With rain washing out our Sprint Invaders show at Tipton just before five o'clock on Wednesday, I diverted to Oskaloosa where the night's weekly program would feature the Southern Iowa Speedway Hall of Fame Induction of four deserving gentlemen; Jake Hughes, Roger Dolan, Howard Gordon Jr. and Gary Morse. Track announcer Jerry Mackey did a fantastic job of telling the stories of each as their friends and family gathered on the front stretch to honor the memory of Hughes and Dolan, while both Morse and Gordon celebrated with large groups all adorned in racing shirts to honor the occasion.
Following the ceremony we were ready to go feature racing with the Sport Compacts up first for ten laps that would see Matt Moore go flag-to-flag after starting from the front row to take the win in a race that was interrupted by just one caution. Nathan Moody started from sixth and in the final two laps he was all over Moore even giving him a little tap in turns one and two, but he backed off to keep it clean and settled for the runner-up position. Brandon Pickney finished where he started in third, Iowa City visitor Alex Hayes finished fourth while pole-sitter Colton Zaputil held down the fifth spot.
The Sprint Cars were up next and with Ben Woods making his first appearance of the season, there was a threat to A.J. Johnson's quest for perfection and in fact Woods held off Johnson to win the heat race. They would line up side-by-side in the second row for the twelve lap main event and they swallowed up the front row of Doug Sylvester and Lance Schlicher in a half a lap with Johnson winning the race into turn three. After stretching it out a bit early, Johnson would see his lead shrink to just a few car lengths as the laps wound down, but Woods was not able to mount a challenge before the checkers waved. Sometimes fans can get tired of constant winners, but that is not the case with Johnson as his hometown crowd cheered him loudly as he climbed up out of the car in victory lane. Sylvester was a distant third, Schlicher finished fourth and Tyler Graves filled out the top five.
The Stock Cars were up next and, as they so often do here at the the Southern Iowa Speedway, they stole the show with a finish that had everybody on their feet as the checkers waved. Jason Minnehan had made the trip down from Churdan and after winning the heat race he would draw the pole position in the ten car field with Brett Maasdam to his outside. Third starting Maguire DeJong would make a big move on the opening lap and would briefly take the lead in turn four before Minnehan charged off the cushion to be the first to the line on what was thought to be the opening lap. However, with Pat Rachels spinning in turn three that would call for a complete restart and the field was reset to do it all over again.
I wasn't paying close attention during the realignment, but when the green flag waved there was Nathan Wood on the outside of the front row while Maasdam was somewhere back in the field. Wood would take advantage of his move from fourth to second and he would take the lead from Minnehan exiting turn two and then would set a quick pace throughout the fourteen lap distance, slowed only once when the third running Minnehan spun in turn four. Once back to green DeJong would stick with Wood before pulling even with the leader in turns one and two with two laps remaining.
The crowd was going nuts as the two popular drivers would battle it out over the closing laps and after Nathan fought off that first challenge, Maguire came storming back on the final lap driving under Wood in turn four and then edging him out at the checkers by just a car length for his first win in the Stock Car that he just started driving about six weeks ago. Dustin Griffiths would chase that duo in for third, Andrew Schroeder wheeled Scott Shull's #57 in for fourth while Minnehan salvaged a top five in his first SIS appearance of the season.
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| Announcer Jerry Mackey with race winner Maguire DeJong |
Fourteen laps of Sport Mod action would be up next and with two-time All Iowa Points champion Logan Anderson starting from the pole, this one was pretty much decided from the drop of the green. Especially when another two-time AIP champion Brayton Carter faded quickly from his third starting spot before retiring his cousin's (Carter VandenBerg) car #7v to the pits. Anderson would open up more than a straightaway advantage in the non-stop event as he took the checkers for his ninth win of the season across all tracks. Schroeder would get a runner-up finish in this one as Kyle Harwood raced his way up from sixth to third. Cory Van Zante made a solid return to action coming home fourth while Colton Livezy advanced from ninth to fifth.
The Hobby Stocks would close out the evening with Dustin Griffiths looking to extend his win streak as he has won every feature race that he has finished in this division so far at Osky in 2024. I find it interesting that despite an $800 bounty on Dustin, there were no outside drivers in the field of eleven that would take the green for fourteen laps. Rick Van Dusseldorp would get out to the early advantage, but even after starting sixth you knew that it would not be long before Griffiths would find his way to the front. Rick would fight off his first attempt at a pass, but then on lap six Dustin would cruise by and it was all over but the shouting, and the cheering, as again the fans have not yet turned on the multi-time winner. With extra money on the line for next week's Caleb Hammond Memorial it will be interesting to see if some out-of-town challengers will come in to take their chances.
Van Dusseldorp was a solid second, Eric Stanton started eighth and finished third, Peyton Stephens would finish in fourth in his #623R while Robbie Wilson held down fifth.
Even with the extended intermission, the fact that there were only three cautions across the features allowed us to be on our way way home shortly after 10 p.m. pleased with our alternate destination for the night. I believe that there is a perception out there right now, due to an analysis of the car counts from week to week, that the Southern Iowa Speedway is struggling. All that you have to do to dispel that perception is to show up for one of their race nights and you will consistently see a good and enthusiastic crowd who enjoy watching their local favorites go at it on a Wednesday night.
You don't need a field of twenty-four in each class to have a good show, just take tonight's Stock Car feature as an example. Ten cars started, but it was the two that were exiting turn four wheel to wheel on the final lap that had everybody on their feet and cheering loudly, sending them home anxious to come back the following week to see what will happen next. Plus, when you have the support of the community it is hard to go wrong on the financial side as I counted 68 sponsor signs along the front stretch alone.
Perception from afar is one thing, actually being there to see it is another and next Wednesday is a big one at Oskaloosa with the running of the Caleb Hammond Memorial during the Southern Iowa Fair!
Back to work for me now before I make my way down to 34 Raceway for tonight's $15,555-to-win Slocum 50 featuring the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series along with Modifieds and Stock Cars each paying $1,000 to the winner. Hope to see you there!
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