Davenport Speedway was our destination on Tuesday night as Tony Izzo brought his MARS open late model series to the 1/4 mile for the second time in 2021. The Hoker 50 would be the headline event, with IMCA late models and IMCA modifieds filling out the card. Three quality classes, a perfect show for a mid week race at a track with a curfew!
In addition to his tour followers, Izzo was hoping to attract a few drivers on their way from the Silver Dollar Nationals event at Greenwood, Nebraska last weekend to the Prairie Dirt Classic in Fairbury, Illinois beginning on Friday. While several "big name" drivers did indeed stop by, along with several who did not go to Nebraska, what garnered the most attention was the Monday announcement that UMP modified standout Nick Hoffman would be climbing in the Team Zero car for an ailing Scott Bloomquist. The plan for the UMP Summit Nationals points leader would be to get his "feet wet" at Davenport, then head to Fairbury for the weekend.
While the car count may have been a bit less than hoped for, the quality, particularly among the MARS entrants, was top drawer! A solid mix of regional and national stars made up the twenty two car field, while eighteen IMCA late models and sixteen IMCA modifieds filled out the card.
Brandon Overton broke the fourteen second mark in qualifying and sat atop the leader board until New Mexico driver Stormy Scott broke through with a lap of 13.968 seconds to grab top honors. As is mostly the case with "time 'em and start 'em straight up" shows, the three heat races were yawners. Scott and Overton took wins from the pole, while Jason Feger captured heat two from outside row one. Mitch Morris and Spencer Diercks topped the modified heats, both from row two, while Don Pataska and Andy Nezworski were front row winners in the IMCA late model division. Both of those classes used the draw/redraw format.
An unusually long intermission ( thanks, T.V. coverage?) did not go completely to waste, as Dr. Al and Ricky performed their usual track magic, making the 1/4 mile oval super racy for the main events.
The headline event, the $10,000 to win Hoker 50 lined up first, straight up from the heat race finishes. Scott and Feger paced the field, catching slower traffic by lap six. Scott was able to negotiate the lapped traffic, and as the laps continued to click off, Feger held off Brian Shirley as the top two in MARS points battled for second. At lap twenty three, Feger slipped off the top of turn one, turning the spot over to Shirley. The race to watch was a tight battle for second through sixth, but as the lap was completed, the first caution period came. On the Delaware style restart, Hudson Oneal looked like a running back finding a seam up the middle, charging to third, then continuing his momentum into second. Oneal then cleared Scott for the lead as the race reached the halfway mark, and one lap later, the yellow flag waved again. With Feger and Scott fading back in the pack, it was now Shirley and Overton hot and heavy for second, and Bobby Pierce looking for an opening behind them. The front four gained separation from the pack, with Overton momentarily breaking free and mounting a strong challenge for the lead around lap thirty five. Meanwhile, Pierce was working on Shirley for third, but his slider was met with a successful crossover on lap thirty seven. One more trip around and Pierce claimed the third spot, even as Oneal began to put distance between himself and his challengers. The race to watch in the closing laps was the battle for fifth, as Garrett Alberson on the bottom, Ricky Weiss in the middle, and Scott up top ran three wide. As the white flag was coming out, Feger slowed on the front stretch exiting the speedway, and the yellow flag came out a final time. This set up a two lap dash to the finish with the field realigned single file. On the final trip around, Overton mounted a serious challenge and from our vantage point looked to perhaps be the winner, but the transponders scored Oneal out front by 0.026 seconds! Pierce and Shirley followed, with eleventh starting Alberson completing his late charge through the field in fifth. Weiss ran sixth, while Hoffman started in row eight and advanced to seventh at the finish. Chad Simpson, Jimmy Owens, and Scott were next, as only ten cars took the checkers.
Twenty laps would be the distance for the IMCA modifieds. Craig Crawford and sixteen year old Charlie Mohr lined up in row one, with Mohr jumping to a commanding lead. Chris Zogg came from row two to second on lap two, and was soon challenged by Spencer Diercks. Spencer had issues early on with his super late model, but had his mod running strong. With a dozen laps to go he was in second and applying pressure to Mohr when the youngster went too hot through turns three and four, spinning and coming to a stop. Diercks and Zogg would line up side by side for the restart with Diercks grabbing the advantage. But it was now Matt Werner breaking through to challenge, and he took over the lead at the halfway point. Diercks stayed close, as the top two pulled away, and they would swap the lead again as the laps wound down. Diercks was working the high line while Werner operated on the lower half of the oval. Working the bottom in turns one and two, then drifting to the middle groove on the exit of turn four, Werner took control, only to catch the back of the pack on the final lap. He was up to the challenge, however, putting his #93 in victory lane after redrawing the number twelve and starting in row six! Diercks rolled home second, chased by Jason Pershy, Werners' row six mate Brandon Durbin, and Mitch Morris. It was a testament to the track prep to have that much movement through the field after fifty laps of super late model action!
IMCA late models would round out the night, racing for twenty five laps. Justin Kay charged from third to take the top spot exiting turn four on lap one. Brian Harris used a jack rabbit start to jump to second in what began as a two car race. By lap five, the high riding Harris had taken over the lead, while fifth starting Matt Ryan was closing in on Kay for second. Matt completed the pass on lap seven, and two laps later he cleared Harris for the lead. Ryan and Kay worked around the infield tire barrier while Harris searched the top side for a bite. Fourteen to go and Kay moved to second, and one lap later Ryan found the back of the pack. Ryan was able to stretch his lead a bit as Kay moved around on the track looking for needed momentum. We had certainly seen this play before, but tonight there would be no late heroics for Kay, as Ryan drove to the win. Kay, who finished outside the top ten with his super late model, grabbed the runner up spot. Harris settled for third, while Chuck Hanna ran fourth. Nezworski drew the twelve chip and moved up seven spots to fifth. Young Logan Duffy was sixth followed by the veteran Gary Webb. Shawn Mulvany, Jacob Waterman, and Fred Remley completed the top ten.
We were in the car shortly before 10 PM, as another large Davenport crowd filed out of the parking lot. Thanks as always to Ricky and Brenda, as well as the MARS folks for their hospitality and for another top notch event on the racy 1/4 mile!
Next for this race fan is a special Saturday night event this week at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, with another edition of the "Drive for Five" paying $1,000 to win for IMCA late models and modifieds. Midgets and the A.I.R.S. vintage cars will join stock cars, sport mods, and sport compacts in filling out the card in what promises to be a full night of action. Lee County is trading nights this week with 34 Raceway, where the All Start Circuit of Champions sprint cars will be in action on Friday. These two events are just the tip of the iceberg, with both sprint and stock car action all over the area this week, so check the Positively Racing calendar and head to a track near or far!
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