One Race Night in the Books

A capacity crowd enjoyed balmy conditions Saturday night at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa. Now that we have the April fools joke out of the way...The thermometer registered 68 degrees when my ride left Quincy Saturday afternoon, and 46 degrees accompanied by a stiff breeze when we arrived at the 3/8 mile facility. The new owner/promoter team of Brad Stevens and Jessi Mynatt were well prepared for their first night of racing, the track was in excellent condition, and the coffee was hot! With the less than favorable weather forecast in mind, the program had been moved up one hour, with hot laps set for 5:15 and racing at 6:00.

With only two classes in action on this opening night, warmups for the 23 360-cubic-inch Sprint Invaders and eleven UMP Pro Crate late models went off without a hitch, and we actually had a few minutes of down time waiting for race time. By this time, what I would consider a nice size crowd considering the far from ideal conditions had settled in for the action.

First on the card was a pair of late model heats, with Chuck Hanna in what I believe was an IMCA spec engine car with a restrictor plate leading flag to flag to capture heat one, with Tommy Elston wheeling his crate engine machine to the win in heat two. The top three from each heat would redraw for their starting spot in the 20-lap feature.

The Sprint Invaders are using a passing points system for the first time in 2018, with the top six from the heats, in this case the top two from each of the three heats, running a dash to set the first three rows of their 25-lap feature. Due to the rapidly falling temperatures, Stevens decided there would be no B-main, and all cars would be qualified for the main event. Daniel Bergquist topped heat one, with Jon Agan scoring heat two, and Jake Blackhurst capturing the final eight-lapper. Agan also won the dash, but drew a number three pill to start inside row two, putting Blackhurst on the feature pole.

A brief intermission followed the third sprint heat as the top two prepared for the dash, and with that event in the books, the late models came trackside for their feature. Hanna had drawn the pole position, and shot to the lead in his #65 at the drop of the green, with Jay Johnson in pursuit. The only late model caution of the night came on lap two, involving Chris Richard and Gunner Frank, with Frank retiring to the pits. On the Delaware style restart, sixth-starting Elston vaulted to fourth, and third-starting Tim Simpson powered to second. Lap seven saw Elston slip past Johnson for third, and two laps later Denny Woodworth and eighth-starting Vance Wilson took fourth and fifth. Woodworth mounted a challenge for third on lap eleven, with Wilson joining the fray on the 13th circuit. Neither could overtake Elston, but now it was eleventh starting Andy Nezworski moving through the pack. With the race staying green, Hanna cruised to the win with a comfortable lead over second running Simpson. Elston, Woodworth, and Wilson completed the top five, followed by Nezworski, Johnson, Sam Halstead, Richard, and Todd Frank.

Although I did not go pitside to talk to the drivers after the races, based on last year's set-ups, I believe there were seven crate cars in the field, with Hanna, Simpson, Nezworski, and Johnson using the spec engine package.

All but one of the 23 entries lined up for the Invaders main event, with Colton Fisher not making the call. Blackhurst shot to the early lead, with Agan in hot pursuit. The leaders caught slower traffic by lap six, and Blackhurst was able to stretch his advantage. The first yellow came on lap nine. The single file restart gave Blackhurst a clear track, as he lead Agan, John Schultz and Chris Martin. Agan found a line around Blackhurst one lap later, but another caution flag for a spinning car negated the pass. This proved to be a double whammy for Agan, who was penalized one spot on the restart, I believe for driving inside the restart cone.

Back under green, the second-running Schultz began applying pressure, but Blackhurst regained his momentum, and was in lapped traffic again by the 15th circuit. He had a commanding lead when the yellow waved again on lap 17. Following the restart, the #4 car of Agan, now running fifth, went up in smoke, ending his run. After a lap 19 caution, Cody Wehrle jumped to the runner up spot. One final stoppage came on lap 21, but again Blackhurst stretched his lead. While Wehrle and Schultz exchanged slide jobs in turns three and four, Joe B Miller found his way around both to claim the second spot. At the checkers, it was Blackhurst with the win over Miller, Schultz, Wehrle, and Chris Martin.

The temperature was a brisk 36 degrees and the wind chill registering 29 when we headed for the car, somewhere close to 7:45! It was solid first night for the new team, if there were any glitches, it was not apparent to the hearty and brave crowd, and they should be commended for being big enough race fans to even go ahead with this show in such adverse conditions.

As of now, the forecast for next weekend looks just as bad, or worse, and the snow is piling up outside my window here in Northeast Missouri. Hopefully, spring will show its head, and we can get back to the track soon.

The calendar is filling up, with many of the postponed early season specials piggybacking the already many attractive offerings on the April docket. The IRA and MOWA 410 sprint cars are on tap next Saturday at 34 Raceway, with the Slocum 50 for MLRA late models three weeks away on April 21. Meanwhile, Quincy Raceways will open the 2018 next Sunday night, April 8, and the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Mo., will try again next Friday and Saturday nights. Check the specials calendar at Positively Racing.com, and make plans to get to a track near you.

Here's remembering Brent Slocum on his birthday, and Happy Easter to all.