A large crowd turned out on a beautiful Thursday evening in Columbus Junction to witness another dominating performance by Chad Simpson on the Dart Corn Belt Clash Late Model series. Nathan Wood, Paul Hallett and Wayne Noble also visited victory lane during the night’s main attraction at the annual Louisa County Fair.
There was a collective groan that you could hear from the Late Model fans who were sprinkled among the many fairgoers as series announcer Ryan Clark introduced the front row of Justin Mitchell and Chad Simpson for the thirty-lap Late Model feature. After all, Simpson had already won seven of the ten CBC races so far this season and he proved he was fast again tonight by coming from sixth to pass Ron Boyse on the final lap to win his heat race. Sure it would be a lot more fun if he started further back, but the luck of the draw is just that. And besides, the result might likely be the same anyway!
Simpson already had a ten car-length lead as he rocketed off of turn two on the opening lap only to have the caution wave soon for Boyse who had broken something in the front end of his #74. The caution waved again on lap four when Denny Eckrich spun off turn four, but once back to green the car to watch was the 21H of Brian Harris. Harris, sporting the spec engine rules configuration with extra sideboards and no roof, had started ninth and was now driving by people in the corners like they were standing still. Harris moved into second on lap number six and he then went to work on cutting in to the straightaway lead that Simpson was enjoying. The gap between the two was shrinking lap-by-lap until it was down to two car-lengths, but all of a sudden Harris slowed in turn two on lap fourteen and the caution waved.
With Harris gone the crowd now wondered if anybody could even keep pace with the leader and the two drivers starting side-by-side behind him, Jason Rauen and Justin Kay were going to give it their best shot. As the field throttled up off turn four though Rauen spun his car all the way around and was hit in the rear by Mick Wiele. It was a tough way to end the night for Wiele as he was very impressive in winning his heat race in front of his hometown fans. Rauen was sent to the rear and later retired with a flat tire. When back to action it was Justin Kay who picked up the chase on Simpson and for a few laps it looked as though he might be able to keep the leader within striking distance. But Simpson would have none of that as he again pulled away and cruised to his eighth victory in eleven starts on the Clash schedule. Kay, who came into the night ninth in the point standings, was impressive finishing second, hometown hero Jason Utter was third, Chris Simpson picked up fourth-place money and Dave Eckrich finished fifth.
Three of CJ Speedway’s weekly Friday night divisions set the stage for the Late Models. The IMCA Stock Cars started out the night by putting on two exciting heat races that saw plenty of two and even three-wide action and they did the same thing later in the evening. Unfortunately though, that action was interrupted often during their main event as drivers spun and sat waiting for a yellow, and there was even an intentional “take out” or two resulting in a race that seemed to take forever to complete. When the green flag was out, the battle up front was a good one as Nathan Wood moved quickly from row four to take the lead from Jim Redmann after a lap two restart, but then had to hold off continued challenges from Redmann the rest of the way to take the win. Wood is having a productive 2010 season as he guns for the IMCA Stock Car National Rookie-of-the-Year title and he currently ranks second in the All Iowa Points. Redmann settled for second and was quick to congratulate Wood on his win, Dave Hemsted took the third spot, Blaine Dopler was fourth and Kirk Kinsley rounded out the top five.
The Four Cylinders ran their main event caution free and it was a good one with Bill Whalen Jr. holding the early lead. Nathan Chandler move past him on lap five, but Whalen fought back and he was joined by Wayne Noble to go three-wide for the lead the following lap out of turn four. Noble emerged from the middle of that formation to takeover the lead and he held off Whalen the remaining distance to take the win. In victory lane Noble told track announcer Gene Arnold that he had just told his grandchildren that it was about fifty-one years ago this week that he won his first-ever feature event. Hopefully the personable veteran will be winning for several years to come! Whalen was the runner-up, Brad Chandler moved up to third after his brother Nathan climbed the front stretch wall with two laps to go, but he still held on for fourth and Ricky Kay completed the top five.
Twenty Mod Lites buzzed to action for their main event with Paul Hallett moving quickly to the lead. Joel Huggins was running second and Troy Philpott was challenging him when Philpott spun in turn three. Justin Bucholz, who won one of the three heat races, had no place to go and collided with Philpott sending the Bucholz #69 ride over onto its roof. Both drivers emerged unscathed, but both of these top contenders were now through for the evening. Once back to action there was nobody that could challenge Hallett as he cruised to his third straight feature win at CJ. Mike Morrill passed Huggins late for second, Mike Kennedy was fourth and Late Model driver Kurt Kile improved steadily throughout the evening in this division coming home fifth.
CJ Notes…..Andy Eckrich had a tough night as he appeared to have problems with the driveline while crossing the finish line in his heat race. After making repairs Eckrich started the feature but did not last long before dropping out…..Jake Meier rolled the #5M car that was owned at one time by Bill Moyer out his trailer tonight. This ride saw several drivers behind the wheel in the past including Todd Shute and Mike Marlar. Meier, who normally campaigns a #20 car, was never a factor on the night….The next event for the Corn Belt Clash will be on August 13th at Chateau Raceway in Lansing, Minnesota…..I enjoyed talking with Elmer Arnold and Sam Simpson in the pit area before the night’s action. Elmer has a Modified in his garage that he is looking forward to putting back into action soon and Simpson, who we nicknamed “Sam The Sewer Man” when he was racing Hobby Stocks at 34 Raceway in the 80’s now lives in Tennessee, but came back to help out at the Fair and catch some racing. He told me that his new “home track” is Duck River Speedway, the same place that we kicked off our season at this year. I also had a chance for a quick “hi” to former drivers Steve Watts, Dan Thomas and Mark Kemper…..Look for another write up on the night’s events soon from Danny Rosencrans in Racin’ Down The Road…..The track is selling t-shirts this season with all proceeds going to the drivers’ point fund and the shirts have a catchy motto for a track that has a levee for a back stretch “wall”. CJ Speedway, Flooded With Excitement!…..A big thanks to the promotional team of Don and Sharon Wood, and Brian and Amanda Tipps for their hospitality. I always enjoy returning to one of the facilities where I was introduced to the sport some forty years ago!
One event that we do not have on our Specials schedule at PR.com is this Sunday’s POWRi Midget show at U.S. 36 Raceway in Osborn, Missouri. If you are thinking about attending click here to see my report on last year’s event.
This is a bit of a milestone as it it blog post #200 for the Back Stretch. How many have you read?
Have a great racing weekend, be Positive and Support the Sport!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Guss and Timmerman Earn Feature Wins On Night Two Of The Harris Clash
After a three week delay due to weather, night number two of the 2010 Harris Clash unfolded at the Knoxville Raceway with just over one hundred cars in the pit area between the Deery Brothers IMCA Late Models and the IMCA Sport Mods. In the Late Models it would be another Ray Guss Jr. cakewalk, while Jared Timmerman fought off the challenges of Cayden Carter to take the big win in the Sport Mods.
Thirty-three Late Models checked in and thirty-two raced in four heats and two B-Mains to determine the twenty-four-car starting field that would run thirty-five laps around the prestigious half-mile oval. (One sentence, seven hyphens) Tyler Bruening and Jay Stewart would start from the font row and it was the Nebraska driver Stewart who would be scored as the leader of the first lap, but only after the first two attempts at a start were wiped out due to single car spins. The race was halted again on lap two when T.J. Criss spun in turn three and was then drilled by former IMCA Late Model National Champ Kevin Blum. It took several minutes for wrecker crews to survey the damage before they proceeded to remove the battered machines from the racing surface.
Thirty-three Late Models checked in and thirty-two raced in four heats and two B-Mains to determine the twenty-four-car starting field that would run thirty-five laps around the prestigious half-mile oval. (One sentence, seven hyphens) Tyler Bruening and Jay Stewart would start from the font row and it was the Nebraska driver Stewart who would be scored as the leader of the first lap, but only after the first two attempts at a start were wiped out due to single car spins. The race was halted again on lap two when T.J. Criss spun in turn three and was then drilled by former IMCA Late Model National Champ Kevin Blum. It took several minutes for wrecker crews to survey the damage before they proceeded to remove the battered machines from the racing surface.
Jay Stewart of Blair, Nebraska, ran up front early at Knoxville - photo by Barry JohnsonWhen the green flag returned it stayed out for a while and the racing was good. Both up front, where Jeff Guengerich drove by Stewart for the lead on lap three, and in the back moving forward as Brian Harris, Jeff Aikey and Jeremiah Hurst were making big strides. Harris had started fourteenth and was up to fifth by lap four, Aikey started in the tenth row and was up to sixth by lap seven and Hurst, who restarted at the rear after being one of the lap-one spinners, was on the march forward as well. Ray Guss Jr. had the best seat in the house in third as he watched Guengerich drive by Stewart and on lap ten Guss made his own move for the lead. With Guengerich glued to the bottom, Guss drove into turn three one line higher, moved past the leader and then shut the door on him by steering back down to the bottom in turn four. As Guss started to pull away the top six cars really got strung out before the caution waved again on lap seventeen when contact between Craig Roberts and Robby Warner sent Warner for a spin down the back stretch.
Ray Guss Jr. (58) stalks leader Jeff Guengerich (15) during the first ten laps of the Late Model main event - photo by Barry Johnson
Ray Guss Jr. (58) stalks leader Jeff Guengerich (15) during the first ten laps of the Late Model main event - photo by Barry JohnsonAs the field settled into the Delaware-style two abreast restart formation it looked like we might have us quite a race with Guss out front and drivers like Darren Miller, Aikey, Harris, Andy Eckrich and Hurst now close behind. As the field rumbled into turn one Charlie McKenna went too low and caught the berm sending his #22 into a series of at least four snap rolls. It was the second Wednesday in a row that McKenna’s night would end in a devastatingly spectacular fashion and we were once again pleased to seem him climb out of the car under his own power. Once back to green it became obvious that nobody had anything for Ray Guss Jr. as he powered away from his talented challengers to pad his series point lead even more with the $2,000 victory. Darren Miller, in what I believe to be his 2010 debut, scored a runner-up finish with Jeff Aikey third, Jeremiah Hurst fourth and Brian Harris fifth.
Jeff Aikey (77) and Brian Harris (21H) both made strong runs to finish in the top five - photo by Barry Johnson (For more of Barry's photos from Knoxville visit the PositivelyRacing.com page on Facebook)Bob Harris put out the general invitation and Seventy-one Sport Mods accepted with eight heat races and four B-Mains paring the field down to twenty-four cars for twenty laps. Jared Timmerman started from the pole position and lead the field around for lap one before Doug Smith and Robert Weber collided in turn one on lap two. The scramble resulted in about six cars being involved causing a red flag and while most of them drove away under their own power, it still took several minutes to get the track cleared and ready again for action.
On the restart, while most of the field used the bottom and middle grooves through the corners, young Cayden Carter went way upstairs where Fonzie used to live (credit to World of Outlaws announcer Johnny Gibson) and drove past six cars in one lap to move up to second behind Timmerman. The chase was on and, with smoke starting to belch from his car in the corners, Carter used that same high groove to take the lead from Timmerman on lap six. I don’t carry a stopwatch with me and Warren Busse was nowhere to be found, so I don’t know if Carter’s lap times were increasing as the smoke worsened, but Timmerman came back to regain the lead four laps later at the mid-point of the event. With the laps winding down and with lapped traffic now coming into play, Carter was again reeling in Timmerman looking to make one more challenge and on the final lap Carter spun his car sideways in turn three. The caution waved, but with drivers still racing side-by-side for position, Adam Ackerman found himself with no place to go and he slammed into the side of Carter’s #10. Both drivers walked away uninjured, but it was an expensive turn of events for both as they were less than a quarter of a mile from the checkers.
I can only imagine how Timmerman must have felt when he saw the yellow waving instead of the checkers as he came off of turn four, but he retained his composure and ran the green-white-checker “overtime” laps flawlessly to take the win ahead of Dylan Book and Nate Chodur. Jeremy Embrey made a big run up from twenty-first to fourth and Jim Gillenwater edged out Carter VanDenBerg by half a car-length for fifth.
Jared Timmerman picked up the top prize for the IMCA Sport Mod portion of the 2010 Harris Clash - photo by Barry JohnsonHarris Clash Part Two Notes…..“The Ironman” Darrell DeFrance checked in for the evening and collected his twenty show up points for the series, but did not compete as he reportedly had some procedures done this week to help him remain “The Ironman” for some time to come. Here’s hoping for a quick return to the track Double-D!……Darren Miller didn’t show any signs of rust as he returned to action in fine fashion behind the wheel of the Steve Diercks owened car. Usually it is Brad Diercks behind the wheel of the #29D, but tonight they had it lettered up with Miller’s traditional #32D. “The Thriller” told our own Barry Johnson that he plans on running the $10,000-to-win Pepsi USA Nationals at 34 Raceway in September, but otherwise his schedule is unknown…..Brian Harris hot lapped a plain jet black car and then applied red 21H decals to each side for racing action. He was definitely fun to watch as he attacked the cushion on both ends often pulling the front left wheel up in the air for that magical moment when the throttle goes back down and the chassis responds…..Jeff Guengerich was behind the wheel of the Richard Realty and Auction car #15, the same ride that won this event last year with Tommy Elston at the controls and it looked for a bit that Guengerich would be able to keep the trophy in Richard’s shop. The Washington, Iowa, driver who had not raced for a couple of season before stepping into the ride in May finished seventh behind Andy Eckrich….As the Late Model field was preparing for the four-wide parade lap a track official pulled over Kelly Tapper to remove a clipboard from the back of his car…..Ryan Giles was running second in the fourth heat race before he pulled to the infield on the final lap with mechanical issues. Giles would earn a provisional start in the feature, but only made it around the track once before the parade lap before returning to his trailer….Jeff Aikey did not finish his heat and then had to pass Cory Goldbeck on the final lap for the last transfer spot out of the first B-Main. With his run from nineteenth to third in the feature, obviously his crew repaired whatever the issue was in the heat race…..Goldbeck would join Giles, Robby Warner and Craig Roberts as provisional starters….It was my first time this season to see Nebraska drivers Jay Stewart, Al Zeitner and Dave Jorgenson in action…..While the car count of thirty-three was solid it was below what many would have expected at Knoxville, especially given that only twelve of the top twenty in Deery Series points were in attendance. Jason Rauen was winning the Fair race in Dubuque and he was likely joined there by Joel Callahan and Rob Toland. Mark Burgtorf popped his spec engine at Osky last week and will be on the sidelines for a bit despite being second in points. I saw a message board post stating the Jay Johnson is out on RAGBRAI this week, something that didn’t conflict with the Deery schedule until rain pushed this event back from July 7th, and that may have been a similar story for Boone McLaughlin, Tom Goble and others……The Deery Series returns to action next Tuesday night August 3rd at the Farley Speedway…..It was interesting that the eight Sport Mod heats advanced the winner only while the four B-Mains took four cars out of each…..The Sport Mod field included drivers from Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota and Kansas…..Racing action started at 7:30 and the last flag waved at 11:17…..I always enjoy being the taxi cab geek for Bill W. and Bob Wilson and it was nice to get to talk to announcers Blake Anderson and Tony Bokhoven, and Paymaster Dave Schrader during my pre-race visit to the booth….Another big thanks to Bob Harris who again extended his hospitality to the entire Positively Racing crew and we look forward to two straight nights of action, free of any weather issues for the 2011 Harris Clash at Knoxville. We hope that you will mark it on your racing schedule as well.
Tonight the Corn Belt Clash makes its farthest trip south so far with an appearance at the CJ Speedway in Columbus Junction. Hope to see you there!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Two New Tracks......Monday Notes
Some random notes here on what Bob Bruce refers to as the worst day of the week....
If you read my entry from our trip to Haubstadt, Indiana, last week you may have noticed that we were unsure of where we might end up on Sunday night, if anywhere. We did stop at Shepp's Speedway just west of Springfield, Illinois, to take a look, but when we found out that they were going to start an hour later than normal due to the heat, we decided to head for home since Mo had to be up for work at 5 a.m. the following day. It definitely looked like a great little bullring that would offer up plenty of action, so I am hoping that I can get back down there before the end of the season. Perhaps on a Sunday night in September.
This past weekend I thought that I was going to be away from the sport as we headed nown to northwest Missouri to visit with some friends at a home that they recently purchased on Lake Viking, but when I discovered that I-35 Speedway was only six miles from their house I planted the seed about checking the place out. Somehow the track avoided the line of storms that built up during the afternoon and marched to the south and east and by the time we were able to get the ladies to be more interested in their wine than us, we arrived just in time for the five feature races. The SportMods were up first and had a tough time stringing some green flag laps together early on and I was hoping they would get their act together since this was only my friend's second-ever visit to a dirt track. Finally the race stayed green with south central Iowa driver Shay Woods moving to the front. But when Woods unexpectedly looped his car mid-race, that gave the lead back to John Fugett who then went on to take his first-ever feature win. The Hobby Stocks were up next and it was veteran driver Brad Whitney who took the win driving one of Greg Kuehn's #7 cars. Whitney has had success here in both the Modifieds and Stock Cars in the past (and again tonight) and in this Hobby Stock A-Main he fought off the challenges of Eric Stanton who make the 120+ mile trip down from Hartford, Iowa, every Saturday night.
The Grand Nationals, similar to the old Pro Stock division that used to race around this area, provided the best battle for the lead on the night as Gene Claxton and Travis Walker ran the majority of the event side-by-side without more than a rub here and there prompting my friend to ask, "can those other divisions race like that as well?" Claxton, who won the NKF Tour Modified event here on my only other visit to the facility in 2001, went on to win while Walker faded out of the top five over the final laps. The Stock Car feature started out with a bang when Bennie Turner got tagged in the right rear exiting turn four on the first lap turning him nose first into the front stretch and sending him into a couple of rollovers. This happened right in front of where we were seated, so now my buddy was really on the edge of his seat, especially after he saw Turner climb out uninjured. Once back to green it was Brad Whitney who drove his own #X9 to victory, his second of the night. The IMCA Modifieds were ready to wrap up the night and it was Bud Wilson who went flag-to-flag in a race that had more cautions than you would like to see when you are trying to introduce a new fan to the sport. But, once we returned to the house the first thing that he told his wife was that he knew what would fit nicely in that empty space in the garage, an IMCA Hobby Stock. She had not consumed enough wine yet to agree.
If we get invited back to the lake, I'll look forward to spending another Saturday evening at I-35 Speedway near Winston, Missouri!
It was a rough weekend weather-wise around the area and Ryan Clark did a nice job describing his weekend of uncertainty. Here's hoping that all who were effected by the flooding can make a quick recovery with a minimal loss.
Those of you who follow this blog know that I am not a big fan of double-file restarts and Kevin Trittien points out another reason to support my stance in his latest entry. The third-place car had been realigned on the oustide of the first double row, but when he coasted to a stop before the green flag waved, the outside row was just moved forward rather than taking the time to cross everybody over. This meant that the car that was being scored in fifth prior to the caution was now going to restart in third AHEAD of the fourth-place car, the seventh-place car was now starting ahead of the sixth-place car, etc., etc. I don't blame the track crew for doing this, after all one of my biggest gripes with the double-file restart is the extra caution laps and time that it takes to get the field into the correct positions, so they were just trying to save time. There are a couple of crews who have mastered the art of getting the field doubled up, but even they run an extra lap under caution than what they would have if it were just a single-file restart. I know that I may be in the minority on this one, but give me a single-file restart any day.
I was not a bit surprised to see all of the empty seats at the Brickyard on Sunday. When I went about six years ago I had seats one row from the top on the short stretch between turns one and two. I could see the cars for about twelve seconds and then they were gone for another half minute or more. Honestly, I had to keep myself from falling asleep on a couple of occasions. Yes, it is a big race for NASCAR, but if I would have been anywhere around Indianapolis this weekend, I would have spent my money watching USAC Sprint Cars fling the dirt at Lincoln Park Speedway Saturday night and DVR'd the Brickyard for later viewing.....maybe.
Here's hoping the weather cooperates for a couple of Late Model specials in the area mid-week as the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models along with the IMCA Sport Mods will fill out the card for the rescheduled night number two of the Harris Clash at Knoxville on Wednesday night. Then, on Thursday, the Corn Belt Clash pays a visit to the CJ Speedway in Columbus Junction. There are other Fair races, weekly shows and special events on the card as well so get out and have some fun this week!
If you read my entry from our trip to Haubstadt, Indiana, last week you may have noticed that we were unsure of where we might end up on Sunday night, if anywhere. We did stop at Shepp's Speedway just west of Springfield, Illinois, to take a look, but when we found out that they were going to start an hour later than normal due to the heat, we decided to head for home since Mo had to be up for work at 5 a.m. the following day. It definitely looked like a great little bullring that would offer up plenty of action, so I am hoping that I can get back down there before the end of the season. Perhaps on a Sunday night in September.
This past weekend I thought that I was going to be away from the sport as we headed nown to northwest Missouri to visit with some friends at a home that they recently purchased on Lake Viking, but when I discovered that I-35 Speedway was only six miles from their house I planted the seed about checking the place out. Somehow the track avoided the line of storms that built up during the afternoon and marched to the south and east and by the time we were able to get the ladies to be more interested in their wine than us, we arrived just in time for the five feature races. The SportMods were up first and had a tough time stringing some green flag laps together early on and I was hoping they would get their act together since this was only my friend's second-ever visit to a dirt track. Finally the race stayed green with south central Iowa driver Shay Woods moving to the front. But when Woods unexpectedly looped his car mid-race, that gave the lead back to John Fugett who then went on to take his first-ever feature win. The Hobby Stocks were up next and it was veteran driver Brad Whitney who took the win driving one of Greg Kuehn's #7 cars. Whitney has had success here in both the Modifieds and Stock Cars in the past (and again tonight) and in this Hobby Stock A-Main he fought off the challenges of Eric Stanton who make the 120+ mile trip down from Hartford, Iowa, every Saturday night.
The Grand Nationals, similar to the old Pro Stock division that used to race around this area, provided the best battle for the lead on the night as Gene Claxton and Travis Walker ran the majority of the event side-by-side without more than a rub here and there prompting my friend to ask, "can those other divisions race like that as well?" Claxton, who won the NKF Tour Modified event here on my only other visit to the facility in 2001, went on to win while Walker faded out of the top five over the final laps. The Stock Car feature started out with a bang when Bennie Turner got tagged in the right rear exiting turn four on the first lap turning him nose first into the front stretch and sending him into a couple of rollovers. This happened right in front of where we were seated, so now my buddy was really on the edge of his seat, especially after he saw Turner climb out uninjured. Once back to green it was Brad Whitney who drove his own #X9 to victory, his second of the night. The IMCA Modifieds were ready to wrap up the night and it was Bud Wilson who went flag-to-flag in a race that had more cautions than you would like to see when you are trying to introduce a new fan to the sport. But, once we returned to the house the first thing that he told his wife was that he knew what would fit nicely in that empty space in the garage, an IMCA Hobby Stock. She had not consumed enough wine yet to agree.
If we get invited back to the lake, I'll look forward to spending another Saturday evening at I-35 Speedway near Winston, Missouri!
It was a rough weekend weather-wise around the area and Ryan Clark did a nice job describing his weekend of uncertainty. Here's hoping that all who were effected by the flooding can make a quick recovery with a minimal loss.
Those of you who follow this blog know that I am not a big fan of double-file restarts and Kevin Trittien points out another reason to support my stance in his latest entry. The third-place car had been realigned on the oustide of the first double row, but when he coasted to a stop before the green flag waved, the outside row was just moved forward rather than taking the time to cross everybody over. This meant that the car that was being scored in fifth prior to the caution was now going to restart in third AHEAD of the fourth-place car, the seventh-place car was now starting ahead of the sixth-place car, etc., etc. I don't blame the track crew for doing this, after all one of my biggest gripes with the double-file restart is the extra caution laps and time that it takes to get the field into the correct positions, so they were just trying to save time. There are a couple of crews who have mastered the art of getting the field doubled up, but even they run an extra lap under caution than what they would have if it were just a single-file restart. I know that I may be in the minority on this one, but give me a single-file restart any day.
I was not a bit surprised to see all of the empty seats at the Brickyard on Sunday. When I went about six years ago I had seats one row from the top on the short stretch between turns one and two. I could see the cars for about twelve seconds and then they were gone for another half minute or more. Honestly, I had to keep myself from falling asleep on a couple of occasions. Yes, it is a big race for NASCAR, but if I would have been anywhere around Indianapolis this weekend, I would have spent my money watching USAC Sprint Cars fling the dirt at Lincoln Park Speedway Saturday night and DVR'd the Brickyard for later viewing.....maybe.
Here's hoping the weather cooperates for a couple of Late Model specials in the area mid-week as the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models along with the IMCA Sport Mods will fill out the card for the rescheduled night number two of the Harris Clash at Knoxville on Wednesday night. Then, on Thursday, the Corn Belt Clash pays a visit to the CJ Speedway in Columbus Junction. There are other Fair races, weekly shows and special events on the card as well so get out and have some fun this week!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Fantastic Racing at The Southern Iowa Fair!
The Southern Iowa Speedway was flat out fast Wednesday night as the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models came to town to join the weekly talent in the USRA Modifieds, B-Mods, Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks. And, with the Southern Iowa Fair in full swing, there was a large crowd on hand to witness a very entertaining night of high-speed action on the half-mile oval.
Thirty-one Late Models helped fill the pits tonight, considerably better than the low-twenties count that this event had last year and I feel that this shows that the changes that IMCA made with scheduling this year have been good for the series. The four qualifying heats and the two B-Mains saw plenty of high-speed action and the stage was set for the thirty-five-lap main event. Mark Preston and Charlie McKenna drew the front row with McKenna rocketing out to lead at the drop of the green. Andy Eckrich quickly moved in to challenge on the inside, but McKenna rode the cushion off turn four and squeezed into the minimal space between Eckrich and the outside guardrail to maintain the lead into turn one. Following a lap eight restart it was now Ray Guss Jr. who was working on McKenna and on lap ten we saw the same scenario as the two raced off turn four. This time there was even less space between Guss and the guardrail, but McKenna kept the hammer down and again fought off the challenge. But on the next set of turns Guss showed his power and drove under McKenna in turn three to become the new leader.
With Guss opening up a comfortable advantage, the crowd had plenty of other battles to marvel at as several drivers ran side-by-side or even three-wide while racing for position. With only seven laps remaining Eckrich had again worked his way into second and was noticeably taking a nice bite out the distance between he and Guss until he appeared ready to make a challenge with three laps remaining. As Eckrich made his bid, the center of the right rear wheel on McKenna’s car broke as he entered turn three and he slammed into the fence head on at full speed. Ryne Staley immediately displayed the red flag and we all let out a sigh of relief a few minutes later when a dazed, but otherwise uninjured McKenna climbed out of his used up Late Model.
On the restart Eckrich appeared to have a good run on Guss going into turn one, but the wise veteran changed his lane up just a bit over what he had been previously running and that seemed to make Eckrich hesitate for a split second. That was all that Guss needed to put enough space between himself and the talented youngest member of the Eckrich family to maintain the lead over the final three laps and take the $2,000 top prize. Jay Johnson made a late charge to finish in the third position with Terry Neal fourth and Jeremiah Hurst fifth. Drivers crossing the stripe sixth through tenth were Tom Darbyshire, Jeff Guengerich, T.J. Criss, Jeff Aikey and Darrell DeFrance.
The extra people who were in attendance Wednesday night, either due to the Fair or because of the Late Models being on the card, should have gone home impressed with the four weekly divisions as well and hopefully they are planning a return trip in the near future. The Sport Mods kicked off the order of feature races and while they had to fight through some early cautions, the twenty-three-car field put on some good racing. Mike Wanders was the early leader and he was being stalked by Grandpa Jimmy’s boys as both Carter VanDenBerg and Cayden Carter were right on the leader’s rear bumper. Cayden made the move to the lead on lap five and then proceeded to drive away from the field as the fourteen-year-old redhead collected another trophy for his room. Last week’s feature winner Jason McDaniel tried to keep pace on a late restart, but would have to settle for second tonight while Bill Gibson finished third. Most teenaged boys try to show off for the cute girls at the county fair by winning the ring-toss game or ringing the bell with the sledgehammer, but winning and running fourth in the feature race works much better for these two cousins as VanDenBerg finished ahead of the early leader Wanders who completed the top five.
The Hobby Stocks were up next and what a great race this was upfront in a non-stop fifteen-lap affair. Todd Reitzler and Donovan Nunnikhoven battled back and forth and side-by-side over the first four laps before Derek Kirkland closed in to make it a three-car tango for the top line on the scoreboard. On lap seven Nunnikhoven gained the advantage and when Kirkland moved to second those two now went at it wheel-to-wheel for the next few laps. Kirkland nosed ahead to lead lap ten before Nunnikhoven regained the point a lap later and appeared to be on his way to a win only to have his right rear tire blow out when he leaned on the cushion too hard in turn one with two laps to go. Kirkland inherited the lead, but after taking the white flag he went into turn one too low and clipped the implement tire tearing the left side of his nose piece off in the process. Luckily for Kirkland the damage was only cosmetic as he maintained control and completed the final lap for the victory ahead of Reiztler, Kris Walker, Steve Allen and Craig Brown.
Nine Stock Cars were on hand tonight and with three of them racing each other in tight formation for nearly the entire feature event, who cares what the car count was! Mike VanGenderen paced the first ten laps of the fifteen-lap finale with Shane Weller and Nathan Wood in hot pursuit. Both took their turns at pulling alongside VanGenderen, but “The Flyin’ Dutchmen” shook them off until lap eleven when Wood finally made a move stick. Nathan would then pull away for the win while VanGenderen and Weller continued to run door-to-door for second. At the line it was Weller by a bumper with Kyle Harwood not far behind the duo in fourth and Corey Stout, who fought the county fair traffic to come from across the street finished fifth.
The USRA Modified feature was up next and with a couple of USMTS regulars on hand in Kelly Shryock and Zack VanderBeek I would have put my money on one of those two to wind up in victory lane. Current point leader Steven Blattler had other ideas though as he rocketed to the lead at the drop of the green and started to run off and hide from the other thirteen competitors. It took a few laps for Shryock to make his way around VanderBeek for second and he then set his sights on the leader, but despite his best efforts there was just no catching the youngster from Osky as Blattler chalked up his first feature win here in convincing fashion. Shryock and VanderBeek were next in line while Ryan Peckham was impressive in fourth. Josh Truman would round out your top five and that is why I don’t put money on the races.
SIS Deery Notes…..The track was lightning fast and very racy with drivers able to run from the bottom all the way up to the moist cushion. This of course had our buddy Fasttrackfan Craig in high heaven and he is letting everybody know about it on the message boards today I see! The Late Models heats saw Ray Guss Jr. come from eighth to finish second to Boone McLaughlin in the first one, and “Chargin’ Charlie” McKenna came from eighth to finish third in the second heat. The action had me on the edge of my seat and my heart was a pumpin’ with the high-speed moves that the drivers were making to maintain their momentum…..Mark Burgtorf, who came into the night trailing Guss by twenty-five points in the Series, had his motor let go during the fourth heat and was through for the evening. There are still several events left on the schedule, including next Wednesday’s Harris Clash at the Knoxville Raceway, but the battle for the championship may be all but over as Guss will now enjoy at least a fifty-five point advantage. Of course, something similar could happen to him as well, so stay tuned…..Jeremiah Hurst started fourteenth and was moving quickly toward the front before leveling out in fifth……T.J. Criss made the feature with a provisional and then thrilled his hometown fans by coming from row eleven to finish eighth……B-Mod point leader Tyler Groenendyk popped his motor in the heat race, but then climbed aboard his dad Leroy’s car to run the feature and I believe he was right around tenth at the checkers…..With the low counts of late in the Stock Car division, T.J. Henderson strapped on the bigger tires to his Hobby Stock and joined the field tonight…..Jim Hughes is out of retirement and getting faster every week in his Hobby Stock #558, but he might have hit a setback this night as his motor appeared to let go while running a strong fourth at the mid-point of the feature….. I enjoyed visiting with promoter Todd Staley who was already talking with Nathan Wood about racing the following night at the fair in Webster City. Staley has a Stock Car that he races when he has the chance. I also enjoyed seeing Todd’s partner for the night Mick Trier who is very busy over this week and next running something like sixty-seven events (actually I think it is thirteen) in eleven nights between Osky, Indianola, Des Moines, Vinton and other parts unknown. I got a kick out of listening to Mick on the pre-race radio show with announcer Tony Paris stating “come on out and enjoy the races. I hope we have a big crowd tonight because my kids need new shoes!” Always the promoter!
There are a bunch of specials running tonight (Thursday) and a full weekend of action up ahead. Get out and support the track of your choice!
Enjoy the photos below by our own Barry Johnson:
Charlie McKenna was fast all night, but his right rear wheel gave way and he crashed hard with just three laps remaining.
Kelly and Zach who? Steven Blattler was the man to beat in the USRA Modifieds tonight
Derek Kirkland (2K) and Donovan Nunnikhoven (2N) do battle in the Hobby Stock main event
Cayden Carter on cruise control to another B-Mod feature win
Thirty-one Late Models helped fill the pits tonight, considerably better than the low-twenties count that this event had last year and I feel that this shows that the changes that IMCA made with scheduling this year have been good for the series. The four qualifying heats and the two B-Mains saw plenty of high-speed action and the stage was set for the thirty-five-lap main event. Mark Preston and Charlie McKenna drew the front row with McKenna rocketing out to lead at the drop of the green. Andy Eckrich quickly moved in to challenge on the inside, but McKenna rode the cushion off turn four and squeezed into the minimal space between Eckrich and the outside guardrail to maintain the lead into turn one. Following a lap eight restart it was now Ray Guss Jr. who was working on McKenna and on lap ten we saw the same scenario as the two raced off turn four. This time there was even less space between Guss and the guardrail, but McKenna kept the hammer down and again fought off the challenge. But on the next set of turns Guss showed his power and drove under McKenna in turn three to become the new leader.
With Guss opening up a comfortable advantage, the crowd had plenty of other battles to marvel at as several drivers ran side-by-side or even three-wide while racing for position. With only seven laps remaining Eckrich had again worked his way into second and was noticeably taking a nice bite out the distance between he and Guss until he appeared ready to make a challenge with three laps remaining. As Eckrich made his bid, the center of the right rear wheel on McKenna’s car broke as he entered turn three and he slammed into the fence head on at full speed. Ryne Staley immediately displayed the red flag and we all let out a sigh of relief a few minutes later when a dazed, but otherwise uninjured McKenna climbed out of his used up Late Model.
On the restart Eckrich appeared to have a good run on Guss going into turn one, but the wise veteran changed his lane up just a bit over what he had been previously running and that seemed to make Eckrich hesitate for a split second. That was all that Guss needed to put enough space between himself and the talented youngest member of the Eckrich family to maintain the lead over the final three laps and take the $2,000 top prize. Jay Johnson made a late charge to finish in the third position with Terry Neal fourth and Jeremiah Hurst fifth. Drivers crossing the stripe sixth through tenth were Tom Darbyshire, Jeff Guengerich, T.J. Criss, Jeff Aikey and Darrell DeFrance.
The extra people who were in attendance Wednesday night, either due to the Fair or because of the Late Models being on the card, should have gone home impressed with the four weekly divisions as well and hopefully they are planning a return trip in the near future. The Sport Mods kicked off the order of feature races and while they had to fight through some early cautions, the twenty-three-car field put on some good racing. Mike Wanders was the early leader and he was being stalked by Grandpa Jimmy’s boys as both Carter VanDenBerg and Cayden Carter were right on the leader’s rear bumper. Cayden made the move to the lead on lap five and then proceeded to drive away from the field as the fourteen-year-old redhead collected another trophy for his room. Last week’s feature winner Jason McDaniel tried to keep pace on a late restart, but would have to settle for second tonight while Bill Gibson finished third. Most teenaged boys try to show off for the cute girls at the county fair by winning the ring-toss game or ringing the bell with the sledgehammer, but winning and running fourth in the feature race works much better for these two cousins as VanDenBerg finished ahead of the early leader Wanders who completed the top five.
The Hobby Stocks were up next and what a great race this was upfront in a non-stop fifteen-lap affair. Todd Reitzler and Donovan Nunnikhoven battled back and forth and side-by-side over the first four laps before Derek Kirkland closed in to make it a three-car tango for the top line on the scoreboard. On lap seven Nunnikhoven gained the advantage and when Kirkland moved to second those two now went at it wheel-to-wheel for the next few laps. Kirkland nosed ahead to lead lap ten before Nunnikhoven regained the point a lap later and appeared to be on his way to a win only to have his right rear tire blow out when he leaned on the cushion too hard in turn one with two laps to go. Kirkland inherited the lead, but after taking the white flag he went into turn one too low and clipped the implement tire tearing the left side of his nose piece off in the process. Luckily for Kirkland the damage was only cosmetic as he maintained control and completed the final lap for the victory ahead of Reiztler, Kris Walker, Steve Allen and Craig Brown.
Nine Stock Cars were on hand tonight and with three of them racing each other in tight formation for nearly the entire feature event, who cares what the car count was! Mike VanGenderen paced the first ten laps of the fifteen-lap finale with Shane Weller and Nathan Wood in hot pursuit. Both took their turns at pulling alongside VanGenderen, but “The Flyin’ Dutchmen” shook them off until lap eleven when Wood finally made a move stick. Nathan would then pull away for the win while VanGenderen and Weller continued to run door-to-door for second. At the line it was Weller by a bumper with Kyle Harwood not far behind the duo in fourth and Corey Stout, who fought the county fair traffic to come from across the street finished fifth.
The USRA Modified feature was up next and with a couple of USMTS regulars on hand in Kelly Shryock and Zack VanderBeek I would have put my money on one of those two to wind up in victory lane. Current point leader Steven Blattler had other ideas though as he rocketed to the lead at the drop of the green and started to run off and hide from the other thirteen competitors. It took a few laps for Shryock to make his way around VanderBeek for second and he then set his sights on the leader, but despite his best efforts there was just no catching the youngster from Osky as Blattler chalked up his first feature win here in convincing fashion. Shryock and VanderBeek were next in line while Ryan Peckham was impressive in fourth. Josh Truman would round out your top five and that is why I don’t put money on the races.
SIS Deery Notes…..The track was lightning fast and very racy with drivers able to run from the bottom all the way up to the moist cushion. This of course had our buddy Fasttrackfan Craig in high heaven and he is letting everybody know about it on the message boards today I see! The Late Models heats saw Ray Guss Jr. come from eighth to finish second to Boone McLaughlin in the first one, and “Chargin’ Charlie” McKenna came from eighth to finish third in the second heat. The action had me on the edge of my seat and my heart was a pumpin’ with the high-speed moves that the drivers were making to maintain their momentum…..Mark Burgtorf, who came into the night trailing Guss by twenty-five points in the Series, had his motor let go during the fourth heat and was through for the evening. There are still several events left on the schedule, including next Wednesday’s Harris Clash at the Knoxville Raceway, but the battle for the championship may be all but over as Guss will now enjoy at least a fifty-five point advantage. Of course, something similar could happen to him as well, so stay tuned…..Jeremiah Hurst started fourteenth and was moving quickly toward the front before leveling out in fifth……T.J. Criss made the feature with a provisional and then thrilled his hometown fans by coming from row eleven to finish eighth……B-Mod point leader Tyler Groenendyk popped his motor in the heat race, but then climbed aboard his dad Leroy’s car to run the feature and I believe he was right around tenth at the checkers…..With the low counts of late in the Stock Car division, T.J. Henderson strapped on the bigger tires to his Hobby Stock and joined the field tonight…..Jim Hughes is out of retirement and getting faster every week in his Hobby Stock #558, but he might have hit a setback this night as his motor appeared to let go while running a strong fourth at the mid-point of the feature….. I enjoyed visiting with promoter Todd Staley who was already talking with Nathan Wood about racing the following night at the fair in Webster City. Staley has a Stock Car that he races when he has the chance. I also enjoyed seeing Todd’s partner for the night Mick Trier who is very busy over this week and next running something like sixty-seven events (actually I think it is thirteen) in eleven nights between Osky, Indianola, Des Moines, Vinton and other parts unknown. I got a kick out of listening to Mick on the pre-race radio show with announcer Tony Paris stating “come on out and enjoy the races. I hope we have a big crowd tonight because my kids need new shoes!” Always the promoter!
There are a bunch of specials running tonight (Thursday) and a full weekend of action up ahead. Get out and support the track of your choice!
Enjoy the photos below by our own Barry Johnson:
Charlie McKenna was fast all night, but his right rear wheel gave way and he crashed hard with just three laps remaining.
Kelly and Zach who? Steven Blattler was the man to beat in the USRA Modifieds tonight
Derek Kirkland (2K) and Donovan Nunnikhoven (2N) do battle in the Hobby Stock main event
Cayden Carter on cruise control to another B-Mod feature win Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Duffy Collects HDT Cash at Fayette County
Darin Duffy knows his way around the Fayette County Speedway in West Union and he used that track knowledge to his advantage Tuesday night to win the IMCA Modified Hawkeye Dirt Tour Napa 30.
Two drivers who were likely making their first-ever visit to the banked 3/8-mile oval, Jeff Waterman and Nate Caruth started from the front row and they swapped the lead on the first circuit with Caruth officially leading lap one. A series of four cautions over the first six laps kept the race from setting any kind of rhythm, but when the green stayed out it was Duffy who was on the charge. Starting from inside row four the Hazelton driver charged to the front and on lap eleven, when Caruth slipped up the track off turn four, that was all the room that Duffy needed to power past and into the lead.
Duffy looked as though he would run away with it from there, but Mike Jergens stayed close and was actually looking to mount a challenge through traffic when the caution waved one last time on lap twenty-five for a Toby Hartman spin. On the restart Jergens took a look under Duffy into turn one, but Darin denied the challenge and drove off to the $1,000 victory on the fifth event for the JR Motorsports Hawkeye Dirt Tour. Jergens would settle for runner-up honors while Waterman passed Caruth late to finish third. Vern Jackson would come home fifth followed by Rich Smith, Richie Gustin and Justin O’Brien. Mike Burbridge was ninth and Mark Schulte rounded out the list of the top ten.
Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks were also on hand tonight running for track points and both divisions provided some entertaining feature races. In the Stock Cars Dan Trimble prevailed in a tight three-car battle with Danny Cole Jr. and Mitch Hovden. Cole held the advantage for the first ten laps with Hovden working him low and Trimble waiting for room on the outside. Hovden finished second while Lynn Panos nipped Cole late for third. Kevin Donlan rounded out the top five. The Hobby Stock main event also saw a three-car battle for the top spot featuring Steve Holthaus, Chris Hovden and Scott Spilde. Holthaus paced the first twelve laps, Hovden nosed ahead on lap thirteen only to have his stepfather Holthaus come back to lead again the following lap. On lap fifteen Hovden found the bite that he needed on the low groove and pulled ahead for good to take the win. Spilde also drove by Holthaus late to finish second while Dan Hovden and Troy Hovey completed the top five.
FCS HDT Notes……Twenty-seven IMCA Modifieds, seventeen Stock Cars and thirteen Hobby Stocks were on hand……The Hawkeye Dirt Tour was missing its point leader as Josh Foster is out with a non-racing related injury. I believe that Rich Smith will come out of this event as the new point leader with Mike Jergens close behind…..Tyler Glass suffered mechanical problems in hot laps and scratched for the evening……Riley Emmel added some international flavor to the HDT point list as he is from Estevan, Saskatchewan……The first two cautions in the main event came on lap two and lap three for debris, the next two came on laps five and six for incidents involving two or more cars. Following the fourth caution HDT rules call for a single-file restart rather than the Delaware-double-file formation. The race then ran nineteen straight laps under green. Coincidence? Maybe……..or maybe not……The next Hawkeye Dirt Tour event is Thursday July 29th at the beautiful Upper Iowa Speedway in Decorah. The short little circle should provide quite a challenge for the Modified drivers and quite a show for the crowd……I took advantage of the intermission to visit with some great racing people. Todd Ihde is the co-promoter at FCS and at Upper Iowa Speedway in Decorah and the former Modified driver told me that he is enjoying this role. Todd reports that car counts have been solid at both tracks and that the fan support in Decorah has been tremendous. West Union on the other hand has been a bit short on people in the stands. So there you have it West Union area race fans, if you want to keep racing at this nice fairgrounds facility you need to get some friends and neighbors out to the track on Friday nights!…..It was my first chance to shake the hand of Scott Tjabring of Action Track Photography. Scott is a great shooter and we really appreciate the fact that he allows us to use some of his shots in our blogs. I use his work whenever I go to Vinton and Ryan Clark includes Scott’s photos on many of his reports “In Staging”….I enjoyed catching up with former NKF Tour Hobby Stock champion Steve Holthaus and his stepson Chris Hovden. Steve always ran big blocks in the past and was dead set against going to 9:1 engines, but now he says that it has been the best thing that has happened to the Hobby Stock class in the area. Hopefully I can catch up with Steve this offseason and do a feature story with him on this subject. Steve also noted that he had seventeen second-place finishes two years ago, all of them to Chris. Tonight though he got third…..Mike VanGenderen pulled his Stock Car up from Newton for his first-ever look at the speedway and actually had the car loaded after the heat race. Holthaus, Hovden and I convinced him to pull it back out and run the feature where he started thirteenth and was up to eight before his left rear tire went flat.
Special thanks to HDT Director Bucky Doren for his hospitality and to announcer Ryan Clark for the PR.com plugs. And he didn’t even talk about himself! Check Ryan’s blog as well as the 4dFan Report and TapFan’s Tours for additional reports from West Union. Hope to see you tonight in Osky!
Two drivers who were likely making their first-ever visit to the banked 3/8-mile oval, Jeff Waterman and Nate Caruth started from the front row and they swapped the lead on the first circuit with Caruth officially leading lap one. A series of four cautions over the first six laps kept the race from setting any kind of rhythm, but when the green stayed out it was Duffy who was on the charge. Starting from inside row four the Hazelton driver charged to the front and on lap eleven, when Caruth slipped up the track off turn four, that was all the room that Duffy needed to power past and into the lead.
Duffy looked as though he would run away with it from there, but Mike Jergens stayed close and was actually looking to mount a challenge through traffic when the caution waved one last time on lap twenty-five for a Toby Hartman spin. On the restart Jergens took a look under Duffy into turn one, but Darin denied the challenge and drove off to the $1,000 victory on the fifth event for the JR Motorsports Hawkeye Dirt Tour. Jergens would settle for runner-up honors while Waterman passed Caruth late to finish third. Vern Jackson would come home fifth followed by Rich Smith, Richie Gustin and Justin O’Brien. Mike Burbridge was ninth and Mark Schulte rounded out the list of the top ten.
Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks were also on hand tonight running for track points and both divisions provided some entertaining feature races. In the Stock Cars Dan Trimble prevailed in a tight three-car battle with Danny Cole Jr. and Mitch Hovden. Cole held the advantage for the first ten laps with Hovden working him low and Trimble waiting for room on the outside. Hovden finished second while Lynn Panos nipped Cole late for third. Kevin Donlan rounded out the top five. The Hobby Stock main event also saw a three-car battle for the top spot featuring Steve Holthaus, Chris Hovden and Scott Spilde. Holthaus paced the first twelve laps, Hovden nosed ahead on lap thirteen only to have his stepfather Holthaus come back to lead again the following lap. On lap fifteen Hovden found the bite that he needed on the low groove and pulled ahead for good to take the win. Spilde also drove by Holthaus late to finish second while Dan Hovden and Troy Hovey completed the top five.
FCS HDT Notes……Twenty-seven IMCA Modifieds, seventeen Stock Cars and thirteen Hobby Stocks were on hand……The Hawkeye Dirt Tour was missing its point leader as Josh Foster is out with a non-racing related injury. I believe that Rich Smith will come out of this event as the new point leader with Mike Jergens close behind…..Tyler Glass suffered mechanical problems in hot laps and scratched for the evening……Riley Emmel added some international flavor to the HDT point list as he is from Estevan, Saskatchewan……The first two cautions in the main event came on lap two and lap three for debris, the next two came on laps five and six for incidents involving two or more cars. Following the fourth caution HDT rules call for a single-file restart rather than the Delaware-double-file formation. The race then ran nineteen straight laps under green. Coincidence? Maybe……..or maybe not……The next Hawkeye Dirt Tour event is Thursday July 29th at the beautiful Upper Iowa Speedway in Decorah. The short little circle should provide quite a challenge for the Modified drivers and quite a show for the crowd……I took advantage of the intermission to visit with some great racing people. Todd Ihde is the co-promoter at FCS and at Upper Iowa Speedway in Decorah and the former Modified driver told me that he is enjoying this role. Todd reports that car counts have been solid at both tracks and that the fan support in Decorah has been tremendous. West Union on the other hand has been a bit short on people in the stands. So there you have it West Union area race fans, if you want to keep racing at this nice fairgrounds facility you need to get some friends and neighbors out to the track on Friday nights!…..It was my first chance to shake the hand of Scott Tjabring of Action Track Photography. Scott is a great shooter and we really appreciate the fact that he allows us to use some of his shots in our blogs. I use his work whenever I go to Vinton and Ryan Clark includes Scott’s photos on many of his reports “In Staging”….I enjoyed catching up with former NKF Tour Hobby Stock champion Steve Holthaus and his stepson Chris Hovden. Steve always ran big blocks in the past and was dead set against going to 9:1 engines, but now he says that it has been the best thing that has happened to the Hobby Stock class in the area. Hopefully I can catch up with Steve this offseason and do a feature story with him on this subject. Steve also noted that he had seventeen second-place finishes two years ago, all of them to Chris. Tonight though he got third…..Mike VanGenderen pulled his Stock Car up from Newton for his first-ever look at the speedway and actually had the car loaded after the heat race. Holthaus, Hovden and I convinced him to pull it back out and run the feature where he started thirteenth and was up to eight before his left rear tire went flat.
Special thanks to HDT Director Bucky Doren for his hospitality and to announcer Ryan Clark for the PR.com plugs. And he didn’t even talk about himself! Check Ryan’s blog as well as the 4dFan Report and TapFan’s Tours for additional reports from West Union. Hope to see you tonight in Osky!
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