Check One Off The Bucket List

It took some some planning and strategy, but I was finally able to get to my first race for the 2023 season on Saturday night. I have been trying to get the new season rolling every weekend since February 25th, but with another cold and wet March here in the Midwest that has not happened and after my primary target for the weekend dropped by the wayside early Thursday, the hunt was on.

First though I again want to address all of those people who like to question why we even have races scheduled in this region during the month of March. I'll tell you why, it's because some years you actually catch some nice weather and, when you do, as a promoter you will likely hit a home run that could literally carry you financially for quite some time. Besides in this day and age of the internet and social media, just how much of a risk is a promoter taking by putting a March race on the schedule? 

It's not like the old days where you would have had to spend a thousand dollars or more on advertising in a racing paper and local media. Now you put it out there on your Facebook page and website at no additional cost. You are going to be working on the track to get it ready for the season anyway, you are likely paying your insurance premium annually rather than by the event, so if you are facing an unfavorable forecast before you take your food order for the concession stand, you go back on Facebook and social media and announce the cancellation or postponement of the event. I realize that I could be forgetting something, but to me you have actually whetted the appetites of your fans and pushed the drivers to get their cars done earlier than they probably would have otherwise all without spending a bunch of extra money.

And here is the most important thing to remember. If promoters actually stopped scheduling races in March here in this region, the first time that you get a pleasant weekend with above normal temperatures for the month, those same people who keep suggesting that it shouldn't be done will be the first to ask why nobody was smart enough to have a race scheduled for that weekend! Hopefully we break the trend in 2024!

With a forecast for the weekend that went from cool, but dry on Monday to rain and snow by Wednesday, Tony Izzo and Ricky Kay had no choice but to postpone the Thaw Brawl at Davenport for the second year in a row. They use the word "postpone" although I don't see an opportunity to fit it in to an already busy schedule at Davenport so I am hoping that they will just regroup and try it again in late March of 2024.

With that announcement my first thought was to load up and head to Humboldt, Kansas, on Thursday for the USMTS King of America and the Battle of the Bullring for the B-Mods only to check the forecast there and find rain likely for Thursday and Friday. I was very close to going anyway and, if I had, I would have seen a full show on Thursday night as, checking the radar during the evening, the line of heavy thunderstorms stayed just one county away to the south and to the east of the speedway. On Friday night they waited out a steady drizzle for as long as possible before pulling the plug and with sunny skies in the forecast, Humboldt became on of my three targets for Saturday.

Weekly openers on the schedule for the I-35 Speedway in Winston, Missouri, and the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland were positioned as options one and two though since they were closer to home, and that nasty "R" word was being mentioned again later in the evening on Saturday at Humboldt, so despite being the headliner for the weekend it was placed at number three on my list.

The plan was to pick up Danny and Fred in Canton, Missouri, on the way so a time was set on Friday night and, on Saturday morning, we patiently waited for information to come from the three tracks. With options one and two I would not need to leave home until 12:30, however if it came down to only Humboldt I would need to hit the road two hours earlier in order to make their 5 p.m. race time.

Just past 10 a.m. I-35 posted on Facebook hat they were pretty wet and that they would make a decision soon, so at 10:15 with no info as of yet on the Lucas Oil Speedway Facebook page, I called the track and a nice young lady told me that they too were working on a wet track and would determine by noon if they were going to be able to race or not. I quickly packed a bag and started driving south to Canton.

Not long after loading up my companions we started heading west on highway 36, which would have been the same route for all three options, where we first saw that another quick shower had put an end to I-35 and literally just a mile before we would have wanted to turn left to take the most direct route to Wheatland, we saw their Facebook post stating that it was Race Day at the Diamond of the Dirt tracks. So yes, we had a couple of hours to kill and that was accomplished by a nice sit down lunch at the Log Cabin Restaurant near Mark Twain Lake and then an hour of pit gate watching where we saw many of the 85 car field sign in under blue skies with a temperature inching just above 60. Finally, my March losing streak would be broken!

It was a roundabout way of doing so, but going to a weekly show at the Lucas Oil Speedway has always been on my bucket list especially now with the four division roster of Late Models, Modifieds, Stock Cars and B-Mods. Knowing that the big event in Humboldt would cut into the car count some for the two Modified divisions, I was actually still a bit surprised at the car counts in both. Aided by at least six drivers who would have otherwise been at I-35, the B-Mod count swelled to thirty-five while in the Modifieds thank goodness for the three Winston regulars who made the trip down as it got us to eleven. Checking the roster at Humboldt I could only identify two or three that would have been here instead, so it will be interesting to see if this division will struggle here in 2023 at a track that used to pull more than thirty a night for their weekly events.

The track crew did a nice job of getting the track as hard and smooth as possible despite the cool and rainy weather during the latter part of the week and when a couple of holes started to develop at the bottom of turn one they used the twenty-five minute intermission to fill 'em back up and we were ready for feature racing.

The B-Mods would be up first with the field trimmed to twenty-four through four heat races and two B-Mains. Twenty laps would be the distance with J.C Newell opening up a comfortable lead from his front row starting spot before the first caution waved for debris on lap four. Cautions for Kyler Girard on lap seven and for Donnie Jackson on lap eight kept the field bunched together only to have Newell again drive away on the restarts. My focus was on a pair of drivers who were forced to to run a B-Main after troubles in their heat race as Brice Gotschall had come from eighteenth up to fifth by the mid-race point and Robbe Ewing was a couple spots behind him after starting next to Gotschall on row nine.

Newell was on cruise control until lap twelve when he suddenly slowed exiting turn four and pulled to the infield handing the lead over to Bobby Williams. After starting from the pole Cayden Stacye had slipped to third, but he was now chasing Williams for the lead and after crossing the line to score lap eighteen, Stacye charged to the inside of Williams to take the point in turns one and two. That pass would be negated though when Donnie Fellers spun in three so Williams would bring the field back to the green for the final restart.

Stacye would again dive to the inside of Williams in one and two only to have Bobby fight back down the back stretch and he would continue to lead as the white flag waved. Stacye could not get even with the leader in one and two, but with a nice run down the back straightaway Cayden would drive to the bottom in the final set of turns and would slip by Williams out of four to capture his first win here at the Diamond of the Dirt Tracks. Williams will have his day in victory lane soon as he settled for second, Kansas City area visitor Austin Charles finished in third ahead of Oklahoma driver Dylan Cantwell in fourth as Gotschall's impressive run to the front stalled out in fifth.

Justin Wells in victory lane

Fourteen of the sixteen Late Models that had signed in would be up next for twenty-five laps with Jace Parmeley jetting out to a big early advantage. Veteran driver Justin Wells had started sixth and he would quickly move to second only to find himself a full straightaway behind the leader. Wells would steadily close the gap though and when Parmeley had to start dealing with some lapped traffic, Wells was there to pounce as the leaders split the lapped car of Larry Ferris with nine laps remaining. With Wells now pulling away this one appeared to over until division rookie Josh Dugan spun in turn four with three laps remaining.

Tucker Cox may have been the fastest car on the track during the final ten laps of the race as he had quickly reeled in Parmeley prior to the caution and on the restart Cox would immediately move to second. The young driver from Jefferson City would not be able to mount a challenge on Wells though as Justin parked his 2006 TNT chassis in victory lane for the 95th time. Now that that is what I call a good return on your investment! Cox and Parmeley joined him on the podium with Bryon Allison and Joe Walkenhorst filling out the top five.

A former two-time track champion here, Robbie Reed had the field covered in the twenty lap Modified feature going flag-to-flag in a race that was slowed by two cautions. Ryan Middaugh mounted a stout challenge on Reed in the opening laps and he would finish in a solid second with Matt Johnson coming from the tenth starting spot to finish in third. Now known as the Racing Superintendent after a promotion from Principal at a nearby high school, Jason Pursley finished in fourth while the defending Missouri Points champion Tyler Hibner completed the top five.

The USRA Stock Cars would close out the night with an entertaining twenty lapper that saw Waylon Dimmitt come from the inside of row two to take the lead as lap one was scored. Six cautions interrupted the racing, two by a driver who was in his first night ever of racing, and that may have actually aided Dimmitt as he was able to pull away on each restart only to have Dean Wille close in and challenge after a couple of laps.

The final caution waved with five laps remaining when the third place car of Rodney Schweizer spun in turn four and Dimmitt would then lead those final five laps for his first win at the speedway. Wille would chase him home in second, defending Stock Car Missouri Points champion Mason Beck would come from ninth to finish third followed by Chris Tonoli and Robert White.

With MavTV on hand to tape the show for a later broadcast, the victory lane ceremonies were a bit
drawn out, but hey what we don't do for TV, right? The show wrapped up at 10:35 and we were all happy to put the first one in the book for 2023 even though it meant that I didn't get home until 3:30 a.m. At age sixty, I am no longer wired for those late night road trips!

Lucas Oil Speedway will feature an MLRA Late Model doubleheader next Friday and Saturday, March 31st and April 1st, and if the weather does not cooperate during the week ahead here in Iowa, I might just find myself back in Wheatland again very soon! 

Hopefully coming up much closer to home though are a trio of season openers on Friday night March 31st at the Davenport Speedway, Saturday April 1st with the Sprint Invaders at 34 Raceway west of Burlington and Sunday night April 2nd at the Adams County Illinois Speedway in Quincy. Perhaps I will see you there, but if not I do hope that you will be at another track of your choice enjoying the sport we love!

Notebook - Friday March 17, 2023

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I had hoped to be seeing my first green flag of the season tonight in either Memphis or Springfield, Missouri, but obviously that is not happening unless I want to drive to Tulsa so instead I decided to dust off the old notebook. Actually it has been so long since I filed a Notebook entry here on the Back Stretch that I had to go looking for it and found it under another inch of fresh snow this morning out in the back yard. So let's dive in.

Since I wrote "Spring Weather Has Sucked For A Decade Now" just about a year ago, there is no need to rehash that as the trend continues, however my Weather Channel app showed me a video today that above average temperatures are in the forecast for April through June. Let's hope they are correct as I will be happy to sacrifice my March targets to be able to enjoy the broader schedule of special events coming up in April.

For now though my focus is on next weekend where my two closest options are the Thaw Brawl at Davenport and the rescheduled Spring Nationals in Memphis and while the extended forecast is still shaky, I am going to have faith that one, or both will be able to race on March 24th and 25th. Yes, it still might be on the chilly side, but I will be ready to bundle up to get this season started.

I am actually more influenced by the wind when it comes to race night weather and that is true during the Spring, Summer and Fall. Not only does a stiff wind cause fits when it comes to track prep, it can also make for a miserable night as a fan depending upon the wind direction and the actual temperature. One advantage that the Davenport Speedway has is its big covered grandstand that faces south. So even if the temps might be in the 40's next weekend with a wind blowing from the north, I know that I will be nice and comfortable for the races.

I could have started my season back on March 5th when the Late Model portion of the 2022 Turkey Bowl was presented at the Springfield Raceway, but the forecast for temps starting in the 60's along with wind gusts of over 30 mph made me scrap my five hour trip on a Sunday. Bobby Pierce passed Logan Martin with seven laps to go to win the $10,075 and while I would have liked to have been there, I was satisfied with my decision.

The question now is where do I target next if both Davenport and Memphis are unable to go next week? Again I am going to have faith and not even research those possibilities unless it is needed.

A couple of former All Iowa Points Modified champions picked up some big wins recently. After picking up a victory and a runner-up finish at the Northwest Florida Speedway in Baker on February 27th and 28th, Austen Becerra then won both nights of the Clash on the Coast at the Southern Raceway in Milton, Florida, the first weekend in March. And in that finale, Austen had to come from sixth to second in a B-Main just to get qualified before charging from the outside of row twelve to take the win. 

The driver from Carthage, Illinois, was the All Iowa Points Four Cylinder champion in 2014. From there he moved on to the Sport Mods where he was a perennial top ten finisher in the state point standings and, during his first full season in the Modifieds, Becerra captured the All Iowa Point title in 2022. He is the only AIP champion in the Four Cylinders to "graduate" and also win an AIP title in another division.

Austen Becerra clinched the 2022 AIP Modified title at Memphis in October - Barry Johnson photo

The 2020 All Iowa Points Modified champ Tom Berry Jr. picked up the season opener for the USMTS at Rocket Raceway Park in Texas on March 4th. The event attracted a stellar field of more than eighty cars and it will be interesting to see how the Oregon native, who now lists Des Moines as his home base, fares in his quest for the Rookie-of-the-Year title with the premier Modified series in the country.

One of my favorite race tracks, when it has been properly prepared, is in Moberly, Missouri, and after first announcing a schedule of four special events, the Moberly Motorsports Park followed that up with a bold announcement on March 6th. Titled the "Trophy Tuesday Summer Series" the track will have racing on ten Tuesday nights starting on May 23rd and running through August 8th with Late Models running on eight of those nights. A-Mods will also be featured on eight nights as well and you can see the full class lineup on the track's Facebook page.

Why is that bold? Up here in Iowa it is not uncommon to have mid-week racing including both weekly shows and special events, but down in Missouri a mid-week race is a novelty item so scheduling ten of them right off the bat is a big step. I'm sure that officials know how important it will be to be efficient, from checking in cars that aren't arriving until a driver can make the trip after a day of work, to putting on a quick show so that everybody can be on their way home at a reasonable time. It is a two hour and twenty minute trip for me to get to Moberly so I am going to hope for a final checkered flag of 9:30 for me to keep coming back on a Tuesday night, and you can bet that I will give them at least one mulligan in order to catch racing on the wide, fast track on a weeknight! Here's hoping that you mid-Missouri readers of the Back Stretch will give them your support.

We had our preseason Officials Meeting for the Sprint Invaders two nights ago and I want to give credit to Race Director Jerry Glasgow who does such a fantastic job in this role. Former driver Nick Eastin has also stepped up his leadership skills and a as team we are excited about what the 2023 season has to offer for the Sprint Invaders. We will need the weather to straighten out soon for the season opener at 34 Raceway on April 1st, otherwise it will be like last year when we had to lift the lid at 34 Raceway on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend instead. A return to the fair in Eldon, where we have been promised a better track prep process after the daytime harness racing comes up next followed by a Friday Saturday twinbill in Davenport and Spoon River. It will be the first time back to the fast little track south of Canton, Illinois, for the Invaders in several years and we are all excited about that.

The next week we head down to the Jacksonville Speedway for Friday fun after a few years absence from the quick quarter and then on Sunday July 2nd the Invaders return to the Benton County Speedway in Vinton. The Dubuque County Fair welcomes the winged sprints back on July 26th and then on the weekend after the Knoxville Nationals the Invaders will be in Peoria on Saturday and at the Adams County Speedway in Quincy on Sunday. I can't wait to see the Invaders attack the half-mile at the West Liberty Raceway on Saturday September 2nd and the following night Rick and Corey Dripps bring the series back to Vinton for an encore appearance. The 2023 schedule closes out on the weekend of September 22nd and 23rd with a Friday night show at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson before Saturday's 360 Fall Haul at 34 Raceway west of Burlington.

The series had an interesting mix of seasoned veterans and young challengers in 2022 and it should be another impressive roster of regulars along with unexpected drop-ins at each event, so we hope to see you somewhere along the way.

You have to look close, because it is still a very full schedule of special events, but the Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois, will not be running races weekly on Friday nights in 2023 as they have for so many years in the past. It will be interesting to see if a trend develops where tracks that offer up numerous special events eventually decide to drop their weekly program. It can't be easy to be successful at both these days.

The I-44 Speedway in Lebanon, Missouri, will spring back to life for two big events in 2023 featuring the California based SRL National Super Late Model Tour. The first will be on Tuesday June 29th with a return engagement on Thursday August 24th. I do like to get in at least one pavement show a season and the high-banked 3/8-mile oval in Lebanon always produces two and three-wide action, no "bump and run" moves needed here to make a pass so I hope to fit at least one of these into my schedule.

Another one of my childhood heroes recently passed away. Pokey West had the opportunity to hot lap a Four Cylinder car at Columbus Junction a couple of years ago and that had to be a thrill for a driver who had so many fans as he raced around southeast Iowa. 

That's it for today's Notebook, time to get back to work and, or watching some more tournament basketball. Here's hoping that we can all get out to our favorite tracks soon and we'll see you on the Back Stretch!