Three Wins, One Loss For Dustin Griffiths At Osky

With the non-wing Sprints off the card for the night, and three make-up features to be run, I made the trip up to Oskaloosa despite the fact that scattered thunderstorms had been added into the forecast late in the day. Every time I walk into the grandstands at the Southern Iowa Speedway memories from now forty-four years of watching races there run through my mind and it was time to add some new ones on this Wednesday night.

I was going to go to the season opener here last week, but with a chilly night and a chance of rain I stayed home and as it turned out that was a good call as the night ended on lap four of the Stock Car feature with the Sports Mods and Hobby Stocks yet to run. So on this night the weather was warmer, but the chance for rain was added in where the storms were moving from east to west, something that we don't often see here in Iowa. One batch stayed just north of Oskaloosa giving us all quite the light show as the races continued while a couple of more were developing two counties to the east so track officials did everything that they could in order to keep the four division, seven feature race program on the move.

Maguire DeJong - Saif Grafke photo

The conclusion of last weeks Stock Car feature would be first on the card with Dustin Griffiths bringing the field back to green with four laps down and ten remaining, Griffiths would quickly open up a lead as drivers battled for position behind him, but as he was coming to score lap number seven Dustin spun the car in turn four bringing out the caution. A rare mistake from one of the best drivers in the region.

Maguire DeJong and Brayton Carter would start from the front row on the restart and DeJong would take the point and then pull away over the remaining laps to score the win. Carter finished second, Griffiths passed five cars over the final eight laps to take third, Steve Byers was fourth and Clinton Goff took fifth. 

Seven cars lined up for the fourteen lap Sport Mod make-up feature and when the initial start was waved off three of them tangled on the front stretch and that would send Chase Johnson to the pits with issues. When the green flag waved Kyle Harwood would set a quick pace keeping about a ten car length advantage over Brayton Carter. At the mid-race mark though Carter would start to close in and when Harwood pushed up the track a bit in turns three and four on lap eight, Brayton pounced driving under him for the lead and the eventual victory. Harwood would be the runner-up with Colton Livezy third, Jason Van Zomeron fourth and Tony Johnson fifth.

The Hobby Stocks would close out the events from opening night with a fourteen-lapper of their own and with Dustin Griffiths lined up on the outside of row one, it didn't take a genius to guess the outcome of this one. Kris Walker kept him honest through the early laps and the only caution waved on lap six when Rick VanDusseldorp spun in turn three. His displeasure with Jacob Sytsma as the field was under caution indicated that it wasn't a solo effort.

Once back to green there was no staying with Griffiths who cruised to the win. Peyton Stephens, who had started the race from twelfth, passed Walker late to finish second as Keaton Gorden and James Pilkington filled out the top five.

Qualifying heats for the four divisions would run next and the second Sport Compact heat was worth the price of admission in itself as the top five raced in a tight formation the entire five laps with several lead changes before Clayton Webster secured the win after starting sixth.

The Stock Cars would be up first again for tonight's four features and you knew that Dustin Griffiths had redemption on his mind as he started from the pole position. Derrick Agee quickly moved from fourth to second and would provide a stout challenge sticking his nose under the leader a couple of times during the first three laps. But after fighting off Agee, Dustin would gradually pull away to win this one convincingly over Agee and Maguire DeJong. Brayton Carter finished fourth and Jason rounded out the top five. 

Derrick Agee (14) challenges Dustin Griffiths (10G) for the lead - Saif Grafke photo

The team cars of Clayton Webster and Seth Meinders would bring the field to green for the ten lap Sport Compact headliner with Meinders taking the point. The only caution of the race would wave on lap three as Webster slowed in turns one and two and as he tried to make the left hand turn to the infield on the back stretch he collected Dalton Sowers sending both cars for a spin.

On the restart Meinders would continue to lead the way as Des Moines driver Michael Gardner took up the chase in second. Gardner was the runner-up in the All Iowa Points in 2024 on the strength of his short track performances and he was looking good on a rare half-mile appearance here, but he was not going to catch Meinders who would go flag to flag for the win. Brandon Pickney was able to slip past Gardner in turn four coming to the checkers to take second with James Haring fourth and Colton Zaputil coming home fifth.

Brayton Carter - Saif Grafke photo

The Sport Mods would be up next and the second verse was pretty much like the first, except this time Kyle Harwood would stay glued to the bottom as he tried to hold off the challenges of Brayton Carter. As Hall of Fame starter Doug Haack gave the leaders the "two to go" signal, Carter decided to give a higher line a try and as they came back to take the white flag they were side-by-side at the stripe. Carter would then find the bite that he needed up top to take the lead in turns one and two and while Harwood battled back, it would be another win for "Speedy Bray" at his hometown track. The top five would read the same from the first feature; Carter, Harwood, Livezy, Van Zomeran and Johnson. 

With the lightning from the storms to the east now filling the skies beyond turns one and two, the Hobby Stocks would close out the evening with fourteen laps of action as the fourth starting James Pilkington would get to the front to lead lap one. His fellow row two starter Peyton Stephens would take over the point on lap two with the caution waving for a spin on lap five.

Dustin Griffiths, who had started sixth, would now restart in the first double row and he would immediately go to work on Stephens for the lead. Using the outside line Dustin would lead the way as lap seven was scored only to have Stephens battle back to lead lap eight. But that outside line was good and Griffiths would takeover for good and lead the final six laps to not only take his third feature win of the night, but to also rob me of seeing a car with the number 623R win a feature race. Stephens finished second, Kris Walker was third and Brayden Wood passed Keaton Gorden in the closing laps to take fourth.

It was an entertaining night of racing that started with hot laps on time at 7:15 and after seven heat races and seven features the final checkered flag waved at 9:15 ahead of the approaching weather. Great job by everybody involved in putting on this show! I also want to thank my good friend Jerry Mackey for the recognition and his promotion of our work at Positively Racing, that is always greatly appreciated Jerry! I also want to thank Saif Grafke who sent me the photos used above while I was sitting in the stands still watching the races. Great pics, Saif!

Next up for me are a pair of Mohrfeld Sprint Invader events, this Friday May 9th at the Davenport Speedway and next Friday May 16th at the CJ Speedway in Columbus Junction. Hope to see you again soon on the Back Stretch!