and mid-race contender Fellows had come from the sixth row.

Stock Cars and Sport Mods were also on the card tonight with their features serving as book ends to the Sport Compact thriller.

Mike Hughes would lead the first four laps of the sixteen-lap Stock Car main before Jeff Murphy spun in turn three. On the restart, as Hughes hugged the bottom, Dustin Griffiths tried the next line higher and found the bite in turn two to take the lead down the back stretch. It was follow the leader from there as Griffiths, the 2014 All Iowa Points Hobby Stock champion earned his first feature win in the Stock Cars in this his rookie season in the division. Hughes would finish second, John Oliver Jr. was third, Nathan Wood took fourth ahead of Adam Bell.

The Sport Mod feature was on the speedway and ready to close out the evening when they were stopped on the front stretch as law enforcement officers were called to handle the before mentioned "discussion". Once they arrived racing resumed and on the opening lap Dalton Simonsen would come from third to take the lead. That effort was wiped out though when Jason Delzell, Ryan Walker and Brendon Schultheis all spun in turn three reverting the field to an original restart. On the second try pole-sitter Troy Philpott would stick his car on the bottom in turns one and two holding Simonsen at bay and leading the entire distance despite two more cautions for Schultheis spins. Philpott was the winner with Simonsen in second, Austen Becerra came from seventh up to third making the most of those two restarts as Carter VanDenberg and Aaron Osweiler filled out the top five.

It was my first time back at CJ in several years and this place definitely brings back memories of my youth watching the old Mississippi Valley Speedway Club drivers do battle on the big half-mile. With the big trees beyond turns one and two and all the way down the back chute behind the levee it is a beautiful setting and it was definitely noticeable just how much higher the levee is now. Drivers used to be able to use it as a big cushion exiting turn two, but not anymore!

The track is on an upswing right now with their weekly show as they recently dropped two divisions that never drew more than ten competitors and they took some, if not all of that purse money and added it into the four remaining weekly classes of Modifieds, Stock Cars, Sport Mods and Sport Compacts. The result has been a four division program that has averaged a total of 62 cars over the first four Friday nights this season. I can give them a pass on the track prep on this night as it was a difficult evening weather wise to have a good dirt track and I definitely have their next Tuesday night special that will feature the Sport Mods on my calendar for June 13th.

The Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders event that was scheduled for tonight, May 17th, at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa has been postponed to next Wednesday May 24th due to the threat of severe weather in the area today and tonight. Hope to see you there next week!