With nearly everybody else running low, Shannon Babb went to the top line and sailed around the competition on his way to a $3,000 victory on the opening night of the Farmer City 74 Thursday. A strong field of 48 UMP Late Models signed in to compete tonight while at least four other drivers had their cars in the pits, but chose to wait until Friday's $20,000-to-win finale to compete.
Jimmy Mars and Tanner English would bring the field to green for the 35-lap race, but it would be Mason Zeigler who would drive under them to take the lead on lap one. The young driver out of Pennsylvania looked strong until the fifth starting Shannon Babb came charging up on the high side to drive around Zeigler on lap five. Babb's lead then grew quickly, so much so that on lap twelve he slipped off the top of turn two, but still had time to recover before Zeigler could get to him.
The caution waved on lap twenty when Mike Marlar slipped over the top of turn one and on the restart Billy Moyer relegated Zeigler to third and began to apply some pressure on Babb. That challenge was soon interrupted though when Bobby Pierce slipped off the top of turn one, slid across the old horse track and ended up against the guardrail. With just over an inch of rain falling here on Wednesday night, retrieving Pierce's damaged car became quite an adventure causing about a fifteen minute delay as two wrecker trucks would get stuck in the mud. Finally a tractor was brought out and using a tow rope to pull out the wrecker that had Pierce's car in tow, the long delay finally came to an end.
On this restart Zeigler would get the jump on Moyer and as those two swapped the second spot at least four times Babb pulled away to take his first win of 2017. Youth would prevail in the battle for second, Zeigler over Moyer while Jimmy Mars finished fourth. Ryan Unzicker also made the top side work for fifth, Tanner English was sixth, Dennis Erb Jr. finished seventh, Kevin Weaver was eighth, ninth went to Billy Drake and Chase Junghans completed the top ten.
After an opening lap skirmish eliminated a couple of top contenders the Pro Late Model feature went twenty laps non-stop and Allen Weisser fought off Myles Moos to score the win. Weisser was in control throughout until Moos was able to slip under him in turns one and two on the final lap. There was contact between the two exiting turn two as Weisser would shut the door going down the back stretch. Matt Taylor finished third, I believe that it was Dakota Ewing in fourth while Roben Huffman rounded out the top five.
Joe Brown went flag-to-flag to best a nine car field of UMP Street Stocks.
With plenty of moisture from the day before the quarter-mile was lightning fast and offered up some entertaining action throughout the evening. All six pole-sitters won the Late Model heats under the "qualify and then start the fast guys in front" format, but the final two heat winners really had to earn it. Tanner English and Dennis Erb Jr, waged a great side-by-side battle in the fifth heat before a mid-race caution allowed Erb to get a full car-length on English for the restart. Tanner was not to be denied though and he passed Erb on the final lap to get the win and allow him to draw the outside front row for the feature. Veteran drivers Billy Drake and Kevin Weaver then entertained the crowd in the sixth heat with Drake regaining the lead and the win.
Darrell Lanigan, Don O'Neal and Hudson O'Neal were all present, but sat out the night's activities as did Earl Pearson Jr. with the Moring Motorsports ride. That one was kind of a head scratcher. MARS was on hand tonight, along with the ALMS and I must say that I liked the fact that they ran two C-Mains to complete a sixteen car lineup for one single B-Main that transferred two to the feature.
Us fans in the stands had two great announcers that we could have listened to tonight, however since they were also on a live Pay Per View broadcast they catered toward that crowd rather than those who bought tickets and can only hear info like driver names and qualifying times during brief seconds of little or no engine noise. Of course it was during that down time that we were then treated to them welcoming viewers to the broadcast. This is a trend that I don't know if I can get used to and I still suggest to promoters that when having a live PPV you should let those announcers do their thing, but instead of having their voices on the P.A. as well, you should also have a public address announcer to handle the night for those in attendance.
Next up on the Back Stretch, weekly racing at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson where the forecast calls for near perfect racing weather on Friday night.
Thursday, May 11, 2017
Thursday Notebook: May 11, 2017
The line of heavy thunderstorms that made its way across Iowa on Wednesday forced the postponement of the annual appearance by the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders at the Southern Iowa Speedway to next Wednesday, May 17th, in Oskaloosa.
Some big events going on this Mother's Day weekend. In Illinois the UMP Late Models take center stage with the Farmer City 74 scheduled to start tonight with a $3,000-to-win program at the Farmer City Raceway. Then on Friday, it is a big one day show with $20,000 up for grabs in a race that is paying points for both the MARS East and West series as well as the American Late Model Series or ALMS. The Late Models then move to the famous Fairbury American Legion Speedway for a $10,000-to-win program on Saturday night before closing out with a $5,000 winner's check on Sunday night at the Spoon River Speedway south of Canton.
So a clean sweep of the four race weekend would yield a $38,000 haul, but one winner will collect a cool $50,000 at Farley's Super Modified weekend. Qualifying races will be held on Friday night with the big money paid out on Saturday and not only will there be a big winner in the Mods, but a Sport Mod driver may possibly fund his hobby for the year by winning the $20,000 top prize, what I believe to be the most ever paid out to this division.
Usually we see these kind of events during the preseason or the Fall specials so it will be interesting to see how things shake out as the weekly races in our region will go on as usual as well. I am hoping to catch the Thursday show in Farmer City and then on Friday I am filling in on the mic for Tony Paris who will again be coaching his hard hitting prospect Tyson Paris at a ball diamond somewhere. Graduation parties and other social commitments will keep me close to home on Saturday and, if I can swing it, I hope to wrap up Mother's Day with a race either at Spoon River or at the Quad Cities Speedway where the Deery Brothers Summer Series will be in action.
The CJ Raceway in Columbus Junction will be running a Tuesday night special each month in 2017 and their first of the season comes up this Tuesday, May 16th, with the Sport Compacts taking the spotlight for a $500-to-win event. While I know that this might not intrigue some of you, I would encourage you to check it out because when you put twenty-four of the four cylinders out there, especially with the top notch drivers that we have in the division here in eastern Iowa, you might just be surprised at how much fun the racing is. And, if you just don't want to admit that you would go to a Sport Compact special, you can always say that you were there to see the Sport Mods and the always popular Stock Cars instead! I will be looking for you Tuesday night.
A couple of tracks here in the middle of the country were brought back from the dead this past weekend, both with good success. The Lake Ozark Speedway has been dormant for the past five seasons, but under new ownership dirt track racing returned to the Lake on Saturday night with 84 cars in five classes. Austin Alumbaugh won the 360 Sprints, Chris Smyser was the Late Model winner, Ryan Middaugh took the Modified main event, Kris Jackson was the best of the B-Mods and Brian Schutt topped a 23-car field of Street Stocks. It was a good night for the revived LOS to open as the Lucas Oil Speedway about 75 miles down Highway 54 had an Open Wheel special going on so they did not run Late Models or either Modified class. So while the Sprint Car count may go up a bit from 14, the true test will be in the other divisions to see who goes to Lucas Oil and who stays at the Lake.
Three years of no racing at the Enid Speedway in Oklahoma obviously had drivers and fans alike ready to get back out to support the track as a crowd of 2,500 came out to watch twenty of the Sooner Late Model Series cars, 27 Modifieds, 39 B-Mods and six heats worth of Factory Stocks in action Saturday night. You can click here for a slide show of pictures from the big night and know that Enid is not returning as a weekly track, but is instead set to run just a six race slate of specials in 2017.
The next dormant track to set to come back to life is also in Oklahoma where the Thunderbird Speedway in Muskogee will host the MARS Late Models on June 9th.
The updated National Dirt Late Model points follow and it is great to see such a tight battle among several drivers, many of whom are new names at or near the top. Enjoy your Mother's Day weekend and hopefully you can enjoy the racing of your choice!
Some big events going on this Mother's Day weekend. In Illinois the UMP Late Models take center stage with the Farmer City 74 scheduled to start tonight with a $3,000-to-win program at the Farmer City Raceway. Then on Friday, it is a big one day show with $20,000 up for grabs in a race that is paying points for both the MARS East and West series as well as the American Late Model Series or ALMS. The Late Models then move to the famous Fairbury American Legion Speedway for a $10,000-to-win program on Saturday night before closing out with a $5,000 winner's check on Sunday night at the Spoon River Speedway south of Canton.
So a clean sweep of the four race weekend would yield a $38,000 haul, but one winner will collect a cool $50,000 at Farley's Super Modified weekend. Qualifying races will be held on Friday night with the big money paid out on Saturday and not only will there be a big winner in the Mods, but a Sport Mod driver may possibly fund his hobby for the year by winning the $20,000 top prize, what I believe to be the most ever paid out to this division.
Usually we see these kind of events during the preseason or the Fall specials so it will be interesting to see how things shake out as the weekly races in our region will go on as usual as well. I am hoping to catch the Thursday show in Farmer City and then on Friday I am filling in on the mic for Tony Paris who will again be coaching his hard hitting prospect Tyson Paris at a ball diamond somewhere. Graduation parties and other social commitments will keep me close to home on Saturday and, if I can swing it, I hope to wrap up Mother's Day with a race either at Spoon River or at the Quad Cities Speedway where the Deery Brothers Summer Series will be in action.
The CJ Raceway in Columbus Junction will be running a Tuesday night special each month in 2017 and their first of the season comes up this Tuesday, May 16th, with the Sport Compacts taking the spotlight for a $500-to-win event. While I know that this might not intrigue some of you, I would encourage you to check it out because when you put twenty-four of the four cylinders out there, especially with the top notch drivers that we have in the division here in eastern Iowa, you might just be surprised at how much fun the racing is. And, if you just don't want to admit that you would go to a Sport Compact special, you can always say that you were there to see the Sport Mods and the always popular Stock Cars instead! I will be looking for you Tuesday night.
A couple of tracks here in the middle of the country were brought back from the dead this past weekend, both with good success. The Lake Ozark Speedway has been dormant for the past five seasons, but under new ownership dirt track racing returned to the Lake on Saturday night with 84 cars in five classes. Austin Alumbaugh won the 360 Sprints, Chris Smyser was the Late Model winner, Ryan Middaugh took the Modified main event, Kris Jackson was the best of the B-Mods and Brian Schutt topped a 23-car field of Street Stocks. It was a good night for the revived LOS to open as the Lucas Oil Speedway about 75 miles down Highway 54 had an Open Wheel special going on so they did not run Late Models or either Modified class. So while the Sprint Car count may go up a bit from 14, the true test will be in the other divisions to see who goes to Lucas Oil and who stays at the Lake.
Three years of no racing at the Enid Speedway in Oklahoma obviously had drivers and fans alike ready to get back out to support the track as a crowd of 2,500 came out to watch twenty of the Sooner Late Model Series cars, 27 Modifieds, 39 B-Mods and six heats worth of Factory Stocks in action Saturday night. You can click here for a slide show of pictures from the big night and know that Enid is not returning as a weekly track, but is instead set to run just a six race slate of specials in 2017.
The next dormant track to set to come back to life is also in Oklahoma where the Thunderbird Speedway in Muskogee will host the MARS Late Models on June 9th.
The updated National Dirt Late Model points follow and it is great to see such a tight battle among several drivers, many of whom are new names at or near the top. Enjoy your Mother's Day weekend and hopefully you can enjoy the racing of your choice!
Monday, May 8, 2017
Gundaker Picks Off Scottie 43 at Quincy
Gordy Gundaker knows his way around the city of Quincy after having played catcher for the local university for three years. While in school he also had his family bring the race car up out of St. Louis occasionally and he has had some past success winning a couple of features here in 2014 and on Sunday night Gundaker made a triumphant return to Quincy Raceways capturing the "Scottie 43" UMP Late Model special at the quarter-mile bullring.
A stout field of twenty-two Super Late Models signed in on a perfect evening for racing with this event being the opener for the Midwest Big Ten Series and paying $2,000-to-win. Ricky Frankel would start from the pole with Gundaker to his outside and it would be Frankel who would enjoy the early advantage. A Ron McQuerry spin on lap two would slow the pace as would a lap three caution when the third running Rusty Schlenk would spin off turn four. Schlenk then hustled to the work area with a flat tire, but his crew must have found other damage as he then retired to the pit area.
On the restart Frankel slowly pulled away from his challengers until he reached the back of the field on lap twelve. Mike Hammerle was running in Frankel's preferred low line and when the leader followed him for a lap that allowed Gundaker to erase the gap and prepare to challenge. When Frankel looked to the top to get around Hammerle, Gundaker charged under him the take the lead and he then returned to the top to make quick work of the lapped car. Frankel's frustration continued on the following lap when he tried to go under Hammerle and contact between the two allowed Michael Kloos to take over the second spot.
A caution for Dewayne Kiefer slowed the field one last time on lap nineteen and on the restart there was no catching Gundaker as he drove away to a convincing victory. Kloos and Frankel maintained second and third while third row starters Denny Woodworth and Jamie Wilson completed the top five.
The UMP Pro Late Models were also on the card tonight and they would be the first of six feature races. This division appears to be a weekly battle of the #45's as Denny Woodworth and Tommy Elston lined up on the front row with Woodworth leading early and Elston challenging. On lap five Elston had pulled even with the leader and looked like he would complete the pass, but a caution for Laine Van Zandt who had slowed in turn two reverted the field to the previous lap putting Woodworth back out front for the restart.
Denny now knew that he needed to protect the bottom and he did just that to lead the remaining thirteen laps and secure the win over Elston. Brandon Savage chased the lead duo in for third, Guy Taylor was fourth and Van Zandt came back for fifth in the nine car field.
The twenty lap UMP Modified feature was a great race that was interrupted by way too many cautions as the yellow flag flew eight different times with the first of those coming as the twenty car field tried to negotiate turns one and two for the first time. Pole-sitter Josh Newman got sideways and collected four more cars while others, including Michael Long experienced some sort of damage as they scrambled to avoid the melee. On the restart Long would line up third and he would find the bite off the bottom to race to the lead. With Long running low Rick Conoyer went to the top shelf and he would take the point on lap three. A caution for Levi Mealy slowed the field on lap six and on the restart Long would get a big run off of turn four and then drove up into Conyer entering turn one to regain the lead, but that effort would be erased when Shawn Deering spun in turn one behind them.
On the next restart Conoyer protected the bottom out of four to keep Long behind him as one more lap was scored before Frankie Wellman spun while running in the top five. Once back to racing Conoyer continued to run the cushion as Long challenged down low and on lap ten Michael would drive off the bottom of turn two and up in front of Conoyer who had to stand on the brakes to keep from hitting Long. This would allow David Wietholder and Kevin Blackburn to slip past Conoyer as well and they would now pick up the chase of Long before cautions on lap fourteen and fifteen again required restarts.
Wietholder would drop out of contention after jumping the cushion in turn three and with Long struggling to keep his car on the bottom in the closing laps Blackburn was there to challenge. On the final lap the two went down the back stretch side-by-side and they stayed that way through three and four with Blackburn down low and Long just above him. As the checkered flag waved sparks flew from Long's right rear as he tagged the retaining wall, but he had just enough to edge out Blackburn by a mere 0.079 seconds for the win. Conoyer was close behind in third, Donovan Lodge finished fourth while Deering recovered to take fifth. In victory lane Long admitted that Conoyer was probably mad at him about the two sliders, but quickly said "he'll get over it."
Eleven cars started the Stock Car feature, but only five remained after a lap two crash that started when leader Rudy Zaragoza spun sideways exiting turn four, perhaps from a flat left rear tire. With the field tightly bunched behind him there was nowhere to go and the second place car of Michael Larsen went up and over two or three times directly in front of the large crowd. Larsen scrambled from his car visibly upset with the circumstances and, after helping the wrecker crews untangle the mess and pull away the damaged cars of Jerry Jansen and Abe Huls, Larsen hopped into his own battered Stock Car, fired it up and drove it to the infield to the cheers of the crowd.
After the cleanup the remaining sixteen laps were uneventful as Brian Hoener went the distance to take the win over Beau Taylor, Jimmy Miller, Chester Peek and Jake Powers.
With all of the yellows in the Modified main event, the long red flag period in the Stock Cars and more cautions in the heat races than we see at most tracks (the "one spin and you're in rule" would be helpful here), the Late Model feature wrapped up just before ten o'clock so I headed for home before the final two features. Courtesy of track PR man Jack Walbring though I can tell you that Austin Howes came from the fourth row to win the IMCA Sport Mod main event and that Brandon Lambert parlayed a front row start into a victory in the Sport Compact finale.
Up next for me will be the annual appearance of the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa this Wednesday night. Hope to see you there!
A stout field of twenty-two Super Late Models signed in on a perfect evening for racing with this event being the opener for the Midwest Big Ten Series and paying $2,000-to-win. Ricky Frankel would start from the pole with Gundaker to his outside and it would be Frankel who would enjoy the early advantage. A Ron McQuerry spin on lap two would slow the pace as would a lap three caution when the third running Rusty Schlenk would spin off turn four. Schlenk then hustled to the work area with a flat tire, but his crew must have found other damage as he then retired to the pit area.
On the restart Frankel slowly pulled away from his challengers until he reached the back of the field on lap twelve. Mike Hammerle was running in Frankel's preferred low line and when the leader followed him for a lap that allowed Gundaker to erase the gap and prepare to challenge. When Frankel looked to the top to get around Hammerle, Gundaker charged under him the take the lead and he then returned to the top to make quick work of the lapped car. Frankel's frustration continued on the following lap when he tried to go under Hammerle and contact between the two allowed Michael Kloos to take over the second spot.
A caution for Dewayne Kiefer slowed the field one last time on lap nineteen and on the restart there was no catching Gundaker as he drove away to a convincing victory. Kloos and Frankel maintained second and third while third row starters Denny Woodworth and Jamie Wilson completed the top five.
The UMP Pro Late Models were also on the card tonight and they would be the first of six feature races. This division appears to be a weekly battle of the #45's as Denny Woodworth and Tommy Elston lined up on the front row with Woodworth leading early and Elston challenging. On lap five Elston had pulled even with the leader and looked like he would complete the pass, but a caution for Laine Van Zandt who had slowed in turn two reverted the field to the previous lap putting Woodworth back out front for the restart.
Denny now knew that he needed to protect the bottom and he did just that to lead the remaining thirteen laps and secure the win over Elston. Brandon Savage chased the lead duo in for third, Guy Taylor was fourth and Van Zandt came back for fifth in the nine car field.
The twenty lap UMP Modified feature was a great race that was interrupted by way too many cautions as the yellow flag flew eight different times with the first of those coming as the twenty car field tried to negotiate turns one and two for the first time. Pole-sitter Josh Newman got sideways and collected four more cars while others, including Michael Long experienced some sort of damage as they scrambled to avoid the melee. On the restart Long would line up third and he would find the bite off the bottom to race to the lead. With Long running low Rick Conoyer went to the top shelf and he would take the point on lap three. A caution for Levi Mealy slowed the field on lap six and on the restart Long would get a big run off of turn four and then drove up into Conyer entering turn one to regain the lead, but that effort would be erased when Shawn Deering spun in turn one behind them.
On the next restart Conoyer protected the bottom out of four to keep Long behind him as one more lap was scored before Frankie Wellman spun while running in the top five. Once back to racing Conoyer continued to run the cushion as Long challenged down low and on lap ten Michael would drive off the bottom of turn two and up in front of Conoyer who had to stand on the brakes to keep from hitting Long. This would allow David Wietholder and Kevin Blackburn to slip past Conoyer as well and they would now pick up the chase of Long before cautions on lap fourteen and fifteen again required restarts.
Wietholder would drop out of contention after jumping the cushion in turn three and with Long struggling to keep his car on the bottom in the closing laps Blackburn was there to challenge. On the final lap the two went down the back stretch side-by-side and they stayed that way through three and four with Blackburn down low and Long just above him. As the checkered flag waved sparks flew from Long's right rear as he tagged the retaining wall, but he had just enough to edge out Blackburn by a mere 0.079 seconds for the win. Conoyer was close behind in third, Donovan Lodge finished fourth while Deering recovered to take fifth. In victory lane Long admitted that Conoyer was probably mad at him about the two sliders, but quickly said "he'll get over it."
Eleven cars started the Stock Car feature, but only five remained after a lap two crash that started when leader Rudy Zaragoza spun sideways exiting turn four, perhaps from a flat left rear tire. With the field tightly bunched behind him there was nowhere to go and the second place car of Michael Larsen went up and over two or three times directly in front of the large crowd. Larsen scrambled from his car visibly upset with the circumstances and, after helping the wrecker crews untangle the mess and pull away the damaged cars of Jerry Jansen and Abe Huls, Larsen hopped into his own battered Stock Car, fired it up and drove it to the infield to the cheers of the crowd.
After the cleanup the remaining sixteen laps were uneventful as Brian Hoener went the distance to take the win over Beau Taylor, Jimmy Miller, Chester Peek and Jake Powers.
With all of the yellows in the Modified main event, the long red flag period in the Stock Cars and more cautions in the heat races than we see at most tracks (the "one spin and you're in rule" would be helpful here), the Late Model feature wrapped up just before ten o'clock so I headed for home before the final two features. Courtesy of track PR man Jack Walbring though I can tell you that Austin Howes came from the fourth row to win the IMCA Sport Mod main event and that Brandon Lambert parlayed a front row start into a victory in the Sport Compact finale.
Up next for me will be the annual appearance of the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa this Wednesday night. Hope to see you there!
Friday, May 5, 2017
Chris Simpson Headlines, Support Classes Shine at Lee County
The MLRA Late Models made their highly anticipated return to the Lee County Speedway Thursday night bringing Late Model fans from near and far to the small town tucked into the southeast corner of Iowa. Thirty-three Super Late Models filled the pits and while they definitely delivered another superb showing, even the most snobbish Late Model fan would have to admit that the support classes were every bit as entertaining, if not more so. That is of course if they had the opportunity to stick around to watch them.
Chris Simpson and Terry Phillips would bring the Late Model field to green for forty laps with Simpson quickly racing out to a comfortable advantage. With the bottom line being the favored groove on both ends of the speedway the field would stretch out a bit as Simpson maintained a torrid pace and Phillips would fade into the pack as he tried to make the outside line work during the early laps. Tony Jackson Jr., who had started fifth, worked his way past Chad Simpson for second on lap fifteen and would begin to cut into the lead as Chris Simpson encountered traffic and Jimmy Mars, who had started seventh, would takeover the third position on lap twenty-two.
Chris was able to make quick work of the first few lappers, but as he closed in on some drivers who were racing for position Jackson saw his opportunity and started searching out a line through the middle. With ten laps remaining, and with Payton Looney and Brent Larson now racing side-by-side in front of him, Simpson had been signaled that Jackson was within striking distance so the leader made a bold move going three-wide around the outside of Looney and Larson off of turn two. One slip and it would have cost him the lead as Jackson was right there to pounce, but when Simpson completed the pass it would sew up the victory as Jackson never could dispatch Looney over the closing laps.
Jackson would settle for the runner-up position, four spots better than the next series regular, making a good "points night" for the former MARS champ. Jimmy Mars was solid in third, Chad Simpson held down fourth and Billy Moyer came from the sixth row to finish fifth. Phillips would settle for sixth, J.C. Wyman posted a solid run in seventh, Tyler Bruening advanced from the eighth row to finish eighth, Dave Eckrich was ninth and Raymond Merrill completed the top ten.
LCS MLRA Notes......The MLRA has switched its race format from a draw/passing points program to a group qualifying/start the fast guys up front format and while they will tell you that all of the drivers are in favor of the change you can bet that at least half of them are not, but are not willing to admit it. So, just like tonight, look for more flag-to-flag victories in the one last Super Late Model series where you used to have to pass some cars for position in either a heat or the feature in order to earn a victory.....Justin Reed scratched for the evening after qualifying.....Chris Simpson went flag-to-flag in the first heat that saw series regular Justin Asplin nearly clear the turn three guardrail when he blasted it tearing the nose completely off of his car. Asplin would pull out a backup car to run the B-Main later and would earn a series provisional for the feature.....Raymond Merrill passed Bob Gardner in the closing laps for the fourth and final transfer......When pole-sitter Dave Eckrich slid up the track in turn two on the opening lap of the second heat, Ricky Thornton Jr. had to stand on the brakes dropping him from second to fifth. Eckrich would score the win while Thornton was able to get to fourth and make the show.....Terry Phillips would go the distance to win the third heat as Tyler Bruening fought off Brantlee Gotschall for the final transfer......Chad Simpson would make it four-for-four of the pole-sitters winning the heat races (re: fast guys starting up front) as the MLRA point leader coming into the night, Rodney Sanders, fought off Rob Toland for fourth.....With seventeen cars still not qualified just ONE B-Main was scheduled, as it should be, with six cars set to transfer..... As the field made their way to the track the left front wheel rolled off of Gordy Gundaker's car. He was towed to the work area where a new wheel was put on and he was forced to start at the rear. He did not qualify.....Payton Looney would look sharp racing his way to the lead and the win in the B followed by Chase Junghans, Gotschall, Gardner, Randy Timms and Jorday Yaggy.....The veteran Al Humphrey would join Asplin as a provisional.....The first try at a start to the feature saw the tenth starting Brent Larson slide sideways in turn one collecting Rodney Sanders, Junghans and Yaggy. Sanders had an MLRA official work on some body damage before restarting and he would finish twelfth and, under one of the strangest rules in racing "the free restart rule", Larson would get a mulligan and still start in tenth.....As the second of five features on the schedule, the checkered flag waved on the Late Model feature at 9:55.....Series announcer Trenton Berry confirmed amazingly that this was Billy Moyer's first ever appearance at the Lee County Speedway......It was great having Trenton join our group during the support class action where he raved about the quality of racing here at the Lee County Speedway and in the state of Iowa.....Trenton will get to enjoy two more nights of that Iowa action as the MLRA Late Models move to the Davenport Speedway tonight, racing on the quarter-mile, and then on Saturday they will thrill a big crowd at the Independence Motor Speedway......The MLRA returns to this area again on Thursday June 1st at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri, and right back here at the Lee County Speedway on Friday June 2nd.
A stout field of twenty-four IMCA Stock Cars served up a solid appetizer for the Late Models with a twenty-lap main event that only had one caution and that was decided by inches. John Oliver Jr. started third, but was able to slip under Jake Wenig and Abe Huls to lead the opening lap. That lead would grow as the action was intense behind him with drivers going four-wide on several occasions before the caution waved when Kevin Koontz spun in turn two on lap nine. Stock Car stars Jeff Mueller and Damon Murty had both drawn the sixth row, but by now had worked their way into second and third with Oliver now back within their sights for the restart. As Mueller and Murty swapped the second spot back and forth, Oliver was again able to sneak away a bit before Mueller established himself in second with just a few laps remaining.
Oliver's car had been sticking to the bottom throughout this race, but as the laps slipped away so did his traction and that allowed Mueller to close fast just as the white flag waved. The challenger would draw to the leader's bumper in turns one and two and when Oliver left the slightest of openings entering turn three, Mueller nudged his way underneath and it was a side-by-side drag race to the checkers off of turn four that not even announcer Tony Paris was willing to call until he confirmed with the scorers that Oliver had won by a mere inches at the line. Murty was close behind in third, Mike Hughes came from tenth to finish fourth and hometown driver Jeremy Pundt finished in fifth.
Several fans made their way out of the stands following the Late Model feature, I don't blame them, I would have done the same if I had a long drive home on a Thursday night, but those of us who stayed were treated to some spectacular action to close out the evening.
The IMCA Sport Mods were up next surprisingly producing the smallest field of the night despite the fact that they were racing for $1,000-to-win. Two of the best started on the front row for this twenty-lapper with the all-time All Iowa Points leader in the division, Tony Dunker starting on the pole while former All Iowa Points champion Carter VanDenberg started to his outside and it would be VanDenberg grabbing the early lead. Caution for an Austen Becerra spin on lap six required a restart and Dunker would use the high line to take the lead for lap seven. Logan Anderson was on the move after starting seventh and he would take away the second spot just before VanDenberg slowed with mechanical issues on lap sixteen. Dunker had plenty of challengers lined up behind him for the restart, but as Anderson, Jim Gillenwater and Lennox battled for second, Dunker was able to ease away over the final four laps to earn the victory. Anderson prevailed for second, Lennox took third, Gillenwater was fourth and Brian Efkamp made the trip down from Ankeny to finish fifth.
The non-stop twenty-five lap IMCA Modified feature was nothing short of spectacular and there is no way that I can come close to describing it, especially since I didn't take notes since Trenton and I were ducking and leaning trying to guide Kelly Shryock and Hunter Marriott through a myriad of lapped traffic thinking somehow that our body language might help. Shryock had started from the front row and, as I mentioned in last night's story from Osky, when you put Kelly Shryock on the pole you generally know the outcome. Believe me, he had to earn it tonight! Marriott had started fifth, but first had to fight his way past Richie Gustin and Jacob Murray before he could set his sights on the leader and, once Hunter made it to second on lap eighteen, he did just that. Racing in and through heavy traffic Marriott would pull even with Shryock and then take the lead on lap twenty-two only to have Kelly fight back to regain the lead as the white flag waved. Marriott took one last shot on the final lap, but hey, this is Kelly Shryock and while the kid from Missouri appears to be headed for the "star" category as well, Shryock has been there for years and he would hold on to win for the second night in a row. Murray would hold on to third ahead of Gustin with Chris Zogg edging out Johnny Scott for fifth. This field of twenty-nine was as talented as you will find anywhere this season!
And, if you stuck around for the fifteen-lap Sport Compact main event, you were rewarded with another barn burner that went right down to the wire. Rookie driver Daniel Fellows has dominated this division recently, but when he drew the sixth row in this field of twenty he had his work cut out for him as Josh Barnes raced to the lead from his third starting spot. Kimberly Abbott is not shy by any means and she muscled past Barnes on lap three to take the point with Jake Dietrich and Barry Taft in hot pursuit. With Abbott leading, Dietrich and Taft raced hard for second with Taft emerging as the prime contender and he would slip under Kimberly to take the lead entering turn one on lap thirteen, Abbott would drive right back under him off of turn two to regain the lead on the back stretch only to have Taft return the favor and this time officially lead the white flag lap. The defending All Iowa Points champion was not to be denied though as she charged back under Taft entering turn three on the final lap and the two slid up the race track with Taft's car being pinned between Abbott's and the now fully involved lapped car of William Michel.
The three cars came out of turn four literally door-to-door-to-door with Abbott winning by a nose at the line. Taft not only had to settle for second, but then had to deal with the ire of Michel who apparently did not see that Abbott was down there as well. Dietrich would have won if they all would have crashed, as they came so close to doing, Barnes was fourth and Travis DeMint finished fifth.
On the strength of a solid car count in all five divisions, a full field of Super Late Models that provided as much action that can be expected given the format and three feature races that were not decided until the final turn this now sets the bar for my "race night of the year" for 2017. And it was all completed by 10:45!
First opportunity to clear that bar will come on Sunday night when I head for the Scottie 43 UMP Late Model event at the Quincy Raceways. Look for me on the Back Stretch!
Chris Simpson and Terry Phillips would bring the Late Model field to green for forty laps with Simpson quickly racing out to a comfortable advantage. With the bottom line being the favored groove on both ends of the speedway the field would stretch out a bit as Simpson maintained a torrid pace and Phillips would fade into the pack as he tried to make the outside line work during the early laps. Tony Jackson Jr., who had started fifth, worked his way past Chad Simpson for second on lap fifteen and would begin to cut into the lead as Chris Simpson encountered traffic and Jimmy Mars, who had started seventh, would takeover the third position on lap twenty-two.
Chris was able to make quick work of the first few lappers, but as he closed in on some drivers who were racing for position Jackson saw his opportunity and started searching out a line through the middle. With ten laps remaining, and with Payton Looney and Brent Larson now racing side-by-side in front of him, Simpson had been signaled that Jackson was within striking distance so the leader made a bold move going three-wide around the outside of Looney and Larson off of turn two. One slip and it would have cost him the lead as Jackson was right there to pounce, but when Simpson completed the pass it would sew up the victory as Jackson never could dispatch Looney over the closing laps.
Jackson would settle for the runner-up position, four spots better than the next series regular, making a good "points night" for the former MARS champ. Jimmy Mars was solid in third, Chad Simpson held down fourth and Billy Moyer came from the sixth row to finish fifth. Phillips would settle for sixth, J.C. Wyman posted a solid run in seventh, Tyler Bruening advanced from the eighth row to finish eighth, Dave Eckrich was ninth and Raymond Merrill completed the top ten.
LCS MLRA Notes......The MLRA has switched its race format from a draw/passing points program to a group qualifying/start the fast guys up front format and while they will tell you that all of the drivers are in favor of the change you can bet that at least half of them are not, but are not willing to admit it. So, just like tonight, look for more flag-to-flag victories in the one last Super Late Model series where you used to have to pass some cars for position in either a heat or the feature in order to earn a victory.....Justin Reed scratched for the evening after qualifying.....Chris Simpson went flag-to-flag in the first heat that saw series regular Justin Asplin nearly clear the turn three guardrail when he blasted it tearing the nose completely off of his car. Asplin would pull out a backup car to run the B-Main later and would earn a series provisional for the feature.....Raymond Merrill passed Bob Gardner in the closing laps for the fourth and final transfer......When pole-sitter Dave Eckrich slid up the track in turn two on the opening lap of the second heat, Ricky Thornton Jr. had to stand on the brakes dropping him from second to fifth. Eckrich would score the win while Thornton was able to get to fourth and make the show.....Terry Phillips would go the distance to win the third heat as Tyler Bruening fought off Brantlee Gotschall for the final transfer......Chad Simpson would make it four-for-four of the pole-sitters winning the heat races (re: fast guys starting up front) as the MLRA point leader coming into the night, Rodney Sanders, fought off Rob Toland for fourth.....With seventeen cars still not qualified just ONE B-Main was scheduled, as it should be, with six cars set to transfer..... As the field made their way to the track the left front wheel rolled off of Gordy Gundaker's car. He was towed to the work area where a new wheel was put on and he was forced to start at the rear. He did not qualify.....Payton Looney would look sharp racing his way to the lead and the win in the B followed by Chase Junghans, Gotschall, Gardner, Randy Timms and Jorday Yaggy.....The veteran Al Humphrey would join Asplin as a provisional.....The first try at a start to the feature saw the tenth starting Brent Larson slide sideways in turn one collecting Rodney Sanders, Junghans and Yaggy. Sanders had an MLRA official work on some body damage before restarting and he would finish twelfth and, under one of the strangest rules in racing "the free restart rule", Larson would get a mulligan and still start in tenth.....As the second of five features on the schedule, the checkered flag waved on the Late Model feature at 9:55.....Series announcer Trenton Berry confirmed amazingly that this was Billy Moyer's first ever appearance at the Lee County Speedway......It was great having Trenton join our group during the support class action where he raved about the quality of racing here at the Lee County Speedway and in the state of Iowa.....Trenton will get to enjoy two more nights of that Iowa action as the MLRA Late Models move to the Davenport Speedway tonight, racing on the quarter-mile, and then on Saturday they will thrill a big crowd at the Independence Motor Speedway......The MLRA returns to this area again on Thursday June 1st at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri, and right back here at the Lee County Speedway on Friday June 2nd.
A stout field of twenty-four IMCA Stock Cars served up a solid appetizer for the Late Models with a twenty-lap main event that only had one caution and that was decided by inches. John Oliver Jr. started third, but was able to slip under Jake Wenig and Abe Huls to lead the opening lap. That lead would grow as the action was intense behind him with drivers going four-wide on several occasions before the caution waved when Kevin Koontz spun in turn two on lap nine. Stock Car stars Jeff Mueller and Damon Murty had both drawn the sixth row, but by now had worked their way into second and third with Oliver now back within their sights for the restart. As Mueller and Murty swapped the second spot back and forth, Oliver was again able to sneak away a bit before Mueller established himself in second with just a few laps remaining.
Oliver's car had been sticking to the bottom throughout this race, but as the laps slipped away so did his traction and that allowed Mueller to close fast just as the white flag waved. The challenger would draw to the leader's bumper in turns one and two and when Oliver left the slightest of openings entering turn three, Mueller nudged his way underneath and it was a side-by-side drag race to the checkers off of turn four that not even announcer Tony Paris was willing to call until he confirmed with the scorers that Oliver had won by a mere inches at the line. Murty was close behind in third, Mike Hughes came from tenth to finish fourth and hometown driver Jeremy Pundt finished in fifth.
Several fans made their way out of the stands following the Late Model feature, I don't blame them, I would have done the same if I had a long drive home on a Thursday night, but those of us who stayed were treated to some spectacular action to close out the evening.
The IMCA Sport Mods were up next surprisingly producing the smallest field of the night despite the fact that they were racing for $1,000-to-win. Two of the best started on the front row for this twenty-lapper with the all-time All Iowa Points leader in the division, Tony Dunker starting on the pole while former All Iowa Points champion Carter VanDenberg started to his outside and it would be VanDenberg grabbing the early lead. Caution for an Austen Becerra spin on lap six required a restart and Dunker would use the high line to take the lead for lap seven. Logan Anderson was on the move after starting seventh and he would take away the second spot just before VanDenberg slowed with mechanical issues on lap sixteen. Dunker had plenty of challengers lined up behind him for the restart, but as Anderson, Jim Gillenwater and Lennox battled for second, Dunker was able to ease away over the final four laps to earn the victory. Anderson prevailed for second, Lennox took third, Gillenwater was fourth and Brian Efkamp made the trip down from Ankeny to finish fifth.
The non-stop twenty-five lap IMCA Modified feature was nothing short of spectacular and there is no way that I can come close to describing it, especially since I didn't take notes since Trenton and I were ducking and leaning trying to guide Kelly Shryock and Hunter Marriott through a myriad of lapped traffic thinking somehow that our body language might help. Shryock had started from the front row and, as I mentioned in last night's story from Osky, when you put Kelly Shryock on the pole you generally know the outcome. Believe me, he had to earn it tonight! Marriott had started fifth, but first had to fight his way past Richie Gustin and Jacob Murray before he could set his sights on the leader and, once Hunter made it to second on lap eighteen, he did just that. Racing in and through heavy traffic Marriott would pull even with Shryock and then take the lead on lap twenty-two only to have Kelly fight back to regain the lead as the white flag waved. Marriott took one last shot on the final lap, but hey, this is Kelly Shryock and while the kid from Missouri appears to be headed for the "star" category as well, Shryock has been there for years and he would hold on to win for the second night in a row. Murray would hold on to third ahead of Gustin with Chris Zogg edging out Johnny Scott for fifth. This field of twenty-nine was as talented as you will find anywhere this season!
And, if you stuck around for the fifteen-lap Sport Compact main event, you were rewarded with another barn burner that went right down to the wire. Rookie driver Daniel Fellows has dominated this division recently, but when he drew the sixth row in this field of twenty he had his work cut out for him as Josh Barnes raced to the lead from his third starting spot. Kimberly Abbott is not shy by any means and she muscled past Barnes on lap three to take the point with Jake Dietrich and Barry Taft in hot pursuit. With Abbott leading, Dietrich and Taft raced hard for second with Taft emerging as the prime contender and he would slip under Kimberly to take the lead entering turn one on lap thirteen, Abbott would drive right back under him off of turn two to regain the lead on the back stretch only to have Taft return the favor and this time officially lead the white flag lap. The defending All Iowa Points champion was not to be denied though as she charged back under Taft entering turn three on the final lap and the two slid up the race track with Taft's car being pinned between Abbott's and the now fully involved lapped car of William Michel.
The three cars came out of turn four literally door-to-door-to-door with Abbott winning by a nose at the line. Taft not only had to settle for second, but then had to deal with the ire of Michel who apparently did not see that Abbott was down there as well. Dietrich would have won if they all would have crashed, as they came so close to doing, Barnes was fourth and Travis DeMint finished fifth.
On the strength of a solid car count in all five divisions, a full field of Super Late Models that provided as much action that can be expected given the format and three feature races that were not decided until the final turn this now sets the bar for my "race night of the year" for 2017. And it was all completed by 10:45!
First opportunity to clear that bar will come on Sunday night when I head for the Scottie 43 UMP Late Model event at the Quincy Raceways. Look for me on the Back Stretch!
Thursday, May 4, 2017
Extra Cash Pulls Extra Drivers To Osky
Shawn and Jami Ritter with Shawn's Hay Grinding made their night at the Southern Iowa Speedway extra special by adding money to the purse for all five divisions and that, along with some better weather than what we he had last Wednesday night, brought in several new drivers for the second night of racing in Oskaloosa.
For the second week in a row the Sport Compacts would have the highest car count bolstered by two of the top Four Cylinder drivers in the Midwest who made the long pull over from southeast Nebraska. They would end up chasing the rookie sensation though as Daniel Fellows lined up sixth for the 12-lap main event and he would take the lead exiting turn four on lap one. One of the travelers, Denny Berghahn Jr. started right behind Fellows and followed him to the front to pick up the chase while the other Nebraskan Dillon Richards steadily raced his way up from eleventh to third.
A caution on lap four bunched the field up for a restart, but again Fellows and Berghahn pulled away as Richards dealt with a challenge from Barry Taft. As the white flag waved Berghahn was able to take a peek to the inside of the leader in turn two, but Fellows did not flinch as he scored his second win in a row here and his fourth straight overall in this his rookie season after having raced dirt bikes for the past few years. Berghahn was the runner-up while Taft took advantage of a late stumble by Richards to finish third leaving Dillon in fourth. Cody Van Dusen, the current All Iowa Points leader in the division, was slated to start in sixth, but tagged the field instead and still raced his way up to fifth.
The Stock Cars once again gave the Southern Iowa Speedway fans a thrill with some tight racing as the field of thirteen all clamored for the bottom line during the second feature of the night, Louis Lynch would pace the opening lap before third-starting Nathan Wood drove under him on lap two. Running his left front tire over the now buried corner markers, Wood did not leave any room for someone to get under him and when both Mike Hughes and Derrick Agee lined up behind him mid-race it was a throwback to last week when Dustin Griffiths was trying to protect his lead from these two.
The caution waved on lap eleven when Damon Murty slowed and then stopped at the end of the front stretch rather than pulling to the infield and he then fired it back up and did a donut before driving to the pit area apparently frustrated with something. The double wide restart would then shake things up as Agee would be parked to the outside getting shuffled back to fifth with Todd Reitzler and Griffiths now joining the battle.
With Wood still guarding the bottom Hughes took a look one line higher and that was all that Reitzler needed as he muscled under Hughes to take the second spot. When Griffiths also tried to get under Hughes, contact between the two would cut down the right front tire on Griffiths car and when he slowed it produced the final caution of the race with two laps remaining. On the restart the leader knew where he needed to stay and while he did leave a bit of an opening entering turn one on the final lap, he was too strong to allow Reitzler to make a move and Nathan Wood would return to victory lane in Oskaloosa. Reitzler would finish second as Agee battled back to third, Hughes would come in fourth while division rookie Danny Thrasher edged out Jason Minnehan for fifth.
If there was any concern that the remaining three features would be a parade around the bottom of the big half-mile that was quickly erased during the 16-lap Sport Mod main event. Outside pole-sitter Colton Livezey would race out to the early advantage with Carter VanDenBerg in hot pursuit. As the battle for the lead developed on lap four, the defending track champion Curtis Van Der Wal slid sideways to the infield in turn four while racing in third, but he recovered quickly only losing two positions in the process. VanDenBerg would take the point from Livezy on lap five and as he started to open up a lead it was obvious that Van Der Wal was now on a mission as he clicked off positions one by one until he was in second on lap nine.
The lead was still a half straightaway at that point, but by using the high line through turns three and four Van Der Wal quickly cut it down to a couple of car lengths and he would pull even with VanDenBerg exiting turn four on lap thirteen. Carter was able to ward off this challenge by using his low line in turns one and two, but when Curtis again went to the cushion in three and four he would fly by CVDB putting CVDW into the lead with two laps remaining. VanDenBerg made one last bid in turn one, but then Van Der Wal was gone as he pulled off the near-spin-to-win feat in the non-stop event. Livezy would hold down the third spot, Logan Anderson was fourth and last week's winner Jason McDaniel filled out the top five.
A sixth-place finish in the season opener landed Kelly Shryock on the front row for tonight's twenty-lap IMCA Modified feature race and when you have Kelly Shryock on the front row the chances are that the race will be for second. Current All Iowa Points leader Hunter Marriott would work his way into second with three laps remaining and would then show the leader his nose in the closing laps, but again this is Kelly Shryock, one of the best Modified drivers ever and he would add another win to his total on this night. Marriott would be the runner-up for the second week in a row here as Todd Shute also repeated his finish from last week in third. The winner of the season opener Colt Mather would be fourth this week while Cayden Carter edged out Forest City's Jesse Hoeft for fifth.
The Hobby Stocks would again close out the evening and this could be the beginning of a banner season here for Shannon Anderson. The multi-time IMCA Hobby Stock National Champion drove through the field with ease after starting eighth taking the lead from Mike Kincaid on lap four just before the red flag waved when Saif Grafke got sideways in turn two before rolling his car over onto its side. Anderson was gone on the restart cruising to his second straight win here at Osky as Kincaid would hold down the second spot. Brad Stephens recovered from an opening lap spin down the back stretch to race back up to third at the checkers while Bill Bonnett and Aaron Martin completed the top five.
A big thank you to the Ritters for stepping up their sponsorship and, as always, to Mike Van Genderen and his crew for presenting an efficient five division program in just over two and a half hours. The Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders will join the program here at the Southern Iowa Speedway next Wednesday night May 10th.
Late Model drivers Billy Moyer, Ricky Thornton Jr. and Rodney Sanders were also on hand to get in some hot laps before they head down to the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson for tonight's big MLRA show that is always a treat at the racy D-shaped 3/8th-mile. Not only will the Late Models be racing for a $3,000 top prize, but all four support classed have added money as well with the Modifieds, Stock Cars and Sport Mods looking for $1,000-to-win and the Sport Compacts racing for $300-to-win. The forecast is for dry, but cool conditions tonight so bring an extra jacket and let's go racing!
For the second week in a row the Sport Compacts would have the highest car count bolstered by two of the top Four Cylinder drivers in the Midwest who made the long pull over from southeast Nebraska. They would end up chasing the rookie sensation though as Daniel Fellows lined up sixth for the 12-lap main event and he would take the lead exiting turn four on lap one. One of the travelers, Denny Berghahn Jr. started right behind Fellows and followed him to the front to pick up the chase while the other Nebraskan Dillon Richards steadily raced his way up from eleventh to third.
A caution on lap four bunched the field up for a restart, but again Fellows and Berghahn pulled away as Richards dealt with a challenge from Barry Taft. As the white flag waved Berghahn was able to take a peek to the inside of the leader in turn two, but Fellows did not flinch as he scored his second win in a row here and his fourth straight overall in this his rookie season after having raced dirt bikes for the past few years. Berghahn was the runner-up while Taft took advantage of a late stumble by Richards to finish third leaving Dillon in fourth. Cody Van Dusen, the current All Iowa Points leader in the division, was slated to start in sixth, but tagged the field instead and still raced his way up to fifth.
The Stock Cars once again gave the Southern Iowa Speedway fans a thrill with some tight racing as the field of thirteen all clamored for the bottom line during the second feature of the night, Louis Lynch would pace the opening lap before third-starting Nathan Wood drove under him on lap two. Running his left front tire over the now buried corner markers, Wood did not leave any room for someone to get under him and when both Mike Hughes and Derrick Agee lined up behind him mid-race it was a throwback to last week when Dustin Griffiths was trying to protect his lead from these two.
The caution waved on lap eleven when Damon Murty slowed and then stopped at the end of the front stretch rather than pulling to the infield and he then fired it back up and did a donut before driving to the pit area apparently frustrated with something. The double wide restart would then shake things up as Agee would be parked to the outside getting shuffled back to fifth with Todd Reitzler and Griffiths now joining the battle.
With Wood still guarding the bottom Hughes took a look one line higher and that was all that Reitzler needed as he muscled under Hughes to take the second spot. When Griffiths also tried to get under Hughes, contact between the two would cut down the right front tire on Griffiths car and when he slowed it produced the final caution of the race with two laps remaining. On the restart the leader knew where he needed to stay and while he did leave a bit of an opening entering turn one on the final lap, he was too strong to allow Reitzler to make a move and Nathan Wood would return to victory lane in Oskaloosa. Reitzler would finish second as Agee battled back to third, Hughes would come in fourth while division rookie Danny Thrasher edged out Jason Minnehan for fifth.
If there was any concern that the remaining three features would be a parade around the bottom of the big half-mile that was quickly erased during the 16-lap Sport Mod main event. Outside pole-sitter Colton Livezey would race out to the early advantage with Carter VanDenBerg in hot pursuit. As the battle for the lead developed on lap four, the defending track champion Curtis Van Der Wal slid sideways to the infield in turn four while racing in third, but he recovered quickly only losing two positions in the process. VanDenBerg would take the point from Livezy on lap five and as he started to open up a lead it was obvious that Van Der Wal was now on a mission as he clicked off positions one by one until he was in second on lap nine.
The lead was still a half straightaway at that point, but by using the high line through turns three and four Van Der Wal quickly cut it down to a couple of car lengths and he would pull even with VanDenBerg exiting turn four on lap thirteen. Carter was able to ward off this challenge by using his low line in turns one and two, but when Curtis again went to the cushion in three and four he would fly by CVDB putting CVDW into the lead with two laps remaining. VanDenBerg made one last bid in turn one, but then Van Der Wal was gone as he pulled off the near-spin-to-win feat in the non-stop event. Livezy would hold down the third spot, Logan Anderson was fourth and last week's winner Jason McDaniel filled out the top five.
A sixth-place finish in the season opener landed Kelly Shryock on the front row for tonight's twenty-lap IMCA Modified feature race and when you have Kelly Shryock on the front row the chances are that the race will be for second. Current All Iowa Points leader Hunter Marriott would work his way into second with three laps remaining and would then show the leader his nose in the closing laps, but again this is Kelly Shryock, one of the best Modified drivers ever and he would add another win to his total on this night. Marriott would be the runner-up for the second week in a row here as Todd Shute also repeated his finish from last week in third. The winner of the season opener Colt Mather would be fourth this week while Cayden Carter edged out Forest City's Jesse Hoeft for fifth.
The Hobby Stocks would again close out the evening and this could be the beginning of a banner season here for Shannon Anderson. The multi-time IMCA Hobby Stock National Champion drove through the field with ease after starting eighth taking the lead from Mike Kincaid on lap four just before the red flag waved when Saif Grafke got sideways in turn two before rolling his car over onto its side. Anderson was gone on the restart cruising to his second straight win here at Osky as Kincaid would hold down the second spot. Brad Stephens recovered from an opening lap spin down the back stretch to race back up to third at the checkers while Bill Bonnett and Aaron Martin completed the top five.
A big thank you to the Ritters for stepping up their sponsorship and, as always, to Mike Van Genderen and his crew for presenting an efficient five division program in just over two and a half hours. The Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders will join the program here at the Southern Iowa Speedway next Wednesday night May 10th.
Late Model drivers Billy Moyer, Ricky Thornton Jr. and Rodney Sanders were also on hand to get in some hot laps before they head down to the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson for tonight's big MLRA show that is always a treat at the racy D-shaped 3/8th-mile. Not only will the Late Models be racing for a $3,000 top prize, but all four support classed have added money as well with the Modifieds, Stock Cars and Sport Mods looking for $1,000-to-win and the Sport Compacts racing for $300-to-win. The forecast is for dry, but cool conditions tonight so bring an extra jacket and let's go racing!
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