Statistics 201

Okay, so that title is a bit misleading as I am not doing a "sophomore" session of the Statistics course that I offered up the other day, but I do want to make another comment or two on that freshman level class. In it, I presented factual numbers as provided by the most widely respected source at this time and I illustrated how one specific statistic can look so different depending upon how it is presented. There is no disputing that fact.

I then outlined my way of thinking as to how I am looking at going to races as they spring back to life in the days and weeks to come. That wasn't meant to tell you what you should do, or how you should think as everybody has their own set of circumstances and risk tolerances.

I had a racing friend of mine, whom I have a great respect for, email me yesterday telling me that I need to be careful when I write about something that could effect peoples lives stating that people read and trust the things that I write. So again, my conclusions in Statistics 101 were based upon how I feel about things. You need to make your own decisions based upon how you are looking at things right now.

Another thing to keep in mind about Statistics is that they can change, so when you make a decision based upon them at a specific point in time there is no fault in changing that decision if changes warrant. Basically I am trying to loosely link this to the change of heart that I have on Pay Per View (PPV) racing.

If you read back through this blog over the past several years you will know that I am concerned about the long term effect that PPV will have on the grassroots of dirt track racing, however at this point in time and under our current circumstances, PPV might just be what we need to keep the sport alive in the short term. Proof of that are the number of races that will be run over the next few weeks where the revenue from the PPV broadcasts will be the primary source in order to pay the purse as we try to get something up and running while still being as safe as possible with the virus.

Timmy Current from his 2011 All Iowa Points Stock Car Championship season - Barry Johnson photo

So as proof that hell sometimes does freeze over, something that I never thought that you would see on the Back Stretch, following are the Pay Per View events and their providers that I am currently aware of and I encourage you to support the event(s) of your choice. (Note: I will add to the list below as I see them come up)

Tonight, Thursday April 30th

Tri-County Racetrack, Brasstown NC, Super Late Model live to subscribers to DirtOnDirt

Friday May 1st

Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Fountain City WI, Peaceful Protest Race live on RacinDirt

Lancaster Speedway, Lancaster SC, Carolina Clash Late Models live to subscribers to DirtOnDirt

Southern Oklahoma Speedway, Ardmore OK, spectator attendance with social distancing, live PPV on SpeedShift

Saturday May 2nd

Lee County Speedway, Donnellson IA, Darkside Spring Fling live on DoneRightTV

Boyd's Speedway, Ringgold GA, Super Late Models live to subscribers to DirtOnDirt

Southern Oklahoma Speedway, Ardmore OK, spectator attendance with social distancing, live PPV on SpeedShift

Sunday May 3rd

Cherokee Speedway, Gaffney SC, Super Late Models live on Speed51

Friday May 8th

Scotland County Speedway, Memphis MO, Spring Nationals, spectator attendance with social distancing, live PPV on XR

Knoxville Raceway, Knoxville IA, World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Cars live on DIRTvision

Lee County Speedway, Donnellson IA, live PPV on SpeedShift

Park Jefferson Speedway, Jefferson SD, Spring Nationals, spectator attendance with social distancing, live PPV on SpeedShift

Saturday May 9th

Scotland County Speedway, Memphis MO, Spring Nationals, spectator attendance with social distancing, live PPV on XR

Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55, Pevely MO, spectator attendance with social distancing, live PPV on Floracing

Lee County Speedway, Donnellson IA, live PPV on SpeedShift

Park Jefferson Speedway, Jefferson SD, Spring Nationals, spectator attendance with social distancing, live PPV on SpeedShift

Hamilton County Speedway, Webster City IA, details to be announced

I am hoping to take in a couple of these events in person over the next ten days and I hope that you support the sport either by tuning in to one or more of the events listed above, or if you are comfortable in doing so, by attending one of the events that allows spectators under social distancing guidelines.

Stay well, stay safe, and let's enjoy some dirt track racing!

Back Stretch Archives: Lee County Opener and MARS On The Dirt at I-44 from 2003

The 2003 regular season opener took place at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson Friday night with a lightning fast racetrack to greet the competitors and to thrill the fans. While other areas of southeast Iowa received over an inch of rain on Wednesday night, Donnellson was relatively spared with around four tenths of an inch at the speedway.

The Late Models were really hooking up and even though the opening night car count was a little light, the drivers who were on hand provided plenty of action. Chris Richard snared the early lead and did a fantastic job of holding off the persistent challenges of Mark Burgtorf. When Burgtorf slowed suddenly and retired to the infield, Tommy Elston picked up the challenge on Richard and despite his best efforts Chris was unable to ward off the defending track champion. Elston went on for the win while Gary Russell made a late pass on Richard to take the runner-up honors. Hometown drivers Jody Wood and Rob Kirchner completed the top five. Rookie drivers Adam Helmick and Darin Weisinger made their debuts and showed plenty of promise especially Helmick, the young competitor from Fort Madison who has made the jump from go-karts to a Late Model.

While on our way to the track I asked Morgan which Cook brother would win the Stock Car feature and he was right on the money when he picked Jason. Of course brother Ryan chased him home in second with Mike Robinson, Rodger Dresden and Brad Holtkamp close behind. Chris Larson held off Jack Evans Jr. for the B-Modified feature victory and L.D. Gall had both Greg Johnson and Brian Kenning breathing down his tailpipes as he held on for the Hobby Stock win.

The Modified main event was a good one as Dennis LaVeine held off track champion Tony Fraise for the checkers. Tom Goble and Jim Gillenwater were next in line and Bob Dale came from deep in the pack to finish fifth. Dale fought a misfiring engine during hot laps and his heat race, but he obviously found the problem and solved it by feature time. One Modified who didn’t make the show was Darin Thye. We came upon Thye’s rig sitting on the shoulder ten miles north of the track with driveshaft problems on the hauler. He sent us ahead to draw for position, but apparently Thye decided that luck was not on his side this night and headed for home.

We were really looking forward to our Saturday trip to the I-44 Speedway in Lebanon, Missouri. The track that we always felt was one of the raciest asphalt surfaces that we had seen has been covered with dirt over the winter and this was to be the first special event for the track featuring the MARS Late Models. Randy Mooneyham has a gem on his hands and it was good to see a solid crowd shuffle into the beautiful facility. Thirty-one Late Models were on hand with a majority of the field holding a legitimate chance to take home the $3,000 winner’s purse.

Bill Frye in one of the coolest looking cars ever in my opinion

Heat race action was fast-paced with Chad Lyle, Chris Smyser, Bill Frye and Mike Brown taking the wins. The B-Main had the first photo finish of the night as Jason Snodgrass edged out Rob Hough by inches for the fourth and final transfer position. Bill Frye and Terry Phillips started on the front row of the forty-lap feature and it took a few laps before Frye could establish himself as the leader. Chad Lyle tried to keep pace in third, but it wasn’t long before Frye and Phillips had left the rest of the field behind. Just before the mid-point of the race Phillips closed the gap quickly on Frye and shot past into the lead. As Phillips pulled away our attention was pulled to Alan Vaughn who was now challenging Lyle for third after starting thirteenth. Vaughn showed his fellow competitors that the highside was fast and he brought Leslie Essary with him past Lyle. Another driver who was making a charge was Charlie Randolph. The rookie-of-the-year candidate from Muskogee had spun on lap eight and restarted from the rear, but on the final lap Randolph had just enough to edge past Chad Lyle for fifth.

Super Stocks, Bombers and Modifieds also provided plenty of dirt-track action. Eric Maggard continues to be the man to beat in southwest Missouri as he won his second Modified feature of the weekend. Had the race been a couple of laps longer the results may have been different though as Jamie Ragland was literally flying around the cushion coming from sixth to second in the final three laps. Terry Kirk, Chad Wheeler and Paul Williams completed the top five.

I-44 Speedway is quite a showplace and has unlimited potential. Morgan and I spent the trip back home dreaming about potential events at the speedway such as the World of Outlaws, the Xtreme Dirt Car Series or a big late-October Jamboree-type special. Two more visits from the MARS series are on the schedule for the remainder of this first year back to dirt including a two-day $10,000-to-win show on September 13^th and 14^th. The Lake of the Ozarks area is now blessed with two tracks that boast top-notch Late Model action with I-44 and the Wheatland Raceway, plus it appears that the switch to Sprint Cars as the premier division at Capital Speedway in Holts Summit is off to a very good start. Decisions, decisions. One thing that does need attention at I-44, however, is the sound system. Ronnie Williams does a great job on the microphone, but as soon as one or two cars took to the track you really had to struggle to hear him. Also, just like all of our other visits to the track when it was asphalt, the cordless microphone over-modulated and cut out whenever the MARS announcer raised his voice during on track introductions. It made me wonder what he called Chris Smyser as the microphone kicked back in just in time to hear Chris provide him with his correct last name.

Baseball starts next week, graduation weekend approaches and family obligations take over the calendar so much so that I have no idea when I’ll next make it to a racetrack again. There is a possibility that I may end up at the Red Cedar Speedway in Wisconsin for a WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series event on Thursday May 22^nd, or perhaps I may fit in a Wednesday night excursion to Oskaloosa. In the meantime I’m leaving it up to you to get out there and take in all of the action at your favorite track!

Statistics 101

I hope that you have been enjoying the Archive entries. They are coming from the saved Word documents that I have on my computer from when I used to send them in to Hawkeye Racing News each week. By posting them here on the blog page it is helping me to actually archive columns that can otherwise only be found in print if you kept your racing papers from those years, something that I did not do.

It has been fun to see some of the names of drivers who have since retired as well as those early starts by drivers who have gone on to become big stars in the world of racing. One recent Archive entry had a report from Oskaloosa where then 14-year-old Brett Moffitt was winning in the B-Mods on his way to a NASCAR Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title and later the NASCAR Truck Series Championship. On that same night 15-year-old Ryan Gustin was challenging for the win in the Modified feature on his way to numerous wins and notoriety on the dirt tracks of this country.

Maguire DeJong - From Matt DeJong's Facebook page Jodie Casey Photography

So just think, when we are finally back to racing at the Southern Iowa Speedway on Wednesday nights watching young drivers such as Dylan Van Wyk. Maguire DeJong and others, just imagine where their careers might be fifteen to twenty years from now.

So I wanted to put up some new content for you today and instead of telling you how I feel about this COVID-19 stuff I just want to share some information and let you make your own decisions. I am a big fan of statistics, the fact that I have been doing the All Iowa Points now for more than forty years should give you an indication of that and one of the things that I know about statistics is that people can use them in different ways to try to support their stance on a given subject. And Lord knows that we have seen a lot that going on in the media over the past three months!

Using the numbers stated as of yesterday on the Worldometer page for the United States in regard to COVID-19 here are the same stats presented in two different ways:

The number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 (this is a cumulative number that grows with each new case and does not decrease once a patient dies or recovers):

United States: 1,010,356
Iowa: 5,868
Illinois: 45,883
Missouri: 7,239
Wisconsin: 6,081
Minnesota: 3,816
Nebraska: 3,358

Those are some big numbers! Now, here are those same numbers stated as a % of the population for each, that would be the "Tot Cases/ 1M pop" column put into a percentage format:

United States: 0.3052%
Iowa: 0.1873%
Illinois: 0.3579%
Missouri: 0.1189%
Wisconsin: 0.1052%
Minnesota: 0.069%
Nebraska: 0.1763%

Kudos to Minnesota, they have the sixth lowest percentage of positive cases among the fifty states trailing only Hawaii, Montana, Alaska, Oregon and West Virginia!

Now, let's look at Active cases for each:

United States: 814,569
Iowa: 3,720
Illinois: 43,294
Missouri: 6,392
Wisconsin: 3,487
Minnesota: 1,688
Nebraska: 3,280

Unfortunately the Worldometer site doesn't have a column for the number of Active Cases per one million population so I would have to use some math in order to give you these numbers as a percentage of the population, but since I am lazy I will just give you one.

Iowa: 0.1187%

So these statistics would tell you that if you were in a crowd of, let's say 2,000 people, that 3.17 of those people might have an Active case of the virus and, if you were practicing proper social distancing and all wearing masks, what would be your probability of being exposed to the virus? Well, this is where I no longer have reliable stats to use because if you Google search the effectiveness of staying six feet apart and both wearing masks you will see a variety of different theories, but the common line of thinking is that it does greatly reduce the risk of exposure.

Okay, so all of that was statistics as they currently layout. I am not trying to tell you how to think or what to think and, since I preview and link this blog on the Positively Racing Facebook page, I ask that you refrain from trying to make your case one way or another in the comments as they will be hidden or deleted from there.

Now, I am going to tell you how I am thinking about this when it comes to going to the races. With the Southern Oklahoma Speedway racing this weekend and events at the Scotland County Speedway and the Lee County Speedway, plus many more now being scheduled for next weekend, I do plan on going to the races without fear, but definitely taking the proper precautions.

I will wear a mask and I hope that those sitting around me, at least six feet apart, will as well. If they are not, I will simply get up and move to another spot in the stands and, if I can't do that and don't feel comfortable I might even leave without creating any kind of disturbance or a scene.

I am going to trust that any race fan who has been knowingly exposed to the virus, and/or has any symptoms is going to be respectful of others and stay home for now. This always gets a guffaw from the cynics out there who assume that people are not going to be respectful in this manner. After two months of this I have faith in mankind, they know the risks and I have to trust humanity.

When I am driving on a two lane road to and from the races I am putting my trust in that driver who is coming at me going the opposite direction to stay in his own lane. If he does not, and hits me head on, I have a 90% chance of dying. If the guy sitting six feet away from me has a fever and comes to the races anyway, but has a mask on my chances of getting the virus is low and, even if I do, at 57 years of age and in relatively good health, my chances of survival are at least 90%.

In other words, I have more of a chance of getting killed in a car accident going to, or coming from the races and that threat has remained the same for many years now. Even more so during deer crossing season.

In Missouri there will be fans in the stands practicing social distancing. In Iowa for now though, no fans are allowed in the stands. With the Governor opening up restaurants at 50% capacity in 77 counties beginning on May 1st, hopefully that same logic can be used soon when it comes to race tracks.

Let's use Knoxville for an example where you could easily seat 4,000 fans in the front stretch grandstands, keeping household groups (families) together and probably ten feet of distance from anybody else in an open air environment (not an enclosed restaurant) where there are no servers coming up to you to get your order and then later bringing you your food.

Seems to me that 4,000 race fans at Knoxville would be much safer than 125 diners in an Applebees, but that's just the stats guy in me speaking.

Here's hoping that I see you soon on the Back Stretch, but keep your distance!

(May 5th Follow up)

Yesterday I had a reader who obviously did not understand my analogy about trusting an oncoming driver on a two lane road as being the same as trusting that someone who is sick, or who has knowingly been exposed to the virus staying home rather than going to the races. You know, the "faith in mankind" line above?

The reader then took his mis-reading of that analogy and started quoting his own stats proving once again that statistics can always be used to support your point of view.

The bottom line is this, the opinion above is mine and is completely based upon my own feelings toward the current situation, my own age and health circumstances and the level of risk that I am willing to assume. In no way am I telling you how you should think, in fact I even say that before expressing my opinion. So please, make your own decisions and live your own life as you see fit. 

Stay well, stay healthy!

Back Stretch Archives; Mid-week Deery Show at Quincy and a Friday Night at Donnellson from early May 2008

As I sit down to type out this week’s rendition of the “Back Stretch” it is once again a cold, wet and rainy Saturday morning leaving several area race promoters with a big dilemma. To race, or not to race, that is the question. If you don’t race you may face the wrath of the drivers who have put their hard earned dollars into their racing machines and want to get out there and compete, as well as their friends and family who want to watch them. On the other hand, if you do race, chances are that it will only be the friends and family of the drivers who are there to buy a ticket and sit out in cold and windy conditions to watch those drivers compete. With the result being a substantial financial hit for the promoter. Then, to add insult to injury when your track gets rough due to all of the snow that sat on top of it this winter and all of the rain that has fallen on it recently, the internet jockeys or AWP’s as Craig Kelley used to call them, start ripping your track preparation skills. Now that I think of it, maybe it isn’t such a dilemma after all. Here’s hoping that this weather straightens out soon!

I was fortunate enough to take in two events this week with the first being on Wednesday night at the Quincy Raceway. This was the rescheduled date for the Deery Brothers Summer Series and a solid field of forty-two Late Models and nineteen Modifieds checked in on a warm and breezy evening. The strong south wind dried out the track quickly and that made viewing from the grandstand tough, but once again it was the weather that caused track preparation issues for if you opened up the surface and watered it hard you ran the risk of it being rough.

Rob Toland, driving Herschel Roberts’ #58, was the only one that could make something other than the bottom work in the Late Model heats as he came from row four to finish second. Toalnd’s pill draw skills again lacked in the re-draw though as he pulled out the highest number to start tenth in the main event. Mike Garland paced the field for the first six laps of the main event until Denny Woodworth saw an opening on the inside and took the lead away. Tom Darbyshire, who started right behind Woodworth in fifth, stayed glued to his back bumper throughout the fifty-lap distance and with just three laps to go he was able to stick his nose under the leader in traffic. Woodworth shut the door though and then held his line to the checkers for the $2,000 victory. Mark Burgtorf tried the high line much of the race to no avail as he settled for third. Garland ran a nice race to finish fourth ahead of Sunday night’s winner at Quincy Robby Warner. 

Jared Schlipman races to the inside of Mark Burgtorf at Quincy in 2013 - Barry Johnson photo

The Modified field was pretty stout from top to bottom still nobody had anything for Michael Long. Starting fourth on the grid, Long split the front row of Jared Schlipman and Jeff Waterman to gain the lead on lap two and then ran away with the win. Brandon Lennox was the runner-up while David Holder looked strong coming from twelfth to finish third. The pit area had a little unexpected buzz to it at Quincy Wednesday night as the final car to arrive, the Modified of Darrell Jones out of Ashland, Missouri, had Carl Edwards serving as part of the pit crew for the night. Carl also spent some time helping Roger Moser during the evening, two drivers that I’m sure that he raced against many times at the old Capital Speedway in Holts Summit not so long ago. Jones finished ninth while Moser followed him in tenth.

A big thanks to the Quincy Raceway staff for their hospitality and for putting on this mid-week program, after all that seems like the only time to catch a nice day anymore! We hope to be back down on Memorial Day Monday when the Midwest All Star 410 Sprints make their first ever appearance at the quarter-mile oval.

It rained all morning and then got cool and windy during the afternoon, but when the sun started peaking out it was just enough to allow Terry Hoenig to get the Lee County Speedway in shape for its season opener Friday night. I swear that as then wind calmed it felt like it was twenty degrees warmer by feature time than it was when I signed in. Or, it also could have been the adrenaline that was being created by the fact that all five feature races were decided in the final three laps on a track that was in near perfect condition.

It was a tale of two generations in the final stages of the IMCA Modified feature. Young Tyler Cale started on the pole and had led every lap despite the persistent challenges of Josh Foster. But when the right side body work on Foster’s car started to peel away and fall off with four laps remaining, he was penalized for the resulting caution and was sent to the rear. One lap after the restart Cale slipped high in turn two allowing veteran driver Dean McGee to charge past into the lead and the eventual victory, his first-ever at the Lee County Speedway.

Another young driver was the man to beat in the IMCA Stock Car feature as Nick Fenton enjoyed a comfortable margin over his teammate Jason Cook throughout the first eleven laps of the fifteen-lap affair. On a late restart though Fenton suffered the same fate as Cale did in the Modifieds getting too high in turn two allowing both Cook and Jeff Mueller to get by. The youngster fought back though and the final three laps had the crowd on the edge of their seat watching the three-car battle up front with Cook prevailing ahead of Mueller and Fenton.

Chad Sovern survived a late challenge from Jim Gillenwater to win the Sport Modified main event. Dean Kratzer passed Jeff Soper just before the checkers flew on the Hobby Stock feature while Rob Hammel slid by Dan Keltner late to win the Wild Things finale. It truly was a great night of racing with the final checkered flag waving just past ten o’clock. As long as I have all of my pre-graduation party chores complete I plan on returning to Donnellson on Friday May23rd when the O’Reilly Auto Parts Winged Outlaw Warriors make their first-ever appearance at the Speedway.

This week’s racing schedule will be decided by the results of a track meet and the status of a sewer pump. Aren’t you glad that I’m out of space so I don’t have to explain that one? See you on the Back Stretch!

(Note: The limited reporting from three of the features was due to the word limit that I was working under at Hawkeye Racing News, something that would soon be eliminated hen we made the move online to Positively Racing)

Back Stretch Archives: WoO at Knoxville and Wednesday Night Fun at Osky from April of 2005

Danny Lasoski was having a season to forget so far on the 2005 World of Outlaws trail. “The Dude” had not yet won on domestic soil with his only victory coming in January during the sprint series journey “down under” at Parramatta City Raceway. So it was no wonder that he was excited to see the Knoxville Raceway on the schedule during the final weekend of April, providing Lasoski an opportunity to break the drought on a track where nobody has won more features than he. But if not for a mistake by a native Australian on Friday night, Lasoski would have remained winless for 2005 in the U. S. of A.

Brooke Tatnell was strong all night long in the Outlaws’ preliminary night at the Knoxville Raceway as the 2005 Australian Sprint Car champion ran a solid second to Wayne Johnson in the heat race and then won the second Stacker 2 Dash to earn the outside front row starting spot for the twenty-lap main event. With sprint car legends Jac Haudenschild, Danny Lasoski and Steve Kinser nestled around him in the first four grid positions, nobody expected Tatnell to take off and leave them in his wake, but that is exactly what he did at the drop of the green flag. A caution on lap nine wiped out a four second advantage over the second-place car of Lasoski, but on the restart Tatnell was gone once again.

As the laps wound down five of the oversized twenty-eight-car field loomed ahead as potential lapped traffic for the leader allowing Lasoski to narrow the advantage. As Tatnell took the white flag he was faced with the decision of what line to take through turns one and two to maintain his momentum, and his lead, over a fast approaching Lasoski. Working the apex of the corner in the middle groove, Tatnell did not give himself enough room and ran his left front tire over the right rear of Jesse Hockett’s #9. The contact turned Tatnell’s car hard right and his was fortunate to keep it off of the wall and on all fours, but the damage had been done as the caution waved. The Aussie would be sent to the rear and Danny Lasoski would assume the lead for the green-white-checker restart.

Steve Kinser would try to mount a charge over the final two laps, but he had to deal with his young son Kraig nipping on his back bumper so the top three remained the same over the final two laps with Lasoski notching his first victory in three months and adding to his all-time win total, now at eighty-five, at the Sprint Car Capital of the World. Terry McCarl passed two cars on the final restart to finish fourth while Haudenschild took home a solid fifth-place showing. Tim Kaeding was the Hard Charger on the night racing from twentieth up to sixth in the Beef Packers #83.

Knoxville Notes…..Sixteen-year-old Kevin Swindell made his Knoxville debut starting on the pole of the second heat and holding on for the fifth and final transfer position. He was credited with 24^th in the feature…..A sixty-car field swelled the pits and forced the running of a D-Main that included the likes of Randy Hannagan and Peter Murphy…..There just wasn’t enough provisionals to go around for the Outlaw drivers tonight as the Knoxville regulars defended their turf nicely. Jason Sides, Brandon Wimmer and Donny Schatz failed to get further than the C-Main. Shane Stewart was the final transfer out of the “C” and put on a great charge in the B-Main passing Daryn Pittman for the fourth and final transfer, but Pittman charged back and slipped past Stewart again with two laps remaining. Shane joined fellow Outlaw regulars Joey Saldana and Tim Shaffer as non-qualifiers from the “B”, although Schatz and Saldana ended up starting the A-Main as provisionals. Skip Jackson and Chad Meyer were added as track provisionals making for a twenty-eight car lineup…..Saldana had a much better night on Saturday establishing a new track record at 14.908 seconds during qualifying. While the feat made my prediction from last week’s Back Stretch a good one, it also broke one of my ties to my year of announcing at the Knoxville Raceway. It was my honor to call Don Droud Jr.’s first-ever fourteen second bracket lap in 1998…..Once again the Knoxville Raceway staff excelled presenting a very efficient program that concluded before 10:30 p.m. on another chilly April evening.

Corey Dripps from his Pro Stock days

My trip south was cancelled on Wednesday and I proved once again, for the third time, that all I have to do is mention that I’m heading for the Memphis Motorsports Park and it will rain. With the change of plans I headed back to Oskaloosa for their second weekly show of the young season. The Modified car count bumped up to sixteen with the debut of Osky regulars Ron VerBeek and Brad Stephens plus an appearance by Corey Dripps. Dripps always ran well when the NKF Tour stopped at Osky and he has continued that success on his semi-regular visits such as Wednesday night. Dean Mahlstedt chased him throughout, but could never pull even as Dripps walked off with a flag-to-flag victory after snaring the lead on lap one from the second row.

Zach VanderBeek came from thirteenth to take the lead from T.J. Criss on lap seven of the Stock Car feature only to have Criss hang tough and return the favor three laps from the finish for a popular victory. The Osky crowd seems to always have a “villain” identified in the Stock Car class. It used to be Bobby Greiner, more recently it was Brad Pinkerton and now it appears that VanderBeek is hearing the boos that come with success, at least from a certain segment of the crowd. The Hobby Stocks put on another entertaining non-stop fifteen-lap feature race with Jason McDaniel passing Randy Veldhuizen for the victory.

It sure is a pleasure to watch these drivers in the third-tier division at Oskaloosa race hard and clean for fifteen laps without spinning out, but it also makes me wonder what must be done at some of the other tracks that I have been to recently where the Modifieds and Street Stocks couldn’t even run an eight lap heat race without multiple cautions. Does this make a difference to the casual fan in whether or not they are enjoying their evening at the track? Does that “visitor” get as frustrated as I do when a good race is constantly being interrupted by cautions for drivers who cannot keep their cars headed in the right direction? When a race is under caution there is a break in the action and it is my opinion that every break in the action draws away from the enjoyment of the fans. Anybody reading this newspaper is likely a loyal enough fan to keep going back, but when you give the casual fan a chopped up race program, they are much less likely to return. And, let’s face it. If we don’t keep a regular flow of the “casual fans” coming to the racetrack, this sport is going to be in trouble.

The weather of these past two weekends brings to mind a perfect example. Years ago I would have gone anywhere to any track that was racing, even if the wind was blowing hard and the temperature was in the thirties. But now, I can honestly say that there are some tracks that I would have absolutely stayed away from knowing how they “allow” cautions to multiply and how they generally run their program. Yes, you may argue that it is the drivers who cause the cautions, but it is how the track rules handle habitual spinners that “allows” it to continue. Promoters, slip into the stands some night and see what your fans are seeing, hear what they are hearing, and then ask yourself, “if I were here for the first time tonight, would I want to come back?” Thankfully the majority of tracks out there are ones that I still will go to on a cold and windy night because I know that they will present an efficient and well-run program. I visited two of them this past week in Osky and Knoxville and I know that there were others out there (locally Donnellson, Memphis and Burlington) who started on time, skipped the intermission and finished at an earlier than normal time.

Here’s hoping for warmer weather, as promised this week, so that we can all enjoy the evening at our favorite racetracks. See you on the Back Stretch!

Back Stretch Archives: Oskaloosa and Bloomfield Season Openers from 2007

Three races in one week proves that we are ready to go full swing with the 2007 racing season.

The wind was chilly, but the action kept a good crowd warm at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa last Wednesday night. The season opener drew a solid car count in the three divisions that have raced for years around the fast half-mile and there were five cars on hand for the B-Modified class that has been added to the weekly card. Fourteen-year-old Brett Moffitt of Grimes outran northeast Iowa visitor Raymond Lundry to earn the opening night win. Moffitt also won out at I-80 Speedway in Nebraska on Sunday night so keep your eye on this young man. Andrew Schroeder, son of long-time SIS competitor Randy Schroeder took third in his first night behind the wheel of a B-Mod. Look for this division to steadily grow as the season moves along.

Zack VanderBeek was the man to beat in not one, but two divisions Wednesday night and another up and coming youngster almost accomplished that feat in the Modified main event. Fifteen-year-old hotshoe Ryan Gustin took the lead from VanderBeek with four laps remaining and began to pull away, but as he took the white flag his left rear tire went down allowing VanderBeek to catch up and make the pass down the back straightaway for the victory. Gustin was able to limp across in second thinking about what might have been an opening night victory. Steve Stewart, Steven Blattler and Alison Quick rounded out the top five.

Greiner from his "villian" days

In the Stock Car main VanderBeek slid past leader Bobby Greiner Jr. mid-race and then cruised to victory. It is funny to see how these two drivers have swapped roles in the eyes of the Osky fans. Not so long ago it was Greiner who was the “villain” who would hear some “boos” as he made one of his many visits to victory lane, while the crowd went wild when young Zack would beat him. Now the bulk of the crowd cheered on Bobby Wednesday night before “welcoming” VanderBeek into victory lane with a few cat-calls. Oh well, that’s what I love about weekly racing! Every track needs its heroes and its villains, but just remember that in most cases the “villain” is just the hero who wins more often.

It was good to see Wade Francis pick up the win in the Hobby Stock feature and he could be tough to match in the point chase here this year. One of the things that I love about Osky’s Wednesday night program is that you just never know who might show up. Along with Quick and Lundry whom I mentioned before, Jesse Dennis pulled his Modified in from Prescott and Jon Snyder brought his beautiful #69 Mod down from Ames. My next scheduled visit to Osky will be on May 16^th when the Late Models will be in action along with the regular classes.

Friday night reminded me how much I love to watch the races at the Bloomfield Speedway. It has been a few years since I have made this relatively short trip west and with a fast and multi-grooved racetrack there was plenty of action on opening night featuring the USMTS Modifieds. Kelly Shryock continued his domination of this series by taking the feature win, but only after Al Hejna, who had passed Shryock for the lead with twenty laps to go, pulled to the infield with mechanical issues just five laps from the checkers. Richie Gustin finished second by getting past Jason Hughes on the final lap. Hughes had made an amazing run back to the front after being penalized to the rear of the field for contact that sent Dean Mahlstedt for a spin early in the race. Michael Long continues to impress coming from fourteenth to finish fourth while Mark Burgtorf, who started thirteenth, took fifth.

Kelly Shryock in more recent times - Barry Johnson photo

The Modified field was strong from top to bottom with thirty-eight cars on hand. Chase Allen made the long trip north from Texas, but fell short of qualifying for the A-Main and Mark Noble had his night cut short when he sensed his engine seizing up while leading his heat race.

The Stock Car feature was unbelievable as the field ran three and four wide throughout the fifteen-lap distance, and in fact on lap seven they were racing four-wide for the lead through turn two. Mike Robinson waited patiently for racing room behind that foursome and finally found it with three laps to go to take the lead and the eventual victory. Zack VanderBeek started twelfth and finished second with Michael McClure, Shane Weller and Tyler McClure completing the top five. The Hobby Stock feature saw a photo finish as Jim Sulser chased down Todd Reitzler to nip the race-long leader by inches at the finish line. Late Models and 305 Sprints can be found at Bloomfield over the next couple of weeks so check the schedule and make a visit.

Race number three for the week never got a chance to take the green as a persistent line of showers washed away the show in Quincy Sunday night. The FASTRAK Crate Late Models were scheduled to run for a $1,000-to-win and I believe that I counted seventeen of them as I walked through the pits before the rains came. St. Louis area drivers Ed Dixon, Mike Hammerle and Bert Cheatham were some of the names I recognized as well as Darin Walker. Hopefully another date can be found to bring the Crates back into Quincy later in the season.

I noticed that Ramo Stott was listed in the B-Modified results in Memphis, Missouri. I wonder if it was a one-night showing only or if the Keokuk legend is coming back to race on a regular basis? Congratulations to Curt Hook of Ackley who made the step up from Hobby Stocks to Stock Cars in style by winning the feature at Webster City Saturday night.

This week’s plans include the Sprint Invaders at 34 Raceway on Wednesday April 25^th and the WDRL Late Models at Knoxville on Friday night. Next Wednesday, May 2^nd, we plan on catching the Indee Open event and on Sunday night the 6^th the IRA Sprints are at 34 Raceway. Then on May 9^th the World of Outlaw Late Models will attack the quarter-mile in Davenport. Hope to see you on the Back Stretch.

Back Stretch Archives: WoO at Knoxville and USMTS at Memphis from April of 2003

What was supposed to be two nights of USMTS Modified action turned into a night of Outlaws and a night of Modifieds after Mother Nature left the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson a quagmire for Friday night.

The rain had pulled out of central Iowa early enough on Friday for the Knoxville Raceway to get dry enough to host over fifty cars for night number one of the World of Outlaws weekend at the storied facility. A nice crowd was on hand to witness the action and it was the first time that the Outlaws were running at Knoxville using their new minimum weight rule. One theory of the weight rule is that it will give the local drivers a better chance to compete when the Outlaws come to town and it was a little different to see drivers such as Craig Dollansky and Mark Kinser qualify mid-pack while Calvin Landis and Skip Jackson cracked the top eleven. But it still matters how you “race” and when the night was in the books, Dollansky finished seventh, Kinser had an off-night for him taking twelfth while Landis finished fifteenth in the A-Main and Skip failed to move out of the B-Main with an eighth-place run.

Some of the “locals” did fare very well with Brooke Tatnell making a late charge to nip Travis Cram for the sixth spot while Kerry Madsen faded from a pole position start to take eighth behind Dollansky. My shoe selling sprint car guru told me before the night started that when the Outlaws come to Knoxville, other than Nationals time, the winner would come from a short list of four that included Steve, Mark, Jac and, of course, The Dude. Lasoski worked the half-mile like a master Friday night dodging heavy traffic and teasing Donny Schatz who was just close enough to see the J.D. Byrider, Home Depot #20 the entire race. Schatz held the same type of advantage over Steve Kinser who, in turn, kept Tim Shaffer a safe distance back throughout the entire distance. The battle was for fifth and Tyler Walker would have likely earned that spot if not for what happened with two laps to go. Dollansky and Cram were racing for fifth in turn four with Walker closing fast, but when there was contact coming off of the turn Walker had to jump on the binders and spin to avoid disaster. The green-white-checker restart was exactly what Tatnell needed to steal away fifth while it was only enough time for Walker to get back up to eleventh.

The Outlaws go four-wide at Knoxville - Barry Johnson photo

Justin Henderson was impressive once again apparently qualifying from his heat race, but when it was discovered that one of his mufflers had fallen off he was disqualified. Henderson came back to finish seventh in the B-Main, but only the top four of Joey Saldana, Kraig Kinser, Tyler Walker and Daryn Pittman transferred. Outlaw regulars Jeff Shepard and Jac Haudenschild failed to make the A-Main. Is it time to cut that list to three guru?

Forty-eight Modifieds crowded into the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis on Saturday night looking for a top prize of $2,000. The week-long rains left the track nice and soft and by the third Modified heat race it became evident that track conditions would play a major role in the outcome. As usual, there were places on the track where a driver could run to avoid the ruts, but it was the rough area that seemed to propel the drivers to the front. That is as long as they hit just the right spots. Al Hejna was locked in a tight battle with his brother Mike, as well as Darin Walker during the twenty-five lap main event, with all three drivers holding the lead at some point during a two-lap segment. Al was able to stay fast and relatively smooth while his competitors fell by the wayside. Mike had a right front wheel break off, while Walker had something break in the rear suspension.

Bruce Hanford tried to mount a challenge down the stretch, but there was no stopping Hejna from picking up his first career USMTS victory. Hanford was still pretty happy with the runner-up check while Tommy Myer came from the rear of the field to take home third.

Support class action was very entertaining as well. In the Stock Cars Ryan Cook and Brad Pinkerton waged a side-by-side battle until Pinkerton caught the guardrail on the backstretch. This set up a familiar scene for this writer as Ryan’s brother Jason Cook closed in for a challenge during the final laps, but on this night it was Ryan who prevailed in the Cook brothers’ one-two sweep. Chris Wibbell had the Hobby Stock field covered until just a few laps from the checkers when he lost his right rear wheel and rolled a couple of times in turn four. Jim Walker was so far back that he didn’t know why Wibbell’s car sat damaged when he came through the turn and on the restart he pulled away to take the checkered flag.

The Scotland County Fairboard has continued to make improvements to this facility that had been shuttered for several years before roaring back to life about five years ago. With the grandstands packed for opening night it looks like the races are the place to be around Memphis on a Saturday night, and isn’t that the way it is supposed to be? We hope to get back there again this year.

This weekend we’ll try to get back to Donnellson for their regular season opener on Friday night and then on Saturday it’s back into Missouri to see what the I-44 Speedway in Lebanon looks like with dirt on it. It will be our first chance to see a MARS Late Model show as well. See you on the Back Stretch!

Back Stretch Archives: Season Openers at Knoxville and Oskaloosa from 2005

The weather was less than ideal for the 2005 season opener at the Knoxville Raceway, but a huge field of cars and a hearty bunch of fans showed up nonetheless for a great night of racing at the famed half-mile on Pizza Hut night. Thirty-six 410’s and fifty-two 360’s, including cars that would normally be competing at Jackson, Eagle and Lake Ozark put on quite a show and kept the crowd, that was facing a cold twenty mile per hour north wind, warm with the excitement of the return of sprint car racing.

With Terry McCarl on the road with the Outlaws, the 2005 point chase in the 410’s is wide open and Wayne Johnson established himself as the front-runner after opening night. Front row starters Skip Jackson and Brian Brown swapped the lead back and forth during the first six laps of the twenty-lap finale before Jackson settled into the top spot. Johnson, who started fourth, kept the leader in sight and as Jackson began to work lapped traffic Johnson made a thrilling move to the high side coming off turn two to take the lead and then quickly jumped to the low side down the backstretch to avoid a slower car and to shut the door on Jackson. Skip tried to mount a comeback, but there was no stopping Johnson from taking the popular victory. Jackson and Brown were next in line at the stripe with Kerry Madsen and Chad Meyer completing the top five.

Brian Brown from the 2011 Opener at Knoxville - Barry Johnson photo

Meyer, who was the surprise story of the 2004 Knoxville Nationals, had struggled all evening and, in fact, would not have even started the feature race if not for the bad luck of another driver to watch in 2005. Tim St. Arnold was running solidly in one of the top four transfer spots from the B-Main before mechanical problems put him in the pits late in the race. This allowed Meyer, who was running a distant fifth at the time, to inherit the fourth position and the resulting twenty-fourth starting spot in the A-Main. Whatever was changed on the #1w car between the “B” and the “A” is likely a secret that will never be told as Chad was definitely the fastest car on the track in the closing laps and just might have had something for the leaders if the race had been a longer distance.

Mike Chadd paced the first two laps of the 360 A-Feature, but there would be no denying John Kearney on this night. The veteran driver out of Kansas started fifth and charged to the front enroute to the feature victory. It was an emotional win for John who had followed his father “Bub” into this sport, a father that he had recently lost. It was a classy move by the Knoxville staff to allow Kearney to push off once again, after clearing the scales, to take a victory lap in tribute to his father. Chadd would finish in the runner-up spot with Joey Beaver, Dave Hall and Johnny Anderson completing the top five.

Knoxville Notes…..Randy Hannagan was a surprise entrant in the 410’s making the trip west after the All Stars were rained out in Ohio. “The Hurricane” was running fourth early before motor problems put him in the pits….This year’s new dirt that Knoxville put on the track seems to have worked out much better than last year. In fact, when the first two cars out for qualifying were at 15.2 seconds or better, it looked like someone might get down into that magical fourteen-second bracket. A lap of 15.081 by Calvin Landis was the fastest of the night…..The 360 car count benefited from weather cancellations at Eagle and Jackson as well as the fact that the Lake Ozark track has yet to open up in 2005. Still, it looks as though a field of forty plus will be the norm for 2005…..Gregg Bakker, the 2004 track champion at Jackson, was one of those visitors and walked away with a seventh-place run in his first-ever Knoxville visit….Josh Higday is driving Mike Trent’s #4T this year and was running a strong third before dropping out with three laps to go….Jake Peters ended his night on a sour note upside down in turn four after a heated battle with Joey Beaver for a top five running position….Pole-sitter and Rookie-of-the-Year contender Pete Crall got upside down on lap three and collected perennial contender David Hesmer….Curtis Boyer returned to Knoxville after recovering from serious injuries that he suffered in a brutal crash during the 2004 Nationals, but frankly I never did see the car as he scratched from the evening’s events. He has already collected a top ten finish down in Missouri so it is great to have the youngster back in action…..Kudos to Cappy and crew for running an efficient show that had us back in the car with the heater on high by 10:40 p.m. The World of Outlaws return to Knoxville this Friday and Saturday night. Don’t be surprised to see that track record fall by the wayside! We hope to be there on Saturday night.

Zach VanderBeek doubled up with feature wins in both his Modified and Stock Car as the regular season got underway at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa April 20^th. The Stock Car win came during the annual running of the Aaron Brown Classic as he outdistanced Matt Greiner, T.J. Criss and Aaron’s father Jim Brown. The runner-up finish for Greiner was impressive for the driver out of Washington. Rick VanDusseldorp, who tried his hand at the Modified class in 2004, looked very comfortable in his new Stock Car finishing fifth.

Brad Pinkerton in a Stock Car 2015 - Barry Johnson photo

Robert Rupprecht looked like he would take the opening night Hobby Stock win, but a late caution allowed Al Bunnell Jr. and Bobby Greene to slip by with Greene edging out Bunnell on the final lap for the victory. Rupprecht was third with Randy Veldhuizen and Jacob Murray completing the top five. Steve Stewart was impressive leading the Modified feature early before yielding to VanderBeek. Stewart would drop to fourth at the finish behind the winner, Brad Pinkerton and John VanDenBerg. Brian Edel, driving with a cast on his left foot from injuries suffered here during the USMTS doubleheader, finished fifth. Those of us in this area need to realize what a benefit that it is to have a couple of weekly options on Wednesday night. Especially when they are as well run as Osky was on Wednesday with the final checkered flag falling just after 9:30 p.m.

I have spent my last two Sunday nights at tracks in Illinois (NOT Quincy or East Moline for the sake of clarification) that should both take a serious look at using the “one spin and your in” rule. In both cases the first division on the track, Modifieds two weeks ago and Street Stocks this past Sunday, had drivers who just could not keep themselves from spinning out and sitting there waiting for a caution. The result was a very monotonous and frustrating set of heat races that took nearly an hour to complete each night and just set a negative tone for the entire evening. It is amazing what kind of effect that the “one spin” rule has on the driving ability of certain drivers. Knowing that, if they create a caution, they will be heading for the pits seems to pull that foot off the throttle just a bit sooner and, if they should still spin out, it’s incredible how fast that car re-fires and keeps moving! At the very least let me propose the following for any racetrack. If the last place car in the heat race, or the B-Main for that matter, spins and sits for a yellow, rather than “rewarding” that driver by bunching the field up for a restart and putting him/her on the tail much closer to the rest of the competitors than they were before they spun out, why not just make a real penalty out of it and send that driver to the pits. Can you tell that I saw a lot of this the last two Sunday nights? Both nights I decided to leave early, before the features, just to return home at a reasonable hour.

No Sunday night plans for this week, but hopefully I’ll be making my first-ever visit to the Memphis Motorsports Park in Memphis, Tennessee, this Friday night for their weekly show that includes Late Models, Sprints and Modifieds. Then on Saturday night we hope to get to Knoxville for the Outlaws. Looking ahead to Wednesday, May 4^th, we’ll be at 34 Raceway near Burlington for round two of the Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders. See you at the track!

Back Stretch Archives: WDRL and 305 Sprints at Knoxville from April 2007

Late Models took center stage once again at the Knoxville Raceway Friday night and, for once for this division at the fabled half-mile oval, the weather on race day was perfect. Of course the three days leading up to it were a bit over-saturated, but once the call was made to go racing forty-seven WDRL Late Model drivers knew that they could make their way to Knoxville without the risk of cancellation.

Jimmy Mars (28) racing with Tim McCreadie at Knoxville in 2010 - Barry Johnson

As usual the forty-lap feature was full of ups and downs for the twenty-six drivers who qualified. Chad Simpson started from the pole and shut the door on pre-race favorite Jimmy Mars going into turn one. Mars made every effort to take the lead over the next three laps before caution for a spinning Kelly Boen slowed the pace. On the restart two-time defending series champion Denny Eckrich shuffled Mars back to third and Nick Marolf made a big charge into fourth only to coast to a halt three laps later. Even with the early cautions disturbing the flow, Darren Miller and Brian Harris were making their way through the pack quickly. Harris was the fastest qualifier on the night, but was only able to accumulate enough passing points in his heat to start eighteenth on the feature grid, while Miller started directly behind him after winning the second B-Main due to dropping out of his heat race. Both drivers were already in the top ten after six green flag laps.

Their march to the front continued and when the caution waved again on lap twelve for a blown motor on Denny Eckrich’s “flyin’ 50”, Miller and Harris would now restart third and fourth. With the green flag back out Miller made his bid for the lead moving past Chad Simpson on the inside coming off of turn two. But as they raced down the back straightaway there was contact between Miller’s right rear and Simpson’s left front turning Miller’s car into the outside guardrail. Miller was able to make the save and only dropped to third, but with considerable damage to his right rear spoiler he was no longer able to maintain the pace of the leaders and retired to the pits.

The damage to the left front of Simpson’s ride must have had an effect as well as Justin Fegers was able to charge past on lap twenty-three to take the lead with Brian Harris right on his tail. Two laps later Harris moved to the front, but Fegers came right back on lap twenty-eight to regain the advantage as smoke began to show on the Harris car. Dave Eckrich now took up the chase on Fegers, but could not close the gap enough to make a challenge as the “Jet” snared the checkered-flag for the victory. Kelly Boen made an impressive comeback to finish third followed by Kyle Berck and Chad Simpson as Harris faded to sixth.

The 305 Sprints served as the support class for the evening and if not for a flat right rear tire we all would have witnessed history this night. Seventeen-year-old Zach Clark out of Olathe, Kansas, started from the pole of the twelve-lap main event and paced the first circuit before Clint Garner, who is a regular in the track’s 410 division, took over the top spot. Garner’s stay at the top was short-lived though as Trish Dover charged by on lap five and began to pull away from the field. Three laps later the caution waved for Mark Widmar who had slowed on the track in turn two and I noticed a piece of debris bouncing around in turn four as well. Apparently Dover had run over the debris and her right rear tire went flat under the caution. The speedy young lady from Springfield, Nebraska, was able to get the tire changed and return to the track to restart in sixteenth with just four laps remaining.

Trish Dover from 2010

Garner assumed the lead once again and looked like a sure winner until a front wing mount broke loose with two circuits remaining. This gave Steve Breazeale the opportunity to pull even with Garner as they took the white flag and Breazeale pulled away on the final lap to take the win. Garner held on for runner-up honors with Matt Stephenson taking third. Clark was looking at a fourth-place finish only to have his engine let go coming to the checkers and Tom Lenz nipped him at the line. Trish Dover showed the strength that would have made her the first female driver to ever win a feature at Knoxville by charging to ninth at the checkers. We later learned that Garner failed to make weight after the race moving everybody up one position in the final finish.

Knoxville Notes…..Fegers started ninth on the grid and, while his run to the front wasn’t as flashy as those made by Miller, Harris and Boen, his ended in victory….. Fegers loaded his F15 Late Model on his open trailer amongst the behemoth haulers of his competitors and took the big money back to Minnesota with him….Wisconsin veteran John Kaanta had his third straight top ten finish with the WDRL taking seventh. Look for him to be very tough when the series visits his home turf and he just might be a contender for the points title in 2007….Colorado drivers Scott Rhodes and Jason Schobinger made the trip over but failed to qualify…..Bill Moyer’s two-car team of Todd Shute and Jacob Murray arrived at the track just before hot laps and both drivers struggled with mechanical issues. In fact Murray’s Late Model debut at Knoxville never got past hot laps…..Seventy-one-year-old Johnny Johnson was clipped in the right rear by Kerry Hansen at full speed down the front stretch during the third heat race and for a moment it looked as if the Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame driver would take a frightening ride. Fortunately the car stayed on all fours, but both drivers were done for the night…...Minnesota sprint driver Steve Yarns has an interesting message on his top wing stating that his hobby is “Cheaper than a wife”…..Late Models return to Knoxville on Friday night June 15^th under the sanctioning of the World of Outlaws. It should be another great night of racing so don’t you miss it!

I’m looking forward to a few announcing gigs during the month of May including this Friday night at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson and this Sunday night when the IRA Sprint Cars invade 34 Raceway near Burlington. Next Wednesday should be a classic as the World of Outlaw Late Models stir up the quarter-mile in Davenport. The following weekend will find us back in Donnellson on Friday night for an appearance by the IMCA Late Models, then on Saturday we’ll see who will take home $25,000 at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri. A stop at Quincy on the way home will likely close out a big weekend of action. I hope that you have a full calendar of racing as well!

Back Stretch Archives: Osky Season Opener from April of 2003

Opening night at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa once again proved why this is still considered one of the best weekly shows that you will find anywhere. Rain pushed this year’s lid-lifter back to a very cool and breezy Thursday night, but as usual there was a solid field of cars on hand in all three divisions.

The IMCA Hobby Stock field showed thirty-two strong, but heat race attrition only allowed a field of twenty-six to start the A-Main. Front row starters Nicky Witt and Bobby Greene swapped the lead in the early going before the red flag flew for a massive twelve-car pile-up in turn one. The fracas started when three cars near the front of the pack hooked bumpers just past the flagstand and when the three cars turned sideways entering turn one there was no place for the rest of the field to go. Several cars sustained heavy damage and Dennis Greenfield took a nasty looking rollover, but all drivers escaped with no injuries. When the resumed Mark Steinke was able to make the pass on Greene with two laps remaining to take his first feature win. Last year’s Hobby Stock Rookie-of-the-Year Pat Rachels came home in the second spot followed by Greene, Witt and Jaroed Sanders.

Ron VerBeek from the early 1990's

The Modifieds were up next and with a handful of rookies, plus some out-of-town visitors, eighteen cars took the grid for the eighteen-lap feature. Wade Francis took off like a rocket in his sleek black #7s and quickly built up a nice lead. Two of the Midwest’s finest, John VanDenBerg and Brad Pinkerton, call the Southern Iowa Speedway their home track and both are always a threat to walk off with a feature win. On this night, though, they did not play well together. While racing for fourth in the early going, the two barely avoided a high-speed disaster after making contact on the frontstretch, but then further contact in turn one saw VanDenBerg go for a spin and Pinkerton taking enough damage that he was forced to the work area. Both drivers restarted at the rear and made significant progress through the field. Back up front, Roger Baxter was closing the gap on Francis and made the pass on lap thirteen for the lead. Baxter then pulled away over the final five laps for his first victory. Francis had a strong run go by the wayside when he retired with mechanical problems on lap fifteen leaving the runner-up position to a hard charging VanDenBerg. Ken Bryant ran a consistent race to take third followed by Pinkerton and Ron VerBeek. Among the field of Modified rookies were Kris Walker and Brian Edel, but it was Steve Blattler who had the best finish taking seventh. Tim Bengard made the trip in from Exira only to be forced from the main event after a mid-race scuffle caused damage to his #19B.

It is an opening night tradition at Osky that the Stock Cars headline the event with the Aaron Brown Classic. It was nice to have guest announcer Scott Watson, a long-time friend of Brown in for the evening and when he gave us the front row for the main event it was rookie Nate Wanders and Aaron’s father Jim Brown starting up front. Brad Pinkerton started right behind Wanders and when the green flag flew Pinkerton dropped to the inside and was able to beat both Wanders and Brown into turn one. With his adrenaline still pulsing from the just completed Modified main, Pinkerton pushed the throttle to the firewall and was never challenged throughout the sixteen-lap affair. Stock Car rookie T.J. Criss made a final lap pass on Jim Brown to finish second. Ross McCombs finished fourth and Howard Gordon nipped Jefferson visitor Dave Baugh at the line to complete the top five.

Despite the cool conditions it was a great night of racing that started precisely on time at 7:15 and concluded around 10:15. And that was including the fifteen to twenty minute delay for the big Hobby Stock crash, plus a twenty-minute intermission. Here’s hoping that when the 305 non-winged sprints join the program after Memorial Day, the “planned” intermission is either minimized or eliminated as there always seems to be an “unplanned” intermission or two that occurs each race evening. (See “big Hobby Stock crash” above as an example) Thanks to Bill McCroskey, Tony Bokhoven and the entire SIS staff for an enjoyable evening.

The weather has kind of given us a slow start to the racing season here in the Midwest, but several tracks have already been able to get in at least three shows. In the Late Models St. Louis area drivers Mark Oller and Mark Faust are off to good starts as is last year’s UMP Rookie-of-the-Year Brian Shirley. Denny Eckrich has been solid here in Iowa and Kenny Rumble already has at least four top five finishes in Missouri. In the Modified ranks the veteran Mark Noble has been near the front wherever he goes this spring and I found it notable that he skipped a potential race weekend this past week to enjoy Easter with his family. Mike Harrison has been the man to beat on the Illinois short tracks around St. Louis while Eric Maggard has taken a liking to the dirt-covered asphalt at both Bolivar and Lebanon. Scott Weber may just be the best Modified racer that fans outside of St. Louis haven’t yet heard of, while veteran John Seets remains a regular visitor to victory lane in his #360. And I can’t leave out Iowa’s own Ron Barker who is virtually undefeated in the early going of 2003.

You can catch us at the Donnellson-Memphis USMTS swing this weekend while the following Saturday night we look forward to seeing the dirt fly at I-44 in Lebanon when the MARS Late Models come to town.

Back Stretch Archives: 2007 Deery Series Opener at Quincy

For the second year in a row the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models inadvertently kicked off at the Quincy Raceway due to poor early spring weather that wiped out the first two scheduled events in Webster City and Burlington. The sun was bright and the air was crisp, especially after that sun disappeared, and a large crowd was treated to a record car count for Quincy as a familiar name raced his way into victory lane in a very entertaining main event.

With forty-eight Late Models on hand, just making the twenty-four car feature field was an accomplishment, and those who did were ready to put on a show that featured six lead changes between four drivers over the forty-lap distance. The racing attorney Denny Woodworth snared the lead at the drop of the green with Brian Harris in hot pursuit. Woodworth was running the high line while Harris hugged the bottom and by lap five the two drivers were keeping the scorekeepers on their toes by coming across the flagstand side-by-side lap after lap. Harris nosed ahead for laps six and seven, before Woodworth came back to lead the next two circuits by a nose. It was Harris by a nose on lap ten and then Woodworth the next circuit before the fun was interrupted by a caution for Terry Neal who had spun in turn four.

On the restart Harris slipped off the top side of turn two and faded back to fifth allowing Boone McLaughlin to take up the chase of Woodworth. McLaughlin always runs strong on the Quincy quarter-mile and on this night his car was like a rocket off the bottom as he gradually closed the gap on the leader. A mid-race restart gave McLaughlin the opportunity that he was looking for as he charged past Woodworth for the lead. By this point many-time track champion Mark Burgtorf had picked his way forward from a fourth row start making it a three-way battle for the lead. Burgtorf was putting a nose to the outside of McLaughlin off of turn four and when Boone made one slight bobble, Burgtorf sped past five laps shy of the finish. One final caution with three laps to go gave Boone one last shot and the two leaders made contact coming off turn four for the green causing Burgtorf’s left front tire to begin to deflate. Despite this increasing handicap Mark was able to hold on for the final laps and hold off McLaughlin for the $2,000 victory. Woodworth held back a late effort by Rob Toland to finish third while Terry Schlipman completed the top five.

The pits were jammed with thirty-one Modifieds as well and their racing was very exciting, that is while they were racing. The three qualifying heats and the B-Main were sprinkled with cautions and the A-Main, scheduled for twenty-five laps, ran one more lap (8) than it had cautions (7). Thankfully a time limit was enforced with the checkered flag taken by Michael Long. For Long, it was his second win of 2007 at Quincy as he also took the opener two weeks before and even though the race was shortened, the fastest car was in victory lane. Early race leader David Holder was credited with the second spot with Ryan Meyer, Tony Dunker and Brandon Lennox rounding out the top five.

Colby Springsteen is mentioned in the notes, here is his father Frank in the early 90's

“Q” Notes……Burgtorf has now won six of the seventeen Summer Series events held at Quincy for a .353 winning percentage…..Sixth position was not the place to be in the final five laps of the Late Model main. Jay Johnson had steadily picked his way up to sixth after starting fourteenth, but then retired to the pit area with four laps to go. On the next lap Darrell DeFrance was running sixth when he was spun to the infield in turn one….DeFrance raced his way into the feature, and an eleventh row starting position, when he passed Keith Pratt coming off of turn four for the third and final qualifying spot in the second B-Main. The same type of battle for the final transfer position occurred in the first B-Main as well when Eric Gustaf passed Luke Goedert in turn one on the final lap only to have Goedert return the favor coming off of turn four to earn his ticket for the main event…..Both Gustaf and DeFrance would have had provisional starting spots based upon their rankings in the 2006 series point standings, so Sam Halstead was happy to see DeFrance race his way in as that allowed Terry Neal, Gustaf and “Superman Sam” to start the forty-lapper…..Colby Springsteen was running a strong second in the first B-Main, but during a mid-race caution his car just shut down and coasted to a halt on the frontstretch…...Gary Russell is usually a threat when he makes an infrequent trip to ^th……Rookie late model drivers Charlie McKenna of Mason City and Rob Petsche of Peosta made the long trip down, but failed to make the feature…..Shannon Frank of Jefferson City and Todd Bates of Canton made long pulls with their Modifieds……Getting the forty-eight Late Models through the Summer Series pre-race tech line delayed the start of hot laps by nearly an hour. Add in the numerous cautions and we wound up with a late night of racing as the checkers flew on the Late Models at 11:25…..Quincy will host the FASTRAK Crate Late Models for a $1,000-to-win feature along with their regular four classes this Sunday night April 22^nd and, unless something changes, I’ll be back for another night of action on the quick quarter-mile this weekend…...The Summer Series makes a three race swing around the Quad Cities this weekend running Friday night at Davenport, Saturday at Maquoketa and Sunday in East Moline.

Quincy, but after spinning out of a qualifying spot in the final heat race he was unable to recover in the B-Main. Look for Russell to be a top contender when the Deery Series runs its make-up date at his home track, 34 Raceway near Burlington on Tuesday night, May 15

Along with the aforementioned plan for this Sunday my upcoming race calendar includes the season opener at Osky on Wednesday and the USMTS Modifieds at Bloomfield on Friday. The following week we’ll be at Knoxville for the WDRL Late Models on Friday night and then I’m going to pick a weekly show to go to on Sunday night. Look for me out on the Back Stretch.

Back Stretch Archives from April 2006: Super Sub Beats The Rain For Sprint Invader Win at 34

Have you ever sat in the stands at a racetrack and just knew that the racing action was going to be cut short by rain? That was the situation Saturday night as we took our seats during hot laps at 34 Raceway near Burlington. The grandstands there face the southwest so on this night, not only did you have a prime view of the 3/8-mile oval, but you were also able to watch the ominous dark clouds moving ever closer to the speedway.

My sprint car guru, Kurt Moon, drove us down despite the fact that there was a 70% chance of thunderstorms and as we watched hot laps we both felt that we would be lucky to get the Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invader heat races in before the rains came. The twenty-eight-car field was split into four qualifying races and as Matt Rogerson, Jeff Mitrisin, Matt Sutton and Nick Eastin earned victories, the clouds closed in and lightning began to strike to the west. It sprinkled a couple of times during the IMCA Modified heats, but stopped while Bobby Hawks won the sprint shake-up dash. It started to look like the storm would pass to the south of us and strokes of lightning now flashed beyond turns three and four, but as the Sprint Invader B-Main took the track it started to rain a little harder.

With the track already dried out from the strong easterly winds, and with ten sprint cars racing around it, the rain was actually worked into the track and appeared to widen the racing grooves as Randy Plath picked up the victory and a transfer into the night’s A-Main.

That was it, with still more lightning off to the west and a steady rain falling we figured that the night would soon come to a disappointing end. The Hobby Stock heats were next on the track and they kept the moisture worked in until finally it stopped falling from the sky just in time for the twenty-five-lap Sprint Invader main event. Matt Rogerson, who was subbing tonight for Bobby Mincer who had another commitment, started on the pole alongside Manny Rockhold and Rogerson moved to the early lead. Hawks, who had been fast all night, used the cushion in three and four to slip past Rogerson for the lead on lap three, but Matt came right back on the bottom of turn two to regain the advantage down the back straightaway. To the complete enjoyment of the crowd this routine played out again and again over the next ten laps as Hawks was scored the leader on lap six and seven only to have Rogerson take it back until lap twelve.

At the mid-point of the race Hawks was able to take the lead once again from Rogerson on the high side of three and four and this time he was able to get to the bottom and shut the door on Matt in turn one. With five laps remaining the Jacksonville, Illinois, driver had what appeared to be a comfortable advantage with some slower traffic just ahead. That was all Rogerson needed in order to close the gap and with just three laps to go the leader went back up to the top side to try to pass a slower car and Rogerson shot by on the bottom and cruised in for the popular victory. When Hawks again went high in turn two Jeff Mitrisin, Matt Sutton and Korey Weyant were able to move past as well relegating Hawks to a disappointing fifth place finish. Certainly not the result that he was looking for, but it is my bet that Bobby Hawks will be among the contenders for the 2006 Sprint Invader championship.

As the lightning increased in intensity and continued to move closer, the Modified feature was next on the track and, after three straight cautions on the opening lap, they finally settled into racing with Adam Davis out front. The leaders had taken the white flag and were on the backstretch for the final time when one of the backmarkers spun in turn four. Track rules call for a green-white-checker finish and on the restart the second and third place cars of Josh Foster and Bill Roberts tangled in turn two for another caution and by now the wind was howling at about thirty miles an hour and the lightning seemed closer than ever. We decided that we had pressed our luck long enough and headed for the car assuming that Davis would hold on for the victory. I still have no idea how this show got in, but after seeing a twenty-five-lap sprint car race that had seven lead changes in it, we were thankful that it did.

Here's one of Bobby that I picked off of his Facebook page. Still looks a lot like this even 34 years later

Matt Rogerson in his own car in 2009

Invader Notes…..If you’re Bobby Mincer and you know that you have to miss a scheduled show at 34 Raceway, who better to ask to sub for you than Matt Rogerson? Rogerson won three out of four Sprint Invader shows that were held here last season and with tonight’s win made it four of the last five. Don’t be surprised if he finds a ride for the next Invader show scheduled here on July 3^rd……Mitrisin, driving Steve Wares’ #10, Rager Phillips and Stevie Walsh were the only Knoxville area based drivers who made the trip for Saturday’s show, possibly due to the dire weather forecast…..Three rookies were in the field including Dan Avery, Seth Wilke and Matt Krieger. Wilke is a sixteen-year-old who is making the move up from go-karts and he looked competitive before his motor went sour in the B-Main. Krieger has run in several of Burlington’s stock car divisions over the past few years and actually found his sprint car on eBay and had to go to Ohio to pick it up. It was painted solid blue with no lettering or numbers, but he stayed smooth and worked his way into the top four in his heat race to qualify for the main event where he finished twentieth after retiring early…..The Sprint Invaders will be at Donnellson this Friday night, April 21^st and then will run the Spoon River Speedway in Canton for the DQ Classic on Sunday the 23^rd……Thanks to Terry and Jenni Hoenig and their entire crew for running an efficient show with the threat of rain from the time they opened the gate!

Hoping to make it to I-44 in Lebanon this weekend and the following week we’ll be off to Talladega. Perhaps we’ll be able to slip into Osky for a Wednesday night show before the end of the month. Who knows, maybe we’ll see you on the Back Stretch!