Wednesday, April 22, 2020

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 16th 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 25th and the WDRL Late Models at Knoxville on Friday night. Next Wednesday, May 2nd, we plan on catching the Indee Open event and on Sunday night the 6th the IRA Sprints are at 34 Raceway. Then on May 9th the World of Outlaw Late Models will attack the quarter-mile in Davenport. Hope to see you on the Back Stretch.

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