Saturday night, Fred and I wrapped up our 2020 season with a trip to the Springfield, Missouri Raceway for night number two of the 14th annual Turkey Bowl. This was the first time the event was contested over two nights, and it was probably a good thing. In 2019 what was deemed a record field of 201 cars checked in. But even though the race was postponed one week this year due to weather, the two nights saw roughly 280 cars in competition! The Midwest B mods hosted a complete show on Friday with thirty six cars in action, while the Midwest B mods, mini late models, legend cars, and USRA B mods ran heat races. Those four classes ran B mains and features on Saturday, joined by sixty two IMCA modifieds and thirty late models. ( We were pretty certain that Larry Adams did not have a #711 late model to go along with his #711 modified!)
The quarter mile semi banked bullring saw something over fifty races over the two nights, yet the track held up extremely well. It was dust free on Saturday, and only a small ripple at the entrance of turn one gave the drivers any reason to get off the loud pedal. The first green flag from a very animated flagman waved just after 3:00 following a handful of hot laps for the first Midwest A mod B main cars. We headed for the gate and the warmth of the van six hours later with a pair of features still to hit the track.
Interspersed among the qualifying events, the legend car feature saw a host of lead changes before Joplin, Missouri driver Dave Comer took the win ahead of Drew Papke who hauled his #43 all the way from Bismarck, North Dakota!
Another Joplin racer, Jerad McIntire took home the unique turkey trophy in the Midwest A's over double duty Steven Bowers Jr. from Topeka, Kansas.
Bowers Jr. would later come back to capture the IMCA mod twenty five lap $2,000 to win event over another Kansas competitor, Darron Fuqua, from Mayetta. Newton, Iowa hot shoe Ethan Braaksma had to fight through the sixty two car field. After falling out of his heat race, Braaksma started in row six of his B main, racing to a second place finish. He then lined up fourteenth in the feature and came home third. William Gould, from Calera, Oklahoma, started just in front of Braaksma and brought his white and gold #60 home in fourth followed by Shawn Knuckles, from across the state in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.
It was now time for the headliner, with $4,000 on the line for the late models. If you had told me at the start of the night that previous two time Turkey Bowl winner Logan Martin would land in victory lane, I would not have been surprised, as he drew the pole start for heat number one. But it was the route he took to the podium that made for great racing. Martin was the first car to fall from his eight car heat, landing him at the back of B main number two. From there he gained six spots to follow Sterling, Illinois standout Travis Denning to the checkers, giving him a row seven start in the feature. Heat two winner Cole Wells redrew the number four spot on the grid among the ten passing points qualifiers and shot to the early lead, building an advantage as a four car duel erupted behind him. Ninth starting Jesse Stovall was on the move, entering the top five on lap two, then jumping to fourth one lap later. But Martin, who calls West Plains, Missouri home, was up to fifth by lap five and running down the leaders. Meanwhile Stovall was in the runner up spot by lap nine and closing the gap to Wells with Martin in the hunt also. Logan then used slower traffic to grab the lead just ahead of the first caution flag. Back under green, Stovall and Wells were in a battle for second as Martin stretched his lead. A second caution came just after the halfway mark, and on the restart there was contact between the #91 of Chris Jones and Stovall, sending the fifth running Jones for a spin. This would also ultimately prove to be Jesse's undoing, as he now had sheet metal rubbing on a rear tire. From that point, the race would stay green following a single file restart. The leaders were now mostly locked in the bottom groove except for Stovall, who was searching the high line in hopes of improving his third place standing. Row four starter Kaeden Cornell found something in the closing laps, clearing Wells for second. As the laps wound down, the smoking tire on the Stovall #00 gave up, dropping him just outside the top ten. Martin cruised to the victory, while Cornell grabbed the $1,500 runner up check. Wells took home a solid third followed by another two time Turkey champ, Scott Crigler. Denning gained seven spots to record a top five. Dewayne Kiefer recovered from a heat race incident to advance ten spots to sixth in front of Mike Collins, who now calls New Orleans, Louisiana home. Jason Wagner made the long tow from Deer Creek, Illinois to run eighth, besting front row starters Jace Parmley and Doug Tye.
Although we started the four hour plus journey home at that point, we apparently missed a heck of a good B mod feature, as Ryan Gilmore recovered from early problems to nose out Kris Jackson. And I see this morning that Scott Busch made the long haul from Cuba City, Wisconsin pay off with a win in the mini late models.
Jerry Hoffman and his crew again put on a quality show at this rustic facility just outside Springfield, it is an event I would not hesitate to recommend, especially for twenty bucks to watch late November racing. It has become a staple of our racing calendar.
Again, this will conclude a most trying and unusual racing season, so let us all stay safe and hope for something close to normal - whatever that is - in 2021. Check back soon for my 2020 summary, and as always, thanks for reading!
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