Aikey Takes the Iowa Governors Cup

   Saturday night we made the trip to Davenport Speedway for the Iowa Governors Cup event. The featured class was the Hoker Trucking SLMR east series late models battling for $5,000 to win on the quarter mile oval. Modifieds were contesting a $1,000 prize, joined by sport mods, street stocks, and 4 stocks. In addition, the A.I.R.S. vintage cars filled out the card. 

  A whopping 153 race teams, including thirty three SLMR late models signed in for the nights' action. Unusually warm temps and a stiff breeze resulted in plenty of water being put on the track, and it took some extra time and packing to get it rolled in and ready. Once things kicked off, however, late model qualifying, the eighteen heat races and five B mains clicked off in good time, thanks in part to a " spin and your in " rule for qualifying races.

  The SLMR series uses a combination of points accumulated through time trials and heat race passing points -with a six car invert- to set the first eight rows of the feature. Dave Eckrich posted the fastest lap at 14.772 seconds, which combined with a sixth place run in his heat race locked him into the main event. Many times the front runners in the heats are among those top sixteen, but on this night that was not always the case. Darrel Defrance crossed the line fourth in heat one, but wound up in B main number two, which he won to earn a ninth row spot in the feature. Dave Wada ( second ), Chuck Hanna ( third ), and Travis Denning ( third ) in their respective heats were relegated to one of the B's, all failing to transfer to the main event. Heat race wins went to Andy Eckrich, series points leader Tad Pospisil, Jeff Tharp, and Ray Guss Jr., who was wheeling the Lynn Richard #15R. Nick Marolf was victorious in the first B main. Yankee Dirt Track Classic winner Jason Rauen and Jill George were awarded provisional starting spots, with George climbing in the Ryan Claeys #35C, as her #22 had issues throughout the evening.

   Feature racing began with nineteen of the twenty three street stocks struggling to complete their twelve lap feature. Five yellow flags put them at the time limit, but amazingly after that point, the final four laps went caution free. Jeff Struck Jr. started outside row one and rode the high line around the track to collect the win. He was pushed hard by ninth starting Tony Von Dresky who hugged the inside groove to finish in second. Struck would power ahead off turn two, while the #31 would pull even out of four. Struck nearly avoided  trouble when he narrowly missed a spun and stalled car in turn four on lap eight. 

   Fifteen of the American Iron Racing Series cars signed in, with Bruce Yoerger pulling away in the second half of the ten lap feature to take the win in his 1966 Chevrolet Impala.

   Forty laps was the distance for the SLMR late models. Richie Gustin and Jonathon Brauns led the field to green. Gustin paced the early laps followed closely by Brauns, Matt Ryan, Jeff Aikey, and Pospisil. By the third circuit, a three car race had developed, with Gustin riding the rim, Aikey in the middle, and Pospisil hugging the bottom of the multi groove track. Ryan closed the gap on the leaders about lap nine, and Brauns was hanging around in fifth. Aikey found the bite he needed to snag the lead on lap fourteen, and Pospisil followed him in second. Jumping to the cushion, Aikey began to stretch his margin, finally hitting slower traffic about lap seventeen. By now the track had taken lots of rubber, and Aikey was able to move around on the black slick surface to weave his way through the lapped cars. Forty laps clicked off caution free, as the veteran Aikey cruised to the win. Pospisil held off Gustin for third. Brauns was able to clear Ryan, but was DQ'd in post race tech. This moved Ryan to fourth, with Tharp scored fifth. Chad Simpson was piloting the Jay Johnson #93 for the night, and he came home sixth, chased across the line by Andy Eckrich, Justin Kay, Andrew Kosiski, and Spencer Diercks.

  Kyle Olson bested thirty eight sport mods for a $500 payday, while double duty Spencer Diercks topped a stellar field of twenty eight modifieds. We were on the road before the sixteen car sport compact finale, and I regret that I have not seen a report on the outcome.

  Thanks to Bob Wagener, Carrie Rouse, and the Drt Trak folks for their hospitality all throughout 2020, as we were able to attend several of their top notch events. 

  We next set our sites on the opening program of the three night Darkside Promotions Fall Bash at Tipton, Iowa this coming Thursday, then the Hoker Trucking SLMR east series finale next Saturday at Randolph County Raceway in Moberly, Missouri for the second annual Kenny Pratt Memorial. Again, for you RCR faithful, note that this race will be held on Saturday, a change from the regular Moberly race night.

Krup and Simpson Kick Off Mod Mania Weekend

   Thursday night I hitched a ride to the opening night of Mod Mania at Tammy and Kevin Gundakers' Tri City Speedway in Pontoon Beach   (Granite City), Il. This would be the 16th annual edition of the event which features UMP modifieds along with UMP late models as a companion class. There is an escalating purse each night, and on Thursday the mods would be battling for a $3,000 top prize, while the late models competed for $2,000 to win. Forty eight modifieds and twenty three late models, a bit lighter than normal, field of cars checked in.

  Time trial qualifying started things off, with two or three cars at a time running two laps. Josh Harris paced the mods with a lap of 15.942 seconds while Daryn Klein topped the late models at 14.341. Six modified heats and a pair of B mains for the mods and three heats for the late models set the feature fields. Before the B mains, the six modified heat winners were brought to the front stretch for a redraw. Adding a twist to this format was that the drivers could not keep the number they drew, but had to hand it off to another of the six. This made for both an interesting and entertaining aspect to the procedure.

   The thirty lap main for the mods was up first following the thirty minute intermission, with Jeff Leka in an A One Towing #3L and Rick Stevenson in his #77 lining up in row one. Stevenson paced the early laps with Leka and fifth starting Will Krup in tow in what became a three car battle. Leka was out front as lap ten was scored, but Stevenson jumped back out front on the next go around. On the same lap, Krup charged to second, then to the lead. As the race stayed green, heavy traffic came into play. Both the announcer and the other heat winners had made mention of the dominance of Nick Hoffman in the class, and he was handed the number six starting spot, but with a dozen laps remaining still with slower traffic in play, the North Carolina driver jumped to second. One lap later, Leka clipped a tire barrier, spinning in turn two to bring out the first caution. By this point, B main one winner Mike Harrison had moved from a row seven start to sixth for the Delaware restart. Two more laps and the caution flag waved again for debris. One more lap was scored ahead of a final caution as Timmy Hill stopped in turn four. Again the green flag waved, as Hoffman alternated between the high and low restart position behind the leader. With a clear track in front, Krup opened a sizable lead as he kept his #19 glued to the inside line. At the checkers it was Krup with the win, followed by Hoffman, Harris, and Stevenson. Harrison slipped around Mike McKinney on the final circuit to complete the top five. Zach Schantz ran seventh ahead of Pennsylvania driver Michael Altobelli. Jacob Rexing and Rick Conoyer completed the top ten.

   Kaeden Cornell had crossed the line third in the first late model heat and was scheduled to line up inside row four for the thirty lap finale. However a trail of oil from his #50 at the checkered flag ended his night, leaving us with twenty two starters for thirty laps. Heat winners Klein, Jason Feger, and Chris Simpson held the top three starting spots, but it was Michael Kloos in third behind Feger and Klein as lap one was scored. With nine laps in the books, Jeremy Conaway went for a spin in turn two causing Feger to check up as he was working lapped traffic. Until now Simpson had been treading water in fourth, but on the restart he found traction in the low groove, jumped to third at the green, then cleared Klein for second two laps later. At the same time, eighth starting Gordy Gundaker powered to third. Feger had committed to the top groove around the 3/8 mile, living up to his " Highside Hustler " nickname, but Simpson was cutting into his lead each lap until he took over the top spot on lap nineteen. Working his way through slower traffic, Simpson was maintaining a lead that varied from comfortable to three car lengths. With three laps left, Klein had moved back to third, but clipped the turn four wall turning his car sideways into the front stretch concrete with his #10 taking a hard tumble. He climbed from the badly damaged car thankfully uninjured. The final restart was only a slight delay for Simpson on his trip to victory lane. Feger held second, besting Gordy Gundaker, Kloos, and Rusty Schlenk. Track regular Billy Laycock topped the second five in front of Rickey Frankel and Trevor Gundaker. Tim Manville had smacked the turn one wall in time trials, missed his heat and lined up last on the feature grid, but climbed to ninth at the checkers. Michigan racer Cody Bauer rounded out the top ten, with the final checkers waving just before 11:00. 

   Next up, a final 2020 visit to Davenport Speedway on Saturday as the Hoker Trucking SLMR late models come to call headlined by a $5,000 to win event on the 1/4 mile. The weather is fantastic, for racing this weekend, so pick one out and head to the track!

 

Kay Takes Drive For Five Dollars at Donnellson

 Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa was the setting for the once postponed Drive for Five late model finale on Saturday night. In addition, the Sprint Invaders made their second stop of 2020, with sport mods and sport compacts filling out the card. The pit area was brimming with 89 cars on a cool, fall like evening. The late model event was the culmination of a season long quest. Throughout the abbreviated schedule there were five $1,000 to win qualifying races held. Any driver competing in at least four of the five would be eligible for a $5,000 winners share on this final night. All others would be racing for  $2,000 payday. As it turned out, there were twelve drivers who had fulfilled the requirement, of those ten checked in on Saturday night. Veteran racers Ron Boyse and Jay Johnson were no shows. Eleven others filled out the twenty one car field. Drivers drew for their starting position for a first set of ten lap heat races with passing points accumulated. Then the lineups were reversed for a second set of heats. The total passing points earned in both heats would be used to set the feature lineup. That main event would be run in a pair of twenty five lap segments, with a ten minute break between. During this time the cars were parked on the front straightaway with drivers and crews allowed to make any desired changes to the cars. The only stipulation was that if any tires were changed, that driver would have to restart at the tail. Only Jill George, who had ducked to the infield early elected to change rubber.                                                                                               Matt Ryan and Andy Eckrich sat on row one as racing began, neither bonus qualified. Matt shot to the lead, with first Eckrich, then fourth starting and bonus eligible Andy Nezworski in pursuit. It took only three laps for seventh starting Justin Kay to enter the top five, and by the time lap four was scored he had charged to third. Row five starter Tommy Elston also headed for the front, snagging the fourth spot on lap seven. Ryan hit slower traffic on lap nine, but one more trip around and the yellow waved for a spinning Chris Horn. A second caution came on the Delaware restart as the front of the field stacked up, causing a mixup at the rear with Ray Raker, George, and Horn. Again the yellow flew on the restart as Chris Richard and Darren Mish got together in turn two. On the first try, Nezworski had elected to restart on the inside row, and on the following two he took the high side. But each time Kay powered into the runner up spot, with Elston soon following in third. Ryan was again approaching heavy traffic as the yellow flag ended segment one.                                 With work completed, Elston drove to the front on the restart using the middle line around the track while Ryan and Kay committed to the bottom. The front trio gained separation from the pack with Ryan retaking the point with fifteen laps to go. One circuit later, Kay also cleared Elston for second, and at the crossed flags signaling the halfway mark, traffic again came into play. As Elston faded a bit, we now had a two car battle going on. Forty two laps in and Ryan found the back of the pack racing for position in front of his #07. Mish in particular was running the preferred low line, and Ryan followed him for a couple laps before deciding to move up a lane to make the pass. As the cars entered turn one, a small opening appeared down low, and Kay shot through to the lead before Ryan could complete his pass. Justin was then able to put some distance on the second running Ryan, and with zero cautions the rest of the way, he cruised to a $2,000 payday. Ryan held on to second ahead of three qualified drivers, Elston, Nezworski, and Mark Burgtorf. Eckrich topped the second five over Nick Marolf, Gary Webb, Denny Woodworth, and Joel Callahan.                                                                                   Before the late model finale, the Sprint Invaders had contested a twenty five lap main event. All but one of the twenty three entrants lined up to race, with outside pole sitter Josh Schneiderman putting the #88 machine out front. Chris Martin, Kaley Gharst, and Shake Up Dash winner and sixth starting Paul Nienhiser quickly took up the chase. A deluge of early cautions, five in the first six laps, slowed the action. Then on lap eight the red flag was displayed as Wyatt Wilkerson tried to thread the needle at the very top of turns one and two, ran out of room, and flipped his #29W over the guardrail into the Iowa night. Fortunately he was uninjured, but it took some time before racing resumed. Back under green in single file fashion, Nienhiser grabbed the second spot, but by the time he did Schneiderman had opened a nearly straightaway lead. As heavy traffic became a factor at the halfway point, Nienhiser began to close the gap. With just ten laps remaining, the #50 was poised to challenge for the lead. However Schneiderman expertly negotiated the lapped cars and was pulling away as the checkers flew. He lapped up through fifth place, with only Nienhiser, Martin, and Gharst still on the lead lap. Christian Bowman was scored in fifth.                   Track officials are only just beginning to leak word out that there will be a $3,000 to win sport compact race during the next event on the schedule, the Fall Extravaganva weekend October 9 and 10. As a result, a handful of  " out of town " drivers made the pull to LCS on Saturday, increasing the field to twenty cars. Chevy Barnes and Brandon Crawley sat on row one for the feature race. Jumping to second behind Crawley as lap one was scored, Jared Heule took over the lead on lap two, taking David Prim and twelfth starting Jason Ash along in second and third. Ash continued his charge, gaining second on lap four. Meanwhile Josh Barnes was now the car to watch. After mechanical failure while leading forced him from his heat race, he lined up last for the main event but was in the top five by lap five. Heule and Ash were now battling well ahead of the field, and Ash moved to the front with seven laps to go. Four more trips past the flag stand brought out the lone caution of the race. Tenth starting Brandon Reu, the 2020 track champion used the Delaware double file restart to take over the second position. He would however have nothing for Ash, who cruised to the win. Huele came home in third, followed by Barnes and William Michel.                 The clock was now ticking close to 11:00, and following the first sport mod feature caution, my ride for the night decided it was time to head for the parking lot. Checking the results this morning, I see that track champion Adam Birck topped the twenty five car field. Pole sitter Austen Becerra was second, followed by visiting hot shoe Tim Plummer, Sean Wyett, and Ron Kibbe.                                      Thanks to Brian and Marcie Gaylord and Brian Neal for a program that was both unique and entertaining for the large gathering. Our next scheduled adventure will be at the Davenport Speedway Saturday September 26 as the SLMR east series late models battle it out for a $5,000 winners share on the quarter mile oval. There are many specials around the area in the coming weeks, including the aforementioned Fall Extravaganza at Donnellson, so dig out the sweaters and gloves and say " Hi " when you see us at the track!

Defrance Family Honored at Summer Series Finale

 After multiple postponements over the past two seasons, the 500th and final IMCA late model Summer Series race was held at the Marshalltown Speedway, the home track of the " Iron Man. " Darrell Defrance checked in at the inaugural event at 34 Raceway in West Burlington April 11,1987 and each and every one that followed. Between the 2019  and 2020 seasons, IMCA "sold " the series to Joe Kosiski and his SLMR organization. With 499 Summer Series races having been run, it was decided there would be one last hurrah, in part to honor the man who had run them all. It was originally set for last season, but Mother Nature had other ideas, as three attempts at as many tracks were all washed out. Covid issues and inclement weather again resulted in multiple reschedules earlier this year when it would be part of the Dale Defrance Memorial, so it was piggybacked onto the 14th annual World Nationals weekend. Four other IMCA classes, modifieds, sport mods, stock cars, and hobby stocks as well as mod lites would fill out the card for the Thursday night special.                                                                                    One hundred and seventy eight cars overflowed the pit area, and a large week night crowd braved the rapidly cooling temperatures to watch the historic event at the famed high banked quarter mile. Hot laps began at 6:55, and pre race ceremonies honoring Darrell and his family followed, with green flag racing kicking off at about 7:50. Nineteen heat races were in the books by 9:15, and immediately the mod lite feature came to the track. Dillon Raffurty made the long tow from Kansas City, Mo. pay off as he charged from row four, cruising to the win in the fifteen lap event over ninth starting Cory Sonner.    A half dozen B mains then set the starting grids for the rest of the classes, and with no breaks, the sport mods lined up. Forty cars had been whittled down to twenty four, and with Brayton Carter pulling a " two " for the redraw, this one looked like an easy call. But IMCA Super Nationals champion Johnathon Logue was lurking in row three, and within a few circuits he was on the heels of the #01. While he made things interesting, he ultimately settled for runner up honors, as it was Carter in victory lane.                                             Eighteen laps of hobby stock racing was next, and it did not take long for Nathan Ballard to come from row three to put the heat on polesitter Luke Schluetter. Ballard then grabbed the lead, and posted the win, with Schluetter in second.                                                    Over the years no one in the IMCA stock car class has better at "catfishing" around the bottom of the local bullrings than Jeff  Mueller. If there is a low groove with some moisture to be found, Jeff will take up residence there, and Thursday was no exception. He charged to the front mid race from row five, and cruised to the win. Dallon Murty started one row ahead of Mueller and followed him to the front, but could do no better than second. Dad Damon Murty spent most of the twenty laps picking his way forward from the eleventh spot to third at the checkers.                                                With two separate World Finals shows starting tonight, a whopping forty four IMCA modifieds checked in for Thursday action. Five heat races and a pair of B mains left two dozen standing for the twenty lap feature. To say it was a " who's who " of modified racing would be an understatement. Amazingly, the race went caution free, green to checkers.  Local favorites Jimmy and Richie Gustin lined up in row one, and Richie already had a heat race win on the books. But it was the driver from Torrance, California, racing through the midwest this summer, who would be the star of this show. Fresh off a runner up finish in Boone, Cody came from the sixth starting position to the front, then drove non stop to victory lane. Arizona pilot Tim Ward took second, while hotter than a firecracker Tom Berry Jr. came all the way from fourteenth to third. Jeff Aikey also charged through heavy traffic from row six to fourth and Richie Gustin completed the top five.                                                          Now it was late model time, twenty four starters out of the thirty one entrants, racing forty four laps in honor of the senior Defrance, who raced #44. The modifieds had proven that despite all the laps put on the track there were still multiple grooves, as the cool temps helped keep plenty of moisture at the surface. A host of veteran Summer Series drivers had made the trip to Marshalltown for this marqee event, and Dirt Hall of Famer Gary Webb made the most of it, as the seventy one year old legend pulled the number one to start on the pole. But it was his row one mate Dave Wada who led the opening circuits. The first caution came at lap two, as Kyle Krampe stopped on the track after contact. Nick Marolf, Krampe, Richie Gustin, and Shawn Cooney all retired at this point, leaving us with nineteen cars, as Andy Eckrich was already on the way home with engine woes. Another of the double duty drivers, Jeff aikey started third and moved around Webb for second as the field restarted Delaware double file behind Wada. Aikey then took the lead as lap three was scored. He than checked out on the field before a second caution for a spin by Eric Pollard at lap eight. Webb charged back to second on the restart, and fifth starting Matt Ryan followed in third. Again Aikey built a big advantage. The driver on the move now was Justin Kay, who had lined up in row nine. He entered the top five at lap twenty as he pounded the cushion, and soon found himself locked in a battle for fourth with Curt Martin. Aikey had built a straightaway lead, and by the halfway mark he was in slower traffic. He had lapped up thru tenth place when a final caution came with just six laps remaining for a slowing Martin. By then his lead was more than eight seconds. The late restart did nothing to slow his pace, and the all time Summer Series win leader put one final notch on his belt as the checkers waved. Ryan and Kay took advantage of the late yellow to move to second and third, while Webb completed his strong run in fourth. The man of the hour, Defrance charged to a top five finish after starting in tenth. Wada led the second five in front of row eight starters Andy Nezworski and Ben Seeman, youngster Logan Duffy and B main winner Curtis Glover.                                                    The clock on the dash read 11:58 as we started the car for the long trip home, with plenty of top notch racing to discuss. Thanks to Toby and his group for exciting non stop action, promoters please take note, 178 cars and thirty one races in four hours! Also thanks to Jeff for the ride and hanging in there until the end.                                  While Marshalltown hosts their World Finals this weekend, we will take tonight off, then plant ourselves at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, tomorrow, Saturday, for the IMCA late model Drive for Five Finale, along with Sprint Invaders, sport mods, and sport compacts. LCS fans, please note the earlier start times, hot laps at 6:00 PM.

Gustin Claims Moberly Dollars

 Sunday night it was off to the Randolph County Raceway near Moberly, Missouri as the MLRA late model series stopped by for the second time in 2020. This event would be the Scottie 46, a tribute to the late Albert Scott, the original owner of Quincy, Illinois Raceway and would feature a $5,000 first prize. With Illinois race tracks shuttered early in the season, owner/promoter Jason Goble moved his operation to the high banks of Moberly, mostly keeping in tact his Quincy schedule, including this memorial race. A pair of regular Sunday night classes, B mods and 4 cylinder cars would also be in action. When the MLRA stars visited back in June, Shannon Babb topped a thirty seven car field of late models. A nice group of twenty four super late models checked in this night, supported by twenty three B mods and nineteen four cylinders making for a solid Sunday night gathering. The warm holiday eve also brought a nice sized crowd, and fortunately the stiff southwesterly breeze carried any dust raised away from the  grandstands.                                                                                                      Following hot laps, late model qualifying kicked off, three cars at a time for two laps. Series point leader Payton Looney set quick time with a lap of 16.811 seconds around the high banked oval. Reid Millard put his crew to work after he dropped his driveshaft during his run. Three heat races were run in each division, with each late model ten lapper won from the front row. Outside pole sitter Chad Simpson topped heat one over Looney, Tony Jackson Jr., and Jeremy Grady.  California driver Jason Papich, a two time weekly winner at RCR duplicated the feat, beating Aaron Marrant, Garrett Alberson, and his teammate Tont Toste. Ryan Gustin took off from the pole in heat three, besting Scott Crigler, Justin Duty, and Daniel Hilsabeck. 

A fifteen minute intermission allowed the B mods to line up for their eighteen lap feature, with all but two taking the green flag. Chris Spalding grabbed the early lead from the pole position, while fifth starting Terry Wilson powered to second. Spalding opened a comfortable lead as row two starter Jamie Aleshire moved in to challenge Wilson for second. Following a lap two caution, Preston Dawson joined the leaders in third. Spalding hit slower traffic on lap eight just ahead of a caution for a mix up between Derek Goble and Cody Henderson. Back under green, Dawson moved to second as Spalding again stretched his lead. After another caution about lap twelve, Spalding stumbled on the restart, with Wilson grabbing the lead, trailed by Dawson. Spalding retired to the pits on lap fifteen and Michael Goodwin moved in to the runner up spot one lap later. As the white flag waved, the yellow light came on, setting up a one lap dash for the cash. The field was set single file, and after the first start was called back, Wilson held on for his first win of 2020. Goodwin was a close second. Aleshire, who was involved in an early caution, came from the back to run third, with Dawson and Hunter Cuno completing the top five. Wilson, Spalding, and Dawson also picked up heat race wins.   

 All nineteen 4 cylinders came to the track for a twelve lap feature. Third heat winner Landon Neisen sat on the front row along with Isaiah Penton. The caution waved on lap one as track point champion Alvin Cooney smacked the front stretch wall, ending his night. Penton lined up out front for the restart with Neisen and heat two winner Kyle Burton battling for second. The race stayed clean and green, even though Burton made hard contact with that same front stretch concrete as he fought for position. Neisen saw his strong run end as he slowed on the final lap. Penton remained in control to pick up the win. Anthony Kysar came from row five to claim the runner up spot, while first heat winner Adam Melloway took third. Burton hung around in fourth in front of Jeremy Bell.   

It was now late model time, and all two dozen entries made it to the starting grid. The straight up start from the heats put Simpson and Papich on row one, with Chad jumping to the lead. He set a fast pace as the leaders powered around the high line of the quickly blackening oval. Slower traffic came into play on lap six, and one lap later Gustin cleared Papich for second. It took about three more laps for Ryan to run down the leader, as a two car battle developed at the front. The first caution came at lap thirteen as Kayden Clatt spun in turn two and Justin Duty and Brennon Willard ducked to the pits for flat tires. Again Simpson and Gustin put distance on the field, with Papich rejoining the hunt on lap twenty. Gustin used a lapped car to move to the lead in turn three one lap later, but Simpson executed the crossover move to retake the spot. As the lead pack came upon slower cars racing for position, a spate of flat tires began on lap twenty nine, as the caution came out for Mason Oberkramer. During the shutdown, fourth running Looney stopped on the track, smoke trailing his #15, and he then drove to his pit stall, his night over. The field was then restarted single file, with Simpson, Gustin, and Papich pulling away. Two more cautions came at laps thirty one and thirty three, and as Derek Wiss and Jeremy Conaway changed flats, fourth running Crigler, sixth place Marrant, and seventh position Hilsabeck all retired to the trailer. Simpson pulled away on the open track as racing resumed, but with thirty eight laps scored , everything changed dramatically. The caution waved as Papich slowed with a flat, and Jeff Herzog headed to the trailer with a shredded tire, as well. On the restart, it was now Jackson Jr. bringing out the yellow with a flat, and under green one more time Simpson gave up the lead with his own flat tire. Gustin was now out front, and although pushed by Alberson, he was up to the challenge. He picked up his second career win at the Moberly high banks. Alberson and teammate Jeremiah Hurst ran in the next two spots, while Duty and Toste also recorded top fives. Oberkramer rebounded to take sixth, and Papich came back to seventh. Jackson Jr., Simpson, and Conaway completed the top ten.  

                                                                                                           Despite the spate of cautions, the final checkers waved just before 9:30. Thanks to Jason, Jimmy, and the gang for their hospitality, and a tip of the cap to announcer Doug Mealy for the shout out. The MLRA will make one more visit to RCR this season, and it will be their season championship event on Sunday, October 16. Next up for Racin' Down the Road will be this coming Saturday at the Lee County Speedway, as the IMCA late model Drive for Five finale along with Sprint Invaders top the bill. Enjoy the rest of the Labor Day holiday, and we will see you at the races!

" Hammer Down " Takes the Yankee Win

 We decided to kick off the Labor Day holiday weekend with our first visit of the season to the Farley Speedway for championship night of the Yankee Dirt Track Classic featuring the Malvern Bank Super Late Models slugging it out for $10,000 to win. Three IMCA classes, modifieds, sport mods, and stock cars would fill out the lineup, with a cool $5,000 going to the modified winner. With 164 cars signed in for the Friday night portion of the show, we were prepared for a long and full night of racing. We were rewarded with that and more. After hearing stories of mass carnage on Friday, plus it being the Prelude to the Nationals night at Boone it was not surprising that the car counts in all but the sport mod division were down a bit on Saturday. Still a solid total of 131 cars made for a busy pit area. And with the memory of the final checkers flying at nearly 2:00 A.M. Saturday morning, it was decided to move the start time up one hour. As the program moved along, a couple of complete farming sessions of the 3/8 mile oval were held and it was announced that the running order would be altered to afford the late models and modifieds the best possible racing surface.                                                                                           Thus hot laps kicked off a few minutes after 5:30, with large groups of car per session with a green, white, checkers format moving things along quickly. The forty late models ( minus the one phantom car listed but not on the grounds ) then time trialed, four at a time for two laps. Veteran Jeff Aikey came out in group one and held the top mark until late in the order when series point leader Tad Pospisil turned the fastest lap at 15.768 seconds. This would start Tad sixth in the first heat, as the SLMR uses a combination of time trial points plus heat race passing points to set the first eight rows of the feature lineup. The passing points had a big impact on feature qualifying, as three of the cars that crossed the line second in their heat race plus one third place finisher wound up needing to run a B main. Heat race wins were dominated by Nebraska drivers. Friday night feature winner Justin Zeitner, Richie Gustin, Bill Leighton Jr., Cory Zeitner, and Cory Dumpert all picked up wins. B main victories went to Charlie McKenna, Dave and Andy Eckrich. Dave was one of those who finished second in his heat. Four provisional starters filled out the twenty six car feature field.                                                         With qualifying events for the forty six mods, thirty one sport mods and fourteen stock cars complete, next on the card was the $2,000 to win non qualifiers race for the SLMR late models. Fourteen cars would be eligible for the race, but only nine would make the call. The winner would have the option of taking the two grand or tagging the tail of the main event. Eric Pollard shot to the lead of the nine lapper and cruised to the win in front of Ben Seeman, Gary Webb, Logan Duffy, and the #02 of Kent Rosevear, who made the trip to Farley from Yuma, Arizona. Eric elected to take the money and call it a night.                                                                                            Following a second farming of the track, the late models were called ( more than once, I might add ) to the grid. As the twenty six starters mixed parade and warm up laps, provisional starter Darrell Defrance ducked to the infield with a trail of smoke following his #99D. When we finally went green, pole sitter Jason Rauen shot to the lead with his row one mate Leighton close behind. The racing surface was holding the moisture, was lightning fast and by lap eight, the hometown driver was encountering slower traffic. The front of the pack was racing pretty much in formation when the first caution came with nineteen of fifty laps in the books. Jeff Aikey was stopped facing the grandstands at the exit of turn four. Although I did not see what happened, Jeff was sure to let everyone see his displeasure with another driver as the cars circled the track waiting to be realigned.  It was now just before 10:00 P.M.. doing good, huh? Not so fast... As the lineup was being reset, the track lights in all but turn three went out. Upon inspection, it was found that the transformer behind the turn one concession area was on fire. The result was a nearly two hour delay as power company personnel arrived and changed out the faulty tranformer. During this time quite a few from the large crowd headed for the exits, including a handful of race teams. When action resumed, Rauen picked up where he left off. Clean and green, he was again in lapped traffic by lap twenty six. Although he was setting a blistering pace and negotiating the heavy traffic well, Leighton was methodically closing the gap. By lap thirty four Bill was bumper to bumper with the leader, and as the next ten laps clicked off, he was side by side coming out of the turns, looking for that extra bite while Jason kept to the preferred line. With Leighton looking ready to make his move, the yellow waved again with just four laps to go. Pospisil had been running a solid third, but slowed with a flat tire. This final restart would be single file, and with clean air in front, the driver known as " Hammer Down " Jason Rauen stretched his lead and picked up a flag to flag $10,000 Yankee Dirt Track Classic win. He also collected I think $500 in lap money. Leighton went the distance in second chased by Jeff Tharp, Dumpert, and Justin Zeitner. Gustin moved up ten spots to sixth in front of Darin Duffy. McKenna, Matt Ryan, and Andy Nezworski in the Tharp team car. The fifty fifty winner collected nineteen hundred plus dollars, and he donated back five hundred for the hard charger which I believe went to provisional starter Curt Schroeder who gained twelve spots after starting last.                                                                                         Following the power outage, the excellent new track P.A. system was no longer working, so with no post race interview, the modifieds came to the track quickly for what would now be a scheduled twenty laps. As lightning flashed to the west, Kyle Madden  took the early lead from the outside pole position. Chris Simpson was doing double duty, and he soon put his Busch Light #32 in the runner up spot, applying pressure to the #32XP of Madden. Meanwhile Jeff " Bone " Larson, the Friday night winner, had started seventh, and moved quickly to third. On lap ten he charged into turn three, blowing past both of the leaders, then promptly put distance on the pair. It took four more circuits for Simpson to clear Madden for second, and he then set about trying to run down Larson. About this time, sprinkles began to fall, and they quickly increased to the point that starter Doug Haack waved the yellow flag followed by the checkers with eighteen laps scored. Larson had made it back to back wins, with Simpson, Madden, double duty Jeff Aikey, and Denny Eckrich scoring top fives.                                                                           Another scan of the radar along with the fact that it was now officially Sunday morning sent us scurrying to the parking lot. We were convinced, as many others seemed to be, that the racing was over for the night. Surprisingly a check of results indicated that both the sport mod and stock car features were able to run. Curtis VanDerWal topped the sport mods, besting Scott Busch, Tim Plummer, Jason Roth, and Austin Stamm. Damon Murty scored the stock car win in front of Philip Holtz, Andrew Chelf, Johnny Spaw, and Matt Picray.                                                                                Power issues aside, it was a fun night of racing, and we all agreed that we made a good choice in making the three hour plus trip. Thanks go out to Michelle and the staff at  the spruced up 300 Raceway for their hospitality. Certainly my companions were appreciative of the free admission for those seventy and older, as well!                                                                                                       It is now time to get ready for Sunday night racing at Randolph County Raceway outside Moberly, Missouri, as the MLRA late models make their second visit to the high banked speed plant, backed by B modifieds and 4 cylinder cars. Check back tomorrow for highlights fron there, as you continue to enjoy your holiday weekend!