Hobscheidt Runs Away With Ron Little Memorial Win At Stuart

When Mike Van Genderen purchased the Stuart Speedway prior to the 2019 season one of his first goals was to raise the level of prominence for the annual Ron Little Memorial. At the time it was to be the "20th and final" edition of the event honoring the popular driver who passed away due to medical issues at the track and it was such a big turnout that MVG and the Little family decided to carry on with the tradition. Now add in the fact that the race is usually the final shows of the annual Midwest Madness Tour presented by Western Iowa Race Results and this has become one of my "must attend" events on the calendar each year.

The pits were full with 140 race cars including drivers from far and wide with long distance travelers having the chance to race for five straight nights starting with Worthington, Minnesota, on Sunday night, winding through Spencer on Monday, Park Jefferson on Tuesday, Alta on Wednesday and wrapping up here at Stuart on Thursday and as I scanned through the roster it made all of the work that I put in to tracking the state point standings well worth it. All of these names that I was familiar with, but had never or rarely seen in person all doing battle on one of my favorite tracks!

The track was in near perfect condition for the heat races with the morning rains helping to ward off the hot afternoon/evening sun and the racing was intense, especially in the Modifieds and Sport Mod divisions where drivers would have to advance, or end up watching the main event from the catwalk. A bit of a longer farming session than usual took place prior to those B-Mains and with the sun setting the surface was now primed for action with the Sport Mods up first for twenty laps.

Race fans outside of southwest Iowa may not be familiar with Matt Avila, but the driver from Prescott definitely showed that he is an up and comer starting from the pole position and leading the entire distance to pick up the win against this talented field. Jake Sachau, who was behind the wheel of Jace Whitt's #26J, would provide a bit of a challenge early to Avila, but there was never a doubt who was going to win this one. 

Taylor Kuehl was making a nice run up from seventh and had just taken the second spot when the only caution of the race waved with two laps remaining when New Mexico's Jackson Harpole and Mitchell Morris tangled in turn three. On the restart, with David Schwartz and Kuehl lined up behind the leader, that first double row made contact with both of them driving toward the infield before making a recovery. This allowed Sachau to go from fifth to second at the checkers as Avila captured his fourth win of the 2023 season. Kuehl was able to hold onto third ahead of IMCA National Points leader Cam Reimers while current All Iowa Points leader Brayton Carter finished fifth after starting eleventh.

The Stock Cars would be up next and, well what can you say but "Woof, what a stinker." Actually a "show killer" would have been more accurate as despite the talent level of the field and the great condition of the racing surface we would see eleven, count them, eleven caution flags in the first twelve laps of scored racing. I will withhold the names of the offenders, but one of them actually caused three cautions when on the one where he had "some help" prior to spinning, officials were unable to determine who actually hit him as they raced down the back stretch following a restart even after taking a closer look on the IMCA.tv replays.

Colorado's Angel Munoz would lead the first two laps before the fifth starting Damon Murty would sweep around him on the outside. However, when the cushion pounding Murty slapped the wall in turns one and two on lap nine he would slow dramatically heading down the back stretch and would then limp his #99D back to the pit area. This would hand the lead over to Jake Sachau who has transitioned from the Sport Mods to the Stock Cars in 2023 and he would be challenged by Buck Schafroth who had raced his way up from tenth.

A flat tire on that final caution would sideline Schafroth and when the final ten laps clicked off under green it would be Sachau taking the win in convincing fashion. Troy Jerovetz made his way through the field from eighteenth to finish second. Tom Berry Jr. slipped by Austin Bouzek off the final turn to finish third and young Rowdee Van Genderen was impressive finishing fifth, just ahead of his crew chief Ty Hill who had come from the outside of row eleven.

With that one finally in the books IMCA's Jim Stannard and I agreed that the Sport Compacts would likely now go fourteen laps without a caution and, sure enough.......

Front row starters Owen Richards and Kolby Sabin battled side-by-side for the lead during the first two laps around the quarter-mile before Sabin took control on lap three. There would be no catching the current IMCA National Points leader and the current All Iowa Points leader from there as Sabin posted the victory. Jake Paysen was able to take second away from Richards with Shannon Mahlberg and Andrew Akers filling out the top five.

Despite the late hour I was committed to staying for the twenty-five lap Modified feature with Colorado native Tripp Gaylord leading the opening lap. His front row companion Jacob Hobscheidt would take the point on lap two and would start to drive away before the caution waved on lap six when Mike Lineberry and Nick Roberts tangled in turn two. The back of the field would jumble up heading into turn one on the restart, but once back to green we would go caution free the rest of the way.

Hobscheidt's biggest challenge would come as he dealt with a couple of lapped cars late in the race, first when he spun a suddenly slowing Cory Wray to the infield going down the back stretch and a couple of laps later when he door slammed one of the Rogoztkes out of the bottom line exiting turn four. Neither resulted in a caution though and Hobscheidt's lead was over a straightaway as he took the checkers. Dylan Thornton would take the runner-up honors, Gaylord would maintain third and Todd Shute passed California transplant Jerry Flippo on the final lap for fourth. 

Jerry Flippo's #13 IMCA Modified prepared for action at Stuart

It was now 10:45 and with just shy of a three hour drive ahead of me, plus another long road trip in the works for Friday night I decided to skip out on the Hobby Stock and Outlaw Mini Mod features although a good portion of the large crowd on hand seemed to be ready for more action. As always a big thanks to MVG for the VIP treatment and you can bet that the Ron Little Memorial will be back on my calendar for 2024. And, in a few more years when I can call it a career on my day job, one of my bucket list items will be to follow the entire Midwest Madness Tour!

Rains from Thursday and this morning have wiped out my plans for tonight as the Sprint Invaders show at Jacksonville is cancelled, the MLRA race at CJ is rained out and the weekly show at the Davenport Speedway has fallen by the wayside. So I will take tonight to make it a two day celebration of my wife's birthday and then on Sunday we look forward to the Sprint Invaders show at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton where Bill W and I will have the pleasure of working with one of my favorite announcers Ryan Clark.

Hope to see you there!

The Grand Reopening Of The East Moline Speedway

When long-time IMCA Late Model racer Chuck Hanna was named the new promoter of the East Moline Speedway he not only wanted to continue to keep the long running track in operation, he wanted to make significant improvements as well. The most important one being the racing surface. In recent years the ol' brown clay just wasn't providing the grip, and the configuration of the track itself had left the upper half of turns three and four essentially useless. So he brought in loads and loads of new black dirt for the racing surface and then made the effort to shape it in the likeness of the ultra popular Fairbury Speedway in central Illinois.

The process of getting the new dirt worked in took longer than anticipated, and the chore was exasperated further by the cool and wet spring weather that we had in March and April. So what was originally scheduled for an April 23rd opener after three weeks of practice kept getting pushed out further and further. I'm sure that Hanna and his team had the thought that the longer this pushed out, the bigger the chance that drivers and fans might find something else to do on Sunday nights, but to his credit he did not want to open too soon with a rough race track. As I have noted here recently, you only get one chance to make a good first impression and finally last night, on June 25th, that chance would come for the all new East Moline Speedway. 

It is easy to see the contrast between the new dirt on the track and the old dirt on the infield

It was a bit of an odd weather night for the final Sunday in June as a cold front had swept through overnight leaving cooler than normal temperatures, a stiff west wind and pop up showers throughout most of the afternoon. I drove through some heavy rain near Muscatine that picked up nearly an inch and a half of liquid gold and as I approached the Rock Island County Fairgrounds just before the scheduled hot lap time of 4:30 p.m. the road was wet just a few blocks south of the track. Whatever fell at the track just helped to hold the dust down for a bit longer, something that would be inevitable with a persistent twenty-mile-per-hour wind, but knowing that it was coming from behind the grandstand is why I made the trip.

Whatever the drivers and fans have been doing over the past nine Sundays, they must have been tired of it because both came out in full force despite the less than favorable weather conditions. The long line at the ticket booth moved smoothly thanks to the hard working ladies who were also walking along the line allowing those who had correct change to get in quicker and the pit area was overflowing with 123 cars across seven classes, topped by the Sport Mods who signed in 31 drivers.

All promoters would love to see a line like this at the ticket booth just before hot laps

Hot laps started shortly after 4:30 and took nearly a full hour to complete as perhaps the number of cars allowed onto the track for each session was limited in order to allow it to hold up better. Plus, there is still the challenge of just having the one entrance/exit to/from the track off the top of turn two.

Once racing got underway it was obvious that the reconfiguration was effective in making turns three and four wide and usable once again and the action was good, just like we have remembered in the past at this facility that used to be my Sunday night destination in the 80's and 90'. I have to wonder why only twelve cars qualified out of the Sport Mod heats to then require two B-Mains later in the program, but that is something that I have ridiculed before in more detail on the Back Stretch, so no need to go back into it here. Have you noticed that even Ed Reichert refers to it at times as "Jeff Broeg's Two B-Mains" when he reports from an event in Positively Racing's One Fan's Travels?

A brief ten minute intermission was taken just before the first of seven feature races rolled out in front of the large crowd with that being the Street Stocks. Rob Henry started from the outside of the front row and he got down to the bottom as soon as possible to preserve his lead. Behind him though drivers were able to use a couple of lanes down low to make passes while Nick Proehl showed that the top side still had some life in it on both ends. Henry would weather three restarts to score the flag-to-flag victory and become the first winner of the Hanna era here at East Moline. Kyle Anderson who made the long tow over from Crown Point, Indiana, came from tenth to finish second. After causing the first caution on lap two, Ben Hamburg rallied from the back to finish third, Cary Brown was fourth and Proehl finished in fifth.

Mike Morrow would pace the first five laps of the Mod Lite feature before the tenth and final starter on the grid, Jon Padilla swept by on his way to victory. Mike Zemo Jr. was second at the checkers followed by Brandon Freeburg, Morrow and Zach Holreud. Usually a top contender, R.J. Gonzalez has the "honor" of being the first driver to get upside down at the new speedway after rolling his car in turn four during hot laps.

Heat race winner Trey Grimm would shuck a driveshaft before the parade lap of the fifteen lap Sport Mod feature so it would be twenty-three cars that would do battle for the entire distance with just one caution. That came after lap one was scored and when leader Matthew Mayo brought the field back to green Logan Veloz got a nice start pulling even with the leader exiting turn four. Mayo did his best to try to ward off the challenge, but with Veloz inside of him there was no stopping the popular young driver from taking the lead. Mayo's teammate Shane Paris made it an entertaining three-car battle for the lead for those first few laps following the restart, but once out front Veloz edged away for the victory. Paris finished in second with Mayo, who is from Bakersfield, California, taking third. David Engelkens advanced from the fifth row to finish fourth while Todd Dykema came from eighth to fifth. Current IMCA National Points leader Cam Reimers finished seventh and in fact with Paris and Jarrett Franzen in the field, you had three of the current top four in action.

Three cautions during the race and one while coming to the checkers would see the IMCA Modified twenty-lapper end as how they crossed the line on lap nineteen. Former National Champion Jeff Larson, who is now driving Timmy Current's #12T sailed past first lap leader Mitch Morris to take the lead and then held off a persistent challenge from Travis Denning late to take the win. Jed Freiburger came from eighteenth to finish third with Matt Werner and Brandon Durbin next in line. Morris was still running third with just two laps to go when he mis-judged the line exiting low off turn four and drilled the implement tire marking the infield head on. 

The twelve lap Hobby Stock feature was a good one with Tucker Richardson and Andrew Burk swapping the lead back and forth. Richardson paced the field for the first four laps before Burk drove by on the outside, then Tucker battled back maintaining his low line to regain the lead on lap eight. The caution would wave just after that and on the restart Burk went to the bottom and was able to get under Richardson for a lead that he would hold over the final four circuits to secure the victory. Richardson was close behind in second, Randy Lamar finished third, Lafayette County Speedway regular Kyler Hefty looked good in fourth while Keith Lilly filled out the top five. 

Roy Schmidt would hold off the hard charging duo of Cyle Hawkins and Dustin Forbes to lead the first three laps of the Sport Compact feature. The trio then went three-wide down the back stretch of lap four with Forbes nosing ahead at the stripe. The caution would have to come out a lap later when a car that had been black flagged for the past two laps due to a flat tire slowed on the track rather than pulling to the infield and two laps after the restart Schmidt's night came to an abrupt end when he got upside down in turn four. The final five laps would see Hawkins waiting for a mistake from Forbes that would never come as Dustin picked up the victory. Denny Oates made the long pull from Pekin to finish third, Thomas Adams was fourth and Drew Wise rounded out the top five.

Finally the Late Models would round out the night for twenty-five laps on a surface that had been beaten down and blown around for nearly five hours and the bottom definitely looked like the place to be. Mike Goben was staying pinned to the bottom with Justin Kay challenging him just a lane higher and while Kay would even nose ahead entering turns one and three, Goben would have the drive off the bottom to maintain the lead. That is until he left the door open on lap nine and Justin was more than happy to come on in to take the point. Cautions on lap ten, fourteen and seventeen would keep the field bunched together and division rookie Brandt Cole appeared to be making up some ground using the cushion on both ends.

Cole would get to second and even had a good look at Kay after one of the late restarts, but there would be no passing the five-time and defending All Iowa Points champion who took the victory. Goben would get back to second late dropping Cole to third, Brian Harris drove the Lynn Richard owned #15R from twelfth to fourth while the ageless wonder and eight-time All Iowa Points champion Gary Webb completed the top five.

Although a bit on the long side for a weekly show it was a fun night sitting in the stands with Jeff Terhune and Mitch Swinton and above former drivers Bryan Behning and Tim Bradley, It was also nice to chat with Jacob Copley who will be back in action soon with a Sport Mod. I always enjoy the enthusiastic crowd at East Moline and they were out in full force tonight, although my "I've never seen that before" moment came while waiting in line to use the restroom when a gentleman wearing an ankle monitor was heckling another guy who was using the urinal next to him. I decided to hold it and go at a convenience store later.

All in all it was a fantastic first night for Hanna and his crew, although they are going to need to tighten up the show a bit going forward. Starting at 4:30 with hot laps to beat a curfew can produce another challenge and that is keeping enough moisture in the racing surface. I'd hate to think of how much of that new black dirt was swept away by that strong west wind last night and I would bet that those who were sitting in the new back stretch bleachers for those who are in the pits took plenty of it home as a souvenir. Hopefully Mother Nature will give fans the chance to see how well the new dirt holds water next week.

I have a couple of mid-week options coming up with the UMP Summer Nationals at the Adams County Illinois Speedway in Quincy on Wednesday night and the finale of the Midwest Madness Tour at the Stuart Speedway on Thursday for the Ron Little Memorial. Then on Friday night I will be making the trip down to the Jacksonville Speedway with the Sprint Invaders and on Sunday night the Invaders head north to the Benton County Speedway in Vinton.

Perhaps we will find you somewhere soon again on the Back Stretch!

Sprint Invaders' Return To Spoon River Goes To Chris Martin

After a fourteen year absence the Sprint Invaders returned to the Spoon River Speedway south of Canton, Illinois, on Saturday and despite sweltering conditions in the afternoon and the area being placed under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for the evening, twenty-three Winged Sprint Car drivers checked in. It would be the first time for many of the drivers to compete at a track that has a reputation for staging some great open wheel action and they did not disappoint using the wide and high-banked racing surface from top to bottom from the initial heat race all the way to the final checkered flag.

A pair of unrelated Martins, Chris and Randy would bring the field to green for the start of the twenty-five-lap headliner, but it would be the third starting Ryan Bunton that would sneak under both of them to lead the opening laps. With Bunton digging around the bottom, Chris Martin went to the top side and would sail by Bunton to take the point on lap six.

A two-time champion with the Sprint Invaders, Martin would extend his lead working lapped traffic like a master while the battle for second heated up well behind him with Bunton, Randy Martin and the ninth starting Colton Fisher slicing through traffic as well. The first caution of the event would wait until lap eighteen when Tyler Lee slid off the top of turn four and on the restart Josh Higday got into the mix moving to third in one lap and then to second while using the extreme low line. But when Alex VandeVoort spun in  turn two with nineteen laps down Higday had to go back to third behind Fisher for the restart.

On that restart the top four all aimed for the bottom of turn one sending the field behind them roaring to the cushion. Ohio visitor Luke Griffith looked to move from seventh to fourth through the first set of turns and down the back stretch only to have that effort wiped out when Devin Wignall spun in turn three.

This would be the final restart of the race and as the leader, Martin, went to the bottom, Fisher ran the cushion and appeared to have a run on the leader with just five laps remining. The cushion couldn't hold him in turn two though and Colton had to turn the car completely sideways to stay on the gas to make the save.

This would allow Martin to get away over the final laps to make him the fourth different winner in four events completed on the 2023 Sprint Invader schedule. Higday was able to get by Fisher in the closing laps to come from fourteenth to second while it would be the second straight podium finish for Fisher on the weekend. He had started from ninth. Bunton would hold down the fourth spot with the winner's younger brother Cameron Martin filling out the top five. Griffith would finish sixth in his Sprint Invaders debut.

Two more events are on the slate for next weekend, both on a pair of quarter-mile bullrings with the Jacksonville Speedway on Friday June 30th and the Benton County Speedway in Vinton, Iowa, on Sunday July 2nd.

For more information on the Sprint Invaders visit www.SprintInvaders.net or go to our Facebook page.

Spoon River Results

Randall's Performance Heat #1 - 1. Tyler Lee, Cedar Rapids IA; 2. Cameron Martin, Ankeny IA; 3. Devin Wignall, Altoona IA; 4. Tanner Gebhardt, Burlington IA; 5. Colton Fisher, Mediapolis IA; 6. Cody Wehrle, Burlington IA; 7. Chase Richards, Burlington IA; 8. Eric Shelton, Decatur

Josh Denning & Associates Heat #2 - 1. Randy Martin, California MO; Alex VanderVoort, Knoxville IA; 3. Luke Griffith, Sandusky OH; 4. Ryan Bunton, Morton IL; 5. Kelby Watt, Adel IA; 6. Bret Tripplett, Lincoln; 7. Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis IA; 8. McCain Richards, Burlington IA

Mohrfeld Solar Heat #3 - 1. Chris Martin, Ankeny IA; 2. Dustin Selvage, Indianola IA; 3. Joey Moughan, Springfield; 4. Josh Higday, Des Moines IA; 5. Luke Verardi, Taylorville; 6. Autsin Archdale, Brimfield 7. Aidan Zoutte, Knoxville IA

Automotive Machine Shake-Up Dash - 1. Chris Martin; 2. R. Martin; 3. Bunton; 4. Lee; 5. Griffith; 6. Cam Martin

Shottenkirk Automotive Group A-Main - 1. Chris Martin; 2. Higday; 3. Fisher; 4. Bunton; 5. Cam Martin; 6. Griffith; 7. Tripplett; 8. Gebhardt; 9. R. Martin; 10. Verardi; 11. Jamison; 12. Wignall; 13. Watt; 14. C. Richards; 15. Shelton; 16. Archdale; 17. Zoutte; 18. Wehrle; 19. M. Richards; 20. VandeVoort; 21. Moughan; 22. Lee; 23. Selvage

Reid's Landscaping & Turf $50 Cash Draw Award - No Winner Tonight

Contingencies:

DMI - Devin Wignall

Saldana - Joey Moughan

BMRS High Point Driver - Tyler Lee

Hard Charger $75 In Memory of Christine Wahl-Levitt - Josh Higday

Trophy Sponsor: Holtkamp Trailer Repair

Scott Bogucki Sweeps A Stout Field of Sprint Invaders At Davenport

Making his first ever appearance at the Davenport Speedway on Friday night, Scott Bogucki left with a very good impression of the place after scoring a clean sweep of the Sprint Invaders at the wide and banked quarter-mile oval. The driver from Mclaren Vale South Australia ran away with the opening heat race of the night after starting from the front row and then prevailed in two spirited duels with Paul Nienheiser to clinch the perfect night.

That first battle with Nienheiser would come in the Fastway Fabrication Shake-Up Dash that saw more passes for position than perhaps any other six car, six lap Sprint Car race fans will ever see highlighted by the back-and-forth battle between Bogucki and Nienheiser for the win. When the "Junior Invader" fan pulled his favorite box of candy from the tray though, it would have a "6" on it putting Bogucki on the third row outside and Nienheiser on the outside of row one for the twenty-five lap main event after Ryan Bunton nipped Paul at the line for second.

In the evening's headliner it would be Nienheiser setting a quick early pace that Bunton would try to maintain while both Bogucki and the two-time former Sprint Invaders champion Chris Martin were making their way toward the front on a freshly reworked surface that allowed drivers to choose from multiple racing lines. A caution on lap eleven for Kurt Mueller who had stopped on the apron entering turn three would slow the field and, while under caution, young Cam Martin would see his best performance yet with the Invaders come to an early end due to a left rear tire going flat. The two-time champ's younger brother, Cam had made the Dash earlier in the night and was running fourth before having to call it a night.

On the restart Bogucki would pick up the challenge on Nienheiser for second and, just as they had done in the Dash, they would swap lines and the lead a couple of times within a lap until Bogucki was first scored as the leader on lap fourteen. Just after that lead change the final caution of the night would wave for Dustin Clark who had slid off the track at the entrance of turn and it would now be Bogucki bringing the field back to green.

Once back to green the elder Martin would slip off the top of turn one while running third taking him out of contention. Nienhesier would stay within ten car lengths of the leader as the laps wound down and when Bogucki used his patience with a lapped car in the final three circuits, that allowed Nienheiser to take a look, especially at the exit of turn four. The third-place car of Tasker Phillips was closing fast as well, but the Aussie veteran was smooth after taking the white flag and would not allow a last lap effort from his challengers in taking the victory. Nienheiser would extend his series point lead through three events as the runner-up and when Phillips slipped off the top of turn four on the final lap that allowed Colton Fisher to complete an impressive drive from fifteenth to third. Phillips recovered to finish fourth while Bunton held on for a top five showing. 

An impressive field of twenty-seven drivers were in attendance on night one of this doubleheader weekend with a trip to the Spoon River Speedway next up on Saturday. It will be the first visit to the track that sits a few miles south of Canton, Illinois, for the Sprint Invaders since 2009. And there will be two more events coming next weekend on a pair of quarter-mile bullrings with the Jacksonville Speedway on Friday June 30th and the Benton County Speedway in Vinton, Iowa, on Sunday July 2nd.

For more information on the Sprint Invaders visit www.SprintInvaders.net or go to our Facebook page.

Davenport Results

Randall's Performance Heat #1 - 1. Scott Bogucki, Mclaren Vale SA; 2. Chris Martin, Ankeny; 3. Ryan Bunton, Morton IL; 4. Cameron Martin, Ankeny; 5. Colton Fisher, Mediapolis; 6. Luke Verardi, Taylorville IL; 7. Randy Martin, California MO; 8. Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis; 9. McCain Richards, Burlington

Josh Denning & Associates Heat #2 - 1. Dustin Selvage, Indianola; 2. Paul Nienheiser, Chapin IL; 3. Alex VanderVoort, Knoxville; 4. Tanner Gebhardt, Burlington; 5. Josh Higday, Des Moines; 6. Kurt Mueller, Reynolds IL; 7. Nick Guernsey, Burlington; 8. Chase Richards, Burlington; DNS Ryan Edwards, Waverly IL

Mohrfeld Solar Heat #3 - 1. Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville; 2. Austin Archdale, Brimfield IL; 3. Cody Wehrle, Burlington; 4. Dustin Clark, Agency; 5. Tyler Lee, Cedar Rapids; 6. Bret Tripplett, Lincoln IL 7. Kelby Watt, Adel; 8. Devin Wignall, Altoona; 9. Brett Yeager, Coal Valley IL

Fastway Fabrication Shake-Up Dash - 1. Bogucki; 2.Bunton; 3. Nienheiser; 4. Cam Martin; 5. Phillips; 6. Selvage

B-Main - 1. Tripplett; 2. Verardi; 3. R. Martin; 4. Watt; 5. Wignall; 6. M. Richards; 7. Jamison; 8. C. Richards; 9. Yeager; 10. Guernsey; DNS Edwards

Shottenkirk Automotive Group A-Main - 1. Bogucki; 2. Nienheiser; 3. Fisher; 4. Phillips; 5. Bunton; 6. Gebhardt; 7. Wehrle; 8. Triplett; 9. Selvage; 10. Wignall; 11. Lee; 12. Watt; 13. Verardi; 14. Higday; 15. VanderVoort; 16. Chris Martin; 17. Clark; 18. Cam Martin; 19. Mueller; 20. R. Martin; 21. Archdale

Reid's Landscaping & Turf $50 Cash Draw Award - Josh Higday

Contingencies:

DMI - Dustin Clark

Saldana - Luke Verardi

BMRS High Point Driver - Tasker Phillips

K-1 Race Gear - Austin Archdale

Hard Charger $75 In Memory of Christine Wahl-Levitt - Colton Fisher

Trophy Sponsor: Holtkamp Trailer Repair

Not Headed For A Heartbreak On This Night, Winger Downs The Simpsons At Davenport

This is not your father's UMP Summer Nationals. With what I feel is a brilliant move of offering a weekly points fund payout rather than forcing drivers to stick out a full grind, plus the fact that two drivers who have dominated the Hell Tour in recent years are committed to the World of Outlaws, the driver roster at Wednesday's stop in Davenport was diverse and unpredictable with no clear cut favorites in the field. By my memory alone, nearly half of the thirty-one drivers on hand were seeing the Davenport Speedway for the first time and for nearly all of those it would be the first time to race this far north and west from their home base. Plus there were three young drivers at the ages of 14, 18 and 20 that fans of the QCA will be able to say, "yeah, I remember the first time I saw him race" when they become stars of the sport in the years to come.

The Hell Tour has a pre-set format based upon car count so at 31 we would see group qualifying within the three heat race fields with the top five advancing to the A-Main, and one "Consolation" race with the top three moving on. Four provisionals would then be added to make up the twenty-two car feature field and right from the start fans were treated the the top notch action that we are used to here at Davenport. Three drivers using three different lines raced three-wide on several occasion during the first heat. Bob Gardner, Frank Heckenast Jr. and eighteen-year-old Drake Troutman gave the fans their money's worth with Troutman going from third to first in the final lap to take the win and set the crowd abuzz on this, the longest day of the year. 

Chad Simpson would dominate the second heat race, driving away to a big win after being the all around quick qualifier and his brother Chris Simpson would ward off the challenge of Ashton Winger in an entertaining third heat race. Michigan's Cody Bauer would win the Consi with southern Missouri's Austin Vincent taking a liking to the quick quarter coming from tenth to finish second ahead of another Michigan visitor Logan Nickerson. The field was now set, but before we get to the UMP Late Model headliner, a twenty-five lap IMCA Late Model feature would serve as an appetizer.

In case you haven't noticed, the IMCA Late Model car counts are on the rise in eastern Iowa in 2023 due to several drivers who are new to the class, some with names that I don't even recognize from having started in another division, and that is especially true here at Davenport where on this night twenty-four cars would sign in for the $700-to-win event. One of those new names is Evan Miller who, in the past has listed Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as his hometown, but now has switched to Silvis, Illinois, and he would draw the pole position for this one in his sharp looking #88.

Chuck Hanna would appear to get the jump on Miller at the drop of the green, but Evan would come charging back on the low line to lead the first three laps before Hanna's momentum off the cushion would send him to the front on lap four only to have Miller regain the point on the following lap. The caution would then wave for a Brandon Hamburg spin in turn two and on the restart Miller was again a bit slow to come up to speed when the green flag waved. The first double row of Hanna and Joe Beal would swallow him up exiting turn four and when the start was not called back it would now be the low riding Beal versus the ridge running Hanna in the battle for the lead.

Hanna would have the edge on laps six and seven before Beal took the point on lap eight. The pace would then be slowed three times at the mid-race point, two of the cautions for the same driver who would drive off the top of turn one and then slide to a stop well away from the racing surface ending up in nearly the same spot both times. Hanna would be re-energized on the restart and he would again lead laps fifteen through eighteen before Beal took over for good to capture his first career Late Model victory. Six lead changes across three drivers in twenty-five laps? That's why we love the Davenport Speedway!

Joel Callahan would slip past Hanna coming to the checkers for second, Justin Kay made steady progress from his sixth row starting sport to finish fourth while Miller tallied what I believe to be his first top-five finish in the division.

Regular promoter here Ricky Kay, "The Dirt Doctor" Al Dlouhy and the rest of the Davenport track crew would then do a quick rework of the wide racing surface prior to the forty-lap Super Late Model Main event and the result would be fantastic with drivers able to use the entire track, especially during the first ten laps of the race.

After warding off an early challenge from his brother Chris, Chad Simpson would race out to a solid early lead as drivers shuffled for position behind the Iowa siblings. On lap ten the sixth starting Ashton Winger would move to the second spot with Drake Troutman following him into third. Both of the these drivers were coming off of a heartbreaking evening in Moberly, Missouri, the night before where Winger's #12 lost oil pressure in the opening laps while racing in the top three and Troutman's hopes for a victory were shredded when his right rear tire disintegrated while leading with eight laps remaining. Unfortunately for Troutman, he would blow another right rear here once into third and after a quick change he would playing "catch up" after restarting from the rear. Also, kudos to those who caught the word play in the title of this entry. Rock on!

This restart would be an interesting one as when the leading Simpson brother Chad kept a slow pace entering turn three, Chris would pull completely even with him in turn four before the green flag waved. You could hear the crowd above the roar of the engines as Chris appeared to take the lead heading down the back stretch, but the caution had waved due to contact in the back of the field that had torn the nose piece off of Logan Nickerson's #21. It would have been interesting to see if the UMP officials would have let that one stand if the other incident had not taken place.

Everybody stayed where they should be for the next start with Chad Simpson maintaining the lead until lap nineteen when Doug Tye spun in turn one. Tye has now been a provisional starter in five of the first seven Summer Nationals events. On the restart Winger would find the grip on the bottom of turns one and two to drive ahead of Simpson to take the lead at mid-race and he would then go back up to the top to put some distance on the brothers Simpson.

Ashton Winger (12) digs to the low side of Chad Simpson - Brendon Bauman photo

The final caution of the race would come on lap twenty-eight when the legend Billy Moyer made contact with Australian up and comer Kye Blight in turn two sending Moyer for a spin and that would bring the field back to the leader for the restart. When Winger entered turn one low and then drifted to the top out of two, that allowed Chris Simpson to motor by and he would take the point on lap twenty-nine. Winger would regroup though and as his high line brought him back to the leader with five laps remaining, Simpson's stick man must have let him know he was coming because Chris tried to get to the top entering turn one, but Winger was already there and he would drive back to the front down the back stretch and then pull away over the final four circuits to take the victory.

Chris Simpson would settle for second, Jason Feger would throw a slider at Chad Simpson to take third at the checkers and Frank Heckenast Jr. finished fifth. Bob Gardner was solid in sixth, Moberly winner Billy Moyer Jr. was seventh, Troutman rallied for eighth, Blight was ninth and Morgan Bagley finished tenth. During his victory lane interview Winger stated that Davenport was his favorite track, something that we have now heard from several national touring drivers. 

Special thanks to Brendon Bauman for providing photos!

North Carolina's Carson Brown finished eleventh. The fourteen-year-old who is under the tutelage of Mike Marlar and Ronnie Delk qualified second in his group, but was slow to fire at the drop of the green falling from second to fifth and was then passed late by the Hall of Famer Moyer for the fifth and final transfer. Brown again started from the front row of the consolation race, but lost positions early leaving him one spot out of the A, only to be added as a provisional likely by event promoter Tony Izzo Jr.

The Big Frog Motorsports #58 made the trip from central Florida to Davenport last August with Ashton Winger at the wheel, but at this point in the season it is twenty-year-old Tyler Clem in the ride. The twenty-year-old from St. Petersburg, who is the son of radio personality and dirt track owner "Bubba The Love Sponge" has been racing from an early age and is now getting out of the southeast to see if the Late Model division is his future. He has one victory on the 2023 season thus far, that coming in January at the wheel of a 360 Winged Sprint Car at Volusia Raceway Park and he would finish twelfth here at Davenport.

With the Hell Tour main event taking the checkers right at the ten o'clock hour, and knowing that Ben Chapman would be starting from the pole of the Sport Mod feature we decided to make an early exit for the 86 mile trip home. Checking results this morning we see that Ben scored his eleventh feature win of the season. 

I was looking forward to a possible trip tonight to watch this new version of the Hell Tour at the high banks of the Spoon River Speedway near Canton, Illinois, but we heard late last night this show has been canceled due to issues with the water trucks at the track. That gives the drivers a day off before resuming action on Friday night at the Brownstown Bullring east of Saint Louis.

That means I will be right back up to the Davenport Speedway on Friday night as the Sprint Invaders will be in action along with four of the track's weekly divisions and my Saturday is now in limbo as the Invaders were then supposed to return to the Spoon River Speedway for the first time since 2009. Word is that we should have a decision on that event my mid-day on Friday. Then on Sunday night I am hoping to be there as Chuck Hanna makes his debut as the promoter at the East Moline Speedway. The team there has been working hard on putting in a new "black dirt" racing surface and reconfiguring the track itself to be more like the famous Fairbury Speedway. It will be a treat to be there for the Grand Opening this Sunday night.

Hope to see you again soon on the Back Stretch!

PRO Late Model Debut To Dripps, Dallon Murty Scores A Grand At Vinton

With the new PRO Late Model Tour making its debut at the Benton County Speedway on Sunday night I added to my list of "firsts" that you can find if you click this link to a story from the last series that I watched get started. In that one there was a field of 37 cars for the opener, but then as the season went on it just faded away despite the fact that it was being operated by one of the top organizations in our sport. For the PRO Late Models, I am hoping for the opposite to happen. The car count at the opener, that was originally scheduled for April 30th and then May14th with both dates being lost to the weather, was frankly disappointing with just ten signing in. But the race itself was very entertaining and perhaps the fledgling series just needed to get that first show in before moving on to bigger and better things such as finishing out its full schedule, unlike the Xtreme Outlaw Sprint Series. 

On this night though the Tour was more of a side dish to the regular Sunday night feast of weekly racing action that is just the thing to dine on for so many race fans in and around Vinton. With good car counts in five divisions, the IMCA average points invert in play for four of them and a draw/redraw format for the $1,000-to-win Stock Car feature, we were treated to a full evening of thrills and spills at "The Bullring".

Following one of the most prolific Candy Dashes that you will ever see, we were ready for six feature races with the four cylinder Sport Compacts up first in the order. Pole-sitter Steven Schmitz would set the early pace while the tenth starting Lukas Rick was quickly coming to the front. It would take him just four laps to blow by Schmitz for the lead, just a lap before the only caution of the twelve lap distance waved when Stephen Randall spun in turn three.

On the restart Rick was well on his way to his fourth straight win of the season here at Vinton while Schmitz fought of the constant challenges of Spencer Roggentein to finish second. Nolan Tuttle and Robert Rundle would wrap up the top five.

The Sport Mods were up next and after spinning out late in his previous appearance here in 2023, the ten car invert would land the two-time defending All Iowa Points Champion Logan Anderson on the pole position for the 15-lap event. The race would go caution free and while Anderson would go flag-to-flag as expected, sixth-starting Sam Wieben kept him honest even sticking a nose underneath the leader a couple of times mid-race. Thanks to the extensive statistics maintained by Ryan Clark, who in my opinion is one of the best announcers in the business, I was surprised to learn that this would be Anderson's first career victory here at Vinton. Wieben started sixth and finished second, Joe Docekal advanced from seventh to third, Tony Olson came from ninth to fourth and Ben Chapman was fifth after starting eighth.

Even though the track was becoming bottom dominant, the twenty-lap IMCA Modified main event was a thriller that would see another former All Iowa Points Champion in victory lane. While Ryan Maitland would lead the first lap he had plenty of company as they would go four-wide for the point off turn two on the second trip around the quick quarter. Kip Siems would nose ahead at the stripe on lap two only to have Maitland and Troy Cordes race him three-wide down the back stretch on the next lap.

Cordes would take the lead on that third lap and would start to pull away from the hornets nest behind him while hugging the bottom line around the speedway. A caution for debris at the mid-race point would bunch up the field with Joel Rust, who had started the race from eighth, now lined up on the outside of the first double row.

While nearly the entire field had abandoned the cushion before the caution, Rust went back up top to give it a try and did not find immediate success. He even tucked back down to the bottom in one set of turns to protect his position and it looked like we might have a follow the leader scenario to the checkers. But instead the 2019 All Iowa Points Modified champ went back to the top and found the grip that he needed to make a challenge on Cordes. Rust would be ahead by a nose with four laps to go only to have Cordes battle back to lead lap seventeen. Again though Rust got the run that he needed off the top of turn four to leads laps eighteen, nineteen and twenty to score the victory. Maitland would hold on to the third spot ahead of Arkansas visitor Brint Hartwick while Mike Burbridge completed the top five.

Joel Rust pre-race at Vinton

Even though he started from third, Justin Wacha would grab the lead from the start of the fifteen lap Hobby Stock feature with the first caution coming on lap three when Zach McNeese spun off the exit of turn two. On the restart the fifth place car of Michael Kimm got sideways exiting turn two and when he clipped the right rear of David McCalla's #3 car it would turn him hard right off the top of the back stretch. When the left side wheels dug in that would send McCalla's car up and over one time while Kimm took a hard broadside hit from Zeke Wheeler. Thankfully all drivers were okay, but all three cars were towed back to the pits.

Once back to green Wacha would protect that lower line and despite one more caution late in the race, he would return to victory lane in front of his hometown fans for the first time since 2019. Jacob Floyd would finish second while the battle for third was a four car scrum coming to the checkers with Scott Siems coming up the track to protect his position. Officially it would be Siems, Bradly Graham and Corey VanDerWilt placing third through fifth while Joren Fisher, who had charged from sixteenth up to as high as second mid-race, was shuffled back to sixth. 

Just an idea of how many fans greeted Justin Wacha

That would bring us to the $1,000-to-win twenty-lap headliner for the IMCA Stock Cars and with just two races remaining and the clock still in front of the nine o'clock hour we were looking forward to starting our trip home in the twilight. Not so fast, my friend! This one would be plagued by seven cautions and one long red flag period so I will spare you with the details of each incident and instead only include those that played a role in the outcome.

With drivers again clamoring for that favored bottom groove it would be Leah Wroten who would lead the first two laps before pole-sitter Brett Vanous would dig his way to the front on lap three after a restart. That restart by the way came after the first caution for a spin and then the red flag where Greg Sweerin's car tipped over onto its top in turn one. Sweerin was not injured, but the car was put back on all fours with extreme care.

Now if anybody was going to make the top work it would be the Murty family and while Dallon had advanced from seventh to second primarily by sneaking under drivers in the turns, Damon was sailing around the top and moving toward the front after starting from tenth. During a few green flag laps mid-race, Dallon was tucked in behind the leader in second while Damon was charging hard in third and it was Dallon who would actually go to the top in turns three and four cutting off his father's momentum. But after a lap twelve restart, Damon was again on the fly and he would take the lead on lap fourteen and then immediately move to the bottom to protect.

When the new leader drifted just a bit off turn two though, Vanous was able to get a nose under him in turns three and four. With the leaders now side-by-side in front of him, Dallon went to the middle to drive past both of them and he would jump back down to the bottom to keep Vanous from getting back to the front. This dropped Damon back to fourth as Gage Neal also slipped by and when he looked to go back to the top, contact with Kaden Reynolds would send Reynolds over the top of turn three. Officials would rule that Damon would be the penalized car so instead of restarting from the rear, he headed to the pit area ending a very adventurous race for the all-time leading feature winner here in Vinton.

On this restart two drivers in the top five, Jacon Ellithorpe and Jeff Wollam would tangle in turn two with Wollam coming to a rest on the apron. Officials ruled that Ellithorpe was already sideways before contact so he too went to the pits rather than restarting from the rear and finally we were able to get the final three laps in the books. Neal was ready to walk through the door if it was to be left open, but Dallon Murty kept it shut to take another four figured win for the three-time defending All Iowa Points Stock Car Champion. Neal was second, division rookie Vanous was an impressive third while Reynolds and Wollam took advantage of their good fortune to fill out the top five. 

Dallon Murty's 99x

After that marathon, thank goodness that the twenty-five lap PRO Late Model feature went non-stop with pole-sitter Logan Duffy setting a quick early pace. Track promoter Corey Dripps, making only his second start this season, lined up fourth but quickly moved to second keeping pace with Duffy while working on a middle groove around a surface that had been dried out by a persistent chilly breeze on this June evening.

Lap by lap Dripps would get closer and closer to Duffy pulling even on lap ten before finally taking the lead on lap twelve. With Duffy still working that faster lower line, he would pull back even with Dripps racing down the back stretch on lap sixteen only to have Corey fight off the challenge and get to the checkers for what I believe to be his first career Late Model feature win. It was only fitting that the guy who gave one of the most informative and entertaining Driver's Meeting to start the night, including the "hockey rules" when it comes to physical confrontations, would end up celebrating in victory lane at the end of the evening with the final checkers waving at 9:48 p.m. Duffy would come home second, after losing the third spot to Nick Marolf late in the race, division rookie T.J. Fortmann was impressive in battling back for third with Marolf and Bobby Hansen next in line. 

The next stop for the PRO Late Model Tour will be this coming Saturday, June 17th, at the Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City and here's hoping that the car count will rise from this opener. I always enjoy my Sunday night road trips to Vinton and, since this was my first one for 2023, I was very impressed with all of the improvements at the facility. There is now a retaining wall in turn one, a VIP deck off turn four, a new scoreboard in the infield and the grandstand has been updated with new aluminum bleachers. The one thing that remains the same though is the great Sunday night crowd that is always here to support their favorites. I look forward to my return to the Benton County Speedway on Sunday, July 2nd, when the Sprint Invaders make their first of two scheduled appearances in Vinton.

Never say "never" as my next two race nights just might be at events that I said that I would never go to again. Will they be revealed here in the Back Stretch? Guess you will have to keep checking in to find out!

Martin Over Martin As Winged Sprints Debut At Stuart

With Winged Sprints Cars making their first ever appearance at one of my favorite tracks, plans were made to pick up photographer Barry Johnson along the way on my two hour and forty-five minute trek and spend a hot, sunny evening at the Stuart International Speedway. Well at least I hoped that it would remain hot and sunny as when I was leaving Mount Pleasant we were under a severe thunderstorm warning from a cell that was moving from east to west, a weather phenomenon that we don't normally see here in the upper Midwest. Future radar showed that the storms would chase me west, but fizzle out before reaching my final destination, but more on that later.

Nineteen Malvern Bank 360 Sprint Cars signed in, just one shy of the car count that we had predicted, but for whatever reason the car count in the four regular divisions on the card for the night was very light considering that this was a track point race. Owner/Promoter Mike Van Genderen noted that the five division total of 52 was the lowest since he had taken over the facility a few years ago and suggested several possible reasons, the most likely being that drivers were coming off a very busy Memorial Day weekend, including a two day show here at Stuart that drew nice counts, and that they were just plain tired.

Never the less, on this small quarter-mile a low car count does not stand out as much and the racing in all five divisions was very entertaining, so let's start with the headliners who were the third feature on the schedule. Back to the weather though, as predicted the storms that originated in eastern did fizzle out as they reached Des Moines, but one tiny new cell developed just east of Stuart as the heat races were coming to a close that looked like it was going to wash us out for sure with a slow westward drift. The Sport Mod and Modified mains were run off in a quick manner and Van Genderen made the tough decision to stick with his plan to farm the surface prior to the twenty-five lap headliner knowing that, if he didn't, the track would likely rubber up early and turn into a one lane freight train.

I'm sure that many of the fans in attendance were questioning that decision as you could see the rain shaft just to the east, but as the farming was completed this cell had too dissipated with only a sprinkle or two and we were ready for a Sprint Car feature on a newly groomed surface.

Young Cam Martin would start from the pole position, just in front of his older brother Chris, but it would be outside front row starter John Klabunde that would race out to the early lead. with Jason Martin, no relation to the two Martin's previously mentioned, taking up the chase. The red flag would fly on lap five when Austin Miller climbed the barriers in turn one and went over one time and once back to racing Klabunde would continue to lead the field for two more laps before he also went too high in turns one and two and went for a tumble. 

John Klabunde's crash - Barry Johnson photo

Martin, Martin and Martin (no, there was no sighting of "Crazy Martin" in the stands on this night) would bring the field back to green and two more laps would be completed before Chase Brown would spin in turn four collecting eastern Iowa visitor Colton Fisher. The green would fly again with just one more lap in the books when Fisher would spin in turn two, perhaps because of the wing damage that he had suffered during his contact with Brown, and with four stoppages in the first ten laps I was having flashbacks to my previous encounter with this series back in April at Harlan.  

Thankfully the final fifteen laps would be caution free giving us a good race to the checkers with Jason Martin leading the way and Chris Martin giving chase. While the two leaders would pull away, both riding the top, there was a good battle going on behind them with Stu Snyder now creeping the bottom and making up ground from his seventh starting spot. When he reached lapped traffic all of them were running low so Jason was not impeded, but now with just a handful of laps left the car of Josh Higday was ahead of the leader and running the same high line.

Knowing that the finish was near, it almost looked like Jason was trying to time it so that he would protect his line, but not reach Higday until the checkers waved even coming a bit down from the cushion in turns one and two after scoring lap twenty-one. Chris was now ready to pounce and just after lap twenty-two went in the books he dove to the bottom in turn one, and then slid up the track to catch the cushion off of turn two. Jason was unable to crossover the near perfect slider and Chris Martin would lead the final three laps to take the victory. Jason Martin finished second, Snyder took the third position, Don Droud Jr. picked his way through the field to come from eleventh to fourth while fifth row starter Joey Danley completed the top five. 

Chris Martin (44) with the winning move on Jason Martin - Barry Johnson photo

Once it could stay under green, this was an entertaining race that saw the drivers literally using every inch of the groomed surface. Thank goodness that the rain stayed away, or that would have been a much maligned decision! 

Flagman Jeff Kropf joins Chris Martin in victory lane - Barry Johnson photo

The Sport Mods kicked off the five features with a fifteen lap affair that saw Mike Dullard lead until lap four when Garrett Nelson took the point. A caution would wave on lap eleven and on the restart, the front of the field would jumble up off turn four with the leader Nelson suffering enough damage that he would not be able to continue. That handed the point over to Cam Reimers and he would close out the final four laps to take the win over tenth starting Shawn Kralik. Last Monday's feature winner Mitchell Morris was third, David Schwartz started third, faded to eighth and then rallied back for fourth place money while Bryan Morris closed out the top five. 

Current IMCA National Points leader Cam Reimers took the Northern Sport Mod victory - Barry Johnson photo

Just five IMCA Modifieds were on hand tonight with Todd Shute taking the lead from Josh Gilman on lap three and then cruising to his seventh win on the 2023 season. Gilman was second, Chase Rudolf finished third with Izac Mallicoat and Scott Bash next in line.

Danny Foster would pace the Hobby Stocks for the first two laps before yielding to Luke Ramsey and then hometown favorite Skylar Pruitt would power to the front on lap five. There would be no catching him over the final nine circuits as Pruitt scored the victory over Ramsey and Solomon Bennett. Rusty Bates and Christian Cook would fill out the top five.

The Stock Cars would close out the evening and the nine car field would stay tightly bunch throughout. Austin Meiners would grab the lead from his pole position and would drive a mistake free race as drivers raced two and three wide behind him. At the checkers it would be Meiners scoring his first career feature win ahead of veteran drivers Mike Albertson and Todd Van Eaton. Buck Schafroth would race the final ten laps with a broken left tie rod to finish fourth and ninth starting Rowdee Van Genderen would nip Brandon Pruitt by inches to take fifth. 

Austin Meiners on his way to his first feature win! - Barry Johnson photo

The final checkers waved at 9:44 p.m. and the drive home was illuminated with a big, bright strawberry full moon with no hint of the clouds and rain that had roamed the area earlier, other than some nasty ground fog just north of Eddyville.

A big thanks to MVG for the hospitality and don't forget that Joe Kosiski and his Malvern Bank crew will be back at Stuart this coming Sunday night with the SLMR West Late Model series. As for me, I am toying with the idea of making another three hour trip on a night before a work day this Thursday for night two of the $7,500-to-win B-Mod Shootout at the Mason City Motor Speedway. Then on Sunday the plan is for a trip to the Benton County Speedway in Vinton for the weather delayed debut of the PRO Late Model Tour.

Pick out a race or two in your area to attend this week and join us again soon on the Back Stretch!

That Didn't Look Like A First Time Winner; Stewart Dominates At CJ

Usually when a driver checks out on the field and goes essentially unchallenged for a dominating victory a crowd will politely applaud and wish that maybe they could have seen a little more action upfront. That was not the scenario on Friday night though as the Hoker Trucking SLMR East Series rolled into the CJ Speedway in Columbus Junction as that dominating driver lives just ten miles down the road and got his start wheeling a Modified around this 4/10th-mile oval.

Twenty-nine-year-old Derrick Stewart set the tone early in the night by laying down the quickest lap during qualifying for the twenty-four Super Late Models in attendance and then raced his way from sixth to third in the first heat race on a track that, at this point, was pretty much one line around the top. Under the unique SLMR qualifying procedures this would land Stewart on the pole for the thirty-lap headliner in this, the second annual tribute to Tony Stewart. (No relation to Derrick and for us race fans who grew up watching the half-mile ovals in southeast Iowa, this was the "original" Tony Stewart).

Fellow front row starter Jeff Aikey had the jump at the drop of the green only to have Stewart drive deep into turn one and then drift to the cushion to take the lead headed down the back stretch. And from there, he was flat out gone!

As Derrick caught the back of the field on lap seven he already had a straightaway advantage over Aikey and when Luke Goedert moved to the second spot on lap eleven, Stewart was nearly a half lap ahead with six lapped cars serving as a major buffer. Some of his moves in lapped traffic might have made you cringe a bit as he was not letting them slow him down at all even though the very entertaining three car battle for second between Goedert, Aikey and Chad Holladay was far, far behind him.

As that battle for second was coming to score lap twenty, sparks flew as the right rear of Goedert's car slapped the retaining wall just before the flagstand and that would pull the car to the right where Luke's second place run would come to an abrupt end grinding to a stop at the end of the front straightaway.

On the restart Aikey would nearly pull even as the green waved overhead only to have Stewart again perfectly execute turns one and two and despite nearly getting over the cushion in turns three and four the next two laps, he was gone again leaving the race for second as the one to watch. The near capacity crowd would cheer loudly as Stewart scored his first ever Late Model victory here at his home track with his best finish before tonight being a fourth-place run in one of the split field qualifying features at Harlan in early April. Holladay would prevail over Aikey to finish second, series point leader Andy Eckrich was fourth while Jason Hahne filled out the top five.

The Sport Compacts were the first feature of the night, just ahead of the Late Models, and this ten lap event would be a good one with Darin Smith coming from the outside of row two to lead the opening laps. Caleb Giese had started from the pole and had dropped back to third or fourth only to come charging back on the outside in turn two to take the lead on lap three.

Smith would try to battle back, but as the race hit the midway mark he would now have to try to hold off Kolby Sabin who was coming from the eighth starting spot. The Des Moines based driver would take that second position on lap six with his sights now set on Giese, but when his first attempt at a slider was countered perfectly by the leader, it looked as though Giese might just get his first win of the season. Sabin isn't the current All Iowa Points leader for nothing though and in the final set of turns he threw out another slider that Giese tried to counter, only to come up half a car length short at the checkers with Sabin taking the win. Smith followed those two in for third, Cristian Grady finished fourth with Alex Hayes in fifth.

After a near fifteen minute victory lane celebration for Stewart, the field of ten Hobby Stocks would be up next for twelve laps with the pole-sitter Kaden Staley going for a spin in turn two on the first try at a start. When the green flag waved again the sixth-starting Luke Phillips went to the high side of turns one and two rocketing to the front heading down the back stretch. Randy Lamar who had restarted third would take up the chase as the field got pretty spread out until the caution waved again for Staley who had spun just after getting lapped by Phillips in turn four.

Lamer and last week's winner Tucker Richardson would now be on the leader's back bumper for the green-white-checkers finish, but there would be no stopping Phillips from rolling on to victory ahead of Lamar. Richardson spun in turn two on the final lap handing third over to Billy Stanford while Jason Schutterle and Preston McDonald filled out the top five.

The Stock Car feature would get off to a rough start when pole-sitter Austin McDonnell spun in turn two and collected Johnny Spaw who would duck into the pits for repairs and to change a flat tire prior to the second try at a start. Norman Bean would lead the opening circuit before yielding to Adam Bell on lap two. With Bean riding high and kicking off the levee in turn two and Bell digging around the bottom, it would be Bean that would regain the point on lap three of this sixteen lap affair.

Johnny Spaw's ride before the damage

The caution would fly on lap six when Kenny O'Donnell would tangle with Nathan Ballard in turn two and once back to green, Bell's low line would prevail over Bean. Spaw would battle all the way back to second, but he would run out of laps before he could challenge Bell who would take the win and celebrate with two of his daycare "classmates", Jaden Prottsman and the son of Tony, Steve Stewart who has won his fair share of races in a Modified over the years. Dustin Griffith would come from the fifth row to take third with Bean and Ballard next in line. 

It was getting late and I was tired from a short night on Thursday, but the track was now in great shape and serving up plenty of action so I decided to stay for the final two events of the night as long as they were not plagued by cautions.

The IMCA Modified feature would have just one and that would come just after the first lap was scored. Under the caution, leader Tim Simpson would head for the pit area returning in time for the restart, but now starting at the back. Kurt Kile would take the lead on the restart and then put some distance on the field until the eighth starting Jarrett Brown made his way into second.

Brown would steadily close the gap on Kile and with just a couple of circuits remaining we were now in for a race with Brown throwing a big slider at Kile in turns three and four coming to the white flag. When Brown slipped high at the exit of turn four, that would allow Kile to regain the lead and with lapped cars in the lower line here on the final lap, that took away Brown's option to try another slider for the win.

Just when it looked liked Kile had this one wrapped up, he too got to wide at the exit of turn four and that allowed Brown to slip under him and take the checkers first for the victory. Dakota Simmons would finish third and Shane Richardson fought off Kip Siems coming to the stripe for the fourth place money.

The Sport Mods would close out the evening with sixteen non-stop laps of racing that would feature an entertaining three-car battle for the lead. After Todd Hansen paced the first two laps, Carter VandenBerg would take the point from eighth on lap three. Sixth-starting Justin Becker would drop VandenBerg back to second on lap five and when Dylan Van Wyk joined the battle it was a tight pack of three racing at the front.

At the mid-race point Van Wyk would toss a slider at Becker only to have Justin cross him over so then on lap ten Van Wyk again went low into turn one looking to drift to the cushion in turn two. He did not have Becker cleared though and Justin had to slam on the brakes in order to avoid heavier contact. Van Wyk would take the lead with the move with VandenBerg still in the hunt, but Becker was now well back in third.

Carter would keep it interesting over the final laps, but there was no catching Van Wyk who would take the win and then get some displeasure from Becker on the back stretch during the cool down lap. VandenBerg and Becker joined the podium with defending track champion Trey Rock coming from ninth to fourth and Hansen holding on for fifth.

Some persistent cloudiness from nearby thunderstorms may have played a role in the track being heavy and narrow during the qualifying heats and it would be all of the extra wheel packing before each race started that would lead to a final checkered flag waving at 11:16 p.m. But hey, if it leads to a good multi-groove surface come feature time, then it is well worth the wait.

A big thanks to promoter Larry Richardson and the entire CJ crew for their hospitality and as always we appreciate it when announcer Jerry Mackey gives Positively Racing a nice plug. Weekly Friday night action continues next week here in Columbus Junction and the MLRA Late Models will be here on Friday June 30th.

I will be spending Saturday evening with my six week old grandson Beckett while his parents attend a wedding, then on Sunday night I am hoping to make my way up to the Stuart Speedway where the winged sprint cars will attack the quarter-mile oval for the first time in many years. Hope to see you again soon on the Back Stretch!