Just eight days prior to his induction into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, Terry McCarl again proved why he will join that elite class with both his helmet on, and his helmet off at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson Friday night. Not only did he use a late race pass to complete a clean sweep for the evening, but in both of his victory lane interviews after the Dash and feature wins he showed his appreciation to the fans who make the sport of Sprint Car racing possible.
Another stout field of twenty-seven Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders signed in on what turned out to be a beautiful evening for racing after skies had threatened earlier in the day. Qualifying events set the field of twenty for the twenty-five lap main event with Jamie Ball getting the jump on pole-sitter Nate Van Haaften to take the lead. Chris Martin would settle in to second while McCarl, who had started sixth, quickly moved to third.
The only caution of the race would be needed on lap eight when Donnie Steward apparently clipped an infield tire and spun in turn two with a broken front end. On the restart the lead trio of Ball, Martin and McCarl again left the field in their wake and when lapped traffic started to mix in things got very interesting. After warding off a big slider from McCarl in turn two, Martin found some new speed and reeled in the leader passing Ball going down the back stretch on lap seventeen. However, when the defending series champion jumped the cushion entering turn three, Ball would drive right back by Martin to retain his lead in the score book.
Martin's bobble would also allow McCarl to drive by him a lap later into second and he was soon right on the rear push bar of the leader with just five laps to go. Ball was strong though and would ward off the challenge for the next two laps, but when he slipped a bit too high exiting turn four with three to go the soon to be Hall of Famer took advantage and would lead the closing laps to take the win. In victory lane McCarl was quick to thank promoter Mike Van Genderen for a perfectly prepared race track and, just as he had done earlier in the night when he also ran into the stands to present his Dash winner's trophy to a young fan, McCarl thanked the fans for coming out to the track. Ball would hold off Chris Martin for second, Randy Martin survived a first lap skirmish with his son Evan to finish in fourth while two-time Sprint Invader champion Jon Agan filled out the top five.
For a full race story and results visit OpenWheel101.
Those threatening skies earlier in the day did more than just threaten in Columbus Junction, Davenport and Farley so there were extra cars in four out of five of Lee County's weekly divisions and with the Vintage Sprint Cars on hand as well the pit area swelled with 128 cars.
Twenty-one IMCA Modifieds would take the green for twenty laps with Michael Long coming from the inside of row three to nip Steve Stewart at the line on the opening lap. A caution for a three car tangle in turn one would then put Long in front for the restart and Hunter Marriott who had started eighth would take up the chase. Long was strong and while Marriott would try just about every line he could think of he could not get closer than five car lengths from the leader as Long cruised to victory. Marriott was second, Colby Springsteen took third, Brandon Banks came from tenth to fourth and Jarrett Brown finished fifth after starting in the seventh row.
The IMCA Stock Cars had another classic with this one featuring John Oliver Jr. and Jason Cook doing battle up front after they were able to work around early leader Jim Redman. Cook would take the lead on lap seven with Oliver in tow and those two would then race side-by-side for the lead for the next seven laps before Oliver edged ahead with three laps to go. Cook would stay close over those final laps and would make one last bid coming to the checkers as Oliver won by just less than a car length at the line. Shane Paris finished in the third position, Jeremy Pundt was fourth and Redman completed the top five.
Tommy Elston dominated the UMP Pro Late Model feature after drawing the pole position. The race to watch was for second as Jeff Guengerich fought off Sam Halstead while Denny Woodworth and Todd Frank were next in line. Popular driver Matt Strassheim returned to racing in a second car owned by Lynn and Karen Richard and he finished sixth in his Crate Late Model debut.
Oliver made it a two win night as he went flag-to-flag to win the Sport Mod feature. Up until tonight the Cossel racing #15 had been fighting gremlins all season so with the average point invert Oliver started from the outside of row one. Tony Dunker raced his way into second after starting ninth with Brandon Lennox running third. Logan Anderson finished fourth, Jim Gillenwater returned from his hard crash at the Farley Super Modified weekend with a fifth-place finish while Jake Morris made the long trip down from McCausland to run sixth.
The Sport Compacts were the first feature of the night and when Daniel Fellows quickly moved to the lead from his third starting spot it looked like this one would be a race for second. Brandon Lambert had other ideas though as he tracked down Fellows and passed him for the win, Mike Reu finished in third after a spirited battle with his son Brandon while Kimberly Abbott filled out the top five.
The Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders will close out a three race week tomorrow night (Sunday) at 34 Raceway in Burlington.
The Lee County Speedway will host the Lucas Oil MLRA Late Models next Friday night, the second of a three night swing after the regional Late Model series runs on Thursday night June 1st at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis.
Saturday, May 27, 2017
Thursday, May 25, 2017
May Sprint Week On The Back Stretch
You would think that with all of the rain outs lately I would have had time to write something here, but with several busy days at work and frankly not much in racing that caught my interest (too many rain outs) I haven't found the time or the need. After this, you might even say "well, he found some time, but did he "need" to?"
Amazing the effect on the internet forum boards that just the mention of the town of Belle Plaine has made.
Usually my Sprint Car fix is delivered over a three week period in August with both the 360 and 410 Nationals at Knoxville followed up by the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders Nationals weekend, and while that little slice of heaven still lies ahead on the schedule I am getting a bit of an appetizer this week with four winged sprint shows in five nights starting with last night's "Mega Wednesday" program at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa.
The Sprint Invaders were originally scheduled to run there on May 10, but when severe weather wiped that out the show was moved to the 17th where it was again knocked out by violent weather in the region. The Karl Chevrolet Dirt Truck Series was already scheduled to join the weekly five division program on the 24th, but promoter Mike Van Genderen rolled the dice and added the Invaders as well making it a seven class show on a Wednesday night. After a weekend where nearly every track in the region was washed out, the second time that had happened over a four week run, drivers were obviously anxious to get back to racing and that resulted 113 race vehicles (cars, trucks and those funny looking things with the sail panels on top) signing in including a couple that were an absolute surprise.
Van Genderen takes pride in running a fast show with the next heat race taking the green before the poor old announcer can catch his breath after asking for a round of applause for the winner of the previous heat (believe me, I know!), but the Sprints can present a challenge in keeping up that pace. Still, the final checkers waved right around 11:30 and the good sized crowd on hand, whether they left after their favorite class was completed or stayed until the end went out with a smile on their face having seen some great racing on a track that the drivers could use from bottom to top.
While the Sprint Cars were the headliners, it is seldom that any division upstages the Stock Cars at Osky and that was the case again on this night as the lead pack often consisted of five or more cars racing two and three-wide with lead changes among four different drivers. Nathan Wood had mechanical issues on the final lap of his heat race dropping him to the rear in the feature line up, but it was obvious that they had squashed the gremlins as he picked his way through the field to take the lead late in the race. Another driver who had started back in the pack, Cayden Carter moved to second in the closing laps and as the white flag waved Wood's car showed a wisp of smoke entering turn one. Carter saw his chance and tried the leader on the high side through turns three and four giving the fans a drag race to the checkers that was won by Carter.
The old announcer (me) screwed up and actually said that Terry McCarl would soon be inducted into the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame knowing full well that the Sprint Car Hall is his true destination, proof of why I don't do this on a weekly basis anymore! T-Mac and his son Carson would start from the front row in the 25-lap Sprint Invader main event that would run non-stop on the wide and fast surface. Ian Madsen would track down the McCarl family and pass them in traffic to take the win and for the details and results of that race take a click on my colleague Bill Wright's site OpenWheel101.
Keith Schmitt towed his IMCA Sport Mod all the way in from Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, but he was like the rest of the field chasing Curtis Van Der Wal who had a full straightaway on runner-up Carter VanDenberg who himself had a full straightaway on the third-place finisher.
Daniel Fellows picked up his third Sport Compact win at Oskaloosa in this his rookie season in a race car after having raced dirt bikes in the past and Shannon Anderson remained perfect here in Hobby Stock action, although he had to work for this one as drivers raced two and three wide in front of him for the first half of the race.
Steve Jackson had to battle back after Brad Moyer passed him early to take his second Dirt Truck win here and Cayden Carter debuted his new VanderBuilt chassis in fine fashion to win the Modified main event as well. Nearly as impressive was young Derrick Stewart who who made a splash in his first trip to Oskaloosa by winning his heat from the back and then running second to Carter in the finale for the evening.
It was a pleasure to fill in for regular announcer Tony Paris who had a baseball game with his son Tyson, but that meant that the notebook stayed in the car for the night. For more details check out Dick and Joyce's 4dFan Report, Ed Reichert's One Fan's Travels and Brian Neal's Midwest Racing News. If their Osky reports aren't there now, they will be soon.
Spring Sprint Week continues Friday night with the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Saturday I will get my first trip to Knoxville in for the season and on Sunday night it will be back with the Sprint Invaders at 34 Raceway west of Burlington.
Hope to see you there!
Amazing the effect on the internet forum boards that just the mention of the town of Belle Plaine has made.
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| Ian Madsen - Barry Johnson photo |
The Sprint Invaders were originally scheduled to run there on May 10, but when severe weather wiped that out the show was moved to the 17th where it was again knocked out by violent weather in the region. The Karl Chevrolet Dirt Truck Series was already scheduled to join the weekly five division program on the 24th, but promoter Mike Van Genderen rolled the dice and added the Invaders as well making it a seven class show on a Wednesday night. After a weekend where nearly every track in the region was washed out, the second time that had happened over a four week run, drivers were obviously anxious to get back to racing and that resulted 113 race vehicles (cars, trucks and those funny looking things with the sail panels on top) signing in including a couple that were an absolute surprise.
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| Cayden Carter creates an even lower groove - Barry Johnson photo |
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| Steve Jackson - Barry Johnson photo |
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| Curtis Van Der Wal - Barry Johnson photo |
Keith Schmitt towed his IMCA Sport Mod all the way in from Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, but he was like the rest of the field chasing Curtis Van Der Wal who had a full straightaway on runner-up Carter VanDenberg who himself had a full straightaway on the third-place finisher.
Daniel Fellows picked up his third Sport Compact win at Oskaloosa in this his rookie season in a race car after having raced dirt bikes in the past and Shannon Anderson remained perfect here in Hobby Stock action, although he had to work for this one as drivers raced two and three wide in front of him for the first half of the race.
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| Daniel Fellows doesn't know what to think of the old announcer |
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| My long-time friend Mike Leffler joins Shannon Anderson |
Spring Sprint Week continues Friday night with the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Saturday I will get my first trip to Knoxville in for the season and on Sunday night it will be back with the Sprint Invaders at 34 Raceway west of Burlington.
Hope to see you there!
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| Photographer Barry Johnson dubbed Carter's new ride "The Batmobile" |
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Sport Compacts Deliver A Three-Wide Finish At CJ
The Sport Compact division rarely gets lead billing, and on this warm and windy Tuesday evening where the track conditions were not conducive to good racing in the other two divisions the four cylinders delivered with a thrilling race that went right down to the wire. This was the first of four Tuesday night specials that the CJ Speedway in Columbus Junction will hold in 2017 as a compliment to their weekly Friday night races.
Twenty-three Sport Compacts were on hand racing for a healthy $500-to-win with a solid payback throughout the field and many of the best in the area were in attendance. Dan Campbell would emerge as the leader on the opening lap of fifteen before Darin Smith slipped under him on lap two. Kimberly Abbott then moved into second and would shadow Smith until the red flag waved on lap six. Brady Wilkerson and Alyssa Steele had collided in turn one and track officials wanted to check on the drivers after a hard hit. Both were okay, although there was apparently a discussion in the pits later in the evening.
On the Delaware double-file restart Smith moved to the bottom to block the run from Abbott leaving the outside open for Daniel Fellows who pulled even with the leader in turn one and then nosed ahead at the exit of turn two. Smith kept digging though and he would stay to the inside of Fellows entering turn three to retain the lead as lap seven was scored, and in the scramble it would be Jake Benischek who would move to second. Abbott was able to get back by Benischek for second on lap eight only to have Jake return the favor on lap nine as Smith tried to slip away.
Once he settled into second Benischek quickly closed back in on Smith with Abbott close behind in a three car breakaway from the rest of the field and as the laps clicked away they ran single file bumper to bumper waiting for Smith to make a mistake. That was not going to happen though so as the white flag waved Benischek made his move muscling to the inside of Smith going into turn one. The power move worked and Benischek was the new leader going down the back stretch, but Smith was not about to give in and when Jake left the door open just enough in turn four Darin applied his own aggressive move to get underneath and the two drivers now had a drag race to the checkers ahead of them. Abbott was right there as well hoping for contact between the two in front of her and as they crossed the stripe it was Smith the winner by half a car length over Benischek in second and just a car length over Abbott in third. Austen Becerra and Craig Bangert who both started in the fifth row completed the top five. It should also be noted that Benischek and mid-race contender Fellows had come from the sixth row.
Stock Cars and Sport Mods were also on the card tonight with their features serving as book ends to the Sport Compact thriller.
Mike Hughes would lead the first four laps of the sixteen-lap Stock Car main before Jeff Murphy spun in turn three. On the restart, as Hughes hugged the bottom, Dustin Griffiths tried the next line higher and found the bite in turn two to take the lead down the back stretch. It was follow the leader from there as Griffiths, the 2014 All Iowa Points Hobby Stock champion earned his first feature win in the Stock Cars in this his rookie season in the division. Hughes would finish second, John Oliver Jr. was third, Nathan Wood took fourth ahead of Adam Bell.
The Sport Mod feature was on the speedway and ready to close out the evening when they were stopped on the front stretch as law enforcement officers were called to handle the before mentioned "discussion". Once they arrived racing resumed and on the opening lap Dalton Simonsen would come from third to take the lead. That effort was wiped out though when Jason Delzell, Ryan Walker and Brendon Schultheis all spun in turn three reverting the field to an original restart. On the second try pole-sitter Troy Philpott would stick his car on the bottom in turns one and two holding Simonsen at bay and leading the entire distance despite two more cautions for Schultheis spins. Philpott was the winner with Simonsen in second, Austen Becerra came from seventh up to third making the most of those two restarts as Carter VanDenberg and Aaron Osweiler filled out the top five.
It was my first time back at CJ in several years and this place definitely brings back memories of my youth watching the old Mississippi Valley Speedway Club drivers do battle on the big half-mile. With the big trees beyond turns one and two and all the way down the back chute behind the levee it is a beautiful setting and it was definitely noticeable just how much higher the levee is now. Drivers used to be able to use it as a big cushion exiting turn two, but not anymore!
The track is on an upswing right now with their weekly show as they recently dropped two divisions that never drew more than ten competitors and they took some, if not all of that purse money and added it into the four remaining weekly classes of Modifieds, Stock Cars, Sport Mods and Sport Compacts. The result has been a four division program that has averaged a total of 62 cars over the first four Friday nights this season. I can give them a pass on the track prep on this night as it was a difficult evening weather wise to have a good dirt track and I definitely have their next Tuesday night special that will feature the Sport Mods on my calendar for June 13th.
The Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders event that was scheduled for tonight, May 17th, at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa has been postponed to next Wednesday May 24th due to the threat of severe weather in the area today and tonight. Hope to see you there next week!
Twenty-three Sport Compacts were on hand racing for a healthy $500-to-win with a solid payback throughout the field and many of the best in the area were in attendance. Dan Campbell would emerge as the leader on the opening lap of fifteen before Darin Smith slipped under him on lap two. Kimberly Abbott then moved into second and would shadow Smith until the red flag waved on lap six. Brady Wilkerson and Alyssa Steele had collided in turn one and track officials wanted to check on the drivers after a hard hit. Both were okay, although there was apparently a discussion in the pits later in the evening.
On the Delaware double-file restart Smith moved to the bottom to block the run from Abbott leaving the outside open for Daniel Fellows who pulled even with the leader in turn one and then nosed ahead at the exit of turn two. Smith kept digging though and he would stay to the inside of Fellows entering turn three to retain the lead as lap seven was scored, and in the scramble it would be Jake Benischek who would move to second. Abbott was able to get back by Benischek for second on lap eight only to have Jake return the favor on lap nine as Smith tried to slip away.
Once he settled into second Benischek quickly closed back in on Smith with Abbott close behind in a three car breakaway from the rest of the field and as the laps clicked away they ran single file bumper to bumper waiting for Smith to make a mistake. That was not going to happen though so as the white flag waved Benischek made his move muscling to the inside of Smith going into turn one. The power move worked and Benischek was the new leader going down the back stretch, but Smith was not about to give in and when Jake left the door open just enough in turn four Darin applied his own aggressive move to get underneath and the two drivers now had a drag race to the checkers ahead of them. Abbott was right there as well hoping for contact between the two in front of her and as they crossed the stripe it was Smith the winner by half a car length over Benischek in second and just a car length over Abbott in third. Austen Becerra and Craig Bangert who both started in the fifth row completed the top five. It should also be noted that Benischek and mid-race contender Fellows had come from the sixth row.
Stock Cars and Sport Mods were also on the card tonight with their features serving as book ends to the Sport Compact thriller.
Mike Hughes would lead the first four laps of the sixteen-lap Stock Car main before Jeff Murphy spun in turn three. On the restart, as Hughes hugged the bottom, Dustin Griffiths tried the next line higher and found the bite in turn two to take the lead down the back stretch. It was follow the leader from there as Griffiths, the 2014 All Iowa Points Hobby Stock champion earned his first feature win in the Stock Cars in this his rookie season in the division. Hughes would finish second, John Oliver Jr. was third, Nathan Wood took fourth ahead of Adam Bell.
The Sport Mod feature was on the speedway and ready to close out the evening when they were stopped on the front stretch as law enforcement officers were called to handle the before mentioned "discussion". Once they arrived racing resumed and on the opening lap Dalton Simonsen would come from third to take the lead. That effort was wiped out though when Jason Delzell, Ryan Walker and Brendon Schultheis all spun in turn three reverting the field to an original restart. On the second try pole-sitter Troy Philpott would stick his car on the bottom in turns one and two holding Simonsen at bay and leading the entire distance despite two more cautions for Schultheis spins. Philpott was the winner with Simonsen in second, Austen Becerra came from seventh up to third making the most of those two restarts as Carter VanDenberg and Aaron Osweiler filled out the top five.
It was my first time back at CJ in several years and this place definitely brings back memories of my youth watching the old Mississippi Valley Speedway Club drivers do battle on the big half-mile. With the big trees beyond turns one and two and all the way down the back chute behind the levee it is a beautiful setting and it was definitely noticeable just how much higher the levee is now. Drivers used to be able to use it as a big cushion exiting turn two, but not anymore!
The track is on an upswing right now with their weekly show as they recently dropped two divisions that never drew more than ten competitors and they took some, if not all of that purse money and added it into the four remaining weekly classes of Modifieds, Stock Cars, Sport Mods and Sport Compacts. The result has been a four division program that has averaged a total of 62 cars over the first four Friday nights this season. I can give them a pass on the track prep on this night as it was a difficult evening weather wise to have a good dirt track and I definitely have their next Tuesday night special that will feature the Sport Mods on my calendar for June 13th.
The Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders event that was scheduled for tonight, May 17th, at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa has been postponed to next Wednesday May 24th due to the threat of severe weather in the area today and tonight. Hope to see you there next week!
Monday, May 15, 2017
The Ironman Wards Off the Rookie at Quad City Speedway
Darrel DeFrance has been at each and every Summer Series event since the first one held in 1987 and even he will probably admit that for a few years recently he was going just to keep the streak alive. This year is different though as he showed from the opener in Burlington on April 1st that he has a car that is capable of running up front and on Sunday night at the Quad City Speedway in East Moline "The Ironman" stayed in front throughout the entire forty laps holding off a late charge from series rookie Jesse Sobbing to take a popular Deery Brothers Summer Series victory.
DeFrance and Sobbing would start from the front row for the Late Model main event and they would choose two distinct lines as soon as the green flag waved. DeFrance would hug the bottom, the short way around the quarter-mile bullring, while Sobbing would climb the banking and pound the cushion up top looking to launch off of the corners and down the straightaways. The short way around would have the advantage with DeFrance leading the way and, as those low groove running drivers continued to move the track markers further into the infield, that short way around got even shorter rendering the top side useless as Sobbing faded out of the top five.
The track at East Moline is essentially a bowl of dirt that is flat in the middle and then rises up some on the straights and even more on both ends. The track itself is marked out by white painted tires with four larger utility tires marking the entrance and the exit to each set of corners while there are two smaller tires in each set of turns that set the apex of the corners and the track is prepared (watered and packed) based upon these markings. The problem though is with the nose pieces of these Late Models as they are, a driver who is trying to run the lowest line possible will hit these smaller corner markers and move them around like the pucks on a table shuffleboard game so during the green flag segment from lap twelve to thirty-one the once quarter-mile distance was reduced significantly as drivers were now racing through the unprepared infield on both ends creating a dust bowl like you wouldn't believe.
The caution waved on lap thirty-one when Curt Martin tangled with the lapped car of Paul Conrad as they worked through the infield near what was once turn four and during the caution track officials moved the shuffleboard pucks, er track tires, back into their original positions for the restart. So now the situation was this. Having raced through the infield for the past several laps, the actual low groove of the racing surface now had a lot of dry dirt that had been thrown on top of the hard packed surface making that bottom groove quite slick, while the top line that was quite treacherous with a heavy cushion especially in one and two, was still relatively clean.
On the restart DeFrance and his primary challenger Jeremiah Hurst stayed with the low line while Sobbing and Rob Toland used the top to race their way up from outside of the top five. A caution with five laps to go when Luke Goedert spun in turn one and was clobbered by Joe Zrostlik slowed the high side assault, but now Sobbing was back to third and was more than pleased when Hurst chose the inside line for the Delaware style restart. Whether he knew it or not, the move of the night by DeFrance came when he mashed the throttle early in turn three for the restart as this did not allow Sobbing to get a good start and it then took him a lap before he drove around Hurst for second. It was obvious that the top was now better and Sobbing nearly pulled alongside the leader going down the back stretch on lap thirty-seven, but when the challenger bobbled a bit on the cushion with two to go Sobbing lost some ground coming to the white flag.
On the final lap though Sobbing nailed the cushion perfectly in one and two and then drove it deep into turn three to give himself a chance for victory, but the veteran driver did not flinch and the cushion was not as fast in three and four leaving Sobbing just a car-length short as DeFrance secured the win. Hurst was not far behind in third, Toland started tenth and finished fourth while Ray Guss Jr. drove the Brad Coin owned #28c from the ninth row up to fifth. Luke Merfeld finished sixth, current series point leader Jake Neal started twelfth and finished seventh, southwest Iowa driver Josh Most got an unexpected Late Model ride and finished eighth, more on that in a moment, while Chad Holladay and Matt Ryan both came from deep in the pack to complete the top ten.
After competing at Farley's big Modified event on Friday and Saturday Josh Most decided to drop in at East Moline before heading back to Red Oak and was pitted next to local driver Phil Anderson who is in his rookie season of driving an IMCA Late Model. When Anderson was called away for a work obligation Most was given the opportunity to drive Anderson #35 Late Model as well for the evening and, I guess you could say that he made the "most" of that opportunity by finishing second in his heat and eighth in the feature.
Most was also a part of the twenty car field of IMCA Modifieds that had a devil of a time getting their twenty lap feature underway as on the first try the fifth-starting Milo Veloz slid sideways in turn one collecting both Eric Barnes and Jason Pershy. Top contenders Veloz and Pershy were done for the night while Barnes would start at the rear after going pit side to make some repairs. Just before the second try at a start Craig Crawford had a right front tire go down so he had to give up his third starting position to duck into the pits and make the change. Track officials waited on Crawford and when he returned the green flag waved, but only briefly as Jacob Copley got sideways in turn one causing Chris Lawrence to spin and he was then hit hard by Crawford.
The third try at a start did see one lap scored with Brandon Durbin leading the way before Josh Most spun in turn one. One more lap was put in the books following the restart before Rob Toland made a rare mistake and spun the Doug Curless owned #99 in turn two causing Jeff Claussen and Brian Bushong to pile up behind him. The field was put in single file formation for the next restart and finally some consecutive green flag laps were run with Bryce Garnhart stalking Durbin for the lead. As they closed in on a lapped car that was working the bottom on lap eight, Durbin tried to squeeze to the bottom while Garnhart charged to the outside and that would allow Garnhart to take the lead just before John Ahlers and Crawford tangled in turn three.
Once back to green the remaining cars were able to complete the final twelve laps without incident as Garnhart cruised to victory ahead of Durbin and T.J. Patz. Toland was able to make his way back up to fourth while Matt Werner completed the top five.
The IMCA Sport Mod feature was the first of four to be run and it too started off on the wrong foot when Rick Schriner spun off of turn two on the opening lap collecting Dan Hahn. The field was reassembled and Casey Wages would lead the way for four laps before the second place car of Jared Coppejans spun exiting turn four. When back to racing Wages would protect the bottom as Andrew Burk, Rick Wages and Dustin Schram applied the pressure with Schram, who had started tenth moving up to second. On lap seven the leader pushed a bit exiting turn two and Schram worked his way underneath him to complete the pass of Wages exiting turn four.
Coppejans would spin again on lap eleven and Justin Veloz would loop his car on lap twelve and again in the same place on the ensuing restart. The race would then close out with a green-white-checkers with Schram the winner ahead of Rick Wages, Brandon Jewell, Casey Wages and Andrew Burk.
With two drivers needing to jump out of their Modifieds and into their Late Models, the Four Cylinder feature that is normally run last here on weekly shows was sent to the track before the Late Models with twenty-four cars taking the green for twelve laps. Josh Werkmeister would lead the way from the pole position for the first four laps before a fire under the hood of Dan Dillon's car stopped the race. On the restart Brett Marshall would takeover just before Ken Stogdell spun in turn four and one more caution would wave on lap ten when Thomas Adams stopped on the front stretch with a flat tire. Dustin Begyn would try to mount a challenge in the final two laps, but there would be no catching Marshall who came from the tenth starting spot to take the win. Begyn was followed by Rob Harding Jr., Josh Stanley and Josh Sample.
While it made for an interesting scenario in the closing laps of the Late Model feature I do hope that the Quad City Speedway can come up with a better way of keeping the cars on the race track that was prepared because, when it is done right, this place offers up two distinct racing lines that are typically very equal come feature time. And, at the very least, they need to soak the dirt on the infield in the corners to both discourage drivers from racing through there and to keep the dust storm from happening as my eyes are still burning on this Monday morning.
Plans for plenty of competition on a track for me in the week ahead as on Tuesday night the CJ Speedway in Columbus Junction will host their first of four Tuesday night specials, this one featuring the Sport Compacts racing for $500-to-win with the Stock Cars and Sport Mods also in action. On Wednesday the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders will try it again at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, an event that was postponed from last Wednesday due to rain and hopefully the forecast for this Wednesday brightens over the next two days. We will then make our annual trip to the Iowa high school state track meet on Friday and Saturday with the traditional stop at the Knoxville Raceway on the home. Whether it is at a dirt track or on the blue oval at Drake Stadium we will be enjoying the action on the Back Stretch.
DeFrance and Sobbing would start from the front row for the Late Model main event and they would choose two distinct lines as soon as the green flag waved. DeFrance would hug the bottom, the short way around the quarter-mile bullring, while Sobbing would climb the banking and pound the cushion up top looking to launch off of the corners and down the straightaways. The short way around would have the advantage with DeFrance leading the way and, as those low groove running drivers continued to move the track markers further into the infield, that short way around got even shorter rendering the top side useless as Sobbing faded out of the top five.
The track at East Moline is essentially a bowl of dirt that is flat in the middle and then rises up some on the straights and even more on both ends. The track itself is marked out by white painted tires with four larger utility tires marking the entrance and the exit to each set of corners while there are two smaller tires in each set of turns that set the apex of the corners and the track is prepared (watered and packed) based upon these markings. The problem though is with the nose pieces of these Late Models as they are, a driver who is trying to run the lowest line possible will hit these smaller corner markers and move them around like the pucks on a table shuffleboard game so during the green flag segment from lap twelve to thirty-one the once quarter-mile distance was reduced significantly as drivers were now racing through the unprepared infield on both ends creating a dust bowl like you wouldn't believe.
The caution waved on lap thirty-one when Curt Martin tangled with the lapped car of Paul Conrad as they worked through the infield near what was once turn four and during the caution track officials moved the shuffleboard pucks, er track tires, back into their original positions for the restart. So now the situation was this. Having raced through the infield for the past several laps, the actual low groove of the racing surface now had a lot of dry dirt that had been thrown on top of the hard packed surface making that bottom groove quite slick, while the top line that was quite treacherous with a heavy cushion especially in one and two, was still relatively clean.
On the restart DeFrance and his primary challenger Jeremiah Hurst stayed with the low line while Sobbing and Rob Toland used the top to race their way up from outside of the top five. A caution with five laps to go when Luke Goedert spun in turn one and was clobbered by Joe Zrostlik slowed the high side assault, but now Sobbing was back to third and was more than pleased when Hurst chose the inside line for the Delaware style restart. Whether he knew it or not, the move of the night by DeFrance came when he mashed the throttle early in turn three for the restart as this did not allow Sobbing to get a good start and it then took him a lap before he drove around Hurst for second. It was obvious that the top was now better and Sobbing nearly pulled alongside the leader going down the back stretch on lap thirty-seven, but when the challenger bobbled a bit on the cushion with two to go Sobbing lost some ground coming to the white flag.
On the final lap though Sobbing nailed the cushion perfectly in one and two and then drove it deep into turn three to give himself a chance for victory, but the veteran driver did not flinch and the cushion was not as fast in three and four leaving Sobbing just a car-length short as DeFrance secured the win. Hurst was not far behind in third, Toland started tenth and finished fourth while Ray Guss Jr. drove the Brad Coin owned #28c from the ninth row up to fifth. Luke Merfeld finished sixth, current series point leader Jake Neal started twelfth and finished seventh, southwest Iowa driver Josh Most got an unexpected Late Model ride and finished eighth, more on that in a moment, while Chad Holladay and Matt Ryan both came from deep in the pack to complete the top ten.
After competing at Farley's big Modified event on Friday and Saturday Josh Most decided to drop in at East Moline before heading back to Red Oak and was pitted next to local driver Phil Anderson who is in his rookie season of driving an IMCA Late Model. When Anderson was called away for a work obligation Most was given the opportunity to drive Anderson #35 Late Model as well for the evening and, I guess you could say that he made the "most" of that opportunity by finishing second in his heat and eighth in the feature.
Most was also a part of the twenty car field of IMCA Modifieds that had a devil of a time getting their twenty lap feature underway as on the first try the fifth-starting Milo Veloz slid sideways in turn one collecting both Eric Barnes and Jason Pershy. Top contenders Veloz and Pershy were done for the night while Barnes would start at the rear after going pit side to make some repairs. Just before the second try at a start Craig Crawford had a right front tire go down so he had to give up his third starting position to duck into the pits and make the change. Track officials waited on Crawford and when he returned the green flag waved, but only briefly as Jacob Copley got sideways in turn one causing Chris Lawrence to spin and he was then hit hard by Crawford.
The third try at a start did see one lap scored with Brandon Durbin leading the way before Josh Most spun in turn one. One more lap was put in the books following the restart before Rob Toland made a rare mistake and spun the Doug Curless owned #99 in turn two causing Jeff Claussen and Brian Bushong to pile up behind him. The field was put in single file formation for the next restart and finally some consecutive green flag laps were run with Bryce Garnhart stalking Durbin for the lead. As they closed in on a lapped car that was working the bottom on lap eight, Durbin tried to squeeze to the bottom while Garnhart charged to the outside and that would allow Garnhart to take the lead just before John Ahlers and Crawford tangled in turn three.
Once back to green the remaining cars were able to complete the final twelve laps without incident as Garnhart cruised to victory ahead of Durbin and T.J. Patz. Toland was able to make his way back up to fourth while Matt Werner completed the top five.
The IMCA Sport Mod feature was the first of four to be run and it too started off on the wrong foot when Rick Schriner spun off of turn two on the opening lap collecting Dan Hahn. The field was reassembled and Casey Wages would lead the way for four laps before the second place car of Jared Coppejans spun exiting turn four. When back to racing Wages would protect the bottom as Andrew Burk, Rick Wages and Dustin Schram applied the pressure with Schram, who had started tenth moving up to second. On lap seven the leader pushed a bit exiting turn two and Schram worked his way underneath him to complete the pass of Wages exiting turn four.
Coppejans would spin again on lap eleven and Justin Veloz would loop his car on lap twelve and again in the same place on the ensuing restart. The race would then close out with a green-white-checkers with Schram the winner ahead of Rick Wages, Brandon Jewell, Casey Wages and Andrew Burk.
With two drivers needing to jump out of their Modifieds and into their Late Models, the Four Cylinder feature that is normally run last here on weekly shows was sent to the track before the Late Models with twenty-four cars taking the green for twelve laps. Josh Werkmeister would lead the way from the pole position for the first four laps before a fire under the hood of Dan Dillon's car stopped the race. On the restart Brett Marshall would takeover just before Ken Stogdell spun in turn four and one more caution would wave on lap ten when Thomas Adams stopped on the front stretch with a flat tire. Dustin Begyn would try to mount a challenge in the final two laps, but there would be no catching Marshall who came from the tenth starting spot to take the win. Begyn was followed by Rob Harding Jr., Josh Stanley and Josh Sample.
While it made for an interesting scenario in the closing laps of the Late Model feature I do hope that the Quad City Speedway can come up with a better way of keeping the cars on the race track that was prepared because, when it is done right, this place offers up two distinct racing lines that are typically very equal come feature time. And, at the very least, they need to soak the dirt on the infield in the corners to both discourage drivers from racing through there and to keep the dust storm from happening as my eyes are still burning on this Monday morning.
Plans for plenty of competition on a track for me in the week ahead as on Tuesday night the CJ Speedway in Columbus Junction will host their first of four Tuesday night specials, this one featuring the Sport Compacts racing for $500-to-win with the Stock Cars and Sport Mods also in action. On Wednesday the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders will try it again at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, an event that was postponed from last Wednesday due to rain and hopefully the forecast for this Wednesday brightens over the next two days. We will then make our annual trip to the Iowa high school state track meet on Friday and Saturday with the traditional stop at the Knoxville Raceway on the home. Whether it is at a dirt track or on the blue oval at Drake Stadium we will be enjoying the action on the Back Stretch.
Friday, May 12, 2017
New Winners Enjoy A Friday Night In Donnellson
Perfect weather conditions made for an enjoyable evening of weekly racing at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson Friday night with some new faces showing up in victory lane.
The IMCA Sport Compacts were the first of five feature races to be contested on 101.7 The Bull Night at the speedway and it was a four wide scramble once the green flag waved. Daniel Fellows would lead the first two laps before Barry Taft charged past and Taft would then ward off the challenges of Kimberly Abbott over the final twelve circuits to take the win. Taft started sixth while Abbott came from seventh. Brandon Lambert edged out Fellows for third while opening night winner Travis DeMint completed the top five.
Scott Jordan and Kevin Koontz would lead the Stock Car field to green, but it would be Jason Cook coming from the inside of row two to grab the lead on lap one. A caution on lap eleven would bring Cook back to the field for the restart and while John Oliver Jr. came from tenth to second he could not chase down Cook over the final nine laps with Jason taking the win. Oliver padded his point lead in second, Abe Huls was third followed by Jason See and Dustin Griffiths.
The UMP Pro Late Model feature saw a great battle early between Jeff Guengerich and Denny Woodworth as the two would come off of turn four side-by-side lap after lap with Guengerich using the momentum off of the top side to hold the lead each time at the stripe. After a lap seven restart Sam Halstead made it a three car race for the lead as Woodworth again would pull even with Guengerich, but could not complete the pass. As the laps clicked away though Guengerich was able to put a car length or two on his challengers and claim his first victory of the season in Lynn and Karen Richard's car #15R. Woodworth was the runner-up ahead of Halstead, Tommy Elston came from tenth to fourth and Nick Marolf rounded out the top five.
The IMCA odified feature went twenty laps non-stop and it would be the fourth starting Dennis LaVeine who would lead the first five trips around the D-shaped 3/8th-mile. Jeff Waterman was hooked up though and he drove under LaVeine on lap six and then pulled away to a convincing win. Blake Woodruff was a distant third, Dakota Simmons a rookie in the division was fourth and the ageless veteran Dean McGee was a solid fifth.
Austen Becerra continued the streak of drivers coming from the second row to lead the opening lap as the Sport Mods closed out the night. It did not take long for Tony Dunker to get to second and while he tried just about every line he could think of there would be no catching Becerra on this night as Austen scored the win. Dunker was second, Vance Wilson came from the fifth row to finish third, Daniel Keltner was fourth followed by Brandon Dale and 15-year-old Blaine Webster was impressive in his LCS debut running sixth.
As always the kids at the Lee County Speedway had a fun night with the Junior Fan Club activities and rides in the pace truck before each feature and the final checkers waved at 9:45. I look forward to returning to Donnellson in two weeks when the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders join the program on May 26th.
Next for me is a trip to the Quad Cities Speedway for the Deery Brothers Summer Series event on Sunday night. Hope to see you there!
The IMCA Sport Compacts were the first of five feature races to be contested on 101.7 The Bull Night at the speedway and it was a four wide scramble once the green flag waved. Daniel Fellows would lead the first two laps before Barry Taft charged past and Taft would then ward off the challenges of Kimberly Abbott over the final twelve circuits to take the win. Taft started sixth while Abbott came from seventh. Brandon Lambert edged out Fellows for third while opening night winner Travis DeMint completed the top five.
Scott Jordan and Kevin Koontz would lead the Stock Car field to green, but it would be Jason Cook coming from the inside of row two to grab the lead on lap one. A caution on lap eleven would bring Cook back to the field for the restart and while John Oliver Jr. came from tenth to second he could not chase down Cook over the final nine laps with Jason taking the win. Oliver padded his point lead in second, Abe Huls was third followed by Jason See and Dustin Griffiths.
The UMP Pro Late Model feature saw a great battle early between Jeff Guengerich and Denny Woodworth as the two would come off of turn four side-by-side lap after lap with Guengerich using the momentum off of the top side to hold the lead each time at the stripe. After a lap seven restart Sam Halstead made it a three car race for the lead as Woodworth again would pull even with Guengerich, but could not complete the pass. As the laps clicked away though Guengerich was able to put a car length or two on his challengers and claim his first victory of the season in Lynn and Karen Richard's car #15R. Woodworth was the runner-up ahead of Halstead, Tommy Elston came from tenth to fourth and Nick Marolf rounded out the top five.
The IMCA odified feature went twenty laps non-stop and it would be the fourth starting Dennis LaVeine who would lead the first five trips around the D-shaped 3/8th-mile. Jeff Waterman was hooked up though and he drove under LaVeine on lap six and then pulled away to a convincing win. Blake Woodruff was a distant third, Dakota Simmons a rookie in the division was fourth and the ageless veteran Dean McGee was a solid fifth.
Austen Becerra continued the streak of drivers coming from the second row to lead the opening lap as the Sport Mods closed out the night. It did not take long for Tony Dunker to get to second and while he tried just about every line he could think of there would be no catching Becerra on this night as Austen scored the win. Dunker was second, Vance Wilson came from the fifth row to finish third, Daniel Keltner was fourth followed by Brandon Dale and 15-year-old Blaine Webster was impressive in his LCS debut running sixth.
As always the kids at the Lee County Speedway had a fun night with the Junior Fan Club activities and rides in the pace truck before each feature and the final checkers waved at 9:45. I look forward to returning to Donnellson in two weeks when the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders join the program on May 26th.
Next for me is a trip to the Quad Cities Speedway for the Deery Brothers Summer Series event on Sunday night. Hope to see you there!
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