At sixty-two years of age Sammy Swindell is not slowing down and on Sunday night he drove Brandon Thone's #94 to the front to win the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions event at 34 Raceway near Burlington, Iowa. Thone hired the veteran driver for the four race weekend that started on Thursday at Angell Park Speedway in Wisconsin, moved to Jackson, Minnesota, on Friday then to the Knoxville Raceway on Saturday where Swindell held the lead late before Kerry Madsen passed him with five laps remaining. The win on Sunday came in impressive fashion and if these two team up for the Knoxville Nationals, watch out, Swindell could be a contender!
Cale Conley and Cory Eliason would bring the field to green for the thirty lap finale with Conley setting a blistering pace catching the back of the twenty-four car field just after lap three was scored. Eliason would use the slower car of Dave Blaney as a pick to take the lead from Conley on lap five and the caution waved four laps later when Carl Bowser climbed the wall in turn three.
Swindell had started fourth and once back to racing he was able to drive under Conley for second and was starting to reel in the leader when the race was slowed again, this time from a blown right rear tire on the #25 of Jake Blackhurst.
Eliason would pull away from Sammy on the restart but as the laps wound down the leader closed in on lapped cars and Swindell was then poised to challenge. Using a bit of a lower line on the exit of turn two Swindell pulled alongside the leader going down the back straightway and did not give an inch as they raced into turn three. Eliason was not able to fight him off and Swindell took the lead with three laps remaining to the cheers from the near capacity crowd.
As the white flag waved Willie Croft got up on the universal barriers down the back stretch and when he slowed in turn three the caution waved again setting up a green-white-checkers finish that Swindell had no trouble completing to take the win. Eliason would settle for second as Carson Macedo slipped under Conley in that final dash to take third after starting from ninth. Kerry Madsen was fifth, Aaron Reutzel finished sixth, Joey Saldana was seventh, Parker Price-Miller took eighth, Rico Abreu came home ninth and Austin McCarl rounded out the top ten.
It was the 27th career win for Swindell in All Star Circuit of Champions competition and in victory lane he quipped, "this is probably a new All Star record for the oldest guy to win one of these things." After starting the day in Harrisville, Michigan, where we celebrated my aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary the night before and then driving eleven hours to go to a race that is just twenty miles from my home I will let somebody else do the research on that one. But you can bet that Sammy's #StillWinning will be trending once again this week on Twitter!
Sunday's action kicks off my Sprint Car Heaven tour with this week's 360 Nationals at Knoxville followed by the Capitani Classic on Sunday night. Then on Monday and Tuesday the action moves to Oskaloosa for the Front Row Challenge and the Ultimate Challenge before four straight nights of racing at the 5 Hour Energy Knoxville Nationals. We then come right back the following weekend with Sprint Invader racing on Friday August 17th at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson before rounding out on Saturday August 18th right back here at 34 Raceway with night two of Sprint Invader action.
Hope to see you there!
Sunday, July 29, 2018
Thursday, July 26, 2018
Choices
The mid-week specials have been stacked the past couple of weeks with two, three or sometimes more events scheduled for the same night forcing fans to choose which one that they will attend. Now don't get me wrong, this is definitely a great "problem" to have, something that only those of us who live here in the Midwest get to experience as weeknight racing simply does not exist in most of the rest of the country, so please don't consider what follows as a complaint, more of just a quandary.
The last three races that I have attended had other options to consider although with two of them I didn't really have a choice to make as one of the announcers for the Sprint Invaders, but I know of several fans who actually waited until the day of the race to decide where they would be headed. It started a week ago on Wednesday when the Deery Brothers Summer Series was making its return to the CJ Raceway in Columbus Junction on the same night that the USMTS Modifieds were back in Oskaloosa for the first time in seven years. I made my choice based upon the fact that I had just seen the Deery series twice in the past month at Vinton and Burlington and that I figured that this would be my only chance to see the USMTS in 2018, so I went to Osky. Did I have second thoughts that night? Of course I did, but I would have had those same pangs of regret of missing the other show had I been wedged into the crowded grandstands at CJ as well.
That's what made the next two events better for me as I didn't have a "choice". Amazingly with the storms that tore through Pella and Marshalltown last Thursday, and of course our thoughts and prayers go out to all who were affected, the races at both Knoxville where the annual Dynamic Drive Lines Dirt Duel for the IMCA Modifeids and Sport Mods was being held and at Bloomfield where the Sprint Invaders were headlining at the Davis County Fair were able to run as both events stayed dry. On my drive over to Bloomfield from Mount Pleasant I was listening to the weather warnings on the radio and when they stated that a tornado was on the ground near the Ottumwa Regional Airport and moving southeast at 25 mph a quick calculation made me realize that I would be driving by Agency on highway 34 at about the same time the twister would be arriving.
I made a quick detour by taking the Eldon exit where a fire truck was on the overpass with its lights on, a couple of storm spotters with the Fire Department on watch, and as I crossed the river in Eldon and headed toward Floris the next tornado warning listed the communities that might be affected and the first one mentioned was Eldon! I could see the sky churning to the northeast even as the sun was still shining and as I turned south onto highway 63 midway between Ottumwa and Bloomfield there was another volunteer fire fighter stationed at the intersection keeping an eye to the sky to the north.
When I arrived at the fairgrounds it was bright, sunny and hot and I was pleasantly surprised to see that 26 Sprint Cars had signed in for competition on the night. Along with the ten to twelve Sprint Invader regulars we had Jamie Ball who now runs the ASCS National Tour, Australian Sammy Walsh driving for California's Harley Van Dyke, Sawyer Phillips made his first visit of the year, Mason Daniel the young Californian who is being mentored by Danny Lasoski was back with us and central Missouri's Ayrton Gennetten, Randy Martin and Evan Martin were in the pits. Evan actually won the Invader race down at Memphis, Missouri, back in June. The field also had a local flair with Dustin Clark, Kelly Graham and Doug Sylvester all making their first appearances for 2018, plus it is always cool to see who will be the guest driver in the Midland Performance #50 and on this night it would be Dominic Scelzi.
After the drivers meeting I walked from the pits that are to the west of turns three and four over to the food court that was just south of the entrance to turn one to grab something to eat and while enjoying my sandwich at a picnic table under a tin roof a heavy downpour came creating quote a scramble as the crowd raced for shelter. As quick as it came the rain was gone, falling for perhaps five to ten seconds at most and when I walked back over to the pits it was obvious that it had only sprinkled at best over there since the dust was still kicking up as drivers warmed their engines. That shows just how close we were to being rained out as the radar showed a big red blob growing just east of the track and moving away.
This was the only race of the year scheduled at Bloomfield and the track was smooth and fast all night. It did not widen out until the middle of the feature though so there wasn't much passing going on, at least for the lead but that also might have been due to the old Chinese proverb that says "Sometimes the fastest guy, he starts up front".
Abe Huls dominated to take the $1,000 winner's check in the Bob Weaklen Memorial for the Stock Cars. I was a bit surprised when only thirteen cars signed in, but I think you might have to blame that one on the weather and the same goes for the crowd on Thursday night as I had really expected the bleachers to fill in as the night went on. It was a busy night out on the fairgrounds, but I am guessing that the Sprint Car fans who would have normally made the drive in from up north and to the east likely checked the skies, and the radar and stayed home instead.
Jon Agan started from the pole position and was an absolute rocket in the feature opening up a big lead over Randy Martin and soon was driving through lapped traffic like they were standing still. The leader himself was actually involved in a late caution when he made contact with Sawyer Phillips as he lapped him in turn three and Agan then drove over the left rear wheel of Harold Pohren as the red flag came out when Phillips tipped over onto his side.
Martin made a bid with a calculated slide job in turns one and two on the restart, but Agan shrugged it off and then stormed to the dominating victory. Martin finished second followed by Dash winner Mason Daniel who had started fifth, Jarrod Schneiderman had a solid showing in fourth and Jamie Ball was fifth. It was a tough night mechanically as five drivers were scratched after the heats including Scelzi, something you very rarely see with the 50 car and Brayden Gaylord had his night come to an early end when he smacked the fence in turn one on the start of the Dash. Unfortunately that attrition would effect the Invaders' next event five nights later, but before I get to that let's just say that the Bloomfield Speedway is too nice of a track to only have one race a year. I have a concept in mind where Bloomfield might just be the perfect place to try it out so if any of you over there want to talk, just me know.
Back to choices. On Tuesday night this week my destination was set as the Sprint Invaders were scheduled to return to the Dubuque County Fair for Open Wheel Tuesday along with the Modifieds and Sport Mods. Meanwhile just a little over an hour down the road the World of Outlaws Late Models were at the Davenport Speedway and not that far away over in Britt the Dirt Knights Tour for the IMCA Modifieds were in action at the Hancock County Speedway.
Yes, I was disappointed in the car count at Dubuque with only fourteen drivers signed in as series regulars such as John Schulz, Dave Getchell and John Greenwood were unable to make the trip, but when you look at the talent of those fourteen drivers that were on hand you had to be impressed. And, like we did a couple of years ago when only thirteen cars signed in at Dubuque, it was decided to run two sets of heat races with the second set inverted by passing points and once again that provided some great Sprint Car racing action at Dubuque!
Dominic Scelzi was back in his own #41 tonight and was on a mission to repeat his victory here last year winning the opening heat and the Dash where he would draw the fourth starting spot for the feature. Many time IRA Sprint Car champion Bill Balog was driving the 50 car this night and he would lead the thirty lap feature to the mid-race point before Scelzi drove under him exiting turn four. A late caution would give Balog the opportunity to try a higher line in the closing laps and while it looked like he had the momentum to make a pass, Scelzi was just too strong off the bottom and he would take the $2,000 win. Balog was second, young Tanner Gebhardt was impressive coming from seventh to third while Ryan Jamison was equally impressive coming from tenth to fourth. Jamison who is on crutches right now has some hairline fractures in the tibia of his left leg from a crash at Fairbury a few weeks back, but toughed it out here at Dubuque after scratching last Thursday in Bloomfield. Jamie Ball would finish in the fifth sport. Cody Wehrle would finish sixth and that should put him back in the points lead as Jon Agan had a night to forget with a DNF in 13th. Sammy Walsh was with us again and was putting the pressure on Balog for the lead early before spinning in turn four.
No more mid-week races remaining for the Invaders in 2018 as their next action comes on Friday August 17th at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson and Saturday August 18th at 34 Raceway in Burlington.
The choices continued last night as well as Todd Cooney edged out Justin Kay for the Deery win at West Union. Jeff Tharp, Bryce Garnhart, Scott Busch and Jamie Pfeiffer were winners on race night number two of three at the Dubuque County Fair. Hunter Marriott won the Dirt Knights race out at Alta and a heavy thunder storm wiped out the rest of the program at the Hamilton County Fair in Webster City. I understand that there will be double features now on Saturday.
A family commitment will keep me from making a racing choice this Friday and Saturday, but you can be sure that I will do everything possible to be at 34 Raceway in Burlington Sunday night when the Arctic Cat All Stars come to town and that will in essence be the first night of "Sprint Car Heaven" for the next two weeks with the Knoxville Nationals taking center stage.
Always know that you can see where all of your choices are at the Calendar Page at Positively Racing and when you choose to attend a short track race anywhere, can you really go wrong?
See you on the Back Stretch!
The last three races that I have attended had other options to consider although with two of them I didn't really have a choice to make as one of the announcers for the Sprint Invaders, but I know of several fans who actually waited until the day of the race to decide where they would be headed. It started a week ago on Wednesday when the Deery Brothers Summer Series was making its return to the CJ Raceway in Columbus Junction on the same night that the USMTS Modifieds were back in Oskaloosa for the first time in seven years. I made my choice based upon the fact that I had just seen the Deery series twice in the past month at Vinton and Burlington and that I figured that this would be my only chance to see the USMTS in 2018, so I went to Osky. Did I have second thoughts that night? Of course I did, but I would have had those same pangs of regret of missing the other show had I been wedged into the crowded grandstands at CJ as well.
That's what made the next two events better for me as I didn't have a "choice". Amazingly with the storms that tore through Pella and Marshalltown last Thursday, and of course our thoughts and prayers go out to all who were affected, the races at both Knoxville where the annual Dynamic Drive Lines Dirt Duel for the IMCA Modifeids and Sport Mods was being held and at Bloomfield where the Sprint Invaders were headlining at the Davis County Fair were able to run as both events stayed dry. On my drive over to Bloomfield from Mount Pleasant I was listening to the weather warnings on the radio and when they stated that a tornado was on the ground near the Ottumwa Regional Airport and moving southeast at 25 mph a quick calculation made me realize that I would be driving by Agency on highway 34 at about the same time the twister would be arriving.
I made a quick detour by taking the Eldon exit where a fire truck was on the overpass with its lights on, a couple of storm spotters with the Fire Department on watch, and as I crossed the river in Eldon and headed toward Floris the next tornado warning listed the communities that might be affected and the first one mentioned was Eldon! I could see the sky churning to the northeast even as the sun was still shining and as I turned south onto highway 63 midway between Ottumwa and Bloomfield there was another volunteer fire fighter stationed at the intersection keeping an eye to the sky to the north.
When I arrived at the fairgrounds it was bright, sunny and hot and I was pleasantly surprised to see that 26 Sprint Cars had signed in for competition on the night. Along with the ten to twelve Sprint Invader regulars we had Jamie Ball who now runs the ASCS National Tour, Australian Sammy Walsh driving for California's Harley Van Dyke, Sawyer Phillips made his first visit of the year, Mason Daniel the young Californian who is being mentored by Danny Lasoski was back with us and central Missouri's Ayrton Gennetten, Randy Martin and Evan Martin were in the pits. Evan actually won the Invader race down at Memphis, Missouri, back in June. The field also had a local flair with Dustin Clark, Kelly Graham and Doug Sylvester all making their first appearances for 2018, plus it is always cool to see who will be the guest driver in the Midland Performance #50 and on this night it would be Dominic Scelzi.
After the drivers meeting I walked from the pits that are to the west of turns three and four over to the food court that was just south of the entrance to turn one to grab something to eat and while enjoying my sandwich at a picnic table under a tin roof a heavy downpour came creating quote a scramble as the crowd raced for shelter. As quick as it came the rain was gone, falling for perhaps five to ten seconds at most and when I walked back over to the pits it was obvious that it had only sprinkled at best over there since the dust was still kicking up as drivers warmed their engines. That shows just how close we were to being rained out as the radar showed a big red blob growing just east of the track and moving away.
This was the only race of the year scheduled at Bloomfield and the track was smooth and fast all night. It did not widen out until the middle of the feature though so there wasn't much passing going on, at least for the lead but that also might have been due to the old Chinese proverb that says "Sometimes the fastest guy, he starts up front".
Abe Huls dominated to take the $1,000 winner's check in the Bob Weaklen Memorial for the Stock Cars. I was a bit surprised when only thirteen cars signed in, but I think you might have to blame that one on the weather and the same goes for the crowd on Thursday night as I had really expected the bleachers to fill in as the night went on. It was a busy night out on the fairgrounds, but I am guessing that the Sprint Car fans who would have normally made the drive in from up north and to the east likely checked the skies, and the radar and stayed home instead.
Jon Agan started from the pole position and was an absolute rocket in the feature opening up a big lead over Randy Martin and soon was driving through lapped traffic like they were standing still. The leader himself was actually involved in a late caution when he made contact with Sawyer Phillips as he lapped him in turn three and Agan then drove over the left rear wheel of Harold Pohren as the red flag came out when Phillips tipped over onto his side.
Martin made a bid with a calculated slide job in turns one and two on the restart, but Agan shrugged it off and then stormed to the dominating victory. Martin finished second followed by Dash winner Mason Daniel who had started fifth, Jarrod Schneiderman had a solid showing in fourth and Jamie Ball was fifth. It was a tough night mechanically as five drivers were scratched after the heats including Scelzi, something you very rarely see with the 50 car and Brayden Gaylord had his night come to an early end when he smacked the fence in turn one on the start of the Dash. Unfortunately that attrition would effect the Invaders' next event five nights later, but before I get to that let's just say that the Bloomfield Speedway is too nice of a track to only have one race a year. I have a concept in mind where Bloomfield might just be the perfect place to try it out so if any of you over there want to talk, just me know.
Back to choices. On Tuesday night this week my destination was set as the Sprint Invaders were scheduled to return to the Dubuque County Fair for Open Wheel Tuesday along with the Modifieds and Sport Mods. Meanwhile just a little over an hour down the road the World of Outlaws Late Models were at the Davenport Speedway and not that far away over in Britt the Dirt Knights Tour for the IMCA Modifieds were in action at the Hancock County Speedway.
Yes, I was disappointed in the car count at Dubuque with only fourteen drivers signed in as series regulars such as John Schulz, Dave Getchell and John Greenwood were unable to make the trip, but when you look at the talent of those fourteen drivers that were on hand you had to be impressed. And, like we did a couple of years ago when only thirteen cars signed in at Dubuque, it was decided to run two sets of heat races with the second set inverted by passing points and once again that provided some great Sprint Car racing action at Dubuque!
Dominic Scelzi was back in his own #41 tonight and was on a mission to repeat his victory here last year winning the opening heat and the Dash where he would draw the fourth starting spot for the feature. Many time IRA Sprint Car champion Bill Balog was driving the 50 car this night and he would lead the thirty lap feature to the mid-race point before Scelzi drove under him exiting turn four. A late caution would give Balog the opportunity to try a higher line in the closing laps and while it looked like he had the momentum to make a pass, Scelzi was just too strong off the bottom and he would take the $2,000 win. Balog was second, young Tanner Gebhardt was impressive coming from seventh to third while Ryan Jamison was equally impressive coming from tenth to fourth. Jamison who is on crutches right now has some hairline fractures in the tibia of his left leg from a crash at Fairbury a few weeks back, but toughed it out here at Dubuque after scratching last Thursday in Bloomfield. Jamie Ball would finish in the fifth sport. Cody Wehrle would finish sixth and that should put him back in the points lead as Jon Agan had a night to forget with a DNF in 13th. Sammy Walsh was with us again and was putting the pressure on Balog for the lead early before spinning in turn four.
No more mid-week races remaining for the Invaders in 2018 as their next action comes on Friday August 17th at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson and Saturday August 18th at 34 Raceway in Burlington.
The choices continued last night as well as Todd Cooney edged out Justin Kay for the Deery win at West Union. Jeff Tharp, Bryce Garnhart, Scott Busch and Jamie Pfeiffer were winners on race night number two of three at the Dubuque County Fair. Hunter Marriott won the Dirt Knights race out at Alta and a heavy thunder storm wiped out the rest of the program at the Hamilton County Fair in Webster City. I understand that there will be double features now on Saturday.
A family commitment will keep me from making a racing choice this Friday and Saturday, but you can be sure that I will do everything possible to be at 34 Raceway in Burlington Sunday night when the Arctic Cat All Stars come to town and that will in essence be the first night of "Sprint Car Heaven" for the next two weeks with the Knoxville Nationals taking center stage.
Always know that you can see where all of your choices are at the Calendar Page at Positively Racing and when you choose to attend a short track race anywhere, can you really go wrong?
See you on the Back Stretch!
Thursday, July 19, 2018
Sanders Leads The Way In USMTS Return To Oskaloosa
It was the tale of two tracks this week at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa for the two nights of racing during the Southern Iowa Fair. When I arrived a half hour before hot laps on Tuesday night it was so wet that I had to be careful walking across it and by the end of the night a heavy cushion had developed making the high line the place to be. On Wednesday night in preparation for the return of the United States Modified Touring Series the track had dry spots on it as I made my way into the infield and I knew that this was not a good sign for later in the evening.
Cars were kicking up dust during hot laps, especially the high powered Modifieds who have not been in competition here since 2011, but even with the dry slick conditions the heat race action in all four divisions was pretty good as drivers used several lines through the corners that became shiny and black almost all the way up to the guardrails on both ends.
The Hobby Stock feature was first and despite the fact that this division had averaged nearly twenty cars a week this season and had seventeen on hand the night before, only seven signed in tonight as apparently the other guys failed to check the pay scale for the evening. Tuesday's winner and track champion Dustin Griffiths drew the pole position for the twelve-lap race and even though Eric Stanton was able to chase him down in the heat race and pass him for the win, he was not able to repeat that come feature time as Griffiths went the distance for the win. Stanton was second followed by Brok Hopwood, Christian Huffman, Aaron Martin, Clint Nelson and Bobby Greene who returned to action for the first time this season driving Riley Meinders' car #13m.
The B-Mods were up next for eighteen laps with Minnesota driver Ben Moudry going from the outside of row one to the lead at the drop of the green. Fellow Ironman series regular Dan Hovden applied the pressure on Moudry and appeared to have him passed exiting turn two on lap three before the caution flag waved for debris on the race track. This put Moudry back to the point for the restart and he would not be challenged the rest of the way in taking the win. Former track regular Andrew Schroeder was able to slip by Hovden late in the race to finish second, while Tuesday's winner and runner-up Brayton Carter and Blaine Webster were fourth and fifth at the checkers.
In retrospect it should be no surprise that the Stock Cars provided the best racing of the night as the nineteen car field was solid from top to bottom, they were still racing two and three wide on the hard slick surface and it would end up being the battle of two racing promoters. Derrick Agee would start alongside Todd Staley on the front row and after racing door to door throughout the opening lap it would be Agee nosing ahead at the stripe. Nathan Wood was on the move quickly from his sixth starting position using the low line to move to second and when the caution waved for Cayden Carter's spin on lap three he was ready to challenge on the restart.
Wood would drive under Agee to take the lead on lap four before the caution waved again two laps later for an incident involving Scott Dickey, Carter and a couple of other cars trying to avoid contact. On this restart Staley would battle his way back into second and then try to keep pace with the leader Wood. Northeast Iowa visitors Kevin Donlan and Lynn Panos joined in and you had a four car breakaway from the field as they primarily ran nose to tail in a line that was midway up the track.
With four laps remaining Staley broke ranks and tried the bottom in turns one and two pulling even with Wood as they raced down the back stretch and the President of the USMTS and USRA was able to make it stick again in three and four to take the lead away from the gentleman who headed up the promotional group here at Oskaloosa in 2018. It looked for a moment like Wood might be able to battle back, but then Staley eased away a bit for the win. What a run it has been for the longtime flagman/track official who later became the owner of his own series and then the leader of his own sanctioning body before even trying his hand at driving a race car. He has been dabbling with it now for nine years and last Saturday night he picked up his first win ever, then followed it up on Tuesday with another victory before making it three in a row tonight. Nine years, no wins. Five nights, three wins.
After celebrating his own track championship last night Wood would be tonight's runner-up holding off Donlan and Panos while Agee fought off several challengers to complete the top five.
The thirty lap Modified feature would wrap up the night and after watching the Stock Cars use a couple of different lines in their feature I still had hope for a good finale. That went away though on lap two when the entire field settled into single-file formation around the rubbered up and locked down low line with Rodney Sanders leading the way. The Scott brothers Stormy and Johnny made nice moves on lap one to get to second and third after starting fourth and fifth respectively, but even they could not put any pressure on the leader after that. Any chance of having lapped traffic come into play went away on lap seventeen when the fifth place car of Jake O'Neill slowed on the back stretch, likely with a right rear tire down as he soon returned for the restart.
Caution waved again on lap twenty-one when Adam Kates slowed with a flat and in the final nine laps several drivers suffered the same fate including Carter VanDenberg, Zack VanderBeek Cayden Carter and the fourth place car of Darron Fuqua, but instead of stopping the race each found their way off the track as this one came to a close with Sanders picking up his 83rd career USMTS win. Stormy Scott and Johnny Scott were second and third while Terry Phillips and Lucas Schott completed the top five.
Dirt track preparation is an inexact science with so many variables that come into play and sometimes it just does not work out for the best. Here's hoping that the race fans who pretty much filled the stands here Wednesday night realize this and will be back to support the USMTS when they come back to town again. And hopefully it will not take another seven years for that to happen!
Keeping an eye on the weather for this Thursday night's action as I will be headed to the Davis County Fair in Bloomfield for the Sprint Invaders event that will also feature the Stock Cars racing in memory of Bob Weaklen. Another event to keep your eye on for tonight is the annual Dynamic Drivelines Dirt Duel for the IMCA Modifieds and Sport Mods at the Knoxville Raceway. Hopefully Mother Nature will hold off the rain until after 11 p.m. so that both can take place!
Cars were kicking up dust during hot laps, especially the high powered Modifieds who have not been in competition here since 2011, but even with the dry slick conditions the heat race action in all four divisions was pretty good as drivers used several lines through the corners that became shiny and black almost all the way up to the guardrails on both ends.
The Hobby Stock feature was first and despite the fact that this division had averaged nearly twenty cars a week this season and had seventeen on hand the night before, only seven signed in tonight as apparently the other guys failed to check the pay scale for the evening. Tuesday's winner and track champion Dustin Griffiths drew the pole position for the twelve-lap race and even though Eric Stanton was able to chase him down in the heat race and pass him for the win, he was not able to repeat that come feature time as Griffiths went the distance for the win. Stanton was second followed by Brok Hopwood, Christian Huffman, Aaron Martin, Clint Nelson and Bobby Greene who returned to action for the first time this season driving Riley Meinders' car #13m.
The B-Mods were up next for eighteen laps with Minnesota driver Ben Moudry going from the outside of row one to the lead at the drop of the green. Fellow Ironman series regular Dan Hovden applied the pressure on Moudry and appeared to have him passed exiting turn two on lap three before the caution flag waved for debris on the race track. This put Moudry back to the point for the restart and he would not be challenged the rest of the way in taking the win. Former track regular Andrew Schroeder was able to slip by Hovden late in the race to finish second, while Tuesday's winner and runner-up Brayton Carter and Blaine Webster were fourth and fifth at the checkers.
In retrospect it should be no surprise that the Stock Cars provided the best racing of the night as the nineteen car field was solid from top to bottom, they were still racing two and three wide on the hard slick surface and it would end up being the battle of two racing promoters. Derrick Agee would start alongside Todd Staley on the front row and after racing door to door throughout the opening lap it would be Agee nosing ahead at the stripe. Nathan Wood was on the move quickly from his sixth starting position using the low line to move to second and when the caution waved for Cayden Carter's spin on lap three he was ready to challenge on the restart.
Wood would drive under Agee to take the lead on lap four before the caution waved again two laps later for an incident involving Scott Dickey, Carter and a couple of other cars trying to avoid contact. On this restart Staley would battle his way back into second and then try to keep pace with the leader Wood. Northeast Iowa visitors Kevin Donlan and Lynn Panos joined in and you had a four car breakaway from the field as they primarily ran nose to tail in a line that was midway up the track.
With four laps remaining Staley broke ranks and tried the bottom in turns one and two pulling even with Wood as they raced down the back stretch and the President of the USMTS and USRA was able to make it stick again in three and four to take the lead away from the gentleman who headed up the promotional group here at Oskaloosa in 2018. It looked for a moment like Wood might be able to battle back, but then Staley eased away a bit for the win. What a run it has been for the longtime flagman/track official who later became the owner of his own series and then the leader of his own sanctioning body before even trying his hand at driving a race car. He has been dabbling with it now for nine years and last Saturday night he picked up his first win ever, then followed it up on Tuesday with another victory before making it three in a row tonight. Nine years, no wins. Five nights, three wins.
After celebrating his own track championship last night Wood would be tonight's runner-up holding off Donlan and Panos while Agee fought off several challengers to complete the top five.
The thirty lap Modified feature would wrap up the night and after watching the Stock Cars use a couple of different lines in their feature I still had hope for a good finale. That went away though on lap two when the entire field settled into single-file formation around the rubbered up and locked down low line with Rodney Sanders leading the way. The Scott brothers Stormy and Johnny made nice moves on lap one to get to second and third after starting fourth and fifth respectively, but even they could not put any pressure on the leader after that. Any chance of having lapped traffic come into play went away on lap seventeen when the fifth place car of Jake O'Neill slowed on the back stretch, likely with a right rear tire down as he soon returned for the restart.
Caution waved again on lap twenty-one when Adam Kates slowed with a flat and in the final nine laps several drivers suffered the same fate including Carter VanDenberg, Zack VanderBeek Cayden Carter and the fourth place car of Darron Fuqua, but instead of stopping the race each found their way off the track as this one came to a close with Sanders picking up his 83rd career USMTS win. Stormy Scott and Johnny Scott were second and third while Terry Phillips and Lucas Schott completed the top five.
Dirt track preparation is an inexact science with so many variables that come into play and sometimes it just does not work out for the best. Here's hoping that the race fans who pretty much filled the stands here Wednesday night realize this and will be back to support the USMTS when they come back to town again. And hopefully it will not take another seven years for that to happen!
Keeping an eye on the weather for this Thursday night's action as I will be headed to the Davis County Fair in Bloomfield for the Sprint Invaders event that will also feature the Stock Cars racing in memory of Bob Weaklen. Another event to keep your eye on for tonight is the annual Dynamic Drivelines Dirt Duel for the IMCA Modifieds and Sport Mods at the Knoxville Raceway. Hopefully Mother Nature will hold off the rain until after 11 p.m. so that both can take place!
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Final Lap Drama Determines A Track Championship at Osky
It all came down to the final lap to determine the 2018 Stock Car track champion as the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa held its regular season championship night as Tuesday's grandstand entertainment during the southern Iowa Fair. With the three drivers at the top of the standings going into the night separated by just two points the large crowd on hand knew that they were going to be treated to some drama and as always the Stock Cars delivered with a race, and a championship, that was not decided until the final checkers flew.
Using the same draw/redraw format that has been used throughout the season point leader Nathan Wood would start the 18-lap main event from third, Derrick Agee who was one point back would start from seventh and Mike Hughes who was just two points back from Wood would draw the outside front row. With the point increment at one per position that made it easy for the fans to follow as the race unfolded with Hughes grabbing the lead at the drop of the green. By this final race of the night the cushion had become the dominant line and when Wood was able to get to second right away it looked like he would just need to chase Hughes the entire distance to secure the championship.
Todd Reitzler had other plans though as he stormed to the front after starting eighth and at the mid-race point he was able to drive under Wood to pick up the second spot. Cayden Carter soon joined the mix as well and you had Reitzler pressuring Hughes for the lead and Carter challenging Wood for third knowing that if only one position changed over the final laps it would break the now eventual tie for the championship.
When the leader caught the cushion a bit hard entering turn one with three laps to go he had to recover from a push to the right and that prompted Reitzler to make an effort to the low side out of turn two and down the back stretch. When Reitzler entered turn three still on the bottom, Wood stayed on the cushion and powered back into second as the green flag waved indicating two laps remaining. Carter was also able to get by Reitzler and coming to the white flag he was now even with Wood in the battle for second.
You could feel the electricity in the crowd as the top four cars entered turn one for the final time in a tight almost diamond like formation with Hughes out front, Wood glued to his bumper trying to get something extra out of the cushion since he had Carter right next to him and Reitzler was right behind the lead trio hoping for a mistake. They raced that way down the back straightaway as well and coming off of turn four Wood was able to come down and close the door on Carter so as he chased Mike Hughes across the finish line Nathan's runner-up finish gave him the track championship by just one point. Carter finished third, Reitzler was fourth and Derrick Agee stepped up to fifth after last week's winner Damon Murty slowed with a great deal of smoke with just four laps to go.
It was somewhat fitting for Wood to win the title as even though he had a large number of people join in to help make it all happen, if Nathan had not stepped up back in January there would not have even been a weekly racing program in Oskaloosa this season.
Curtis Van Der Wal earned another track title in the Sport Mods, but it would be another hometown driver in victory lane tonight as Brayton Carter took the win. Young Blaine Webster had the race well in control leading by a full straightaway before a pair of cautions waved on laps nine and ten. On that second restart Carter was able to get the bite that he needed on he bottom to drive past Webster and while the teenager from Ottumwa who scored his first win at Eldon this past Saturday could not repeat on this night he continued to to impress by finishing second. Van Der Wal almost appeared to be a bit on the conservative side tonight as he raced from tenth to third at the checkers, for with Webster out front a DNF by CVDW would have cost him the title. Danny Brau was impressive not only in his driver's suit that looks like a red sport jacket with a black bow tie, but also in his performance as he was a solid fourth while Logan Anderson completed the top five.
Dustin Griffiths took the lead from Christian Huffman on lap six and then held off a late charge from last week's winner Jamie Songer to take the feature win and the Hobby Stock track championship. Songer started seventeenth on the field after a heat race spin and finished second, Huffman will get that first win soon but tonight he finished third followed Craig Brown and Aaron Martin.
In the Sport Compacts Kyle Boyd first fought off the challenges of his teammate Cody Phillips and then held off his friend Brandon Housley to take his first win of the season here. Housley who has dominated the division had the track title well in hand before finishing second, Phillips was third, Dallas Chandler was a new entrant and finished fourth ahead of local favorite Nathan Moody.
That will put a wrap on the weekly racing at Oskaloosa for 2018, but the track will remain busy with at least three more nights of action starting TONIGHT as the USMTS Modifieds return along with USRA Ironman Stock Cars and B-Mods plus USRA Hobby Stocks.
Then in just a few weeks the Sprint Cars take over with the Front Row Challenge on August 6th and the Ultimate Challenge on August 7th. For more information and to purchase tickets click here.
And finally during the Drivers Meeting on Tuesday it was announced that there will be a Fall Challenge event at Oskaloosa with the dates and details still to be determined. Stay tuned!
Spreading out the Positively Racing coverage tonight of a couple great events as I know that some of my colleagues will be at the Deery Brothers Summer Series show in Columbus Junction while I will be headed back up to Osky to meet Morgan and see the USMTS for the first time this season. Here's hoping that you get out to the race of your choice and have a great time!
Using the same draw/redraw format that has been used throughout the season point leader Nathan Wood would start the 18-lap main event from third, Derrick Agee who was one point back would start from seventh and Mike Hughes who was just two points back from Wood would draw the outside front row. With the point increment at one per position that made it easy for the fans to follow as the race unfolded with Hughes grabbing the lead at the drop of the green. By this final race of the night the cushion had become the dominant line and when Wood was able to get to second right away it looked like he would just need to chase Hughes the entire distance to secure the championship.
Todd Reitzler had other plans though as he stormed to the front after starting eighth and at the mid-race point he was able to drive under Wood to pick up the second spot. Cayden Carter soon joined the mix as well and you had Reitzler pressuring Hughes for the lead and Carter challenging Wood for third knowing that if only one position changed over the final laps it would break the now eventual tie for the championship.
When the leader caught the cushion a bit hard entering turn one with three laps to go he had to recover from a push to the right and that prompted Reitzler to make an effort to the low side out of turn two and down the back stretch. When Reitzler entered turn three still on the bottom, Wood stayed on the cushion and powered back into second as the green flag waved indicating two laps remaining. Carter was also able to get by Reitzler and coming to the white flag he was now even with Wood in the battle for second.
You could feel the electricity in the crowd as the top four cars entered turn one for the final time in a tight almost diamond like formation with Hughes out front, Wood glued to his bumper trying to get something extra out of the cushion since he had Carter right next to him and Reitzler was right behind the lead trio hoping for a mistake. They raced that way down the back straightaway as well and coming off of turn four Wood was able to come down and close the door on Carter so as he chased Mike Hughes across the finish line Nathan's runner-up finish gave him the track championship by just one point. Carter finished third, Reitzler was fourth and Derrick Agee stepped up to fifth after last week's winner Damon Murty slowed with a great deal of smoke with just four laps to go.
It was somewhat fitting for Wood to win the title as even though he had a large number of people join in to help make it all happen, if Nathan had not stepped up back in January there would not have even been a weekly racing program in Oskaloosa this season.
Curtis Van Der Wal earned another track title in the Sport Mods, but it would be another hometown driver in victory lane tonight as Brayton Carter took the win. Young Blaine Webster had the race well in control leading by a full straightaway before a pair of cautions waved on laps nine and ten. On that second restart Carter was able to get the bite that he needed on he bottom to drive past Webster and while the teenager from Ottumwa who scored his first win at Eldon this past Saturday could not repeat on this night he continued to to impress by finishing second. Van Der Wal almost appeared to be a bit on the conservative side tonight as he raced from tenth to third at the checkers, for with Webster out front a DNF by CVDW would have cost him the title. Danny Brau was impressive not only in his driver's suit that looks like a red sport jacket with a black bow tie, but also in his performance as he was a solid fourth while Logan Anderson completed the top five.
Dustin Griffiths took the lead from Christian Huffman on lap six and then held off a late charge from last week's winner Jamie Songer to take the feature win and the Hobby Stock track championship. Songer started seventeenth on the field after a heat race spin and finished second, Huffman will get that first win soon but tonight he finished third followed Craig Brown and Aaron Martin.
In the Sport Compacts Kyle Boyd first fought off the challenges of his teammate Cody Phillips and then held off his friend Brandon Housley to take his first win of the season here. Housley who has dominated the division had the track title well in hand before finishing second, Phillips was third, Dallas Chandler was a new entrant and finished fourth ahead of local favorite Nathan Moody.
That will put a wrap on the weekly racing at Oskaloosa for 2018, but the track will remain busy with at least three more nights of action starting TONIGHT as the USMTS Modifieds return along with USRA Ironman Stock Cars and B-Mods plus USRA Hobby Stocks.Then in just a few weeks the Sprint Cars take over with the Front Row Challenge on August 6th and the Ultimate Challenge on August 7th. For more information and to purchase tickets click here.
And finally during the Drivers Meeting on Tuesday it was announced that there will be a Fall Challenge event at Oskaloosa with the dates and details still to be determined. Stay tuned!
Spreading out the Positively Racing coverage tonight of a couple great events as I know that some of my colleagues will be at the Deery Brothers Summer Series show in Columbus Junction while I will be headed back up to Osky to meet Morgan and see the USMTS for the first time this season. Here's hoping that you get out to the race of your choice and have a great time!
Sunday, July 15, 2018
New Faces In Victory Lane At Valley
With thunderstorms roaming around the Kansas City metro on Saturday afternoon some areas received some much needed rain that has been missing during this hot and dry summer thus far, however most of the region went without once again and one of those places was the Valley Speedway in the eastern suburb of Grain Valley, Missouri. For us race fans that was a good thing as night number two of Thunder In The Valley featuring the POWRi Midgets and Micro Sprints was on tap and other than a light shower around four o'clock and a few sprinkles as the Midgets hot lapped at 6:30 the rain went around the track, hopefully to come back sometime soon.
This was the second year in a row that Morgan and I have made the trip for this event and this time around we were joined by the infamous Statmaster (from Boy's State high school basketball tournament broadcasting fame on KILJ radio) who now lives just a few miles away from from the track, but was making his first ever visit to Valley Speedway. And, after the two very entertaining features that we were treated to you can bet that both he, and the two of us will be back again at the next opportunity.
Even with the USAC Midgets just a few hours to the north in Fairbury, Nebraska, the car count here was strong with 36 drivers on hand and there was definitely no clear cut favorites in the field. Tucker Klaasmeyer from nearby Paola, Kansas, had won the night before and he definitely had the loudest fan base while young Holly Shelton had delivered an amazing seventeenth to second run on Friday night as well. Tonight Shelton would start to the outside of fellow Californian and Keith Kunz Motorsports teammate Ryan Robinson on the front row for the thirty lap main event and it would be Shelton who jumped out to the early lead as Robinson faded back to fourth.
Jake Neuman would take up the chase on Shelton and as the lead duo began to work traffic Neuman would take the lead on lap eleven. The caution would wave for Austin Brown's spin in turn two on lap sixteen and on the restart Joe B. Miller would have a similar issue in turn two. When green flag action returned it was short-lived as Zach Daum would slow with rear suspension issues on lap nineteen and the caution waved again.
Klaasmeyer would now line up second behind Neuman who still preferred the high line on both ends of the speedway, a fast way around but with the cushion very high it was also quite treacherous as one miscalculation would cost you several conditions as a couple of drivers found out in this final green flag segment. When Klaasmeyer bobbled once he was able to recover quickly and maintain second letting Neuman get out to big advantage, but when the leader backed off the curb in turn four with two laps to go that allowed Klaasmeyer to close the gap.
As the white flag waved Neuman appeared to have the race well in hand until the car ahead of him, Joey Wirth jumped the cushion in turn two and then returned to the racing groove right in front of the leader as he exited the turn. This caused Neuman to hesitate just a bit and Klaasmeyer decided to give it one last shot with a bonsai move to the bottom of turn three. With the monster slider coming up short, Klaasmeyer banged the cushion hard in turn four behind Neuman turning his car hard right and he was then hit by Wirth sending him spinning to a stop in the middle of turn four.
By now Neuman had taken the checkers for just his second career feature win with the POWRi series with Ryan Robinson and Holly Shelton crossing the line in second and third. The winner of the B-Main Wesley Smith rode the bottom line all the way up from seventeenth to fourth while Kory Schudy completed the top five. Klaasmeyer tossed out a sure second place finish in an effort to take the win and he was given a big round of applause as his car was towed back to the pit area. He was scored in the sixteenth position.
The winged Micro Sprints were up next for twenty laps and on the wide, smooth and slick track I am pretty sure that they were now turning quicker laps than the Midgets were and the racing was spectacular. Riley Goodno out of Knoxville, Iowa, started outside of many time feature winner Joe B. Miller on the front row and it would be Goodno who would set the pace using the bottom as Miller fell back a few spots early while riding the top. Goodno's first challenge would come mid-race when a lapped car spun just in front of him in turn four, but he was able to avoid contact and when the green flew he again opened up a lead on the pack that was racing three wide at times behind him.
Miller was now back in contention along with Jackson Frisbie and Austin Schaeffer and when Frisbie later dropped out of the race it would be Jack Wagner joining the battle for second. A few more cautions would test the patience of the leader and when Schaeffer, the current series point leader established himself in second after a wheel banging battle with Miller it looked like we would have a race for the front. Goodno maintained his line while Schaeffer was now closing and as the white flag waved Schaeffer had a run off the top side of turn four. He bobbled though in turn two and Goodno was all set to take the checkers only to have the caution wave again for s spin in turn one.
This would set up a one lap dash to the checkers and Goodno looked like a veteran as he timed the start perfectly to drive away from his challengers to record his first career win with POWRi. Wagner would slide up in front of Schaeffer in turn two only to have Schaeffer come back down the back stretch, but at the checkers it would be Wagner for second, Schaeffer in third, Gunner Ramey was fourth and Miller settled for fifth after jumping the cushion late in the race.
We would head for the gates from there hoping to beat the Kenny Chesney at Arrowhead Stadium traffic back into the city so we missed Clinton Boyles completing the clean sweep of the Midwest Lightning Sprints main event.
For the second year in a row we enjoyed our mid-July visit to Valley Speedway and you can bet that we will be checking the schedule in hopes of returning again in 2019!
After a couple of "one race weeks" in a row I hope to pull off three straight nights this week beginning on Tuesday at the Southern Iowa Fair in Oskaloosa as the track holds its Season Championship for weekly racing action. There is some extra money on the line as well as some tight points battles so it should be an interesting night. Then on Wednesday the big half-mile at Osky will see the return of the United States Modified Touring Series along with Ironman Series action for the Stock Cars and B-Mods, plus Hobby Stocks. And on Thursday the Bloomfield Speedway will see its only night of racing in 2018 as the Sprint Invaders will headline the grandstand entertainment at the Davis County Fair along with the Bob Weaklen Memorial for the Stock Cars. The vintage sprint cars will be there as well so I do hope to see you somewhere this week on the Back Stretch!
This was the second year in a row that Morgan and I have made the trip for this event and this time around we were joined by the infamous Statmaster (from Boy's State high school basketball tournament broadcasting fame on KILJ radio) who now lives just a few miles away from from the track, but was making his first ever visit to Valley Speedway. And, after the two very entertaining features that we were treated to you can bet that both he, and the two of us will be back again at the next opportunity.
Even with the USAC Midgets just a few hours to the north in Fairbury, Nebraska, the car count here was strong with 36 drivers on hand and there was definitely no clear cut favorites in the field. Tucker Klaasmeyer from nearby Paola, Kansas, had won the night before and he definitely had the loudest fan base while young Holly Shelton had delivered an amazing seventeenth to second run on Friday night as well. Tonight Shelton would start to the outside of fellow Californian and Keith Kunz Motorsports teammate Ryan Robinson on the front row for the thirty lap main event and it would be Shelton who jumped out to the early lead as Robinson faded back to fourth.
Jake Neuman would take up the chase on Shelton and as the lead duo began to work traffic Neuman would take the lead on lap eleven. The caution would wave for Austin Brown's spin in turn two on lap sixteen and on the restart Joe B. Miller would have a similar issue in turn two. When green flag action returned it was short-lived as Zach Daum would slow with rear suspension issues on lap nineteen and the caution waved again.
Klaasmeyer would now line up second behind Neuman who still preferred the high line on both ends of the speedway, a fast way around but with the cushion very high it was also quite treacherous as one miscalculation would cost you several conditions as a couple of drivers found out in this final green flag segment. When Klaasmeyer bobbled once he was able to recover quickly and maintain second letting Neuman get out to big advantage, but when the leader backed off the curb in turn four with two laps to go that allowed Klaasmeyer to close the gap.
As the white flag waved Neuman appeared to have the race well in hand until the car ahead of him, Joey Wirth jumped the cushion in turn two and then returned to the racing groove right in front of the leader as he exited the turn. This caused Neuman to hesitate just a bit and Klaasmeyer decided to give it one last shot with a bonsai move to the bottom of turn three. With the monster slider coming up short, Klaasmeyer banged the cushion hard in turn four behind Neuman turning his car hard right and he was then hit by Wirth sending him spinning to a stop in the middle of turn four.
By now Neuman had taken the checkers for just his second career feature win with the POWRi series with Ryan Robinson and Holly Shelton crossing the line in second and third. The winner of the B-Main Wesley Smith rode the bottom line all the way up from seventeenth to fourth while Kory Schudy completed the top five. Klaasmeyer tossed out a sure second place finish in an effort to take the win and he was given a big round of applause as his car was towed back to the pit area. He was scored in the sixteenth position.
The winged Micro Sprints were up next for twenty laps and on the wide, smooth and slick track I am pretty sure that they were now turning quicker laps than the Midgets were and the racing was spectacular. Riley Goodno out of Knoxville, Iowa, started outside of many time feature winner Joe B. Miller on the front row and it would be Goodno who would set the pace using the bottom as Miller fell back a few spots early while riding the top. Goodno's first challenge would come mid-race when a lapped car spun just in front of him in turn four, but he was able to avoid contact and when the green flew he again opened up a lead on the pack that was racing three wide at times behind him.
Miller was now back in contention along with Jackson Frisbie and Austin Schaeffer and when Frisbie later dropped out of the race it would be Jack Wagner joining the battle for second. A few more cautions would test the patience of the leader and when Schaeffer, the current series point leader established himself in second after a wheel banging battle with Miller it looked like we would have a race for the front. Goodno maintained his line while Schaeffer was now closing and as the white flag waved Schaeffer had a run off the top side of turn four. He bobbled though in turn two and Goodno was all set to take the checkers only to have the caution wave again for s spin in turn one.
This would set up a one lap dash to the checkers and Goodno looked like a veteran as he timed the start perfectly to drive away from his challengers to record his first career win with POWRi. Wagner would slide up in front of Schaeffer in turn two only to have Schaeffer come back down the back stretch, but at the checkers it would be Wagner for second, Schaeffer in third, Gunner Ramey was fourth and Miller settled for fifth after jumping the cushion late in the race.
We would head for the gates from there hoping to beat the Kenny Chesney at Arrowhead Stadium traffic back into the city so we missed Clinton Boyles completing the clean sweep of the Midwest Lightning Sprints main event.
For the second year in a row we enjoyed our mid-July visit to Valley Speedway and you can bet that we will be checking the schedule in hopes of returning again in 2019!
After a couple of "one race weeks" in a row I hope to pull off three straight nights this week beginning on Tuesday at the Southern Iowa Fair in Oskaloosa as the track holds its Season Championship for weekly racing action. There is some extra money on the line as well as some tight points battles so it should be an interesting night. Then on Wednesday the big half-mile at Osky will see the return of the United States Modified Touring Series along with Ironman Series action for the Stock Cars and B-Mods, plus Hobby Stocks. And on Thursday the Bloomfield Speedway will see its only night of racing in 2018 as the Sprint Invaders will headline the grandstand entertainment at the Davis County Fair along with the Bob Weaklen Memorial for the Stock Cars. The vintage sprint cars will be there as well so I do hope to see you somewhere this week on the Back Stretch!
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
First "New" Track for 2018
With both of our employers making Independence Day a five-day weekend, Christine and I took advantage and made the trip up to southwest Michigan to spend some time with our daughter Ashley and her husband Stephen. With a cold front passing through on Thursday the weather was absolutely perfect for sitting out on the beaches of Lake Michigan each day in St. Joseph, South Haven and Muskegon and if you have never considered a "beach vacation" here in the Midwest before, I would highly recommend it.
On Thursday and Friday night we returned to Kalamazoo to dine at Cosmo's Cucina where Stephen is the chef and believe me when I say that I am not being biased, this is a place that you must check out if you are in the neighborhood. You can have a spectacular burger or a pizza downstairs at O'Duffy's Pub or go upstairs to experience the next amazing dish that Stephen has whipped up on the ever changing menu at Cosmo's. You won't be disappointed! My choices were a gorgonzola burger one night follow by sea scallops and shrimp on a green papaya slaw with an oriental flavored dressing on the other. Yum!
Ashley joined us on Saturday's day long adventure and after doing some shopping in Saugatuck we headed up the coast to Muskegon for some strategically scheduled beach time as my plan for the evening was to have the girls drop me off at the nearby Thunderbird Raceway while they returned to town for dinner and some more exploring.
Each year I have a goal of visiting at least one track that is new to me and, as I review the rest of my projected 2018 schedule, Thunderbird just might be the only one that I make it to this season. It is a rustic ol' quarter-mile with big sweeping turns and I would imagine that a bird's eye view of the track would reveal that it is nearly a circle with little or no "straight" in the straightaways. With a clear blue sky and the sun beating down, the track surface was already dry and dirty come race time which made me wonder if Michigan dirt tracks just don't believe in watering as my previous experience was much the same, or actually worse as you will see starting at paragraph six. Even with the dry, slick conditions the heat race action was good, especially in the Late Models where a nice field of eighteen cars were on hand.
Once the heat races were completed the track took a lengthy intermission where they also gave the racing surface a good soaking and during that thirty minute break I had the pleasure of speaking with the fan next to me named Rod who gave me some good insight to not only Thunderbird and its history, but also racing in general around the state of Michigan. He told me that I need to come back up in September when they put the dirt down on the pavement at the Berlin Raceway as that is some of the best action all year and it is at a very nice facility.
Our conversation made the break go fast and I had told him that my wife and daughter would be picking me up at 9:30 regardless of where we were at in the program and he thought that I might still have a chance of catching the Late Model feature. Christine and Ashley already knew that if the Late Models were on the track at pickup time that they would be waiting until the checkers fell.
The two divisions of the kids in the Mini Wedges ran first on the infield track, while the big track was still soaking up the water added during intermission and when the Cyber Stocks (Outlaw Four Cylinders) came to the track several of the cars immediately skated up to the wall in turns three and four on the opening lap. It took some extra time to roll in the grease and that pretty much sealed my fate as the Modifieds had just started their feature as my watch reached 9:30 and when there was a four car pileup to bring out the caution I thanked Rod for his time and headed to the parking lot to meet the girls. After all, if I am going to get to do this again in the future, I needed to keep my word now!
Checking the results I see that Gary Vandermark, the driver who was leading when I left won the Modified feature as top contender Greg Smith was caught up in that four car wreck. In the Late Models defending track champion Kyle Borgman started fourth and took the win ahead of Tom Sprague Jr. and Andy Sprague. If you watch Dirt Late Model racing in Michigan you will notice that the majority of the tracks still run a weekly program and that the car counts are usually solid in the high teens all the way up to near thirty a night. Why? I attribute it to the fact that they only run one set of rules at every track in the state, so you don't have Crates here, 9:1's there, Spec Motors over here and WISSOTA up there. One class of Late Models, that's it, and they perhaps have the best weekly racing for Late Models in the entire country.
The UMP Summer Nationals will be at Thunderbird Raceway tomorrow night, Wednesday, and while the number of Hell Tour regulars is dwindling I will be interested to see how well the Michigan drivers fill in. Check out the highlights at Dirt On Dirt.
A business trip will keep me away from one of my favorite events this year as the Sprint Invaders make their annual visit to the Cedar County Fair in Tipton Thursday night. Surprisingly there has been no mention of it so far on the Iowastockcars forum, but the Sport Mods will also be in action with the Sprints and the past two years a $1,000-to-win purse has been quite a draw. The Sprint Invaders will continue their July county fair circuit on Thursday the 19th at the Davis County Fair in Bloomfield, then on Tuesday July 24th the Invaders return to the Dubuque County Fair where the racing has been fantastic the past couple of years. Hopefully I will be able to make both of those events, but as always my job comes first!
We have a couple of other events on the schedule over the next eight days if work and weather permits, so check back in on the Back Stretch again soon!
On Thursday and Friday night we returned to Kalamazoo to dine at Cosmo's Cucina where Stephen is the chef and believe me when I say that I am not being biased, this is a place that you must check out if you are in the neighborhood. You can have a spectacular burger or a pizza downstairs at O'Duffy's Pub or go upstairs to experience the next amazing dish that Stephen has whipped up on the ever changing menu at Cosmo's. You won't be disappointed! My choices were a gorgonzola burger one night follow by sea scallops and shrimp on a green papaya slaw with an oriental flavored dressing on the other. Yum!
Ashley joined us on Saturday's day long adventure and after doing some shopping in Saugatuck we headed up the coast to Muskegon for some strategically scheduled beach time as my plan for the evening was to have the girls drop me off at the nearby Thunderbird Raceway while they returned to town for dinner and some more exploring.
Each year I have a goal of visiting at least one track that is new to me and, as I review the rest of my projected 2018 schedule, Thunderbird just might be the only one that I make it to this season. It is a rustic ol' quarter-mile with big sweeping turns and I would imagine that a bird's eye view of the track would reveal that it is nearly a circle with little or no "straight" in the straightaways. With a clear blue sky and the sun beating down, the track surface was already dry and dirty come race time which made me wonder if Michigan dirt tracks just don't believe in watering as my previous experience was much the same, or actually worse as you will see starting at paragraph six. Even with the dry, slick conditions the heat race action was good, especially in the Late Models where a nice field of eighteen cars were on hand.
Once the heat races were completed the track took a lengthy intermission where they also gave the racing surface a good soaking and during that thirty minute break I had the pleasure of speaking with the fan next to me named Rod who gave me some good insight to not only Thunderbird and its history, but also racing in general around the state of Michigan. He told me that I need to come back up in September when they put the dirt down on the pavement at the Berlin Raceway as that is some of the best action all year and it is at a very nice facility.
Our conversation made the break go fast and I had told him that my wife and daughter would be picking me up at 9:30 regardless of where we were at in the program and he thought that I might still have a chance of catching the Late Model feature. Christine and Ashley already knew that if the Late Models were on the track at pickup time that they would be waiting until the checkers fell.
The two divisions of the kids in the Mini Wedges ran first on the infield track, while the big track was still soaking up the water added during intermission and when the Cyber Stocks (Outlaw Four Cylinders) came to the track several of the cars immediately skated up to the wall in turns three and four on the opening lap. It took some extra time to roll in the grease and that pretty much sealed my fate as the Modifieds had just started their feature as my watch reached 9:30 and when there was a four car pileup to bring out the caution I thanked Rod for his time and headed to the parking lot to meet the girls. After all, if I am going to get to do this again in the future, I needed to keep my word now!
Checking the results I see that Gary Vandermark, the driver who was leading when I left won the Modified feature as top contender Greg Smith was caught up in that four car wreck. In the Late Models defending track champion Kyle Borgman started fourth and took the win ahead of Tom Sprague Jr. and Andy Sprague. If you watch Dirt Late Model racing in Michigan you will notice that the majority of the tracks still run a weekly program and that the car counts are usually solid in the high teens all the way up to near thirty a night. Why? I attribute it to the fact that they only run one set of rules at every track in the state, so you don't have Crates here, 9:1's there, Spec Motors over here and WISSOTA up there. One class of Late Models, that's it, and they perhaps have the best weekly racing for Late Models in the entire country.
The UMP Summer Nationals will be at Thunderbird Raceway tomorrow night, Wednesday, and while the number of Hell Tour regulars is dwindling I will be interested to see how well the Michigan drivers fill in. Check out the highlights at Dirt On Dirt.
A business trip will keep me away from one of my favorite events this year as the Sprint Invaders make their annual visit to the Cedar County Fair in Tipton Thursday night. Surprisingly there has been no mention of it so far on the Iowastockcars forum, but the Sport Mods will also be in action with the Sprints and the past two years a $1,000-to-win purse has been quite a draw. The Sprint Invaders will continue their July county fair circuit on Thursday the 19th at the Davis County Fair in Bloomfield, then on Tuesday July 24th the Invaders return to the Dubuque County Fair where the racing has been fantastic the past couple of years. Hopefully I will be able to make both of those events, but as always my job comes first!
We have a couple of other events on the schedule over the next eight days if work and weather permits, so check back in on the Back Stretch again soon!
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
Dolan Dominates Deery Visit to 34 Raceway
The Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models returned to the track where it all started Tuesday night where a stellar field of 37 drivers signed in for action as the series made its 50th appearance at 34 Raceway west of Burlington. And you know for sure that at least two drivers who were in action tonight were also at the inaugural event here as "The Ironman" Darrel DeFrance continued his amazing streak of being at each and every event and the winner of that first Summer Series race, Jay Johnson was also on hand.
In fact it would be DeFrance who would set the pace from the pole position for the fifty lap main event with Ryan Dolan to his right and while DeFrance was the first to reach turn one, it would be Dolan with the run off the top side who would take the lead on the opening lap. With DeFrance trying to fend off the challenges of Tyler Bruening, Dolan would open up a full straightaway advantage over the first ten laps before he encountered the first lapped car.
Bruening would finally take away second from DeFrance on lap eighteen and as Dolan struggled to put a lap on Jay Johnson, Bruening quickly erased the gap. As starter Kenny Dixon signaled the mid-race point Dolan finally squeezed past Johnson and Bruening came right with him now just a car length back from the leader. Dolan would again put some distance on his challenger though until lapped traffic once again came into play. By now the favored groove was around the high side on both ends and as Dolan looked to put a second lap on Curt Schroeder, once again Bruening closed the gap and even took a look to the inside of the leader with no luck.
Even though Bruening showed him his nose, Dolan stayed patient and when he drove by Schroeder on lap thirty-six there was clear track ahead. With no traffic to deal with it was obvious that Dolan was faster, but with just five laps to go he was right behind the cars of Rob Moss and Sam Halstead who were racing for position. The leader elected to ride it out in the favored groove despite the fact that Bruening was twice able to pull even with him in the turns, but in both cases the high side momentum allowed Dolan to pull ahead on the straightaways. On the final lap Bruening gave it once last shot on the low side off turn four, but came up short as Ryan Dolan scored the win in flag-to-flag fashion. Bruening was second and you had to go a ways back to third where DeFrance had settled in behind the lapped car of Johnson. Rob Toland finished fourth, Matt Ryan was fifth and series point leader Justin Kay advanced from twelfth to six at the checkers. Andy Eckrich finished where he started in seventh, Terry Neal was eighth, ninth went to Denny Eckrich and Charlie McKenna filled out the top ten.
34 Deery Notes......All four heat race winners, Bruening, Dolan, DeFrance and Toland started from the pole position although Toland had to work for his win after dropping back to fourth in the opening laps in the third heat. Once he found the high side bite though Toland stormed back and won the ten lap event going away......The two B-Main winners, Jeremiah Hurst and Sam Halstead also won from the pole position and both of those drivers had started seventh and finished fourth in their heat races. That would have given each of them the same number of passing points that Justin Kay tallied after starting seventh and finishing fourth, but since Kay did it in the first heat that must have been the tie-breaker......Terry Neal's drive from eighth to third in the third heat race earned him the most passing points as he started the feature fifth behind the heat race winners......The new format where the heat race winners do a "grudge" draw is nice, but it would be more fun if you also allowed the top couple of passing point drivers participate. "Oh I'm sorry, you started on the pole of you heat and won tonight, so I'm going to give you my 6 for the feature"......Chris Horn appeared to have the fifth and final transfer out of the first B-Main locked up until a late caution waved. On the restart Horn tried get around Curtis Glover for fourth and that allowed Joe Zrostlik to make a late move passing both drivers in the final two laps. To make matters worse for Horn, when the feature field later came to the track one car was missing from the 24-car lineup and that was Glover......I have to admit that I was just hoping for a full field of twenty-four to be on hand tonight given that 34 Raceway no longer has its own base of Late Model competitors so the Series's largest car count of 2018 with 37 was a pleasant surprise.....One of those 37 was Mike Hynes driving a plain white #05. Hynes is from Fairfield, California, and a quick Google search shows that he raced a UMP Late Model at the Antioch Speedway in California last season. I didn't get a chance to track down his story and how he ended up racing here in Iowa, but hope to learn more soon.....The next event for the Deery Brothers Summers Series will be on Wednesday July 18th at the CJ Speedway in Columbus Junction during the Louisa County Fair.
The Stock Car feature was a wild one with drivers using every bit of the racing surface and on at least two occasions just plain running out of room. On the first attempt to get the twenty lapper underway the eighth starter Brandon Rothzen went for a spin in turn two. On the second try as Jason Cook led the field down the back stretch drivers went four wide racing for fourth and when two cars touched in the middle that sent Jim Lynch hard into the wall and several other cars scrambling. Abe Huls spun to avoid heavy contact, Jason See suffered right front damage and both Greg Gill and David Brandies headed to the pits to change tires and, or make repairs.
Everybody but Lynch reassembled for a third attempt and this time it stuck as Cook would set the pace. The caution waved again on lap three when Ray Raker slid off the top of turn one and shortly after the restart Tom Bowling Jr. would take the lead from Cook. The racing action behind the leaders was amazing as drivers raced two and three wide with both Rothzen and Brandies trying to climb back the front as Huls was also founding a bite down low. Another caution on lap twelve set the stage for another four wide battle out of turn four on lap thirteen and this time it would be Brandies who would be sent spinning to the infield. The front end damage on the #71 would be too much to overcome and after a couple of more laps Brandies was forced to retire for the evening.
Chad Krogmeier who has improved greatly in 2018 nearly swiped the lead from Bowling when the leader went high in turn three with four laps remaining, but when he closed the door on Krogmeier it opened up the bottom for Huls and he would nose ahead to the lead on lap seventeen. Bowling was still fast though and he tried to use a high to low move in turns three and four on each of the last two laps coming up short as Abe Huls celebrated the hard fought win. Bowling was second ahead of Krogmeier and Rothzen while Cook settled in for fifth at the finish.
A diverse field of twenty-two Legend Car drivers were on hand racing in support of COPS - Concerns of Police Survivors as the track paid tribute to local law enforcement officials. Tim Brockhouse would lead the first sixteen laps of the twenty-five lap A-Main before Jason Utter drove under him. The former Super Late Model driver from just up the road in Columbus Junction would then go on to take the win ahead of Minnesota drivers Brockhouse and Baiden Heskett. Drew Papke from Bismarck, North Dakota, finished fourth and Dave Comer who made the pull from Joplin, Missouri, was fifth.
Weekly racing action continues this Saturday night at 34 Raceway and the next special event for the high-banked 3/8th-mile oval will be held on Sunday July 29th when Tony Stewart's Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars return.
I hear that drivers from this area had a pretty good night at the Hogan Memorial in Vinton as Josh Barnes won the Sport Compacts, Austen Becerra took a thriller in the Sport Mods and Jeff Mueller (yes, I still claim him as a hometown Mt. Pleasant driver) won the Stock Cars. Kyle Brown was the headliner in the Modified division.
Some social and business commitments may now keep me from the track for the next eleven days, but hopefully not as the Back Stretch closes in on Page View number 500,000. Thanks for reading!
In fact it would be DeFrance who would set the pace from the pole position for the fifty lap main event with Ryan Dolan to his right and while DeFrance was the first to reach turn one, it would be Dolan with the run off the top side who would take the lead on the opening lap. With DeFrance trying to fend off the challenges of Tyler Bruening, Dolan would open up a full straightaway advantage over the first ten laps before he encountered the first lapped car.
Bruening would finally take away second from DeFrance on lap eighteen and as Dolan struggled to put a lap on Jay Johnson, Bruening quickly erased the gap. As starter Kenny Dixon signaled the mid-race point Dolan finally squeezed past Johnson and Bruening came right with him now just a car length back from the leader. Dolan would again put some distance on his challenger though until lapped traffic once again came into play. By now the favored groove was around the high side on both ends and as Dolan looked to put a second lap on Curt Schroeder, once again Bruening closed the gap and even took a look to the inside of the leader with no luck.
Even though Bruening showed him his nose, Dolan stayed patient and when he drove by Schroeder on lap thirty-six there was clear track ahead. With no traffic to deal with it was obvious that Dolan was faster, but with just five laps to go he was right behind the cars of Rob Moss and Sam Halstead who were racing for position. The leader elected to ride it out in the favored groove despite the fact that Bruening was twice able to pull even with him in the turns, but in both cases the high side momentum allowed Dolan to pull ahead on the straightaways. On the final lap Bruening gave it once last shot on the low side off turn four, but came up short as Ryan Dolan scored the win in flag-to-flag fashion. Bruening was second and you had to go a ways back to third where DeFrance had settled in behind the lapped car of Johnson. Rob Toland finished fourth, Matt Ryan was fifth and series point leader Justin Kay advanced from twelfth to six at the checkers. Andy Eckrich finished where he started in seventh, Terry Neal was eighth, ninth went to Denny Eckrich and Charlie McKenna filled out the top ten.
34 Deery Notes......All four heat race winners, Bruening, Dolan, DeFrance and Toland started from the pole position although Toland had to work for his win after dropping back to fourth in the opening laps in the third heat. Once he found the high side bite though Toland stormed back and won the ten lap event going away......The two B-Main winners, Jeremiah Hurst and Sam Halstead also won from the pole position and both of those drivers had started seventh and finished fourth in their heat races. That would have given each of them the same number of passing points that Justin Kay tallied after starting seventh and finishing fourth, but since Kay did it in the first heat that must have been the tie-breaker......Terry Neal's drive from eighth to third in the third heat race earned him the most passing points as he started the feature fifth behind the heat race winners......The new format where the heat race winners do a "grudge" draw is nice, but it would be more fun if you also allowed the top couple of passing point drivers participate. "Oh I'm sorry, you started on the pole of you heat and won tonight, so I'm going to give you my 6 for the feature"......Chris Horn appeared to have the fifth and final transfer out of the first B-Main locked up until a late caution waved. On the restart Horn tried get around Curtis Glover for fourth and that allowed Joe Zrostlik to make a late move passing both drivers in the final two laps. To make matters worse for Horn, when the feature field later came to the track one car was missing from the 24-car lineup and that was Glover......I have to admit that I was just hoping for a full field of twenty-four to be on hand tonight given that 34 Raceway no longer has its own base of Late Model competitors so the Series's largest car count of 2018 with 37 was a pleasant surprise.....One of those 37 was Mike Hynes driving a plain white #05. Hynes is from Fairfield, California, and a quick Google search shows that he raced a UMP Late Model at the Antioch Speedway in California last season. I didn't get a chance to track down his story and how he ended up racing here in Iowa, but hope to learn more soon.....The next event for the Deery Brothers Summers Series will be on Wednesday July 18th at the CJ Speedway in Columbus Junction during the Louisa County Fair.
The Stock Car feature was a wild one with drivers using every bit of the racing surface and on at least two occasions just plain running out of room. On the first attempt to get the twenty lapper underway the eighth starter Brandon Rothzen went for a spin in turn two. On the second try as Jason Cook led the field down the back stretch drivers went four wide racing for fourth and when two cars touched in the middle that sent Jim Lynch hard into the wall and several other cars scrambling. Abe Huls spun to avoid heavy contact, Jason See suffered right front damage and both Greg Gill and David Brandies headed to the pits to change tires and, or make repairs.
Everybody but Lynch reassembled for a third attempt and this time it stuck as Cook would set the pace. The caution waved again on lap three when Ray Raker slid off the top of turn one and shortly after the restart Tom Bowling Jr. would take the lead from Cook. The racing action behind the leaders was amazing as drivers raced two and three wide with both Rothzen and Brandies trying to climb back the front as Huls was also founding a bite down low. Another caution on lap twelve set the stage for another four wide battle out of turn four on lap thirteen and this time it would be Brandies who would be sent spinning to the infield. The front end damage on the #71 would be too much to overcome and after a couple of more laps Brandies was forced to retire for the evening.
Chad Krogmeier who has improved greatly in 2018 nearly swiped the lead from Bowling when the leader went high in turn three with four laps remaining, but when he closed the door on Krogmeier it opened up the bottom for Huls and he would nose ahead to the lead on lap seventeen. Bowling was still fast though and he tried to use a high to low move in turns three and four on each of the last two laps coming up short as Abe Huls celebrated the hard fought win. Bowling was second ahead of Krogmeier and Rothzen while Cook settled in for fifth at the finish.
A diverse field of twenty-two Legend Car drivers were on hand racing in support of COPS - Concerns of Police Survivors as the track paid tribute to local law enforcement officials. Tim Brockhouse would lead the first sixteen laps of the twenty-five lap A-Main before Jason Utter drove under him. The former Super Late Model driver from just up the road in Columbus Junction would then go on to take the win ahead of Minnesota drivers Brockhouse and Baiden Heskett. Drew Papke from Bismarck, North Dakota, finished fourth and Dave Comer who made the pull from Joplin, Missouri, was fifth.
Weekly racing action continues this Saturday night at 34 Raceway and the next special event for the high-banked 3/8th-mile oval will be held on Sunday July 29th when Tony Stewart's Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars return.
I hear that drivers from this area had a pretty good night at the Hogan Memorial in Vinton as Josh Barnes won the Sport Compacts, Austen Becerra took a thriller in the Sport Mods and Jeff Mueller (yes, I still claim him as a hometown Mt. Pleasant driver) won the Stock Cars. Kyle Brown was the headliner in the Modified division.
Some social and business commitments may now keep me from the track for the next eleven days, but hopefully not as the Back Stretch closes in on Page View number 500,000. Thanks for reading!
Sunday, July 1, 2018
Oliver Tribute Draws Big Field To 34
It started out with somebody wanting to add a little money to the purse and then blossomed from there as 115 cars in six divisions gathered to race in memory of Jim Oliver Sr. at 34 Raceway Saturday night. When all was said and done the Stock Car feature would pay $1,441 to win and the Modified winner would take home $1,041, "Grandpa Jim's" car number was 41, plus there were Hard Charger bonuses and several mystery positions would take home extra cash as well. All of that on its own would bring in extra drivers, but add to it the early cancellations of a couple other eastern Iowa tracks due to the heat and predicted rain and the result was a very intriguing mix of drivers from throughout the region.
The Mod Lites were the first class up come feature time and it was a rough night in this division as three cars got upside down during the evening starting with Jon Padilla in the very first heat race of the night. Brian Tipps would take the early lead with heavy pressure from both Devon Rouse and Mike Morrill. Rouse would pull even with Tipps as they scored lap three only to have Tipps retain the lead going down the back stretch. Entering turn three Rouse pitched the car sideways and the tacky track took hold as he executed a scary set of snap rolls before finally coming to a stop on all fours. It took a few moments for the young driver from Burlington to gather himself before climbing from the car uninjured.
Morrill would take the lead on the restart with Dallon Murty sliding into second and two laps later as he was trying to hold off a pack of drivers for third, Tipps would take a wild ride coming out of turn four. Once again the crowd was silent as track officials checked on the dazed driver before erupting in applause as he climbed out of the car under his own power.
Once back to action it would be a battle between Morrill's Mod Lite and Murty's Micro Mod, two similar but different divisions, and Murty would take the lead with four laps remaining. The young driver from Chelsea would then pull away for the apparent victory, however as he rolled up to victory lane officials redirected him to the scales where he was found to be too light. So a check of the rules as I write this shows that the Mod Lites must weigh 1,325 pounds with driver while the Micro Mods have a 900 pound minimum. The question is, were each running under their own set of rules or did Murty fail to meet the higher minimum off the Mod Lites? Either way the official winner was Morrill. Derek Knutsen's Micro Mod crossed the line in third, but I'm not sure if he made weight or not while the Mod Lites of Charlie Brown and Clint Morehouse took the checkers in fourth and fifth.
The Sport Compacts were up next for twelve laps and in this division there was a scary looking wreck during heat race action when David Prim went for a hard roll in turn one. Thankfully he too escaped injury and later joined friends in the stands to watch the remainder of the night's action.
Jake Houston would take the lead from the pole as three drivers made big early moves to the front. Larry Miller from seventh and Barry Taft from eighth were up to challenge for the lead by the second lap and on lap three Jake Dietrich, driving Taft's second car, actually passed him for third after starting sixteenth! Dietrich's run came to an early end though as he pulled to the infield a lap later with mechanical issues that also plagued him during the heat race.
Houston was able to hold off his two challengers until lap eight when Taft went from third to first off turn two and from there not even one late caution could keep the defending All Iowa Points Champion from reaching victory lane. Miller would be the runner-up, Houston ran third with Seth Keiser and Mark Dennis next in line.
The twenty-lap Sprint Car feature got off to a rough start when Harold Pohren started flipping in turn one at one point landing on top of the car of Justin Parrish. Both drivers escaped injury as Pohren's car was towed off with the top wing crumpled, but still intact while Parrish drove to the pits with his top wing peeled off and dragging behind. Once back to green pole-sitter Dan Keltner established a blistering pace that only Ryan Jamison could come close to keeping and with no cautions it would be a flag-to-flag victory for Keltner, his first in a winged Sprint Car. Jamison was second, Colton Fisher held third throughout, Nathan Murders fought off challenges for fourth and Brayden Gaylord passed Jarrod Schneiderman late for fifth.
Brandon Lennox would lead the first two laps of the 18-lap Sport Mod feature before Ron Kibbe spun off the top side of turn two. On the restart Justin Veloz went to the high side and was able to lead Lennox back to the stripe by inches on lap three only to slip too high in turns one and two dropping back to fourth. Fortunately for Veloz though Matt Fulton would spin in turn two allowing him to move back to the front for the next restart. That one was waved off though when Kibbe tried to squeeze under a couple of rows coming to the green, ran out of room and spun to the infield where he was again placed at the back as the field was again given the green.
Two more laps would be scored when Lennox, who was now running third, got sideways in turn one and was t-boned by Shane Paris who had no place to go. Another restart and we were back to racing with Austen Becerra executing a big slide job on Veloz in turns one and two to take the lead. The race would stay green from there and Becerra would drive on to victory ahead of the visiting Veloz. Austin Howes finished where he started in third, Adam Birck came from the fifth row to fourth and another visitor for the night, Gage Neal finished fifth.
It was now on to the two classes with big money on the top as Scott Hogan and Eric Barnes would lead a talented field of twenty-one IMCA Modifieds to the green for twenty laps. Caution would wave with just one lap in the books when Dustin Crear spun to the infield off turn four and Kurt Kile slowed in turn one and once back to green Hogan would maintain the lead. Dean McGee spun up into the infield in turn two to bring out a caution on lap eight and the driver on the move was Darin Duffy who had started twelfth and was now approaching the top five.
Duffy was now firmly in the top five when the caution waved again for Crear on lap fourteen and when the race was stopped one last time for a James Raleigh spin we were now setup for a three car battle between Hogan, Barnes and Duffy over the final seven laps.
Barnes would get a bite off the high side of turn two and make a run at Hogan following the restart, but he would soon yield to Duffy who moved to second and set his sights on Hogan. Getting a big run off the bottom Duffy was able to pull even with the leader on the back stretch before taking the white flag and after Hogan fought off that challenge Duffy was able to do it again on the final lap. A former track champion here at 34 Raceway, Hogan stayed cool, held his line through three and four and was able to pull back ahead to take checkers a car length ahead of Duffy for the win. Barnes ran a solid race in third while track regulars Bill Roberts Jr. and Jeff Waterman completed the top five.
Stock Cars would close out the evening with twenty-two drivers on hand, all having their pit passes paid for by Jim Redman at Preferred Auto Sales in Lockridge in honor of Grandpa Oliver. Brett Timmerman and Kevin Koontz drew the front row for the 25-lap finale, but it would be the third starting David Brandies who would lead the field back around on lap one. Damon Murty was on the move after starting tenth and he would take over the second position from Jeremy Pundt on lap eight now setting his sights on the leader Brandies. A lap thirteen caution for Austin Kemper's spin would tighten the field and that would soon produce trouble for the race leader.
Murty made a couple of attempts to pass that were not successful until lap seventeen when he drove under Brandies entering turn three. There was contact between the two as they exited turn four and that allowed Murty to take the lead and as Brandies tried to mount a comeback on the following lap using a high-to-low line in turns three and four he was tagged by Pundt sending the former leader spinning to the infield. Both Brandies and Pundt were sent to the rear for the restart.
Murty now had Mike Hughes who had started thirteenth and John Oliver Jr. who had started twentieth on his back bumper with seven laps to go, but neither could make a serious run at him. A pair of cautions with two laps remaining gave the challengers one more shot and Oliver gave the fans a thrill with a high to low effort in the final set of turns that came up a car length short as Murty captured the big money victory. Oliver, the current All Iowa Points leader, had Grandpa smiling up above in approval with his big run to second while Hughes finished third. Tom Bowling Jr. started eleventh and finished fourth while Dustin Griffiths cam from twenty-first to fifth! Needless to say the track was still quite racy at the end of the night.
It was a great night to be at 34 Raceway and to see the pits full of race cars! With the five roll overs and a few more cautions than usual the show ran a bit late with the final checkers waving at 11:40, but as I drove out of the parking lot I was already counting the hours until the Deery Brothers Summers Series Late Models return to 34 Raceway on Tuesday night. The INEX Legend Cars and IMCA sanctioned Stock Cars will also be in action and we hope to see you there!
The Mod Lites were the first class up come feature time and it was a rough night in this division as three cars got upside down during the evening starting with Jon Padilla in the very first heat race of the night. Brian Tipps would take the early lead with heavy pressure from both Devon Rouse and Mike Morrill. Rouse would pull even with Tipps as they scored lap three only to have Tipps retain the lead going down the back stretch. Entering turn three Rouse pitched the car sideways and the tacky track took hold as he executed a scary set of snap rolls before finally coming to a stop on all fours. It took a few moments for the young driver from Burlington to gather himself before climbing from the car uninjured.
Morrill would take the lead on the restart with Dallon Murty sliding into second and two laps later as he was trying to hold off a pack of drivers for third, Tipps would take a wild ride coming out of turn four. Once again the crowd was silent as track officials checked on the dazed driver before erupting in applause as he climbed out of the car under his own power.
Once back to action it would be a battle between Morrill's Mod Lite and Murty's Micro Mod, two similar but different divisions, and Murty would take the lead with four laps remaining. The young driver from Chelsea would then pull away for the apparent victory, however as he rolled up to victory lane officials redirected him to the scales where he was found to be too light. So a check of the rules as I write this shows that the Mod Lites must weigh 1,325 pounds with driver while the Micro Mods have a 900 pound minimum. The question is, were each running under their own set of rules or did Murty fail to meet the higher minimum off the Mod Lites? Either way the official winner was Morrill. Derek Knutsen's Micro Mod crossed the line in third, but I'm not sure if he made weight or not while the Mod Lites of Charlie Brown and Clint Morehouse took the checkers in fourth and fifth.
The Sport Compacts were up next for twelve laps and in this division there was a scary looking wreck during heat race action when David Prim went for a hard roll in turn one. Thankfully he too escaped injury and later joined friends in the stands to watch the remainder of the night's action.
Jake Houston would take the lead from the pole as three drivers made big early moves to the front. Larry Miller from seventh and Barry Taft from eighth were up to challenge for the lead by the second lap and on lap three Jake Dietrich, driving Taft's second car, actually passed him for third after starting sixteenth! Dietrich's run came to an early end though as he pulled to the infield a lap later with mechanical issues that also plagued him during the heat race.
Houston was able to hold off his two challengers until lap eight when Taft went from third to first off turn two and from there not even one late caution could keep the defending All Iowa Points Champion from reaching victory lane. Miller would be the runner-up, Houston ran third with Seth Keiser and Mark Dennis next in line.
The twenty-lap Sprint Car feature got off to a rough start when Harold Pohren started flipping in turn one at one point landing on top of the car of Justin Parrish. Both drivers escaped injury as Pohren's car was towed off with the top wing crumpled, but still intact while Parrish drove to the pits with his top wing peeled off and dragging behind. Once back to green pole-sitter Dan Keltner established a blistering pace that only Ryan Jamison could come close to keeping and with no cautions it would be a flag-to-flag victory for Keltner, his first in a winged Sprint Car. Jamison was second, Colton Fisher held third throughout, Nathan Murders fought off challenges for fourth and Brayden Gaylord passed Jarrod Schneiderman late for fifth.
Brandon Lennox would lead the first two laps of the 18-lap Sport Mod feature before Ron Kibbe spun off the top side of turn two. On the restart Justin Veloz went to the high side and was able to lead Lennox back to the stripe by inches on lap three only to slip too high in turns one and two dropping back to fourth. Fortunately for Veloz though Matt Fulton would spin in turn two allowing him to move back to the front for the next restart. That one was waved off though when Kibbe tried to squeeze under a couple of rows coming to the green, ran out of room and spun to the infield where he was again placed at the back as the field was again given the green.
Two more laps would be scored when Lennox, who was now running third, got sideways in turn one and was t-boned by Shane Paris who had no place to go. Another restart and we were back to racing with Austen Becerra executing a big slide job on Veloz in turns one and two to take the lead. The race would stay green from there and Becerra would drive on to victory ahead of the visiting Veloz. Austin Howes finished where he started in third, Adam Birck came from the fifth row to fourth and another visitor for the night, Gage Neal finished fifth.
It was now on to the two classes with big money on the top as Scott Hogan and Eric Barnes would lead a talented field of twenty-one IMCA Modifieds to the green for twenty laps. Caution would wave with just one lap in the books when Dustin Crear spun to the infield off turn four and Kurt Kile slowed in turn one and once back to green Hogan would maintain the lead. Dean McGee spun up into the infield in turn two to bring out a caution on lap eight and the driver on the move was Darin Duffy who had started twelfth and was now approaching the top five.
Duffy was now firmly in the top five when the caution waved again for Crear on lap fourteen and when the race was stopped one last time for a James Raleigh spin we were now setup for a three car battle between Hogan, Barnes and Duffy over the final seven laps.
Barnes would get a bite off the high side of turn two and make a run at Hogan following the restart, but he would soon yield to Duffy who moved to second and set his sights on Hogan. Getting a big run off the bottom Duffy was able to pull even with the leader on the back stretch before taking the white flag and after Hogan fought off that challenge Duffy was able to do it again on the final lap. A former track champion here at 34 Raceway, Hogan stayed cool, held his line through three and four and was able to pull back ahead to take checkers a car length ahead of Duffy for the win. Barnes ran a solid race in third while track regulars Bill Roberts Jr. and Jeff Waterman completed the top five.
Stock Cars would close out the evening with twenty-two drivers on hand, all having their pit passes paid for by Jim Redman at Preferred Auto Sales in Lockridge in honor of Grandpa Oliver. Brett Timmerman and Kevin Koontz drew the front row for the 25-lap finale, but it would be the third starting David Brandies who would lead the field back around on lap one. Damon Murty was on the move after starting tenth and he would take over the second position from Jeremy Pundt on lap eight now setting his sights on the leader Brandies. A lap thirteen caution for Austin Kemper's spin would tighten the field and that would soon produce trouble for the race leader.
Murty made a couple of attempts to pass that were not successful until lap seventeen when he drove under Brandies entering turn three. There was contact between the two as they exited turn four and that allowed Murty to take the lead and as Brandies tried to mount a comeback on the following lap using a high-to-low line in turns three and four he was tagged by Pundt sending the former leader spinning to the infield. Both Brandies and Pundt were sent to the rear for the restart.
Murty now had Mike Hughes who had started thirteenth and John Oliver Jr. who had started twentieth on his back bumper with seven laps to go, but neither could make a serious run at him. A pair of cautions with two laps remaining gave the challengers one more shot and Oliver gave the fans a thrill with a high to low effort in the final set of turns that came up a car length short as Murty captured the big money victory. Oliver, the current All Iowa Points leader, had Grandpa smiling up above in approval with his big run to second while Hughes finished third. Tom Bowling Jr. started eleventh and finished fourth while Dustin Griffiths cam from twenty-first to fifth! Needless to say the track was still quite racy at the end of the night.
It was a great night to be at 34 Raceway and to see the pits full of race cars! With the five roll overs and a few more cautions than usual the show ran a bit late with the final checkers waving at 11:40, but as I drove out of the parking lot I was already counting the hours until the Deery Brothers Summers Series Late Models return to 34 Raceway on Tuesday night. The INEX Legend Cars and IMCA sanctioned Stock Cars will also be in action and we hope to see you there!
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