The weather continues to be the headline when it comes to short track racing here in the upper Midwest, but hopefully that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel will be the sun for at least Friday and Sunday this weekend and hopefully the scattered showers that are in the forecast now for Saturday will not materialize. With all of the recent rainouts the ol' Notebook is a bit sparse, but here goes....
In case you missed it.....four eastern Iowa Late Model drivers obviously took a look at the weather and decided to hit the road this past weekend. Justin Kay of Wheatland and Sam Halstead of New London went west where they raced at the Boone County Raceway in Albion, Nebraska, on Friday night. Kay started twelfth and finished third while Halstead came from eighteenth to cash in tenth. On Saturday night those two also ran with the IMCA Late Models at the Off Road Speedway in Norfolk where Kay started twelfth again and finished second to Eric Vanosdall while Halstead finished where he started in thirteenth.
Todd Frank started his racing career in Wisconsin before transplanting to Montrose, Iowa, a few years ago. On Saturday night, Frank and his son Gunner were part of the twenty car WISSOTA Late Model field at the Hibbing Raceway in Minnesota where the two finished fifteenth and sixteenth respectively.
Fighting off an isolated thunderstorm just before Tuesday's qualifying night the Rolling Plains Motor Speedway in Hays, Kansas, was able to complete their $5,000-to-win Stock Car Shootout last night with IMCA Modified National Champion Jordan Grabouski taking the win ahead of many time Stock National Champ Mike Nichols. Other Iowa drivers in the top ten included Shawn Ritter in fourth and Damon Murty sixth after starting from deep in the pack. Ricky Thornton Jr. was disqualified for a wheelbase infraction and a total of fifty-five Stock Cars made the trip to west central Kansas.
And in another example of "in case you missed it", the World of Outlaw Sprint Cars will race at the Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville this weekend for the first time ever as dirt has been put down on the quarter-mile paved oval at the historic facility. In a preview, or more likely a test session for the dirt surface the track hosted four divisions of Stock Car racing this past Saturday night with Matt Cooper topping a sixteen-car field of UMP Crate Late Models in the main event. Here's hoping that the dirt at Nashville holds together better this weekend than it did at Rockford a couple of years ago.
In further proof of my Net Zero theory, Raceway Park in Jefferson, South Dakota, came back to life this past weekend and will run Sunday night weekly through September, and a new promoter has been named at the Redwood Speedway in Minnesota with his plans to be soon announced. On the other side of the scales though it looks as though the LaSalle Speedway in Illinois will be shutting down, at least according to the organizers of the annual Bill Waite Jr. Memorial race who said "Over the past weekend, we were informed by LaSalle Speedway management that they have decided to cease operations immediately" in a post on Facebook today. Checking the LaSalle Speedway page there was a photo with the text "Stay Tuned For An Official Statement Regarding LaSalle Speedway" included and, seven hours later in the comments Kerry Izzo announced that due to unfortunate circumstances the Speedway is closed for the foreseeable future. She asked that everybody respect the privacy of the family and hopefully we can all do that.
For those of you who don't know what the "Net Zero Theory" is I encourage you to go back through the archives of the Back Stretch. Hopefully it will be an enjoyable journey!
What started out as a sunny Thursday has now turned into a cloudy afternoon with pop thunderstorms in the area, so hopefully your favorite track will not have to take on any more precipitation. I plan on going to a race on Friday night, I just don't know where yet. The Big 8 Late Model Series will be at Hawkeye Downs so I could take care of my urge to do at least one pavement race a year early in the season rather than later when it is usually quenched or I could take in one of the several fine dirt track options within a reasonable drive from my southeast Iowa home; Donnellson, Columbus Junction, Davenport or Marshalltown. Where would you suggest?
Hope to see you on the Back Stretch!
Thursday, May 30, 2019
Monday, May 27, 2019
Thornton, Murty and Birck Headline Albert Auto Service Night In Vinton
The Benton County Speedway in Vinton kicked off what was supposed to be the first event of a doubleheader weekend Sunday night with a night of racing enhanced by extra money and trophies from Albert Auto Service. In fact Sunday's Modified feature would pay out $2,000 to the winner, five hundred more than what Monday's Dirt Knights Tour opener would have paid if not for the rains that came overnight and into Monday morning washing out the Memorial Day event.
I arrived late on Sunday after attending a graduation party for a fantastic young lady and while I missed fourteen of the qualifying heat races, with nearly one hundred and forty cars on hand I still saw plenty of racing in the six divisions.
A nine car field of Micro Mods would be the first feature on the card and the initial start was called back when third starting Cole McNeal was ruled to have jumped the gun sending him to the back of the pack. This would create even more of a challenge for McNeal to stay perfect in 2019 here as he has won the first two main events for the class. Once under green the pole sitter Joren Fisher would spin in turn three on the first lap collecting Matthew Dugan moving McNeal up two more spots for the restart.
Matt Post would secure the lead now that the race was underway and McNeal quickly moved to third, but rather than trying a higher line around Shawn Fisher he waited and waited for the veteran driver to make a mistake and open up the bottom line, but that mistake would never come allowing Post to go flag-to-flag for the win with Fisher edging McNeal for second. Russ Olson and Dugan filled out the top five.
A full field of IMCA Stock Cars would line up next for twenty laps with Dan Trimble setting the early pace. Jay Schmidt and Damon Murty who started fourth and fifth respectively would soon move in to challenge and on lap seven Schmidt slipped under Trimble in turn two to take the lead. Murty would follow him into second and after showing his nose down low, Schmidt went down to protect. That would not stop Murty though who was fresh off of a win in Lansing, Minnesota, on Friday night and he would sail around Schmidt in turn four for the lead on lap eleven.
This race would go non-stop so the leaders had to use their patience and skills to navigate lapped traffic with Murty securing the win ahead of Schmidt. The race to watch over the closing laps was the three car battle for third as Trimble, Tom Schmitt and Johnny Spaw were bobbing and weaving through traffic with Spaw prevailing at the checkers ahead of Trimble and Schmitt.
A stout field of thirty-eight Modifieds had been whittled down to twenty-four of the best for the twenty-five lap main event with Ricky Thornton Jr. drawing the pole position and, to his outside would be long time Late Model star Denny Eckrich in a plain white Precision Performance #50. After the Stock Cars went for twenty laps non-stop, the Mods had some early issues with Mike Burbridge spinning in turn one after the first lap was completed and then the 2018 All Iowa Points Stock Car Champion John Oliver Jr. looped his Modified in turn one on the restart.
That got the yellows out of their system as the race would then go green for twenty-two more laps with Thornton setting a torrid pace and putting some wicked sliders on the lapped cars as if he had someone within striking distance, which he didn't. The race for second was a good one though as Troy Cordes and Richie Gustin were soon joined by Cayden Carter and when contact with another car sent Kyle Madden spinning into the infield on the front stretch it would be Gustin and Carter lining up directly behind Thornton for the green-white-checkers restart.
Gustin would pull even with Thornton in turns one and two, but with the momentum off the top the Arizona native would again pull away down the back stretch before completing the dominating victory. Gustin would be the runner-up with Carter going third after starting ninth. Cordes would lock down the fourth spot ahead of J.D. Auringer with sixth through tenth crossing the line in a tight pack; Brennen Chipp, Jeff Aikey, Eckrich, Ronn Lauritzen and one of the B-Main winners Joel Rust.
The Sport Mods didn't get the memo about minimal cautions as six of them would fly over the eighteen lap distance. The battle up front would normally be seen at Quincy Raceways on a Sunday night as Canton, Missouri, driver Adam Birck was working hard to fight off Austen Becerra from Carthage, Illinois, and they were later joined by Oskaloosa's Brayton Carter, another infrequent visitor to Vinton to make it a three car race for the lead. Through all of the restarts Birck was able to hold his line and capture his first career win at Vinton making the three hour pull well worth it with a vigorous victory lane celebration. Carter edged out Becerra for second as track regulars Tony Olson and Joe Docekal went fourth and fifth. Although Docekal was behind the wheel of a car that he had built for southeast Iowa driver Ron Kibbe, so even his #89 was unfamiliar to the large crowd that was enjoying the action.
Twenty Four Cylinders had started out the evening, but only thirteen remained when their fourteen lap feature lined up for action. Among the drivers not making the call were two-time defending All Iowa Points Champion Barry Taft who suffered mechanical issues and fellow southeast Iowa driver Alyssa Steele who took a tumble in turn three during the heat race, the second time that she has rolled a car in the past few weeks.
Adam Gates would lead the opening lap, but Korey Lana was on a mission charging from fifth to first in just two laps. Trent Orwig had started just behind Lana and the driver from Ottumwa was poised to challenge, but there would be no catching Lana who captured his first career feature win. Orwig slipped over the top of turn three on the final lap dropping him from second to seventh at the checkers as Chuck Fullenkamp, Luke Benischek, Travis Losenicky and Gates made up the top five.
Twenty Hobby Stocks for sixteen laps would put a wrap on the evening and with Nathan Ballard drawing the pole position it was going to be tough for anybody to beat him. Kaden Reynolds gave it his best though as the young driver who moved out of the Micro Mods and into a Hobby Stock late in 2018 came from fifth to second but could not find a way past Ballard who took the win. Leah Wroten finished in the third spot followed by Brett Vanous and Justin Wacha.
I am usually one of those fans that hates being late to a race, but on this night everything worked out perfectly. Congratulations Whitney, you have big things ahead of you! And as always a big thanks to Mick, Mike, Ryan, Jeff, Jeremy and the entire BCS crew for a fantastic night of racing.
Enjoy the rest of your Memorial Day and I hope to see you again soon on the Back Stretch.
I arrived late on Sunday after attending a graduation party for a fantastic young lady and while I missed fourteen of the qualifying heat races, with nearly one hundred and forty cars on hand I still saw plenty of racing in the six divisions.
A nine car field of Micro Mods would be the first feature on the card and the initial start was called back when third starting Cole McNeal was ruled to have jumped the gun sending him to the back of the pack. This would create even more of a challenge for McNeal to stay perfect in 2019 here as he has won the first two main events for the class. Once under green the pole sitter Joren Fisher would spin in turn three on the first lap collecting Matthew Dugan moving McNeal up two more spots for the restart.
Matt Post would secure the lead now that the race was underway and McNeal quickly moved to third, but rather than trying a higher line around Shawn Fisher he waited and waited for the veteran driver to make a mistake and open up the bottom line, but that mistake would never come allowing Post to go flag-to-flag for the win with Fisher edging McNeal for second. Russ Olson and Dugan filled out the top five.
A full field of IMCA Stock Cars would line up next for twenty laps with Dan Trimble setting the early pace. Jay Schmidt and Damon Murty who started fourth and fifth respectively would soon move in to challenge and on lap seven Schmidt slipped under Trimble in turn two to take the lead. Murty would follow him into second and after showing his nose down low, Schmidt went down to protect. That would not stop Murty though who was fresh off of a win in Lansing, Minnesota, on Friday night and he would sail around Schmidt in turn four for the lead on lap eleven.
This race would go non-stop so the leaders had to use their patience and skills to navigate lapped traffic with Murty securing the win ahead of Schmidt. The race to watch over the closing laps was the three car battle for third as Trimble, Tom Schmitt and Johnny Spaw were bobbing and weaving through traffic with Spaw prevailing at the checkers ahead of Trimble and Schmitt.
A stout field of thirty-eight Modifieds had been whittled down to twenty-four of the best for the twenty-five lap main event with Ricky Thornton Jr. drawing the pole position and, to his outside would be long time Late Model star Denny Eckrich in a plain white Precision Performance #50. After the Stock Cars went for twenty laps non-stop, the Mods had some early issues with Mike Burbridge spinning in turn one after the first lap was completed and then the 2018 All Iowa Points Stock Car Champion John Oliver Jr. looped his Modified in turn one on the restart.
That got the yellows out of their system as the race would then go green for twenty-two more laps with Thornton setting a torrid pace and putting some wicked sliders on the lapped cars as if he had someone within striking distance, which he didn't. The race for second was a good one though as Troy Cordes and Richie Gustin were soon joined by Cayden Carter and when contact with another car sent Kyle Madden spinning into the infield on the front stretch it would be Gustin and Carter lining up directly behind Thornton for the green-white-checkers restart.
Gustin would pull even with Thornton in turns one and two, but with the momentum off the top the Arizona native would again pull away down the back stretch before completing the dominating victory. Gustin would be the runner-up with Carter going third after starting ninth. Cordes would lock down the fourth spot ahead of J.D. Auringer with sixth through tenth crossing the line in a tight pack; Brennen Chipp, Jeff Aikey, Eckrich, Ronn Lauritzen and one of the B-Main winners Joel Rust.
The Sport Mods didn't get the memo about minimal cautions as six of them would fly over the eighteen lap distance. The battle up front would normally be seen at Quincy Raceways on a Sunday night as Canton, Missouri, driver Adam Birck was working hard to fight off Austen Becerra from Carthage, Illinois, and they were later joined by Oskaloosa's Brayton Carter, another infrequent visitor to Vinton to make it a three car race for the lead. Through all of the restarts Birck was able to hold his line and capture his first career win at Vinton making the three hour pull well worth it with a vigorous victory lane celebration. Carter edged out Becerra for second as track regulars Tony Olson and Joe Docekal went fourth and fifth. Although Docekal was behind the wheel of a car that he had built for southeast Iowa driver Ron Kibbe, so even his #89 was unfamiliar to the large crowd that was enjoying the action.
Twenty Four Cylinders had started out the evening, but only thirteen remained when their fourteen lap feature lined up for action. Among the drivers not making the call were two-time defending All Iowa Points Champion Barry Taft who suffered mechanical issues and fellow southeast Iowa driver Alyssa Steele who took a tumble in turn three during the heat race, the second time that she has rolled a car in the past few weeks.
Adam Gates would lead the opening lap, but Korey Lana was on a mission charging from fifth to first in just two laps. Trent Orwig had started just behind Lana and the driver from Ottumwa was poised to challenge, but there would be no catching Lana who captured his first career feature win. Orwig slipped over the top of turn three on the final lap dropping him from second to seventh at the checkers as Chuck Fullenkamp, Luke Benischek, Travis Losenicky and Gates made up the top five.
Twenty Hobby Stocks for sixteen laps would put a wrap on the evening and with Nathan Ballard drawing the pole position it was going to be tough for anybody to beat him. Kaden Reynolds gave it his best though as the young driver who moved out of the Micro Mods and into a Hobby Stock late in 2018 came from fifth to second but could not find a way past Ballard who took the win. Leah Wroten finished in the third spot followed by Brett Vanous and Justin Wacha.
I am usually one of those fans that hates being late to a race, but on this night everything worked out perfectly. Congratulations Whitney, you have big things ahead of you! And as always a big thanks to Mick, Mike, Ryan, Jeff, Jeremy and the entire BCS crew for a fantastic night of racing.
Enjoy the rest of your Memorial Day and I hope to see you again soon on the Back Stretch.
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Carter's Third, Orwig Repeats, Vandenberg and Kirkland Also Score At Osky
With all of the rain over the past several days the Southern Iowa Speedway needed a day of sunshine and wind to have a chance to get in its third weekly show of the season on Wednesday and for once the weather cooperated. In fact ol' Mother Nature did such a good job that she dried out the big half-mile a little too much leading to some ride the hub racing rather than the wide multi-grooved surface that we are used to seeing at Oskaloosa.
The Sport Compacts were up first come feature time and after last week's photo finish where he heard boos in victory lane from fans who disagreed with the final result, it looked like Trent Orwig was on a mission to get back there and hear some cheers. Brandon Allison would lead the opening lap, but when he slipped wide out of turn two the second trip around Orwig took the point after starting fifth. One of the hottest Four Cylinder drivers in the area so far in 2019, Jacob Houston made the trip up from Burlington for the first time this year and he moved to second looking to apply the pressure on Orwig.
But Allison was not about to give in and he would get back to second at the mid-race point dropping Houston to third and wanting to turn the tables on Orwig. As the lead trio was coming to the white flag, Allison was right on Orwig's tail but when he took a shot in the rear end from Houston in turn four that allowed the leader to get away a bit and go unchallenged over the final lap to take the win. This time as Trent climbed out of the car in victory lane he received a nice round of applause for his victory ahead of Allison and Houston. Billy Cain and Nathan Moody rounded out the top five.
For the third race night in a row the Stock Car count was at nine, even with the return of Howard Gordon Jr. who missed last week and the first appearance of the year from Brett Lowery who started from the front row outside of Dustin Griffiths for the sixteen lap main event. Third starting Nathan Wood would get his nose under those two going into turn one though and they would go three-wide through the first set of turns and down the back stretch. Wood would get the advantage in the preferred low line and he would be the leader as the first lap was scored.
It didn't take long for Cayden Carter to get to second after he started from fifth and the young driver then showed his patience as he waited for Wood to make a mistake and come off the bottom. When Nathan got into turns one and two just a bit too high on lap twelve Cayden was ready to pounce and he drove under Wood in turn two to take the lead. There would be no keeping up with Roger Kelderman's Orange Krush #10cc from there as Carter stayed perfect on the year here with his third feature win. The defending track champion Wood was the runner-up, Dustin Griffiths finished third as Michael Brown and Jason McDaniel completed the score sheet on lap sixteen.
The Sport Mods were interesting tonight from a couple of standpoints. First was the roster as once again opening night winner Austin Paul was not in attendance and neither was last week's winner and multi-time track champion Curtis Van Der Wal. Brayton Carter who went to Stuart and won last Wednesday night had his car here tonight, but with brother Cayden behind the wheel instead while young rookie Dylan VanWyk who was fourth here last week and then won his first career feature at Memphis on Friday night was also missing. I am guessing that there was something going on at the Oskaloosa High School that they couldn't, or didn't want to miss?
A new face at the speedway, Jason Bass from Fort Dodge would race out to the lead from his pole position in the sixteen lap main event and after wining his heat race in dominating fashion, it looked like Bass would cruise to a win in this one as well. With the racing groove on the bottom lapped traffic would really come into play and Bass had no problem slipping by his first challenge while that first lapper did create some havoc for the second spot.
When Carter Vandenberg tried to squeeze under the lapped car exiting turn four, contact between the two allowed Cayden Carter to drive by on the outside and move to second still several car lengths behind Bass and with the laps winding down. Tommy Lathrop would be the next car ahead of the leader and when Bass saw the waving green indicating just two laps remaining he tucked in behind Lathrop entering turn one rather than taking the risk of trying the next groove up. This allowed Carter and Vandenberg to close quickly and as the white flag waved the fours cars were nose to tail.
Carter would be the first to break out of line going one groove up into turn one and when Bass tried to get up there as well that opened the bottom for Vandenberg. Lathrop was now a big part of this race and he did as he should by holding his line, but with Bass trapped right behind him he soon found himself in third instead of the lead heading down the back stretch and into turn three. Now it was a battle between the two cousins and with Vandenberg on the bottom he made sure that Cayden was not going to beat him as Vandenberg won the drag race to the stripe. Bass was impressive, but a bit too conservative at the end to land him in third, Blaine Webster finished fourth and Cory Van Zante was fifth.
The Hobby Stocks would close out the evening with fourteen laps of caution free racing and that was just what Derek Kirkland was hoping for after starting from the front row. Kirkland had chased in Dustin Griffiths the first two weeks of the season and tonight, by the time that Griffiths emerged from a tight three car battle with Dylan Nelson and Brad Stephens to take second on lap five, Kirkland had built up nearly a full straightaway lead.
Griffiths was able to close the gap a bit over the final nine laps, but it was still a comfortable lead for Kirkland as he took the checkers. Stephens finished third in his first appearance of the season, Nelson was fourth and Christian Huffman filled out the top five.
Racing action wrapped up at 9:14 p.m. allowing me to drive back home to southeast Iowa where I was greeted by even more rain, lightning and thunder. That additional rain, along with the forecast for more both tonight and tomorrow will force the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson to cancel the Sprint Invaders program for Friday night and will now send this good uncle to a dance recital instead.
Here's hoping that the forecasts are wrong and that you can get out to a track of your choice this Memorial Day weekend!
The Sport Compacts were up first come feature time and after last week's photo finish where he heard boos in victory lane from fans who disagreed with the final result, it looked like Trent Orwig was on a mission to get back there and hear some cheers. Brandon Allison would lead the opening lap, but when he slipped wide out of turn two the second trip around Orwig took the point after starting fifth. One of the hottest Four Cylinder drivers in the area so far in 2019, Jacob Houston made the trip up from Burlington for the first time this year and he moved to second looking to apply the pressure on Orwig.
But Allison was not about to give in and he would get back to second at the mid-race point dropping Houston to third and wanting to turn the tables on Orwig. As the lead trio was coming to the white flag, Allison was right on Orwig's tail but when he took a shot in the rear end from Houston in turn four that allowed the leader to get away a bit and go unchallenged over the final lap to take the win. This time as Trent climbed out of the car in victory lane he received a nice round of applause for his victory ahead of Allison and Houston. Billy Cain and Nathan Moody rounded out the top five.
For the third race night in a row the Stock Car count was at nine, even with the return of Howard Gordon Jr. who missed last week and the first appearance of the year from Brett Lowery who started from the front row outside of Dustin Griffiths for the sixteen lap main event. Third starting Nathan Wood would get his nose under those two going into turn one though and they would go three-wide through the first set of turns and down the back stretch. Wood would get the advantage in the preferred low line and he would be the leader as the first lap was scored.
It didn't take long for Cayden Carter to get to second after he started from fifth and the young driver then showed his patience as he waited for Wood to make a mistake and come off the bottom. When Nathan got into turns one and two just a bit too high on lap twelve Cayden was ready to pounce and he drove under Wood in turn two to take the lead. There would be no keeping up with Roger Kelderman's Orange Krush #10cc from there as Carter stayed perfect on the year here with his third feature win. The defending track champion Wood was the runner-up, Dustin Griffiths finished third as Michael Brown and Jason McDaniel completed the score sheet on lap sixteen.
The Sport Mods were interesting tonight from a couple of standpoints. First was the roster as once again opening night winner Austin Paul was not in attendance and neither was last week's winner and multi-time track champion Curtis Van Der Wal. Brayton Carter who went to Stuart and won last Wednesday night had his car here tonight, but with brother Cayden behind the wheel instead while young rookie Dylan VanWyk who was fourth here last week and then won his first career feature at Memphis on Friday night was also missing. I am guessing that there was something going on at the Oskaloosa High School that they couldn't, or didn't want to miss?
A new face at the speedway, Jason Bass from Fort Dodge would race out to the lead from his pole position in the sixteen lap main event and after wining his heat race in dominating fashion, it looked like Bass would cruise to a win in this one as well. With the racing groove on the bottom lapped traffic would really come into play and Bass had no problem slipping by his first challenge while that first lapper did create some havoc for the second spot.
When Carter Vandenberg tried to squeeze under the lapped car exiting turn four, contact between the two allowed Cayden Carter to drive by on the outside and move to second still several car lengths behind Bass and with the laps winding down. Tommy Lathrop would be the next car ahead of the leader and when Bass saw the waving green indicating just two laps remaining he tucked in behind Lathrop entering turn one rather than taking the risk of trying the next groove up. This allowed Carter and Vandenberg to close quickly and as the white flag waved the fours cars were nose to tail.
Carter would be the first to break out of line going one groove up into turn one and when Bass tried to get up there as well that opened the bottom for Vandenberg. Lathrop was now a big part of this race and he did as he should by holding his line, but with Bass trapped right behind him he soon found himself in third instead of the lead heading down the back stretch and into turn three. Now it was a battle between the two cousins and with Vandenberg on the bottom he made sure that Cayden was not going to beat him as Vandenberg won the drag race to the stripe. Bass was impressive, but a bit too conservative at the end to land him in third, Blaine Webster finished fourth and Cory Van Zante was fifth.
The Hobby Stocks would close out the evening with fourteen laps of caution free racing and that was just what Derek Kirkland was hoping for after starting from the front row. Kirkland had chased in Dustin Griffiths the first two weeks of the season and tonight, by the time that Griffiths emerged from a tight three car battle with Dylan Nelson and Brad Stephens to take second on lap five, Kirkland had built up nearly a full straightaway lead.
Griffiths was able to close the gap a bit over the final nine laps, but it was still a comfortable lead for Kirkland as he took the checkers. Stephens finished third in his first appearance of the season, Nelson was fourth and Christian Huffman filled out the top five.
Racing action wrapped up at 9:14 p.m. allowing me to drive back home to southeast Iowa where I was greeted by even more rain, lightning and thunder. That additional rain, along with the forecast for more both tonight and tomorrow will force the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson to cancel the Sprint Invaders program for Friday night and will now send this good uncle to a dance recital instead.
Here's hoping that the forecasts are wrong and that you can get out to a track of your choice this Memorial Day weekend!
Monday, May 20, 2019
Rainouts, Every Year Seems To Get Worse
It has been a difficult start to the 2019 racing season coming off one of the worst Winters ever and now dealing with a very wet Spring. Year to year when a situation like this happens, the sense of recency always makes us say "well this is just the worst yet", but with my data set limited to just the past three years what is happening right truly is the worst!
For the tracks where drivers earn All Iowa Points I started entering the full schedule three years ago to serve as my "checklist" to make sure that I had entered the results from each race date using color coding system. Red was a date that had been scheduled, black was a date that had been completed and blue was a date that had been cancelled, so going back to 2017 and checking the statistics for events scheduled through the third weekend in May, here was the "success rate" for each track as well as the overall totals.
Now here are the stats for 2018
And finally the stats for 2019
As you can see the success rate has gone from 57% to 52% to 45% and I also found it interesting that the number of events scheduled up through this point in the season has gone from 231 to 221 to 219. So does that mean that promoters are learning a lesson about how hard it is to get a show in during the Spring? My perception is that has been easier to get shows in during than the Fall the past couple of years so that will be my next statistical project. Unfortunately with the forecast for the week ahead, I should have plenty of time to complete it.
Stay dry and we hope to see you somewhere soon on the Back Stretch!
For the tracks where drivers earn All Iowa Points I started entering the full schedule three years ago to serve as my "checklist" to make sure that I had entered the results from each race date using color coding system. Red was a date that had been scheduled, black was a date that had been completed and blue was a date that had been cancelled, so going back to 2017 and checking the statistics for events scheduled through the third weekend in May, here was the "success rate" for each track as well as the overall totals.
| Worthington MN | 0 | for | 0 |
| Alta IA | 0 | for | 0 |
| Oskaloosa IA | 2 | for | 5 |
| Algona IA | 2 | for | 4 |
| Columbus Jct. IA | 5 | for | 6 |
| Spencer IA | 0 | for | 0 |
| Denison IA | 3 | for | 5 |
| Davenport IA | 4 | for | 7 |
| Farley IA | 4 | for | 7 |
| West Union IA | 2 | for | 5 |
| Fort Dodge IA | 2 | for | 3 |
| Hawkeye Downs IA | 2 | for | 3 |
| Donnellson IA | 4 | for | 9 |
| Marshalltown IA | 4 | for | 9 |
| Rock Rapids IA | 2 | for | 4 |
| Chateau MN | 2 | for | 6 |
| Fairmont MN | 5 | for | 7 |
| Darlington/Lancaster WI | 2 | for | 5 |
| I-80 Speedway NE | 5 | for | 9 |
| 34 Raceway IA | 6 | for | 8 |
| Corning IA | 4 | for | 7 |
| Boone IA | 4 | for | 9 |
| Webster City IA | 4 | for | 7 |
| Britt IA | 4 | for | 6 |
| Independence IA | 4 | for | 7 |
| Maquoketa IA | 2 | for | 4 |
| Knoxville IA | 3 | for | 6 |
| Harlan IA | 2 | for | 4 |
| Decorah IA | 2 | for | 5 |
| Cresco IA | 0 | for | 0 |
| West Liberty IA | 3 | for | 6 |
| Deer Creek MN | 3 | for | 6 |
| Jackson MN | 2 | for | 3 |
| Eagle NE | 4 | for | 7 |
| Badlands SD | 1 | for | 1 |
| Park Jefferson SD | 4 | for | 7 |
| Vinton IA | 4 | for | 8 |
| Dubuque IA | 2 | for | 4 |
| Mason City IA | 2 | for | 3 |
| Stuart IA | 2 | for | 3 |
| East Moline IL | 6 | for | 7 |
| Quincy IL | 4 | for | 6 |
| Raceway Park SD | 3 | for | 5 |
| Memphis MO | 2 | for | 2 |
| Tipton | 1 | for | 2 |
| Sioux Center | 0 | for | 0 |
| Bloomfield/Eldon | 3 | for | 4 |
| Totals: | 131 | for | 231 |
| 57% |
| Alta IA | 0 | for | 0 |
| Oskaloosa IA | 3 | for | 5 |
| Algona IA | 2 | for | 4 |
| Britt IA | 1 | for | 6 |
| Chateau MN | 0 | for | 0 |
| Columbus Jct. IA | 5 | for | 5 |
| Darlington/Lancaster WI | 3 | for | 5 |
| Davenport IA | 5 | for | 6 |
| Denison IA | 2 | for | 5 |
| Donnellson IA | 5 | for | 9 |
| Fairmont MN | 1 | for | 8 |
| Farley IA | 2 | for | 5 |
| Hawkeye Downs IA | 1 | for | 3 |
| I-80 Speedway NE | 5 | for | 8 |
| Jackson MN | 1 | for | 2 |
| Marshalltown IA | 5 | for | 9 |
| Rock Rapids IA | 2 | for | 4 |
| Stuart IA | 1 | for | 3 |
| West Union IA | 1 | for | 5 |
| 34 Raceway IA | 5 | for | 8 |
| Eldon | 1 | for | 1 |
| Boone IA | 5 | for | 7 |
| Corning IA | 4 | for | 7 |
| Decorah IA | 1 | for | 3 |
| Deer Creek MN | 3 | for | 6 |
| Eagle NE | 5 | for | 7 |
| Harlan IA | 2 | for | 4 |
| Independence IA | 2 | for | 7 |
| Knoxville IA | 5 | for | 6 |
| Maquoketa IA | 4 | for | 6 |
| Park Jefferson SD | 3 | for | 8 |
| Webster City IA | 2 | for | 5 |
| West Liberty IA | 0 | for | 0 |
| Worthington MN | 0 | for | 0 |
| Bethany MO | 2 | for | 3 |
| Dubuque IA | 2 | for | 4 |
| East Moline IL | 4 | for | 7 |
| Fort Dodge IA | 3 | for | 5 |
| Mason City IA | 0 | for | 3 |
| Quincy IL | 5 | for | 7 |
| Raceway Park SD | 3 | for | 7 |
| Spencer IA | 0 | for | 0 |
| Vinton IA | 5 | for | 7 |
| Cresco IA | 0 | for | 0 |
| Memphis MO | 1 | for | 5 |
| Sioux Center | 0 | for | 0 |
| Tipton | 1 | for | 3 |
| Warren County | 2 | for | 3 |
| Totals: | 115 | for | 221 |
| 52% |
And finally the stats for 2019
| Alta IA | 0 | for | 0 |
| Oskaloosa IA | 2 | for | 6 |
| Stuart IA | 4 | for | 6 |
| Algona IA | 2 | for | 3 |
| Britt IA | 3 | for | 4 |
| Chateau MN | 1 | for | 3 |
| Columbus Jct. IA | 3 | for | 6 |
| Darlington/Lancaster WI | 2 | for | 6 |
| Davenport IA | 3 | for | 6 |
| Denison IA | 4 | for | 5 |
| Donnellson IA | 6 | for | 8 |
| Farley IA | 2 | for | 2 |
| Hawkeye Downs IA | 2 | for | 3 |
| I-80 Speedway NE | 5 | for | 8 |
| Jackson MN | 0 | for | 2 |
| Marshalltown IA | 4 | for | 11 |
| Rock Rapids IA | 0 | for | 3 |
| West Union IA | 1 | for | 4 |
| 34 Raceway IA | 4 | for | 8 |
| Eldon | 0 | for | 2 |
| Boone IA | 5 | for | 7 |
| Corning IA | 3 | for | 8 |
| Decorah IA | 0 | for | 4 |
| Deer Creek MN | 2 | for | 6 |
| Eagle NE | 5 | for | 8 |
| Fairmont MN | 0 | for | 0 |
| Harlan IA | 2 | for | 4 |
| I-90 Speedway | 0 | for | 2 |
| Independence IA | 1 | for | 3 |
| Knoxville IA | 2 | for | 6 |
| Maquoketa IA | 3 | for | 7 |
| Park Jefferson SD | 2 | for | 7 |
| Webster City IA | 4 | for | 10 |
| West Liberty IA | 1 | for | 2 |
| Worthington MN | 0 | for | 0 |
| Bethany MO | 3 | for | 4 |
| Dubuque IA | 1 | for | 6 |
| East Moline IL | 4 | for | 7 |
| Fort Dodge IA | 0 | for | 5 |
| Mason City IA | 0 | for | 0 |
| Quincy IL | 4 | for | 8 |
| Interstate Speedway | 0 | for | 0 |
| Spencer IA | 2 | for | 3 |
| Vinton IA | 2 | for | 6 |
| Cresco IA | 1 | for | 1 |
| Memphis MO | 1 | for | 5 |
| Tipton | 1 | for | 1 |
| Warren County | 2 | for | 3 |
| Totals: | 99 | for | 219 |
| 45% |
As you can see the success rate has gone from 57% to 52% to 45% and I also found it interesting that the number of events scheduled up through this point in the season has gone from 231 to 221 to 219. So does that mean that promoters are learning a lesson about how hard it is to get a show in during the Spring? My perception is that has been easier to get shows in during than the Fall the past couple of years so that will be my next statistical project. Unfortunately with the forecast for the week ahead, I should have plenty of time to complete it.
Stay dry and we hope to see you somewhere soon on the Back Stretch!
Sunday, May 19, 2019
Carter's Double, Van Wyk's First Highlight Friday's Action In Memphis
With every track within a 150 mile radius either rained out, or with the night already scheduled to be idle, drivers from all around converged on the the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis on Friday night. The stationery front that had brought all of the rain to Iowa overnight stayed just far enough to the north that the northern tier of counties in Missouri had not been effected, but that didn't mean that it was an easy task to get the facility ready for racing. All of the recent precipitation had left standing water in the low areas and the track's flagman Kevin Eggleston had spent the past two days pounding the track with the sheeps foot in hope of having a surface that would not tear out. The result was a track that stayed pretty smooth, but it was dirty with a loose powdery top that no matter how many times promoter Mike Van Genderen sprayed it with water in between races, the dust would fly. However, it was still wide and multi-grooved and the racing action was very entertaining from start to finish.
The Sport Compacts would be the first of the five features on the night with fourteen laps the distance and second starting Josh Barnes would set the early pace. The hottest driver in this area so far in 2019, Jacob Houston would come from a third row start to take the lead from Barnes on lap four first looking low into turn three before sweeping around the outside in turn four. Caution would wave the following lap when a bumper was on the track and the restart Barnes would go back in front for two laps. Houston would regain the lead on lap eight and the yellow would wave again on lap nine as Barnes coasted around the top side.
On this restart Brandon Reu would get the jump on Houston and when the two made contact in turn two Houston's right front would go flat ending his race. Reu would lead the rest of the way to take the win ahead of Huntsville's Isaiah Penton who is a regular competitor at the Lake Ozark Speedway. Brandon Allsion who just missed out on a win at Osky on Wednesday night would finish third here followed by Tyler Haring and Barry Taft.
The Stock Cars were up next for eighteen laps with pole-sitter Abe Huls leading the tightly bunched field of sixteen. Cayden Carter started right behind Huls in third and he would stay glued to the leader's bumper through a pair of cautions, the first coming on lap six when Todd Reitzler was spun into the infield in turn four and the other at the mid-race point when both Michael Larsen and Chad Krogmeier slowed on the speedway.
Once back to racing Carter would keep the pressure on Huls looking to the inside two or three times with no success. John Oliver Jr. had made his way up from seventh to third and was looking for a mistake from the leaders that would never come making this a trio of the region's best out front. On the final lap Carter drove extra deep into turn three to get under Huls and the two would race door-to-door off turn four in a sprint to the checkers. With the finish line all the way down near the entrance of turn one it was so close that I had to wait for the announcement from Tony Paris to learn the winner and it would be Carter by a nose over Huls. Oliver would chase them in for third, Derrick Agee came from eleventh to fourth and Reitzler rallied from the back to fifth.
Twenty-five of the twenty-six Sport Mods that had signed in would line up for their sixteen lap feature with Keokuk area hot shoes Daniel Follows and Bobby Six on the front row. With Six leading the way early, my attention was drawn to the back of the pack where Austen Becerra had started twenty-fifth after spinning out in his heat race. Becerra was weaving his way through traffic and putting on a show getting up to twelfth before the caution waved on lap four when Corey Cooper and Kirksville's John Anderson spun in turn two.
Becerra's progress slowed following the restart so meanwhile, back up front, Six would get a challenge from Brandon Dale for the lead. After scoring lap eight Dale would drive under Six into turn one and when the two made contact in turn two Dylan VanWyk took advantage to grab the lead down the back stretch. In my story from Wednesday's show at Osky I had noted how impressive this rookie had looked and the former go kart racer looked like a veteran the remaining seven laps as nobody could even get close enough to challenge VanWyk from taking his first career win in a full sized car. Runner-up Brayton Carter joined Dylan in victory lane to congratulate him, Six would hold on to finish third, Logan Anderson was fourth and Adam Birck came from tenth to take fifth.
An interesting mix of drivers from different areas made up the field of twenty-two in the Modifieds with Andrew Schroeder going to the point at the start of the twenty lap event. Derrick Stewart would apply the pressure though and pull even with the leader on a few occasions only to have Schroeder fight him off. On lap six central Missouri driver Johnny Wyman got too wide exiting turn four and got into the guardrail coming down the front stretch in front of a big pack of cars. Since the speakers were not working on our end of the grandstand I can only assume that a quick caution was called because it looked like this could get ugly, but Wyman did a nice job of recovering and even stayed on the gas without losing more than a position or two.
At any rate nobody appeared to be penalized for the caution and we went back to racing with the eighth starting Cayden Carter now joining Schroeder and Stewart in the battle for the lead. Carter would soon drop Stewart to third and on lap thirteen he would get under Schroeder as well to take the lead. There would be no catching "The Gasman" from there as Carter would go on to win his second main event of the night, something that we have seen a few times over the past couple of years here at Memphis. Second generation drivers Schroeder and Stewart would lock down second and third, Zach VanderBeek would come from the sixth row to finish fourth while Brandon Lennox returned to action with a solid fifth place showing after starting from thirteenth.
Eight of the nine Hobby Stocks on hand would close out the evening for fourteen laps and with Dustin Griffiths and Derek Kirkland drawing the front row this one went pretty much as you would expect with Griffiths winning and Kirkland running second. Des Moines driver John Modde held off Mike Kincaid to take the third position while Eric Knutsen closed out the top five.
The Scotland County Speedway will race once a month through the summer with dates on June 14th, July 12th and August 9th before closing out its season with two traditional two-day specials. The Third Annual Jerry Barrickman Memorial will be on September 27th and 28th followed up by the Fall Nationals on October 18th and 19th. If you have never been to Memphis before make sure that you pencil in at least one of these dates on your calendar for some great racing in an old time county fairgrounds setting.
After somehow getting in three straight nights of racing followed by a full day of the high school State Track meet, despite the wet weather, I was going to resist the temptation of going racing somewhere tonight but I now see that Mother Nature has made that an easy decision for me with all of the Sunday night tracks in my region cancelled.
A Tuesday night trip to Fort Dodge is a possibility, and Wednesday in Oskaloosa before my Memorial Day weekend schedule finds me at the Pepsi Lee County Speedway on Friday night and at 34 Raceway in Burlington on Sunday for what will now be "opening weekend" for the Sprint Invaders. Then on Monday I hope to make the trip up to Vinton for the IMCA Dirt Knights Tour event at the Benton County Speedway.
Here's hoping that you too can get a race or two in at a track of your choice this week and please come back often to check out the Back Stretch!
The Sport Compacts would be the first of the five features on the night with fourteen laps the distance and second starting Josh Barnes would set the early pace. The hottest driver in this area so far in 2019, Jacob Houston would come from a third row start to take the lead from Barnes on lap four first looking low into turn three before sweeping around the outside in turn four. Caution would wave the following lap when a bumper was on the track and the restart Barnes would go back in front for two laps. Houston would regain the lead on lap eight and the yellow would wave again on lap nine as Barnes coasted around the top side.
On this restart Brandon Reu would get the jump on Houston and when the two made contact in turn two Houston's right front would go flat ending his race. Reu would lead the rest of the way to take the win ahead of Huntsville's Isaiah Penton who is a regular competitor at the Lake Ozark Speedway. Brandon Allsion who just missed out on a win at Osky on Wednesday night would finish third here followed by Tyler Haring and Barry Taft.
The Stock Cars were up next for eighteen laps with pole-sitter Abe Huls leading the tightly bunched field of sixteen. Cayden Carter started right behind Huls in third and he would stay glued to the leader's bumper through a pair of cautions, the first coming on lap six when Todd Reitzler was spun into the infield in turn four and the other at the mid-race point when both Michael Larsen and Chad Krogmeier slowed on the speedway.
Once back to racing Carter would keep the pressure on Huls looking to the inside two or three times with no success. John Oliver Jr. had made his way up from seventh to third and was looking for a mistake from the leaders that would never come making this a trio of the region's best out front. On the final lap Carter drove extra deep into turn three to get under Huls and the two would race door-to-door off turn four in a sprint to the checkers. With the finish line all the way down near the entrance of turn one it was so close that I had to wait for the announcement from Tony Paris to learn the winner and it would be Carter by a nose over Huls. Oliver would chase them in for third, Derrick Agee came from eleventh to fourth and Reitzler rallied from the back to fifth.
Twenty-five of the twenty-six Sport Mods that had signed in would line up for their sixteen lap feature with Keokuk area hot shoes Daniel Follows and Bobby Six on the front row. With Six leading the way early, my attention was drawn to the back of the pack where Austen Becerra had started twenty-fifth after spinning out in his heat race. Becerra was weaving his way through traffic and putting on a show getting up to twelfth before the caution waved on lap four when Corey Cooper and Kirksville's John Anderson spun in turn two.
Becerra's progress slowed following the restart so meanwhile, back up front, Six would get a challenge from Brandon Dale for the lead. After scoring lap eight Dale would drive under Six into turn one and when the two made contact in turn two Dylan VanWyk took advantage to grab the lead down the back stretch. In my story from Wednesday's show at Osky I had noted how impressive this rookie had looked and the former go kart racer looked like a veteran the remaining seven laps as nobody could even get close enough to challenge VanWyk from taking his first career win in a full sized car. Runner-up Brayton Carter joined Dylan in victory lane to congratulate him, Six would hold on to finish third, Logan Anderson was fourth and Adam Birck came from tenth to take fifth.
An interesting mix of drivers from different areas made up the field of twenty-two in the Modifieds with Andrew Schroeder going to the point at the start of the twenty lap event. Derrick Stewart would apply the pressure though and pull even with the leader on a few occasions only to have Schroeder fight him off. On lap six central Missouri driver Johnny Wyman got too wide exiting turn four and got into the guardrail coming down the front stretch in front of a big pack of cars. Since the speakers were not working on our end of the grandstand I can only assume that a quick caution was called because it looked like this could get ugly, but Wyman did a nice job of recovering and even stayed on the gas without losing more than a position or two.
At any rate nobody appeared to be penalized for the caution and we went back to racing with the eighth starting Cayden Carter now joining Schroeder and Stewart in the battle for the lead. Carter would soon drop Stewart to third and on lap thirteen he would get under Schroeder as well to take the lead. There would be no catching "The Gasman" from there as Carter would go on to win his second main event of the night, something that we have seen a few times over the past couple of years here at Memphis. Second generation drivers Schroeder and Stewart would lock down second and third, Zach VanderBeek would come from the sixth row to finish fourth while Brandon Lennox returned to action with a solid fifth place showing after starting from thirteenth.
Eight of the nine Hobby Stocks on hand would close out the evening for fourteen laps and with Dustin Griffiths and Derek Kirkland drawing the front row this one went pretty much as you would expect with Griffiths winning and Kirkland running second. Des Moines driver John Modde held off Mike Kincaid to take the third position while Eric Knutsen closed out the top five.
The Scotland County Speedway will race once a month through the summer with dates on June 14th, July 12th and August 9th before closing out its season with two traditional two-day specials. The Third Annual Jerry Barrickman Memorial will be on September 27th and 28th followed up by the Fall Nationals on October 18th and 19th. If you have never been to Memphis before make sure that you pencil in at least one of these dates on your calendar for some great racing in an old time county fairgrounds setting.
After somehow getting in three straight nights of racing followed by a full day of the high school State Track meet, despite the wet weather, I was going to resist the temptation of going racing somewhere tonight but I now see that Mother Nature has made that an easy decision for me with all of the Sunday night tracks in my region cancelled.
A Tuesday night trip to Fort Dodge is a possibility, and Wednesday in Oskaloosa before my Memorial Day weekend schedule finds me at the Pepsi Lee County Speedway on Friday night and at 34 Raceway in Burlington on Sunday for what will now be "opening weekend" for the Sprint Invaders. Then on Monday I hope to make the trip up to Vinton for the IMCA Dirt Knights Tour event at the Benton County Speedway.
Here's hoping that you too can get a race or two in at a track of your choice this week and please come back often to check out the Back Stretch!
Friday, May 17, 2019
O'Neals Storm Davenport, Hudson Prevails at 34 Raceway
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series drivers were presented with a challenge on Thursday night and like true professionals they put on a show that will have those fans who witnessed it buzzing about it for a long, long time. The currently popular description is to say that "the track had character" and, if you didn't already know it, that just means that the track was rough. And in no way should that be taken as a knock on the efforts of the folks at 34 Raceway who have worked long, long hours trying to overcome the cold wet spring weather and especially a little strip of farm land (owned by someone else) just beyond turn three that has turned into a reservoir that is apparently seeping moisture underground and up into the track at the entrance of turn three. That was the primary obstacle on this night, but the effects of the wet weather produced some other holes and ridges in turns one and four as well and let's just say that we saw the bottom of at least four different Late Models tonight who did their best Joie Chitwood thrill show two wheel bicycle stunt before thankfully settling down on all fours.
For the drivers the fifty-lap feature had to be a physical grind, and you can bet that the crews will be going over the equipment today with extra care to make sure that everything is tightened back up and ready for the next race tonight at the 300 Raceway in Farley, weather permitting. And it should come as no surprise that ten of the twelve cars that finished the race are Lucas Oil regulars who were looking for every point that they could get. World of Outlaws regular Chase Junghans held out for a seventh place finish and Iowa's own Tyler Bruening was ninth after earning a front row starting sport when Tim McCreadie's bicycle ride opened the door for him to win the third heat race. On the other hand veteran Billy Moyer called it a night mid-race while he was running in the top five.
The reason you would use that adjective, the track had "character" though is because for the fans this one was a thriller providing so much more action than say a one-lane rubbered up smooth surface would and with gas smashers like Jonathan Davenport and the O'Neals, Don and Hudson, running up front this one was a classic, especially in the closing laps. Both father and son had already thrown a slider at the leader Davenport on restarts into turn one only to have the current series point leader cross them over and regain the lead down the back stretch. And, after both of those attempts Davenport would again open up a five to ten car length advantage as the O'Neals staged their own battle for second.
After Bruening slowed with a flat tire with ten laps remaining, Tyler Erb was all but upside down in turn one on the restart before spinning to a halt in turn two for the ninth caution of the event. Once back to green it was Don O'Neal putting the challenge on the leader and for two laps in a row it would come in the form of a slider entering turn three. Davenport handled the first one with ease, kicking off the cushion and driving back under O'Neal to maintain the lead down the front stretch. The second one was breath taking as when Superman set the car sideways in turn three to do the crossover, he caught a ridge that bounced all four wheels off the ground for a split second, but when never even feathered the throttle it looked like he had planned in that way to keep the lead from O'Neal.
As the duo scored lap forty-seven O'Neal again had a run, but this time instead of throwing a classic slider going from low in one to high in two, he instead charged the middle and then edged up the track barely clearing the leader. To complete the move though O'Neal had to pitch the rear end to the right just a bit and when Davenport did not lift his nose went under the rear of O'Neals car lifting it up and shredding the left rear tire.
With Don now coasting toward the infield and Davenport veering to the right to stay in motion, Hudson O'Neal would split the middle to take the lead only to have the caution wave for his father who had stopped on the apron before he could get back to score the lap. This would put Davenport back out front for the restart with three to go and for the first time in the race he would enter turn one low in an effort to block another O'Neal slider, this one from the kid. However, when he drifted up the track a bit exiting turn two Hudson was able to get underneath him and pull even down the back stretch before sliding up in turns three and four to complete the pass with two laps remaining.
Davenport appeared to have a chance to get it back in the final set of turns when Hudson got a bit sideways, but when a ridge shot his car to the right in turn four that was it and Hudson O'Neal would take the win. Josh Richards would finish in the third spot, Kyle Bronson persevered for fourth after having to pit with damage suffered in a multi-car tangle mid-race and Earl Pearson Jr. would finish fifth after pitting for a flat tire on lap twenty-seven. After his tire change with just three laps remaining Don O'Neal would rally back for sixth ahead of Junghans and series Rookie-of-the-Year contender Shanon Buckingham was eighth. As mentioned earlier Tyler Bruening ran in the top five for the first half of the race before finishing ninth and Devin Moran completed the top ten.
IMCA Stock Cars for twenty laps served as the appetizer with Les Blakely leading the way through three early cautions. The race went green to checkers from there though with Jeremy Pundt taking the point on lap four and he soon had defending All Iowa Points champion John Oliver Jr. right on his tail. Oliver has turned many laps around this track over the past two decades and he was looking for just the right move to get around Pundt, but as long as Jeremy maintained his line it looked like he would hold on for the win. Then as the white flag was about to wave, Pundt made one slight mistake slipping up the track exiting turn four and Oliver was not forgiving as he took the lead and one lap later the win with Pundt settling for second. Tom Bowling Jr. restarted from the rear of the thirteen car field after changing a tire on lap one and he came back to finish third with Shane Richardson and Chad Krogmeier completing the top five.
The Mini Hauler trucks closed out the night with flashes of lightning drawing ever closer as Jerad Ruble took the win ahead of John Helenthal and Billy Stanford. Lake Carlson and Dakota Fenton were next in line while cousin Jack Broeg finished sixth.
Heavy rain rolled through Burlington again on Friday morning so Brad Stevens and his crew will have another week of hard work ahead of them as 34 Raceway will host two nights of racing during the Memorial Day weekend. On Saturday night it will be the Freedom Figure 8 Races in front of the grandstand, then on Sunday night the Sprint Invaders will be in action along with the Mini Haulers and Sport Compacts.
Tonight's Sprint Invader event at the Davenport Speedway has been rained out so hopefully we will finally be able to kick off our season next Friday night at the Pepsi Lee County Speedway in Donnellson.
And with all of the rain falling, or predicted to fall in Iowa today and tonight I am going to look to Missouri for my racing fix either going to US 36 Raceway in Osborn where the ASCS Warrior Region is on the card, or to one of the widest and raciest tracks that you will find anywhere, the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis. Perhaps I'll see you there!
For the drivers the fifty-lap feature had to be a physical grind, and you can bet that the crews will be going over the equipment today with extra care to make sure that everything is tightened back up and ready for the next race tonight at the 300 Raceway in Farley, weather permitting. And it should come as no surprise that ten of the twelve cars that finished the race are Lucas Oil regulars who were looking for every point that they could get. World of Outlaws regular Chase Junghans held out for a seventh place finish and Iowa's own Tyler Bruening was ninth after earning a front row starting sport when Tim McCreadie's bicycle ride opened the door for him to win the third heat race. On the other hand veteran Billy Moyer called it a night mid-race while he was running in the top five.
The reason you would use that adjective, the track had "character" though is because for the fans this one was a thriller providing so much more action than say a one-lane rubbered up smooth surface would and with gas smashers like Jonathan Davenport and the O'Neals, Don and Hudson, running up front this one was a classic, especially in the closing laps. Both father and son had already thrown a slider at the leader Davenport on restarts into turn one only to have the current series point leader cross them over and regain the lead down the back stretch. And, after both of those attempts Davenport would again open up a five to ten car length advantage as the O'Neals staged their own battle for second.
After Bruening slowed with a flat tire with ten laps remaining, Tyler Erb was all but upside down in turn one on the restart before spinning to a halt in turn two for the ninth caution of the event. Once back to green it was Don O'Neal putting the challenge on the leader and for two laps in a row it would come in the form of a slider entering turn three. Davenport handled the first one with ease, kicking off the cushion and driving back under O'Neal to maintain the lead down the front stretch. The second one was breath taking as when Superman set the car sideways in turn three to do the crossover, he caught a ridge that bounced all four wheels off the ground for a split second, but when never even feathered the throttle it looked like he had planned in that way to keep the lead from O'Neal.
As the duo scored lap forty-seven O'Neal again had a run, but this time instead of throwing a classic slider going from low in one to high in two, he instead charged the middle and then edged up the track barely clearing the leader. To complete the move though O'Neal had to pitch the rear end to the right just a bit and when Davenport did not lift his nose went under the rear of O'Neals car lifting it up and shredding the left rear tire.
With Don now coasting toward the infield and Davenport veering to the right to stay in motion, Hudson O'Neal would split the middle to take the lead only to have the caution wave for his father who had stopped on the apron before he could get back to score the lap. This would put Davenport back out front for the restart with three to go and for the first time in the race he would enter turn one low in an effort to block another O'Neal slider, this one from the kid. However, when he drifted up the track a bit exiting turn two Hudson was able to get underneath him and pull even down the back stretch before sliding up in turns three and four to complete the pass with two laps remaining.
Davenport appeared to have a chance to get it back in the final set of turns when Hudson got a bit sideways, but when a ridge shot his car to the right in turn four that was it and Hudson O'Neal would take the win. Josh Richards would finish in the third spot, Kyle Bronson persevered for fourth after having to pit with damage suffered in a multi-car tangle mid-race and Earl Pearson Jr. would finish fifth after pitting for a flat tire on lap twenty-seven. After his tire change with just three laps remaining Don O'Neal would rally back for sixth ahead of Junghans and series Rookie-of-the-Year contender Shanon Buckingham was eighth. As mentioned earlier Tyler Bruening ran in the top five for the first half of the race before finishing ninth and Devin Moran completed the top ten.
IMCA Stock Cars for twenty laps served as the appetizer with Les Blakely leading the way through three early cautions. The race went green to checkers from there though with Jeremy Pundt taking the point on lap four and he soon had defending All Iowa Points champion John Oliver Jr. right on his tail. Oliver has turned many laps around this track over the past two decades and he was looking for just the right move to get around Pundt, but as long as Jeremy maintained his line it looked like he would hold on for the win. Then as the white flag was about to wave, Pundt made one slight mistake slipping up the track exiting turn four and Oliver was not forgiving as he took the lead and one lap later the win with Pundt settling for second. Tom Bowling Jr. restarted from the rear of the thirteen car field after changing a tire on lap one and he came back to finish third with Shane Richardson and Chad Krogmeier completing the top five.
The Mini Hauler trucks closed out the night with flashes of lightning drawing ever closer as Jerad Ruble took the win ahead of John Helenthal and Billy Stanford. Lake Carlson and Dakota Fenton were next in line while cousin Jack Broeg finished sixth.
Heavy rain rolled through Burlington again on Friday morning so Brad Stevens and his crew will have another week of hard work ahead of them as 34 Raceway will host two nights of racing during the Memorial Day weekend. On Saturday night it will be the Freedom Figure 8 Races in front of the grandstand, then on Sunday night the Sprint Invaders will be in action along with the Mini Haulers and Sport Compacts.
Tonight's Sprint Invader event at the Davenport Speedway has been rained out so hopefully we will finally be able to kick off our season next Friday night at the Pepsi Lee County Speedway in Donnellson.
And with all of the rain falling, or predicted to fall in Iowa today and tonight I am going to look to Missouri for my racing fix either going to US 36 Raceway in Osborn where the ASCS Warrior Region is on the card, or to one of the widest and raciest tracks that you will find anywhere, the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis. Perhaps I'll see you there!
Thursday, May 16, 2019
Three You'd Expect And One You Didn't See at Osky
After taking last weekend off from racing to move my son and his fiancee' from West Des Moines to Dallas I am excited to get three straights nights of action in the book starting on Wednesday with the return of racing at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa. After opening their season on April 10th under less than ideal conditions, the track has gone through four weeks of no racing, one that was scheduled that way and three that were weathered out, so as announcer Jerry Mackey noted last night it seemed like a whole new season opener. And what a pleasant night it was, the first time this year that I did not have to put on a jacket before the final checkered flag and in fact I was wishing that I had worn shorts during the heat race action.
Consider it a blessing or a curse, dependent upon your point of view, this track has a dominant driver in each of its four divisions right now although on this night one of those was missing from the roster. Race fans will look upon this in many different ways. Obviously if you are a fan of one of those dominate drivers you are going to love your Wednesday nights as more often than not your hero is going to end up in victory lane. If you are a fan of another driver you are going to hate it, because on most nights you know that your best possible outcome will be to run second. And, for fans like me, while it is not an ideal scenario you still have the urge to be there every week to see if somebody is going to be able to step up and beat the star knowing that if that does not happen you are still going to be impressed with how this driver goes about his work each week to take the win.
As each feature race takes the green flag at Osky it almost feels like the theme music from Jaws should start playing as well knowing that one driver will soon be making his way to the front to devour the competition and on this night it would start with Curtis Van Der Wal in the Sport Mods. Lining up fifth on the starting grid for the sixteen lap main event, Van Der Wal quickly moved to second on the opening lap when the row two starters left the door open for him on the inside into turn one, the racing equivalent of needing a bigger boat. Two laps later early leader Jason Hall was eaten up by Van Der Wal who drove under him in turn four. From there it was race for second as Van Der Wal cruised to the win, his first of the season though as Austin Paul got out to a big enough early lead on that cold night in April that he was able to make it ashore before the checkered flag waved. Paul was not in attendance on this night.
Carter Vandenberg picked up the second spot on lap nine and he would chase Van Der Wal in for second. Logan Anderson had a top five finish in hand before he dropped out of the race on lap eleven and Hall was still in third when he popped a radiator hose with a lap and a half to go. That moved Blaine Webster into third at the checkers with Colton Livezy fourth and impressive rookie Dylan VanWyk completing the top five.
Cayden Carter is the shark of the Stock Cars and after starting fifth he would be in second by lap three. Just one lap later Carter would go around Scott Dickey on the high side of turn two to take the lead where he would then check out on the field for his second win of the season. The battle for second was entertaining as Dickey did his best to fight off Nathan Wood and Derrick Agee, but in the end it would be Agee and Wood in second and third as division rookie Jason McDaniel dropped Dickey to fifth in the final laps.
2018 track champion Brandon Housley started out this season with a win, but he was missing tonight and that made for quite an entertaining and, in the end, controversial ten lap feature for the Sport Compacts. Tanner Wilson, Brandon Allison and Trent Orwig were three wide exiting turn four on the opening lap, but when Wilson and Allison made contact that allowed Orwig to claim the lead. Allison would gather himself back up though and soon he was challenging Orwig for the lead pulling even with him as the crossed flags were shown to the leaders on lap five.
Orwig, who picked up the win on a half-mile in Webster City last Saturday night, was doing his best to protect the bottom against his challenger and was able to fight off Allison, but as the white flag waved Brandon took the gloves off and muscled his way back under Orwig down the front stretch and into turn one. Yes, there was some contact, but these were two drivers racing hard for the win on the final lap and going down the back stretch Allison edged ahead before they entered the final set of turns.
Orwig would swing high coming out of turn four and with Allison running the rail they were no longer door handle to door handle, literally, as they drag raced to the checkered flag and that would make this one a tougher call than had they been glued together like previous laps. As soon evidenced by their reaction to who pulled into victory lane, most of the fans in the stands felt that Allison had crossed the finish line first, but only one set of eyes matters and the scorekeeper had Orwig as the winner instead. Tanner Wilson would hold on for third, his best feature finish to date, while Billy Cain and James Haring filled out the top five.
Cue up the music again as the Hobby Stocks would close out the night for fourteen laps with Dustin Griffiths starting from the eighth position. Brok Hopwood would lead the opening lap as Griffiths charged to third and before lap two could be scored Cody Cleghorn and Jesse Williams would tangle on the back stretch. On the restart it would be Christian Huffman jumping to the front, but he could only hold off Griffiths for two laps before the 2014 All Iowa Points Hobby Stock Champion drove by for the lead. Derek Kirkland would get to second with two laps to go and while he was able to get to the rear bumper of the leader on the final lap he could not mount a challenge before Griffiths claimed another checkered flag. Kirkland would settle for second ahead of Clint Nelson, Huffman and Craig Brown while a new face to the speedway, Blake Henry would finish sixth after winning an entertaining three car battle in his heat race.
Even with rides for kids before hot laps and a candy dash before the features, the final checkered flag waved at 9:11 p.m. making it an easy choice to return next Wednesday to see if anybody can defeat the sharks. (Note: In this day and age of Political Correctness I am compelled to clarify that I am NOT suggesting that somebody actually kill "the sharks" by sticking an air canister in their mouths and then shooting it.....have a sense of humor y'all!)
Tonight the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will make 34 Raceway near Burlington a national stage in what should be a spectacular show and on Friday night we hope to finally start the 2019 season for the Sprint Invaders. Hope to see you out there on the Back Stretch!
Consider it a blessing or a curse, dependent upon your point of view, this track has a dominant driver in each of its four divisions right now although on this night one of those was missing from the roster. Race fans will look upon this in many different ways. Obviously if you are a fan of one of those dominate drivers you are going to love your Wednesday nights as more often than not your hero is going to end up in victory lane. If you are a fan of another driver you are going to hate it, because on most nights you know that your best possible outcome will be to run second. And, for fans like me, while it is not an ideal scenario you still have the urge to be there every week to see if somebody is going to be able to step up and beat the star knowing that if that does not happen you are still going to be impressed with how this driver goes about his work each week to take the win.
As each feature race takes the green flag at Osky it almost feels like the theme music from Jaws should start playing as well knowing that one driver will soon be making his way to the front to devour the competition and on this night it would start with Curtis Van Der Wal in the Sport Mods. Lining up fifth on the starting grid for the sixteen lap main event, Van Der Wal quickly moved to second on the opening lap when the row two starters left the door open for him on the inside into turn one, the racing equivalent of needing a bigger boat. Two laps later early leader Jason Hall was eaten up by Van Der Wal who drove under him in turn four. From there it was race for second as Van Der Wal cruised to the win, his first of the season though as Austin Paul got out to a big enough early lead on that cold night in April that he was able to make it ashore before the checkered flag waved. Paul was not in attendance on this night.
Carter Vandenberg picked up the second spot on lap nine and he would chase Van Der Wal in for second. Logan Anderson had a top five finish in hand before he dropped out of the race on lap eleven and Hall was still in third when he popped a radiator hose with a lap and a half to go. That moved Blaine Webster into third at the checkers with Colton Livezy fourth and impressive rookie Dylan VanWyk completing the top five.
Cayden Carter is the shark of the Stock Cars and after starting fifth he would be in second by lap three. Just one lap later Carter would go around Scott Dickey on the high side of turn two to take the lead where he would then check out on the field for his second win of the season. The battle for second was entertaining as Dickey did his best to fight off Nathan Wood and Derrick Agee, but in the end it would be Agee and Wood in second and third as division rookie Jason McDaniel dropped Dickey to fifth in the final laps.
2018 track champion Brandon Housley started out this season with a win, but he was missing tonight and that made for quite an entertaining and, in the end, controversial ten lap feature for the Sport Compacts. Tanner Wilson, Brandon Allison and Trent Orwig were three wide exiting turn four on the opening lap, but when Wilson and Allison made contact that allowed Orwig to claim the lead. Allison would gather himself back up though and soon he was challenging Orwig for the lead pulling even with him as the crossed flags were shown to the leaders on lap five.
Orwig, who picked up the win on a half-mile in Webster City last Saturday night, was doing his best to protect the bottom against his challenger and was able to fight off Allison, but as the white flag waved Brandon took the gloves off and muscled his way back under Orwig down the front stretch and into turn one. Yes, there was some contact, but these were two drivers racing hard for the win on the final lap and going down the back stretch Allison edged ahead before they entered the final set of turns.
Orwig would swing high coming out of turn four and with Allison running the rail they were no longer door handle to door handle, literally, as they drag raced to the checkered flag and that would make this one a tougher call than had they been glued together like previous laps. As soon evidenced by their reaction to who pulled into victory lane, most of the fans in the stands felt that Allison had crossed the finish line first, but only one set of eyes matters and the scorekeeper had Orwig as the winner instead. Tanner Wilson would hold on for third, his best feature finish to date, while Billy Cain and James Haring filled out the top five.
Cue up the music again as the Hobby Stocks would close out the night for fourteen laps with Dustin Griffiths starting from the eighth position. Brok Hopwood would lead the opening lap as Griffiths charged to third and before lap two could be scored Cody Cleghorn and Jesse Williams would tangle on the back stretch. On the restart it would be Christian Huffman jumping to the front, but he could only hold off Griffiths for two laps before the 2014 All Iowa Points Hobby Stock Champion drove by for the lead. Derek Kirkland would get to second with two laps to go and while he was able to get to the rear bumper of the leader on the final lap he could not mount a challenge before Griffiths claimed another checkered flag. Kirkland would settle for second ahead of Clint Nelson, Huffman and Craig Brown while a new face to the speedway, Blake Henry would finish sixth after winning an entertaining three car battle in his heat race.
Even with rides for kids before hot laps and a candy dash before the features, the final checkered flag waved at 9:11 p.m. making it an easy choice to return next Wednesday to see if anybody can defeat the sharks. (Note: In this day and age of Political Correctness I am compelled to clarify that I am NOT suggesting that somebody actually kill "the sharks" by sticking an air canister in their mouths and then shooting it.....have a sense of humor y'all!)
Tonight the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will make 34 Raceway near Burlington a national stage in what should be a spectacular show and on Friday night we hope to finally start the 2019 season for the Sprint Invaders. Hope to see you out there on the Back Stretch!
Monday, May 6, 2019
Patient Pierce Completes MLRA Weekend Sweep at Quincy
If you ask one hundred dirt Late Model race fans in the Midwest how they would describe Bobby Pierce in just one word I would wager that none of them would blurt out the word "patient". But on Sunday night with a dry, slick surface that had taken rubber around the top the young phenom was just that at the Quincy Raceways allowing him to win for the third time this weekend with the Lucas Oil MLRA Late Model series.
Following a week of steady and heavy rains the track prep crew at Quincy was faced with the challenge of first getting the place dried out enough to race and then trying to prepare a track that would showcase the Super Late Models in their first appearance of the season, and the first ever visit to the "Bullring on Broadway" by the MLRA. A high sun and an early start time heightened the challenge and the quick quarter became the slick quarter as it dried out after hot laps.
Series point leader Will Vaught broke a motor during his heat race so it would be a seventeen car field that would line up for forty laps come feature time with Pierce sitting to the outside of Kyle Bronson in row one. The high side was the preferred line and that allowed Pierce to get to the lead as Bronson squeezed up into second ahead of Brian Shirley. It did not take long for the leaders to catch the back of the field and after getting around Matt Mickleson with ease, Pierce then found himself behind Rookie-of-the-Year contender Joseph Gorby.
Gorby was riding around the top as well and after taking a look down low a couple of times Pierce decided to play it safe and settled in behind Gorby waiting for him to make a mistake rather than forcing the issue. Around lap seventeen, when Gorby slipped a bit high into turn three, Pierce left the top for a moment to try to put him a lap down only to think better of it and with his momentum slowed just a bit Bronson threw a slider on the leader into turn one.
Coming up the track in two Bronson did not have Pierce cleared and that allowed Shirley to slip under him to take over second. A few laps later Gorby finally slipped up enough that it allowed the leaders to get around him and when Pierce also drove under Justin Reed in turn one he even had an extra buffer between himself and Shirley. This process would continue with each lapped car as Dennis Erb Jr. dropped Bronson to fourth and with just four laps to go Hudson O'Neal would make contact with Gorby turning him around in turn four.
The only caution of the race now gave the leader a clear race track and the field ran in single file formation around the top to the checkers with Pierce taking the win ahead of Shirley, Erb, Bronson and Logan Martin. O'Neal finished sixth followed by Mark Burgtorf, Mitch McGrath, Dewayne Kiefer and Jamie Wilson.
It was a tough weekend for the series as eight drivers had entered all events prior to this swing, but with Payton Looney losing a motor at Stuart and Jesse Stovall leaving West Liberty after his heat race that count is now at six. With Vaught's early exit on Sunday the points should be tight at the top between him, Martin and McGrath with Jake Neal, Jeremy Grady and Gorby being the other drivers with perfect attendance. The MLRA next runs in tandem with the Show Me 100 at the Lucas Oil Speedway before closing out that weekend on Sunday at the Monett Speedway for another four night run.
Two divisions provided support for the evening with their feature races sandwiching the Late Models. The Sport Mods were up first and it would be pole-sitter Adam Birck who would lead all eighteen laps surviving seven cautions and one red flag period to take the win. The red was needed when Daniel Fellows got into the front stretch wall coming out of turn four and was then hit hard by Brandon Niekamp. Both drivers were uninjured, but will have plenty of work to do to repair their damaged race cars. Justin Ebbing chased Birck the entire distance to finish second, Terry Wilson started seventh and finished third, Tanner Klingele was fourth and Nathan Bringer filled out the top five.
Open Stock Cars would complete the evening with some UMP Street Stocks joining the IMCA Stock Cars and the three Girard family Mini Stocks to give us twelve of the thirteen cars signed in to start an eighteen lap feature. The initial start was waved off and pole-sitter Craig Bangert was sent to the rear for firing before the cone in turn four. That moved Beau Taylor to the pole position and he would take advantage by racing to the lead. This race too was caution plagued, but unlike the Sport Mods the words "time limit" were mentioned and after the seventh caution flag waved on lap eleven the race, and the evening was brought to a close by waving the checkers with Taylor taking the win over Scott Jordan, Jesse Wegs, Shane Richardson and Dakota Girard.
That wrapped up a four race swing for me as well and I was thankful to be on the road and headed for home around 8:30. As just a fan who is now in his middle fifties, four nights in a row takes it toll so I can't even imagine how tough it is on these regional race teams and their equipment. After a couple of nights off though I will be ready to hit the road again for the Southern Iowa Speedway on Wednesday if the weather allows. Hopefully it will stay dry enough in Oskaloosa on the Back Stretch.
Following a week of steady and heavy rains the track prep crew at Quincy was faced with the challenge of first getting the place dried out enough to race and then trying to prepare a track that would showcase the Super Late Models in their first appearance of the season, and the first ever visit to the "Bullring on Broadway" by the MLRA. A high sun and an early start time heightened the challenge and the quick quarter became the slick quarter as it dried out after hot laps.
Series point leader Will Vaught broke a motor during his heat race so it would be a seventeen car field that would line up for forty laps come feature time with Pierce sitting to the outside of Kyle Bronson in row one. The high side was the preferred line and that allowed Pierce to get to the lead as Bronson squeezed up into second ahead of Brian Shirley. It did not take long for the leaders to catch the back of the field and after getting around Matt Mickleson with ease, Pierce then found himself behind Rookie-of-the-Year contender Joseph Gorby.
Gorby was riding around the top as well and after taking a look down low a couple of times Pierce decided to play it safe and settled in behind Gorby waiting for him to make a mistake rather than forcing the issue. Around lap seventeen, when Gorby slipped a bit high into turn three, Pierce left the top for a moment to try to put him a lap down only to think better of it and with his momentum slowed just a bit Bronson threw a slider on the leader into turn one.
Coming up the track in two Bronson did not have Pierce cleared and that allowed Shirley to slip under him to take over second. A few laps later Gorby finally slipped up enough that it allowed the leaders to get around him and when Pierce also drove under Justin Reed in turn one he even had an extra buffer between himself and Shirley. This process would continue with each lapped car as Dennis Erb Jr. dropped Bronson to fourth and with just four laps to go Hudson O'Neal would make contact with Gorby turning him around in turn four.
The only caution of the race now gave the leader a clear race track and the field ran in single file formation around the top to the checkers with Pierce taking the win ahead of Shirley, Erb, Bronson and Logan Martin. O'Neal finished sixth followed by Mark Burgtorf, Mitch McGrath, Dewayne Kiefer and Jamie Wilson.
It was a tough weekend for the series as eight drivers had entered all events prior to this swing, but with Payton Looney losing a motor at Stuart and Jesse Stovall leaving West Liberty after his heat race that count is now at six. With Vaught's early exit on Sunday the points should be tight at the top between him, Martin and McGrath with Jake Neal, Jeremy Grady and Gorby being the other drivers with perfect attendance. The MLRA next runs in tandem with the Show Me 100 at the Lucas Oil Speedway before closing out that weekend on Sunday at the Monett Speedway for another four night run.
Two divisions provided support for the evening with their feature races sandwiching the Late Models. The Sport Mods were up first and it would be pole-sitter Adam Birck who would lead all eighteen laps surviving seven cautions and one red flag period to take the win. The red was needed when Daniel Fellows got into the front stretch wall coming out of turn four and was then hit hard by Brandon Niekamp. Both drivers were uninjured, but will have plenty of work to do to repair their damaged race cars. Justin Ebbing chased Birck the entire distance to finish second, Terry Wilson started seventh and finished third, Tanner Klingele was fourth and Nathan Bringer filled out the top five.
Open Stock Cars would complete the evening with some UMP Street Stocks joining the IMCA Stock Cars and the three Girard family Mini Stocks to give us twelve of the thirteen cars signed in to start an eighteen lap feature. The initial start was waved off and pole-sitter Craig Bangert was sent to the rear for firing before the cone in turn four. That moved Beau Taylor to the pole position and he would take advantage by racing to the lead. This race too was caution plagued, but unlike the Sport Mods the words "time limit" were mentioned and after the seventh caution flag waved on lap eleven the race, and the evening was brought to a close by waving the checkers with Taylor taking the win over Scott Jordan, Jesse Wegs, Shane Richardson and Dakota Girard.
That wrapped up a four race swing for me as well and I was thankful to be on the road and headed for home around 8:30. As just a fan who is now in his middle fifties, four nights in a row takes it toll so I can't even imagine how tough it is on these regional race teams and their equipment. After a couple of nights off though I will be ready to hit the road again for the Southern Iowa Speedway on Wednesday if the weather allows. Hopefully it will stay dry enough in Oskaloosa on the Back Stretch.
Sunday, May 5, 2019
Two Down, One To Go For Pierce On MLRA Weekend Swing
Bobby Pierce has already proven himself to be a short track wizard, but the young driver can go hammer down on the big tracks as well and on Saturday night at the West Liberty Raceway he did just that to dominate the twenty-five lap MLRA Late Model main event.
Twenty-seven Late Models signed in for the evening and the high speed half mile took its toll with four of them scratching, and at least two of them even loading up and leaving due to mechanical issues in the heat races. The heavy rains of the past week challenged the track prep crew and while turns one and two held up nicely throughout the evening, turn three started to chop out likely contributing to the attrition in the main event as well.
Defending MLRA champion Chad Simpson would bring the field to green and while he would get to turn one first it would be Pierce who would rocket off the cushion and to the lead down the back stretch. Simpson would honor the torrid pace though and as the leaders approached traffic already on lap six he looked like he had a run at the leader off the bottom of turn four. Just ahead of them though Jeremy Grady was slowing down the front straightaway and the caution waved with several cars narrowly missing Grady who was coasting next to the wall.
Just two more laps were scored before a scary incident unfolded right in front of the near capacity crowd. Nick Marolf had slowed coming down the front stretch and was looking to pull to the infield where the infield wall ends just past the judges stand and as Jordan Yaggy closed in on him quickly he veered to the right to miss the slowing car. Dave Wada was racing to the outside though and when Yaggy's right rear caught Wada's left front it turned Yaggy nose first into the outside wall where he then executed a series barrel rolls right along the catch fence finally coming to rest at the entrance of turn one. Thankfully both Yaggy and Wada were able to escape injury although Yaggy's #77 looked like it had gone through a metal grinder.
During the red flag period a few more drivers retired to the pit area including Billy Moyer who had been running in the top five leaving just twelve cars on the track for the restart. Pierce would again open up a big lead as the race to watch was for second where Hudson O'Neal now went to work on Simpson. After trying the bottom a couple of times with no success, O'Neal would pull off a daring move around the outside squeezing between Simpson and the outside concrete wall exiting turn four on lap seventeen and when Dave Eckrich stopped in turn one after shredding a a left rear tire it looked like the stage was set for a battle between the two young guns, Pierce and O'Neal.
That wish was short lived though when O'Neal lost several positions in turns one and two on the restart and then slowed down the back stretch with a flat right rear tire. After a quick tire change he would rejoin the twelve car lineup and it would now be MLRA point leader Will Vaught moving up to second. Vaught would stay right with the leader for the next two laps even taking a look to the inside of Pierce out of four on lap nineteen. Catching a ripple off four Vaught stumbled just a bit though and that would allow Pierce to again pull away and ride with ease to the checkers. Vaught would extend his point lead as the runner-up, Simpson would join them on the podium in third while Jason Rauen slipped past Jake Neal in the closing laps for fourth. Rich Bell, Logan Martin, O'Neal, Chad Holladay and Mitch McGrath would complete the top ten while Eckrich and Joseph Gorby were the final two cars on the track.
After winning at Stuart on Thursday night before Friday's rainout at Davenport, Pierce now heads to the Quincy Raceways tonight to try to pull off the MLRA weekend sweep.
In support class action Ron Barker drove Keith Simmons' beautiful #38 to a dominating win in the American Iron Racing Series (AIRS) main event. Bruce Yoerger paced lap one with Dan Kessler leading the second lap before Barker took control. When R.J. Lank spun his Edsel in turn one while running fourth on lap seven, three other cars were also involved and eliminated including Yoerger. Matt Hudspeth would edge out Kessler for second as Bart Miller and Dennis Etten also finished the ten lap distance.
The Stock Car feature brought the fantastic crowd to its feet on the twelfth and final lap. David Brandies started from the pole and had opened up at least a half straightaway lead before John Oliver Jr. could get to second after starting fifth. Slowly but surely the defending All Iowa Points Champion would reel in the leader and with two laps to go Oliver would nose ahead of Brandies at the stripe. David would fight back though to reclaim the lead as the white flag waved and as they came out of four to the checkers Oliver again had a run off the bottom. With two of the best in the region now drag racing to the checkers it would be Brandies by half of a car length for the win over Oliver. Michael Peterson was not far behind in third and the score keepers had to watch the race for fourth closely as Johnny Spaw split the middle of Jared Miller and Jason See to get the spot.
Dan Brockert charged from fifth to lead the opening lap of the Sport Mod main event, but he brought the seventh starting Logan Anderson with him and after taking over on lap two Anderson would weather two restarts to take a dominating win. Shane Paris would finish in the second spot followed by Matt Fulton, Brandon Dale and Austin Heacock.
The stands were still half full as the Modifieds closed out the evening for twenty laps that saw Chris Zogg lead each and every one of them. Justin Kay started sixth and got around Kurt Kile for second on lap seven, but he had no luck in closing the gap on Zogg who posted the convincing win. Kile would be a full three quarters of a lap behind Zogg and Kay at the checkers for third, Dakota Hayden was fourth and Jarrett Brown finished fifth.
The Modifieds will be the featured attraction when the DRT Trak Racing Inc. promotional team returns to the West Liberty Raceway on Saturday May 18th with $2,000 going to the winner. The Sport Mods will also have a four figure winners check at $1,000, plus the Stocks Cars, Four Cylinders and AIRS will be in action as well.
Several good options on the table for tonight so after I get the yard mowed I will check the weather and then make a decision. You never know where you might see me except for right here on the Back Stretch!
Twenty-seven Late Models signed in for the evening and the high speed half mile took its toll with four of them scratching, and at least two of them even loading up and leaving due to mechanical issues in the heat races. The heavy rains of the past week challenged the track prep crew and while turns one and two held up nicely throughout the evening, turn three started to chop out likely contributing to the attrition in the main event as well.
Defending MLRA champion Chad Simpson would bring the field to green and while he would get to turn one first it would be Pierce who would rocket off the cushion and to the lead down the back stretch. Simpson would honor the torrid pace though and as the leaders approached traffic already on lap six he looked like he had a run at the leader off the bottom of turn four. Just ahead of them though Jeremy Grady was slowing down the front straightaway and the caution waved with several cars narrowly missing Grady who was coasting next to the wall.
Just two more laps were scored before a scary incident unfolded right in front of the near capacity crowd. Nick Marolf had slowed coming down the front stretch and was looking to pull to the infield where the infield wall ends just past the judges stand and as Jordan Yaggy closed in on him quickly he veered to the right to miss the slowing car. Dave Wada was racing to the outside though and when Yaggy's right rear caught Wada's left front it turned Yaggy nose first into the outside wall where he then executed a series barrel rolls right along the catch fence finally coming to rest at the entrance of turn one. Thankfully both Yaggy and Wada were able to escape injury although Yaggy's #77 looked like it had gone through a metal grinder.
During the red flag period a few more drivers retired to the pit area including Billy Moyer who had been running in the top five leaving just twelve cars on the track for the restart. Pierce would again open up a big lead as the race to watch was for second where Hudson O'Neal now went to work on Simpson. After trying the bottom a couple of times with no success, O'Neal would pull off a daring move around the outside squeezing between Simpson and the outside concrete wall exiting turn four on lap seventeen and when Dave Eckrich stopped in turn one after shredding a a left rear tire it looked like the stage was set for a battle between the two young guns, Pierce and O'Neal.
That wish was short lived though when O'Neal lost several positions in turns one and two on the restart and then slowed down the back stretch with a flat right rear tire. After a quick tire change he would rejoin the twelve car lineup and it would now be MLRA point leader Will Vaught moving up to second. Vaught would stay right with the leader for the next two laps even taking a look to the inside of Pierce out of four on lap nineteen. Catching a ripple off four Vaught stumbled just a bit though and that would allow Pierce to again pull away and ride with ease to the checkers. Vaught would extend his point lead as the runner-up, Simpson would join them on the podium in third while Jason Rauen slipped past Jake Neal in the closing laps for fourth. Rich Bell, Logan Martin, O'Neal, Chad Holladay and Mitch McGrath would complete the top ten while Eckrich and Joseph Gorby were the final two cars on the track.
After winning at Stuart on Thursday night before Friday's rainout at Davenport, Pierce now heads to the Quincy Raceways tonight to try to pull off the MLRA weekend sweep.
 |
| Bobby Pierce at Stuart on Thursday night - Barry Johnson photo |
In support class action Ron Barker drove Keith Simmons' beautiful #38 to a dominating win in the American Iron Racing Series (AIRS) main event. Bruce Yoerger paced lap one with Dan Kessler leading the second lap before Barker took control. When R.J. Lank spun his Edsel in turn one while running fourth on lap seven, three other cars were also involved and eliminated including Yoerger. Matt Hudspeth would edge out Kessler for second as Bart Miller and Dennis Etten also finished the ten lap distance.
The Stock Car feature brought the fantastic crowd to its feet on the twelfth and final lap. David Brandies started from the pole and had opened up at least a half straightaway lead before John Oliver Jr. could get to second after starting fifth. Slowly but surely the defending All Iowa Points Champion would reel in the leader and with two laps to go Oliver would nose ahead of Brandies at the stripe. David would fight back though to reclaim the lead as the white flag waved and as they came out of four to the checkers Oliver again had a run off the bottom. With two of the best in the region now drag racing to the checkers it would be Brandies by half of a car length for the win over Oliver. Michael Peterson was not far behind in third and the score keepers had to watch the race for fourth closely as Johnny Spaw split the middle of Jared Miller and Jason See to get the spot.
Dan Brockert charged from fifth to lead the opening lap of the Sport Mod main event, but he brought the seventh starting Logan Anderson with him and after taking over on lap two Anderson would weather two restarts to take a dominating win. Shane Paris would finish in the second spot followed by Matt Fulton, Brandon Dale and Austin Heacock.
The stands were still half full as the Modifieds closed out the evening for twenty laps that saw Chris Zogg lead each and every one of them. Justin Kay started sixth and got around Kurt Kile for second on lap seven, but he had no luck in closing the gap on Zogg who posted the convincing win. Kile would be a full three quarters of a lap behind Zogg and Kay at the checkers for third, Dakota Hayden was fourth and Jarrett Brown finished fifth.
The Modifieds will be the featured attraction when the DRT Trak Racing Inc. promotional team returns to the West Liberty Raceway on Saturday May 18th with $2,000 going to the winner. The Sport Mods will also have a four figure winners check at $1,000, plus the Stocks Cars, Four Cylinders and AIRS will be in action as well.
Several good options on the table for tonight so after I get the yard mowed I will check the weather and then make a decision. You never know where you might see me except for right here on the Back Stretch!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)