Usually it really bugs me when I leave a race track thinking that one driver won the feature only to find out later that someone else would be declared the winner due to issues in the post-race tech area. But on Wednesday night the Lucas Oil MLRA Late Model racing was so good at the Stuart Speedway even the disqualification of one of my favorite drivers to watch could not put a damper on the evening.
I will be the first to admit that I am a big fan of track owner/promoter Mike Van Genderen and I also understand that everybody in this business have people who do not like them for whatever reason that me be, real or perceived. To watch him in action on a night like this though just makes me wonder how you cannot be a fan of someone who hustles so much on a race night to give the drivers the best track possible for them to then perform for the fans. And believe me on this night the Late Models performed in thrilling fashion for a chilled crowd despite the "qualify and start the fast guys in front format".
It started in the heat races where drivers needed to finish in the top four to transfer for the main event. The first heat gave the impression that it would be a standard evening of follow the leader racing that this format so often spits out as Frank Heckenast Jr., Mason Oberkramer and Terry Phillips walked away and finished where they had started in first, second and third. Well behind them though defending MLRA champion Jeremiah Hurst was checking out the re-manicured topside and gradually picking up spots after starting eighth before passing Gary Brown Jr. in the final laps to take fourth.
The second heat race saw Chad Simpson take the lead from the outside of the front row and after Billy Moyer dropped pole-sitter Justin Duty to third the Hall of Famer went to the top to reel in the leader. Simpson was able to hold off Moyer to take the win, but it was close and "the stick men" must have taken notice when Moyer found speed up top as heats three and four were very entertaining with drivers running low, high and spaces in between around the quarter-mile oval.
Rookie-of-the-Year contender Jake Timm was even kicking off the outside universal barriers in turns one and two to propel himself form fourth to first and take the win in the third heat and the fourth heat race of the night was a great appetizer of things to come. Tuesday's winner at the I-80 Speedway in Nebraska, Tony Jackson Jr. had earned the pole position through time trials and he snared the early lead. Georgia's Ashton Winger immediately went to the cushion though and he would soon sail past Jackson, but soon after taking the lead he would drop back down to the low groove to shut the door on Jackson. Bad choice!
The high side was now the place to be and the leader of the cushion riders was fifth starting Jesse Stovall who would take the win over fourth starting Ryan Gustin. Rodney Sanders found the top groove late as well dropping Winger to fourth and sending Jackson to the B-Main. Now when was the last time that you saw that kind of movement in a heat race under this format?
After fading a spot or two in the opening laps of the B-Main, Jackson would pull to the infield and take his series provisional starting position for the feature while the sixth and final transfer spot would come right down to the checkers. Todd Cooney had started tenth and the cagey veteran was showing that the low groove would still work if you use it right making his way up to that sixth and final transfer position with just a handful of laps remaining. But Mitch McGrath was now mounting a comeback using the high line and when he showed his nose to Cooney coming to the white flag, Todd prepared his defense.
Exiting turn four and charging to the checkers Cooney came up off the bottom and left McGrath as little room as possible between his car and the outside wall which the Wisconsin driver still tried to squeeze through. Contact would send Cooney into a spin just after the finish line and it required a check with the scorers to determine that he had held on by just inches to make the show.
Before the Late Model feature would take the track though there would be main events to be run in two of the five weekly classes that were starting off their track point chases for 2021.
His mid-week performances here at Stuart helped propel Brayton Carter to the 2020 All Iowa Points championship and he picked up right where he left off passing early leader Brian Morris on lap five and then cruising to the Sport Mod feature win. Carter had also won the Frostbuster held here fifteen days ago so he is already two for two on the young season here at Stuart. Brett Vanderheiden had an impressive run coming from seventh to finish second while Cam Reimers moved from sixth to third. Dusty Masolini started from the sixth row before finishing fourth and Garrett Nelson finished where he started in fifth. Eastern Iowa visitor Shane Paris was a contender early but as he went three-wide for the lead with Carter and Morris on an early restart, his left front gobbled up one of the infield track tires that just wouldn't let go until he had pulled to the infield.
Just like the Sport Mods, the Stock Cars had a few more cautions than we all wanted to see on a wind chilled evening, especially when it kept interrupting a very entertaining race up front. Bob Daniels was leading the way, digging around the bottom and was successfully holding back the father and son duo of Damon and Dallon Murty until the fifth caution of the race waved with three laps remaining. On the restart as Daniels crossed under the green flag a big plume of smoke and plenty of fluids came out of his car entering turn one sending the field, and our own photographer Barry Johnson who was stationed down in turn one scrambling, a tough way for Daniels to end his night as he just might have made it to the checkers without the cautions.
This would put Dallon Murty on the point for the restart and there would be no catching the defending All Iowa Points Stock Car champion as he too would score his second win for 2021 here at Stuart. Defending track champion Jeremy Gettler put on quite a show charging from sixteenth to second, Buck Schafroth was on the move as well coming from ninth to third, Texas visitor Michael Sheen faded a bit early before coming back to finish fourth while Damon Murty dropped from second to fifth in that final three lap segment.
The stage was now set for forty laps of Late Model action and fourth starting Jesse Stovall again showed his strength from earlier in the night by splitting the middle of Frank Heckenast Jr. and Jake Timm in turn two on the opening lap to take the lead. With Stovall stretching it out the battle for position behind him saw plenty of two and even three wide action until Blair Nothdurft went for a spin in turn three to produce the first caution on lap ten.
One lap after the restart Billy Moyer would get pinched down entering turn one sending the veteran for a rare spin and once back to racing Stovall again opened up a sizeable advantage over Heckenast and Timm. That lead would shrink quickly though once lapped traffic came into play and once his two challengers were on his tail, this one would get wild for a couple of laps. Working in traffic Heckenast would take the point on lap twenty-six only to have Stovall come storming back a lap later just before one of the lapped cars in the mix, Jeff Herzog slid to halt entering the top side of turn one.
Just prior to that Ryan Gustin had reeled in the lead trio as well and on the restart he would ride the cushion into second with his sights set on the lead. Stovall was still working the bottom of the turns but then flaring out on the straights so once Gustin had his run he would dive under the leader entering turn one before drifting up and grabbing the cushion in turn two to launch him to the lead with ten laps remaining. Now in second, Stovall got his elbows up and was able to keep pace with the new leader, even pulling alongside of Gustin in the corners on a few occasions. After the white flag waved Stovall made one last run at Gustin exiting turn four bringing the crowd to its feet as Gustin would take the checkers and the apparent victory by just less than a car length over Stovall.
However, as we were driving home we were notified that Gustin had been disqualified for a rules infraction on his suspension thus giving the win to Jesse Stovall. Garrett Alberson would take the runner-up paycheck with Heckenast picking up third. Chris Simpson was the hard charger of the night moving from seventeenth to fourth while Jake Timm completed the revised top five.
A big thanks to Mike Van Genderen for the hospitality and for all of the efforts that he puts in every race night here at Stuart, or wherever you might find him putting on a show. With the final checkers falling on the Late Models at 10:20 we headed for the car and our near three hour drive home, but by the time that the rest of my crew had peeled off the layers of clothing and placed them in the trunk the Modified feature was completed with Californian Shane DeVolder taking the win. I understand that a hard crash at the start of the Sport Compact main brought the show to an end just ahead of an 11 p.m. curfew. Reports are that both drivers needed medical attention, but both escaped serious injury. The Sport Compact and Hobby Stock main events will be completed as part of next Wednesday's Jake Durbin Memorial here at the Stuart Speedway.
It was an added treat to share the booth with National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame member Joe Kosiski who is well on his way to being nominated again, this time as a promoter at the I-80 Speedway between Lincoln and Omaha and the SLMR series that now has both an East and West Region. Sharing thoughts with Van Genderen, trading thoughts on different items with me and just discussing racing in general really cemented what I already knew about Joe. He is such a great ambassador of our sport on so many levels and interacting with him throughout the night made this night even more memorable for me!
Don't let the cool weather keep you home! Bundle up and get on out to the track of your choice this weekend and I hope to see you again soon on the Back Stretch.
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