Second Generation Shines at Turkey Bowl Fifteen

     Saturday morning I climbed in with Jeff as we headed for Springfield, Missouri for the fifteenth annual Turkey Bowl at Jerry Hoffmans' Springfield Raceway. With seven divisions on the docket, the event was divided into two nights of action. Racing kicked off on Friday night with heat races for USRA B mods, Midwest A Modz, Midwest B Modz, and Legend cars, plus a full show for Pure Stocks. Two hundred and thirty cars checked in for the night. The Saturday program saw B mains and features for the other four classes, plus a full show for open late models and a combined A mod class using IMCA/UMP/USRA rules. What greeted us was a thirty nine race program featuring two hundred and ninety eight race teams!

    The action kicked off with hot laps at 3:30, and we witnessed mostly non stop action before checking out around 11:15 with the Midwest B mod twenty lap finale preparing to close out the season at the quarter mile facility.

    Although the temperature eased past sixty degrees by race time, things cooled down rather quickly, but what was the largest Turkey Bowl crowd in the few years I have been going stayed around to cheer on their local favorites as well as competitors from sixteen different states. Not only were most of the mid western states represented, but drivers ( and fans ) from as far away as California and North Carolina braved the chilly temps.

    Springfield Raceway has seen many improvements since my first visit there in 2017, including upgraded lighting and a much appreciated ten position scoreboard off turn two. Hopefully next can come an improvement to the P.A. system, as it is difficult to hear the announcers from the main grandstand. And if I could humbly offer one more suggestion for this show in particular, it would be to implement the one spin rule for heat races and B mains. I can only recall one instance where a spinning car downshifted and rejoined the field without the benefit of the yellow flag waving. But we were racing in November, and darned happy to be there!

    The giant turkey shaped trophies and the " big " check going to the feature winners is always a source of pride to the drivers, and Saturday was made special when two members of the younger generation were able to join their fathers in collecting those momentos. Sawyer Crigler captured the A modified $2,000 to win twenty five lap feature to join father Scott, a previous victor in the late model division. Moments later, after thirty hard fought laps, Cole Wells took home the $5,000 late model win much to the delight of father Justin, who had himself dropped out of the race on the opening lap.

    For numbers nerds like myself, B mods topped the Saturday entry list with a whopping seventy six cars. Cole Campbell took the feature win after a back and forth battle with Kris Jackson and Ryan Gilmore in what was probably the best race of the night. 

    Sixty nine A mods signed in, with Shane DeMay and Steve Picou chasing Crigler to the checkers.

    The Midwest Modz turned out thirty eight A class and forty two B class drivers. Anthony Ferrara bested Casey Burnett and Pete Richardson in the A's. As stated previously, we left ahead of the B class feature, and I have not been able to find any results as of now.

    Drew Papke towed from Bismarck, North Dakota to top the thirty seven Legend car group in front of Dave Comer, and Daniel Adam from Hillsborough, North Carolina.

    Four heats and two B mains whittled the thirty six car late model field down to twenty for their feature. Following a first lap caution and a false restart, Matt Becker led the first four laps of the  headliner before Scott Crigler took over. Trevor Gundaker brought out the caution flag on lap fourteen, and back under green, fifth starting Justin Zeitner, eighth starting Cole Wells, and eleventh starting Will Vaught moved in to challenge the leader with a pile up in turns three and four bringing another quick yellow. When the green flag waved again, Wells charged from the Delaware style restart to the lead, and Payton Looney joined the party in fourth. Joe Godsey brought out a lap twenty one yellow, and now Vaught moved to the runner up spot as racing resumed. He began to run down the leader as the duo caught slower traffic two laps from the checkers. But as the white flag waved they were forced to avoid a two car mix up in turn two that brought a final caution and set up a green, white, checkers shootout. Wells was up to the task, taking the win over Vaught, Zeitner, Looney, and Godsey. Kylan Garner led the second five in front of Becker, Joey Smith, Crigler, and Gundaker.

    Big thanks to Jerry and the crew for another great Turkey Bowl!

   There is still one more racing event for the season in our part of the world, and that is the three day Gateway Dirt Nationals at the America's Center Dome in St. Louis December 2-4. As of now, I do not have plans to attend this year, but I will hold off with my "season in review" until after that time ( just in case! ).

Turkey Dash Wins to Watson, Anderson, Fullenkamp, Kile, and Spaw

    CJ Speedway in Columbus Junction put a wrap on their 2021 season with the 5th annual Turkey Dash on Saturday. It was a warm, sunny, but breezy day that made challenging conditions for a race program that kicked off with hot laps at 2:00 P.M. One hundred and twenty nine cars were on hand in the five divisions set to do battle on the four tenths mile oval. 

    Fourteen heat races helped to set the starting grids for the features, but this year the track added top six dashes in all classes to determine the starting order of the first three rows. Sport mods and sport compacts also contested a pair of B main each, with attrition limiting the fields to between six and nine cars transferring the top six in each to fill out the line ups.

    The sun and wind along with many laps of racing contributed to the track turning black slick early in the program, and several drivers had trouble keeping their rides going the proper direction. With the sun disappearing over the horizon, promoter Larry Richardson climbed in the water truck and dropped moisture on the very top and bottom lines. Combined with the cooler evening temps, which seemed to bring a bit of moisture to the surface, the racing surfaced widened out with extra grip as well, creating a smooth, racy track for the main events.

    Hobby stocks led things off, with all but one of the seventeen cars signed in lining up for twenty laps. Quad City driver Andrew Burk made hard contact with the front stretch concrete in the dash resulting in heavy damage to his ride, so he took over the #10 car of Brandon Schneider, tagging the tail of the event. John Watson took off from the pole position, taking along third starting Travis Bunnell. With Watson running the high line and Bunnell set up down low, it quickly became a two car race before the caution flag came at lap five for a car on fire in the pits. A four car battle for second developed after racing resumed allowing Watson to pull away from the pack. Cody Staley soon emerged from the pack of four with a lot of ground to make up on the leader. With Watson in control at the white flag, the final caution came for a bumper on the track in turn two. This set up a green, white, checkers finish, but the Des Moines driver Watson was up to the challenge. Dustin Griffiths used the Delaware style restart to climb from fourth to second, trailed by Staley, row eight starter Solomon Bennett, and Mike Kincaid.

    Thirty sport mods saw their field whittled down to twenty four for their twenty lap feature. Logan Anderson shot to the early lead while his row one mate Tyler Soppe settled into second. With Anderson running around the inside tire barrier and Soppe flirting with the outside levee in turns one and two then dropping down at the other end, the veteran duo distanced themselves from the pack. Just before the halfway mark, slower traffic came into play, but Anderson was flawless moving through the back of the pack. The lone yellow flag came thirteen laps in for a slowing car. Back to racing Anderson used the clear track to race to the flag to flag win. Soppe spent all twenty laps in the runner up position, while Austin Paul advanced ten spots to third. Tom Bowling Jr. and Nick Aupperle completed the top five.

    At thirty one, the sport compacts produced the largest turnout and again that was pared to twenty four to contest the fifteen lap feature. For the third feature in a row, the pole sitter took command at the drop of the green, as Chuck Fullenkamp outgunned Cody Van Dusen to lead lap one. Row four starter Nathan Chandler powered to second just ahead of a red flag situation with seven laps down when Dustin Munn clipped a tire barrier and rolled his #630. During the cleanup, Chandler rolled to the infield with apparent ignition problems. While he attempted to rejoin the field, his run to the front was over. Meanwhile, Darin Smith moved in to challenge VanDusen for second, and as they battled side by side, Fullenkamp opened a sizable lead. As Fullenkamp, the hottest driver in the area of late cruised to the win, a last lap mixup knocked hard charging Barry Taft from the top five. VanDusen took runner up honors followed by Jason Staley. Davenport Speedway regular Cyle Hawkins borrowed a #89 IMCA car to come home fourth and pull ahead in the All Iowa Points chase, while Corey Crispin edged Taft for fifth.

    Officials decided to start all twenty eight modifieds in their twenty lap headliner. Once more, the pole sitter, Kurt Kile jumped to the front with third starting Dylan Thornton in second ahead of a lap one caution. Yellow fever slowed the momentum for this hotly contested event. Six times the yellow flag brought things to a halt even as several drivers charged into and out of the top five. Following the next yellow three laps in, track regular Jarrett Brown charged from fifth to third, and one more circuit was scored before Jeff Aikey made a rare mistake, spinning his #77 while running in fourth. Back to racing, Kile made a dandy move, bouncing off the levee to split the cars of Thornton and Brown to hold the lead going down the backstretch. As Thornton switched lines looking to overtake the leader, another caution period was followed by Spencer Diercks joining the fray in third. Diercks quickly cleared Thornton for second, trading lines with the leader at each end of the speedway in search of the front. With eleven laps in the books, and another caution, Diercks now faded on the restart with Thornton rebounding to second. Four more laps were scored when Diercks may have been squeezed at the top of turn four, bringing out the yellow flag yet again, ending his run. Once more, Kile split the side by side duo of Thornton and Brown, then began to stretch his lead as the green stayed out for final five laps. On the final circuit, Brown closed the gap a bit, but fell short. Kile took the hard fought win trailed by Brown, Thornton, Dakota Simmons, and Aikey, who rebounded from the tail of the field back to fifth.

   Stock cars would wrap things up, with only Joe Schmit failing to make the call, leaving us with twenty two cars for twenty laps. Continuing the theme of the night, pole sitter Jason See paced lap one ahead of double duty Dylan Thornton. The two car race up front saw Thornton take over the top spot on lap six., with the yellow flag coming as that circuit was scored. Ninth starting Johnny Spaw drove to third on the restart as the top three separated from the field even as they were strung out themselves. Thornton was on cruise control with the laps winding down, but as flagman Doug Haack prepared to wave the white flag, he had to switch to the yellow for a three car mix up in turn one. The race reverted to a three lap finish, but the yellow waved again on the restart. Spaw jumped to second as the green waved, but with two to go, another scrum in turns one and two brought a final caution. As the yellow waved, Thornton suddenly slowed on the backstretch apparently the victim of an expired engine. Spaw and See then restarted side by side, with Spaw electing the outside line for a green, white, checkers finish. At the final checkers, it was Spaw taking the win followed by See, and Dustin Griffiths with his second top five. Row six starters Adam Bell and Jason Cook rounded out the first five.

    The large crowd filed out as this brought an end to another successful season at C.J. Thanks to promoter Larry Richardson for his hospitality and to announcer Jerry Mackey for his kind words for this racing site. Hopefully we have one more race ahead before calling it a season. November 20 is the reschedule date for Shiverfest at the Lee county Speedway in Donnellson, and also night number two for the annual Turkey Bowl at the Springfield, Missouri quarter mile, so we will see what Mother Nature has in store!