With extra money on the line from a variety of fine sponsors, the Southern Iowa Fair providing extra entertainment on the grounds and with the memory of a courageous young man that was taken from his family and friends much too soon, the stage was set for a spectacular evening of racing at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa. And, on Tuesday night, the "Mahaska Monster" delivered with some spectacular racing and a positive outcome to a very frightening incident during the Fifth Annual Caleb Hammond Memorial.
As announcer Jerry Mackey explained, Caleb's favorite number was 7, so the Stock Cars, Sport Mods and Hobby Stocks were racing for $1,007-to-win, the Sport Compacts were vying for $507-to-win and with an extra $100 from Front Row Challenge promoters Terry and Lori McCarl, the non-wing Sprint Cars were racing for a $607 top prize.
Bolstered by Waterloo visitors Matt Miller and Noah Beenken, it would be a field of eleven Sport Compacts that would contest the first of five features on the night with the 2022 track champion Terry Bickford starting from the pole position for the ten lap affair. Bickford has not been here weekly in 2023 however and it would be Ottumwa's Brandon Pickney that would come from third to take the initial lead. Veteran driver Bob "Gabby" Hayes, who came back to racing three years ago after being inducted into the track's Hall of Fame, was on the charge from his third row start and he would slip under Pickney exiting turn four on lap three to take the point.
Bickford was now regaining his half-mile form and moved back into second at the mid-race point with his sights set on Hayes. Getting right up to his back bumper on a couple of occasions, Bickford was there and waiting for Gabby to slip up the track a bit and when that did not happen the challenger took a look at a bit of a higher line. As the white flag waved Garret Porter slipped under Bickford and with those two now racing door-to-door for second that would allow Hayes to race down the final straightaway to a loudly cheering crowd as he would win a feature race for the first time since 1990! Porter edged out Bickford to finish in the second spot, Tyler Haring finished fourth and Pickney held on for fifth.
With the extra money on the line, the Sprint Car field that is normally in the five to eight car range swelled to twelve including a couple of drivers that were of a special interest to me. With his wife Kirsten and his adorable young twin daughters sitting a few rows in front of me, I figured that Dan Keltner had taken the wing off of his Sprint Car that he last raced in the 305 Class at 34 Raceway to make the trip up. And, even more of a surprise, was that Stock Car driver Corey Strothman of Mount Union had not only brought his familiar #C4 up with him, but that he would also make his Sprint Car debut tonight in Steve Pumphrey's car #17.
After showing some early speed in his heat race, a miss in the motor would see Keltner pull to the infield prior to the start of the ten lap main event so it would be an eleven car field taking the green with Tim Folkerts setting the pace from the pole position. As the field raced into turn three for the first time, contact would send both Folkerts and Nathan James into a series of violent flips with Folkerts vaulting up and over the approximately fifteen foot high guardrail. The large crowd was shocked and stunned at what they had just witnessed and I was particularly concerned for two reasons. First and foremost was for the safety of both drivers. Just this past Friday night we had seen the #3T car that Folkerts was driving compete in the Vintage Car races at Donnellson. It was an old Sprint Car that did not have the down tubes that all of the cars of today have running from the front of the top of the roll cage down to the nose on each side. Second, outside of turns three and four is the access road that is used by the shuttles running fairgoers back and forth from the overflow parking beyond the back stretch. Heaven forbid that one of those shuttles, or perhaps some people that had decided just to walk back to their cars were outside of the track at that moment.
It was soon announced that James had walked away from his damaged ride uninjured, but it took several minutes before Jerry Mackey was informed that Folkerts was alert and speaking with the EMT's and soon a second ambulance had arrived on the scene to transport the driver who had come back to racing this year after a long and successful career in the Modified division. Tim's mother Meridel just gave me the update that, after being transferred to Des Moines last night with multiple injuries, he has just been released to start the healing process from home, so the many, many prayers have been answered! Update at 12:38 p.m., Tim wants to thank every one who has reached out and the ambulance crew and workers Osky as they did an excellent job!
Honestly I did not take note of how the field had realigned for the restart as Folkerts and James had originally started from first and third, but Ben Woods who was fifth in that original grid would rocket to the lead going down the back stretch on the opening lap and it was pretty much over from there as the driver from Newton would add to his win total. Doug Sylvester chased him the entire distance in second, Tyler Graves finished third, Terry Doud was fourth and Lance Silvers took fifth. Strothman had pass a car late to get to sixth, but then disappeared on the final lap so he was credited with seventh.
The fourteen lap Hobby Stock feature would be up next and this was just a spectacular race from front to back. Tyson Overton would lead early as several top contenders would gather just behind him making it a five car battle for the lead. After starting fourth, Eric Stanton would ease by Overton on lap six and the first of just two cautions would wave on lap eight when Cody Staley spun at the exit of turn four. On the restart Aaron Martin would put up the challenge driving to the inside of Stanton in the turns only to have Eric ease back ahead on the straightaways.
When Christian Huffman had issues in turn four, the caution would wave again with four laps remaining and this time it would be Dustin Griffiths throwing the challenge at Stanton for the lead. For two laps they would race side-by-side with Stanton still holding the edge at the stripe before the leader then dropped down to the lower line to close the door on Griffiths. Dustin would then go to the top hoping to find that same bite that had propelled Stanton to the front down the straights, but that did not happen as Martin would take back second and make one final charge at the leader. Coming to the checkered flag the lead trio was within two car lengths of each other, with fourth and fifth close behind as Stanton held off Martin and Griffith for the victory followed by Keaton Gordon and Overton.
Despite the four figure payday waiting for the winner, just nine Sport Mods signed in and when top contenders Curtis Van Der Wal and Carter VandenBerg scratched earlier in the evening that would leave seven cars for the fourteen lap feature. With Maguire DeJong on his high school's Senior Trip, Cayden Carter was subbing in the #30m and when he took off from the pole position, this one was pretty much over. Doug McCollough had pulled his sharp looking B-Mod down from Webster City and he could not even keep pace with Carter who drove away for the non-stop victory taking the checkered flag as the second place McCollough was exiting turn two for the final time. Kyle Harwood was challenging McCollough for the runner-up spot with five laps remaining until he got too low in turn four and punted the track tire up and over the infield guardrail. He must have hit it square with the nose of the car as Harwood was able to close out the race in third followed by Tony Johnson and Trent Brink.
After a quick "hi" from victory lane, Cayden would then hop in the Michael Petersen owned #1x Stock Car that he had also drawn the pole position for in the night's fourteen lap finale. It was no surprise that Carter would race to the early lead, but he would not drive away from the field in this one as fellow front row starter Derrick Agee would stay right with him. A caution on lap four would reset the field and Nathan Wood would now make it a three-car battle for the front after the restart and he would take over second before the caution waved on lap seven for a Steve Byers spin.
Back to racing and with Carter and Agee working the lower line, Wood went to the top and started to find some extra speed, especially in turn four as he looked to take the lead. A big run off the cushion in turn four would vault Wood to the point on lap ten only to have Carter rally back on the inside and, just like in the Hobby Stock feature, the fans were treated to wheel-to-wheel action for the lead throughout the closing laps. Cayden would actually nose ahead of Wood going down the back stretch on the next three laps, but could never clear him enough to go up and shut the door and on the final lap Nathan would seal the deal with another perfect run around the high side of turns three and four to take the popular victory. Carter would have to settle for second in this one with Agee close behind in third. Travis Bunnell was impressive in fourth with Jason McDaniel closing out the top five.
It would close out a very entertaining night with great fair food and exciting racing and despite the agonizing delay during the Sprint Car feature, the final checkered flag waved just before 10:30. I am so happy that I can share with you that Tim Folkerts will make a full recovery after that scary crash! A big thank you to Jerry Mackey for giving Positively Racing a nice plug, he does that so often and it is very much appreciated. Hard to believe that next Wednesday will be season championship night already here at Osky, but remember that the Front Row Challenge will be here on Monday, August 7th, and the annual Fall Challenge will take place on Friday and Saturday October 13th and 14th.
Hope to see you again soon on the Back Stretch!
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