Birkhofer, Carter and Wauters Headline Sheet Metal Showdown at Davenport

With the cancellation of the Sprint Invaders show at 34 Raceway, I made the trip north on Saturday for the Sheet Metal Showdown at the Davenport Speedway where a $2,000 top prize was up for grabs in each of the Late Model, Sport Mod and Hobby Stock divisions. Plus the Modifieds, Street Stocks and Four Cylinders were also in action on a hot, steamy night that actually wasn't too bad while sitting in the vast covered grandstands at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds with a steady breeze helping to take the edge off of the heat.

As it turned out I am really glad that I was here tonight as it was the first career Late Model feature victory for young Cruz Birkhofer. His grandfather Dave Birkhofer was one of my favorites growing up and I watched him win many features at West Liberty, Burlington, here at Davenport and other tracks. Dave's son Brian Birkhofer started out in a Street Stock before moving on to the Late Models and after establishing himself as a frequent winner locally, he went on to national fame winning the World 100, the Knoxville Late Model Nationals and many others, but perhaps one of his proudest nights at the track came last night when his son Cruz held off the persistent challenges from Andy Nezworski to score his first win.

Cruz started from the outside of row one and took the lead at the drop of the green with the fourth starting Nezworski in hot pursuit. The twenty-five lap feature would go non-stop and Nezworksi was never more than four car lengths back throughout. On lap fifteen as Birkhofer entered turn one behind the soon to be lapped car of Broderick Prescott, Nezworski dove low and was able to take the lead momentarily as they headed down the back stretch and into turn three. Birkhofer would nail the now precariously high cushion perfectly though to get back to the lead at the scoring loop and then, with five laps remaining, Nezworski had one more opportunity as Birkhofer went to put Chris Lawrence a lap down.

Again Nezworksi would drive in low and pull even with the leader, and once again the young driver did not flinch hitting his marks on the high line to maintain the lead and the eventual win worth a hefty $2,000. Nezworski made his way into victory lane to first give the winner a fist bump, and then a big bear hug to congratulate him on the victory. Logan Veloz started fifth and finished third, Evan Miller was fourth and Dustin Smith finished off the top five.

I spent my younger years cheering for Dave's victories, I proudly watched Brian rise to stardom through my middle ages and now I hope to fill my senior years watching Cruz continue to find victory lane!

The $2,000-to-win Sport Mod feature was the first of six on the card with twenty-five laps on a freshly groomed race track with Josh Starr racing out to a big advantage from his front row start. Dylan VanWyk had started tenth and when he finally made his way into second, Starr was still a full straightaway ahead of him and he had Brayton Carter who had started twelfth now hot on his heels in third.

The caution would soon fly on lap eleven when the right rear tire blew on Finn Oppenheimer's car and he was not able to clear the speedway as he had been racing in a tight pack prior to the blowout. This was the worst circumstance for Starr though as not only was his big lead erased, but he now had the top two Sport Mod drivers in the state in Carter and VanWyk lined up side-by-side on his back bumper for the restart. 

And they would swallow up Starr in turns one and two on the restart and as he was now third racing down the back stretch it appeared that some sheet metal and a wheel cover came flying off of his car resulting in a caution for debris that would give him the opportunity to try it again from the front. The second restart would have the same result though as VanWyk would race to the lead with Carter in hot pursuit and the two drivers from Oskaloosa would now race it out for the big money here in Davenport.

VanWyk was in control until lapped traffic came into play and when he had to hesitate behind a slower car in turns one and two, Carter went low to pull even with him going down the back stretch. And with another slower car in the leader's preferred line entering turns three and four, Carter would take the lead with just two laps remaining and score his twenty-third Sport Mod win on the season. VanWyk would settle for second, Cole Suckow took third, Starr slipped to fourth and Cole Stichter came from fourteenth to take fifth.

The big money for the Hobby Stocks was doled out in the fifth feature of the night with pole-sitter Erick Knutsen setting the early pace in the twenty-five lap event. Daniel Wauters had started in row two and he would take the lead on lap three even stretching it out a bit before the caution waved for Carson Butt's spin in turn four on lap eight. Once back to green Wauters had both Kile Vohringer and Matt Bennett in hot pursuit all running the high line around the quarter-mile until the caution waved again with ten laps remaining due to a three car spin in turn two.

That same three car battle would resume following the restart and as the laps wound down Vohringer would let the leader know that he was there with some taps on the rear bumper. On the final lap Vohringer drove to the bottom in turns three and four hoping to find the bite that he needed, but it was not there as Wauters scored the win by just over a car length. Vohringer was second, Bennett took third, Preston McDonald was fourth and Randy Lamar came from tenth to fifth.

With this much money up for grabs I was surprised that only eighteen Hobby Stocks were on hand with apparently the hot weather keeping some away? The one big traveler was Joel Magee who made the tow over from Sioux City and after starting thirteenth he had raced his way up into the top five while making a lower to middle line work. However that went away from him late as he faded back to ninth at the checkers.

It was all Logan Veloz in the twenty lap IMCA Modified feature as he started from the front row and was never seriously challenged in a race that was slowed just once by a caution. Chris Zogg started fifth and finished second, Ben Chapman came from eighth to finish third, Charlie Mohr moved from seventh to fourth and Kurt Kile rounded out the top five. 

Promoter Jeff Struck Jr. brought his car out to race in the Street Stock division to honor his father who had passed away earlier in the day. Drawing an outside front row starting spot, Struck appeared to be headed for victory in the fifteen lap event after taking the lead from Keegan Wells on lap two, but he was chased down late by Blake Woodruff who had started ninth and took the lead at the white flag to score his eighth win of the season here at Davenport. Struck was second, Donnie Louck came from tenth to third, Jake Lund finished fourth and Landen Chrestenson was fifth.

Seven Four Cylinders would close out the evening for twelve laps with Dustin Forbes going flag-to-flag for the victory. Josh Starr would run second, Caleb Giese was third with Zachary Pappas and Thomas Adams next in line.

The entertaining program was wrapped up around 9:40 p.m. and it was an interesting drive home listening to the events that had just taken place in Iran. Tonight we close out the weekend with a trip to the Quincy Raceways where the Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders will headline the action and then on Wednesday we plan on being at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa for the SLMR Late Model show. Then, next weekend, I hope to add a first time visit to a track in another state. Where will that be? You will have to make a return to the Back Stretch to find out!

The Sunday Night Place To Be In Central Missouri

It has been at least twenty years since I paid my first visit to the Double X Speedway outside of California, Missouri, and when I finally returned on Sunday night I was glad to see that not much had changed. The big grass field parking lot was already filling up a half hour prior to hot laps. There was a short line to wait in as tickets were being sold from the side of the concession stand. The infield was full of open trailers and a few smaller enclosed ones, while the bigger haulers were outside of the track. The wood bleachers were solid and sturdy, likely updated since my last visit while the judges stand at the top of them is open and rustic. There are no Musco lights here, no streaming, the tall front stretch wall is no more than ten feet from the first row of seating giving all of us that "up close and personal" vibe, especially when the winged Sprint Cars are flying by. The rest rooms are old, but clean and the concession stand was busy with reasonably priced items. The best thing of all though is, just like the last time I visited, it seemed like this was the Sunday night place to be for family and friends, young and old, as the crowd filled in with big numbers that I am sure that a lot of other weekly race tracks would envy.

Yes, it was Sunday night in central Missouri and it was time to go racing at the Double X Speedway!

The last time that I was here they ran two classes only, 360 Winged Sprint Cars and a class that they called "Hobby Stocks", but they were an early version of the Four Cylinders. In 2025 there are now three classes on the card with the Super Stocks, B-Modifieds and of course the fan favorites, the 360 Winged Sprints. With some extra money on the line the car counts ticked up a bit more than usual with sixteen Super Stocks, thirteen B-Mods and twelve Sprint Cars and after about a twenty minute intermission where there were giveaways on your admission ticket, some lucky number programs (something I haven't seen in years!) and of course the 50/50 drawing, we were ready to go feature racing with the Super Stocks up first.

I believe that all classes drew for their starting position in the heats and then all three features were lined straight up by how those finished putting Darek Wiss and James Nighswonger on the front row. Nighswonger would lead lap one by a bumper with Wiss taking over on lap two and as the leaders were coming to score lap five they had already run up on two slower cars racing for position entering turn three. As Wiss tried to squeeze under them exiting turn four, he wheel hopped causing the now second place car of Derek Brown to slam on the brakes and slide sideways entering the front stretch.

The caution was waved, but officials rightfully placed Brown back in his running position for the restart as he had spun to avoid additional contact with the lapped car. Once back to green Wiss was in control with Brown following him around the bottom on both ends and it looked like the tight little bullring might not offer up a second groove on this night. The caution waved with three laps remaining when Chris Spalding slowed on the back stretch and when the green flag returned it looked like Wiss would hold on to this one. But wait!

After taking the white flag Brown drove to the outside of the leader in turn one and as they went down the back stretch he nearly pulled even with Wiss entering turn three. They were side-by-side off of four and it was a good ol' concrete scraping, sparks flying drag race to the checkers that Brown would win by inches much to the delight of the large crowd. Wiss would have to settle for second, Nighswonger finished third, Ted Welschmeyer was fourth and Dean Wille closed out the top five..

Twenty laps would be the distance for the B-Mods and after scoring lap one the front of the field stacked up a bit all going for the bottom in turn one sending the fourth starting Tyler Potter for a spin. It took a few laps to convince Potter that he should be restarting from the back of the field and he showed his displeasure once that set in. Veteran driver Terry Schulz would bring the field back to green and he would have Adam Hall tracking him until lap five when the third place car of Waylon Dimmitt spun in turn three.

This would now move Cole Campbell into the third spot and he would be the first to test the high side, but without much success until a few laps later when he got it cleaned off. Campbell would sail by Hall at the mid-race point and after a couple of laps of seeing just how high Schulz would flare out on the straightaways, Campbell made the pass for the lead on lap fourteen. The driver who traveled from Mexico to California on this night would then pull away over the final six laps to take the win with Schulz and Hall next in line. Potter was able to battle his way back up to fourth at the checkers with Colson Kirk completing the top five. 

The Sprint Cars would close out the evening for twenty-five laps with young Garrett Benson and point leader Jack Wagner on the front row. What looked like i could be a shootout between those two ended quickly as Benson spun in turn two on the opening lap dropping him to the back of the field for the restart. On  the second try just one lap would be scored before Blake Bowers nosed into the concrete barrier protecting the infield exiting turn four. It appeared that something had broken in the steering of his #52 as he was going through turn four.

With the green flag back out Wagner was gone like a flash while the battle to watch was for second where Josh Fisher was trying to ward off Broc Elliott. Ben Brown was also closing in while running the high line until he slowed with a flat tire on lap four. After a quick change in the infield he would restart at the rear as we would go green to checkers the rest of the way.

Around lap twelve Elliott dove to the bottom of Fisher in turn three and contact would cause both cars to hesitate before getting back up to speed with Elliott now second and Fisher fading through the field with apparent damage to the left front. He would eventually retire to the infield under green. Tyler Blank and Samuel Wagner had both started from row five and they were both on the march forward as the laps wound down. Much of the crowd came to their feet as Blank completed the pass of Elliott for second and Wagner soon followed him into third.

With Jack still holding more than a straightaway advantage the closing laps would see Samuel drive under Blank entering turn one with wheel-to-wheel contact disrupting both cars, again driving those in attendance crazy with some cheering and some jeering. And at the checkers it would be the Wagners, Jack and Samuel, finishing first and second, with Blank third, Elliott fourth and Benson finishing fifth.

The crowd cheered with delight as many stayed while Jack Wagner stood in victory lane and I heard a lot of people saying something to the effect of "wow, what a race" as we headed for that big grass parking lot just before 10 p.m.

I would say that the promoters of the Double X Speedway should do a symposium on how to promote a successful weekly race program, but I'm not sure just what they could say other then to build yourself up as THE place to be on race night in your community. It took years and years of good entertainment at a reasonable price and it is that tradition that continues to build the success here at Double X. I will be back again much sooner than twenty years this time!

Looking forward to this Thursday night June 19th when the UMP Summer Nationals comes to the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson for the first time ever, then it will be a Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders tripleheader on Friday at the Scotland County Speedway, Saturday at 34 Raceway and Sunday at the Quincy Raceway. Hope to you there!

Schmitt, Hilmer, Wroten, Cielslelski And a Pop Up Shower Take Hall of Fame Night Wins At Independence

Usually when rain comes before all of the features have been completed I rush to the car disappointed. But on Saturday night at the Independence Motor Speedway that was not the case as the track's Hall of Fame night festivities had already given me a very special night at the race track.

What a spectacular way of honoring those who have played a major role in the sixty year history of this facility as not only did they have a table setup for fans to meet and greet that new inductees that I will list for you soon, but there were also seats at the table for several of those who had already been enshrined. What a treat to shake hands with and to talk with drivers who have made me the fan of this sport that I am today; Curt Hansen, Ed Sanger, Karl Sanger, Jack Mitchell, Duane Van Deest, Jerry Luloff and Drew Johnson and to have the cars of Hansen, Sanger and Gary Crawford on display as the fans entered the facility was a great touch. 

Legendary announcer Jim Roper would give the introductions of the seven new members to the Hall of Fame at intermission with two of them, Curt Martin and Greg Kastli, both having feature wins in five different decades here at Indee. And both of them were in action tonight with the PRO Late Model series in town. Martin joins his father Glenn in the track's Hall of Fame as did Brian Irvine who follows in his father Ken's footsteps. Roper had great stories to tell about Rick Johnson, Lavern Tarpy and Gene Buzine as well showing just how important each have been to the Independence Motor Speedway over the years and the seventh member of the class of 2025 was the primary reason that I made the trip on this night.

Ryan Clark with Gary and Karen Crawford

It was somewhere around twenty years ago that I met Ryan Clark when he was working at Hawkeye Racing News and we soon became good friends, perhaps due to our love of recording the history of our sport and hoping to make heroes out of all of the drivers that work hard to be there each and every race night. With his dry wit, Ryan is the perfect announcing partner to Jerry Vansickel, and his knowledge of both the past and present make him one of the best there is on the microphone. That deep, smooth voice doesn't hurt either! For several years he also displayed his writing skills with his blog that we shared at Positively Racing, something that I know that many of us have missed, but when he went to work for IMCA he had to put that to rest although I hope that he someday reconsiders. Congratulations Ryan, and to all of those now in the Independence Motor Speedway's Hall of Fame, what a special honor and the large crowd that was on hand shows what all of you have meant to this race track! 

The pits were jammed with 142 cars in seven divisions as the American Iron Racing Series (AIRS) along with the PRO Late Models were special guests. Co-promoter Dana Benning told me before the races that Mike Van Genderen had checked with the Southeast Minnesota Modified Midget Association (SEMMMA) to see if they could be there as well, but found that there was no such thing. (Two people will get a chuckle out of that, so it was well worth it)

Hot laps started ten minutes prior to schedule and the sixteen heat races clicked off in fine fashion with plenty of action as the weekly classes here use the IMCA average points inverted lineup system that I believe enhances the car counts and improves the racing. The Hall of Fame festivities filled the intermission and a check of Facebook and the radar showed that the features had already been washed out at both Boone and Decorah, but there was nothing within sixty miles of Independence on the radar at 9 p.m.

The AIRS cars would be up first on the list of features and as I told Brian Gade in the pits earlier, I love this class because not only are they nostalgic, they race hard as well and that was definitely the case here in this eighteen lap event. Owen Hayes would set the pace for the first four circuits of the freshly groomed surface, but he would exit the track on the back stretch and head for the pits on lap five turning the point over to Dennis Etten. Roger Cielsielski and Leighton Potter were in hot pursuit and when Etten checked up behind two slower cars in turn two, Cielsielski would take the lead on lap eleven with Potter following him into second.

A similar circumstance would create the next lead change as Dan Jordan got sideways in front of the leaders in turn one two laps later allowing to Potter to go to the front as Jordan drove into the infield keeping the race under green. However, Potter would slip off the back stretch on the following lap and before he could recover Cielsielski was back in front. The only caution waved as the leaders were taking the white flag when Tim Quigley spun in turn two and the field would bunch back together for a green, white, checkers finish.

On that first lap back under green Terry Shaffar dove low into turn three looking for fourth, but as he drifted back up the track he would get sideways collecting six cars in all. Only six of the original seventeen starters would remain for the final two laps with Cielsielski holding off Etten to take the win. Tracy Quigley started twelfth and finished third, Potter was fourth and Bruce Yoerger filled out the top five.

The eighteen lap Sport Mod feature was slowed by four different minor incidents at the back of the field that interrupted some pretty good racing up front. Tyler Ball and Brady Hilmer crossed the stripe side-by-side on lap one with Hilmer taking control on the second time around before that first caution. Once back to action the ninth starter Tony Olson was now applying the pressure to the leader with Hilmer hitting his marks to maintain the lead.

With the final restart coming with just four laps to go Austin Kemp was running the low line to take second from Olson and while he was able to get a nose under Hilmer in the final two laps, Brady again kept his cool and held off this new challenger to take the win. Kemp and Olson were close behind at the checkers, Will Wolf finished fourth and Janae Gustin started tenth and finished fifth.

Sixteen laps of Hobby Stock action would be up next and a quick check of the radar still showed nothing close as Quinton Miller would set a quick opening pace. This was a tight three car battle for the point when on lap eight Miller got sideways in turn two and as he came down the track his left front clipped the right rear of Joren Fisher's car turning him to the right and into the third place car of Bradly Graham.

Fisher's car required a tow back to the pits while the front end damage on Miller's #73 forced him to the infield while Graham would bring the field back to green following the clean up. Leah Wroten who had started this one from seventh was there to challenge and when Graham went a bit too high in turn four, Wroten grabbed the lead with four laps to go. She would then old off Graham to her first feature win in over two seasons. Graham's runner-up finish started from tenth, Dalton Weepie came from ninth to third, Trenton Neuhaus was fourth while Garret Ball moved from fourteenth to fifth.

A strong field of twenty IMCA Stock Cars were up next for twenty laps with third starting Ty Hill holding the lead through lap three. Hometown driver Tom Schmitt was coming fast from the outside of row five and he would storm to the lead on lap four with the first caution of the event coming on lap nine when Dru Kueker stopped on the front stretch with a flat right rear. His crew would make the quick change to allow him to restart at the ear and one more lap was completed before three cars spun in turn one.

As the field was being realigned I took a peek at the radar and one small blip was now showing just to the north of our location, so when the field went back to green one more lap was scored before I felt the first big raindrop and knowing what was about to come I quickly gathered my stuff and scooted down the steps before the rest of the crowd. That little blip really cut loose with a heavy dose of rain in just a couple of minutes leaving several race fans soaked as they headed for their cars. With more than half of the race complete Schmitt was awarded the victory, well earned with the quick ascent from tenth, while Cole Mather, Tyler Ball, Tony Olson and Hannah Chesmore would complete the top five. 

Yes, I am disappointed that the rest of the show could not be completed as I was looking forward to seeing how a pair of Wisconsin visitors, Dylan Waldvogel in the Modifieds and Jay Orr in the Sport Compacts, would fare plus the PRO Late Model feature was shaping up to be a good one. The Mods and Compacts will run their makeup features on June 28th while the PRO Late Models will double up when they return on July 5th. Next up on the schedule at Indee will be the return of the World of Outlaws Late Models on Monday June 23rd.

A big thanks to Dana, Mike, John, Jeff, Bucky, Jim, Kevin and the entire crew for their warm welcome as I also enjoy seeing everybody when I make the trip north to Independence. I also want to thank Chris Calvert for his kind words, I love doing the All Iowa Points and it is always a treat when someone tells me how they follow them year to year.

Happy Father's Day to all of you, I will be leaving soon to celebrate with a return to the Double X Speedway in California, Missouri, my first time there in over twenty-five years, then on Thursday night I am looking forward to the debut of the UMP Summer Nationals at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. Following that we have a weekend tripleheader of Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders action on Friday night at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Saturday at 34 Raceway west of Burlington and Sunday at the Quincy Raceways in Quincy. I will be looking for you here on the Back Stretch!

Reutzel Rings Up Ten Grand With POWRi Win At 34

With three different 410 Winged Sprint Car series running Friday and Saturday within a four hour radius, 34 Raceway picked the Thursday night leading into the busy weekend to host the Honest Abe's Roofing POWRi 410 Sprint League for the first time ever and the pits were packed with an interesting field of forty-three drivers.

True, none of the World of Outlaws teams that will be at Knoxville the next two nights used this as one of their "open events", and only a couple of drivers who will be with the IRA at Jacksonville on Friday and at Pevely on Saturday were in attendance, but with $10,000 on the line there were plenty of free agents that joined the POWRi regulars on this Thursday evening before this series heads south to run at Callaway Raceway on Friday and at Lake Ozark on Saturday. 

Track conditions were darn near perfect for Sprint Car racing on the high banked three-eighths mile oval as evidenced by Aaron Reutzel setting the overall quick time as the forty-first driver to trip the clock. A four car invert made for some good racing action in the heats with passing points helping to set the field and the two B-Mains were each hotly contested as only the top three in each would make the thirty lap main event.

Colton Fisher and Reutzel would bring the field to green and while Fisher would lead the way down the back stretch, Reutzel would slide him exiting turn four to lead the opening lap. Jy Corbett is spending his first summer racing in the states and the Aussie soon moved to second and was able to keep pace with Reutzel until the caution waved on lap seven for Cam Martin who had spun off the top of turn two.

On the double file restart the field jumbled up on the back stretch sending Jason Martin for a spin and that would be the final stoppage of this thirty lap headliner. Once back to green Corbett could not maintain Reutzel's pace until he encountered traffic mid-race. That allowed Corbett to get back in the hunt and as Reutzel tried to drive under a lapped car that was riding the cushion, Corbett nearly pulled even with the leader in turn two.

Once he cleared the lapped car of Brandon Wimmer though, Reutzel would again build a lead as Corbett was now under pressure from Kerry Madsen. With ten laps remaining Madsen threw a slider that sent both cars up the track in turn two and when Corbett's right rear slipped over the edge momentarily that allowed Madsen to get to second while Parker Price-Miller also slipped by before Corbett could regain his momentum.

With Reutzel now more than a full straightaway ahead, the battle was for second as the eighth starting PPM drove under Madsen with five to go, but the leader was now nearly a half lap ahead as Reutzel cruised to the win. Price-Miller and Madsen completed the podium, Austin McCarl finished fourth while Corbett slipped to fifth at the checkers. Chris Martin, Emerson Axsom, Ayrton Gennetten, Kaleb Johnson and Kevin Thomas Jr. filled out the top ten while Paul Nienhiser was the hard charger driving the Midland Performance #50 from twenty-first to eleventh.

A talented field of twelve IMCA Modified drivers were on hand to provide support and race for some good money as well with a $1,000 check going to the winner. Chris Zogg would lead the opening lap before Denny Eckrich took over on lap two. The only caution of the race came on lap five of twenty when the fourth place car of Austen Becerra spun in turn four and on the restart Cayden Carter was able to clear Zogg for second and then set his sights on the leader.

Eckrich was able to hold him off until lap nine when Carter found the bite that he needed off the bottom of turn four to take the lead and he would then drive away for the win. Eckrich and Zogg were next in line with California native Trevor Fitz out dueling Spencer Diercks for fourth.

A big thanks to Brad, Jessi and the entire team at 34 for the hospitality and for the well run program that wrapped up before 10:30. I brought three of my friends who are much more familiar with a golf course over a race track and they all had a great time!

34 Raceway will be back in action this Saturday night with a $5 admission special and then on Saturday June 21st the Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders will be in action here as the middle show of a big three-race weekend with races in Memphis, Missouri, on Friday night and Quincy, Illinois, on Sunday. Hope to see you there!

No Need To Turn On The Lights; Quick Show At Vinton

Making a late decision to make the trip, and with my fourteen-year-old niece Phoebe on board for her first ever race, we headed for the Benton County Speedway in Vinton for some Sunday evening racing action. And even though the hot laps did not start at the advertised time of 4:30, once underway and on a well prepared racing surface the show ran off in quick fashion with the final checkered flag waving at 7:40 p.m. It didn't even get dark until we were halfway home on our 101 mile drive and I arrived in time to watch the Thunder even the series with the Pacers.

One of the reasons that I love the weekly shows at Vinton is because I know that they will use the IMCA average points inverted lineup procedures and on a weekend where the use of an invert has been called out once again in our sport, I will have some additional comments on that at the end of this story.

Following a brief intermission of ten minutes or less, the Sport Compacts would be up first for their twelve lap feature with front row starter Justin Tharp setting the pace for the first four laps. The top drivers in the current point standings were making their way to the front from the fourth and fifth row with eighth starting Robert Rundle leading the way and he would slip by Tharp followed closely by Cristian Grady and Jake Anderson. Having stormed to the front of his heat race from a back row start, I thought that Anderson might have something for the top two, but Rundle was flawless over the closing laps to take the victory. Grady, who is currently tied with Michael Gardner at the top of this week's All Iowa Points, was the runner-up with Anderson, Spencer Roggentien and Ryan Cheney next in line.

The Sport Mods were up next for fifteen laps and they would not be able to match the green-to-checkers form set by the Compacts. Brandon Tharp started third, but would lead the opening lap with fellow row two starter Will Wolf in hot pursuit. Wolf would take the point on lap three and the first caution of the race would fly on lap six when Beckett Flanagan went off the top side of turn three. Once back to racing Wolf and Tharp would continue to lead the way as Tony Olson and sixteen-year-old Payce Herrera from Utah waged war for the third spot. Contact between the two in turn two would send both drivers off the top of the banking and while Olson retired to the pits, Herrera was sent to the rear for the restart.

This now opened the door for cousin Kyle Olson to go to work on the pair of sevens up front and he would swipe the lead from Wolf with two laps remaining and then pull away for his first win of 2025. Wolf and Tharp would complete the podium as Rayce Mullen and Austin Kemp filled out the top five. Mullen, the young college student from northwest Illinois, gave an entertaining interview during the intermission.

Fifteen laps for the Hobby Stocks was next on the card with pole-sitter Michael Kimm setting a stuttered pace as four cautions waved in the first eight laps. The second one came on lap five when Joren Fisher spun in turn four and when Race Control determined that Connor Clubine was the culprit, he went to the back while Fisher returned to his spot in the running order prior to the caution. Fisher would then take the lead from Kimm as lap number ten was scored and he would weather two more cautions before posting the win, his first here at Vinton and third overall in 2025. Leah Wroten started seventh and finished second, Kimm settled for third, while a pair of Justins, Stander and Wacha closed out the top five.

The Stock Car field was short on numbers tonight with eight, but they still ran the scheduled twenty laps come feature time. Dakoda Sellers paced the first two circuits of the quick quarter-mile, but there would be no holding back the charges of Tony Olsen and John Oliver Jr., two of the top Stock Car drivers in the state right now. Olsen would take the lead on lap three with Oliver making a couple of runs at him until about lap ten when Olsen opened up a solid lead.

The only caution of the race came with three laps remaining when Sellers and Kyle Olsen made contact in turn two while racing for third with both drivers retiring to the pits in the aftermath. The restart gave Oliver one final chance to challenge the leader and when he could not find the grip on the bottom, Olsen again used the cushion on both ends to drive to his third straight Stock Car win here at Vinton. Oliver slipped off the top of turn four coming to the white flag slipping to fourth, but he would recover one of those positions in the final lap to finish third behind Brett Vanous. Kevin Rose would take fourth and Austin Schuring claimed fifth as the final car on the track at the checkers.

The Modifieds would close out the evening and I liked the fact that with eighteen cars they ran just two heats instead of three and with several of the top average point drivers not getting to the top five in their heats to make the ten car invert, the feature lineup left this twenty lapper wide open for the taking. Florida transplant Owen Barnhill would drive from the inside of row two to take the lead on the opening lap before the caution waved on lap two for an Ed Thomas spin in turn two.

On the restart, as Barnhill continued to lead, my eyes were on current point leader Troy Cordes who had started from fifteenth and was on the move until lap five when he and Tommy Belmer tangled while racing for sixth with both spinning. On the restart last week's feature winner here, Trevor Fitz who also missed the invert and started eleventh was now up to challenge Barnhill for the lead and the California native would get the advantage on lap nine.

Barnhill would keep it close until the caution waved with three laps remaining when the left rear axle broke sending Thomas for a spin exiting turn four and on this restart Ben Chapman, who started tenth, would take up the chase on Fitz. Chapman would make one final dive to the bottom in turns three and four coming to the checkers, but Fitz was too strong up top as he scored his second straight victory here at the birthplace of the IMCA Modified. Chapman and Barnhill were next in line with Chris Snyder and Ethan Krall closing out the top five.

So did you notice that by using the average points invert not a single one of the five feature races was lead flag-to-flag by one driver? That's why it is called "Racing" and not "Chasing" and it is just one of the reasons why the weekly racing program here in Vinton is one of the best. Give me the invert any day over a draw/redraw format and especially over the "I'm Fast, Start Me Up Front" method of qualifying and then starting straight up.

Mike Marlar has long been one of my favorite personalities in the sport, but I was disappointed to see his post "Eldora Speedway, why bother to work to get what you earn?? Had to start 4th in a heat race that I should have been on the pole of. Now we're fixing a wreck. There is plenty of competition to see a good show WITHOUT INVERTS!!! No need to penalize guys who work hard. #dobetter #inverstgottago"

My old friend Myron Pembleton would have likely responded as follows if he was promoting The Dream. "I'm paying $30,000-to-win on each of two qualifying nights and $100,000-to-win in the finale. You want it, you have to earn it in the format that you knew was in place before you made the trip. There were plenty of other races in this country this weekend where you could have set quick time, started from the pole of the first heat, win it, and then start from the pole of the feature and lead every lap to take the top prize without passing a single car all night. If you don't like performing for what my ticket buying fans came to see, then stay home! #youdobetter #it'scalledracinnotchasin"

I love watching Tyler Erb race, but my opinion of him was tarnished back in 2017 when as a young up and comer he bitched about the format at Knoxville and if you click on this link to see how things played out that week, you will see how ridiculous his argument was. It has been eight years and I still have not shaken my opinion of him, while with Marlar I want to remain a fan. Hopefully his post was made in frustration and that he truly understands why Eldora's Dirt Late Model Dream remains the richest event in Dirt Late Model racing.

If you like watching drivers set quick time and then go on to win without having to pass a car, more power to ya, but we will have to agree to disagree. And that is why I thank promoters like Rick and Corey Dripps at Vinton who give me an alternative, and one that more than impressed a first time race fan who had to spend more than three hours in the car listening to her uncle's music!

Next up for me will be the first ever visit by to POWRi 410 Sprint Cars to 34 Raceway west of Burlington this Thursday night. Hope to see you there!