One last time without the fans, and boy did they miss out on a good one Friday night at the Pepsi Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. Even though this was the fourth night of racing at the track tucked into the southeast corner of Iowa, this would serve as the regular season opener for track points and a solid field of 93 cars were on hand in five divisions.
The twenty lap IMCA Modified main event was a thriller with front row starters Chris Zogg and Austin Howes crossing the line in a dead heat for lap number one. Zogg would take the point on lap two before one of the infield tires in turn two was knocked onto the track to bring out the first caution. On the restart Travis Denning who made the 165 mile pull from Sterling, Illinois, picked up the challenge and on lap six he would take the lead away from Zogg. Denning's lead would be short-lived though as Mark Burgtorf drove by him on the next lap and one lap after that the caution would wave again when Jardin Fuller spun in two two.
Once back to action Burgtorf, driving the Bill Baker owned #03B, would continue to set the pace until the final caution of the race would appear with six laps remaining when Scott Bryant would loop it in turn two. Michael Long had started the race from tenth and when the green flag waved he would go to work on Burgtorf with the leader working the top and the challenger down low. As the two stars crossed the line on lap eighteen it was too close to call, but Burgtorf would use his high side momentum to retain his lead as the white flag waved.
Long would again work the bottom in turns one and two to take the lead going down the back stretch and this time he would take away Burgtorf's groove on the high side in three and four to capture the victory. Denning would chase those two in for third, Ethan Braaksma would make a late run to fourth after starting from twelfth and Zogg would complete the top five. Long distance traveler Cody Schroeder from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, finished sixth.
Only eleven Stock Cars would lineup for the eighteen lap feature, but you only need three or four to have a good race as proven once again here tonight at Donnellson. The race got off to a tough start when Beau Taylor spun in turn three and was hit hard by Kevin Koontz. Once the track was cleared the race was on with Jeremy Pundt taking the point with Jason Cook and John Oliver Jr. in hot pursuit. Abe Huls was trying to join the fray, but when his right front tire was cut down on lap five the caution flag would wave.
On the restart Oliver would move to second using the high line to go to work on the low groove running Pundt. On a couple of occasions Oliver would nose ahead, only to have Pundt come back off the bottom, but when Pundt left the door open just a bit entering turn one on lap eleven Jason Cook would walk inside. It was Cook, Pundt and Oliver racing three-wide for the lead off of turn two with Cook leading the next two laps before Oliver sailed around him with four laps to go.
Cook would come digging back on the bottom and on lap sixteen he and Oliver would cross the stripe in a dead heat. The bottom line would prevail over the final two circuits as Cook would ward off Oliver to score the entertaining win. Oliver was knocking on the door in second, Jason Hall was impressive in his LCS Stock Car debut finishing in third, Pundt held on for fourth while Jake Powers edged out pole-sitter Mitchell Evens for fifth.
Jim Gillenwater started from the pole of the eighteen lap Sport Mod headliner and he would lead the first two laps before John Renier spun into the guardrail in turn one. That would collect four more cars who were in tight formation running the cushion and after the track was cleared, Gillenwater would again pace the field.
After spinning in his heat race, Austen Becerra had to win the B-Main in order to start nineteenth and as lap three was scored he was all the way up to fifth. Two more cautions for solo spins would slow the field on laps five and seven and when the race went back to green Gillenwater had a new challenger in Tyler Soppe. The former IMCA Northern Sport Mod National Champion had started from the sixth row and on lap ten he would drive around the outside of Gillenwater to take the lead. One lap later Soppe caught a huge break though as while he had jumped the cushion in turns three and four and was having trouble getting his car off the guardrail, the caution was waving for Jim Powell's spin in turn two. Without the caution Soppe would have dropped from first to third.
On this restart Becerra charged from sixth to second and appeared to have a run on Soppe before the race was slowed again for Jaden Fuller's second spin of the race. When the green flag came back, Soppe would take control over the final four laps to secure the win with Becerra improving seventeen positions as the runner-up. Adam Birck, who challenged for the lead early in the race, picked up third place money, Gillenwater would hold down fourth and Blaine Webster nipped Tanner Klingele for fifth.
In the Late Model main event Ron Boyse and Tommy Elston would share the lead on lap one before Elston established himself as the pace-setter on the second circuit. And what a pace he would set! Denny Woodworth moved quickly from fifth to second, but not even Woodworth could keep pace with Elston who gradually pulled away over the twenty lap distance to take the win. Woodworth was a distant second, Nick Marolf was further back in third, Jay Johnson took the fourth spot and Dalton Simonson held off central Illinois visitor Blaze Burwell to complete the top five.
The Sport Compacts were the first feature of the night with Brandon Reu coming all the way from the sixth starting position to lead the opening lap. Actually Reu would lead all fifteen laps on his way to victory at his hometown speedway. Chuck Fullenkamp passed Adam Christy on the final lap finishing second by inches while Jared Heule held off Kimberly Abbott to finish fourth.
Beginning on Monday June 1st race tracks in Iowa are allowed to have fans back in the grandstands with up to 50% of the capacity and that means that the fans can come back out to the Pepsi Lee County Speedway next Friday night June 5th as the Iowa Sprint League joins the action. A big thank you to Brian and Marcie Gaylord for the hospitality and after presenting four night of racing in front of empty grandstands in May, you can bet that they are looking forward to next week!
On Saturday night I look forward to joining the Done Right TV crew for the PPV broadcast of the regular season opener at 34 Raceway near Burlington. Roberts Tire Center night at the speedway will feature the Late Models, Modifieds, Stock Cars, Sport Mods and Sprint Cars and since it is the only track in Iowa east of Interstate 35 in action there should be an interesting mix of cars on hand.
Tune us in on the Back Stretch!
Friday, May 29, 2020
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
FINALLY! There Was Racing At 34
These have been bizarre and challenging times for all of us, but for track owners Brad Stevens and Jessi Mynatt it comes on top of a 2019 season that saw way too many rainouts. So on Saturday night, when 34 Raceway was able to complete its first show in nine months, despite facing two of their most familiar obstacles, perhaps it was a sign of sunnier times to come.
Obstacle number one was the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic where no fans would be allowed into the grandstands leaving the only sources of revenue as being the flat fees being charged to each entry, the track's share of the Pay Per View revenue from the live broadcast on Speed Shift and of course a list of supportive sponsors. Hearth & Home Technologies served as the main sponsor of the night while purse sponsors included Floyd's EZ Way, Oliver Heating and Air, Randall's Performance and Avis of Burlington. Also, Randy Samberg, the son of one of the men who brought this track to life in 1967, and a former competitor here for many years pitched in as well and spent the evening driving one of the push trucks. In fact, if you Google search "Iowa Dirt Track Legends" you might find this photo of Samberg's #75, and on this night he joined those other listed sponsors as "legends" in regard to bringing back racing to 34.
Obstacle number two? What else, but the weather! One check of the radar made it seem foolish to be pulling in these 74 race cars to the pit area and by five o'clock one look at the western sky would have made any fans reconsider their plans to attend as it looked like it would be pouring here within the hour. So I guess that in one sense, obstacle number one was somewhat of a blessing because many of the fans would have stayed home anyway given the threatening weather! In perhaps the first turn of good luck in some time for Stevens and Mynatt, the rain held off until the final feature of the night, when the Sprint Invaders main event was in staging. Another check of the radar showed that it would soon pass over and since it was only 9:30 on the Sunday of a three day weekend it was decided that we would wait it out and then rework the track in order to complete the show.
The rain was light, but steady and by 10:20 it had come to an end. That is when the track crew jumped into action and by 11:30 the thirty-lap Sprint Invaders main event was on the track and ready for action.
So now let's first take you back in time to the month of April when the track was locked down due to the quarantine efforts. With the help of Brad Helmerson and Jay Johnson at L&W Quarries and Ben Brueck of Four Seasons Excavation the track went through its first major reshaping since 2003 as some of the banking was removed at the top of the turns in order to make it more gradual and steady. Prior to this, while the track would still have two good racing grooves by the end of the night, the early heat race action was often confined to the cushion. On Sunday night though, multi-groove racing was prevalent from the drop of the first green flag as the ol' girl is definitely proud of her new shape!
The Pepsi IMCA Stock Car twenty-lap main event would be the first of the season and with twenty cars signed in for the $1,000-to-win event it was a solid field of competitors. Jason Cook would lead early before David Brandies slipped by and soon the eighth starting John Oliver Jr. would make it a three car battle for the lead. On the final lap they would race through turn two with Brandies out front having Cook's nose just inside of his left rear fender, while Oliver had his nose under the left rear of Cook. Brandies would open up a couple of car lengths down the back stretch, but when he pushed up the track in turn four that allowed Cook to make a charge that would get him the win by a foot over Brandies at the checkers. Oliver was right behind them in third while Kirk Kinsley and Abe Huls completed the top five.
Lightning flashed and the thunder rumbled as the Late Model main event, scheduled for twenty laps, was hustled onto the speedway and with Jeff Aikey starting from the pole position this one would be a race for second. Denny Woodworth had other ideas though as he pulled alongside Aikey on a couple of occasions, but could not complete the pass and when the early race sprinkles started to pick up in intensity the white flag waved on lap fourteen with the caution joining the checkers after Aikey crossed the line for the win. Woodworth held off Mark Burgtorf for second, while Matt Ryan and Chuck Hanna were next in line. Mitch Manternach came from twelfth to finish sixth while Zach Zentner finished ninth after being the last car to arrive at the track. His original plan was to race in Stuart, but after checking the radar there the team decided to continue its drive east from Cedar Rapids, Nebraska, making it a 417 mile pull one way to 34 Raceway.
With the rain the track was lightning fast for the Sprint Car main event and once again the new shape of the track offered up some spectacular action. Brayden Gaylord would lead the way at the start before young Californian Kyle Offill powered by on the inside in turn four on lap ten. Paul Nienheiser had the Midland Performance #50 on a rail and he would challenge Offill in a thrilling manner where on two occasions the cars would make contact, but race on without incident. Offill would hold on to take the win over Nienheiser and, had there been a few more laps to run they might have both been challenged by Austin McCarl. When his car would not fire for his heat race, McCarl was relegated to the C-Main in the forty car field, a race that he won easily, and he then stormed through the field to win the B-Main after starting from fifteenth. In the finale the 2018 410 track champion at Knoxville came from the ninth row to finish third. Chris Martin moved from the fourth row to fourth at the checkers while Gaylord held down the fifth spot. Click here for the story and full results for the Sprint Cars from Bill Wright at OpenWheel101.
With that the event was completed shortly after midnight and both obstacles had been cleared. Racing was back at 34 Raceway! And now, with the Governor declaring this morning that tracks in Iowa can once again have fans in the stands at 50% capacity beginning on June 1st, Brad and Jessi now have to make a decision in regard to this coming Saturday's scheduled event (check the 34 Raceway Facebook page) and then decide how to handle what should be a great deal of pent up demand for the USAC Sprint Car appearance on June 6th.
The challenges of owning/promoting a race track never end, but they are a lot more fun to face after having a success story like Sunday night.
Obstacle number one was the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic where no fans would be allowed into the grandstands leaving the only sources of revenue as being the flat fees being charged to each entry, the track's share of the Pay Per View revenue from the live broadcast on Speed Shift and of course a list of supportive sponsors. Hearth & Home Technologies served as the main sponsor of the night while purse sponsors included Floyd's EZ Way, Oliver Heating and Air, Randall's Performance and Avis of Burlington. Also, Randy Samberg, the son of one of the men who brought this track to life in 1967, and a former competitor here for many years pitched in as well and spent the evening driving one of the push trucks. In fact, if you Google search "Iowa Dirt Track Legends" you might find this photo of Samberg's #75, and on this night he joined those other listed sponsors as "legends" in regard to bringing back racing to 34.
Obstacle number two? What else, but the weather! One check of the radar made it seem foolish to be pulling in these 74 race cars to the pit area and by five o'clock one look at the western sky would have made any fans reconsider their plans to attend as it looked like it would be pouring here within the hour. So I guess that in one sense, obstacle number one was somewhat of a blessing because many of the fans would have stayed home anyway given the threatening weather! In perhaps the first turn of good luck in some time for Stevens and Mynatt, the rain held off until the final feature of the night, when the Sprint Invaders main event was in staging. Another check of the radar showed that it would soon pass over and since it was only 9:30 on the Sunday of a three day weekend it was decided that we would wait it out and then rework the track in order to complete the show.
The rain was light, but steady and by 10:20 it had come to an end. That is when the track crew jumped into action and by 11:30 the thirty-lap Sprint Invaders main event was on the track and ready for action.
So now let's first take you back in time to the month of April when the track was locked down due to the quarantine efforts. With the help of Brad Helmerson and Jay Johnson at L&W Quarries and Ben Brueck of Four Seasons Excavation the track went through its first major reshaping since 2003 as some of the banking was removed at the top of the turns in order to make it more gradual and steady. Prior to this, while the track would still have two good racing grooves by the end of the night, the early heat race action was often confined to the cushion. On Sunday night though, multi-groove racing was prevalent from the drop of the first green flag as the ol' girl is definitely proud of her new shape!
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| Jason Cook - Dennis Krieger photo |
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| Jeff Aikey - Dennis Krieger photo |
With the rain the track was lightning fast for the Sprint Car main event and once again the new shape of the track offered up some spectacular action. Brayden Gaylord would lead the way at the start before young Californian Kyle Offill powered by on the inside in turn four on lap ten. Paul Nienheiser had the Midland Performance #50 on a rail and he would challenge Offill in a thrilling manner where on two occasions the cars would make contact, but race on without incident. Offill would hold on to take the win over Nienheiser and, had there been a few more laps to run they might have both been challenged by Austin McCarl. When his car would not fire for his heat race, McCarl was relegated to the C-Main in the forty car field, a race that he won easily, and he then stormed through the field to win the B-Main after starting from fifteenth. In the finale the 2018 410 track champion at Knoxville came from the ninth row to finish third. Chris Martin moved from the fourth row to fourth at the checkers while Gaylord held down the fifth spot. Click here for the story and full results for the Sprint Cars from Bill Wright at OpenWheel101.
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| Avis of Burlington and Four Seasons Excavation are two of the sponsors on Brayden Gaylord's #13 - Dennis Krieger photo |
The challenges of owning/promoting a race track never end, but they are a lot more fun to face after having a success story like Sunday night.
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Timm Repeats Dirt Kings Success At Mississippi Thunder
A lot of cars, a lot of racing, a lot of watering requiring a lot laps to run the water in and even a little track grading before the features made for a long night at the Mississippi Thunder Speedway Friday night. And, with my lovely wife joining me for one of her two or three trips to the races each year, she hung in there pretty good, but with the clock nearing 1 a.m. at the conclusion of the Discount Shop Towel Late Model Dirt Kings main event we headed for the exits with two feature races yet to be completed.
A lot of cars. With this being the first of two big nights of racing at MTS this weekend, and with the Supreme Court in the state of Wisconsin pretty much lifting all restrictions, both the pits and the grandstands were overflowing with one local fan telling us that it was the biggest crowd that he had ever seen here. We were pretty comfortable with spacing, but to establish it we had arrived at 5:45 for the 7:30 show making it an even longer night than usual. Back to that big car count, there were 60 USRA B-Mods, 47 Dirt Kings Late Models, 38 USMTS Modifieds and 33 USRA Hobby Stocks making a total of 178 entries.
A lot of races. The huge car count required 27 qualifying events to set the field for each of the four divisions.
A lot of watering. With this being my first ever visit to the track that is just north of Fountain City I had been told that the dust will fly and thankfully tonight the wind was coming from behind us, so we were pretty much spared all night. To try to keep the dust down, and to keep the track incredibly wide and racy all night, the Terragator would come out after every set of heat races and B-Mains to put some water down which then of course meant that the next race out would have to circle the track for several laps to work the moisture in before taking the green flag.
And at 11:30, when all of the qualifying races were completed, the grader came out to work on a bit of a hole that developed at the entrance of turn one. Then, with more water, the B-Mod feature field probably ran twenty laps of wheel packing before they were lined up for their twenty-lap main event.
There is no doubt that all of the attention to the track surface made the racing better and the finish to the first main event of the night would prove that. Two of the best in the division, Dan Hovden and Jim Chisholm lined up on the front row and Chisholm would be scored the leader by inches on the opening lap. Hovden would take over on the second lap before Tony Bahr spun down the front stretch for the first caution. On the restart Parker Hale joined the battle for the lead with Hovden maintaining control until the caution flew again on lap twelve for Nathan Butterfield who had spun in turn four.
Once back to green Hovden and Hale pulled away from Chisholm and it looked to be a two car battle for the win only to see heat race winner Bob Cisewski spin in turn four with three laps remaining. One more lap was scored before the rear end locked up on Kadden Kath's car and we were now set up for a green, white, checkers finish. On the restart though something faltered on Hovden's car and he would go pitside under caution leaving it up to Hale and Chisholm to decide who would take the win.
Hale would hold the lead by less than a car length as the white flag waved, but Chisholm had found something on the top side and as they raced through turns three and four for the final time Chisholm swept around the outside to beat Hale to the finish line by inches. Defending track champion Ryan Olson would finish in the third spot ahead of Ben Moudry and Taylor Skauge.
Another shot of water and after some more packing we were set to go for forty laps with the Late Models and it would be Brett Swedberg racing to the early lead with pole-sitter Chad Mahder in hot pursuit. Mahder would take the lead away on lap five only to have the pass negated when Justin Ritchie and Troy Springborn spun in turn three. So it would be Swedberg bringing the field back to green and just one more lap would be completed before a six car melee in turn three required a red flag because the track was completely blocked. Jake Redetzke, who was dominant in his heat race would retire to the pits along with Jeff Massengill.
Once back to racing Jake Timm would now take up the challenge on Mahder for the lead, but Chad was up to the task and kept the young challenger at bay until lap thirty when the leader slowed exiting turn two and pulled to the infield. Timm would assume the lead, but he had Ryan Gustin closing fast and as Gustin worked the top side of the track it looked like we might have a thrilling finish coming up. With just five laps to go though, Gustin got too high entering turn one and clipped the wall at the exit to the pits, With the damage Gustin would limp to the infield with the race staying green and that would allow Timm to coast to victory, repeating his Dirt Kings success as he won here in his first ever Late Model race last year. Jesse Glenz would be the runner-up, Swedberg held down the third spot, Dustin Sorenson came from eighteenth to finish fourth and Iowa's Jeremiah Husrt started eleventh and finished in fifth.
That was enough action for us and thankfully it was a short drive to Winona where our hotel room was waiting. Checking the results I see that Dustin Gulbrandson was the Hobby Stock winner ahead of Chris Hovden and Steve Dwyer. I hated to miss the USMTS main even as I don't get to see Todd and Janet Staley's series race more than once or twice a year and on this morning it would be Dustin Sorenson taking the win ahead of Jake Timm, Jacob Bleees, Rookie-of-the-Year contender Calvin Iverson and Mississippi traveler Brooks Strength. Now I will just have to track 'm down somewhere else this season.
It was my first-ever visit to Mississippi Thunder Speedway already making it two new tracks for me in my first five races for 2020. On Sunday night though I look forward to being back at one of my "home" tracks when the Sprint Invaders, Late Models and Stock Cars open up the season at 34 Raceway in Burlington. No fans are allowed in the stands in Iowa yet, but you can catch all of the action on SpeedShift.
A lot of cars. With this being the first of two big nights of racing at MTS this weekend, and with the Supreme Court in the state of Wisconsin pretty much lifting all restrictions, both the pits and the grandstands were overflowing with one local fan telling us that it was the biggest crowd that he had ever seen here. We were pretty comfortable with spacing, but to establish it we had arrived at 5:45 for the 7:30 show making it an even longer night than usual. Back to that big car count, there were 60 USRA B-Mods, 47 Dirt Kings Late Models, 38 USMTS Modifieds and 33 USRA Hobby Stocks making a total of 178 entries.
A lot of races. The huge car count required 27 qualifying events to set the field for each of the four divisions.
A lot of watering. With this being my first ever visit to the track that is just north of Fountain City I had been told that the dust will fly and thankfully tonight the wind was coming from behind us, so we were pretty much spared all night. To try to keep the dust down, and to keep the track incredibly wide and racy all night, the Terragator would come out after every set of heat races and B-Mains to put some water down which then of course meant that the next race out would have to circle the track for several laps to work the moisture in before taking the green flag.
And at 11:30, when all of the qualifying races were completed, the grader came out to work on a bit of a hole that developed at the entrance of turn one. Then, with more water, the B-Mod feature field probably ran twenty laps of wheel packing before they were lined up for their twenty-lap main event.
There is no doubt that all of the attention to the track surface made the racing better and the finish to the first main event of the night would prove that. Two of the best in the division, Dan Hovden and Jim Chisholm lined up on the front row and Chisholm would be scored the leader by inches on the opening lap. Hovden would take over on the second lap before Tony Bahr spun down the front stretch for the first caution. On the restart Parker Hale joined the battle for the lead with Hovden maintaining control until the caution flew again on lap twelve for Nathan Butterfield who had spun in turn four.
Once back to green Hovden and Hale pulled away from Chisholm and it looked to be a two car battle for the win only to see heat race winner Bob Cisewski spin in turn four with three laps remaining. One more lap was scored before the rear end locked up on Kadden Kath's car and we were now set up for a green, white, checkers finish. On the restart though something faltered on Hovden's car and he would go pitside under caution leaving it up to Hale and Chisholm to decide who would take the win.
Hale would hold the lead by less than a car length as the white flag waved, but Chisholm had found something on the top side and as they raced through turns three and four for the final time Chisholm swept around the outside to beat Hale to the finish line by inches. Defending track champion Ryan Olson would finish in the third spot ahead of Ben Moudry and Taylor Skauge.
Another shot of water and after some more packing we were set to go for forty laps with the Late Models and it would be Brett Swedberg racing to the early lead with pole-sitter Chad Mahder in hot pursuit. Mahder would take the lead away on lap five only to have the pass negated when Justin Ritchie and Troy Springborn spun in turn three. So it would be Swedberg bringing the field back to green and just one more lap would be completed before a six car melee in turn three required a red flag because the track was completely blocked. Jake Redetzke, who was dominant in his heat race would retire to the pits along with Jeff Massengill.
Once back to racing Jake Timm would now take up the challenge on Mahder for the lead, but Chad was up to the task and kept the young challenger at bay until lap thirty when the leader slowed exiting turn two and pulled to the infield. Timm would assume the lead, but he had Ryan Gustin closing fast and as Gustin worked the top side of the track it looked like we might have a thrilling finish coming up. With just five laps to go though, Gustin got too high entering turn one and clipped the wall at the exit to the pits, With the damage Gustin would limp to the infield with the race staying green and that would allow Timm to coast to victory, repeating his Dirt Kings success as he won here in his first ever Late Model race last year. Jesse Glenz would be the runner-up, Swedberg held down the third spot, Dustin Sorenson came from eighteenth to finish fourth and Iowa's Jeremiah Husrt started eleventh and finished in fifth.
That was enough action for us and thankfully it was a short drive to Winona where our hotel room was waiting. Checking the results I see that Dustin Gulbrandson was the Hobby Stock winner ahead of Chris Hovden and Steve Dwyer. I hated to miss the USMTS main even as I don't get to see Todd and Janet Staley's series race more than once or twice a year and on this morning it would be Dustin Sorenson taking the win ahead of Jake Timm, Jacob Bleees, Rookie-of-the-Year contender Calvin Iverson and Mississippi traveler Brooks Strength. Now I will just have to track 'm down somewhere else this season.
It was my first-ever visit to Mississippi Thunder Speedway already making it two new tracks for me in my first five races for 2020. On Sunday night though I look forward to being back at one of my "home" tracks when the Sprint Invaders, Late Models and Stock Cars open up the season at 34 Raceway in Burlington. No fans are allowed in the stands in Iowa yet, but you can catch all of the action on SpeedShift.
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Stuart's Season Opener Sets A High Bar
The 2020 racing season at the Stuart Speedway finally got underway with the track's weekly Wednesday night opener that pulled in 136 cars in five divisions with drivers and their crews practicing social distancing guidelines while fans were encouraged to watch online at RaceRx with the bleachers still closed to spectators. And, with a silky smooth surface that slicked off from bottom to top, this season opener provided racing action that will be hard to beat here as the season continues here at the central Iowa quarter-mile.
A solid field of fourteen Outlaw Mini Mods would be the first feature of the night with pole-sitter Nathan Kilwine who pulled in from Glenville, Minnesota, racing out to a big lead. The caution would wave on lap four for two separate incidents as while Cody Housby smacked the wall on the front stretch, there was also a three-car pileup in turn two with Kenadi Songer taking the brunt of that one. On the restart Kilwine again pulled away from the competition to post the win in dominating fashion while the battle for second went right down to the stripe as Logan Brown edged out Chase Daniels by inches. Dan Kline and Bobby Daniels would fill out the top five.
While Kilwine had his picture taken in victory lane, track owner/promoter Mike VanGenderen roughed up the cushion a bit on both ends of the speedway and, wow, what a difference that would make as drivers who wanted to take the "long way around" now had something to grab onto. In essence, the low groove, the mid-low groove, the mid-high line and the cushion all now seemed to be equal and believe me there was plenty of four-wide racing in the remaining features to prove that!
The IMCA Northern Sport Mods were up next and their eighteen lap feature would get off to a rough start when fourth starting Korbin Nourse would spin in turn one sending the rest of the full field scrambling. When all was said and done six cars were involved with two of them suffering too much damage to continue. On the second try at a start, Robert Moore spun from his now sixth starting spot in turn one and thankfully this time everybody else was able to avoid him. The third time was a charm as pole-sitter Brayton Carter took the lead, but the caution would wave again on lap three when division rookie Zach Hovell spun in turn one.
Once back to green, most of the field followed Carter around the bottom until Cam Reimers decided to check out that newly groomed cushion. On lap seven Reimers swept around Tyler Inman to take second and he was now closing quickly on Carter, but after taking the crossed flags signaling the half way mark Carter spun entering turn one and the caution waved again.
Reimers and Inman would bring the field back to green and let's just say that the remaining nine laps were just about as entertaining of a race for the lead as you are ever going to see. The two young drivers would take turns throwing slide jobs at each other on both ends of the speedway, never once making contact with the other and switching lines back and forth. Officially Reimers led every lap as he would shuffle back to the front each time the two crossed the line, but Inman would also hold the lead at some point during six of those nine laps. As the white flag waved Inman was too far back to slide up in front of the leader in turn two and that allowed Reimers to drive away down the back stretch and through the final two turns to take the thrilling victory. Kudos to Inman for his valiant runner-up effort and just behind them division rookie Corey Madden was ready to pounce if the two leaders ever made contact. The runner-up in the 2019 All Iowa Points Hobby Stock standings would have to settle for third. Garrett Nelson would hold down the fourth spot while Oregon driver Matt Sanders started twelfth and finished in fifth.
Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, here come the Stock Cars for twenty laps and I know that I saw them go five-wide near the front of the pack in the opening laps. Brandon Pruitt, Buck Schafroth and Kellie Drury were three-wide for the lead on lap three when the caution had to wave for a Jeff Byers Jr. spin in turn one and once back to green Pruitt would establish himself as the pace setter digging around the very bottom of the speedway. On lap six the caution waved again, this time when Anthony Goldsberry and Chad Legere tangled in turn one and collected Jonathan Kinser.
On the restart Pruitt would continue to run the low line with Schafroth working the middle and on lap twelve Buck would complete the pass. Damon Murty would soon follow him into second and as Schafroth moved up to the top Murty would now have to leave his preferred line to mount his challenge for the lead. With five laps remaining Murty would throw a slider in turns one and two only to have Schafroth regain the lead down the back stretch, but when Murty made the same move in turns three and four this time it stuck and he would now hold the advantage. There would be no catching Marty over the final five circuits as one of the best in the division over the past two decades would take another win. Schafroth could be that next big star in the Stock Cars as he finished second, Pruitt held down the third spot at his hometown speedway and Drury held off the next generation, Dallon Murty to finish fourth.
With twenty-nine IMCA Modifieds signed in a B-Main (I love a weekly show that needs a B-Main!) was needed to set the twenty-four car field for the twenty lap main event. While all of the other features would deal with three or more cautions, the Modifieds would run off their twenty laps in non-stop fashion with Ethan Braaksma starting from the pole. Looking at the roster of talent lined up behind him, this one was a bit of a surprise as the young driver from Newton would leave the better known stars of his division in his wake. Braaksma worked traffic like a seasoned veteran and even with a mistake that saw him send the sparks fly while slapping the wall in turn one with two laps to go, he would still have five lapped cars between himself and runner-up Tom Berry Jr. as the checkered flag waved. The North Dakota driver Berry passed Kansas visitor Clay Money late for that second spot while Todd Shute and Tim Ward completed the top five. Ricky Thornton Jr. who has been practically unbeatable during the early races held in the virus delayed season started behind Braaksma in third and dropped out of the event with three laps remaining while running in the fourth spot.
Fifteen laps would be the distance for the Sport Compacts and when Kolby Sabin slipped by pole-sitter Hunter Patrick in turns three and four he would lead the opening lap. Patrick would try to get that lead back with a bold move into turn one, but when he door slammed Sabin it would send Patrick for a spin collecting a couple of other drivers. One back to green it would be a three-wide race for the lead between Sabin, Curtis Masterson and Mitchell Bunch with Bunch taking the point before the caution waved again on lap three. Following this restart Bryan Vannausdale would take up the challenge on Bunch and he would lead the way on laps five and six only to have Bunch come back to the front on lap seven. Two more cautions would wave on laps nine and twelve and on that final restart Bunch would miss his mark entering turn one leaving the door open to Vannaudale who happily accepted the invitation to take the lead and, two laps later, the opening night feature win. Bunch would chase him in for second, Sabin finished third with Masterson fourth and Ryan Brown in fifth.
The IMCA Hobby Stocks would close out the night and a lap three spin by Brandon Long would collect three top contenders in Zach Hemmingson, Spencer Galaway and Dylan Nelson. Making the long trip over from Waco, Nebraska, Galaway was impressive in winning his heat race earlier in the night, but the damage from this incident would send both he and Hemmingson pitside. Nelson was able to get a tire changed and joined the field just before the green flag waved for the restart. Chuck Madden Jr. would continue to pace the field from his pole position start while another Nebraska visitor Jeff Ware tried to get a run on the top side. On lap eight Ware went a bit too high into turn one while running second and contact with the jersey barrier would flatten his right rear tire ending his challenge.
A couple of more caution flags would slow the process, but in the end nobody could get by Madden who would post the wire to wire win. The race for second was a good one with Jason Kohl edging out Brandon Cox for the position. Nelson charged back through the field to finish in the fourth spot with Miciah Hidelbaugh taking fifth.
Even with the large field of cars and the significant number of feature race cautions, the final checkered flag waved just before 10:30 and I had plenty of action to re-live during my long drive home. Don't forget that the Stuart Speedway will be back in action over the Memorial Day weekend with the Malvern Bank SLMR Late Models headlining Sunday night's card and then on Monday night the IMCA Modifieds will take top billing for the Bill Davis Sr. Memorial. Unfortunately fans are still not allowed to be in the stands, but you can again watch all of the action at RaceXr.
My Memorial Day weekend plans currently include two nights of racing with Friday's destination still to be determined based upon the weather and then on Sunday night I will be at 34 Raceway in Burlington for the Sprint Invaders season opener. Late Models and Stock Cars complete a savory three class menu and with no fans allowed in the stands make sure that you dial up SpeedShift to watch all of the thrills and spills from the high-banked 3/8th-mile oval.
Be safe, stay healthy and thanks for checking in on the Back Stretch!
A solid field of fourteen Outlaw Mini Mods would be the first feature of the night with pole-sitter Nathan Kilwine who pulled in from Glenville, Minnesota, racing out to a big lead. The caution would wave on lap four for two separate incidents as while Cody Housby smacked the wall on the front stretch, there was also a three-car pileup in turn two with Kenadi Songer taking the brunt of that one. On the restart Kilwine again pulled away from the competition to post the win in dominating fashion while the battle for second went right down to the stripe as Logan Brown edged out Chase Daniels by inches. Dan Kline and Bobby Daniels would fill out the top five.
While Kilwine had his picture taken in victory lane, track owner/promoter Mike VanGenderen roughed up the cushion a bit on both ends of the speedway and, wow, what a difference that would make as drivers who wanted to take the "long way around" now had something to grab onto. In essence, the low groove, the mid-low groove, the mid-high line and the cushion all now seemed to be equal and believe me there was plenty of four-wide racing in the remaining features to prove that!
The IMCA Northern Sport Mods were up next and their eighteen lap feature would get off to a rough start when fourth starting Korbin Nourse would spin in turn one sending the rest of the full field scrambling. When all was said and done six cars were involved with two of them suffering too much damage to continue. On the second try at a start, Robert Moore spun from his now sixth starting spot in turn one and thankfully this time everybody else was able to avoid him. The third time was a charm as pole-sitter Brayton Carter took the lead, but the caution would wave again on lap three when division rookie Zach Hovell spun in turn one.
Once back to green, most of the field followed Carter around the bottom until Cam Reimers decided to check out that newly groomed cushion. On lap seven Reimers swept around Tyler Inman to take second and he was now closing quickly on Carter, but after taking the crossed flags signaling the half way mark Carter spun entering turn one and the caution waved again.
Reimers and Inman would bring the field back to green and let's just say that the remaining nine laps were just about as entertaining of a race for the lead as you are ever going to see. The two young drivers would take turns throwing slide jobs at each other on both ends of the speedway, never once making contact with the other and switching lines back and forth. Officially Reimers led every lap as he would shuffle back to the front each time the two crossed the line, but Inman would also hold the lead at some point during six of those nine laps. As the white flag waved Inman was too far back to slide up in front of the leader in turn two and that allowed Reimers to drive away down the back stretch and through the final two turns to take the thrilling victory. Kudos to Inman for his valiant runner-up effort and just behind them division rookie Corey Madden was ready to pounce if the two leaders ever made contact. The runner-up in the 2019 All Iowa Points Hobby Stock standings would have to settle for third. Garrett Nelson would hold down the fourth spot while Oregon driver Matt Sanders started twelfth and finished in fifth.
Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, here come the Stock Cars for twenty laps and I know that I saw them go five-wide near the front of the pack in the opening laps. Brandon Pruitt, Buck Schafroth and Kellie Drury were three-wide for the lead on lap three when the caution had to wave for a Jeff Byers Jr. spin in turn one and once back to green Pruitt would establish himself as the pace setter digging around the very bottom of the speedway. On lap six the caution waved again, this time when Anthony Goldsberry and Chad Legere tangled in turn one and collected Jonathan Kinser.
On the restart Pruitt would continue to run the low line with Schafroth working the middle and on lap twelve Buck would complete the pass. Damon Murty would soon follow him into second and as Schafroth moved up to the top Murty would now have to leave his preferred line to mount his challenge for the lead. With five laps remaining Murty would throw a slider in turns one and two only to have Schafroth regain the lead down the back stretch, but when Murty made the same move in turns three and four this time it stuck and he would now hold the advantage. There would be no catching Marty over the final five circuits as one of the best in the division over the past two decades would take another win. Schafroth could be that next big star in the Stock Cars as he finished second, Pruitt held down the third spot at his hometown speedway and Drury held off the next generation, Dallon Murty to finish fourth.
With twenty-nine IMCA Modifieds signed in a B-Main (I love a weekly show that needs a B-Main!) was needed to set the twenty-four car field for the twenty lap main event. While all of the other features would deal with three or more cautions, the Modifieds would run off their twenty laps in non-stop fashion with Ethan Braaksma starting from the pole. Looking at the roster of talent lined up behind him, this one was a bit of a surprise as the young driver from Newton would leave the better known stars of his division in his wake. Braaksma worked traffic like a seasoned veteran and even with a mistake that saw him send the sparks fly while slapping the wall in turn one with two laps to go, he would still have five lapped cars between himself and runner-up Tom Berry Jr. as the checkered flag waved. The North Dakota driver Berry passed Kansas visitor Clay Money late for that second spot while Todd Shute and Tim Ward completed the top five. Ricky Thornton Jr. who has been practically unbeatable during the early races held in the virus delayed season started behind Braaksma in third and dropped out of the event with three laps remaining while running in the fourth spot.
Fifteen laps would be the distance for the Sport Compacts and when Kolby Sabin slipped by pole-sitter Hunter Patrick in turns three and four he would lead the opening lap. Patrick would try to get that lead back with a bold move into turn one, but when he door slammed Sabin it would send Patrick for a spin collecting a couple of other drivers. One back to green it would be a three-wide race for the lead between Sabin, Curtis Masterson and Mitchell Bunch with Bunch taking the point before the caution waved again on lap three. Following this restart Bryan Vannausdale would take up the challenge on Bunch and he would lead the way on laps five and six only to have Bunch come back to the front on lap seven. Two more cautions would wave on laps nine and twelve and on that final restart Bunch would miss his mark entering turn one leaving the door open to Vannaudale who happily accepted the invitation to take the lead and, two laps later, the opening night feature win. Bunch would chase him in for second, Sabin finished third with Masterson fourth and Ryan Brown in fifth.
The IMCA Hobby Stocks would close out the night and a lap three spin by Brandon Long would collect three top contenders in Zach Hemmingson, Spencer Galaway and Dylan Nelson. Making the long trip over from Waco, Nebraska, Galaway was impressive in winning his heat race earlier in the night, but the damage from this incident would send both he and Hemmingson pitside. Nelson was able to get a tire changed and joined the field just before the green flag waved for the restart. Chuck Madden Jr. would continue to pace the field from his pole position start while another Nebraska visitor Jeff Ware tried to get a run on the top side. On lap eight Ware went a bit too high into turn one while running second and contact with the jersey barrier would flatten his right rear tire ending his challenge.
A couple of more caution flags would slow the process, but in the end nobody could get by Madden who would post the wire to wire win. The race for second was a good one with Jason Kohl edging out Brandon Cox for the position. Nelson charged back through the field to finish in the fourth spot with Miciah Hidelbaugh taking fifth.
Even with the large field of cars and the significant number of feature race cautions, the final checkered flag waved just before 10:30 and I had plenty of action to re-live during my long drive home. Don't forget that the Stuart Speedway will be back in action over the Memorial Day weekend with the Malvern Bank SLMR Late Models headlining Sunday night's card and then on Monday night the IMCA Modifieds will take top billing for the Bill Davis Sr. Memorial. Unfortunately fans are still not allowed to be in the stands, but you can again watch all of the action at RaceXr.
My Memorial Day weekend plans currently include two nights of racing with Friday's destination still to be determined based upon the weather and then on Sunday night I will be at 34 Raceway in Burlington for the Sprint Invaders season opener. Late Models and Stock Cars complete a savory three class menu and with no fans allowed in the stands make sure that you dial up SpeedShift to watch all of the thrills and spills from the high-banked 3/8th-mile oval.
Be safe, stay healthy and thanks for checking in on the Back Stretch!
Saturday, May 16, 2020
Marolf, Kay, Neal, Struck and Bielenberg Take Season Opening Wins at Davenport
If ever there was a track that could have race fans attend in safe manner right now....
As I stood there on the stage where such big name acts as Keith Urban, Old Dominion and Pitbull are currently scheduled to appear during the Mississippi Valley Fair in August, in front of a grandstand that is large enough to support such stars, I couldn't help to think just how sad this all is right now. How many people could have been sitting up there six feet apart individually, let alone the groups of family that could have been close together? One thousand? Fifteen hundred? Even in normal times promoters Ricky and Brenda Kay would be thrilled with those numbers, especially when they had 160 race cars in five divisions spread about the massive pit area.
Instead there she just sat, that grand old covered amphitheater essentially empty other than a three person crew with Done Right TV and track announcer Shane Davis who was giving the call direct to the Pay Per View crowd instead of letting his voice echo through that lonely grandstand. It was an eerie setting for sure, but there were cars on the quarter-mile and I did my best to focus on that by facing my folding chair toward the back stretch throughout the night.
The Street Stocks would be the first of five features to take the track on a night that would not have been possible without a herculean effort from Kay to get a race track ready after heavy rains on Thursday. Yes, it was rough, but drivers who searched around were able to find lines that were smoother and sometimes faster while others decided that if the route through the ruts was the quickest way around, well then you might as well just Cowboy Up. Jesse Owen and Nick Claussen would bring the field to green for the fifteen lap event, but when Claussen got crossed up in turn one he would collect five more cars as the field scrambled. Tyler Gilmour, Nick Hixson and Shad Murphy would see their night come to an early end.
When the green flag waved again Owen would race out to the lead with Zach Zuberbier making a quick move toward the front. That move would end quickly though as contact with Rick Schriner would send him for a spin down the front stretch and into the infield. The race would stay green as Zuberbier rejoined the field and it was now Jeff Struck Jr. who was closing in on the leader. Struck's line around the top of turn four proved to be the best as he would take the lead on lap three and from there he would pull away for the first checkered flag of 2020 at the Davenport Speedway. Justin Van Drunen made the long tow from Crown Point, Indiana, to finish second after starting from the eighth row, Owen locked down third, Frank Waters finished fourth and Cord Williams also made a run from deep in the field coming from nineteenth to fifth.
A first lap incident reshaped the Modified field as well when fourth starting Jeff Larson was turned in turn four with several cars piling in sending six of them to the pit area without completing a lap. On the second try at a start Chris Zogg would race ahead of pole-sitter Justin Kay to pace the field and even open up a lead by the mid-race mark of the twenty lap event. Timmy Current had dropped Kay to third and was starting to close the gap on the leader before Kay found a new line and charged back to second with Austin Howes now challenging Current for third. The caution would wave with five laps remaining when the lapped car of Derek Thompson spun right in front of Current and Howes who both had to race through the infield to avoid Thompson.
On the restart the field stacked up entering turn three with Current and Howes coming to a stop in turn four. Apparently the call was that it was a bad start as both drivers were given their positions back and once back to green Kay was all over Zogg in the battle for the win. The two would cross the stripe in a virtual dead heat on lap sixteen before Kay would take the lead for good with three to go for the win. Zogg would ward off Current for third, Tyler Madigan originally started the race in tenth and finished fourth while Mitch Morris crossed the line in fifth. However, since Morris picked off a row or two on the outside before the green flag waved on the final restart he was dropped to eighth in the final rundown with Brandon Durbin elevated to fifth.
A huge field of forty-six Sport Mods was whittled down to twenty-four for the fifteen lap main event with pole-sitter Jason Roth setting the early pace while others in the stout field battled for position. The caution waved on lap eight when Matt Irwin spun in turn two and on the restart it was now a three car battle for the lead as Gage Neal worked the low line and Austen Becerra rode the top. Neal would nose ahead of Roth on lap ten with Becerra in tow and on lap eleven those two crossed the stripe side by side. That rougher ride around the bottom proved to be the quicker way around though as Neal would then pull away over the final four laps to take the win. Becerra settled for runner up honors ahead of Roth, Tony Olson and Chance Huston.
Twenty-five laps of Late Model action was up next and despite drawing a front row starting spot, National Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Gary Webb chose to take a lap at the back and then head to the pits to collect his start money. Nick Marolf would go from the pole and lead the way running a low line that was quick, but would also require him to hit the brakes and settle the car down after wheel hopping in turn four a few times. As he did in the Modified feature earlier in the evening, Justin Kay found a line that would bring him to the front and when the caution waved for a Lake Knutti spin on lap nine the race was on.
Kay would take the lead from Marolf through turns one and two on the restart only to have Nick battle back in three and four to retain his advantage on the score sheet. Again Kay would get that higher line to work and he would take the lead by a nose on lap sixteen, but Marolf would take it right back on the following lap. Chuck Hanna was now closing in on the lead duo and as Marolf pulled away a bit, Hanna slipped by Kay for second and had his sights set on the leader. All he needed was one more wheel hop by Marolf to make his move, but the leader kept it on all fours over the final circuits to take the win with Hanna close behind. Kay finished in the third position with Andy Nezworski making a big run from thirteenth to fourth. Hometown favorite Matt Ryan completed the top five.
All thirty-two of the Sport Compacts that had signed in were slated to run the twelve lap finale and I believe that twenty-five of them took the green flag. Peoria Speedway regular Nick Johnson would lead the opening lap with Mitch Bielenberg taking over on lap two. Jake Benischek had started eighth, but he would move to the point on lap four with the caution waving two laps later for a Jack Fitzgibbon spin off turn four.
On the restart, as Benischek led the field into turn one, something broke sending him to a stop over the top of turn two so it would be Adam Christy and Bielenberg lined up side-by-side on the front row for the restart. As they made contact exiting turn four that allowed Ashley Reuman and Travis Hawkins to sweep around them with Reuman leading lap seven and Hawkins lap eight. Bielenberg came charging back though to regain the advantage on lap nine and he would hold it from there to take the win with Christy and Reuman close behind. Shawn McDermott pass Hawkins out of turn four on the final lap to finish fourth.
How about that? Five lead changes among five drivers in a twelve lap race to close out the evening.
It was just a few days earlier when Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds declared that race tracks in all 99 counties could be "open", but with no spectators, and all of us who were able to attend and compete on this night should give thanks to Ricky and Brenda Kay, and their entire staff for pulling this show together even with the curve ball thrown in by Mother Nature.
After each of the five feature races the winner was directed to the infield where the track photographer as well as veteran freelance shooter Dennis Krieger were to take a couple of traditional victory lane pictures. As Gage Neal climbed out of his car it looked like he was about to turn toward the grandstand, perhaps to pump his fist in jubilation after a hard earned victory. But there it was, that big empty grandstand, so instead he politely held the flag and smiled.
Race tracks will not truly be "open" until race fans are allowed to be there to share in
the thrill of victory. Hopefully that will be soon.
As I stood there on the stage where such big name acts as Keith Urban, Old Dominion and Pitbull are currently scheduled to appear during the Mississippi Valley Fair in August, in front of a grandstand that is large enough to support such stars, I couldn't help to think just how sad this all is right now. How many people could have been sitting up there six feet apart individually, let alone the groups of family that could have been close together? One thousand? Fifteen hundred? Even in normal times promoters Ricky and Brenda Kay would be thrilled with those numbers, especially when they had 160 race cars in five divisions spread about the massive pit area.
Instead there she just sat, that grand old covered amphitheater essentially empty other than a three person crew with Done Right TV and track announcer Shane Davis who was giving the call direct to the Pay Per View crowd instead of letting his voice echo through that lonely grandstand. It was an eerie setting for sure, but there were cars on the quarter-mile and I did my best to focus on that by facing my folding chair toward the back stretch throughout the night.
The Street Stocks would be the first of five features to take the track on a night that would not have been possible without a herculean effort from Kay to get a race track ready after heavy rains on Thursday. Yes, it was rough, but drivers who searched around were able to find lines that were smoother and sometimes faster while others decided that if the route through the ruts was the quickest way around, well then you might as well just Cowboy Up. Jesse Owen and Nick Claussen would bring the field to green for the fifteen lap event, but when Claussen got crossed up in turn one he would collect five more cars as the field scrambled. Tyler Gilmour, Nick Hixson and Shad Murphy would see their night come to an early end.
When the green flag waved again Owen would race out to the lead with Zach Zuberbier making a quick move toward the front. That move would end quickly though as contact with Rick Schriner would send him for a spin down the front stretch and into the infield. The race would stay green as Zuberbier rejoined the field and it was now Jeff Struck Jr. who was closing in on the leader. Struck's line around the top of turn four proved to be the best as he would take the lead on lap three and from there he would pull away for the first checkered flag of 2020 at the Davenport Speedway. Justin Van Drunen made the long tow from Crown Point, Indiana, to finish second after starting from the eighth row, Owen locked down third, Frank Waters finished fourth and Cord Williams also made a run from deep in the field coming from nineteenth to fifth.
A first lap incident reshaped the Modified field as well when fourth starting Jeff Larson was turned in turn four with several cars piling in sending six of them to the pit area without completing a lap. On the second try at a start Chris Zogg would race ahead of pole-sitter Justin Kay to pace the field and even open up a lead by the mid-race mark of the twenty lap event. Timmy Current had dropped Kay to third and was starting to close the gap on the leader before Kay found a new line and charged back to second with Austin Howes now challenging Current for third. The caution would wave with five laps remaining when the lapped car of Derek Thompson spun right in front of Current and Howes who both had to race through the infield to avoid Thompson.
On the restart the field stacked up entering turn three with Current and Howes coming to a stop in turn four. Apparently the call was that it was a bad start as both drivers were given their positions back and once back to green Kay was all over Zogg in the battle for the win. The two would cross the stripe in a virtual dead heat on lap sixteen before Kay would take the lead for good with three to go for the win. Zogg would ward off Current for third, Tyler Madigan originally started the race in tenth and finished fourth while Mitch Morris crossed the line in fifth. However, since Morris picked off a row or two on the outside before the green flag waved on the final restart he was dropped to eighth in the final rundown with Brandon Durbin elevated to fifth.
 |
| Chris Zogg races through turns three and four during preliminary action - Dennis Krieger photo |
Twenty-five laps of Late Model action was up next and despite drawing a front row starting spot, National Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Gary Webb chose to take a lap at the back and then head to the pits to collect his start money. Nick Marolf would go from the pole and lead the way running a low line that was quick, but would also require him to hit the brakes and settle the car down after wheel hopping in turn four a few times. As he did in the Modified feature earlier in the evening, Justin Kay found a line that would bring him to the front and when the caution waved for a Lake Knutti spin on lap nine the race was on.
Kay would take the lead from Marolf through turns one and two on the restart only to have Nick battle back in three and four to retain his advantage on the score sheet. Again Kay would get that higher line to work and he would take the lead by a nose on lap sixteen, but Marolf would take it right back on the following lap. Chuck Hanna was now closing in on the lead duo and as Marolf pulled away a bit, Hanna slipped by Kay for second and had his sights set on the leader. All he needed was one more wheel hop by Marolf to make his move, but the leader kept it on all fours over the final circuits to take the win with Hanna close behind. Kay finished in the third position with Andy Nezworski making a big run from thirteenth to fourth. Hometown favorite Matt Ryan completed the top five.
All thirty-two of the Sport Compacts that had signed in were slated to run the twelve lap finale and I believe that twenty-five of them took the green flag. Peoria Speedway regular Nick Johnson would lead the opening lap with Mitch Bielenberg taking over on lap two. Jake Benischek had started eighth, but he would move to the point on lap four with the caution waving two laps later for a Jack Fitzgibbon spin off turn four.
On the restart, as Benischek led the field into turn one, something broke sending him to a stop over the top of turn two so it would be Adam Christy and Bielenberg lined up side-by-side on the front row for the restart. As they made contact exiting turn four that allowed Ashley Reuman and Travis Hawkins to sweep around them with Reuman leading lap seven and Hawkins lap eight. Bielenberg came charging back though to regain the advantage on lap nine and he would hold it from there to take the win with Christy and Reuman close behind. Shawn McDermott pass Hawkins out of turn four on the final lap to finish fourth.
How about that? Five lead changes among five drivers in a twelve lap race to close out the evening.
It was just a few days earlier when Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds declared that race tracks in all 99 counties could be "open", but with no spectators, and all of us who were able to attend and compete on this night should give thanks to Ricky and Brenda Kay, and their entire staff for pulling this show together even with the curve ball thrown in by Mother Nature.
After each of the five feature races the winner was directed to the infield where the track photographer as well as veteran freelance shooter Dennis Krieger were to take a couple of traditional victory lane pictures. As Gage Neal climbed out of his car it looked like he was about to turn toward the grandstand, perhaps to pump his fist in jubilation after a hard earned victory. But there it was, that big empty grandstand, so instead he politely held the flag and smiled.
Race tracks will not truly be "open" until race fans are allowed to be there to share in
the thrill of victory. Hopefully that will be soon.
Thursday, May 14, 2020
I'm Sorry.....
I'm sorry, but at this point it looks like the Special Events Calendar at Positively Racing is pretty much useless, at least for the next four to six weeks. I just don't have the time or energy to try to keep up with all of the changes right now and frankly what point is it for me to list a race on there where you, the race fan can't even go due to restrictions? I guess that I could add a column "Spectators Allowed?" with a Yes, No, Limited or Remains To Be Seen for each event and I could add another column where you could find the Pay Per View for that event, but at the rate things are changing right now, keeping it all updated might just be a 24-7 job for me. And there is no way that I will be able to get the Webmistress to keep changing things!
So for now, look at July and beyond and HOPE that we will be back to some sense of normalcy when it comes to attending races. In the meantime keep an eye on Twitter, Facebook and all of those other fun sites to see what your area tracks are up to and whether or not those May and June events are go to happen and under what circumstances.
One thing that I do like is that I have several options of races to attend coming up over the next two weeks, something that I never thought would have been possible back in mid-April so I am going to consider that to be very positive with hopes that the trend will continue.
Perhaps the biggest surprise came last night when the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the stay-at-home orders and right away a couple of tracks in the state stepped up and said that they will race this weekend. While that is all well and good, as race fans in any state let's continue to do our best to mitigate the virus by washing our hands frequently, maintaining distance from those that you do not live with/did not travel with and by all means if you are feeling sick at all or even have a slight fever, stay home!
Yes, I know that many carriers are asymptomatic and that you never know who might have it or who they might be infecting, no need to message me. My thoughts remain the same, make your choices based upon your own situation and your own risk tolerance. I completely respect anybody who decides to stay home right now, but in the same light if I choose to go and take all of the precautions that have been advised, you should respect my decision as well.
It is great to have some choices over the next two weeks, now if Mother Nature will cooperate! Two possibilities on Friday, three on Saturday and even one on Sunday for this coming weekend. I thought that I would be making a road trip to Osborn, Missouri, for the World of Outlaws Late Models on Monday night, but the Outlaws pulled the plug on that one due to the Friday/Saturday weather forecast for the show down at Pevely.
Both of my Wednesday night options (Oskaloosa and Stuart) are back in action on May 20th and then there will be even more to look at over the Memorial Day weekend. In fact it was just announced that the Sprint Invaders will get their season opening event in at 34 Raceway on Sunday May 24th with details to be announced soon.
I definitely have Sunday May 31st marked on my calendar as Jason Goble will move his Quincy Raceways operation over to the Randolph County Speedway in Moberly, Missouri. Perhaps they could dub the event "A Tribute To JB", or something even more colorful as the state of Illinois continues to be locked down based upon the statistics from Chicago and its suburbs.
Speaking of statistics again, I just had to chuckle this morning when ABC News once again made the point during a story on virus testing that 9 million Americans have been tested thus far "and that is less than 3% of the population!" Okay, so not trying to sway you one way or another here, just doing the math, but if 9 million is less than 3% of the population that would mean that the current count of Positive cases according to Worldometer at 3:43 p.m. on 5/14/20 of 1,450,366 is actually 0.4382% of the population.
AND, now stay with me here for a second, keep in mind that the "number of positive cases" is an accumulating number. It doesn't go down, it just keeps going up until there are no more new cases, and within those numbers are people who have recovered and are back to living their life to as near normal as one can get right now. Someone like ABC's own George Stephanopolous who tested positive in April, never really had any symptoms, and is now back on the set each morning instead of sheltered at home.
So, if you look at the number of "Active Cases" right now in the USA that stands at 1,039,842 which means that 0.3142% of the population currently tests positive. And, to state that number in another term, that would be 3 out of every 1,000 people. That count can go up or down depending upon how the virus is tracking and it is that statistic that should be watched closer for trends.
Anyway, just taking a look at stats as they stand. You can interpret them in the manner that you wish.
Hey, so remember how we used to talk about how bad social media was when it came to racing? If you want to be entertained and disgusted at the same time, tune in to the Iowa Governor's daily press conference on her Facebook page at 11 a.m. tomorrow and watch some of the idiotic comments that scroll along on the right side of the screen. Thankfully they don't stay in view too long, so even though you often will say "Wait, what?" you will not have a chance to review to see if that last comment was really that stupid before the next one pops up.
If I had one wish right now it would be that all of the promoters in Iowa would be granted a fifteen minute conference call with Governor Reynolds to talk about how a Race Track isn't truly "open" until there can be fans in the stands. Something tells me that our state officials believe that the grandstands look like the Knoxville Nationals or the IMCA Super Nationals on every race night and, while we all wish that was the case, we know that on most nights fans would have no trouble maintaining some distance between family groups and other individuals. Hopefully that point can be made, and understood soon.
Back to other news for a moment, I am interested to see the balance of coverage between each of the following:
Brett Kavanaugh's Sexual Assault Allegations vs. Joe Biden's Sexual Assault Allegations (once again, no reason to message me here as I am not taking a side, I am just interested to see if the amount of media coverage and scrutiny is the same)
Mueller Report vs. Durham Report (see stuff in parentheses immediately above)
It seems like the common defense on both, assuming that the coverage is not equal, is going to be that these are just diversions right now, or we will be reminded about Trump's roster of sexual allegations. My theory is that if the person, or people who had ownership of the Billy Bush "grab'em by the" you know what tape would have released it during the Republican primaries there would have been a different nominee running against Hillary. Talk about a bad strategy, mark my words there will be a book written about that blunder someday.
Good grief, get me out of this political stuff and get me back to the race track so that I can tell you about the heroes of our favorite sport. Hope to see you on the Back Stretch again soon!
So for now, look at July and beyond and HOPE that we will be back to some sense of normalcy when it comes to attending races. In the meantime keep an eye on Twitter, Facebook and all of those other fun sites to see what your area tracks are up to and whether or not those May and June events are go to happen and under what circumstances.
One thing that I do like is that I have several options of races to attend coming up over the next two weeks, something that I never thought would have been possible back in mid-April so I am going to consider that to be very positive with hopes that the trend will continue.
Perhaps the biggest surprise came last night when the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the stay-at-home orders and right away a couple of tracks in the state stepped up and said that they will race this weekend. While that is all well and good, as race fans in any state let's continue to do our best to mitigate the virus by washing our hands frequently, maintaining distance from those that you do not live with/did not travel with and by all means if you are feeling sick at all or even have a slight fever, stay home!
Yes, I know that many carriers are asymptomatic and that you never know who might have it or who they might be infecting, no need to message me. My thoughts remain the same, make your choices based upon your own situation and your own risk tolerance. I completely respect anybody who decides to stay home right now, but in the same light if I choose to go and take all of the precautions that have been advised, you should respect my decision as well.
It is great to have some choices over the next two weeks, now if Mother Nature will cooperate! Two possibilities on Friday, three on Saturday and even one on Sunday for this coming weekend. I thought that I would be making a road trip to Osborn, Missouri, for the World of Outlaws Late Models on Monday night, but the Outlaws pulled the plug on that one due to the Friday/Saturday weather forecast for the show down at Pevely.
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| It will be nice to see the sunset over turns three and four at Osky again soon! |
Both of my Wednesday night options (Oskaloosa and Stuart) are back in action on May 20th and then there will be even more to look at over the Memorial Day weekend. In fact it was just announced that the Sprint Invaders will get their season opening event in at 34 Raceway on Sunday May 24th with details to be announced soon.
I definitely have Sunday May 31st marked on my calendar as Jason Goble will move his Quincy Raceways operation over to the Randolph County Speedway in Moberly, Missouri. Perhaps they could dub the event "A Tribute To JB", or something even more colorful as the state of Illinois continues to be locked down based upon the statistics from Chicago and its suburbs.
Speaking of statistics again, I just had to chuckle this morning when ABC News once again made the point during a story on virus testing that 9 million Americans have been tested thus far "and that is less than 3% of the population!" Okay, so not trying to sway you one way or another here, just doing the math, but if 9 million is less than 3% of the population that would mean that the current count of Positive cases according to Worldometer at 3:43 p.m. on 5/14/20 of 1,450,366 is actually 0.4382% of the population.
AND, now stay with me here for a second, keep in mind that the "number of positive cases" is an accumulating number. It doesn't go down, it just keeps going up until there are no more new cases, and within those numbers are people who have recovered and are back to living their life to as near normal as one can get right now. Someone like ABC's own George Stephanopolous who tested positive in April, never really had any symptoms, and is now back on the set each morning instead of sheltered at home.
So, if you look at the number of "Active Cases" right now in the USA that stands at 1,039,842 which means that 0.3142% of the population currently tests positive. And, to state that number in another term, that would be 3 out of every 1,000 people. That count can go up or down depending upon how the virus is tracking and it is that statistic that should be watched closer for trends.
Anyway, just taking a look at stats as they stand. You can interpret them in the manner that you wish.
Hey, so remember how we used to talk about how bad social media was when it came to racing? If you want to be entertained and disgusted at the same time, tune in to the Iowa Governor's daily press conference on her Facebook page at 11 a.m. tomorrow and watch some of the idiotic comments that scroll along on the right side of the screen. Thankfully they don't stay in view too long, so even though you often will say "Wait, what?" you will not have a chance to review to see if that last comment was really that stupid before the next one pops up.
If I had one wish right now it would be that all of the promoters in Iowa would be granted a fifteen minute conference call with Governor Reynolds to talk about how a Race Track isn't truly "open" until there can be fans in the stands. Something tells me that our state officials believe that the grandstands look like the Knoxville Nationals or the IMCA Super Nationals on every race night and, while we all wish that was the case, we know that on most nights fans would have no trouble maintaining some distance between family groups and other individuals. Hopefully that point can be made, and understood soon.
Back to other news for a moment, I am interested to see the balance of coverage between each of the following:
Brett Kavanaugh's Sexual Assault Allegations vs. Joe Biden's Sexual Assault Allegations (once again, no reason to message me here as I am not taking a side, I am just interested to see if the amount of media coverage and scrutiny is the same)
Mueller Report vs. Durham Report (see stuff in parentheses immediately above)
It seems like the common defense on both, assuming that the coverage is not equal, is going to be that these are just diversions right now, or we will be reminded about Trump's roster of sexual allegations. My theory is that if the person, or people who had ownership of the Billy Bush "grab'em by the" you know what tape would have released it during the Republican primaries there would have been a different nominee running against Hillary. Talk about a bad strategy, mark my words there will be a book written about that blunder someday.
Good grief, get me out of this political stuff and get me back to the race track so that I can tell you about the heroes of our favorite sport. Hope to see you on the Back Stretch again soon!
Saturday, May 9, 2020
Brandies Takes Stock Car Thriller, Long, Schill, Ballard and Ash Are Also Winners at Memphis Opener
I am a huge fan of events where drivers from different regions come together to race each other, some perhaps matching up for the first time, but more often than not in those events it ends up being drivers who face each other often that put on the best show. That was definitely the case on Friday night as the virus delayed Memphis Spring Nationals got underway in front of a controlled and socially distanced crowd at the Scotland County Speedway in northeast Missouri.
The five division program drew in 206 cars from nine different states and while the track got a bit rough due to steady rain on Thursday, the racing was intense and well presented starting with hot laps at 7 p.m. and the final checkers waved around 1:25 a.m. When you have that many cars, it takes awhile to run and keep in mind that tonight's show will start two hours earlier with hot laps scheduled for 5 p.m. and you can watch live on XR.
As they so often do, the Stock Cars provided the most entertaining feature of the night with three of the best in the division John Oliver Jr., Damon Murty and David Brandies putting on a show. Fans were treated to having these three stars in the same heat race where the final laps were thrilling with Oliver dropping from the lead to third after taking the white flag only to split the middle of of Brandies and Murty in turn four to take the win. Post-race in the tech area the three were laughing and smiling as they discussed the action and you just had a feeling that we would see more of the same come feature time, especially when Murty and Brandies drew the front row.
Twenty-laps would be the distance with Brandies grabbing the lead at the drop of the green. Oliver started fifth and was quickly in the hunt with the first heat race winner Todd Reitzler joining the fun to make it a four car battle for the top spot. Murty would nose ahead on lap four and things really heated up when Brandies moved back to the front on lap nine. Murty made the pass again to lead lap ten and Brandies had made the swap again to lead what would have been lap eleven, but that pass was wiped out by the first caution of the race when Jim Redman stopped in turn three.
Murty would lead the field back to green and when Reitzler slowed with a flat tire on lap twelve that allowed Marty to get some separation as Brandies and Oliver raced door to door for second. Murty appeared to have this one in hand, but when Jason See had something let go under the hood exiting turn four on lap seventeen he left a trail of fluid that required one last caution flag. The stage was now set for the final three laps as Brandies and Oliver settled in behind the leader on the high side after the green flag returned.
With two laps remaining Brandies drove it into turn one deep and was able to get a run on the leader down the back stretch. As he entered turn three on the high side, Murty appeared to hesitate for a split second as he hit a bump and Brandies seized the opportunity driving to the inside. As the two were side by side in turn four another ripple in the track appeared to cause Brandies to pitch to the right creating contact between the two that continued to the front stretch with Brandies nearly spinning out before the two leaders gathered it up as the white flag waved.
Oliver had to check up and that allowed Murty's young son Dallon to charge into the mix with Wisconsin's Jeremy Christians right there as well and the top five raced through turns one and two for the final time in a tight pack. Brandies retained the lead down the back stretch with Damon tapping on his bumper as Dallon pulled to his father's inside, but the leader held his line through the final two turns as Brandies would take win ahead of Damon Murty. Third would go to Dallon Murty by inches over Oliver while Christians would complete the top five. While Murty extended his hand of congratulations to Brandies in victory lane, the two had an extended animated conversation in the tech area throughout most of the next feature and you can bet that will you will see these two at battle with each other again soon. And it will be a good one!
The Sport Mods drew the largest car count of the night at 62 and it took six heats and three B-Mains to trim the field to 24 for the first feature of the night. After making the fifteen hour haul from Langdon, North Dakota, Lance Schill had charged from the back of his ten car heat race to finish second earning him the right to draw the pole position for the eighteen lap feature and he took full advantage of it. The only caution of the race waved on lap four and once back to racing Schill pulled out to a big advantage. Brayton Carter had started seventh and on lap eight he made his way up to second, but found himself to be nearly a full straightaway behind the leader.
As the laps clicked down Carter gradually closed the gap even though Schill had yet to catch the back of the field and as the white flag waved there was still at least six car lengths separating the leader from the chaser. Carter would cut it to four down the back stretch and when Schill got a little loose exiting turn four the final time he was able to gather it back up and take the win, but by just a car-length over the runner-up Carter. Josh Most charged from the eleventh starting spot to finish third, Wisconsin's Jason Roth was fourth and Gage Neal filled out the top five.
The Hobby Stocks were the low end of the car count with sixteen and with Marengo, Iowa's Nathan Ballard drawing the pole position this one looked like a race for second. Mike Kincaid had other ideas though as he pulled to the inside of the leader in turns one and two on lap three, but Ballard was up to the challenge and then eased away to take the flag-to-flag win. Kincaid was a solid second as Derek Kirkland came from the fifth row to finish third. Rick Van Dusseldorp finished fourth while Nick Ronnebaum made the trip from Onaga, Kansas, to complete the top five.
You had a similar vibe as the Modified feature came to the track with Michael Long sitting on the outside of the front row next to Midwest legend Kenny Schrader. Just like Schill in the Sport Mods, Michael had put in his work during his heat race coming from seventh to earn his redraw opportunity and as the field raced into turn one for the first time he already had a few car lengths on Schrader. The track had plenty of character at this point of the night and on lap three it claimed two top contenders as both Kyle Brown and Kurt Kile stopped on the track with issues.
On the restart Cayden Carter made a run to the inside of Long in turns one and two only to have Michael use the high side momentum to again pull away down the back stretch and not even Carter could stay close enough to mount a challenge. The caution waved again for debris with eight laps remaining and again Long drove away from his competition as the race heated up for positions behind him. Defending All Iowa Points Champion Joel Rust had started from the eight row and he was now making up ground quickly in the closing laps running the extreme low line through the corners. After taking over fifth with four laps to go, Rust clipped the infield tire in turn two breaking the steering arm on the left front yet amazingly he was able to maintain the position for one more lap up on the high line before throwing in the towel and limping his injured mount to the infield.
Long would complete the green to checkers run for the win with Carter chasing him through traffic in second. Josh Most scored his second podium finish of the night, this time after starting eighth, North Dakota resident Tom Berry Jr. was fourth and Tyler Madigan came from the sixth row to complete the top five.
Fifty-nine four cylinder Sport Compacts signed in for the action with twenty-four of them closing out the night for fifteen laps of feature racing. Chilton, Wisconsin's Shaun Bangert would pace the field to green, but it would be fourth starting Jake Benischek who would have the advantage as the field negotiated turn one for the first time. Seventh starting Josh Barnes would quickly move to second and the chase was on until lap four when Tyler Heckart took a nasty spill down the back stretch. Thankfully Heckart emerged uninjured and when racing resumed Barnes slowed suddenly on the back stretch ending his night with a caution.
Fourteenth starter Jason Ash would now pick up the challenge on Benischek and the driver from Burlington would take over the lead on lap seven. The final caution of the night waved when Kansas driver Ted Trumbo drove over the top of turn three with four laps remaining, but that did not faze Ash as he again pulled away on the restart to complete the victory. Chuck Fullenkamp finished where he started in second, the DeLonjay brothers Jadon and Jeffery went third and fourth in their identical Be Dry Roofing sponsored cars and William Michel came from the outside of row eight to complete the top five.
Special thanks go out to Tech Inspector Cory Benge who allowed me to set up shop for the evening in the back of his truck on the infield and to announcer Tony Paris who texted me pictures of the starting lineups throughout the night since I could not hear him or Ryan Bergeson whenever cars were on the track. And of course a big round of applause should be given to promoter Mike Van Genderen, his amazing staff and the Scotland County Fair Board who pulled all of this off under our current state of chaos!
They do it all again tonight and you can watch it live on RaceXr
I have family plans for tonight so my next event will be next Friday night when the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson is back in action, likely without fans in the stands unless rules are changed by the Governor between now and then, but you will be able to watch it all on Speed Shift TV.
Happy Mother's Day!
The five division program drew in 206 cars from nine different states and while the track got a bit rough due to steady rain on Thursday, the racing was intense and well presented starting with hot laps at 7 p.m. and the final checkers waved around 1:25 a.m. When you have that many cars, it takes awhile to run and keep in mind that tonight's show will start two hours earlier with hot laps scheduled for 5 p.m. and you can watch live on XR.
As they so often do, the Stock Cars provided the most entertaining feature of the night with three of the best in the division John Oliver Jr., Damon Murty and David Brandies putting on a show. Fans were treated to having these three stars in the same heat race where the final laps were thrilling with Oliver dropping from the lead to third after taking the white flag only to split the middle of of Brandies and Murty in turn four to take the win. Post-race in the tech area the three were laughing and smiling as they discussed the action and you just had a feeling that we would see more of the same come feature time, especially when Murty and Brandies drew the front row.
Twenty-laps would be the distance with Brandies grabbing the lead at the drop of the green. Oliver started fifth and was quickly in the hunt with the first heat race winner Todd Reitzler joining the fun to make it a four car battle for the top spot. Murty would nose ahead on lap four and things really heated up when Brandies moved back to the front on lap nine. Murty made the pass again to lead lap ten and Brandies had made the swap again to lead what would have been lap eleven, but that pass was wiped out by the first caution of the race when Jim Redman stopped in turn three.
Murty would lead the field back to green and when Reitzler slowed with a flat tire on lap twelve that allowed Marty to get some separation as Brandies and Oliver raced door to door for second. Murty appeared to have this one in hand, but when Jason See had something let go under the hood exiting turn four on lap seventeen he left a trail of fluid that required one last caution flag. The stage was now set for the final three laps as Brandies and Oliver settled in behind the leader on the high side after the green flag returned.
With two laps remaining Brandies drove it into turn one deep and was able to get a run on the leader down the back stretch. As he entered turn three on the high side, Murty appeared to hesitate for a split second as he hit a bump and Brandies seized the opportunity driving to the inside. As the two were side by side in turn four another ripple in the track appeared to cause Brandies to pitch to the right creating contact between the two that continued to the front stretch with Brandies nearly spinning out before the two leaders gathered it up as the white flag waved.
Oliver had to check up and that allowed Murty's young son Dallon to charge into the mix with Wisconsin's Jeremy Christians right there as well and the top five raced through turns one and two for the final time in a tight pack. Brandies retained the lead down the back stretch with Damon tapping on his bumper as Dallon pulled to his father's inside, but the leader held his line through the final two turns as Brandies would take win ahead of Damon Murty. Third would go to Dallon Murty by inches over Oliver while Christians would complete the top five. While Murty extended his hand of congratulations to Brandies in victory lane, the two had an extended animated conversation in the tech area throughout most of the next feature and you can bet that will you will see these two at battle with each other again soon. And it will be a good one!
The Sport Mods drew the largest car count of the night at 62 and it took six heats and three B-Mains to trim the field to 24 for the first feature of the night. After making the fifteen hour haul from Langdon, North Dakota, Lance Schill had charged from the back of his ten car heat race to finish second earning him the right to draw the pole position for the eighteen lap feature and he took full advantage of it. The only caution of the race waved on lap four and once back to racing Schill pulled out to a big advantage. Brayton Carter had started seventh and on lap eight he made his way up to second, but found himself to be nearly a full straightaway behind the leader.
As the laps clicked down Carter gradually closed the gap even though Schill had yet to catch the back of the field and as the white flag waved there was still at least six car lengths separating the leader from the chaser. Carter would cut it to four down the back stretch and when Schill got a little loose exiting turn four the final time he was able to gather it back up and take the win, but by just a car-length over the runner-up Carter. Josh Most charged from the eleventh starting spot to finish third, Wisconsin's Jason Roth was fourth and Gage Neal filled out the top five.
The Hobby Stocks were the low end of the car count with sixteen and with Marengo, Iowa's Nathan Ballard drawing the pole position this one looked like a race for second. Mike Kincaid had other ideas though as he pulled to the inside of the leader in turns one and two on lap three, but Ballard was up to the challenge and then eased away to take the flag-to-flag win. Kincaid was a solid second as Derek Kirkland came from the fifth row to finish third. Rick Van Dusseldorp finished fourth while Nick Ronnebaum made the trip from Onaga, Kansas, to complete the top five.
You had a similar vibe as the Modified feature came to the track with Michael Long sitting on the outside of the front row next to Midwest legend Kenny Schrader. Just like Schill in the Sport Mods, Michael had put in his work during his heat race coming from seventh to earn his redraw opportunity and as the field raced into turn one for the first time he already had a few car lengths on Schrader. The track had plenty of character at this point of the night and on lap three it claimed two top contenders as both Kyle Brown and Kurt Kile stopped on the track with issues.
On the restart Cayden Carter made a run to the inside of Long in turns one and two only to have Michael use the high side momentum to again pull away down the back stretch and not even Carter could stay close enough to mount a challenge. The caution waved again for debris with eight laps remaining and again Long drove away from his competition as the race heated up for positions behind him. Defending All Iowa Points Champion Joel Rust had started from the eight row and he was now making up ground quickly in the closing laps running the extreme low line through the corners. After taking over fifth with four laps to go, Rust clipped the infield tire in turn two breaking the steering arm on the left front yet amazingly he was able to maintain the position for one more lap up on the high line before throwing in the towel and limping his injured mount to the infield.
Long would complete the green to checkers run for the win with Carter chasing him through traffic in second. Josh Most scored his second podium finish of the night, this time after starting eighth, North Dakota resident Tom Berry Jr. was fourth and Tyler Madigan came from the sixth row to complete the top five.
Fifty-nine four cylinder Sport Compacts signed in for the action with twenty-four of them closing out the night for fifteen laps of feature racing. Chilton, Wisconsin's Shaun Bangert would pace the field to green, but it would be fourth starting Jake Benischek who would have the advantage as the field negotiated turn one for the first time. Seventh starting Josh Barnes would quickly move to second and the chase was on until lap four when Tyler Heckart took a nasty spill down the back stretch. Thankfully Heckart emerged uninjured and when racing resumed Barnes slowed suddenly on the back stretch ending his night with a caution.
Fourteenth starter Jason Ash would now pick up the challenge on Benischek and the driver from Burlington would take over the lead on lap seven. The final caution of the night waved when Kansas driver Ted Trumbo drove over the top of turn three with four laps remaining, but that did not faze Ash as he again pulled away on the restart to complete the victory. Chuck Fullenkamp finished where he started in second, the DeLonjay brothers Jadon and Jeffery went third and fourth in their identical Be Dry Roofing sponsored cars and William Michel came from the outside of row eight to complete the top five.
Special thanks go out to Tech Inspector Cory Benge who allowed me to set up shop for the evening in the back of his truck on the infield and to announcer Tony Paris who texted me pictures of the starting lineups throughout the night since I could not hear him or Ryan Bergeson whenever cars were on the track. And of course a big round of applause should be given to promoter Mike Van Genderen, his amazing staff and the Scotland County Fair Board who pulled all of this off under our current state of chaos!
They do it all again tonight and you can watch it live on RaceXr
I have family plans for tonight so my next event will be next Friday night when the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson is back in action, likely without fans in the stands unless rules are changed by the Governor between now and then, but you will be able to watch it all on Speed Shift TV.
Happy Mother's Day!
Friday, May 8, 2020
Back Stretch Archives: The Gopher 50's Second Year at Deer Creek from June of 2006
(As I copy and paste in today's Archive Entry that originally appeared in Hawkeye Racing News I am excited to be headed to just my second race of the year tonight at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri. The car count will likely be over 200 in the five divisions and with near record low temperatures in the forecast I am glad to know that this is a Mike Van Genderen promoted show as I know that it will be presented in as timely of fashion as possible. Limited grandstand tickets are available so if you don't want to brave the cold to roam the pits remember that you can watch all of the action live on XR)
After Thursday night there is no doubt in my mind that the
Gopher 50 has found a new home at the Deer Creek Speedway. If my memory serves
me correctly, I attended seven “Gophers” over the years in Owatonna and while the racing itself was not
always the greatest, it was the lure of the “event” that would make us mark our
calendar for the four hour trip north each year. I missed last year’s inaugural
appearance at Deer Creek, but there was no keeping me away again this year.
With cars and fans arriving early and the tailgaters out in full force, about
the only thing missing from the pre-race atmosphere was the live band that was
playing the last time I went to Owatonna . That was fine with me though, as I was too
wrapped up in watching the impressive field of cars that was gathering in the
lower pit area.
With the World of Outlaw late models headlining the card you
knew that the big name drivers would be there, but it was one of the best
promotional efforts that I have ever heard of that helped swell the late model
car count to forty-seven. The Deer Creek Speedway located several area
sponsors, including local Modified ace Mark Noble and his wife Becky, to pick
up the $110 entry fee for the top twenty in the track’s WISSOTA Late Model
point standings as of May 21st. This essentially gave the local
heroes nothing to lose as they came out in full force to challenge the national
stars and try to make the show on their home turf. After all, last year young
Trent Follmer not only made the show here, but he raced his way to a top-five
finish, so anything was possible. Add to all this a stellar field of twenty-nine
USRA Modifieds, and the huge crowd on hand was sure to be treated to a
fantastic show.
Qualifying races for both features were intense and the
track was lightning fast as more than twenty drivers eclipsed the previous
track record during Late Model qualifying with Billy Moyer setting the new
standard even though he was the forty-fourth car to hit the track. Rick Eckert
and Tim McCreadie filled row one for the Gopher with McCreadie sprinting to the
early lead. Eckert and the defending race champion Darrell Lanigan followed in
closely in McCreadie’s tire tracks until the first caution flew on lap
twenty-two for a spinning Jimmy Mars. With the Delaware restart Eckert chose
the outside of the first double row and that suited Lanigan just fine as he
dove to the inside to make it three wide into turn one. Lanigan, who opened the
Northern swing with his first WoO win of 2006 at Grand Forks on Tuesday, had the bite off the
bottom and went from third to first down the back stretch. Eckert moved
McCreadie back to third and now began his chase of the new leader. Working
through traffic the two leaders would go wheel-to-wheel several times until lap
forty-three, when Lanigan skipped just a little too high in turn two allowing
Eckert to charge by for the lead. Lanigan tried to mount a comeback, but there
was no stopping Eckert who won for the second night in a row following his Wednesday
night win in Brainerd.
McCreadie held back a late challenge from Shane Clanton to
finish third while Billy Moyer withstood a frantic challenge from Chub Frank to
finish fifth. Frank was literally flying toward the front during the final laps
using the entire racetrack from low to high and with just five laps remaining
he nearly left the ballpark climbing the concrete barrier in turn four. Somehow
he managed to drive the car off of the wall and only lose one position to Dale
McDowell, a position that he earned back in the final laps.
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| Chad Simpson in action at 34 Raceway in 2013 - Brian Neal photo |
Gopher 50 Late Model Notes…..Iowa’s Simpson brothers, Chad
and Chris, raised a lot of eyebrows as both youngsters qualified well and raced
their way into the feature field against the nation’s best. Chris had to do a little
extra work to get into the Gopher as his car faltered from the front row at the
start of the fourth heat race, but he then rallied from twelfth to finish in
the third and final transfer position in the B-Main. Both drivers made an early
exit from the feature though…..Three outlaw drivers had a little extra drama to
deal with during their heat race action. Josh Richards was walking away with
the third heat before he shredded a right rear with four laps to go. “Kid
Rocket” likely would not have made it back into the top four if not for Clint
Smith suffering the same fate with just two laps remaining. The late caution
allowed Richards to move to third in the final laps while Smith wound up using
a provisional after following Chris Simpson to the checkers in the B-Main. Chub
Frank blew his tire while leading the final heat race, but he gave a preview of
things to come by using the high line to rally to third in the final three laps
of the qualifying race…..Ace Ihm finished his three race swing with the Outlaws
making the show for the second time in three nights…..Deer Creek Speedway point
leader Adam Hensel was very impressive staying on the lead lap and finishing
eleventh. Perhaps the youngster from Barron, Wisconsin, may be the next
emerging star from the northland…..Locals Justin Fegers, Lance Matthees, Keith
Foss, Andrew McKay and Ron Schreiner all raced their way into the feature while
Ben Mattick and division rookie Jay Ihrke earned track provisionals. Garrett
Durrett joined Clint Smith as the series’ provisionals…...The World of Outlaws
return to the Creek in late July for two full programs. I highly recommend your
attendance.
It is hard to describe the Modifieds tonight as a “support”
class, as the action that they provided was absolutely fantastic with drivers
working their way through the field in all events using every possible inch of
the wide high-banked 3/8-th mile oval. Al Hejna dismissed front row starters
Hank Rollinger and Jim Horejsi to take the lead from the third starting spot
for the thirty-lap feature. Kelly Shryock started eleventh and was picking off
positions one by one until he was up to sixth and looking for racing room
behind Bob Timm and Mike Hejna. Completing the twelfth circuit Mike Hejna and
Timm made contact on the front straight with both drivers suffering flat tires
and when Hejna could not get his car to turn in turn one, the caution came out
as he rode the wall. An obviously upset Timm drove down into the infield, but
then drove back on to the track and deliberately speared Shryock in the left
rear. The cars of both Mike Hejna and Shryock are white and apparently Timm had
mistakenly identified Shryock as the driver who had made contact with him.
Officials sent Timm to the pits and, after looking over Shryock’s left rear, they
gave him the okay to continue. Kelly was on a mission now and just four laps
later he had come from fourth to take the lead from Al Hejna. But Hejna charged
back and regained the lead a lap later only to have Shryock come back for the
lead as the white flag waved. Shryock appeared to have the win in hand as he
sprinted down the back stretch, but the caution soon appeared as Steve Arpin’s
smoking car came to a halt just off turn four. Going back to the last completed
lap put Hejna back in front for the restart and, despite a valiant effort from
Shryock, he could not get back around the leader as Hejna proudly put his
Shryock chassis in victory lane. Tommy Myer finished in the third spot with
Mike Sorenson and Layne Meyer, who started thirteenth, completing the top five.
Modified Notes…..Shryock came from eighth to pass Rollinger
in the final laps to win the third heat…..Nobody passed more cars tonight than
Mark Noble, but he ended up with not much to show for it. Mark started eighth
in the second heat and was challenging Mike Hejna for the lead in the final
turns when he spun to the infield leaving him in tenth for the finish. That put
him at the back of the eleven-car B-Main that he cruised through for victory to
earn the nineteenth starting position in the main event. Noble was on the move
early in the feature despite smoke coming off of his left rear tire that, after
five laps, came apart causing him to spin in turn four on lap five. Noble
restarted at the rear of the field and had raced his way up to ninth when the
right front tire went flat on lap nineteen. I’m not sure whether it was the
fact that it was his second caution of the race, or if he had just had enough,
but Noble did not return ending a frustrating night for him. But he sure did
give the fans a thrill…..A sincere thanks to the staff at Deer Creek Speedway
for the great hospitality during an event where I am sure that the media come
out of the woodwork for. The Gopher 50 has definitely found a first class home
and I hope it stays here for many years to come.
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Back Stretch Archives: WDRL at West Liberty Memorial Day Weekend 2006
With his win on Memorial Day Monday night Brian Birkhofer
has now won five of the nine events that the World Dirt Racing League (WDRL)
has held at the West Liberty Raceway. That is a pretty impressive “batting
average” especially when you consider that he may not have even been there for
the four shows that he didn’t win! There was some speculation that “Birky”
might return to Kentucky Lake Monday for the postponed KLMS99, but when he was
one of the last of thirty-nine late models to pull through the gate at West
Liberty we all knew who was going to be the man to beat.
Dave Eckrich was strong all night and picked up the early
lead in the fifty-lap finale from his pole position start with Birkhofer in hot
pursuit. The top two quickly distanced themselves from the field and by lap
fifteen had begun to make their way through lapped traffic. Birkhofer was able
to beat Eckrich to the line on lap sixteen, but Dave charged back on the high
side of turns one and two to regain the lead down the back straightaway. The
turning point in the event however loomed ahead in turns three and four where
WDRL rookie-of-the-year contender Trent Follmer had started a series of barrel
roll along the wall midway through turns three and four. With Eckrich flying
high on the cushion and Birkhofer challenging him down low, Follmer’s car came
to rest on its top right on the cushion and Eckrich could not quite get stopped
in time before making contact. The youngster from Minnesota climbed from his
car unhurt, but Eckrich was forced to go pitside to make repairs to his car
forcing him to the rear of the pack for the restart.
Younger brothers Andy and Denny Eckrich tried to keep pace
with Birkhofer when the green flag reappeared, but the young man who grew up
racing here before moving on to national notoriety was just too much to handle
as he lapped the field up to fifth place and held a straightaway lead over Andy
and Denny at the checkers. Chad Simpson ran a solid race to finish in the fourth
spot while Kyle Berck was the final car on the lead lap in fifth after using a
series provisional to start twenty-second. Johnny Spaw was impressive in
finishing sixth while Dave Eckrich was able to come back for seventh. Brian
Harris, Jason Utter and Ace Ihm completed the top ten.
 |
| Brian Birkhofer (15) and Layne Meyer (21) from the early 1990's |
Twenty-eight USRA Modifieds were on hand to provide support
and they put on a good show as well on the perfectly prepared half-mile that
sported at least two grooves all night long. Doug Yates and Dan Albright
started on the front row of the twenty-lap feature, but it was the second row
starters Terry Walker and Ryan Dolan who came out of the first two turns in
first and second. As Walker tried to build a lead it was Larry Herring who was
making his way quickly to the front from row six and, by the mid-race point,
Herring was able to put his #96 out front. As Herring began to pull away our
attention was turned to two drivers who were making charges from the back of
the twenty-five car starting field. Rick Hixson was scheduled to start in row
four, but when he was only able to hit the track just before the green flag
flew he was forced to start at the rear. Robbie Verbeck started next to Herring
in row six, but when it was determined that he was involved in a lap one
caution he joined Hixson at the back of the field for the restart. Both drivers
were making a mad dash toward the front and with just two laps to go Hixson was
in fifth with Verbeck close behind. As the white flag waved though, Hixson
slowed on the front stretch ending his night just one lap shy of the checkers.
Walker took runner-up honors to Herring with Mike Zogg and Dolan finishing just
ahead of Verbeck in third and fourth.
West Liberty Notes…..Follmer will want to forget turn three
here as he clobbered the wall there on the first lap of the B-Main forcing him
to use a provisional to start the “A” and eventually roll his car in exactly
the same spot…..Wisconsin driver Todd Gehl was impressive finishing second to
Chris Smyser in his heat race and earned enough passing points to start on the
outside of row one for the dash. His night went downhill fast from there though
as he could not get his car to fire for the dash or the feature…..Nick Marolf
also qualified for the feature with his passing point, but he appeared to blow
a motor coming to the checkers in is heat ending his night too soon…..The two
scratches meant that the series used two more provisionals to start the
feature. Follmer and Berck were the first two while John Anderson, jumping into
Billy Koons car, and Al Humphrey were the extra two. I’m sure that the
fifth-place finisher in the B-Main, Kurt Kile, wishes that they just would have
gone to the next best finisher in the “B” instead…..While Chad Simpson scored a
top-five finish it was a sour night for his brother Chris who appeared to drop
a motor while leading the second heat race….Kyle Berck dropped out of the third
heat while running fourth with mechanical issues and then made a nice run up to
sixth from seventeenth in the B-Main before taking the provisional
start…...Steve Kempt made the long haul over from south central Nebraska only
to have mechanical issues end his night prematurely…...Ace Ihm’s tenth place
showing is the start of a long week for him as he was heading straight to North
Dakota after this show to run the next three nights with the World of
Outlaws……Modified winner Larry Herring proved that he could be a track
announcer someday as he had to fill time while a fuel spill from Robbie
Verbeck’s car was being cleaned up on the front stretch…...A big thank you to
the crew at the West Liberty Raceway as well as to Jim Wilson and his WDRL
officials who put on a very entertaining night of racing to wrap up the
Memorial Day weekend.
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Back Stretch Archives: Darbyshire's First Deery Win from May 2005
(Just a quick note before we get to the Archives......I searched and searched through the PR.com photos trying to find one of Tom Darbyshire with no success. (Follow up, Tom's wife Sheila provided the victory lane photo that is now included) The conversation in the tech area between TD and Brent Slocum sticks in my memory like it happened yesterday. They are two of the great personalities in the sport. We miss you Brent! And of course when this appeared in print in Hawkeye Racing News there was no way to "link" the Sports Illustrated column, something that I can do today. Enjoy!)
What started out as a week that he and his family would like
to forget changed for the better Wednesday night as Tom Darbyshire captured his
first career Deery Brothers Summer Series IMCA Late Model feature victory at
the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. On Monday morning Darbyshire’s two
daughters and his oldest son were involved in an accident on their way to
school with the car rolling through a ditch. The boy’s head actually hit a
telephone pole as rescue workers found blood and hair on the pole. Amazingly
all three children escaped with relatively minor injuries considering the
severity of the accident and were there to greet their jubilant father as he
climbed from the car in victory lane.
 |
| Taken off the office wall of Sheila Darbyshire |
When the checkers flew four laps later it was a 42 that was
on top of that scoreboard putting the Yarmouth driver in victory lane for his
first Deery Series win. Slocum finished in the runner-up position with Kevin
Blum third, Jeff Aikey fourth and Darrel DeFrance rounded out the top five. The
winner needed a quick lesson on how to pop the cork from the victory champagne
and we enjoyed being there when Brent Slocum offered his congratulations in the
tech area and laughed “if I would have known that Harris was going to drop out
I would have taken you out when you went by me!” In a three-day period that had
started out as a father’s worst nightmare, it had ended as this race driver’s
finest dream, a $2,000 victory over a solid field of competitors.
 |
| Jeff Aikey races under Ryan Dolan in 2014 Deery Series action at West Liberty - Barry Johnson photo |
Donnellson Deery Notes…..You have to love the new Musco
lights at Lee County…..Blum started eighth and finished third driving Ron
Gustaf’s #90x…..DeFrance was solid coming from ninth to fifth……Tommy Elston won
a B-Main, started seventeenth in the feature and finished sixth…..Series point
leader Terry Neal started right next to Elston and followed him in for
seventh……Darin Balk of Waucoma, a regular competitor in the Hobby Stock
division at Cresco and Decorah, was working on the highway nearby and called
his brother to tell him to bring the car down for the mid-week show. It was a
good call as Balk passed John Oliver Jr. on lap five to win the feature in his
first appearance at Lee County…..Another visitor, Joe Zrostlik, was the winner
in the four cylinder “Wild Thing” feature…..Thanks to Terry and Jenni Hoenig,
their entire staff and IMCA for putting on a great Wednesday night of racing,
one of the first mid-week specials of the season that will now go in to full
swing as we hit June.
If you get a chance to pick up last week’s Sports
Illustrated make sure that you read Rick Reilly’s column about the NASCARwine venture of Richard Childress. Yes, it’s filled with a lot of stereotypical
references that us race fans may not be real proud of, but it sure did crack up
my wife! I thought it was pretty funny myself, especially the reference to how
restrictor plates are ruining racing.
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Back Stretch Archives: NASCAR Stars Race at Peoria from May 2007
Bob Sargent and Track Enterprises brought in Kenny Schrader
and Kenny Wallace to the Peoria Speedway last Wednesday for NASCAR night and a
large crowd came out for the three division program. Even though these two guys
are not among the top contenders each week in Nextel Cup, they definitely are
capable of holding their own with the short trackers on dirt and they have
always been two of my favorites because of their charisma and personality.
As the track prep crew was putting the finishing touches on
a perfect racetrack (more on that later), Wallace and Schrader came out to the
frontstretch to talk to the crowd and preview the evening. I’ve had the
pleasure of working with these guys before at the Lee County Speedway in
Donnellson and the best thing that you can do is introduce them, ask one
leading question and then step out of the spotlight as Kenny and Kenny can
definitely take it from there! Wallace “interviewed” himself by asking, and
then answering his own questions telling about how he had torn up his Late
Model the night before at Fairbury. Since he had done the damage, he wanted to
show that he could fix it and he was proud to say that he was ready to go in
both the Modified and Late Model divisions this night. Schrader noted that he
tears up enough stuff as it is on his Late Model, so he would just be competing
in one class at a track that he had never raced at before. Kenny said that, as
much as he had been around the short tracks of the Midwest, it was hard to
believe that the Peoria Speedway had been around for so long and he had not yet
raced on it. Both drivers then reminded the enthusiastic crowd that the next
heroes of the sport could be racing right here every Saturday night and
encouraged them to support the grassroots of racing as much as possible. The
stage was set for an entertaining evening!
Peoria is one of the Midwest tracks that is now using the
Track-Lock system and if that is what helped make this one of the best prepared
tracks that I have seen this year, then I say get this stuff on every dirt
track! I was really skeptical about how the night would be with a twenty-five
mile an hour wind blowing out of the south, but when we arrived just before hot
laps it was obvious that the track crew had taken the time to get plenty of
water into the surface. Plus, it was nice to see a dirt track that wasn’t
riddled with sheepsfoot holes. Now I’m the first to admit that I know
absolutely nothing about track prep, but I’ve been around the horn enough to
say that I see very few tacky racetracks that also have sheepsfoot holes in
them. Is there a correlation between the two of them? Heck if I know, but I’m
sure that somebody will pull me aside and set me straight if I’m wrong!
Three and four-wide action was a common occurrence in the
qualifying heats as Wallace won the Modified third heat and Schrader came from
fourth early to pass Roger Rebholz in the final laps for the second heat win in
the Late Models. The Modified twenty-lap main was up first with local stud
Billy Tuckwell grabbing the early lead. Wallace stayed right with him and as
the two leaders approached lapped traffic on lap twelve, Wallace rode the
cushion around Tuckwell off turn four for the lead. Had the caution not come
out a lap later it would have been really interesting to see if Kenny would
have been able to negotiate the lapped cars better than Tuckwell and a
fast-closing Butch Weisser, but with open track ahead of him there was no
beating Wallace over the final seven laps. Chuck Barnes Jr. and Mike Mosher
completed the top five while Gary Cook Jr. started seventeenth and finished
sixth.
 |
| Kenny Wallace in action at Quincy in 2013 - Barry Johnson photo |
After a quick victory lane interview where he honored the
local hero Tuckwell, Wallace hurried back to the pits to climb aboard his JEGS
sponsored Late Model and start sixteenth in the thirty-five lap finale. The
race would have just one caution on lap two as Rebholz spun in turn three
collecting both Shane Allen and Kenny Wallace. Fortunately the damage was only
cosmetic for Wallace as he would continue and put on a good show to finish
eighth. Front row starters Dennis Erb and Ed Dixon left the field in their wake
as Erb would lap all the way up to the sixth-place car of Rusty Griffaw by the
checkers as he earned the $1,500 top prize. Dixon stayed within a straightaway
throughout the race, but could never mount a challenge as he finished second.
The race to watch was for third as Tim Lance, Wes Steidinger and Schrader
slugged it out for several laps before finishing in that order.
For Erb it was his second win in two nights as he also
topped the field on NASCAR night in Fairbury and a continuation of his spring
time success that included a World of Outlaw win in Wisconsin. A few years back
we were at a race in Tennessee where the announcer was giving the nicknames of
each driver as he introduced the feature line-up. When he came to where the #28
was starting he said, “and they call him……Dennis Erb”, which just cracked me up
for some reason. Now I understand that Dennis has picked up the nickname “the One
Man Band” and it must be suiting him well. With Shannon Babb running near the
top of the World of Outlaw points this year, look for Erb to be the man to beat
in the UMP Summer Nationals.
A big “Thank You” to Bob Sargent, Sherrie Hamilton and
everybody at the Peoria Speedway for putting on a spectacular show Wednesday
night. The track was perfect, the racing action was non-stop and we were on the
road home before 9:30 p.m. I look forward to returning to Peoria on Monday June
25th for their stop on the Summer Nationals tour.
Monday, May 4, 2020
Back Stretch Archives: The First Ever Sprint Invaders Race from 2002
The
inaugural event for the Big A Auto Parts Sprint Invaders was held this past
weekend at the Jacksonville Raceway and if Friday’s event is any indication of
the future success of this series, they should be around for a long period of
time. There were twenty-nine “Invaders” on hand, plus the crowd was treated to
the solid weekly show of 410 sprints with a talented field of twenty-four cars
and drivers ready to attack the quarter-mile. Micro Sprints and Limited Late
Models made it a very full night of action.
The
track is located on the Morgan County fairgrounds and, with its covered wooden
grandstand, the facility really brings back a lot of memories of days gone by.
It has been at least ten years since I have been to Jacksonville and on several
occasions during the evening I found myself making one of those mental notes to
make sure that we get back here again soon, if not again this year.
It
was the Sprint Invaders that brought us here so let’s start with them. For you
trivia buffs, the first checkered flag for the series went to first heat race
winner Bobby Mincer and the first rollover was Ed Ergenbright in heat number
two. Actually, it was more of a tip-over as Ergenbright got into the turn three
wall and set it over on his right side. It wasn’t much later that the
Indianola, Iowa, driver was loaded up and headed back to prepare for some more
familiar surroundings at Knoxville. Todd Taeger won the first-ever dash, but
then forgot to stop in front of the grandstand to be presented a trophy by a
lucky fan. West Allis, Wisconsin’s Kurt Davis was the first driver to sit on
the pole position for a main event and it was fellow front row starter Dustin
Whiting who paced the first feature lap. Joey Montgomery started eighth and
made a nice charge to the front to takeover the lead on lap eight and he was
never seriously challenged the rest of the way to become the first Sprint
Invader feature winner. Davis was the runner-up with Kevin Doty coming all the
way from row seven to take third. Ryan Jamison and Mincer completed the top
five.
Invader
Notes…..Local favorite Bobby Hawks had the first heat race well in hand before
something appeared to break in the right front sending him hard into the turn
four wall. He was unable to make repairs for the Invaders B-Main, but he did
make some noise later in the 410’s…..Ryan York of Racine, Minnesota, in
reportedly just his second night ever in a sprint car locked himself into the
A-Main by finishing third in heat three….Tyson Hart put on quite a show in the
fourth qualifying heat using the top groove to go from fourth to first in the
final four laps…..Joey Montgomery had the field covered in the dash as well
only to have something go sour. Obviously he was able to make sufficient
repairs….Brian Hetrick took a hard tumble on lap seventeen of the main event.
After completing a 360 degree spin in turn four, he drove straight off the top
of the track. The two or three foot drop off was too much as the front end dug
in and he went end over end once….During that red flag, Dustin Whiting had to
abandon his fourth place position as he headed to the pits with mechanical
woes….Two laps after the restart a hard charging Matt Rogerson bicycled into
the wall and got upside down in turn two. On the next restart Todd Taeger swept
by Kurt Davis on the outside for second only to spin in front of him. Davis was
somehow able to keep his car fired while Taeger had to go to the rear…..Doty
was behind the wheel of Bart Schneiderman’s car #2….The next event for the
Sprint Invaders is this Sunday night, May 12th, at the Lee County
Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa. Get all of those Mother’s Day activities taken
care of early or, better yet, take mom out to the track for a great night of
sprint car action!
 |
| Josh Schneiderman in Sprint Invader action from 2017 at 34 Raceway |
Shane
Stewart was somewhat of a surprise entrant in the 410’s and he put the Holbrook
Motorsports car #8H into the early lead in the main event from the pole
position. Last week’s feature winner Tim Montgomery and crowd favorite Jim
Moughan took up the chase and kept Stewart squarely in their sights. On a lap
nine restart Montgomery made a bid on the inside of turn one while Moughan
rocketed around on the topside. The dual attack was too much for the leader as
Stewart spun the car coming off turn two bringing back the caution. On this
restart it was Moughan again finding the cushion to his liking to grab the lead
and eventually the victory. Tim Montgomery came home second despite running the
entire event with a damaged top wing after Robbie Standridge got some hang time
in front of him during a first lap tumble. Bobby Hawks came from the tenth
starting spot to finish third with Joey Montgomery and Mike Deavers taking
fourth and fifth.
The
Limited Late Model feature took a long time to run due to several cautions and
you could sense that all of the spinners were robbing the fans of a pretty good
race. The back of the pack finally settled down during the closing laps with
Greg Bilger and Greg Kimmons bringing the crowd to their feet running the final
three laps side-by-side. There was plenty of paint being swapped and there was
very little straight sheet metal left on either car as they banged their way to
the checkered flag with Kimmons taking the victory by inches. It was so close
that it sounded like the announcer said that Bilger was the winner, but it was
Kimmons who received the trophy in victory lane. I may have misheard that
though, as there was so much cheering and booing going on that it drowned out
the sound system. Mike Russell’s win in the Micro Sprint finale was much
calmer.
Thanks
to everyone at the Jacksonville Raceway for putting on such an entertaining
program and for being such great hosts for the first-ever run by the Sprint
Invaders. We hope to return to the quick quarter-mile again in the near future.
We may be able to get somewhere for some racing this Friday night and it looks
like we might be able to tie in a business trip to the May 15th
appearance of the World Dirt Racing League at Lakeside Speedway. If not, we’ll
be able to take in the UDTRA stop at the West Liberty Raceway on the same
night. Either way we should see some great action!
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