If you have followed the “Back Stretch” in Hawkeye Racing News over the years you know that in my December effort I will step back from my positive attitude for a moment to air a couple of complaints in a general fashion. I will do that again this year, but I am happy to say that for the second year in a row it is more of a struggle to come up with something for this column. So one of two things must be happening, either improvements are being made in how racing programs are being presented, or I am being more selective about the tracks that I am attending. Actually, I think that it is a combination of both!
Promoters, if you are not using the “one spin and you’re in” rule during heats and last chance races all I can say is, why not?! It makes me cringe when I see a driver spin and then sit until the caution appears only to then fire it up and drive away ready to assume his position for the restart, a position that is incredibly better than if he would have kept the car running and continued racing. More on that in a bit, but even worse is the driver who spins into the infield and then drives back out to the edge of the track and stops in order to draw a caution flag. When this happens, Mr. Flagman, if you don’t immediately send that driver to the pits then he is making a chump out of you, plain and simple.
When you don’t use the “one spin and you’re in” rule you are allowing drivers to interrupt the racing action that your fans are paying to see and you are extending the length of your program, something that will eventually keep some of your fans from returning to your track. And, worst of all you are rewarding the driver for doing this! That’s right, you are rewarding a driver when you put him to the back of the pack for a restart, not penalizing him. Think about it like this, if a driver spins and keeps it running and returns to racing in a heat race without causing a caution he is now likely in last place well behind the driver in front of him and probably at least a half of a lap or more behind the leader. But if he causes a caution and you restart him at the back, he is right on the rear bumper of the car in front of him and he is only as many car lengths back from the leader as there are cars in the race. Wow, that’s some “penalty”!
Put the “one spin and you’re in rule” into effect and watch your racing program improve. I really do not see how anybody can make a legitimate argument against that rule and if you are not going to step up and do it, then at least you should consider one of the ideas that Ryan Clark had in his recent “wish list” at In Staging on www.PositivelyRacing.com. Each time that a driver causes a caution, have him pay a “fine” that would go directly into the point fund for that division. That actually may be even more effective!
The only other complaint that I can come up this off-season applies only to the national Late Model touring series and it involves what I feel is the number of interruptions and delays that these series allow their drivers to create during the feature races. This past season I was at a one hundred lapper where one driver stopped on the track four different times to pull a caution just so that he could duck into the work area to either change a tire or to make chassis adjustments. Why would anybody allow this to happen? This isn’t fair to the fans, or to the other drivers who either did their homework before the green flag dropped or who are just dealing with the setup that they went with. In the past I have seen drivers stop the race as many as three times with a flat tire only to return to the track each time for the restart to race again with another tire that is likely even softer than the one before as they are given a chance on fresh rubber to run down other drivers who decided upon tires that might actually last a full one hundred laps. How fair is that? And it drives me nuts to sit through a caution period that is lengthened by a parade of drivers who stop on the front stretch to have a series official pull out sheet metal. I realize that a traveling series needs to take care of the drivers who follow them and that is why this kind of stuff is allowed, but it makes you wonder just how much better the racing would be if some rules were implemented to keep drivers from taking advantage of the situation. How about each driver is allowed one caution for a flat tire and one “I’m just gonna stop on the track because I don’t like something” caution, but after that they count toward a “two cautions and you are done” rule. And if you need some sheet metal pulled away, then head to the pits under caution and have your crew do the work! Perhaps the best one-hundred-lap race that I have ever witnessed was the Pepsi USA Late Model Nationals at 34 Raceway this September and it was run under a pretty strict rule package. Cause two cautions and you were done, and if you needed bodywork you did it in your pit area. Cautions were at a minimum and therefore long stretches of green-flag action were at a maximum. Coincidence? I don’t think so!
We made it to fifty-nine events during 2009 at twenty-two different tracks located in five different states (Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Kentucky). Once again we spent the most time, twelve nights, at the Knoxville Raceway and close behind was the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa where we spent nine evenings. The two tracks closest to my Mount Pleasant Iowa home were next in line as we made it to the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson seven times and we were at 34 Raceway just west of Burlington five times this year. We went to the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland Missouri and to the West Liberty Raceway three times each this year and we spent two nights at each of the following tracks: Lake Ozark Speedway (Eldon MO), Quincy Raceway, Marshalltown Speedway and Springfield (MO) Raceway. We attended one event each at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway, Humboldt (KS) Speedway, Benton County Speedway (Vinton IA), Iowa Speedway (Newton IA), Farley Speedway, Iowa State Fair Speedway (Des Moines IA), Independence (IA) Motor Speedway, Bloomfield Speedway, 24 Raceway (Moberly MO), US 36 Raceway (Osborn MO), Boone Speedway and the Cedar County Raceway (Tipton IA). Of those tracks above, four of them were a new site visit for us including Springfield, Humboldt, US 36 and the Iowa Speedway.
As far as series were concerned we saw the USMTS Modifieds six times, the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models five times, the MLRA Late Models on four occasions, and the World of Outlaw Sprints, the Sprint Invaders, the Lucas Oil Late Models, and the USAC Midgets twice. We caught one show each of the ASCS Sprints, the POWRi Midgets, the All Star Sprints, and the USAC Sprints. This was the first time since I can remember that I did not hit a UMP Summer Nationals event as weather shot down my plans each time. Fourteen of the fifty-nine races (23.7%) that I attended this year were “weekly shows”. I started the year with a spur of the moment road trip to Kentucky Lake on March 6th as temperatures hit the mid-70’s and my season ended in frustration when Mother Nature put an early end to Shiverfest at Donnellson on October 25th. Along the way we dodged the weather pretty well and saw some great racing with solid car counts and good crowds despite the state of the economy. Here’s hoping that the 2010 season will be a good one for all of us both at, and away from the racetrack.
Have a safe and wonderful Holiday season from Jeff, Christine, Ashley, Kyle and Morgan out here on the Back Stretch!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
USAC Sprints and Midgets to 34 Raceway
Open wheel fans will definitely be marking their 2010 calendar for Saturday night June 26th as the USAC non-wing, or "traditional", Sprint Cars and Midgets will take to the high-banks at 34 Raceway near Burlington. Promoter Amy Laue told me that the event will be unique in that it will be the first time that the two USAC sanctioned divisions have ever run together on the same night in the state of Iowa.
This was the biggest bit of news that I picked up when Christine and I popped into the track's annual banquet Saturday night after attending my cousin's wedding reception. Keep your eye on www.34raceway.com in the next few days for more details.
While the party was winding down as we arrived late it was nice to catch up with friends, and it was no surprise that many of them are the same ones that you will still find in the pits enjoying a cold one and having some fun a couple hours after the last checkered flag flies!
Have a great Turkey Day!
This was the biggest bit of news that I picked up when Christine and I popped into the track's annual banquet Saturday night after attending my cousin's wedding reception. Keep your eye on www.34raceway.com in the next few days for more details.
While the party was winding down as we arrived late it was nice to catch up with friends, and it was no surprise that many of them are the same ones that you will still find in the pits enjoying a cold one and having some fun a couple hours after the last checkered flag flies!
Have a great Turkey Day!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Weekly Racing Returns to Sedalia; Thursday's With Joe at Britt
A couple of pretty interesting happenings in our coverage area during this final full week before the Holiday season sets in. First came the announcement that Joe Ringsdorf will be the new promoter at the Hancock County Speedway in Britt for 2010. And, since Joe is pretty busy promoting Fairmont on Friday, Algona on Saturday and Mason City on Sunday, the new race night for the north central Iowa facility will be on Thursday. Throw in Alta (not promoted at this time by Ringsdorf) on Wednesday night and drivers in that area will now have the opportunity, if they choose, to race weekly five nights a week! You would never find this outside of the upper Midwest as in some regions of the country you are lucky to even find a special event on a night other than Saturday. I am guessing that the All Iowa Points championships in five divisions will run through Britt next year.
Joe always seemed to take a lot of heat on the internet forums, but fortunately that has calmed down some the last year or two. I have always been impressed with his shows when I have been able to attend them and he and his wife Marian, who sadly passed away not too long ago, were fantastic to work with when I had the NKF Tour. Here's wishing him the best of luck in Britt. The full press release can be found at http://www.imca.com/newsroom.php?newsid=2299
Down in Missouri the big news is that the State Fair Speedway in Sedalia will return to weekly racing action on Friday nights in 2010 under the guidance of a pair of Late Model drivers turned first-time-promoters in Jason Bodenhammer and Reid Millard. The big half-mile that sits in front of the spacious grandstands will see Late Models, 360 Sprints and A-Modifieds do battle each week with the season opener slated for April 16th. With three premier divisions on the card race fans will pay $12 admission and hopefully they will see that big grandstand fill in nicely as Sedalia has always been one of my favorite racing destinations. I also noted that Millard and Bodenhammer have secured the services of former Adrian Speedway promoter Glenn Portzen to handle track preparations. Portzen has a reputation for going that extra mile to provide a fantastic racing surface and I witnessed that first-hand during our NKF Tour event at Adrian in 2001. With Portzen on the job I would bet that you will never see a one-lane dusty slickathon at Sedalia!
The return of weekly racing at Sedalia cannot be good news for the folks at LA Raceway in La Monte. Only fifteen miles from Sedalia, LA sprung up when weekly racing disappeared from the state fairgrounds a few years back and the tidy little track filled the Friday night void nicely in the area. They themselves just announced this week that A-Modifieds would return to their weekly roster of divisions after taking this past year off, but it looks as though they will need to carve out a niche with their other classes (305 Sprints, B-Mods, Street Stocks and Hobby Stocks) to set them apart from Sedalia on Friday night. As always, we hope for success for both facilities!
Take a look at the Calendar page at www.PositivelyRacing.com and you will see that our 2010 Specials Calendar is already starting to take shape. One race still to go for 2009 though and that is the annual Turkey Classic at the Springfield Raceway on the Saturday afternoon after Thanksgiving. I am hoping that I can talk my wife into stopping there, but even if I cannot convince her, you will be able to check in with Kevin Trittien and TapFan's Tours to get a post-race report.
Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
Joe always seemed to take a lot of heat on the internet forums, but fortunately that has calmed down some the last year or two. I have always been impressed with his shows when I have been able to attend them and he and his wife Marian, who sadly passed away not too long ago, were fantastic to work with when I had the NKF Tour. Here's wishing him the best of luck in Britt. The full press release can be found at http://www.imca.com/newsroom.php?newsid=2299
Down in Missouri the big news is that the State Fair Speedway in Sedalia will return to weekly racing action on Friday nights in 2010 under the guidance of a pair of Late Model drivers turned first-time-promoters in Jason Bodenhammer and Reid Millard. The big half-mile that sits in front of the spacious grandstands will see Late Models, 360 Sprints and A-Modifieds do battle each week with the season opener slated for April 16th. With three premier divisions on the card race fans will pay $12 admission and hopefully they will see that big grandstand fill in nicely as Sedalia has always been one of my favorite racing destinations. I also noted that Millard and Bodenhammer have secured the services of former Adrian Speedway promoter Glenn Portzen to handle track preparations. Portzen has a reputation for going that extra mile to provide a fantastic racing surface and I witnessed that first-hand during our NKF Tour event at Adrian in 2001. With Portzen on the job I would bet that you will never see a one-lane dusty slickathon at Sedalia!
The return of weekly racing at Sedalia cannot be good news for the folks at LA Raceway in La Monte. Only fifteen miles from Sedalia, LA sprung up when weekly racing disappeared from the state fairgrounds a few years back and the tidy little track filled the Friday night void nicely in the area. They themselves just announced this week that A-Modifieds would return to their weekly roster of divisions after taking this past year off, but it looks as though they will need to carve out a niche with their other classes (305 Sprints, B-Mods, Street Stocks and Hobby Stocks) to set them apart from Sedalia on Friday night. As always, we hope for success for both facilities!
Take a look at the Calendar page at www.PositivelyRacing.com and you will see that our 2010 Specials Calendar is already starting to take shape. One race still to go for 2009 though and that is the annual Turkey Classic at the Springfield Raceway on the Saturday afternoon after Thanksgiving. I am hoping that I can talk my wife into stopping there, but even if I cannot convince her, you will be able to check in with Kevin Trittien and TapFan's Tours to get a post-race report.
Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Three Drivers Repeat, Two Return to The Top and Three Others Take Their First All Iowa Points Championships
There were some familiar names on top of the final All Iowa Points standings for 2009 as three drivers repeated their 2008 titles and two more drivers returned to the top of their respective divisions after more than ten years. There were some new faces as well at the top though as drivers in the Modifieds, 360 Sprints and 305 Sprints picked up their first-ever “state championship”.
Ray Guss Jr. won the All Iowa Points Late Model championship three years straight in 1989, 1990 and 1991 and he returns the top of the standings in 2009 for his fourth state title. After pairing up with Hershel Roberts part way into the season, Guss went on a tear and moved past early leader Mark Burgtorf in July. “The River City Hustler” racked up fourteen feature wins and had forty-three top-five finishes on his way to the title. Terry Neal finished second to Guss on the strength of thirty-eight top-five finishes and sixteen feature race wins. The early pace-setter for the Late Models, Mark Burgtorf finished the year in the third position after taking the checkers first in seventeen feature races.
Former IMCA National Late Model champ Kevin Blum ranked in the fourth spot with Andy Eckrich being the first non-IMCA regular on the chart in fifth. Jason Frankel, Jeff Aikey, Todd Cooney, Matt Ryan and Leon Zeitner complete the top ten. Cooney (2nd), Guss (3rd), Eckrich (4th), Frankel (5th), Neal (6th) and Burgtorf (9th) are in the top ten for the second year in a row. Blum made a successful return to the Late Model ranks after finishing 110th in the 2008 Modified standings, Aikey was 38th in last year’s Late Model standings, Matt Ryan was 15th and Zeitner was 36th.
After finishing third behind Todd Shute and Ryan Ruter in the 2008 All Iowa Points Modified standings, Jeremy Mills left no doubt who would win the title in 2009 as he dominated the division beating runner-up Jay Noteboom by seventy-three points. Mills captured twenty-five feature wins this season as part of his fifty-nine top five finishes on All Iowa Points tracks. This is the first All Iowa Points title in any division for Mills although he also previously challenged for a Hobby Stock title. Noteboom tallied twenty-two feature wins and thirty-seven top fives as he improved his ranking by four spots after finishing sixth in 2008. Perhaps the surprise driver of the year in any division, Max Corporan ranked 234th in 2008, but after winning thirteen features this season he ended the year tied for third. Scott Hogan made the long trip from Vinton to Burlington every Saturday night to win the track championship at 34 Raceway and that success helped to put him in that tie for third with Corporan. Adam Larson landed in the fifth spot with Reese Coffee in sixth. Two-time AIP Modified champion Mark Schulte settled for seventh, Darin Duffy and Ryan Dolan tied for eighth while Bruce Hanford completed the top ten.
Dustin Smith made it two All Iowa Points titles in a row for the Stock Car division on the strength of twenty-five feature wins and fifty-five top fives. Mike Jergens made a big jump after finishing 26th in 2008 to second in the 2009 final standings with twenty-two feature wins to his credit. Kevin Opheim spent another year lurking near the top of the Stock Car standings finishing third this year after being tied for that same position in 2008. Illinois resident Abe Huls was another big mover coming from 22nd in 2008 to finish fourth in 2009, and Matt Greiner advanced three spots from last year to take fifth. Greg Gill wound up in the same spot that he finished last year in sixth, Andrew Burk, Donavon Smith and Trent Murphy tied for seventh while Damon Murty and Jeffrey Larson wound up deadlocked for tenth.
There was a repeat champion in the Limited Modified ranks as well with Kevin Sather claiming his second straight All Iowa Points championship. Sather will need to build a bigger trophy room as he collected twenty-nine of the feature win mementos this year as part of his forty-five top five finishes. Austin Kaplan moved up one spot on the podium over last year as he finished as the runner-up in 2009 with seventeen feature wins and forty-three top fives. Jesse Sobbing was thirteenth in the 2008 Hobby Stock standings and picked up eight points late in the year in a Limited Modified before racing his way to a third –place finish in his first full season in the division. Scott Davis was 141st last year, but this year he ran a strong fourth while northwest Iowa driver Darrin Korthals completed the top five in his rookie season in the division. The 2008 runner-up Luke Wanninger placed sixth followed by Adam Ackerman, Brett Meyer and Dan Tenold with Matt Jones and Nate Chodur tied for tenth.
The most successful driver in the state this year, at least by the All Iowa Points system, was Hobby Stock champion Shannon Anderson. The second generation driver from Atlantic rolled up forty-three feature wins as part of fifty-six top five finishes and he was never seriously challenged in the points this season taking his second straight AIP title. Chris Hovden used a three-race sweep in November to jump from fourth to second in the final standings. Hovden tallied twenty-three feature wins and thirty-six top fives and that was six “top fives” less than each of the three drivers who were next in line Devin Smith, Dustin Larson and Chad Gentz. Rusty Montagne, Nathan Wood, John Cain and Stac Schroeder rounded out the top ten as four drivers (Anderson, Smith, Gentz and Schroder) were in the top ten for the second year in a row.
A driver who resides in Mankato, Minnesota, is crowned the All Iowa Points Four Cylinder champion for 2009 in the division that saw the tightest battle for the top throughout the season. Nate Coopman won twenty-three feature races on his way to the championship after finishing sixth in the final rundown last year. Jeremy Campbell was one spot behind Coopman last year and that is where he finds himself again as the runner-up for 2009 with sixteen feature wins on his resume’. Gary Peiffer paced the field for the early part of the season and wound up in the third spot with the Chandler brothers, Brad and Nathan rounding out the top five. Justin Wacha was sixth, Tim Doocy seventh, Jay DeVries ranked eighth while Zach Ankrum came in ninth and two drivers, Bill Whalen Jr. and Joe Bunkofske, tied for tenth. Coopman, Campbell, Peiffer and Nathan Chandler were all in the top ten for the second straight year.
Terry McCarl kept Mark Dobmeier from taking his fourth straight 410 Sprint Car All Iowa Points championship in 2009 and for McCarl it was his fifth AIP title adding to the honors he received in 1994, 1996, 1998 and 1999. Dobmeier settled for second this season with 1995 AIP champion Johnny Herrera finishing in third. Brian Brown finished in the fourth position while Gregg Bakker and Scott Winters tied for fifth.
Mike Boston edged out two-time defending champion Jody Rosenboom by just two-points to win his first All Iowa Points championship in the 360 Sprint division even though none of his points were earned on Iowa soil! Boston won the track title at Eagle, Nebraska, a track that is included in the points due to the fact that it is close enough to the Iowa border and Iowa-based drivers race there on a regular basis. Jack Dover ranked third in the final standings while a teenager with a familiar last name, Robby Wolfgang, was fourth. Knoxville Raceway’s 360 Sprint Rookie-of-the-Year Jonathan Cornell finished fifth.
Bobby Mincer won on opening night and never trailed in the 305 Sprint division as he captured his first All Iowa Points championship. Fellow Burlington resident Jayson Ditsworth chased Mincer in for second, Casey Friedrichsen and Kevin Hetrick tied for third while Ryan Voss completed the top five.
For a full rundown of the 2009 All Iowa Points standings in each division click on the “Points” tab at www.PositivelyRacing.com.
Ray Guss Jr. won the All Iowa Points Late Model championship three years straight in 1989, 1990 and 1991 and he returns the top of the standings in 2009 for his fourth state title. After pairing up with Hershel Roberts part way into the season, Guss went on a tear and moved past early leader Mark Burgtorf in July. “The River City Hustler” racked up fourteen feature wins and had forty-three top-five finishes on his way to the title. Terry Neal finished second to Guss on the strength of thirty-eight top-five finishes and sixteen feature race wins. The early pace-setter for the Late Models, Mark Burgtorf finished the year in the third position after taking the checkers first in seventeen feature races.
Former IMCA National Late Model champ Kevin Blum ranked in the fourth spot with Andy Eckrich being the first non-IMCA regular on the chart in fifth. Jason Frankel, Jeff Aikey, Todd Cooney, Matt Ryan and Leon Zeitner complete the top ten. Cooney (2nd), Guss (3rd), Eckrich (4th), Frankel (5th), Neal (6th) and Burgtorf (9th) are in the top ten for the second year in a row. Blum made a successful return to the Late Model ranks after finishing 110th in the 2008 Modified standings, Aikey was 38th in last year’s Late Model standings, Matt Ryan was 15th and Zeitner was 36th.
After finishing third behind Todd Shute and Ryan Ruter in the 2008 All Iowa Points Modified standings, Jeremy Mills left no doubt who would win the title in 2009 as he dominated the division beating runner-up Jay Noteboom by seventy-three points. Mills captured twenty-five feature wins this season as part of his fifty-nine top five finishes on All Iowa Points tracks. This is the first All Iowa Points title in any division for Mills although he also previously challenged for a Hobby Stock title. Noteboom tallied twenty-two feature wins and thirty-seven top fives as he improved his ranking by four spots after finishing sixth in 2008. Perhaps the surprise driver of the year in any division, Max Corporan ranked 234th in 2008, but after winning thirteen features this season he ended the year tied for third. Scott Hogan made the long trip from Vinton to Burlington every Saturday night to win the track championship at 34 Raceway and that success helped to put him in that tie for third with Corporan. Adam Larson landed in the fifth spot with Reese Coffee in sixth. Two-time AIP Modified champion Mark Schulte settled for seventh, Darin Duffy and Ryan Dolan tied for eighth while Bruce Hanford completed the top ten.
Dustin Smith made it two All Iowa Points titles in a row for the Stock Car division on the strength of twenty-five feature wins and fifty-five top fives. Mike Jergens made a big jump after finishing 26th in 2008 to second in the 2009 final standings with twenty-two feature wins to his credit. Kevin Opheim spent another year lurking near the top of the Stock Car standings finishing third this year after being tied for that same position in 2008. Illinois resident Abe Huls was another big mover coming from 22nd in 2008 to finish fourth in 2009, and Matt Greiner advanced three spots from last year to take fifth. Greg Gill wound up in the same spot that he finished last year in sixth, Andrew Burk, Donavon Smith and Trent Murphy tied for seventh while Damon Murty and Jeffrey Larson wound up deadlocked for tenth.
There was a repeat champion in the Limited Modified ranks as well with Kevin Sather claiming his second straight All Iowa Points championship. Sather will need to build a bigger trophy room as he collected twenty-nine of the feature win mementos this year as part of his forty-five top five finishes. Austin Kaplan moved up one spot on the podium over last year as he finished as the runner-up in 2009 with seventeen feature wins and forty-three top fives. Jesse Sobbing was thirteenth in the 2008 Hobby Stock standings and picked up eight points late in the year in a Limited Modified before racing his way to a third –place finish in his first full season in the division. Scott Davis was 141st last year, but this year he ran a strong fourth while northwest Iowa driver Darrin Korthals completed the top five in his rookie season in the division. The 2008 runner-up Luke Wanninger placed sixth followed by Adam Ackerman, Brett Meyer and Dan Tenold with Matt Jones and Nate Chodur tied for tenth.
The most successful driver in the state this year, at least by the All Iowa Points system, was Hobby Stock champion Shannon Anderson. The second generation driver from Atlantic rolled up forty-three feature wins as part of fifty-six top five finishes and he was never seriously challenged in the points this season taking his second straight AIP title. Chris Hovden used a three-race sweep in November to jump from fourth to second in the final standings. Hovden tallied twenty-three feature wins and thirty-six top fives and that was six “top fives” less than each of the three drivers who were next in line Devin Smith, Dustin Larson and Chad Gentz. Rusty Montagne, Nathan Wood, John Cain and Stac Schroeder rounded out the top ten as four drivers (Anderson, Smith, Gentz and Schroder) were in the top ten for the second year in a row.
A driver who resides in Mankato, Minnesota, is crowned the All Iowa Points Four Cylinder champion for 2009 in the division that saw the tightest battle for the top throughout the season. Nate Coopman won twenty-three feature races on his way to the championship after finishing sixth in the final rundown last year. Jeremy Campbell was one spot behind Coopman last year and that is where he finds himself again as the runner-up for 2009 with sixteen feature wins on his resume’. Gary Peiffer paced the field for the early part of the season and wound up in the third spot with the Chandler brothers, Brad and Nathan rounding out the top five. Justin Wacha was sixth, Tim Doocy seventh, Jay DeVries ranked eighth while Zach Ankrum came in ninth and two drivers, Bill Whalen Jr. and Joe Bunkofske, tied for tenth. Coopman, Campbell, Peiffer and Nathan Chandler were all in the top ten for the second straight year.
Terry McCarl kept Mark Dobmeier from taking his fourth straight 410 Sprint Car All Iowa Points championship in 2009 and for McCarl it was his fifth AIP title adding to the honors he received in 1994, 1996, 1998 and 1999. Dobmeier settled for second this season with 1995 AIP champion Johnny Herrera finishing in third. Brian Brown finished in the fourth position while Gregg Bakker and Scott Winters tied for fifth.
Mike Boston edged out two-time defending champion Jody Rosenboom by just two-points to win his first All Iowa Points championship in the 360 Sprint division even though none of his points were earned on Iowa soil! Boston won the track title at Eagle, Nebraska, a track that is included in the points due to the fact that it is close enough to the Iowa border and Iowa-based drivers race there on a regular basis. Jack Dover ranked third in the final standings while a teenager with a familiar last name, Robby Wolfgang, was fourth. Knoxville Raceway’s 360 Sprint Rookie-of-the-Year Jonathan Cornell finished fifth.
Bobby Mincer won on opening night and never trailed in the 305 Sprint division as he captured his first All Iowa Points championship. Fellow Burlington resident Jayson Ditsworth chased Mincer in for second, Casey Friedrichsen and Kevin Hetrick tied for third while Ryan Voss completed the top five.
For a full rundown of the 2009 All Iowa Points standings in each division click on the “Points” tab at www.PositivelyRacing.com.
Friday, November 6, 2009
World Finals...
I'm watching the Friday night action from the World of Outlaws World Finals on DirtVision and, wow, are they really tearing up a lot of stuff in the Sprint Car Main event. Cody Darrah, Jac Haudenschild, Steve Kinser, Brandon Wimmer, Terry McCarl, Dale Blaney and maybe even a few more have been upside down during the first 23 laps that has taken about an hour to run so far.
McCarl was none too happy with Craig Dollansky who is debuting his new Big Game Tree Stands ride this weekend (same sponsor that McCarl has had for years if you didn't already know that) as it was Dollansky who made contact with McCarl sending Terry head on into the wall. After a few tense moments McCarl walked away under his own power and headed straight for Dollansky's car to have a little discussion with his fellow tree stander. The deejays in the announcing booth played Hot Blooded and then the muppet song I Love You, You Love Me as a couple of officials headed off McCarl, and then they followed it up with Why Can't We Be Friends. I'm sure that Terry really enjoyed that!
Finally, after an hour Jason Meyers held off Donny Schatz to take the win with Danny Lasoski in third as the Sprints took the checkers at ten after midnight Eastern time.
The Late Models on the other hand ran the first 25-laps under green with Earl Pearson taking the lead from Scott Bloomquist in traffic just before Dale McDowell slowed on the track with a flat left rear tire. Wisconsin's Adam Hensel has moved from 14th to fifth at the mid-point and UMP National Champ Jason Feger has charged from 18th to seventh.
Back to green and three laps later the leader Earl Pearson Jr. goes up in smoke. Feger is now up to fourth and definitely looks like the fastest car on the track. Two laps later and another caution flies for a skirmish involving Dan Schlieper, Austin Dillon and Brady Smith. Schlieper makes sure that Dillon knows that he doesn't care who he is related to, and Feger is now up to second behind Scott Bloomquist with twenty-laps to go.
NUTS!!! Feger is right on Bloomer's bumper coming off turn four with ten laps to go before Jason's left rear tire blows! What a run by the Bloomington, Illinois, driver but when you look at the final results you would have never known it. Ten to go and it is Bloomquist's race to win or lose.
Now with seven laps to go points championship contender Josh Richards pops a right rear while racing with Shane Clanton and Rick Eckert for third. The other championship contender Steve Francis has dropped out of the top five with a sour powerplant. Chris Madden is now second behind Bloomquist.
Bloomquist pulls away for the win with Madden coming home second, Rick Eckert runs a strong third as he honors his longtime car owner Raye Vest who passed away this week and Darrell Lanigan takes fourth. Josh Richards charges up to fifth and will take a four-point advantage into Saturday's finale, Jason Feger comes back for sixth and it was Jeep VanWormer, Eric Jabobsen, Steve Francis and Austin Dillon completing the top ten.
Keep in mind that you can catch the action from Charlotte live on the Speed Channel Saturday night beginning at 7 p.m. Central time. I have my DVR set to record that one as I have other plans, but I'm thinking that I'm screwed if they run this late again Saturday night. Friday's final checkers waved at 11:45 Central.
McCarl was none too happy with Craig Dollansky who is debuting his new Big Game Tree Stands ride this weekend (same sponsor that McCarl has had for years if you didn't already know that) as it was Dollansky who made contact with McCarl sending Terry head on into the wall. After a few tense moments McCarl walked away under his own power and headed straight for Dollansky's car to have a little discussion with his fellow tree stander. The deejays in the announcing booth played Hot Blooded and then the muppet song I Love You, You Love Me as a couple of officials headed off McCarl, and then they followed it up with Why Can't We Be Friends. I'm sure that Terry really enjoyed that!
Finally, after an hour Jason Meyers held off Donny Schatz to take the win with Danny Lasoski in third as the Sprints took the checkers at ten after midnight Eastern time.
The Late Models on the other hand ran the first 25-laps under green with Earl Pearson taking the lead from Scott Bloomquist in traffic just before Dale McDowell slowed on the track with a flat left rear tire. Wisconsin's Adam Hensel has moved from 14th to fifth at the mid-point and UMP National Champ Jason Feger has charged from 18th to seventh.
Back to green and three laps later the leader Earl Pearson Jr. goes up in smoke. Feger is now up to fourth and definitely looks like the fastest car on the track. Two laps later and another caution flies for a skirmish involving Dan Schlieper, Austin Dillon and Brady Smith. Schlieper makes sure that Dillon knows that he doesn't care who he is related to, and Feger is now up to second behind Scott Bloomquist with twenty-laps to go.
NUTS!!! Feger is right on Bloomer's bumper coming off turn four with ten laps to go before Jason's left rear tire blows! What a run by the Bloomington, Illinois, driver but when you look at the final results you would have never known it. Ten to go and it is Bloomquist's race to win or lose.
Now with seven laps to go points championship contender Josh Richards pops a right rear while racing with Shane Clanton and Rick Eckert for third. The other championship contender Steve Francis has dropped out of the top five with a sour powerplant. Chris Madden is now second behind Bloomquist.
Bloomquist pulls away for the win with Madden coming home second, Rick Eckert runs a strong third as he honors his longtime car owner Raye Vest who passed away this week and Darrell Lanigan takes fourth. Josh Richards charges up to fifth and will take a four-point advantage into Saturday's finale, Jason Feger comes back for sixth and it was Jeep VanWormer, Eric Jabobsen, Steve Francis and Austin Dillon completing the top ten.
Keep in mind that you can catch the action from Charlotte live on the Speed Channel Saturday night beginning at 7 p.m. Central time. I have my DVR set to record that one as I have other plans, but I'm thinking that I'm screwed if they run this late again Saturday night. Friday's final checkers waved at 11:45 Central.
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