Putting A Wrap On The 65th Knoxville Nationals

I have had a few people ask me why I have not yet written a story on the final two events of the 65th Knoxville Nationals, so here you go.

The rain also changed my plans for the weekend, in what turned out to be in a good way, as this was also my 45th class reunion and when Friday's show rained out just before 7 p.m., I hustled back to Mount Pleasant and was able to take part in the final hour or two of the Friday night activities. I would then miss the rescheduled Friday show, instead walking around a rain soaked golf course with good friends and my original plan of attending the Saturday evening reunion for an hour before racing back to Knoxville to catch the Championship feature was then altered with the rain as well.

It was great to spend more time with my classmates and as the party was starting to wind down, I started the drive to Knoxville just before 9 p.m. in a heavy thunderstorm. I arrived at Knoxville just before cars hit the track for hot laps and due to the rain I was able to watch the entire Saturday night program. While it was an unexpected blessing for me, I was definitely not the only one who took advantage of the rain delay.

By now you all know the story as Kyle Larson was able to finish sixth in the Richmond NASCAR race and then fly back to Knoxville to win his fourth Knoxville Nationals title. There is a reason that Bill W's story on the Knoxville Raceway website was Kyle Larson "Jets" To Fourth Knoxville Nationals Win In Six Years! as his flight from Richmond to Pella was the most newsworthy aspect of the fifty-lap main event. Larson started from the pole and immediately left the field in his wake. The first half of the 50-lap feature ran non-stop with Larson lapping cars all the way up to thirteenth, something that we will discuss in more detail later on, and on the restart for the second twenty-five, plus following each of the two cautions in the race, he would block the slider line into one and then drive away with ease.

The domination came as no surprise as we could see it on his qualifying night where he got off to a slow start in his heat race and then passed four cars in ten laps without any help from a caution, or drivers falling out in front of him. Then, in the feature, Kyle started from eighth and picked his way through the field to take the win. Nobody else even came close to this performance during the week. I have seen some claims that this Richmond to Knoxville "double" solidifies him as the best race car driver ever. Really? I guess that he had already proven that to me in the past, so no need for any additional proof, although it would been much cooler if he had won Richmond and then blown off the post race commitments to high tail it back to Knoxville. 

That would have been awesome!

The NASCAR race is scheduled on top of the Saturday night of the Nationals in 2027 as well and hopefully the one argument that can be put to rest is, "why is he even racing on a qualifying night when he can't be there on Saturday?? All he is doing is taking away a spot in the feature for somebody else!" Just goes to show that you never know what might happen and yes, he did take away a second start in the Knoxville Nationals by Trevor Canales, so maybe he will get that chance again next year.

Some other notes from the Championship feature.....

Sheldon Haudenschild made some of the most noise of the week with his exciting third-to-first charge to win Wednesday's qualifier, but do you realize that it was own mistake that played a role in getting him to his runner-up finish? Read the Notes portion of my story from Wednesday for the details and ask young Logan Julien how much different his Nationals might have been.

I was most impressed with Kasey Kahne who had to be the surprise of the week joining the championship podium in third. It is always fun to look back at the little things that take place to either make or break a driver's Knoxville Nationals effort and drawing the #1 pill for qualifying is always a big plus. Kasey then took advantage of the Lynton Jeffrey and Sammy Swindell incident on the opening lap of his heat race to move up a row where, to his credit, he raced his way up fourth. As the high point driver come feature time he lined up eighth and, unlike Larson on Thursday, he was not able to move forward, but he did hold his own to finish eight and start the championship race from row two. He would slip back to fourth late in the race, but then rallied back to finish third, an impressive showing for the driver who was an eighteen-year-old rookie when I announced here in 1998.

I became more of a fan of James McFadden with his personality shining through at Wednesday's post-race press conference. He would start from third making it a clean sweep of the top four by the first two rows.

Logan Schuchart came from twelfth to sixth in the first half of the race and then gained one more spot to complete the top five. David Gravel gained two positions in the first half, and two in the second half to finish in sixth. Buddy Kofoid and Parker Price-Miller were next in line while Brent Marks made another impressive run coming from eighteenth to finish ninth. To do that he had to stay ahead of Larson as the final car on the lead lap just as the caution waved for the mid-race break. Chase Dietz would post his best Nationals finish in tenth. Tanner Holmes caught a lot of attention coming from 24h to 11th at the break, but he would stall out right there for eleventh at the checkers.

Kudos to everybody at Knoxville for battling the weather that was a threat all week getting all four shows in before many have no choice, but to hit the road on Sunday. It is easy to second guess, but I have to think that even the team knows that they perhaps threw in the towel a little too early on Friday night as the persistent sprinkles stopped within an hour after making the call. Nobody likes a day race and the Friday "Hard Knox" format is so solid now that it deserves more of a chance even if it takes us into the wee hours of the morning to get it in. Donny Schatz would likely agree.

With another flag-to-flag run in the championship feature and the fact that just five of the top twenty qualifiers on Wednesday and Thursday were able to beat the invert and transfer from their heat races, "changing the format" is once again a big topic of discussion. Some argue that the A-Main should go back to thirty or thirty-five laps to eliminate the mid-race break, and while I am in that camp I will say that it would not have made a difference this year. Kyle Larson would have won no matter how many laps were run, but it is a good point that the mid-race break takes the leader out of traffic and gives him the opportunity to fine tune an already fast car.

I'm fine with keeping it at fifty laps, but with a couple of things to consider. First involves the drivers that get lapped in the first half of the race. Larson seemed to be on a mission to put as many cars as he could a lap down before the break and he did so with eleven drivers no longer having a legitimate chance to win, or even advance into the top ten without attrition following the break. These included such hard chargers as Rico Abreu, Tyler Courtney and Corey Day. The restart following the break is in the order of racing position so the fourteenth place car at the time, who I believe was Rico, is now starting right behind Brent Marks who had been just ahead of him on the track when the caution waved, but now Rico would have to pass Marks, and anybody else ahead of him on the restart TWICE to gain a position.

Perhaps one "format change" would be to give those drivers their lap back for the start of the second half of the race?

One other tweak to he fifty lap format could be this. Larson was obviously running a fast pace in the first half lapping cars left and right, I do not believe that he changed a tire at the break so again just acknowledging that no format change would have made a difference in the winner this year, but in order to make it more of a tire conservation race how about a new rule that if you change a tire at the break you go to the back of the line of the drivers on your lap. Talk about spicing up the action during the break as drivers and crews would be watching the front runners to see if they were going to give up track position or not before they themselves decide what to do. Add in my change with the lappers mentioned above and now you would have drivers such as Tanner Holmes and Brent Marks making a tire change since they would not be giving up track position and could now have an advantage on the drivers in front of them who did not change a tire. 

I for one am still in favor of the eight car inverts on the qualifying nights as I feel that it does offset some of the advantage that drivers have when they draw a low number for qualifying. Take Carson Macedo as an example as he comes out 37th in the qualifying order on Thursday night and is only able to muster the 32nd best qualifying lap. If you change the invert to six it takes him off the front row of his heat that he wins and then goes on to start 15th and finish seventh in the feature, to a fourth row starting spot in the heat where chances are that he doesn't transfer and he has to hope for the Friday format that gets wiped away by the rain. As it plays out Macedo lands in the B-Main on Saturday  where he finishes second to start 22nd in the finale and he is tenth at the break before popping a motor late. 

Keep the eight car inverts, take a look at that Saturday feature field and tell me who didn't belong there. The format works from the standpoint of delivering action for the fans while still allowing for the cream to rise to the top.

As always the highlight of the Nationals for us is the reunion of friends and family that we sometime only see once a year here in Knoxville. To Jack and Suzanne, thank you for feeding us not only with your great food, but also with your fantastic stories. And to the Nachbor family, Knoxville would not be the same without you from the camper, to the grill and in the stands. Keith, Sam, Jeff and Ethan we will look forward to the same time, same place in 2027 and hopefully Sean will be back as well. And finally, the friendship and hospitality of Barry, Stephanie and Aidan Johnson who allow Johnny V and I to have a great place to stay nearby the action is such a blessing. Is there a one hundred dollar bill now hidden somewhere in the house? Thank you so much!

Thanks for another round of memories with the 65th Nationals Knoxville Raceway, we will see you again soon!

Larson To The Front At Thursday's Knoxville National Qualifier

Kyle Larson gave race fans a sign of what was ahead during the fourth heat race as he got off to a slow start from the outside of row four and then steadily picked his way past some good cars  before driving by Clint Garner for the fourth and final transfer spot for Thursday night's main event at the 65th Knoxville Nationals. No other driver had been able to do that this week as only five of the top twenty qualifiers, the drivers who started their heat race from row four needing to get to the top four, got the job done. The other four would pick up two or more positions on the opening lap and then have nine more times around the historic half-mile to make their moves. So, when I was asked who would win during the night's four-wide parade lap, there was no doubt that it would be Kyle Larson. 

Just one lap would go in the books before Kaleb Johnson got sideways in turn four collecting both Carson McCarl and Matt Juhl with the contact sending Johnson for a rollover. All three cars would be done for the night.

Garet Williamson - Barry Johnson photo

Once back to green Garet Williamson and Austin McCarl would resume their battle for the lead with Williamson setting a quick pace before Austin was able to drive to the front on lap seven. Williamson came right back though to resume his lead on lap nine just before Tasker Phillips spun in turn two while racing in sixth. Larson, who had started eighth as the high point qualifier, was now up to third for the restart and he would quickly dispatch McCarl before setting his sights on Williamson who had stretched his lead out to a half straightaway.

Kyle Larson takes second from Austin McCarl - Barry Johnson Photo

That advantage would steadily fade though as Larson reeled him in and with seven laps to go Kyle would driver under Williamson in turn one to take the point. Hold on though, just as Larson made his move the caution waved and it was explained that someone had gotten out of shape, but had recovered by the time the yellow lights came on. Even the announcing trio of John Gibson, Tony Bokhoven and Blake Walker could not identify who that someone was as they reviewed instant replays, so perhaps chalk this one up as a "phantom" caution. 

It did put Williamson back in front for the restart though knowing that Larson had easily passed him on the inside, so Garet immediately went to the bottom of turn one and successfully blocked his challenger. He would continue to hold off the inevitable for two more laps before a red flag flew when Tasker Phillips took a high flying end over end ride in turns one and two. Thankfully Tasker was able to get out of the car under his own power.

On this restart Williamson again went to the bottom while Larson took to the top and once he got it wound up he would sail around Williamson for the lead with four to go. Behind them Brent Marks was making his move as the driver who had started the race in row six, and who had lined up sixth on this restart was making some moves of his own driving past McCarl, Parker Price-Miller and Buddy Kofoid to get to third as the checkers waved over Larson, Williamson and Marks. Kofoid would finish fourth with McCarl fifth and PPM in sixth. Carson Macedo made up for a poor qualifying effort early in the night by driving from fifteenth to seventh in the feature, Aaron Reutzel was unusually quiet on the night coming from thirteenth to eighth, Logan Schuchart won the B-Main and then charged from twenty-first to ninth while Spencer Bayston improved four spots to tenth.  

Brent Marks (19) around the outside of Carson Macedo (41) and Spencer Bayston (17) - Barry Johnson photo

There has been plenty of talk about Kyle Larson competing this week knowing that he has a Saturday night conflict with the NASCAR Cup race at Richmond and after the race he made it quite simple stating that this is what his car owner Paul Silva and crew member Trevor Canales do for a living and the Knoxville Nationals is a high paying race. The winner's purse tonight plus the guaranteed $15,000 for locking into the Championship race was the best that he could do given the circumstances and that was the goal coming in. "I'm happy to get Trevor his second start in the Knoxville Nationals", Kyle said post race as the Silva team had a similar scenario several years ago when his driver at that time Rico Abreu was committed to a NASCAR Truck race. Kyle then stated that he hopes the NASCAR race runs off quickly so that he can then settle in and watch the stream of the Nationals saying that he almost enjoys being a Sprint Car fan as much as does driving one. 

Hard to argue with that.

Thursday Notes.....The draw for qualifying order was again very important as the top five of Tanner Thorson, Tyler Courtney, Xavier Doney, Larson and Daryn Pittman came out 7th, 6th, 1st, 5th and 27th respectively......Parker Price-Miller slipped past pole-sitter Levi Hillier on lap nine to claim the fourth and final transfer spot in heat one......Courtney had a run off the bottom of turn four coming to the checkers, but Kaleb Johnson slammed the door on him and held on for fourth in heat number two,,,,,Brent Marks made a late pass of Carson McCarl to win the third heat, but even with his drive to the podium in the feature he will start from the outside of the front row in Saturday's B-Main.....Pittman made some early moves to go from eighth to fourth in the final heat race, but he then had to hold off a late charge from Kerry Madsen to keep the transfer.....There were two separate incidents on the first try at a start of the B-Main. Contact up front would send the right front of Cale Thomas up the outside guardrail where he was fortunate to not go flipping and as he slowed in turn one it was chaos in turn two as several cars spun and made contact with Chase Randall getting upside down. Tyler Courtney was one of those involved and after repairs in the work area he would go from his original starting spot on the front row to the rear of the field for the second try. This time Daison Pursley would flare out too early from his starting position and as the caution came out for his jumped start, Pursley would get sideways in turn one causing more carnage down on the berm......Once the race was finally underway it was a good one with most eyes on Courtney who was charging through the field trying to get to fourth before the twelve laps were completed. He would get to within two car lengths of the fourth running Skyler Gee with three laps to go, but Xavier Doney and Pursley were right there as well and as those three engaged in a torrid battle for fifth in the closing laps, Gee was able to pull away and make the show as the final starter.

The first eight rows of the Championship race is slated to lineup like this:

Kyle Larson - Sheldon Haudenschild

James McFadden - Kasey Kahne

Buddy Kofoid - Justin Henderson

Parker Price-Miller - Daryn Pittman

Chase Dietz - David Gravel

Rico Abreu - Logan Schuchart

Garet Williamson - Cole Macedo

Corey Day - Brian Brown

Rain that was forecast to build over south central Iowa around 7 p.m. did not materialize until overnight and as we look at Friday that nasty "R" word seems to be more prevalent. Hopefully the Dunkins will be given the window of opportunity that we need in order to race this evening as four more Championship race qualifiers will be determined for the 65th Knoxville Nationals.

Brent Marks - Barry Johnson photo

Sheldon By A NOS As 65th Knoxville Nationals Opens With A Thriller

There was drama before Wednesday night's feature even took the parade lap and, at the end, race fans saw one of the most thrilling finishes ever in the sixty-five years of the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's.

The initial drama came when defending Nationals champion Ryan Timms, who was scheduled to start ninth in the twenty-five lap main event, was not able to make the call when his crew was unable to get the fuel plate back on the car. As the rest of the field slowly made their way around the track for several laps, the team was finally able to get the plate back in place and as they pushed the car back to be picked up by one of the Knoxville Raceway four-wheelers to be brought around to staging, they were still trying to get as much fuel into the car as possible. In fact, one crew member remained on the car as it was being pushed to finish the fueling and when he completed the task let's just say that his dismount was less than perfect, landing face first on the paved pit area.

There is always a possibility of seeing a "first time" occurrence when you are at a race track, and this was definitely one of those, but I have to believe that after this incident there will be a new rule stating that no crew members can remain on the car as it is being pushed to staging.

It had already been announced that Timms would have to start at the rear for being late to staging, but he quickly drove up to the fifth row just as the field went into their four-wide salute to the fans. And during those laps it was noted that a magnetic flashlight was still attached to the back of the roll cage, with the light still on, so he would have to return to the work area to have it removed. At that time he was again told that he would be starting from the back and after picking up a few positions early in the race, Timms would be the first car to drop out of the event and was credited with a 24th-place finish.

Barry Johnson photo

In the meantime young Jace Park had taken the lead from the pole position and as he pulled away from the field many in the large opening night crowd had to be wondering who this was in the plain white, unsponsored car #28. Racing here weekly in 2026 from his hometown in Overland Park, Kansas, and with guidance from fellow Kansas City area veteran Brian Brown, Park is currently fifth in the point standings at Knoxville and he was on a rail tonight running the top on both ends. 

Behind him James McFadden, who started sixth, had now worked his way up to second and was starting to reel in your leader through traffic before the lone caution of the race waved when the powerplant in Emerson Axsom's #27 went up in smoke and then a single burst of flames on lap fourteen.

Following the restart Park would lead one more lap before McFadden powered by on the inside to take the point. Rather than fade away though, Park made a believer out of us by coming right back after McFadden and when James sensed him coming back on the outside, he moved up the track to block only to have Jace then go low and regain the lead with five laps remaining.

James McFadden - Barry Johnson photo

If you could pull your eyes away from this battle for a split second you would have seen that about a straightaway behind them Sheldon Haudenschild had just prevailed in his battle with Cole Macedo for third and he would now try to reel in the lead duo in just a handful of laps.

McFadden would come charging back at Park again on the bottom to take the lead under the white flag as Park again nailed the cushion in one and two to get a big run down the back straightaway and with a slower car just ahead of them they drove deep into turns three and four looking for the win. The crowd roared though as Haudenschild closed quickly and as McFadden slid up exiting turn four to close the door on Park, Sheldon came off the bottom like a rocket and in the drag race to the line it would be Haudenschild taking the thrilling victory by just six one thousandths of a second over McFadden. Park would be just a smidge over a tenth of a second back in third in what will go down as one of the best finishes in Knoxville Nationals history. 

Sheldon Haudenschild - Barry Johnson photo

Cole Macedo finished fourth, Chase Dietz had his best Knoxville outing ever in fifth, Justin Henderson finished in sixth, Sye Lynch started second and finished seventh while the quick qualifier on the night, Kasey Kahne finished where he started in eighth. Sawyer Phillips had a good outing in ninth and Jy Corbett established himself as the top Rookie of the Nationals by taking tenth. 

Wednesday Notes.......The first car out for qualifying, Kasey Kahne set quick time and the rest of the the top five Rico Abreu, Emerson Axsom, David Gravel and Corey Day were 15th, 22nd, 6th and 2nd in the order respectively......As they have been for many years now the top eight were inverted in each heat with only the top four transferring to the A with only two of the top ten accomplishing that feat.....The first was Kahne who was aided by a couple of incidents at the start of heat one. Lynton Jeffrey was lined up on the outside of row one, but when he swung out wide toward the cushion before getting to the start line, the start was waved off and Jeffrey was docked a row due to a new rule calling for the drivers to stay side-by-side instead of fanning out. On the second try at a start seventy-year-old Sammy Swindell who is making his 50th and final run here at the Nationals, made contact with Jeffrey at the exit of turn two sending both cars sideways with Sammy going for a series of nasty barrel rolls down the back stretch. Thankfully one of my all-time favorites was able to climb from the beat up car uninjured and word is that he will be back to try it again on Friday. On this third start Kahne would now start sixth and he would get to fourth early and then hold off Tanner Holmes to move on to the feature. Also on that third start, James McFadden would quickly go from third to first and then drive away for an easy victory..... The second heat saw the top four starters finish in the top four with Rico Abreu coming up one spot short in fifth.....One of the reasons that I do these notes is to make myself look back and see how if just one little thing had happened differently earlier in the night, how much it would have changed the outcome in the end. This was the case in heat race number three as Jace Park fought off both Emerson Axsom and Donny Schatz mid-race to hang on to the fourth and final transfer spot eventually landing him on the pole of the main event. Axsom would later transfer out of the B-Main and he would drive from 22nd to 13th before his engine let go in the feature.....Sheldon Haudenschild would be the only other driver beside Kahne to come from a fourth row start and transfer from his heat race, but that fourth heat started off with a caution when Sheldon bounced off the berm entering turn one and made contact with the fifth starting Logan Julien. With Julien then spinning and being dinged for the caution, Haudenschild moved to the outside of row three for the restart where he then thrilled the crowd with a big run up to second at the checkers.....The crowd on the back stretch had a thrill on the opening lap of the fifth heat race as drivers were three wide for the lead and three wide for fourth. Ryan Timms, who had started fourth, would then take the lead and drive away for a nearly a half lap victory.......The stacked B-Main turned out to be a bit of a snoozer as the top four drivers finished exactly where they started with Rico Abreu, Axsom, David Gravel and Corey Day making the transfer while several of the sport's biggest stars would be relegated to a spectator role for the remainder of the night.......During the post race press conference Haudenschild was asked what he thought about the drama at the start of the race and he summed it up by saying that if it had been him who had been struggling to get to the track that the race would have likely started without him.

Action continues on Thursday night where hopefully Mother Nature will be a race fan and, if she is, the fifty-two drivers scheduled to race will have a high bar to get over to create quite the buzz that this one did on Wednesday. Hope to see you here at Knoxville! 

Timms Wards Off Reutzel For Knoxville 360 Nationals Crown

Ryan Timms, now just two days past his twentieth birthday, joined some elite company Saturday night holding off a late charge from Aaron Reutzel to win his first Knoxville 360 Nationals championship. And, with his win in the 2025 Knoxville 410 Nationals, Ryan joins Danny Lasoski and Sammy Swindell as the only drivers to score a victory in both of Knoxville's premier events.

Ryan Timms - Barry Johnson photo

Timms would jump to the lead at the first drop of the green flag only to have the caution wave before one lap could be scored due to Daison Pursley's spin on the back stretch. During that caution the lone rookie that qualified for the finale, sixteen-year-old Austin Wood came to the work area to change a flat tire and he would rejoin the field for the second try at a start.

This one would see outside pole starter Aaron Reutzel race to the lead before the start was called back for the second row being too ragged. The third time was a charm and Timms would vault to the lead and go to the top side to ride the cushion. James McFadden would get to second for the first few circuits and by the time Reutzel clawed his way back to second, Timms would have a full straightaway advantage.

Lapped traffic is the great equalizer though and as Timms found most of them to be running in the lower lines, it would still allow Reutzel to close the gap getting to within a couple of car lengths with ten laps to go in what would be a non-stop thirty lapper. Ryan would again stretch the lead, but with just three laps to go he now had five cars racing for position in front of him, running both high and low on the half-mile.

As the leaders raced into turn one for lap twenty-nine Timms would try to squeeze under a lapper that was coming down the track and when he had to check up, the hard charging Reutzel drilled him squarely on the rear push bar. This would rejuvenate Timms' momentum while choking off Reuztel's and for a moment it looked like Tyler Courtney might be able to sail around them both on the back straightaway. 

Aaron Reutzel - Barry Johnson photo

With the white flag waving Reutzel was coming for the lead again and as the leaders exited turn four for the final time it was a drag race to the checkers with Timms taking the win by a car-length over Reutzel with Courtney right there as well to join the podium. Kyle Larson, who had started seventh, would finish in the fourth position with McFadden holding down fifth. Brian Brown would slip from third to sixth, Thursday's preliminary night winner Giovanni Scelzi would go seventh, Chase Randall finished eighth, Justin Henderson was ninth and Corey Day came from sixteenth to tenth.

Defending 360 Nationals champion Rico Abreu would win the B-Main then move from twenty-first to twelfth as the Hard Charge of the event.

Barry Johnson photo

The predominately high side ride by Ryan Timms was reminiscent of his dominating victory during the 2025 Knoxville Nationals where he did not face a late challenge as he did here tonight. With the momentum of these two Nationals victories, and the fact that he has been a weekly competitor here at Knoxville over the past two seasons, the young driver from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has to be tagged as the favorite when the granddaddy of them all gets underway here next Wednesday.

Danny Lasoski won the 360 Nationals in 1995 and the 410 Nationals in 1998, 2001, 2003 and 2004.

Sammy Swindell won the 410 Nationals in 1983 and the 360 Nationals in 2016 at the age of 60.

It was just five years ago when we were watching this young phenom, Ryan Timms, compete at Knoxville for the first time after he was winning at other tracks who did not have as strict of age limits. Perhaps another young driver to keep your eye on in the years to come is Braxton Flatt from Monmouth, Illinois. The thirteen-year-old scored his first full-sized winged sprint car victory tonight in the weekly 305 class at 34 Raceway west of Burlington.

The Capitani Classic will unleash the 410's here at Knoxville on Sunday night while I look forward to the opportunity to be on the mic at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton. Thanks for checking in on the Back Stretch!

Courtney Consumes Bacon For Friday Feature Win at 360 Nationals

Yes, I just did that and I came darn close to being able to use the word "Sizzles" in the headline for the second night in a row! Brady Bacon looked unstoppable through the first eight laps of Friday night's main even at the Knoxville Raceway until he caught the back of the field. Struggling to get around Tyler Lee who was also running the leader's preferred line around the bottom of the historic half-mile, fellow front row starter Tyler Courtney closed fast and after they both disposed of Lee, Courtney made the pass on lap eleven of the twenty lap event.

Tyler Courtney closes in on Brady Bacon - Barry Johnson photo

He too would then open up a seemingly insurmountable advantage only to have lapped traffic give him fits allowing Bacon to come roaring back and as they split the slower car of Evan Semerad, Bacon almost beat Courtney to the bottom in turn one. Once "Sunshine" closed the door though, this one was over as Courtney would score the win over the "Macho Man" in the non-stop event. Ryan Timms was the star of the night from a points standpoint as his third place run, up from the seventh starting spot, will put the young star on the pole for Saturday night's finale. Anthony Macri finished where he started in fourth and Brian Brown closed out the top five.

Tasker Phillips was the Hard Charger coming from eighteenth to finish sixth, young Austin Wood slipped from third to seventh, five-time 360 Nationals champion Terry McCarl is still getting it done in eighth, J.J. Hickle was ninth while Levi Hillier was tenth. The night's quick qualifier Sam Hafertepe Jr. slipped from eighth to eleventh while the defending 360 Nationals champion and crowd favorite Rico Abreu won the B-Main and then finished thirteenth.

Tyler Courtney - Barry Johnson photo

Barry Johnson photo

Friday Notes......Tonight's top five qualifiers Hafertepe, Timms, Brown, Kerry Madsen and Josh Schneiderman came out 2nd, 30th, 5th, 12th and 1st respectively. Madsen would come out of the B-Main while Schneiderman was one spot shy of a transfer out of the B......Courtney gave a preview of things to come going from fourth to first in the first set of turns in the first heat, a race that he would then win going away.......Timms would be the only driver on either night to start sixth and take a heat race win taking the lead on lap five of eight in heat two.....The third heat race was stacked with the defending 360 track champion Phillips, Whit Gastineau, Parker Price-Miller, Bacon, Abreu and Brown starting in the first three rows with only four to advance. PPM would join Abreu in the B-Main where he passed Schneiderman late and then raced from 24th to 12th in the feature.....A three car battle for the final transfer position in heat four was a good one where Sean McClelland tried to hold off Anthony Macri and Kerry Madsen through some tight quarters racing. Macri would prevail leading to his top five run in the main event......The first two starts of the fifth heat were very ragged and called back, but once underway there would be no catching sixteen-year-old Evan Semerad who would score the win......With a threat of weather possibly popping up in the area, track officials kept things moving with the final checkers waving at 9:44 p.m.......Ryan Timms and Aaron Reutzel will bring the field to green from row one in Saturday's finale. Other notable A-Main qualifiers include sixteen-year-old Austin Wood as the Californian comes back to his Iowa roots, along with sixty-one-year-old National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member Terry McCarl. A tip of the hat as well to hometown hero Ryan Leavitt and ASCS regular Kyler Johnson who made it in as the twentieth driver on the points list.....That leaves defending champion Rico Abreu in the B-Main where you can bet he will look to put on a show as it will be Knoxville Night In America on Saturday! 

Ryan Timms - Barry Johnson photo

Scelzi Sizzles; Reutzel Tops Points List After 360 Nationals Opener

During hot laps for Thursday night's opener of the Knoxville 360 Nationals Gio Scelzi's Chili's sponsored car #77 sounded terrible and was obviously not up to speed posting the 45th best lap of the 53 entries. With a 360 cubic inch engine on loan from the team of Pacific Northwest stalwart Trey Starks and no viable option to change to, the team went to work and diagnosed a spark plug issue that was taken care of in time for qualifying. As the 26th car out to time, Scelzi posted the 13th best lap and the team went back to work on fine tuning the borrowed powerplant.

By the third heat race the engine was humming right along as Gio started fourth and finished second to Tanner Holmes to qualify for the night's A-Main and, as luck would have it, his point total to that point would land him on the pole position in the standard eight car invert for those who were able to transfer from the five heat races.

Scelzi would outrun fellow front row starter Ryan Leavitt into turn one to take the point and he would open a sizeable advantage until he started to encounter traffic on lap eight. Kyle Larson had moved from fourth to second at that point and as the leader struggled to get past Kaleb Johnson, Larson quickly closed in on Scelzi. Finally after a couple of laps Gio cleared Johnson, and the car in front of him, as Larson now faced the same struggle only to have the lone caution of the race wave on lap twelve when the left rear tire exploded on the #8 of John Carney II.

Gio Scelzi - Chuck Stowe Images

With an open race track and just eight laps remaining the restart would likely tell the story here, but as both Scelzi and Larson drove to the bottom through turns one and two, Chase Randall went to the middle and drove around the outside of Larson to take second. Kyle would battle back to regain the spot with five to go, but while they tussled Scelzi had hustled out to a full straightaway advantage. 

As those final laps clicked away, quick qualifier on the night Aaron Reutzel had worked his way past Randall for third and was now closing fast on Larson and as they came off of turn four to take the checkers Reutzel would edge out Larson to finish as the runner-up to Gio Scelzi. Once viewed as a bit of a villain here at Knoxville, I was amazed to hear the crowd actually cheering the final lap pass over the driver that was once everybody's hero. Randall would finish in fourth followed by James McFadden in fifth. Corey Day started tenth and finished sixth, Justin Peck advanced from twelfth to seventh, Justin Henderson was eighth, Brock Zearfoss ninth and Ryan Leavitt was the best of the locals finishing out the top ten.

Chuck Stowe Images

Thursday Notes.....A favorable draw for qualifying order is a big step toward success in both the 360 and 410 Nationals, but on this night it wasn't as critical as the top five qualifiers Aaron Reutzel, Justin Henderson, James McFadden, Riley Goodno and Daison Pursley went out 17th, 24th, 52nd, 22nd and 6th respectively. Although if you asked him, I'm sure that Ryan Leavitt would say that being the third car out was a nice start to his evening.....Kyle Larson was the 37th car to trip the clock in qualifying and he posted a solid sixth quick time that landed him on the inside of row three for the first heat with the six car invert. The top four would transfer out of each heat and at the drop of the green Larson had to check up twice behind Texan Christopher Townsend and he would drop to eighth on the opening lap. This would normally be a bad sign, especially in an early heat race, but the track was already wide and Larson would race his way back to fourth by the checkers......As the sixth starter in heat three, McFadden picked up the fourth spot as lap one was scored slamming the door on Jace Park as they raced down the front stretch.....The fourth heat had a great battle for the final transfer position as Brock Zearfoss and Riley Goodno swapped the position mid-race and in the final laps they closed on the third place car of Kade Morton. In the end it would be Goodno who would have to make a transfer from the -B-Main....A very slow pace coming to the start of heat five allowed Daison Pursley to jump from sixth to fourth on the opening lap and he then had to hold off a charge from Sawyer Phillips mid-race....The only flip of the night would come at the start of the B-Main where Skylar Prochaska swung wide from his eleventh row starting spot and passed several cars down the front stretch. But entering turn one he would run up over the back of Ben Brown sending Prochaska's car hard into the outside guardrail where it then collected young Jack Thomas. Thankfully both drivers walked away without injury......The top ten in points after night one are Reutzel, McFadden, Henderson, Larson, Scelzi, Randall, Pursley, Goodno, Day and Leavitt with the other half of the field set to go tonight. 

Aaron Reutzel - Chuck Stowe Images

Abreu and Brown Triumph During Weiler's Tribute To The Lasoski Family At Knoxville

Saturday was a special night at the Knoxville Raceway and not just because it would be the final tune up for both the 360 and 410 Nationals. Spearheaded by one of Knoxville's favorites Brian Brown, this night would be a tribute to his uncle Danny Lasoski and his grandfather George Lasoski who at ninety years of age proclaimed this as being one of his proudest moments at the legendary facility where his family has played such a significant role in building that legend.

With the help from several great sponsors including the headliner Weiler that now employs over 900 people in this community of 7,500 along with the presenting sponsor the Iowa Lottery that has embraced short track racing here in 2026, some big money was on the line and that would bring a whopping field of 45 410's and 57 360's on what turned out to be a beautiful evening here in central Iowa.

Just making the show would be an accomplishment on this night, especially in the 360's as several of the 410 stars also unloaded their lesser powered wagons to get dialed in for the 360 Nationals that takes place this Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Young Cam Martin would lineup on the pole for the twenty lap headliner with Brian Brown, replacing his usual #21 with the Lasoski family #33, on both of his rides tonight starting to his outside.

Chuck Stowe Photo

Contact mid-pack in turns one and two would cause Joe Beaver to slow before one lap was scored so it would be the second try at a start that would see Martin sprint to the early advantage over Brown. That lead duo would put some space on the rest of the field until lap eight when the right rear tire on Corey Day's #14 would blow out and that would bunch the field back together. Three laps following the restart Brown would get a run on Martin down the back stretch and drive under him for the lead on lap eleven only to have Cam put a slider on the veteran in turn two to reclaim the point on the next lap. 

Once Brown regained his momentum he would again use that high to low line in turns one and two to drive past Martin with four laps to go just before the caution waved again for a flat tire, this time for point leader Kade Higday who was racing in fourth at the time. And just to show why we love this sport so much, the crew from one of his closest contenders in the point race, Tasker Phillips, was right there in the work area ready to help get the tire changed and allow Higday to get back to the track before the green flag waved for the final time in this one.

Two more young stars would now take up the chase on Brown, but neither Chase Randall or Ryan Timms could mount a challenge on Brian Brown who posted his first win at Knoxville since July of 2025. Randall finished second in what should be a confidence booster during a challenging season for him in the High Limit series while Timms came from fourteenth to finish third. Cam Martin would hold on to the fourth spot while James McFadden cruised from fifteenth to fifth. 

Uncle Danny Lasoski and Grandpa George Lasoski join Brian Brown in victory lane - Chuck Stowe photo

Brown was asked in victory lane if he would keep the #33 on the car for the Nationals and he said that if he would do that if he could get a win in the 410's as well where he would start from the pole for twenty-five laps. This one would go non-stop and in the early laps Brian would have to ward off the challenges of Chris Martin to maintain the lead and by lap fifteen "Black Jack" looked like he would be cashing in his #21 this week for the 33 until Rico Abreu picked up his pace.

The defending 360 Nationals champion, Abreu had started seventh and he was now visibly faster than everybody else regardless of what line he was running through the turns. By the time he got to second Rico was still more than a half straightaway behind Brown with just six laps to go, but he quickly erased that and drove between a lapper and Brown exiting turn four to take the lead on lap twenty.

There would be no catching him after that as Abreu put the exclamation mark on a great evening at the track to score the win with Brown taking the runner-up spot. The battle for position behind them stayed hot right to the checkers with Austin McCarl taking third over Kerry Madsen while Aaron Reutzel passed Martin on the final lap to finish fifth after starting eleventh. 

Chuck Stowe photo

Knoxville Knotes.......Reutzel was entered in both divisions, but after posting a stout qualifying lap in the 360's he was announced as being too light at the scales disallowing his time and placing him at the back of a heat race. He would instead park that car for the night and after a heat race win in his 410 he stated that he did not know that the 360's would run three qualifying laps and that left him two pounds light at the scale.....There were some "lineup" items of note on this evening with the first coming during the third heat of the 360's when announcer Blake Walker pointed out that all nine drivers were from the state of Iowa. Now that might not seem very noteworthy for a track located in the central part of Iowa, but when you consider that only 24 of the 57 entries were Iowans, that would have some Iowa Lottery odds associated with it to get nine of them in the same heat race......With drivers qualifying within thousandths of seconds of each other, then having to finish in a transfer position through the heat races with the feature lineup then determined by an invert draw, what were the odds that Brian Brown would land on the front row of both features on this night? Then add in the fact that the Martin brothers, Cameron in the 360's and Chris in the 410's would join him would be another longshot. And, finally, consider this. The crew chief on Chris Martin's #44? Non other than Danny "The Dude" Lasoski...... Put Rico Abreu on The Dude's shoulders and they still weren't as tall as the eight foot trophy that was waiting for the winner of the 410's. 

I'm pumped up now and ready to roll for two weeks of Sprint Car racing at Knoxville with the 360 Nationals getting underway this Thursday night. Check in for coverage right here on the Back Stretch!

Thanks to Chuck Stowe for giving us permission to use his fine photography with this entry!

Simpson, Larson, Hefty and Crist Display Blue Ribbon Performances at Dubuque County Fair

I love it when a county fair charges one admission price at the gate and then allows you to take in the night's grandstand entertainment as you choose. And, when that entertainment for the evening is Dirt Track Racing it is an opportunity for the sport that we love to be exposed to people who otherwise would never even give it a chance. This has been the format used by the annual Dubuque County Fair for many years now and as we settled into our seats just prior to hot laps on Wednesday night I watched two young ladies in front of me marvel at how the cars were sliding through the turns in hot laps. They stuck around through the opening ceremonies and then a couple of heat races before moving on to other activities that the fair had to offer and they were soon replaced by three teenagers who actually set their phones aside and watched while the green flag was out.

That trio disappeared after intermission and once the features started a larger group of teens converged in front of us and the one with a racing t-shirt on was explaining to the others what was happening and who to keep an eye on. I'm not sure how successful he was as the group soon formed a circle and was having a lively conversation about topics other than the racing going on in front of them, but even if they eventually look upon the race track as a place to gather with friends on a Sunday night here, that would be a plus. My point is that if just one of those random "visitors" to the races on this night at the fair makes a point to return to the track in the future, then that is a win for our sport and just one of the many reasons why I enjoy coming to the races at the Dubuque County Fair.

The Karl Chevrolet Premier Late Model Series would be the headliner's on this night with a $3,000 top prize up for grabs while the Modifieds drew in some out of towners with a $2,000 to win incentive and the Hobby Stocks raced for a hefty $1,000 winner's check, and yes, the pun is intended.

The Crown Vics though would be the first feature to the track and Will Schmidt would lead the opening lap in his noticeably numbered 80085 before yielding to the third starting Ross Crist. Derrick Dean who started fifth would soon move in to challenge with the lead duo pulling away from the rest of the field, and while Dean was able to slip a nose under the leader on a couple of occasions Crist would hold on to earn his ninth victory of the season and deny Dean his twelfth triumph. Rob Culbertson started tenth and finished third, Ethan Kammerude who scored a convincing heat race victory earlier in the night moved from sixth to fourth while Jacob Welter filled out the top five after starting from eighth.

The Crown Vic feature would go green to checkers, twelve laps without incident. Unfortunately we did not see anything close to that clean performance in the remaining three features.

It was not that long ago when Dubuque would struggle to hit double digits in the car count for the IMCA Hobby Stock class, but this division has really grown recently and twenty-two drivers, mostly track regulars with a few nearby visitors made up tonight's twenty-two car field for fifteen laps. One lap would be scored before a stack up ahead of him in turn one would force Jared Miles to spin to avoid contact and he would be sent to the rear of the field, a true victim of circumstance.

Once back to racing Kyler Hefty would lead the way just ahead of a torrid battle for second behind him that would lead to the second caution of the race on lap five. Matt Bennett was running second and appeared to get high exiting turn four. This would force Carson Butt to make a quick move the left taking him across the nose of Dalton Weepie's #3 and sending Butt for a spin down the front stretch. As Butt was sent to the back of the field for the restart, Bennett would join him there as well after a visit to the pit area and we would go back to racing.

Blaise Watters who had drawn the #11 after an impressive heat race win would now be Hefty's primary challenger, but only three more laps would be scored before Reegan Merkes would go for a spin in turn one and this time Jared Miles could not avoid contact ending his evening with a damaged radiator. 

One more lap would go in the books before Brandon White's spin in turn two and on this restart Watters would go to work on the leader pulling alongside Hefty and actually nosing him out for the lead on what would have been lap twelve if not for a two car pileup behind them in turn three between Kyle Jared and Mark Neis.

Going back to the last completed lap Hefty would bring the field back to green with Carson Butt now back in the mix moving to the third spot and looking to make it a three car battle for the lead only to have his right rear tire go flat coming to the white flag. That sixth and final caution would give us a one lap shootout where Kyler Hefty was able to hold off Watters to take the win. Lukas Short started from eighth and finished third, division rookie Jaice Tuttle came from seventh to fourth and Matt Bennett battled his was back to the front for a top five finish. A tip of the hat as well to Leah Wroten who struggled with mechanical issues earlier in the evening to start from twenty-first and raced her way up to sixth.

The IMCA Modifieds would fare a bit better with only three cautions over twenty laps, and none of them that added to the storyline other than the restart on lap two when early leader Charlie Mohr stumbled on the cushion entering turn one allowing former National Champion Jeff Larson to go flying by and take a lead that he would not give up the rest of the way. The battle to watch in the closing laps was for second as Matt Gansen fought off the charge of Jed Freiburger, who had started eleventh, to take the runner-up position while Mohr and Austin Stamm completed the top five.

I want to take a moment here to recognize Jed Freiburger, who I hope is very well known around his home tracks, but perhaps is a bit of an unknown outside of northeast Iowa and southwest Wisconsin. Freiburger has been in the top ten of the All Iowa Points each of the past four seasons, finishing as high as third in 2024 and he looks to make that five straight as he currently ranks fourth in the 2026 standings. Back in early June he had a victory well in hand at the IMCA Summer Nationals in Independence before a late caution left him vulnerable to a couple of drivers who had been searching for a better line than the leader and on this night he drew the back of the field in a stout nine car heat race where he dug his way up to the fourth and final redraw spot where he then drew the eleven for the feature. Fair warning, if the #6 from Dubuque finds his way to your track, he will be one to watch!

Twenty-four of the twenty-six Premier Late Models would close out the evening for thirty laps with Jerry King and Nick Marolf bringing the field to green. The initial start was waved off as Marolf was shuffled back to fifth before the flag stand and on the second try he would fare much better racing to the early lead. The first of seven, yes seven cautions would wave on lap two for a driver at the back of the field drilling an infield tractor tire and on this restart Chad Simpson would ride the tall cushion in turns one and two to perfection to charge from fifth to second with his sights now set on Marolf and the lead.

That same high line momentum would propel Chad to the front on lap four and the caution would wave again for debris on lap five. The longest green flag sequence of the event would see Simpson starting to have to deal with a lapper in his preferred line but before Marolf and others could use that to their advantage another caution waved on lap thirteen for driver who had spun in turn two. I will continue to protect the innocent here, except for the lap twenty caution that unfortunately saw an end to Nick Marolf's second place run as he slowed on the high side and then pulled to the infield during the caution.

Two spins by drivers and two more debris cautions would slow the action over the final half of the race and to exacerbate the issue there seemed to be several extra laps under caution where perhaps the series officials were either verifying the realignment or giving drivers extra time in the pits to return, but who didn't, and finally after thirty laps in thirty-eight minutes the checkers waved over Chad Simpson for the $3,000 victory. The eventual battle for second was a spicy one if you happened to be watching them earlier as C.J. Horn and Jeff Tharp had actually nearly wrecked each other while racing for third.

Tharp was on the charge after starting thirteenth and he was driving for the bottom entering turn three when Horn went for that same piece of real estate. Neither driver gave an inch and the right side of Tharp's car actually climbed up the left side of Horn's and they stayed that way for several yards before disconnecting and getting back on the throttle. Under one of those extended cautions there was likely plenty of sign language going on between the two of them and it even looked like there was some slight contact as they weaved to keep the tires cleaned off. Or, who knows, perhaps they were just letting each other know that the damage to both cars was surprisingly minimal given the circumstances!

Tharp would get to second late and on the final restart he was able to pull even with Simpson in turn two only to have Chad pull away in the closing laps. Still it was an impressive run for Tharp in second as Horn settled for third. Early contender Matt Ryan held down the fourth spot while J.D Auringer rallied from fourteenth to fifth.

Even with the multiple cautions, an on-time start of hot laps at 6:30 and a well run program overall still had us on the road at 9:55 and the Dubuque County Fair mid-week show will remain on my "to do" list for years to come!

Next up for me will be both the 360 and 410 Nationals at Knoxville with an opportunity to announce a night at Vinton, plus the long awaited return of the Winged Sprint Cars to Marshalltown in between the two mega events. I will be looking for you out there on the Back Stretch!

Horn's First Win of 2026 And Tharp's First Stock Car Victory Highlight a Fun Night in Vinton

A last minute change of plans found me making the 101-mile trip north to the Benton County Speedway in Vinton on Sunday night for some IMCA weekly racing action spiced up by an appearance by the Karl Chevrolet Premier Late Model tour. I always have, and will continue to shout from the rooftops how much I love IMCA's lineup procedure for weekly racing with inverts by average points as it almost always guarantees plenty of lead changes throughout the night and with a well prepared racing surface on this hot and sunny evening, that was definitely the case. Well, except for one division.....

After winning the season opener here in April, Adam Gates has experienced some tough luck at Benton County finishing 20th twice, 16th and fourth since then so his average points landed him on the front row of the twelve lap Sport Compact feature on this night and after a convincing win of his heat race, Gates seemed poised to run away with this one. However! The racing behind his flag-to-flag run to victory would provide plenty of entertainment as drivers charged through the field.

Lukas Rick was most notable after starting scratch in the fifteen car field after exiting his heat race prematurely due to mechanical issues. Rick quickly moved to the top four bringing the tenth starting Cristian Grady with him and on lap eight disaster would strike the then third place car of Aaron Kirkpatrick.

Contact with another car would peel his rear bumper cover off of his car in turn one just before he drove off the top of turn two and spun. Without the spin, the caution would have been for the debris, but now Kirkpatrick would have to start on the tail and on the restart he would get shuffled off the back stretch and end up on his top outside of turn three.

Once back to green Gates would ease ahead while Rick, Grady, Mike Peyton and Robert Rundle slugged it out behind him and at the checkers it was Gates with the win with Grady prevailing as the runner up. Rick held down third with Rundle and Peyton completing the top five.

The twenty lap feature for the IMCA Modifieds would be up next with Dirk Hamilton setting the pace before the caution waved for debris on lap three. On the restart Troy Cordes would apply the pressure after starting fifth and on lap five Troy would charge to the front. As the leaders raced into turn three possible contact would send Hamilton for a spin, but the track official who had the better vantage point ruled that the caution would be on the former leader and rather than restarting at the rear, Hamilton would then drive to the pit area before the restart.

The tenth starting Jeff Aikey would now try to keep pace with Cordes in second only to see the leader build more than a straightaway advantage. However, when Dennis Betzer slowed with a flat tire as Cordes was taking the white flag that lead would be erased with the caution and a green/white/checkers finish. There would be no stopping Cordes though who again pulled away to score his second win of 2026 and his first of the year here at Vinton. Aikey would be the runner up with Jerry Dedrick and Jesse Belez next in line while Illinois visitor Andrew Hamburg edged out Ethan Krall by inches to complete the top five.

Fifteen laps for the Northern Sport Mods would be up next with young Gage Hilgenberg holding the lead on lap one before Tony Olson came from fifth to the lead on lap two. The caution would fly soon after that change as Harrison Horn came to a halt in turn three and after a three car scuffle on the back stretch following the restart this one would go green the rest of the way.

Ben Chapman started seventh in this one and he was gradually making his way to the front until the final five laps when he emerged in second. His younger brother Blake won a last lap thriller in his AIRS car at Tipton on Thursday night, but Ben did not want to be as dramatic taking the lead from Olson with two laps remaining to post the second win of the week for Dan and Gretchen Chapman's boys. The cousins Olson, Tony and Kyle would join him on the podium with Brett Thomas coming from ninth to fourth. Will Wolf who was sent to the pits for rough driving earlier in the night started sixteenth and finished fifth.

The twenty-five lap headliner for the Premier Late Models would be up next and I was concerned that the sun baked surface might quickly rubber down. That was not the case though as drivers ran the bottom, the top and even used the middle line around the quarter-mile throughout this one , and the final two features as well.

Pole-sitter Luke Pestka would lead the first two laps before current series point leader Matt Ryan charged by on lap three. Just after that the caution would wave for Sean Johnson and Jerry King who were sideways in turn two and following the restart it would be the seventh starting C.J. Horn taking up the chase. With Ryan running the high line on both ends and Horn grabbing the bottom, this would be a good one until C.J. was able to establish himself as the leader on lap eleven.

He would then start to pull away a bit, but with the back of the pack all working that same inside line, Ryan was about to pounce before a caution for Andrew Hamburg's spin in turn three took the lapped traffic out of play with eleven laps to go. One more caution would wave with six laps remaining to bunch the field, but Horn was in control and looked again like he did in 2025 when he was an eight time winner to score his first victory here in 2026. J.D. Auringer would drop Ryan to third at the checkers with Logan Duffy and Andy Nezworski rounding out the top five.

A surprise entry in the Late Models on this night was Wapello, Iowa, native Dan Breuer. Known as "The Professor" around his North Carolina tracks, Breuer is the son of Bill Breuer who was a top competitor in the 1970's and 80's while Danny, as we knew him back in the day, was no stranger to victory lane as well before he moved to the southeast to get closer to NASCAR. I wish that I would have made it here earlier in the evening to visit with him in the pits and to see what had brought him back to Iowa. His sharp looking #7 would finish in the tenth position here at Vinton.

Three of the top seven drivers in the current National Rookie-of-the-Year standings for the IMCA Hobby Stocks were in action here tonight and I will get to that storyline in a moment after I give you the summary of one of the closest finishes that you will ever see. 

Jake Kaiser would set the pace before the caution waved on lap two for one of those RoY contenders as Jaice Tuttle spun in turn two. On the restart the 2023 National Hobby Stock Rookie-of-the-Year, Tucker Richardson would take the lead from Kaiser on lap three and a few laps later the current track point leader Justin Stander slowed at the entry of turn three and was then turned by Brandon Beyer who had no place to go. Another caution would wave on lap eight and on this restart the sixth starting Dalton Weepie would put the heat on the leader.

With three laps to go Weepie would throw a slider in turns three and four causing Richardson to check up to avoid contact and he would become the new leader at the stripe. One more late caution for Tasker Timmerman's spin in turn two would create a green/white/checkers finish and after trying the high line on the first lap, Richardson drove to the bottom of Weepie in turns three and four coming to the checkers.

Yes, there was a bit of rubbing, but it was a "Hobby Stock style clean" challenge and the two cars would race under the checkers in a visual dead heat. However, in this day and age we now have transponder scoring and by a scant 0.008 seconds it would be Weepie celebrating in victory lane where he acknowledged the slider and appreciated how Richardson had raced him to the checkers. Awesome!

Joren Fisher finished in third and fourth went to row five starter Leah Wroten. Now back to that current RoY battle, Timmerman who is currently third in the standings looked to be the best of the trio on this night when he was racing in sixth before his late spin. The fourteen-year-old from Wapello that I have watched grow up in the stands at 34 Raceway over those fourteen years would have to settle for twelfth at the checkers. Bentley Long who is currently seventh on the RoY list had a top ten run going before a flat tire tagged him a with a DNF while Tuttle, who now sits in fourth of the RoY standings battled his way back up to fifth after restarting from the rear of the twenty-car field after his lap two spin.

The IMCA Stock Cars would close out the evening and they would get off to a tough start when the top two in track points, Kyle Olson and John Oliver Jr., tangled in turn one on the second lap. Both drivers were sent to the rear of the twelve car field and on the restart pole-sitter Scooter Dulin would go for a tumble of the top side of turn three. 

Thankfully the veteran driver escaped injury and once back to green it would be Brandon Tharp's night as the second row starter would dominate this one to earn his first career win in the Stock Car division right here at his hometown track. David McCalla posted his best finish of the year as well in second, Cole Suckow came from tenth to finish third, John Oliver Jr. recovered to take fourth as Tony Olson finished in fifth.

The sunset was till in full splendor as I started my drive home thrilled with the action that I witnessed here this evening! I look forward to returning on Sunday August 9th for what was to be my third turn on the microphone at BCS this season, only to have rain wipe out my first two bookings. Thanks to Rick, Kim, Corey, the entire Dripps family and their crew for another great night at the track.

Up next for me is a five night journey featuring the USMTS Modifieds on Wednesday (Park Jeff), Friday (Princeton), Saturday (Ogilivie) and Sunday (Sauk Rapids) surrounding Thursday night's return to the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa for the Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders. Look for us out there on the Back Stretch!

Chris Simpson Dominates For UMP Summer Nationals Win At His Home Track

Yes, it has been six years since Chris Simpson had raced at the West Liberty Raceway, according to his recollection, but this is the track that he grew up at. The track where he started his racing career with he and his brother Chad adopting the car numbers of their West Liberty heroes; #25 for Chad in honor of Dave Birkhofer and #32 for Chris to follow in the footsteps of Mel Morris. And from the moment that the #32 roared into turn one during the first set of hot laps this evening, you could tell that it stood above the rest of the twenty-seven car field assembled for the night's UMP Summer Nationals stop.

Chris would back that up by setting a new rack record in qualifying with a lap of 18.165* and he would then walk away with the opening heat race to put him in the draw for the first three positions of the thirty lap main event. And in that draw he would pull the pole position, much to the delight of the near capacity crowd on a beautiful Tuesday evening.

Fellow heat race winners Dallon Murty and his brother Chad Simpson would keep pace through the first couple of laps before Chris pulled away to just more than a straightaway lead by the mid-race mark even after a lap eight restart, but the race would start to change from there. Curt Schroeder had been added as a provisional and was running at the back of the field and after looking to his outside in turn three, Simpson tucked back in behind Schroeder down the front stretch. This would happen almost the same way for the following three laps and now it was obvious that Schroeder had picked up speed and was now even passing some cars as Simpson continued to trail him.

However, that duo was not faster than Murty and Chad Simpson who were now closing quickly as they themselves exchanged the second spot a couple of times and just as Murty was within a car length and ready to challenge for the lead, the caution would wave on lap twenty for a slowing Mark Voigt. Chad would beat Dallon to turns one and two on the restart and as they picked up their battle for second, Chris again put some distance on them until Murty established himself as the primary chaser on lap twenty-three. With the laps clicking away, Murty would get back to within striking distance until one slight bobble in turn two on lap twenty-eight set him back and it was game over as Chris Simpson recorded the flag-to-flag victory.

Murty was the runner-up in his Hell Tour debut with Chad Simpson in third, Cade Dillard's fourth place finish has the Louisiana driver just three points out of first in the Week Two point standings for the Tour while Dylan Thornton closed out the top five. Billy Moyer, who was the runner-up to Rick Aukland the last time that the Summer Nationals ran at West Liberty in 1995, finished sixth on this night, Jason Feger advanced from eleventh to seventh, Derrick Stewart from nearby Ainsworth had a solid night in eighth, Frank Heckenast Jr. gained five positions to finish in ninth while overall Hell Tour point leader Tanner English used a provisional to start twenty-first and finish in tenth.

Typically the Hell Tour leadership insists on being the first feature on the card at each venue, but on this night two of the five support classes would contest their main events first and while the solid field of twenty Stock Cars put on a great show up front while under green flag conditions, six cautions and a red flag definitely made for a later show than what the Late Model fans had hoped for.

The red flag came on lap six of eighteen when Rusty Zook was on the outside of a three-wide battle down the front stretch and contact got him crossed up entering turn one. He then took a hard hit from Casey Shelliam sending Zook's car up and over a couple of times ending up on his roof. Thankfully both drivers escaped injury in the incident. The six cautions were all for drivers who were running in the back half of the field at laps three (twice), five, eleven (twice) and fifteen all interrupting an amazing battle for the lead between Greg Gill, Norman Bean, David Brandies, John Oliver Jr. and Nathan Wood.

Gill would lead the first six laps before Oliver took the point on lap seven. Brandies, who was making hay by slamming the cushion in turn one and then
aiming for the bottom to exit turn two would take the lead on lap eight and when Wood would mimic that line in turns one and two late in the race, it would give him the run that he needed to drive around the outside of Brandies in turns three and four with two laps remaining to take the lead and then the win in a thriller. Brandies, Oliver, Gill and Bean would complete the top five in that order.

The ten car, fifteen lap Sport Mod feature would also precede the Late Models and a big section of the crowd cheered as Bryson Eckrich established the early pace. Shaun Slaughter would drive by him on lap four, but two laps later when Slaughter went above the cushion in one and two, Eckrich was able to regain the lead on lap seven. On the following lap as Slaughter tried to again go around the outside of Eckrich on the front stretch, contact between the two front runners would send Slaughter into the wall at the entrance of turn one ending his evening.

On the restart Colton Livezy would go to work on the young leader taking the point on lap ten and then driving away to his fourth win of the season. Eckrich would do his cheering section proud by running second followed by Trey Rock, Justin Schroeder and Nick Aupperle.

We kept tabs on the IMCA Modified feature on the way home as front row starters Spencer Diercks and Kurt Kile ran one-two with second row starters Jace Eckrich and Matt Fulton Jr. next in line. Chris Zogg would complete the top five. The Vintage Late Models and the Midwest Jalopies would close out the evening.

It was great to see the West Liberty Raceway, the track that I spent my early years as a race fan at, having a "big show" feel to it with a vendor's row, long lines at the ticket window and only a few open seats come race time. It will be hard to match, but I hope that we see similar crowds for the remainder of the 2026 schedule here with the annual Fair Race on Wednesday July 15th featuring the Premier Late Model Tour, the return of the Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders on Saturday September 5th and the revival of the Liberty 100 featuring the MLRA Late Models on Friday and Saturday October 23rd and 24th.

Watching the radar this morning as I continue to plan my drive to Stuart to fill in for Tony Paris at tonight's Bill Davis Memorial and as of 10:50 a.m. it looks like Davenport is still hoping to run tonight's Hell Tour event. On Friday I look forward to the Sprint Invaders' return to the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri, then on Saturday the Invaders go back to their home track of 34 Raceway west of Burlington.

Thanks to Mike Ruefer for providing all of the photos here!

Plenty of racing for you to find in your area and I hope to see you on the Back Stretch soon!

* Scorer Extraordinaire Kevin Feller reports that the actual track record of 18.148 by Darren Miller still stands