With absolutely gorgeous weather for April 13th, plus the lure of this being the first of three scheduled events at two facilities near the banks of the Mississippi, a tremendous field of forty-five cars and drivers signed in with preliminary action giving us twenty-two qualifiers plus four provisional starters for this evening's episode.
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| Chad Simpson (25) and Chad Holladay (32c) - Mike Ruefer Photo |
On this restart Shannon Babb would have a big run off the top of turn two to move into second and while he was able to pull even with Simpson several times over the next ten laps, Babb was never able to nose ahead at the stripe to be scored as the leader. The caution would wave again at the mid-race point and it was not clear why as I could not spot any cars stopped on the track and nobody appeared to go out to pick up any debris, but either way it turned out to be a good commercial break as the story had started to get a bit stale. The leaders had all settled into running the bottom of the wide quarter-mile and while lapped traffic may have created some interest in the laps to come, the caution took that away.
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| Shannon Babb - Mike Ruefer Photo |
The thing about the Davenport Speedway though is this. Just when you think that it is ready to lock down and become a one lane track, somebody can usually step out of line to find a faster groove and the next thing you know they are spread back out five-wide and that is what happened with this restart. Brandon Sheppard went to the top in turns one and two making the big move up to second and he would now become the antagonist to our reigning champion, taking the lead from Simpson on lap twenty-three. With Sheppard now starting to pull away, Babb would drop Simpson to third and when the caution flag waved on lap twenty-nine that would be an important change of position.
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| Brandon Sheppard |
With Sheppard retiring to the infield under caution with a flat tire, it would now be Babb bringing the field back to green only to complete one more lap before former MLRA champion Tony Jackson Jr. spun for his second straight caution. On this restart one of our bit characters from earlier in the episode would return to a prominent role. Recall that Ryan Gustin had started the race from the front row, but he had faded back several position over the first thirty laps. So while Chad Simpson was able to retake the lead from Babb on lap thirty-one, it was the high flying Gustin that was on the move rocketing up to the second spot and making his run at the lead.
By now the cushion was at the very top of the banking on both ends requiring skillful precision and Gustin delivered by sailing past Simpson on lap thirty-five to take the lead. However, three laps later Ryan would hit the cushion a bit too hard in turn two sending his front end to the right and over the top of the speedway. As he slowed to a halt out near the back stretch of the old half-mile, Simpson would be set to take the white flag only to have the caution replace it when Tyler Stevens and Jake Timm tangled in turn four.
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| Ryan Gustin (19R) around Chad Simpson (25) - Mike Ruefer Photo |
That would give us one last restart with Chad now facing off against his brother Chris to see who would take home the $5,000 top prize. Now unlike All My Children, the Simpsons are not long lost twins who are played by the same actor as it would be impossible to have the same human race two different cars, but they have been known to be fierce competitors even getting into a bit of a scuffle at another track in the past. On this night though they were parked side-by-side in the busy pit area and while Chris gave it his best over the final two laps, he could not mount a challenge on Chad who would take the thrilling back-and-forth victory in a race that saw seven lead changes among five drivers with the winner leading four different segments!
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| The Brothers Simpson in victory lane - Mike Ruefer Photo |
Chris Simpson would congratulate his brother in victory lane as the runner-up, Babb would come home third, Jake Timm finished fourth and Chad Holladay would complete the top five. Bob Gardner came from an eleventh row start to finish sixth while provisional starter Jeff Herzog finished seventh out of the nine cars that finished the race.
Will our champion prevail again this evening? Who will be his greatest challengers on the high-banks of 34 Raceway? Will there be any new gladiators on hand looking for the $10,555 top prize in the annual Slocum 50? Tune in tonight on Flo for another episode of All My Late Models, or better yet join us in person for all of the action, excitement and intrigue!
Two of the Speedway's weekly divisions served as bookends for Thursday night's MLRA action at Davenport. In the fifteen lap A-Feature for the IMCA Sport Mods Trey Grimm would lead the first five laps before the caution waved for a Raiff Cauwels spin in turn four. On the restart Grimm had plenty of company as the leaders went four-wide through turns three and four with Ben Chapman taking the point and Grimm shuffled back to fourth. Todd Dykema would keep pace with the new leader and when Quincy, Illinois, visitor Logan Cumby spun on the back stretch with two laps remaining, Dykema would have one last opportunity to challenge.
There would be no stopping Chapman though who would get his second win of the young season followed by Dykema as they had both started from the fourth row. Jarrett Franzen came from tenth to third with Kevin Goben making a big run form eighteenth to fourth. Mitch Strayer would complete the top five at the checkers.
Seventeen IMCA sanctioned Late Models were on hand and with perennial track favorites Justin Kay and Matt Ryan both running with the MLRA on this night, the win here to close out the evening would truly be up for grabs. Nick Marolf would take the lead at the drop of the green and by this point in the night the dominant groove was definitely down on the bottom. Caution would wave on lap seven when Brandon Loos went off the top of turn four and on the restart Fred Remley would drive under Brian Harris to take up the chase of Marolf from second.
With the laps winding down and slower traffic just ahead in the preferred lower line, Marolf went to the top in turns one and two. But when the lapper pushed up off the bottom, that left the door wide open for Remley who stormed to the lead and Fred would then close out the final eight circuits to take the opening night victory. Marolf would settle for second, Andy Nezworski came from ninth to third, Harris drove the Lynn Richard owned #15R in for fourth while Jaden Fryer took fifth. Evan Miller from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, finished sixth in his sharp looking orange #88.
A big thank you to promoters Ricky and Brenda Kay for the hospitality shown to all of the Positively Racing crew on hand and with the fantastic schedule that they have posted for 2023, you can bet that I will be back in Davenport often this season!
In case you missed it, with an unfavorable forecast for Saturday, 34 Raceway has flip-flopped their schedule for the weekend with the Slocum 50 to be run tonight and, weather permitting what would now be the Postlude to the Slocum will be held on Saturday. Hope to see you there!
A big thank you to Mike Ruefer who sent me all of the photography for today's story!
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| Three-wide action is common at the Davenport Speedway. From bottom to top Mason Oberkramer, Matt Ryan and Garrett Alberson |
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| Bob Gardner (4) and Rich Bell (21B) |
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| Justin Kay (15K) and Jake Timm (49) |
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| Dillon McCowan (8) and Steve Stultz |
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| Rookie-of-the-Year contender Tyler Stevens (2) had moved from fourteenth to fifth at the mid-race caution only to slip a few spots and then drop out late in the race |
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