Night one of the Southern Iowa Frost Out would be the first IMCA sanctioned event at the Mountain Dew Bloomfield Speedway since 2005 and with 102 cars in five divisions on hand for Friday's show, you would have to consider it to be a great success. As is typical with an early or late season sanctioned event, the roster included drivers from throughout the region knowing that they were running under the standard set of rules and two drivers would score their third straight victory after sweeping their respective divisions last weekend in Memphis, Missouri.
Nathan Ballard would walk away with an easy win in his Hobby Stock heat race, but when he drew the twelfth starting spot for the sixteen lap main event, the driver from Marengo would have his work cut out for him if he wanted to repeat last week's success. Briar Kriegel would start from the pole and he would gradually build his lead as the field battled behind him. Ballard did not make up much ground in the early laps as he searched for racing room with drivers going two and three wide in front of him.
The caution would wave on lap four when Andy Peck spun in turn two and on the restart Ballard went to work. Kriegel was again stretching his lead and it was up to about a half straightaway when Ballard made his way past Peyton Stephens for second on lap nine and that lead vanished quickly as Ballard stormed to the front just one circuit later.
One final caution waved with three laps remaining when Keaton Gordon spun out of a three car battle for fourth on the front stretch bringing the field back to Ballard for the restart, but there would be nobody who could keep up with Nathan's pace as he pulled away again for the win. Kriegel fought off Stephens for second, Bradly Graham finished fourth and Corey VanDerwilt came from the fifth row to finish in fifth.
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| Nathan Ballard (29) gets by Peyton Stephens - Barry Johnson photo |
The twenty lap IMCA Modified feature was the final event of the night, but it moves to second in this storyline as Ethan Braaksma dominated to win his third straight race. Tim Ward and Jason Bass started from the front row only to have Bass end up against the turn three wall before the first lap could be scored. This allowed the fourth starting Braaksma to slide up to the front row for the restart and he would take full advantage racing out to the lead at the drop of the green.
Cayden Carter who was driving Maguire DeJong's #30m would soon get to second and he was able to keep Braaksma in his sights through the first half of the race, but as the laps clicked away Ethan pulled away to earn another victory in dominating fashion as Carter finished second in the non-stop race. Chris Zogg recovered from a turn one stumble on the restart that dropped him to near the back of the now thirteen car field to race all the way up to third at the checkers. Ward slipped to fourth as Kurt Kile rounded out the top five.
The twenty lap Stock Car feature was the best race of the night as the three-eighths mile oval served up three and even four wide action at times. Young Rowdee Van Genderen would set the early pace with a ton of talent breathing down his back bumper. Dustin Griffiths would pull even with the leader on the inside only to have Van Genderen ward him off while riding the momentum off the cushion before the caution waved on lap four when Andrew Schroeder slowed with a broken right front suspension.
On the restart Rowdee switched lines now running the bottom on both ends so Griffiths went to the top and on lap seven he was able take the lead exiting turn four. Van Genderen was still stout on the bottom though and as he tried to take back the lead he also had to deal with the challenges of Todd Reitzler, John Oliver Jr. and Presley Harrington. As the field scored lap nine, contact between Van Genderen and Reitzler on the front stretch turned Rowdee to the right nose first into the wall and thankfully he did not get upside down at the fastest point of the track. Reitzler was called for rough driving although he may have just ran out of room in the tight battle and rather than restarting at the rear, he chose to call it a night.
Once back to racing Jason McDaniel got shuffled out of a tight pack as the field scored lap ten and he too turned hard right into the outside wall in nearly the same spot collecting Luke Ramsey who deliberately spun to avoid making harder contact with McDaniel. John Oliver Jr. would now restart in second and as the green flag waved he found a tremendous bite off the bottom of turn four to take the lead away from Griffiths before they even passed the flagstand. Michael Jaennette would soon get to second and now you had the drivers who had split the wins at Memphis last weekend looking to see who would take the rubber match here at Bloomfield.
A final caution would wave for Elaine Deppe's spin on lap fifteen and the final five laps would entertain the nice sized crowd. Working the outside line Jaennette would be even with Oliver as they raced down the back stretch for the final time, but it would be Oliver who would take it a bit deeper into turn three and then drift up the track just a bit in turn four to close the door on his challenger and take the win at the checkers. Griffiths had the best seat in the house to watch that battle as he was close behind in third, David Brandies came from the fourth row to finish fourth while Harrington, who made the long pull from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for the second weekend in a row, finished in fifth.
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| John Oliver Jr. (05) holds off Michael Jaennette - Barry Johnson photo |
Brayton Carter went flag-to-flag after starting from the front row to win the eighteen lap Sport Mod headliner, but there was plenty of action to watch behind him as the battles for positions two on back were intense. Following a lap six caution southwest Iowa visitor Hunter Poston was restarting from fourth and took contact sending him for a spin on the front stretch and the rest of the field scrambled to avoid contact. Three more cautions would keep the field tightly bunched and during that final stoppage with just two laps remaining another top five contender, Brandon Dale, retired to the infield with a flat tire.
Maguire DeJong who had started twelfth was now up to second and while he could keep pace with the leader over the final two laps, he could not mount a challenge as Carter cruised to victory. Cam Reimers finished third, Colton Livezy was fourth and Sioux City visitor Willy Kirk took fifth after starting tenth. Poston was impressive racing his way back up to seventh at the checkers.
The Sport Compacts kicked off the evening as the first of five features with a pretty darn good three car battle for the win involving James Haring, Matt Moore and Brandon Reu in a non-stop fourteen lap affair. Haring and Moore had separated themselves from the field after starting second and fourth respectively while Reu was picking his way to the front after starting eighth. Lapped traffic would play a big role in this one as with five laps remaining Haring and Moore would split the lapped car of Jerry Glass at the end of the back stretch. Both would then get loose in turn three and as they recovered that allowed Reu to erase the approximate ten car length advantage that they once had on him.
Haring would maintain the lead as the lap was scored, but it was now a three car battle as Reu moved to second on lap ten and then with two laps remaining he would take the lead. As the white flag waved Haring would slow with mechanical issues leaving him with a thirteenth place showing in the final rundown as Reu scored the win over Moore. Luke Fraise prevailed in another good three car battle for position as he finished third ahead of Caleb Giese and Shenandoah's Zander Steiner.
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| The three car race for the lead with James Haring (2H), Matt Moore (2M) and Brandon Reu - Barry Johnson photo |
As lightning flashed to both the east and to the west of the track, the final checkers waved at 10:10 p.m. and I left happy knowing that the future of racing is bright here at one of my favorite tracks through the efforts of the Davis County Fairboard and promoter Mike Van Genderen. IMCA is excited to be back in this area that has seen it's four tracks of Oskaloosa, Eldon, Memphis and Bloomfield race unsanctioned for the past several seasons and it will be interesting to see if the others follow suit over the next few years. With other plans for this Easter weekend I will not be back for night number two at Bloomfield, so I hope that you might consider being there to take my place and I will look forward to additional trips in that direction as the 2024 racing season continues.
My racing plans for next week include an IMCA Frostbuster event either at Independence on Wednesday night or at Stuart on Thursday, then on Friday and Saturday I look forward to the IRA and MOWA 410 Sprint Car showdown at 34 Raceway west of Burlington. Then perhaps back to the final Frostbuster in Vinton on Sunday night. Yes, the 2024 season is ready to roll full steam ahead and I hope to see you at the track soon!
B.S. Notes - There were four All Iowa Points Champions in action tonight: John Oliver Jr. (Stock Car 2018), Dustin Griffiths (Hobby Stock 2014), Brayton Carter (Limited Modified 2020 & 2023) and Barry Taft (Four Cylinder 2017-18), plus South Dakota's Limited Modified state champion from 2022 and 2023 in Willy Kirk..
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