Hahne is Governers Cup Winner

     With twenty seven late model teams in the pits, the Friday event for the SLMR triple header was rained out at West Liberty Raceway. We caught back up with the mini tour at the Davenport Speedway on Saturday. This would be the annual Governors Cup race, with the late model headliner offering up a $5,000 check to the winner. Modifieds, sport mods, street stocks, 4 stocks and the A.I.R.S. cars would fill out the card, with an early start time helping things along.

    Somewhere close to 125 race teams signed in, with twenty eight late models leading the way. With hot laps complete, the late models split in to Group A and Group B for time trials. Omaha, Nebraska driver Jake Neal paced the first group, while World of Outlaw regular Tyler Bruening took overall honors with a lap of 14.230 seconds around the fairgrounds quarter mile oval. Michael Haines did not take qualifying laps, while Fred Remley had issues on his first trip around, and was done for the night.

   With a six car invert for the eight lap late model heat races, there was plenty of action. Neal came from row three to win heat one over fifth starting Andy Eckrich and row two starters Nick Marolf and Jay Johnson. Joel Callahan lined up in row one, outgunning Justin Kay,  Luke Goedert, and Joel Callahan in the second qualifier. Heat three went to sixth starting Bruening in front of David Webster, Dave Eckrich, and Jeff Tharp. Matt Ryan advanced from row two to grab the final heat, besting Charlie McKenna, Logan Duffy, and Jason Hahne. Because of the passing points format used to transfer to the main event, several drivers with top four finishes in the heats were forced to try their luck in the ten lap B main. Curt Schroeder led flag to flag to pick up that win, followed by Darrel Defrance, Brian Harris, and Gary Webb. Provisional starting spots went to Kirby Schultz and Ron Klein, giving us a twenty two car feature lineup.

   After a short intermission, the A.I.R.S. cars lined up, twenty out of  the twenty three signed in, for a dozen laps. Surprisingly, they were plagued with caution flags, a total of four in the first eight laps. Dennis Etten and his Mopar machine was scored the leader for all twelve laps to take the win. He was hounded in the closing circuits by Jake Hayes in his 1950s Packard #11. Robin Atkins, Steve Johnson, and R.J. Lank and his Edsel completed the top five. The low groove seemed to be the fast way around for the older style cars, but that would not necessarily be the case later on. A pair of sport mod B mains ran next ahead of the modified main. 

    All twenty three mods came to the track for twenty laps, with a $1,000 check awaiting the victor. Jordon Hicks charged from the outside pole to the lead, holding on until he spun coming through turn four on lap five. Travis Denning assumed the point for the restart, working the inside line. Meanwhile, sixth starting Chris Zogg was pounding the cushion, moving to the top spot on lap seven. Denning moved to the high line in turns one and two while working down low at the other end. Slower traffic became a factor by lap twelve and Denning began to eat into Zogg's advantage. Soon though Travis found himself caught behind a pair of lapped cars running side by side. Zogg then cruised to the win. Denning held off Eric Barnes for second, followed by Mark Schulte and Derrick Stewart.

   It was now late model time, with forty laps the scheduled distance. Hahne and McKenna sat on row one, with "Chargin' Charlie" taking the early lead over Neal, Hahne, and the Eckrich brothers, Dave and Andy. As the leaders worked the high side, Hahne cleared Neal for second on lap three. Meanwhile, Andy Eckrich and seventh starting series points leader Justin Kay searched the low line. Soon Kay changed to the high side, entering the top five on lap nine. One more trip past the flag stand and he jumped to fourth, third on lap twelve, and the runner up spot on lap fourteen. At the halfway mark, it was McKenna out front as he ran the cushion while Hahne in the middle line and Kay on the bottom gave chase. Slower traffic became heavy and about lap twenty four McKenna found himself shuffled back to fifth. Two laps later Kay took the lead from Hahne who now had to deal with the fast closing cars of Bruening and Neal. With twenty eight laps in the books, Bruening powered to second, but Hahne was also back on the move, clearing Kay for the lead one lap later. Hahne then began to stretch his margin as Bruening and Kay battled for second. Hahne, from Webster City, Ia. grabbed his first SLMR east division checkers and the $5,000 prize in the caution free race. Kay upped his points lead with a second place finish, while the Thursday night winner, Bruening, took third. Neal and McKenna rounded out the top five. Dave Eckrich outgunned brother Andy for sixth, with eighth through tenth going to Marolf, Ryan, and Duffy.

    With a trio of features yet to go, we headed for the parking lot while the street stocks took the green flag. Congratulations to Joe Bonney on his win in that division. Morning reports indicate that Aaron Hitt picked up a pair of wins in the 4 stock and sport mod classes.

   Thanks to Bob, Carrie, and the Drt Trak Racing,Inc. group for their hospitality at the several venues where they hosted events in 2021. The racing surface at Davenport proved to be top notch once again, with the late model feature a real "barn burner."

   Next up will be another of our favorite events, night one of the Fall Bash at the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa. Among the six divisions,  IMCA type late models and modifieds will run for a $1,000 prize at the Darkside Promotions three day extravaganza. Grab a jacket and join us there!

   

Bruening Grabs First SLMR Win

   Thursday was the opening night of the SLMR east division three night mini tour presented by Drt Trak Racing Inc.  The three eighths mile oval at the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway was the venue. Six classes would be in action, with the late model headliner offering a $3,000 top prize to the winner of the thirty lap feature.

   Thirty late models topped a contingent of ninety four cars as a good sized September week night crowd filed in on a cool evening. 

   Hot laps were completed in good time, then the late models quickly moved through time trials, three and four cars at a time. Andy Eckrich was the fastest in group one, but World of Outlaw regular Tyler Bruening set the overall mark in group two with a lap of 15.133 seconds. 

We were then on to heat race action. Kodey Miles and Jimmy Doescher topped the thirteen hobby stockers, while Mark Schulte and Chris Zogg grab modified wins. 

   The late models split into four eight lap heats with the a top six invert by time in each one. The highest sixteen in passing points would move on to the main event. Matt Ryan came from row two to grab the first heat over row three starters Jason Rauen and Andy Eckrich, while Ron Klein came across the line in fifth but gained enough points to make the transfer. Heat two went to fifth starter Jake Neal, topping third starting Charlie McKenna, then Dave Eckrich and Justin Kay, who lined up sixth and fourth, respectively. Spencer Diercks came from fourth to capture heat three, besting sixth starting Bruening and his row three mate Chad Holladay as the only transfers. The final qualifier sent five to the feature, with Chad Simpson leading flag to flag in David Websters #44W. Jeff Tharp, Luke Goedert, Jason Hahne, and Nick Marolf followed. 

   Troy Bauer and Ryan Schilling were sport mod victors, the Midwest Jalopies heat went to Kile Vohringer, and Ray Guss Jr. topped the Nostalgia heat. Guss Jr. did double duty on this night, also wheeling the Rick Dralle late model normally driven by Jeff Aikey. 

   The briefest of breaks was followed by a pair of seven car, seven lap B mains taking the top two late models from each one to the feature. Gary Webb drove past his front row mate Bobby Hansen in the first "B", then pole sitter Joel Callahan held off Darrel Defrance in the second last chance race. Provisional starters Curt Schroeder and Luke Pestka would complete the twenty two car starting lineup. A total, I believe, of only three yellow flags slowed the preliminary races on the smooth, well prepared track!

   Hobby Stocks would run a twelve lap feature, with a pair of Wisconsinites, Matt Bennett and Corey Cullen on row one. But it would be Hollandale, Wisconsin driver Jimmy Doescher coming quickly from row three to battle with Kodey Miles for the early lead. Eventually, Doescher would open a comfortable lead, as he easily worked through slower traffic in the non stop event. Meanwhile, Miles had his hands full of Scott Wetter in the closing laps, narrowly holding him off for second, as three Wisconsin pilots, Wetter, Bennett, and Mark Neis recorded top five finishes. 

    Sixteen modifieds lined up for twenty laps. Tyler Madigan lead the opening laps ahead of a lap three caution. Following the restart, sixth starting Matt Gansen charged from the second row of the Delaware style restart to the lead. From then on, the racing would occur back in the pack, as Gansen opened a straightaway plus lead cruising in the low groove. Meanwhile Madigan ran up against the outside wall, temporarily putting distance on the rest of the field. With no more stops, Gansen picked up a dominant win. Madigan took second ahead of an entertaining four car battle for third. In the closing laps, Mike Burbridge broke away from the race for third and moved in to challenge Madigan, but could not make the pass. Bill Roberts Jr. and Schulte rounded out the first five.

   The late models would be up next, with Andy Eckrich and Goedert on the front row. Andy powered to the front, with Bruening coming from fourth to set up a two car duel. Eckrich hugged the low line while Bruening set up shop on the high line. Five laps in, Tyler grabbed the lead. Soon, the front duo found the back of the pack, and Eckrich regained the point in traffic on about lap twelve. One circuit after the halfway mark, Bruening was back in front and pulling away, but the first caution for a spinning Hahne brought him back to the pack. At this point, all twenty two starters were still on the track! Rauen came charging through the field on the restart, all the way to third as the second and final caution came with eleven laps to go. Simpson, who was running with the leaders, spun low in turn two. Rauen briefly moved to second on this final restart, but two laps later in was again Eckrich in the runner up spot. As the laps wound down, eighth starting Diercks was able to drive to third, even as Bruening pulled away to a relatively easy win. The Decorah, Iowa pilot would collect the checkers in his first SLMR start of the year. Rauen settled into fourth, followed by Goedert. Tharp lead the second five, ahead of Dave Eckrich, Neal, Ryan, and McKenna. 

   At this point we headed for the car, with three features still to run. Congrats to Tony Olson, who took sport mod honors over Tyler Soppe. Austin Honts topped the Jalopies, and Guss Jr. was the Nostalgia winner. 

   Special thanks to Bob and Carrie, as always, for their hospitality and a good night of racing. Regular readers know that I am a fan of passing points, and last night was a perfect example of why I feel this way, as only one of the four late model heat winners came from the front row. I will always choose "racing" over "follow the leader."

   Drt Trak and the SLMR will head to the big half mile at West Liberty tonight, Friday, and I hope to catch back up on Saturday as they move to the Davenport Speedway for the Governors Cup event  with both of these shows paying the late model winner a cool $5,000!

  

Kay Tops Webb Tribute Feature

    Gary Webb for many years has been and continues to be a force in late model racing in the midwest. And no where has his dominance been more on display than at the Rock Island county fairgrounds in East Moline, Illinois. Now racing into his seventies, Webb has garnered more than a dozen track titles at his "home track" alone, with many of his five hundred plus victories recorded on the tight quarter mile, the most recent coming one week ago. So it seemed only right that we would make the nearly three hour journey for Gary Webb Tribute Night, a chance to honor the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer. The highlight of the six division program would be a fifty six lap IMCA late model main event, the number reflective of his long time car number, which for the last several years has been prefaced with a large "W."

   Ninety eight cars signed in, including twenty three late models, in front of a solid Sunday night crowd. Joe Zrostlik, Justin Kay, and Matt Ryan picked up late model heat race wins. Following all preliminary events, the track did their Hall of Fame inductions during an extended intermission.

   Back to racing, the first feature was a twelve lapper for the thirteen  Nostalgic Auto Racing Club entries. They had a difficult time getting laps in before finally settling in, with Ben Hamburg edging Ray Guss Jr. by about a half car length at the checkers.

   The late model headliner ran next, with all but David Norton making the call. The drivers exited their cars for a group photo op and driver introductions before firing off.  With Kay redrawing the pole position, he immediately became the favorite to collect the $2,000 top prize. True to form, he jumped to the early lead, and by the time lap number two was scored, he had opened a sizable advantage over fourth starting track champion Andy Nezworski. Kay was ready to tackle slower traffic when the first yellow flag came with five laps in the books for a stopped Jacob Waterman. Webb ducked to the pits for service at this time, then tagged the tail for the restart. Following the Delaware style realignment, Nezworski now had his hands full with B J Jackson, who was driving another of Webbs' #W56 machines. A multi car mix up on lap nine brought a second caution period, then the yellow came out a final time one lap later. This incident proved to be the end of the night for Webb, who retired to the pits with a seventeenth place finish. It was another thirteen laps before Kay found himself back in lapped traffic, but the veteran had little trouble moving through the slower cars. As the laps wound down, Brian Harris gave up a top five run as he ducked quickly to the infield, and just six circuits from the checkers, third running Jackson also saw his strong run come to an end. At the checkers, it was Kay lapping all the way to fifth position in his flag to flag victory. Nezworski trailed in second, with Fred Remley, Ryan, and Waterman also on the lead lap. Zrostlik came home sixth, leading Shawn Mulvany, Gage Neal, Darrel Defrance, and Bobby Hansen to complete the top ten. 

   At this point we decided to call it a night. Congratulations to Troy Cordes ( IMCA modifieds,) Tony Olson ( IMCA sport mods,) Jeffrey Delonjay ( sport compacts,) and Mike Zemo Jr. ( IMCA mod lites) on their feature wins.

   There are several good options for racing in the area this coming weekend. As of now, we have our eye on the opening night of the three night SLMR Iowa mini series, Thursday night at the Dubuque Speedway. After that, ? What ever your choice, grab your jacket, and lets go racing!

  

Erb Tops Night Number One at Knoxville

    Thursday it was off to night one of the 17th annual Knoxville Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals. This event has grown in stature over the years - particularly with the Lucas Oil sanction - even as car counts have fallen. In the inaugural year of 2004 the Extreme Late Model Nationals drew a field of ninety eight cars. In 2019, (there was no race in 2020 due to the pandemic), fifty five drivers competed on the opening night. While the Saturday night 100 lap winner has collected a cool $40,000 for several seasons, that figure was bumped up to $50,000 for 2021, partially in response, I imagine to the nearly week long competing event at the Texas Dirt Track. Along with the Texas race siphoning off several super late model race teams, a nationwide parts and tire shortage figured to further shrink the entry list this season. Still anticipation was high for this first of two night qualifying events paying $7,000 to the feature winner. The late entry of current national sensation Kyle Larson for the Thursday show was certainly another feather in the cap for Knoxville. 

   Still forty eight race teams signed in on Thursday, a solid mix of national stars and mid western hot shoes. The weather could not have been more perfect, and as always, the track surface was well manicured and racy. Mooresville, North Carolina driver Kyle Strickler was the first car out for time trials, and his lap of 17.878 seconds held up as the best of the night. With the field split into two qualifying groups, Kyle Larson paced the "B" group with a lap of 18.041 seconds.

   Heat race action came next, with six twelve lap events qualifying the top three for the twenty five lap feature. A six car invert based off of time trials set the lineups and created lots of action. Kansas racer Chase Junghans captured heat one from the outside pole over his row one mate Garrett Alberson, while Strickler came from row three to third. New York pilot Tim McCreadie started sixth and picked up the heat two win over his row three mate, Decorah, Iowas Tyler Bruening and fourth starting Mike Marlar. Minnesota's Rickey Weiss came from fifth for the heat three victory ahead of Mt. Vernon Iowa driver Chad Simpson and Brandon Sheppard who lined up side by side in row two. 

   Texan Tyler Erb kicked off the second set of heats, racing from fourth to the front, topping sixth starting Larson and outside pole sitter Tony Jackson Jr. Hudson Oneal, Martinsville, Indiana, timed poorly, started on the pole, and cruised to the win in heat five ahead of sixth starting Earl Pearson Jr. and row two starter Spencer Hughes, who used a final corner pass to take the spot from Farley, Iowas' Jason Rauen. Finally, it was West Virginia ace Josh Richards driving from second to the victory in heat six over fourth starting Frank Heckenast Jr., while fifth starting Jonathon Davenport grabbed the third spot from Shane Clanton at the line. 

   Something important to understand about the Knoxville format is that they place a huge importance on time trials, using a points system which is used to determine lineups for the big money dance on Saturday, so while Oneal and Richards had advantageous starting spots in winning their heats, the points gained there may well lag behind other top three finishers who had better qualifying times. Also of note, drivers are able to use their best points night from the Thursday or Friday show for the Saturday lineups. 

   A pair of fifteen lap B mains would fill out the twenty four car starting grid, with no provisional spots available tonight. Pole sitter Ricky Thornton Jr. paced the first of these, topping Kyle Bronson and Tad Pospisil. It was not until midway in this race that the first yellow flag of the night was shown, for a slowing Daniel Hilsabeck. Shane Clanton advanced from row three to snag B main number two ahead of Logan Martin and Chris Simpson, from Oxford, Iowa.

   With barely enough time for everyone to catch their breath, the feature rolled to the grid. The lineup reverted to qualifying times, with the fastest eight inverted. This put Weiss and Erb in row one, and Weiss edged in front to lead the opening circuit. Erb used the high line to take over on lap two, and had soon opened a commanding lead. As the race stayed green, the leader found himself in slower traffic around lap twelve. He was having little issues working his way through when the first caution period came with sixteen laps scored, as Chris Simpson slowed on the track. Erb paced the restart with Davenport, Weiss, McCreadie, and Larson next in the Delaware style lineup. Three more laps were in the books when the yellow waved for Marlar, who smacked the guardrail. The only change in the top five at this point saw Larson slipping around McCreadie. As the green flag flew, Davenport executed a slide job in turn two to briefly take the lead before Erb moved back to the front. Larson had picked his way to third and was closing on Davenport when the red flag came out with just two laps remaining. Oneal appeared to move too close to the rail between turns three and four and was sucked in, turning him sideways. With no chance to react, he was hit hard by Martin, badly damaging both cars. The final restart was single file. There would be no challenge for Erb this time, as he drove to the win and the $7,000 prize. Davenport held off Larson for second, followed by Weiss and Strickler. ( Cars numbers six, seven, and eight in order!) McCreadie was sixth besting Pearson Jr. in his brand new ride with his original #46, Bruening, Chad Simpson in the Moring Motorsports #1, and Sheppard. 

   The final checkers came before 10:00 P.M. Many thanks to former late model standout Boone McLaughlin and family for their hospitality and the awesome seats! Local festivities will keep me occupied this evening and as I have only missed one of the Knoxville 100 lappers ( a Sunday rain date,) I am still thinking about a return on Saturday. For sure I plan to make my first visit of the season to East Moline Speedway on Sunday for the $2,000 to win Gary Webb Tribute race honoring the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer and all around good guy! There are also multiple options in the area this weekend, the forecast looks great, so get off the couch, and to the track!

Kay Doubles Drive For Five, Fisher Tops Invaders

    After ten days away from the track, we found ourselves back in familiar surroundings at the Lee County Speedway. The circumstances were a bit different, however, with the action moving to Saturday night. This would be the "Drive for Five" finale for the late models, with a bakers dozen drivers eligible to compete for a $5,000 top prize while the remainder of the field would collect $2,000 for a win in the fifty lap main event. Also the class lineup saw changes, with the 360 C.I. Sprint Invaders sharing top billing in a $2,000 to win showdown.  Two other regular divisions, sport mods and sport compacts would be on the bill with the Mini Hauler trucks rounding out the card. The sprints and trucks replaced the regular classes of modifieds and stock cars as those divisions would be involved in the final night of the IMCA Super Nationals in Boone, Iowa.

   With everything moved up one hour, the pits were a bit late filling up, but eventually a nice group of  ninety two cars would be signed in. Things got off to a rough start in hot laps. Veteran Mike Benjamin was attempting to pass rookie Brenna Phillips when his car spun into the backstretch guardrail, badly damaging the tail portion of his IMCA sport mod. Seconds later, the car of Phillips vaulted over the guardrail between turns three and four, landing wheels up on the road coming from the pits. 

   Sprints ran the first set of heats, and the first one was a tight duel between Wyatt Wilkerson and Noah Samuel. With the white flag in the air, Wilkerson clipped the tire in the first set of turns, caught air, brought the car back down, then flipped his #29W hard, ending his night. 

   The late models would run two sets of heat races, with total points gained determining the feature line up. In the third and final heat of round one, Darin Weisinger Jr. appeared to get crossed up exiting turn two collecting Sam Halstead and Dustin Griffin. The result sent Griffin into a series of three and a half hard rolls, landing upside down. Though the driver was uninjured, it took perhaps close to thirty minutes for crews to get his #20 flipped over, pulled from the scene, and the track cleared. Both Weisinger and Griffin were done for the night. 

   The sprinters contested three heat races, a B main as well as their Shake Up Dash to whittle the solid twenty five car field down to twenty for the first feature of the night. Series points leader Jonathon Cornell and Colton Fisher sat on row one, with Cornell grabbing the early lead. By lap five of the twenty five lapper, the leaders were approaching the back of the pack when the yellow flag waved for a slowing Samuel. The Invaders use a single file restart system, and back under green, the leaders all ran the high side of the oval. A second and final caution came four laps later after Ryan Jamison had run over one of the orange cones and eventually dropped it from underneath his car onto the racing surface. Kaley Gharst, the all time wins leader for the series and also tops in the fifty series events at Lee County, now joined the front pack in third. Five more circuits and slower traffic again came into play. About lap twenty, Cornell became trapped behind a slower car, and Fisher slid his way to the lead exiting turn four. Cornell fought back in turns one and two, but Fisher used his momentum to retake the lead down the back stretch. He was then able to extend his advantage as Gharst moved in to challenge Cornell for second. At the checkers it was an emotional Fisher celebrating his first ever Sprint Invaders feature win. Cornell won the battle for second, followed by Gharst, eighth starting Paul Nienhiser, and Tanner Gebhardt.

   Intermission was next, with the track crew spending quite a bit of time grooming the 3/8 mile. Finally the IMCA late models lined up for their main event with all but two of the twenty four cars on hand taking the green flag. Track regular Nick Marolf was the only driver eligible for the $5,000 check not in attendance, but it was two "visitors," Justin Kay and Darin Duffy earning front row honors. Kay grabbed the early lead, trailed by Duffy, Matt Ryan, and the first two bonus eligible drivers, Tommy Elston and Denny Woodworth. The first caution came at lap nine as Preston Stoecker spun his #26 in front of Elston. Having stopped to avoid the spinning car, Elston was able to line back up his position near the front. On the Delaware style restart, Dave Eckrich slowed on the backstretch and was tagged by Jeremy Pundt, who then bounced into the backstretch guardrail, his night over. Elston moved to second as racing resumed, with a third stoppage coming two laps later as Stoecker slapped the turn one guardrail. On this restart, Sam Halstead slowed in turn one, causing Bryan Moreland and Jay Johnson to stack up behind him. It was Duffy back to second ahead of a final yellow flag two laps later as Matt Strassheim spun in turn two, his night over. Elston regained the runner up spot back under green, and the final twelve laps of segment one ran caution free. In these closing laps, with most of the field running the inside line, thirteenth starting Mark Burgtorf moved up the track, advancing to sixth at the break. The cars were then stopped on the front stretch for ten minutes and allowed to make changes, except for changing tires which would have cost them their position. The final twenty five lap segment saw fourteen cars line up, and they clicked off caution free for twenty one circuits. Kay stretched his lead again running the low groove. With four laps to go, seventh running Gary Webb was attempting to lap the #22 of Jill George when she made contact in turn one, pushing him towards the guardrail and bringing out a final caution. Webb was able to rejoin the single file realignment. Kay cruised to the win, leading all fifty laps. For the driver from Wheatland, Iowa, it made him a cool $2,000, and two for two in Drive for Five finale wins after taking the title last season as well. Elston ran second followed by Duffy, Andy Nezworski, Burgtorf, and Ryan. Halstead ran seventh chased by Eckrich, Fred Remley, Chuck Hanna, Joel Callahan, Ron Boyse, and Webb. Interestingly,  a look back at the the 2020 rundown found Kay, Ryan, Elston, Nezworski, and Burgtorf the top five. 

   The trucks were next on the grid, eleven strong for a dozen laps. A pile up on the start saw three drivers quickly eliminated. On the restart, outside pole sitter Tucker Richardson drove away from the field. As the laps wound down, Tim Wagner came from row three to second, but could not close on the leader. At the checkers, those two were followed by Ryan White, Matt Barton, and Don Wood.

   Features for the sport compacts and sport mods remained, but it was now well on the wrong side of 11:00, so we regretfully took our leave. Congratulations to Jason Ash for his compact win, and to Tanner Klingele for topping the sport mods. Also a big "atta boy" to Lee County speedway track champion Austen Becerra on his sport mod victory at the Super Nationals!

   Next up for me will be one or more nights at Knoxville Raceway for the Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals. It may be mid September, but there is still a lot of racing to be had in our region, so pack the jackets and find a race close by!

Farley Crowns Season Champs

    Wednesday night 300 Raceway in Farley, Iowa staged their rescheduled season championship races. The track ran a part time slate of points races sandwiched around an aggressive schedule of special events. This Wednesday night show was the opener of four nights of action, followed by an open practice on Thursday, then two nights of the Yankee Dirt Track Classic featuring the SLMR late models racing for $3,000 to win on Friday and $10,000 on Saturday. Track officials made the decision to only allow drivers would had raced on at least one points night to be eligible to compete in the season championship events, which no doubt contributed to the low car counts. Four IMCA divisions were on the card, late models, modifieds, stock cars, and sport mods.

   Moving quickly through heat race action and a short intermission, stock cars were up first for fifteen laps of feature racing. Chase Zaruba paced lap one, with three cars in a tangle coming to the line. His row one mate Tom Schmitt then grabbed the lead. Johnny Spaw moved from row three to third on lap two and was soon dogging Zaruba for second. As starter Doug Haack displayed the crossed flags indicating seven laps complete, he switched to the yellow flag for a spinning Timmy Current. On the restart Spaw powered to second with the yellow flag out once again as Zaruba slowed, sparks shooting from underneath his #27 machine. The race stayed green the final seven circuits. Spaw was able to stick the nose of his #00 inside Schmitt, taking his best look with three laps to go, but to no avail. Schmitt took the win over Spaw, Philip Holtz, Jason Doyle, and Current. Spaw took the stock car championship title.

   A dozen modifieds lined up for twenty laps, with Jeff Aikey a no show after he exited his heat race in a plume of smoke. After the initial start was waved off, Eric Pollard set the pace from the outside pole position. Timmy Current, one of a handful of drivers doing double duty, slipped past second running Tyler Madigan for second on lap seven. By the halfway mark, Current was out front and pulling away from Pollard. The only caution of the race came with thirteen laps in the books, but back under green Current again stretched his lead. Jeff Larson started in row five, then slowly worked his way forward, taking the runner up spot after a tight battle with Pollard. At the finish it was Current cruising to the win while the track champion Larson took second. Mark Schulte started in third and wound up there, while Pollard dropped to fourth ahead of Brennen Chipp.

   Sport mods would battle for fifteen laps in what turned out to be a non stop event. Justin Becker opened a sizable advantage in the early laps before row four starter Troy Bauer made it a two car race as the race passed the halfway mark. That duo ran side by side as lap nine was scored before Bauer took control. Becker stayed on his bumper until the final couple of circuits when he came upon a lapped car which momentarily broke his momentum. Bauer then cruised to the win and the championship. Becker was runner up, topping Jason Roth, Tyler Soppe, and Rusty Deshaw.

   Late models put a cap on the evening, duking it out for twenty five trips around the 3/8 mile oval. Eight cars took the green flag, with Kevin Miller on the trailer after he tagged the turn two wall in his heat race. Ron Klein was also listed in the line up, but was a no show in both his heat and the feature. Rookie Bryan Moreland jumped out front with double duty Pollard in second. Point leader Matt Ryan and Justin Kay filled out row three, with Ryan taking third on lap two. One lap later Kay powered to fourth. Pollard pulled even with Moreland on lap thirteen, then suddenly slowed, belching heavy smoke from his #P7, ending his run and bringing out the only caution flag of the race. Ryan chose the high line behind Moreland on the Delaware restart, and he charged to the lead. Kay followed in second one lap later. The final five laps saw a two car battle between Ryan and Kay, a familiar sight in IMCA land. Kay first looked to take the lead on the high side with no luck, then stuck his nose inside the #07. Coming through turns three and four to the checkers, Kay was able to build enough momentum to make the pass, taking the checkers by less than a car length. This was a deja vu moment, as I have seen this scenario played out twice before this season between these two. Ryan settled for second place, but still picked up the track championship. Joel Callahan raced to a third place finish in his heat race, then turned driving duties over to Aikey, who piloted the #40 to third in the feature. Colton Leal and Steve Schueller also picked up top fives. Moreland rolled to a stop in turn one on the final lap,and was scored sixth, while Steve Hunter was the last car running in seventh. Pollard was credited with eighth.

   The final checkers waved just before 9:00 P.M.! As mentioned, the stage is now set for the forty fourth running of the Yankee Dirt Track Classic on Friday and Saturday. As for me, I will be watching the weather before deciding where next to go, and I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable Labor Day weekend at a race track near you!