Barnes, Griffiths, Carter and Oliver Show Well At The Davis County Fair

For the second night in a row I was treated to the sights, sounds and scents of a county fair here in small town Iowa and once again I have to point out just how good we have it as race fans here in the upper Midwest. Both the Cedar County Fair in Tipton on Wednesday night, and the Davis County Fair in Bloomfield last night were bustling with people young, old and in between with midway rides and games, stunt shows, bingo and of course the fantastic food. Perhaps the best two dollars that I have ever spent was on the strawberry sundae that I enjoyed behind the grandstands after the races while I waited for the traffic from the huge crowd on hand to clear last night.

The "Big Guy" is set to wave the checkers at Bloomfield

From a racing standpoint the unique thing to consider is that both venues have not had a regular weekly racing schedule for several years. Yet with Al Dlouhy heading up the track prep at Tipton and with Mike Van Genderen putting the finishing touches on the track in Bloomfield, both offered up some great racing action without a rut or a hole to be seen, at least from the bleachers. I would think that both events had to look good on the balance sheet for each fair board and while a night like last evening might get some drivers and fans amped up about "bringing back weekly racing", we all must remember that it could be the fact that each track runs a limited schedule plays into the success of these events.

Thursday's show at Bloomfield would showcase four divisions with sixty-one cars signed in and, in typical MVG fashion, the show moved along at a quick pace with the final checkers waving before 9:30 p.m. allowing us race fans to either get an early start for home, or to enjoy the midway and a fantastic ice cream treat. 

The Sport Compacts would be up first for twelve laps with pole-sitter Josh Barnes snaring the lead at the drop of the green. Fellow front row starter Brandon Reu would be in hot pursuit staying right on the rear bumper of Barnes and waiting for a mistake. However, it would be Reu that would make that rare slip as when he entered turn one on lap six he would clip the implement tire marking the infield breaking the left front tie rod and sending him for a spin.

On the restart Brandon Pickney made a valiant run to the outside of Barnes, but Josh was just too fast and pulled away from the pack. Unfortunately for Barnes, his 2023 season has been one where he either wins or breaks so the question now would be if his ride would make it through the final six laps and that it did to carry the driver from Keokuk to victory. Pickney would finish second as Luke Fraise came from eighth to third. Heat race winner Caleb Giese would finish in the fourth spot while Matt Moore took fifth.

The Hobby Stocks were up next and with former All Iowa Points champion Dustin Griffiths drawing the front row, this one looked to be already decided while on the parade lap. Keaton Gordon would not let it be a cake walk though as he came from a third row start to put some pressure on Griffiths, but even with two mid-race cautions and their ensuing restarts, there was no stopping Dustin from a trip to victory lane. Gordon was not far back in second, Aaron Martin finished third, Tom Killen Jr. made the trip down from Des Moines to take fourth and Kale Hemsley was fifth.

Moberly, Missouri's Jamie Aleshire would lead the opening lap of the eighteen-lap Sport Mod main event only to have fourth starting Brayton Carter power by him on lap two. My attention was drawn back in the pack though as Kyle Harwood was making a big charge after starting sixteenth on the grid. At times passing two cars a lap, Harwood was flat out flying until lap twelve when he got sideways in turn three and the resulting spin carried him into the infield far enough that the caution did not wave.

With my eyes now back on the leader, Carter was facing some heavy lapped traffic and Maguire DeJong was closing in fast after starting seventh. Usually a leader would not want to see a caution with just two laps remaining, but when Kyle Boyd slowed around the top of turns one and two that caution would come and take the lapped traffic out of play for the final two laps.

DeJong would be there and ready to grab the lead if Carter left an opening, but that did not happen as "Speedy Bray" scored his twentieth feature win of the season. Brandon Dale would race home in third and Aleshire rallied back on the final lap to reclaim fourth at the checkers from Dylan Van Wyk.

The twenty-lap Stock Car feature would close out the evening with John Oliver Jr. coming from the inside of row two take the lead on the opening lap. The caution would then wave for Wade Francis who got turned around in turn three and following the restart Oliver would enter turn three too high and smack the wall with his right rear. This would allow both Andrew Schroeder and Jason McDaniel to get by with Schroeder now out front and leading the way.

The fifth lap was an interesting one as McDaniel was able to squeeze under Schroeder in turns one and two and they would race even down the back straightaway. With Schroeder going to the cushion in turn three, McDaniel was running the middle and that gave Oliver an opening on the bottom that he would muscle his way through to go from third to first. Just after the lap was scored the caution would wave for a tangle between Ty Hill and Brock Haines in turn four and, while under caution, McDaniel made it known to Oliver that he did not appreciate what had just transpired.

Cautions would be needed on lap six and lap thirteen, but while under green McDaniel was making every effort to find his way past Oliver. With John now working the bottom, Jason would try to give him the ol' bump and run a couple of times with no success and as the laps wound down McDaniel would give the cushion a try. Try as he may, Oliver was just too strong as he would go on to take the victory by a car length over McDaniel. Dustin Griffiths was close behind in third after starting eighth, Todd Reitzler had moved from ninth up to challenge for the lead on the lap six restart, but then dropped to fourth while Jason See methodically picked his way up from fifteenth to fifth.

Drivers and fans alike have been thrilled with the racing at Bloomfield over the past three events held here and they have a two-day Fall Special scheduled for September 22nd and 23rd.

Even though I have been racing for three straight nights now, I am ready for more and my wife is even convinced to join me for tonight's Free Grandstand Admission at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson sponsored by Kohlmorgan Hauling. Then on Sunday night I hope to make the trip back up to Vinton for the Urbana Five Iowa Donor Network special night of racing and on Tuesday it will be the Caleb Hammond Memorial at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa.

Hope to see you again soon on the Back Stretch!