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.
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| 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!
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