Madsen Best Of The All Stars At 34 Raceway

The FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions returned to 34 Raceway west of Burlington on Friday night and I have to wonder if it was the performance of a local favorite during the preliminary feature that prompted an impressive run in the headliner.

During this past offseason the racing surface at 34 Raceway was refreshed and a track that has been overly kind to the rim riders over the past decade is now racy from top to bottom allowing drivers to hunt for the fast line that seems to change regularly throughout the night. Even before the change, if there was ever some grip to be found on the bottom it would be the cagey veteran Ryan Jamison that would find it and Jamison would draw the pole for tonight's twenty-lap 305 Sprint feature.

This race would have a tough time getting started though as when the field came down the front stretch on the second lap, contact between Harold Pohren and Andy Huston would send the field scrambling and thankfully nobody would get upside down. Huston would have to go pit side with damage and Nick Guernsey would require a push start after spinning to avoid. One more lap would be scored before debris slowed the field again and on lap five Jaslyn Jones would slide to a stop in turn two.

On the restart four cars would spin in turn two with Noah Samuel, Jeff Wilke, Aaron Ferch and Dustin Clark all involved and once back to green four more laps would be scored before Jones spun again in two. Finally the yellow fever would subside and the final eleven laps would run under green with Jamison leading the way.

Cody Wehrle had charged into second after starting fifth and while Jamison hugged the bottom, Wehrle was riding the top and was close to making the pass once back to green. But as the laps clicked away Jamison's low line proved to be the best as he would pull away for the win. The race for second was a good one over the closing laps as Daniel Bergquist also used a lower line to work his way back into the position that he had given up earlier to Wehrle and Devin Wignall would drop Cody to fourth in the final two laps. Dan Keltner raced his way up from tenth to fifth.

I wanted to run up and grab the wireless to get a victory lane interview with Jamison because I can guarantee you that it would have been a good one as the veteran driver was all but retired coming in to 2021 and he celebrated in victory lane like he never thought that he would be there again. It was also good to have Knoxville Pro Series regulars Wignall, Wilke and Jones join the local 305's for the evening.

The thirty lap feature for the All Stars would follow and after Jamison's dominating run around the bottom I thought that we would see several drivers setup to catfish the 3/8th-mile oval. That was not the case though, at least not in the opening five laps that were interrupted by a red flag on lap two when Cap Henry got upside down and Austin McCarl spun to a stop on the front stretch, and then when Riley Goodno spun in turn two on lap five.

Pole-sitter Bill Balog was the leader when the race was able to stay green with Spencer Bayston applying the pressure, but the driver to watch was Kerry Madsen who was now planting the Tony Stewart Racing #14 on the bottom line exiting turn four and passing cars nearly every lap after starting from tenth.

Balog was able to ward off the challenges from Bayston mid-race, but once Madsen moved to second the leader was a sitting duck as Kerry drove under him to take the lead with ten laps remaining. Tyler Courtney was a quick study and he too started to use the bottom to move into second and when Kyle Reinhardt stopped with a flat tire with five laps to go, Courtney would line up on the rear bumper of the leader for the restart.

Charging to the bottom entering turn one, Courtney would throw the slider only to have Madsen cross him over and retain the lead down the back stretch. Lap twenty-six would go in the books before Tasker Phillips and Rico Abreu tangled in turn four and the crowd was excited to see what Courtney could do with another restart.

Madsen knew just what to do though as he blocked the lower line into turn one and that would seal the deal as "The Madman" would ease away from his young challenger to take the victory. Courtney the non-wing convert who is now running away with the All Stars point lead would finish in second. Balog would fight off the challenges of Gio Scelzi late to hold on for third while Bayston would complete the top five.

The All Stars will close out their Midwest swing with their seventh event in eight nights tonight at the Knoxville Raceway while 34 Raceway returns to Saturday night racing on August 7th with their annual High Five for Kids Night. Sprint Cars return to 34 Raceway on Saturday August 21st with the Sprint Invaders.

As always thanks to Brad, Jessi and the entire 34 Raceway crew for their hospitality! Tonight it is on to Knoxville and on Sunday we will be with the Sprint Invaders at the Randolph County Raceway in Moberly. Hope to see you there! 

O'Neal Edges Overton, Ryan Breaks The Orange Curse and Werner Triumphant On a Tuesday In Davenport

When two of the top Late Model drivers in the country stand in victory lane and tell the announcer that they have really been wanting to come and race here, you know that you are doing something right. And when they say that they can't wait to come back to the Davenport Speedway, well they are standing on the front stretch after placing first and second in one of the closest finishes that you will ever see, so of course that is what they are going to say. But seriously with the changes that have been made to the racing surface under the direction of Kay Promotions, and the finishes that fans have seen in high profile events here over the past two years, it should come as no surprise that the quarter-mile oval is now a favored destination for the nation's best. 

Heck, I am so disappointed that our Sprint Invaders shows have been rained out here each of the last two years because I believe that the open wheel crowd would fall in love with the place as well once they get a taste of it!

Changes. Nothing official here, I am sure that Ricky and Brenda Kay would provide more details if asked, but just from my observations there have been two primary ones. First is that the track has been widened by at least three car widths. Not sure how they did it, perhaps by pulling in the track tires on the infield, but change number two might answer my own question. The banking off the exit of turn four and the entrance to the high line in turn one has been extended well out onto the front stretch of the half-mile. So much so that I don't believe that the ol' girl could even be used anymore without moving a lot of dirt and then having to rebuild the little gem that now has drivers wanting to to travel to Davenport.

Over the past thirty years when a special event was scheduled at Davenport the promoter would have to specify whether it would be held on the half-mile or the quarter-mile. Going forward, I don't think you need to ask.

Tuesday's show would feature the MARS Super Late Model Series running for $10,000 to win along with the IMCA Late Models and Modifieds getting one more look at the facility before the Mississippi Valley Fair opens it run and sends the big contingent of weekly competitors here on vacation, or looking for somewhere else to race until they return to action on August 13th. While this was a MARS series race only two of the top fifteen in points were on hand, Brian Shirley and Jason Feger, which would explain the car count of twenty-two, but the star power was definitely there with several drivers making the stop on the way from the Silver Dollar Nationals in Nebraska to the Prairie Dirt Classic in Illinois.

MARS uses the "qualify and start 'em straight up" format so the three heat races were a high speed parade around the lip without much action, but after some track work during intermission the fifty-lap headliner went back to the track's growing reputation of a multi-grooved, ever changing, thrill a second joyride for the big crowd sweltering in the massive grandstand. 

Quick qualifier, first heat race winner and pole-sitter Stormy Scott would set the early pace still riding the rim while the battles behind him were frantic. By the time that he entered traffic around lap fifteen, Scott had dropped his line lower on the turns and soon Jason Feger and the rest of the front runners were closing in. With the cushion now pushed all the way to the top at the entrance of turns one and three that high line, while still fast, now had a new level of treachery to it and both Feger and Ricky Thornton Jr. dropped a right rear over the top each losing a couple of positions in the process. One lap later Rich Bell went over the top of turn one and when he decided to park it outside of turn two rather than racing on, the event's first caution waved with twenty-three laps complete in the Hoker Trucking 50.

It appeared to me that the leader Scott paid too much attention to his "stick man" during the caution because when the green flag flew he was changing grooves and running lines that he had not yet used apparently in an effort to ward off the tide and on lap twenty-six Hudson O'Neal would go flying by him on the outside of turn two. You could hear the crowd over the roar of the motors as the race for second went four-wide down the back stretch with Scott, Shirley, Brandon Overton and Bobby Pierce all making their bid and then the collective groan when the caution waved for Spencer Diercks who had driven off the top of turns three and four.

A few laps after the restart Overton would establish himself as the primary challenger to O'Neal and as those two slugged it out for the lead, Pierce was right there waiting to take advantage of any mistakes. With O'Neal up top and Overton working the middle for every bit of traction that he could find, the two swapped the lead back and forth with Overton having the edge exiting the turns only to have O'Neal blow by him by the mid-point of the straightaways until Hudson dropped down and took away his challenger's line around lap forty.

That would give O'Neal the cushion that he needed and as he pulled away this one looked to be all but over as with nobody chasing points only eleven cars remained on the track so there was no traffic to contend with. Just before the white flag was about to wave though it was replaced by a caution as Feger had slowed on the front stretch and we would now be treated to one wild finish.

Given new life Overton again worked the middle and was able to pull ahead of O'Neal in the turns and as they raced the straights O'Neal would come charging back to the front. Entering turn three for the final time O'Neal went low to block, but as he drifted up the track a bit in turn four Overton had the drive off the bottom and it was a literal drag race to the checkers. I had to watch the replay several times this morning on Dirt On Dirt and try to hit pause at that critical split second to confirm it and after doing so I agree that it was O'Neal by inches at the line to take the win! Transponder scoring had the margin of victory at 0.026 seconds, another amazing finish that required technology to confirm it at Davenport. Pierce was close behind in third, Shirley built upon his MARS point lead in fourth and rising star Garrett Alberson filled out the top five. Ricky Weiss was sixth, Nick Hoffman rode to a seventh place finish in his debut with Team Zero, Chad Simpson was eighth, Jimmy Owens was ninth and Scott went from early leader to the final car on the track in tenth.

After a lengthy victory lane celebration most of the crowd stuck around for the Modifieds and local Late Models. In the Modifieds sixteen-year-old rookie Charlie Mohr would lead the first half of the twenty-lap distance, but when Spencer Diercks pulled alongside of him in turns three and four Mohr went for a spin causing the race's only caution. It is my understanding that the young driver is under the tutelage of a recently retired driver who was one the area's best for four decades, but I until I have that confirmed I won't share the name. You can bet though that this will be a lesson learned that giving up one spot is better that over driving the car and restarting at the back. Given that Charlie already has five top-five finishes against stout fields in the Quad Cities this season he is obviously a good student.

Diercks would bring the field back to green, but after starting the race from twelfth there was Matt Werner ready to challenge in the low groove. Diercks would fight him off for four circuits and once he was out front, Werner would drive away to an impressive victory. Diercks would chase him in for second, Jason Pershy finished third, Brandon Durbin also came from row six to take fourth and Mitch Morris completed the top five.

Eighteen IMCA Late Models would close out the evening for twenty-five laps and when Justin Kay charged from third to first on the opening lap, one might have thought that this one was already decided. Brian Harris was not convinced though as he put the Curless Racing #99 up on the high side and drove around Kay to lead lap three, Justin came back to lead the fourth circuit before Harris established himself as the pace setter on lap five. As this exchange went on Matt Ryan had come from fifth and was closing fast taking second from Kay on lap seven and then the lead from Harris on lap nine.

As the race went on with no cautions Ryan's lead grew and then started to shrink as Kay moved to second and appeared to be headed to another late race snatch of the win, something that I have seen at least three times here over the past two years and most recently on July 16th. The nightmares of seeing the orange 15K would end tonight though as Ryan maintained some distance and would take the win unchallenged in the closing laps with Kay as the runner-up. Harris would earn his second third-place finish of the season ahead of last Friday's winner here Chuck Hanna while Andy Nezworski filled out the top five.

It was another spectacular night of racing at Davenport and we were on our way home at 9:40 p.m. on a Tuesday I saw in an interview from last weekend that Joe Kosiski said that if and when I-80 Speedway is sold that he might like to find another venue for the Silver Dollar Nationals. I think I know just the place!

For more Positively Racing Coverage from this event check in with Danny Rosencrans and Ed Reichert.

After that Late Model thriller my attention now turns to Sprint Cars for the next eighteen days starting tonight when the Sprint Invaders return to the Dubuque County Fair. Then it will be fun with the All Star Circuit of Champions at 34 Raceway on Friday night and at Knoxville on Saturday before returning to Sprint Invaders racing at the Randolph County Raceway in Moberly on Sunday. Some family fun may keep me from the 360 Nationals at Knoxville, but I hope to make it to the Capitani Classic on Sunday night and Terry McCarl's Front Row Challenge on Monday in Oskaloosa before the 60th running of the Knoxville Nationals August 11th through the 14th.

Perhaps we will see each other on the Back Stretch!

Osky, Spoon and Regrets

Before I pack up and get ready to make the trip to the East Moline Speedway where tonight the Sprint Invaders return to the high-banked quarter-mile oval during the annual Rock Island County Fair, I wanted to share a few thoughts on a couple of entertaining nights of racing that I recently attended, but did not do a write up on.

Last night was the Third Annual Caleb Hammond Memorial at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa and there was definitely some thrilling finishes. For the full story you will want to read the 4dFan Report from my good friends and colleagues Dick and Joyce Eisele. I had a business function to attend earlier in the evening, so I arrived at the track shortly after the first heat race was completed around 7:45.

With plenty of extra money on the line, as well as the pride of racing in memory of young Caleb Hammond, more than 90 cars in five divisions were in the pits and the cool thing to me was that it wasn't a bunch of long distance travelers coming in to take a shot at the big check, but instead there were cars and drivers here tonight who are based relatively close by and for whatever reason do not compete here on a weekly Wednesday night basis. Perhaps it was the fact that this show was on a Tuesday, during the county fair which always seems to attract a few extra cars that just don't race often, the lure of the extra cash or a combination of all three, but to me it was proof that the Southern Iowa Speedway does still have that mid-week magic where sixty or seventy cars a week is a good possibility.

They definitely had a crowd on this night and it was an enthusiastic one with a buzz of conversation going on to a point where it was hard to hear announcer Jerry Mackey even when there was nothing on the track. And that crowd was treated to some great finishes in both the heat races and the features. It was great to see the Sprint Car count swell to a season high of nine including some names that I have not seen before. After struggling much of the season even to finish a heat race, hometown driver A.J. Johnson put it all together tonight making a nifty move going from third to first on the outside of turn three on the opening lap. He then drove away to a convincing and popular victory with the Southern Iowa Fair crowd.

Billy Cain went the distance to win the Sport Compact feature, but he was getting a stiff challenge from another hometown favorite Tyler Haring who had pulled even with Cain with just two laps remaining only to have a caution wipe out his challenge. Nathan Moody would drop Haring to third on the green, white, checkers restart.

The Hobby Stock feature tried the patience of the crowd with several cautions, but all was forgiven after a thrilling finish on the third try at "overtime". Rick Van Dusseldorp had snatched the lead from Dustin Griffiths on the second try at overtime and since the white flag lap had been scored before three cars piled up in turn one, it would be Van Dusseldorp that would bring the field back to green. Racing into turn two it looked like Clint Nelson got into the left rear of the leader just a bit, so Griffiths dove to the inside while Craig Brown went to the outside. They would exit turn two four-wide for the lead and with the momentum off the top side Brown would take the lead and, a lap later, the unlikely victory. Why unlikely? Brown was one of those numerous cautions when he spun exiting turn four mid-race, so his win came after restarting from the rear of the twenty-one car field.

Dylan Van Wyk appeared to have things well in hand in the Sport Mod feature until a lap ten caution brought the field back to him. Curtis Van Der Wal would power to the lead on lap eleven only to have Van Wyk come right back and muscle his way to the front a lap later. Van Der Wal then started to fade as Maguire DeJong moved to second and as the white flag waved Van Wyk had at least five car lengths on DeJong. That gap didn't close much, if any through turns one and two and then down the back stretch, but when DeJong went to the top in turn three he found something there that no other driver had.

Like a rocket ship the #30m shot out of turn four and it was now a drag race to the checkers with DeJong taking he win by no more than a foot at the checkers. Nothing better to fire up a crowd that likely had a lot of their friends and classmates in attendance as the two rising star teenagers gave them a photo finish!

The Stock Car feature would close out the evening with Nathan Ballard taking the win over a field of cars that had started out the evening at twenty-six. Ballard, who just established himself as the all-time winningest Hobby Stock racer at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton this past Sunday night, brought out the Stock Car that he ran at Bristol in March for the second time this season at Osky and he now has a third-place finish and a big Caleb Hammond Memorial victory.

Hard to believe, but the Season Championship races will be held at Osky next Wednesday July 28th, but you can still catch Terry McCarl's Front Row Challenge event on Monday August 9th and the annual Fall Challenge is scheduled for October 15th and 16th.

I have always wanted to make the trip over to the Spoon River Speedway south of Canton, Illinois, for one of their weekly shows, so with 34 Raceway canceled due to wet grounds last week, I made the trip east. My Waze app took me on a route that I had never taken before on the many times that I have visited the Spoon for one of their special events and while it was a gorgeous drive my fuel tank was wondering if I was going to see a gas station soon. After passing through tree burgs with populations of less than 200 I finally arrived in Lewistown where a Casey's General Store saved the day.

As it turned out this was Fan Appreciation Night at the speedway and there was a large crowd on hand that were admitted for free and I settled into my seat as the last of five divisions completed their qualifying laps. Yes, this is UMP country, although I'm not sure what if any classes are actually sanctioned here, but the heat races were lined up with the fast guys in front and I figured that the first heat race winner would then start from the pole in each feature.

Come feature time, the Pro Late Models were up first and I was surprised to see that Austin McCarty, who had qualified seventh and finished second in the first heat, was somehow on the pole for the feature. Apparently they have some kind of redraw for the features on weekly shows at Spoon and that made for some good racing in the two features that I stuck around for. Billy Knippenberg made a late pass of McCarty to take the win in that one and Josh Allen won the Modified main event after starting third. The track was fast and racy though as Ray Bollinger came from ninth to second, Evan Fink from fourteenth to third, sixth starting Richie Biswell finished fourth, A.J. May came from seventeenth to fifth and Cole Queatham finished sixth after starting from row eleven.

They have added some new lighting to the track and the announcer did a nice job of keeping fans informed throughout the night. Since I have so many other great options closer to home, a return for another Saturday night of weekly racing there is unlikely, but what they are doing this week at Spoon River would have been tempting. In the "Quick Draw" races for the Pro Late Models, the Modifieds and the B-Mods the entire field will run three 15-lap segments. The first segment will be lined up by the luck of the draw, the second segment will be lined up by a full invert of the finish of the first segment, and segment three will lineup as a full invert of segment two. The purse will then be paid out based upon the points earned in all three segments. I have seen pavement tracks do something like this before, but never a dirt track. Sounds like fun!

I live in small community. a community that I was raised in and have lived my whole adult life in and it is a community that I hope to be a part of until my dying day. A few months ago a new store opened up in this community, so I thought that I would go in and check it out. It looked like a nice place that would have a lot of things to offer, things that had not been available to our community all in one place now for quite some time. So I went out and told my friends and neighbors that they should check the place out.

Over the following months I started seeing the store owner ridicule other members of the community in a public fashion. The owner would also make a habit of "stirring the pot" when community members had issues with each other, and at times he would seem to want to have community members choose up sides against one another. He wasn't doing this at the store, if you were only a customer there you would have had no idea what else was going on around it and I can't tell if the owner thinks that he is helping the store or not with his personal behavior. 

From my standpoint, it is the owner's store and he can handle his business in an anyway that he wants. All I know is that the next time something new comes to the community, I am going to have to give it some more time and sample the products and services more before I put any reputation that I might have been able to build in this community over the past forty-three years at risk by recommending it to my friends and family.

Perhaps I will se you tonight at East Moline and, if not, I do hope that you are headed for one of the other many great race nights on the schedule for tonight and the days to come! I love our racing community!

Kay Continues To Haunt Ryan At Davenport

I know that it is not every time that I go to the Davenport Speedway, but it sure seems like I keep seeing the same general story line play out between two of the top Late Model drivers in the state over the past eight years. Since 2013 Matt Ryan and Justin Kay have won six of the eight All Iowa Points Championships, three each, and as we head into the second half of 2021 they once again rank first and second well ahead of the rest of the competition. And while there have been several nights over the past few years where Ryan has beaten Kay at Davenport, whenever I'm there it usually comes right down to the wire with Kay stealing the win.

That was the case again last night as promoter Ricky Kay and "The Dirt Doctor" Al Dlouhy were able to salvage a raceable surface from the quarter-mile oval that had been drenched with heavy rains during the week. The track had plenty of "character" as they say, and while the drivers might not like it, a nice crowd was treated to a very exciting night of action that included several plot twists. And in the Late Models it was a pair of cautions for debris, brought on by the track that had drivers searching for the smoothest or fastest line that they could find.

After having to be retrieved with a tow truck from the staging area for hot laps earlier in the night, Nick Marolf would race out to the early lead in the twenty-five lap finale for the evening with Brian Harris in hot pursuit. Ryan had started eighth and gradually worked his way to the front taking the lead from Marolf on lap fourteen. As Ryan pulled away, Harris and Marolf would battle for second and they had plenty of distance on the fourth place car of Kay who had started the race from eleventh.

Even while working traffic, Ryan appeared to have the race well in hand until the caution waved with six laps remaining for debris in turn four and on the restart I knew that things were going to get interesting when Kay passed both Harris and Marolf in turns one and two to get to second. Riding through the rumble strips down low, Kay was faster than Ryan who was running the smoother higher line and Justin would take the lead on lap twenty-two. Matt was not about to give in though as he then went to the bottom and as the two raced to the white flag he would squeeze under Kay to take the lead.

I'm not sure if the caution waved before the leaders crossed the stripe, or just after but there was a big hunk of something sitting in the middle of turn one and when the drivers received word over the Raceceiver that Kay was to restart in front, Ryan was obviously not happy with the call as he stopped and revved his engine in front of the judges stand.

On the green, white, checkers restart Harris would drop Ryan back to third and that would allow Kay to go the final two laps unchallenged to take the win. Ryan was able to pass Harris on the final lap to get back to second and he again showed his displeasure as he headed to the tech area. It was an interesting night for Harris as during the heat race the Doug Curless owned #99 belched a thick cloud of white smoke only to see Harris continue on without losing a position. Obviously it wasn't a motor as he finished third in the feature ahead of Andy Eckrich and Andy Nezworski. Marolf pulled to the infield on the final lap giving up a top five run.

Darrell DeFrance congratulates Justin Kay on his 100th career IMCA Late Model victory earlier this season at Marshalltown - Barry Johnson photo

Let's go back to the first feature of the night as the Sport Compacts set the tone for some thrills and spills with their twelve lap headliner. Josh Riley was digging around the bottom to lead the first two laps while Cyle Hawkins and Aaron Hitt were sailing around the smooth top line coming from the sixth and eighth starting positions respectively. Hawkins would take the lead on lap three and, after seeing the faster line, Riley went there too to make it a three car battle for the front. In fact they would race three-wide for the lead in turn two on lap eight with Hawkins maintaining the advantage and lapped traffic just ahead to make things even more interesting.

Working through turns three and four and looking for the white flag, the three contenders now had two lappers involved as well and when one of them forced Hawkins to cut left exiting turn four he would clip the front of Hitt. This turned Hitt sideways causing him to nearly roll and blowing out one of his tires. Riley tried to take advantage of the tussle, but he could not beat Hawkins to the checkers on the final lap as the driver who currently ranks second in the All Iowa Points would take the win. Riley would finish second, pole-sitter Codie Proehl finished third followed by the Sibleys, Todd and Tim would finish out the top five. It was a tough beak for Hitt who has returned to the division after getting out of the Sport Mods.

With both Donnellson and Columbus Junction canceled due to wet grounds, Brandon Setser brought his IMCA Stock Car out to do battle with the Quad City Street Stock division and what an interesting race it would be for Setser. He would start the fifteen lapper from the pole, fade as far back as eighth I believe and then, well let's tell the rest of the story first. Fellow front row starter Donnie Louck would lead the way from the drop of the green and was looking strong until the caution waved when Austin Riggs went over the top of turn three on lap eight.

On the restart Jesse Owen would steal the lead for a lap only to have Louck come charging back before a debris caution waved on lap ten. Once again on the restart Owen would drive under Louck to take the lead and this time it took two laps for Louck to fight back as Nick Hixson also joined the battle. They would go three-wide down the back stretch on lap fourteen and as the white flag waved it would be Louck with the advantage. Both Setser and Jeff Struck Jr. were now in contention as well and there was a buzz in the large crowd as the top five headed down the back stretch and into turns three and four for one last time.

I'm not sure what happened to Louck as it didn't look like he had a flat tire as he slowly drove past the grandstand, but after he entered turn three with the lead, he suddenly turn hard right and sailed up and over the banking. This setup a mad dash to the checkers with Owen cashing in the win ahead of Setser, Hixson and Struck in tight formation. Tony Von Dresky was fifth in a Street Stock thriller.

Forty-one IMCA Northern Sport Mods signed in for this weekly show and twenty-four of them would qualify throughs heats and B-Mains to run the fifteen lap main event. Adam Birck who rolled his car here earlier in the season would start from the pole and this race would have a hard time getting started. It looked like a driveshaft from Doug Burkhead's car thwarted the first start and on the second try one lap was scored before the caution waved again. Eighth starting Ryan Walker had run off the back stretch and was sliding through the standing water in the grass, but the caution was not apparently for him as he was placed back in the running order for the next restart. A big break for Walker as you will soon find out.

Three laps had been scored when a hard charging Tyler Soppe spun in turn two and collected several cars in a grinding crash. A two-time All Iowa Points champ Soppe had to be towed back to the pits as did your current All Iowa Points leader Logan Anderson who had come to visit with the rainout at CJ. Eight cars had now been eliminated coming to the restart on lap three and Birck would continue to lead the way until the caution waved again on lap seven. Gage Neal had suffered heavy right side damage in the Soppe wreck and when his right rear tire blew it tore away some of the hanging sheet metal and left it on the racing surface.

Logan Veloz would go to work on Birck after the green returned and the two drivers gave the crowd a thrill racing in close formation through the bumps. Veloz would lead lap eight, Birck lap nine and Veloz lap ten before a bit of contact in turn four caused Veloz to check up and lose the second spot to Ryan Walker. Birck now appeared to be headed for victory, but Walker had other ideas as he threw a huge slider on the leader entering turn three. It was a clean one though as he definitely had him cleared and it was such a surprise to Birck that he could not react quickly enough to cross it over, so Walker would go from sliding through the puddles to victory lane in this win. Birck would have to settle for second and Veloz with third while Brandon Jewell and Ben Chapman filled out the top five.

The IMCA sanctioned Mod Lites were up next and the smooth high line was definitely the fastest as proven by leader Mike Zemo Jr., however if you went too wide it could bite you as proven by Mike Morrow. Morrow dropped the right rear off the top of turn one and when he tried to save it his car went up and over for a quick three or four barrel rolls. Thankfully he emerged from the car uninjured.

On the restart Zemo again drove away from the field and was ahead by two thirds of a lap when he took the checkers, but after a lengthy victory lane interview he apparently failed to go to post-race tech and was disqualified. That would give the win to Blake Gonzalez with Jon Padilla, Michael Dominguez and Californian Kaden Cochrun next in line.

A solid field of twenty-nine IMCA Modifieds were all scheduled to start the twenty-lap main event and all but two made the call. Matt Stein would lead the opening lap, bit Mitch Morris was rim riding and on the fly coming from sixth to first in just two laps. Morris would stretch his lead to greater than a straightaway by mid-race and it was good thing for him that there were no cautions in this one. Travis Denning was definitely the fastest car at the end as after making his way to second mid-race after starting twelfth he would close to just two car lengths behind Morris as the checkered flag waved. Spencer Diercks came from tenth to third, Matt Werner moved from eighth to fourth and young Charlie Mohr charged from thirteenth to complete the top five.

This was a fantastic night of racing and Davenport definitely has one of the best weekly shows in the region right now with strong car counts and plenty of action every Friday night. I plan to return here at least two more times this season for special events as the MARS Late Model series will be here on Tuesday, July 27th, and don't forget about the big World of Outlaws Late Model tripleheader on August 26th, 27th and 28th. 

A big thank you to Brenda Kay who last week saw me mention that I would be heading to Davenport and messaged to remind me that my name is on the media list at the pit gate. Very much appreciated!

Coming up next week, the Caleb Hammond Memorial at Oskaloosa on Tuesday night and the Sprint Invaders at East Moline on Wednesday. Hope to see you there!

IMCA Modified National Points Leader Dominates For $2K At Cedar County Fair

Despite threatening weather Jeff "Bone" Larson made the trip over from Freeport, Illinois, to Tipton, Iowa, on Wednesday night as the current National Points Leader in the IMCA Modified division. With $2,000 up for grabs for the winner of the Modified main event, thirty-two other Modified drivers also risked the weather as did a fine field of drivers in the other four divisions and an impressive crowd making me wonder just how much bigger the opening night of the Cedar County Fair would have been without a line of thunderstorms off to the north and west that spawned several tornadoes during the evening.

Larson is having a fantastic 2021 season thus far and he would have been one of the favorites for the night anyway, but when he drew the pole position for his heat race and then later the outside front row for the twenty-five lap feature, well let's just say that the story was told. Cayden Carter and Denny Eckrich did their best to keep up with Larson as the lead trio pulled away from the rest of the field, but even in traffic they could not draw close enough to challenge.

The restart following a lap nineteen caution would see Eckrich take the second spot from Carter and as they battled it out Larson again pulled away and just after Carter reclaimed second the caution waved again for Austin Blume's spin in turn three. Again Eckrich would take second from Carter on the restart and this time he would hold the position over the final two laps to be the runner-up to Larson's dominating performance. Carter would settle for third while Travis Denning edged out Ryan Duhme for fourth.

With lightning filling the sky to the north, the Modified feature was moved up to third in the running order following the Midwest Jalopies and the Sport Compacts who also drew a strong field of thirty-one cars looking for a nice $750 top prize.

Brad Forbes would pace the field for the opening lap before yielding to fellow front row starter Josh Riley, but after winning his heat race from deep in the pack Dustin Begyn was on the fly from third and he would take the lead on lap five. The red flag would fly when another heat race winner Zach Dahl rolled his car at the exit of turn four and once racing resumed Joe Zrostlik would apply the pressure on Begyn.

Luke Benischek was close behind in third as well and while it looked like Zrostlik might get a run on the leader by racing in the middle groove, the low riding Begyn was too strong and went on to victory. Zrostlik and Benischek were next in line with Josh Starr and Riley close behind to complete the top five.

While some of the crowd made their way to their cars or to the midway following the Modified feature, a quick check of the radar showed that there would be plenty of time to get the final two races in so I stuck around for the Mod Lites and the Street Stocks.

Dillon Raffurty and Michael Raffurty had swept the two Mod Lite heat races and I am sure that the duo from Kansas City were looking to go one-two in the twelve lap feature, but that plan fell to the wayside early when Michael coasted to the pits off the back stretch. Mike Zemo Jr. paced the first three laps, but even the former Late Model driver was no match for Dillon as he came from eighth to first in just four laps to secure the lead and then walk away for the win. Zemo finished second, R.J. Gonzalez and Blake Gonzalez went third and fourth while pole-sitter Ben George took fifth.

The Street Stocks would close out the quick evening with fifteen laps of feature racing that saw Greg Gill taking the early lead. Jesse Owen was there to challenge and was about to take the lead before Donnie Louck spun in turn three. On the restart Nick Hixson would power to the front and while Jeff Struck Jr. would take up the chase through the second half of the distance, he could not mount a challenge as Hixson scored the victory. Struck started eighth and finished second. Owen held down third, Joe Bonney was fourth and Tom Schmitt came from the sixth row to complete the top five.

And with that we were on our way home at 9:06 p.m. after watching a full program featuring 104 cars in five divisions. When I returned home I checked Facebook for a moment before heading to bed and I noticed that Dustin Jarrett had made a post about how fast the show was run and there were several comments. Several were in disbelief asking how in the world could a show be run off so quickly and from my standpoint here are some reasons why.

 - The crew putting on the race were aware of the weather situation and decided early on that they needed to do everything possible to beat the rain. I cannot tell you how many times over the years that I have been at the races knowing that rain was on the way, but it seemed like nobody who was putting on the show was aware of that fact

-  "The Dirt Doctor", Al Dlouhy, had the track well prepped and ready for hot laps right at the scheduled starting time of 6:30 which then allowed for the racing to start right on time at 7 p.m.

- Kathy Dlouhy had a headset and a radio. Those who have worked with Kathy knows that she takes charge and can be very "motivational", something that is needed on a night like this

- The division roster was the right one for a quick show. If that statement offends any of you then get together with the drivers in your class and figure out how to fix it.

- The drivers and crews were extremely cooperative, even when the call was made for the Modifieds to move their feature ahead in the program there was only a short pause before all twenty-four starters were in staging and ready to roll. This reminded me of the night when the UMP Summer Nationals completed a program at 34 Raceway before a storm rolled in at 8:24 p.m.. Couldn't have done it without the cooperation of the drivers and their crews.

- There were no victory lane interviews and there was no parade of people back and forth from the grandstands to take pictures. Yes, I know that this is an important part of racing, but not on a night like this and kudos to the track crew for realizing it.

So that is how you run off a program in just two hours and thirty six minutes from the start of hot laps to the final checkered flag. Yes, it took threatening weather to provide the motivation, but you have to wonder how many more fans would you have in the stands if they knew that even a three hour program was the norm? Hot laps at 7:00, finished by 10:00, sounds great to me but I was surprised to see that Dustin's post had a couple of people who said that they would have felt short changed by such a quick show. 

One gentleman stated "I would feel ripped off. I have never enjoyed a show that went by that fast, if I'm going to the races I want to be there 5-6 hours". He lives in Kentucky and having been to a few races in Kentucky over the years, I am guessing that he is quite pleased with them. But then again they rarely, if ever race on a weeknight in Kentucky so maybe would make a difference. Either way it is just further proof of why I love living in the heart of Dirt Track racing, right here in Iowa.

Those storms though continued to push to the south and east overnight and into Thursday wiping out the Lucas Oil Late Models at 34 Raceway and the Scotland County Fair race for tonight. I was looking forward to one more chance to enjoy an evening of racing in Memphis with California visitor Paul Vetter, but that will have to now wait for Super Nationals or the summer of 2022. Plus the weekly shows at the Lee County Speedway and the CJ Speedway are already canceled for Friday night as well as the return to racing at the Davis County Fair in Bloomfield.

If Davenport is still a go I will likely return there on Friday after being washed out early last week and Saturday is up in the air at this point. Mid-week action next week will feature the Caleb Hammond Memorial at the Southern Iowa Speedway on Tuesday night and then on Wednesday July 21st I am excited to see the Sprint Invaders tackle the high banks at the East Moline Speedway. 

Hope to see you soon here on the Back Stretch! 

Becerra, Carter and Schmidt Earn Four Figure Wins At Benton County's Urbana Five Memorial

Thursday April 9th, 2015 was a tragic day almost beyond comprehension. It was that day when young lives were lost in a traffic accident, Nicole (20), Quentin (19), Triston (17), Hunter (14) and Zoey (12). The Urbana Five.

They were race fans and they loved to be at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton cheering on their favorites every Sunday night and it is good that each July the Benton County County Speedway, with the incredible help from a group of volunteers and a long list of sponsors, pays tribute to these five lives that were lost way too soon. And with each year this event grows larger and perhaps even more meaningful as not only are those five souls honored, but we as attendees of this event are reminded of the gifts that these young people made to others in the form of organ and tissue donation and the Iowa Donor Network is there in hope that you have indicated on your driver license that you will give that same gift. 

The posted purse money continued to grow right up to Sunday's race day and you might even have to think that the 5 may have had a say in the weather as while it rained on me all the way from Mount Pleasant to Cedar Rapids, it was a beautiful Sunday evening in Vinton. With East Moline having canceled early in the day, several of their regulars made the trip and the car count swelled to 155 in six divisions. With over $2,000 up for the winner it was no surprise that the Sport Mods had the highest count ending up at fifty, and then again that should answer any questions as to why I was not able to stay for the final two features that took the green after 10:10 p.m.

Five stop and go heat races and two big caution riddled B-Mains whittled the field down to twenty-four come feature time with California resident Kaylin Lopez and Illinois traveler Austen Becerra drawing the front row for the twenty-lap main event. Lopez has based himself in Iowa for the racing season and continues to improve each time that I see him while Becerra has again had to hit the road on Sunday nights if he wants to go racing since the Quincy Raceways remain dormant following the pandemic shutdown. As announcer Ryan Clark stated though, Becerra is no stranger to victory lane here in Vinton and he would set sail at the drop of the green in an effort to get back there and claim the night's $2,200 top prize.

The first of two cautions in the main event would come on lap eight when Tony Olson slipped off the top of turn three and then headed to the work area to change a flat tire. The second came on lap twelve when Robert Patava spun in turn two and on this restart Brayton Carter gave Becerra his best shot even taking the lead exiting turn two and heading down the back stretch. Austen was not fazed though as he expertly drove the cushion that was by now precariously at the top of the quarter-mile on both ends and maintained the lead for not only lap thirteen, but the rest of the way to take the win.

Carter would chase him in for second while the race to watch over the closing laps was the one for third where Dylan Van Wyk was throwing everything that he could at Lopez. A big slider from Van Wyk in turns one and two was answered with a perfect crossover by Lopez so on the next try Dylan was able to pull even on the front stretch and then drove Kaylin to the cushion forcing him to lift and give up the position. Logan Anderson finished fifth and then a few positions behind him would see five cars pileup against the wall just past the flag stand. Thankfully no drivers were injured and hopefully the damage was more cosmetic than anything else.

That was when I headed for the gates with the Legend Car and Sport Compact features still to go. Earlier in the night though the Sport Compact feature that was postponed from July 4th opened up the racing action with fifteen cars going for twelve laps. Early contender Ashley Reuman would lose her left rear wheel to bring out a caution on lap five and on the restart William Michel appeared to be in complete control having lead from the pole position at the drop of the green.

In the closing laps though you could hear the four cylinders of the leader going sour and while he was still quick in the turns, his straightaway speed was fading. Cristian Grady and Justin Stevenson were now closing in quickly and if not for having their own battle for a couple of laps, Michel would have been a sitting duck. Going down the back stretch on the final lap Grady would close quickly on the leader and they would exit turn four side-by-side. Luckily for Michel his motor had just enough power remaining to get him to the stripe just inches ahead of Grady to take the win. Stevenson, in his first feature here at Vinton, was an impressive third followed by Travis Losenicky and Korey Lana.

The current track point leader here at Vinton, Michel scratched from his heat race but he did run the feature where he started from the tenth row and finished seventh. Urbana driver Lukas Rick would take the win in the nightcap followed by Losenicky, Reuman, Grady and Logan Clausen.

If you were writing a recap based upon results off of MyRacePass you would have missed the big stories on the eighteen lap feature for the IMCA Stock Cars. First of all, even though this one would pay $1,100 to the winner, division dominator Dallon Murty was out in Albion, Nebraska, chasing an even bigger payday so the twenty car starting field was wide open as to who might win. Pole-sitter Michael Peterson would lead the way on lap one and when third-starting Jay Schmidt tried to go under him entering turn one on the second lap, he spun out and was sent to the rear of the field for the restart. 

Jason Doyle would swipe the lead from Peterson on lap three and he would soon have Jacob Ellithorpe and Jeff Mueller in hot pursuit. The caution would wave again on lap six when Ian Huff and Mitchell Evens spun in turn one and soon after this restart Ellithorpe would drive under Doyle to lead lap eight. This would quickly become a classic battle with Doyle nosing back ahead on lap nine, Ellithorpe would lead lap ten and then Doyle's high line would prevail as he went back to the front on lap eleven.

The caution would wave again with just two laps to go when Tobie Talk went over the top of turn three and on the restart Mueller would now make a run at Doyle for the lead. That challenge would go awry though as Mueller spun in turn three, but the caution had already waved for two cars that had become hooked together and stopped in turn one. It was again Huff and Evens involved and they were stuck together long enough for announcer Jerry Vansickel to play both Baby Shark and Sweet Caroline to entertain the crowd while crews worked to separate the cars. It was a tough night for Evens who also barrel rolled off the top of turn three in his heat race, but still came back to start the feature.

Five cars piled up on the restart in turn one, so yes I may have placed too much of the blame on the Sport Mod qualifying races for the late night, but once finally back to green we were in for a thriller. Mueller was poised to make a run on the bottom entering turn three only to have his right front tire go flat sending him up and over the banking. The green light stayed on and as the white flag waved there was Jay Schmidt all the way back into second and primed to make a run at Doyle. And just as he did four weeks earlier, Schmidt was able to drive under Doyle to steal the win on the final lap in dramatic fashion again collecting the Christie Door Company Last Lap Pass Bonus of $150 added to the winner's check. Doyle is seeing the 19J in his nightmares as he finished second, Ellithorpe was impressive in third while both Buck Swanson and Hannah Chesmore posted their first top five finishes of the season in fourth and fifth.

The fifteen lap Hobby Stock feature was up next and after leading the opening lap Scott Siems would spin in turn one. He would not have the same storybook ending as Schmidt.

Kaden Reynolds would take the lead from Eric Knutson on the restart and would be in control most of the race. A couple of late cautions would setup restarts and one of the things that I love about the racing at Vinton are the rivalries that have developed and get the fans stirred up, and none seem to be bigger right now than Kaden Reynolds vs. Nathan Ballard. Ballard was right on the bumper of the leader for those last two restarts and when Reynolds pushed a bit entering the turns the place was electric as Ballard was poised to make a move if he was willing to trade some paint. Not on this night though as Reynolds would hang on to take his nineteenth win of the season ahead of Ballard and Knutson. East Moline regular Andrew Burk showed that short fields are not the only reason why he currently ranks third behind Daniel Wauters and Reynolds in the All Iowa Points as he finished fourth just ahead Brett Vanuos.

Dylan Thornton brings the field to green

Rod Clement's spin on lap one would be the only caution in the $1,200-to-win IMCA Modified feature that saw pole-sitter Dylan Thornton lead the way early on. The young driver from California is here in Iowa for the second summer in a row to race often and to learn, and on this night he got a lesson from one of the best as Cayden Carter sized him up while approaching traffic. Riding the bottom for the first ten laps, Carter went up to check out the top as the leaders closed in on the back of the field and when Thornton had to check up for a split second behind a lapper, Carter zipped around him on the outside and was then gone, the first to become a two-time winner of the Urbana Five Memorial in the Modifieds. Ethan Braaksma was able to slip by Thornton late to take the runner-up position, Joel Rust came from the fifth row to finish fourth and Todd Shute finished where he started in fifth. 

Dave Eberle of Freeport, Illinois, came from the back to win his heat race and then won the Legend Car feature from tenth.

Congratulations  and Thank You to all of the volunteers with the Urbana Five who make this event an incredible success each year as well as to promoters Rick and Corey Dripps for making it happen. Race fans, check the Benton County Speedway schedule for 2022 and make sure that this night is marked on your calendar. A big thanks as well to both Ryan Clark and Jerry Vansickel for their promotion of Positively Racing and the Back Stretch. Always remember that we retain Ryan's In Staging blog at there for your reading pleasure! 

I am back to watching the weather this week and hoping for a trip to the Cedar County Fair in Tipton on Wednesday night followed by the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at 34 Raceway on Thursday night. Perhaps I will see you there!

Aikey Swipes $7,200 At Indee's Denny Osborn Memorial

Tuesday was another one of those nights where it felt good to be at a race track. The Buchanan County Fair was in the process of setting up, the parking lot was rather random filling up around campers and other assorted Fair items, the pit area was packed with 87 race teams in just three divisions and best of all the grandstands were nearly full at the Independence Motor Speedway. What was originally scheduled by one off promoter Travis Smock as the "Late Model Showdown", the event took on new meaning with the recent passing of long time competitor here Denny Osborn and with some help from additional sponsors the total purse swelled to more than $33,000 with a sharp $7,200 going to the Late Model feature winner.

Osborn's number throughout his career was 72 and on this night the normally #60 Late Model of Ben Seeman and the normally #71c Modified of Troy Cordes were both wrapped in the brilliant orange #72 to pay tribute to the legendary driver and his grandson Colton also paced the field in his #72 Mini Mod that he races here weekly on Saturday nights. Announcer Ryan Clark went through Osborn's list of career accomplishments, as only Ryan can, and as I look back through the records that are available to me (1967 through 1990) with the All Iowa Points I can tell you that Denny first scored points in the Late Model division in 1974 and that his best season came in 1983 when he ranked sixth in the final standings. 

Osborn also placed in the top ten in 1975 (ninth) and 1979 (eighth) and his consistency was solid enough to place him 14th on the Cumulative All Iowa Points Late Model list from 1967 through 1990. Only these legends are ahead of him on that list: Ed Sanger, Roger Dolan, Curt Hansen, Ron Weedon, Darrell Dake, Gary Webb, Rollie Frink, Bill Zwanziger, Red Dralle, Dave Chase, Karl Sanger, Ken Walton and Curt Martin. How cool was it that two of those drivers, Webb and Martin, were both in action on this night? 

Unfortunately due to a house fire in 1997 I do not have the full records from 1991 through 1999, but Osborn's career lasted into the 2000's with his last top-five finish coming in 2002 when he was also racing against his son Brad. So with many of us able to pull up memories of the orange #72 in action here at Independence, we were ready to go racing on a beautiful Tuesday night with 38 Late Models ready to go using the old Indee Open rules package and a passing points system to qualify from the 12-lap heats. Four cars each from two B-Mains then completed the twenty-four car field for 60 laps of feature racing.

The high side was the place to be early as outside front row starter Brian Harris went to the lead, but when he slipped a wheel off the top of the back stretch on lap three it sucked him off the track entering turn three and he lost several positions before being able to recover. This would put local favorite Sean Johnson on the point and the preferred groove would quickly go to the bottom of the 3/8th-mile oval. 

It wasn't long before Johnson closed in on the back of the field and his first target to put a lap down would be Joel Callahan's #40 driven tonight by Jeremiah Hurst. Johnson took a couple of runs at going out and around Hurst with no luck and that allowed Justin Kay to quickly close in on his back bumper. Kay was content to stick to the bottom as well and when Johnson left an opening exiting turn two on lap fourteen, Kay was there to fill it.

Meanwhile, picking off spots one by one behind them was Jeff Aikey who had started from tenth and by mid-race it was still Kay pacing himself behind the last place car of Hurst, but now with Aikey and Chad Simpson wheeling Jay Johnson's #93 waiting for racing room behind him. The only caution of the race would come on lap twenty-eight when Darren Ackerman and Luke Goedert tangled in turn four while racing for fifth.

Now with a clear track in front of him for the restart, Kay would bring the field back to green only to have Aikey time the start perfectly and move to the outside of the leader entering turn one. Kay still had the preferred groove, but Aikey knew that this was his one shot and he made it payoff by holding his line and then shutting the door on Kay entering turn three.

It wasn't before the new leader caught the back of the field again in Hurst and when Aikey had to check up in turn four on lap forty-two, Kay had to take evasive action racing to the inside of the implement tire marking the inside of turn four. This allowed Simpson to drive by into the second spot and before he could reel the leader back in Aikey would finally clear Hurst with eight laps remaining and that would seal the deal as the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer parked the Rick Dralle owned #77 in victory lane. Simpson and Kay would complete the podium with young Logan Duffy in fourth. Johnson would take the fifth position ahead of World of Outlaws regular Tyler Bruening and finishing seventh was Stock Car ace Dallon Murty. As far as I know this was Murty's first full night in a Late Model as the event promoter Travis Smock handed over the keys to his #98 to the sixteen-year-old and he was solid all night finishing second in his heat earlier.

Brian Harris had to think of what might have been in eighth, Jason Hahne finished ninth and Ryan Gustin drove John Emerson's #87 to a tenth place finish.

Cordes (72), Burbridge (11) and Ronn Lauritzen

Stock Cars and Modifieds were also on the card with each class paying $1,000-to-win and in the Modifieds it was Chris Simpson going the 25-lap distance from the pole position to take the win. He withstood one big challenge when Mike Burbridge tried to squeeze under him on a lap fourteen restart, but Simpson shrugged off the contact and again pulled away in Doug Cue's sharp looking #32 to take the win. Burbridge would finish in the second spot, Joel Rust worked his way up from twelfth to third, Troy Cordes had the orange #72 humming in fourth and Derrick Stewart filled out the top five.

It is hard for me to think of Johnny Spaw as being the wily ol' veteran, but when he is matched up against Dallon Murty that's just the truth and throughout this race it was fun to watch just how smart both of these drivers are. On the first two tries at a start to the twenty-lap Stock Car feature the pole-sitter Spaw would out drag second starter Phil Holtz to turn one and then slide to the cushion in turn two. And on both of those starts Cole Mather was right there to get the run off the bottom of turn two to take the lead down the back stretch.

With cautions wiping out both of those starts, Spaw learned his lesson and he kept the #00 glued to the bottom to shut off Mather and take the lead as the race finally stayed green. It was a great four car battle between Spaw, Mather, Holtz and Murty as Dallon gradually made his way to second and as the crossed flags signified half way Spaw and Murty went under them in a virtual dead heat. Murty would take the lead by less than a car length for the next three laps only to have Spaw battle back to the point on lap fourteen.

That was short-lived though as Murty regained the lead with five to go and when the final caution waved after lap eighteen was scored we were setup for a green, white and checkers finish. As the green flag waved Murty went low in turns one and two to block Spaw's line and then went back to his preferred top line in turns three and four. Spaw's lower line was working though and he showed the leader his nose as the white flag waved with Murty again shutting the door entering turn one on the lower line.

Entering the final set of turns the youngster showed his savvy by entering turn three low and staying there through turn four essentially closing off any hopes that Spaw might have had to steal the victory and as the kid celebrated yet another four figure winner's check in victory lane he told announcer Ryan Clark that this was already his twenty-fifth feature win of the season. Spaw will welcome a rematch soon after finishing a close second with Mather, Holtz and Dustin Vis completing the top five.

The full show was wrapped up around 10:10 allowing me to get back home just as the clock struck midnight and I was able to get enough sleep to consider going to the UMP Summer Nationals show at the Spoon River Speedway tonight if the predicted rain stays away. On Friday night we'll be headed to the Randolph County Raceway in Moberly, Missouri, as the Sprint Invaders return to the high speed facility and then if I am able to go racing this Sunday night, it will be in Vinton for the annual "Urbana 5" event at the Benton County Speedway.

Get on out and support the sport at a show of your choice!