Looking Back at 2022

    As the calendar flips to December, it is time for a review of the 2022 season. First of all, I will not be attending the Gateway Dirt Nationals this season, and with Mother Nature wiping out our November events an earlier than usual end of the season came with Shiverfest at Lee County Speedway.

   Still it was a record setting season for yours truly. For the first time in forty plus years, my race season began in Florida, as my group was fortunate to rip off seven straight nights of Speedweeks late model action. What seems to be a trend of cold, rainy spring weather greeted us back home, and any March racing we had planned was wiped out. From there, however inclement weather was rarely a factor until the November chill. Never once were we forced to turn around or leave a track with nothing to show for it. Only once did we have a program shortened by rain, at Adams County, Illinois Speedway in May, and those features were made later in the season. 

    As a result, I managed to eclipse my previous high of fifty seven nights, set in 2000, by ten events. And a personal high of twenty six different tracks topped the record twenty four from 2021. Compared to my racing colleagues Jeff and Ed here at Positively Racing these are rather pedestrian numbers, but still an accomplishment for Racin' Down the Road! 

   For sure, the reopening of the former Quincy Raceways, now known as Adams County, Illinois Speedway was a big part of this story, and the fifteen visits I made there topped the list. Second was another of my "home" tracks - both about thirty minute drives - Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa, where I checked in fourteen times. Ricky and Brenda Kay have transformed Davenport Speedway into a destination facility, and seven times we made the two and a half hour drive to the fairgrounds quarter mile. 

   The first four races of 2022 took place at one of my few remaining "bucket list" tracks, East Bay Raceway near Gibsonton, Florida. With this fine facility to apparently close in a couple more years, this was the inspiration of our racin' vacation. Two visits to Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville put the wraps on the sunshine state adventure.

   Closer to home, it was two nights each at Iowa tracks CJ Speedway in Columbus Junction and West Liberty Raceway, Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri, and Tri City Speedway, Pontoon Beach, Illinois. 

   Our only pavement race of the year was sandwiched between the Florida dirt tracks, at New Smyrna. One visit each came at Peoria, Spoon River, and East Moline in Illinois, 81 Speedway, Park City and Belleville High Banks in Kansas. Single visits in Iowa came at Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Independence Motor Speedway, Benton County Raceway in Vinton, Marshalltown Speedway, Knoxville Raceway, Stuart International Raceway, Bloomfield Speedway, and Clay County Fairgrounds in Spencer. Single Missouri venues were Callaway County Raceway in Fulton, Randolph County Raceway near Moberly, and U.S. 36 Raceway, Osborn. Almost unbelievably, 34 Raceway in West Burlington does not appear on the list this year for the first time perhaps since I discovered the track in 1968. While much of the mid west remained extra dry, rain outs plagued this fine facility seemingly all season. And while certain of their events, especially the Slocum 50 are on my list of "blocked out" dates, unfortunately the 2022 make up dates lost out to outside commitments. Hopefully better luck awaits 34 in 2023!

   One stat I do not keep is how many new tracks added each season, but I feel certain the five this year would be tops. They would be East Bay, Park City, Belleville, Clay County, and Osborn. Perhaps not coincidentally, this brings my total to again perhaps a modest seventy one, matching my years on earth!

   A shout out to Keagan, Fred, Darryl, and Jeff, without whose aid and incentive these adventures would not be possible!

   Looking forward to 2023, the calendar is already beginning to take shape, and you can start to build your own by clicking on the special events tab on this site. The 2022 edition of the Turkey Bowl at Springfield, Missouri Raceway was twice postponed then rescheduled for February 24-25. Looks like a good way to kick off 2023! In the meantime, check back here for updates. To paraphrase baseball legend Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby when asked what he did in the off season, I will continue to stare out the window and wait for racing to return!

Full Pits, Lot's of Cars, and Fun at Shiverfest

  A sure sign the mid west race season is winding down came Saturday as Lee County Speedway hosted another edition of Shiverfest. Beginning as a one off novelty race in 1999, this event has become a "can't miss" for fans and drivers alike. Although there have been many tweaks over the years, the seven classes on the card in 2022 would be a first. Combined with hay rack rides, box car races, and trick or treating, the full day and night of entertainment offered something for all ages.

   When all the counting was done, one hundred and sixty four cars came through the pit gate, including veteran hot shoe Billy Tuckwell, Springfield, Illinois, who  rolled in with his #B4 modified just in time to tag the tail of the B main. 

   Hot laps kicked off at 5:30 as scheduled, and it took twenty heat races plus two Sport mod and one Modified B main to set the feature fields. After box car races for the kids at intermission, it was time to go feature racing. Up to this point, things were clicking off in timely fashion. However a serious bout of "yellow fever" would plague the remainder of the night. Perhaps it was a case of "go for broke, we have all winter to fix it" or maybe just one of those nights, but flagman Rodney Bleisner may have come down with a torn rotator cuff or carpal tunnel after waving the big yellow flag over two dozen times during the seven main events! Certainly the track was not to blame as it was smooth, wide, and racy from start to finish, turning to the preferred (by the drivers) black slick as the evening wore on.

   The visiting American Iron Racing Series was first on the card, with all but two of the sixteen signed in racing for twelve laps. Robin Atkins paced the field early, chased by Brian Gade and Tyler Maschmann. In the closing laps, Gade was able to put his #5 1958(or 59?) Ford out front for the win, with Maschmann second in his 1957 Ford, and Atkins third in a Mopar machine. These cars represent those of my youth, and I am fascinated by the fourth place Packard of Jake Hayes. Bruce Yoerger in his 1966 Chevy finished fifth. While these guys race for a minimal purse, they certainly go all out for the trophy!

   The Modified field was whittled down from thirty to twenty four feature starters battling for twenty laps. Mark Schulte paced the opening circuit after starting third, but it was outside pole sitter Austen Becerra taking over on lap two followed by seventh starting Travis Denning. The first caution came on lap four as Chris Zogg lost the handle on his new unlettered #9Z, and on the restart as Denning tried to sneak under Becerra, contact, perhaps from behind, left him with a flat tire, his night over. As the race continued, Robbie Reed, Bill Roberts Jr., Matt Werner, and eleventh starting Jarrett Brown all mounted challenges. Becerra was however on cruise control as the white flag flew. Before Austen could reach the checkers, a final caution set up a green, white, checkers finish, and although Reed made a late charge, it was Becerra with the win. Brown, Schulte, and Werner completed the top five. 

   The usually well behaved Stock Cars ran next, all twenty seven entrants lining up for twenty laps. Five yellow flags in the first thirteen laps would mar the action, but amazingly after the field went single file with the time limit having expired, they clicked off the final seven circuits under green. Kaden Reynolds, who used a "rubbin' is racin'" move to capture the first heat, jumped from fourth to lead lap one after a first lap five car pile up brought out the first caution flag. Soon it was John Oliver Jr. in hot pursuit of the leader. After a single file restart, Johnny abandoned the low line to chase Reynolds around the narrow cushion. With seven laps remaining Reynolds was working through slower traffic and  closing in on the #31 of Keegan Wells when Wells clipped the guardrail between turns three and four. With nowhere to go, Reynolds made hard contact leaving him with a flat tire and a DNF. Back under green, Oliver Jr. pulled out to a big lead, cruising to the win. David Brandies won a close battle for second over Jason Cook, Miciah Hidlebaugh, and Jason Bahrs. Coming to the checkers Abe Huls was also in the mix for a top five finish when he contacted one of the tractor tires in turn four, dropping to nineteenth in the finishing order.

   Twenty one Late Models, including a handful of rookies were up next for twenty five laps. Modified and Stock Car standout Tom Berry Jr. got the call to wheel the #77 normally driven by Jeff Aikey, and he turned a pole position start into an early lead. C.J. Horn and Sean Johnson swapped the runner up spot and the leaders hit slower traffic on lap eight, just ahead of a spin by Dekota Job. Back to racing, eighth starting Nick Marolf used the Delaware style restart to climb to third. Failing to make the redraw out of his heat race, track champion Tommy Elston started in row seven and was charging through the field when he was squeezed a bit in turns three and four, smoking a tire barrier and bringing out the yellow. As Elston restarted in the back, Marolf powered to second on the restart, then drove around Berry on lap eleven. He then checked out on the pack in lapped traffic, opening a big lead after each of two more caution periods. At the checkers it was Marolf with the win, while Berry Jr. was impressive in second. Horn, Johnson, and Mark Burgtorf in a new for him ride rounded out the top five. Elston climbed back to sixth, chased by Andy Nezworski, Chuck Hanna, Darin Weisinger Jr., and Jeff Guengerich.

   The Mini Hauler Trucks turned out their usual eight trucks, and they would be up next to run twelve laps. Brian Tipps would line up on the pole and have no problem racing off to the win over Jeff Bockes, Jim Ruble, Sheldon Brocket and Jacob Ruble. 

   Forty Sport Mods topped the roster, and as mentioned it took five heat races and a pair of B mains to whittle the field down to twenty four cars to compete for eighteen laps. Kip Siems held serve through a false start and and early caution. Brandon Dale and eighth starting Logan Anderson powered to the front following the caution, but before the lap could be scored, the yellow was out again. Now it was Hazel Green, Wisconsin standout Jason Roth climbing to second, and then grabbing the lead as lap six went in the books. With five laps to go, Roth caught the back of the pack, but by now he had a comfortable lead, and he was smooth in traffic, driving off to the win. Dale started and finished second, winning a close battle with Tanner Klingele, tenth starting Brayton Carter, and Anderson. 

   What started as one of the largest crowds of the season was down to a hearty few as the Sport Compacts lined up, twenty two strong to race for fifteen laps. Pole sitter Chuck Fullenkamp shot to the front, taking along third starting Kimberly Abbott. Jason Ash quickly moved in to challenge Abbott for second ahead of a lap four caution. Back under green row five starter Michael Grossman took over the third position, then to second as Abbott bobbled a bit in turns three and four. Following a lap six caution, the top four of Fullenkamp, Grossman, Abbott, and Ash ran side by side and nose to tail. Soon Fullenkamp in the low groove and Grossman one lane higher locked up in an entertaining side by side scrum for several laps. Behind at the line lap after lap, Grossman finally nosed ahead just before a final caution with three laps left. On this final restart, he opened a lead, grabbing the final LCS checkered flag of 2022. Fullenkamp took runner up honors, Ash squeezed around Abbott at the flag, and Peoria, Illinois hot shoe Jimmy Dutlinger moved up five spots to cross the line a few feet behind Abbott. 

   The cool but comfortable festivities wrapped up about 11:30, putting a wrap on another memorable Shiverfest and (hopefully) successful season for Lee County Speedway! Turning the calendar, we are hoping to sneak in at least one more race, the 6th annual Turkey Dash next Saturday, November 5 at the CJ Speedway in Columbus Junction, Iowa, a race that has quickly become a tradition for us! Dress warm, come on out, and we will hopefully see you there!

  

  

Marlar Captures WoO Checkers at US 36 Raceway

    Sunday night, Fred, Bill, and I caught up with the World of Outlaw late models as they wrapped up a three night swing through Kansas and Missouri. The venue for the finale was US 36 Raceway in Osborn, Missouri, a new track for each of us. The track, generously advertised as a three eighths mile, sits just on the north side of Highway 36, about seven miles west of Interstate 35. Bleacher seating is on a hillside overlooking the high banked oval and adjoining pit area, with the entire grounds spread out in meandering fashion. The joint has a "backwoods" vibe, thanks in no small part to the hometown "hillbilly" track announcer whose name I did not catch. This is not meant as a disparaging depiction, as his homespun delivering was both pleasant and amusing, and he interacted well with the Outlaw crew while still being informative with regard to the two weekly class racing on this night.

   For this final night, the late model count dropped to a predictable twenty six. Given the circumstances of it being night three, a Sunday night race, very few super late models in the middle of modified territory, and the possibility of rain showers, this matched up with my pre race guess of twenty five. E mods with thirteen and twenty two pure stocks made up the under card, with each running only twelve lap features ahead of the main event. 

   The competition started with late model time trials. Three drivers broke into the twelve second range, with Tyler Bruening topping the leader board at 12.913 seconds as the twenty third car out. Predictably all three eight lap heats were won from the front row. Bruening and Mike Marlar were winners from the pole position, and Ryan Gustin took heat three from outside row one. Each heat transferred six cars to the forty lap finale, with the top two finishers redrawing for the first three rows of the feature. Eight cars were scheduled for a Last Chance qualifier, but it was scratched, with all twenty six cars starting the main event.

   With the gale force winds blowing all day and through the evening, track workers had dumped something close to 36,000 gallons of water on the track hoping to hold down the dust, and while that proved successful a bit of a rut developed in turn three. The crew spent quite a bit of time regrooming the oval to make it as smooth as possible for the features.

   E mods lined up first for their feature with all thirteen making the call. Blake Hayes shot from inside row one to the lead in front of his row one mate Adam Dunwoodie. As those two pulled away from the pack, Dunwoodie grabbed the lead on lap three. By the halfway point Dunwoodie had opened a commanding lead and with no cautions to slow his momentum, the Polo, Missouri driver cruised to the win. Hayes held on for second trailed by Josh Adkins, Logan Rash and Keith Rash.

   Twenty pure stocks made the call next. Pole sitter Jim Masoner led Blake Peeler as lap one was scored, but Masoner looped his ride entering turn one on the next lap, dropping to nineteenth. As Peeler continued to lead, the only caution came with three in the books. On the restart fifth starting Jake Starmer began to apply pressure, taking over the top spot on lap five. He then drove away from the pack to the win. Peeler held on for second, besting Jimmie Workman, eleventh starting Trevor Hittle, and Mike Miller.

   It was now late model time. Bruening and series points leader Dennis Erb Jr. would bring the field to green, racing in that order until Chase Junghans powered to second on lap four. By lap seven the leaders were in heavy traffic while trying to stay in the preferred low groove. Junghans was able to clear Bruening on lap nine as they battled the slower cars. At this point only Larry Clawson, who had issues all night had left the track, so cars covered the entire speedway. Junghans was opening a sizable lead when the only yellow flag came with seventeen down for Rookie of the Year contender Tanner English. Tanner quickly ducked to the infield, his night over with possible front suspension damage. He had been running in the sixth spot at the time. Back to racing it was Mike Marlar on the move, as he charged to third. He took over the runner up spot on lap twenty one following possible contact with Bruening as they entered turn one. Heavy lapped traffic soon became an issue again, and Marlar was in the cat bird seat, closing quickly on Junghans. Two more circuits found the Winfield, Tennessee driver in front and pulling away. Marlar barely avoided disaster on lap thirty three when he had to check up to avoid contact with a lapped car, but he squeaked through, then powered off for the win and the $10,000 check. Junghans followed up his Friday night win with the runner up finish on Sunday. Bruening completed the podium drivers, while Erb Jr. padded his points lead in fourth. Gustin rounded out the top five. Max Blair picked up Rookie points in sixth ahead of Josh Richards, Saturday winner Brandon Sheppard, Gordy Gundaker, and Shane Clanton.

   The final checkers waved just about 9:00 P.M. Thanks to the staff at US 36 for a pleasant night of fall racing. 

   Next up will be one of our yearly highlights, as Lee County Speedway presents Shiverfest next Saturday to put a cap on their 2022 season. Check the track website for details on the seven class program, and say "Hi!" if you see us there!

  

Reed, Carter, Plummer, Martin, Abbott Tops at Calvin Meyer Memorial

    Saturday night the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Mo. saw their 2022 season come to an end. The limited schedule, ramrodded by promoter Mike Van Genderen came to a successful conclusion in no small part due to outstanding weather for the two nights of racing. Friday the fairgrounds played host to the final night of the Jim Oliver Sr. Memorial, which had one of two events rained out in September, while Saturday would be the Calvin Meyer Memorial. Calvin was a longtime racing fan and supporter who lost his battle with cancer in 2020. After one hundred seven cars raced on Friday, that number rose slightly to one hundred fourteen on Saturday. Hot lap action kicked off about fifteen minutes late but as always, preliminary action fired off in quick fashion ahead of intermission. Never wasting a second, MVG continued to do quick watering and grooming as cars exited and entered the track. B mains were needed for only the B mods, with a pair of them slicing the feature field from forty one down to twenty four. Curiously, a six car B main was run for the stock cars, with all six transferring, so it became a three lap position dash!

   Once again the hobby stock class was light on cars, with all nine on hand lining up for fifteen laps of feature racing. Aaron Martin shot to the early lead from outside row one  and never gave it up. A pair of yellow flags slowed the action, but Martin was strong on each restart while several cars sliced and diced for position behind him. Randy LaMar offered the stiffest challenge, crossing the line in second followed by Friday winner Mike Kincaid, ninth starting Dustin Griffiths, and Andrew Burk.

   All but one of the twenty five stock cars took the green flag for twenty two laps. Unfortunately, the stockers were not at their best on this night, as the race turned into a marathon and then some. By my unofficial count, seven yellow flags and one lengthy red flag situation wiped out what might have been an excellent, highly contested event. The most serious of the altercations came with three laps scored and eliminated several badly damaged cars, including top contender Todd Reitzler among others. Cayden Carter, again wheeling the Michael Petersen #1X machine powered from inside row two to the early lead, with Jeremy Gettler in close pursuit. Following the red flag, Carter broke away a bit as four cars battled side by side and nose to tail for second through fifth. At the halfway mark, Johnny Spaw charged to the front, soon followed by another caution flag. Now the field was realigned single file and Carter found himself challenged for second by double duty Griffiths. A final caution came with three laps to go, and Carter used the restart to regain the lead as the top five jockeyed for position. At the checkers, it was Carter, Griffiths, Spaw, row eight starter Abe Huls, and Friday winner John Oliver Jr.

   Relief came from the compacts, as all fourteen raced for fourteen laps caution free! Justin Stevenson controlled the early portion of the feature, while Friday victor Brandon Reu, Barry Taft, and Kimberly Abbott battled for second. As the race wound down, Abbott found extra speed, taking over second on lap nine, then driving past Stevenson one lap later. She then cruised to the win, topping Reu, Stevenson, Garrett Porter, and Taft.

   As with the stock cars, ah, what might have been for the B mods. Again, unofficially, eight yellow flags marred the twenty laps, with little chance for momentum to be a factor. Tim Plummer held the pole position, and he was out front for all twenty laps. Fifth starting Maguire DeJong and Ethan Isaacs swapped the runner up spot while Brayton Carter came from row four into the top five at the mid point. Time after time, Plummer would open a commanding lead only to have the yellow flag fly. The most serious stoppage came with twelve in the books as Dakota Girard saw his engine expire with a plume of smoke and fluid soaking the speedway. In the closing laps, Isaacs saw his runner up effort end as he ducked to the infield, with Brayton Carter moving up to challenge Plummer. His chase would come up just short, while DeJong crossed the line in third. Penalized earlier for jumping a restart, Brandon Dale charged back to fourth. Cayden Carter, driving the Carter Vandenberg #7V transferred to the feature from a B main, lined up twentieth, and earned a fifth place finish. 

   A mods would round out the night, with twenty five laps the distance. All two dozen cars took the green flag, with former NASCAR star Ken Schrader leading from the pole chased by Bill Roberts Jr. Robbie Reed came from row three to second on lap two, racing side by side with Schrader through a lap four caution. On lap eight, Reed took over the top spot on the by now black, slick and smooth surface. Chris Spalding slipped into second at lap twelve just ahead of a second caution for a slowing Mark Burgtorf. Back under green, Reed opened a sizable lead, while Spalding also drove away from Schrader in third. One final caution came as the laps wound down, and although Spalding cut the margin to first in lapped traffic, Reed motored away to the win. Spalding and Schrader followed, while the #22 team cars of Austen Becerra and Tim Ward completed the top five.

   Racing action concluded about 11:00 in front of a nice sized crowd on a beautiful, warm Saturday night! Thanks as always to MVG and his team for an enjoyable night of racing at this hidden gem of a speedway tucked in at the junction of Highways 136 and 15.

   It may be late October, but we are stubbornly clinging to a great racing season, so tonight we are headed to US 36 Raceway in Osborn, Missouri for one last dose of World of Outlaw late models. This will be a new track for my group, so if you are so inclined, check back tomorrow afternoon for a report on our adventure!

T-Rev and Long Cash Tri City Checks

    The MLRA season comes to a close this weekend at Tri City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Il. Two separate shows will be held, with the late models battling for $5,000 win on Friday. UMP modifieds would round out the Friday night card. Saturday would see the late models racing for a  $7,000 to win finale, mods and B mods also in action. For the most part, the late model drivers could put their focus on the money, as Chad Simpson had pretty much wrapped up the points championship, while Kolby Vandenbergh would be crowned Rookie of the Year.

   The late model field on Friday measured thirty three strong, while the mod turnout was a surprisingly light nineteen. With late model hot laps out of the way, the modifieds ran their combined hot lap/qualifying session. Owensboro, Kentucky driver Cole Falloway topped the chart with a quick circuit of 16.429 seconds. Late models followed, and the future was foretold, as nineteen year old Trevor Gundaker wheeled a borrowed car to a pace setting lap of 15.047 seconds. Trevor was practicing at his family owned Tri City track on Thursday when he broke a rocker arm in the engine of his familiar #11. So he placed a call to sponsor and fellow racer Reid Millard, who brought two of his #14 machines to the track for Friday racing. Millard even loaned his primary car to Gundaker and competed in his back up car. 

   Heat racing kicked off at 7:30, and in typical "start the fast cars up front" fashion, all three mod heats were won from the outside pole by Dean Hoffman, Rick Conoyer, and Timmy Hill. The late models were not far behind, as three of the four eight lappers were captured from the same starting spot - heat three won from inside row one by Gordy Gundaker. Heat one went to Moody, Missouri racer Austin Vincent, heat two topped by modified legend, late model rookie Mike Harrison, and the final heat by unretired Billy Moyer Sr., he of the 840 plus feature wins. This final heat produced a bit of drama, as pole sitter Tony Jackson Jr., winner of four of the previous six MLRA features, spun on lap two, restarted eighth, and raced his way back to the fourth and final transfer position. 

   A brief intermission followed, then a pair of late model B mains were run to fill rows nine through eleven of the feature grid. Track regular Jeff Herzog topped the first of those, coming from row two, while Ricky Frankel lined up outside row one and led the distance in B main number two. 

   A longer and seemingly unnecessary second intermission came next, but all was forgiven when twenty four late models lined up to run the first feature, set for thirty laps. Vincent and Harrison would fill row one. After Vincent paced the opening lap, Harrison then took over. Running the middle of the three eighths mile banked track, he stretched his lead as a gaggle of chasers ran nose to tail around the bottom. Trevor Gundaker had started in the fifth spot, and worked his way to second using an inside move around Vincent with ten laps scored. Two more trips around brought the first caution, as Kaeden Cornell saw his run end when his #50 went up in smoke, dropping a trail of liquid down the backstretch. This may have been a big break for Harrison, who was preparing to enter slower traffic. On the restart, Harrison held serve over Gundaker while Vincent lost the groove, falling to tenth. As the race hit the halfway point, Trevor powered to the lead, still running a low line, while Harrison tried to fight back working the top of the oval. Gordy Gundaker soon followed little brother into second with nineteen down, and Logan Martin joined the leaders in fourth. As Gordy grabbed the runner up spot, the yellow flag flew again as Rusty Schlenk slowed, his run over. Back under green, Trevor began to pull away, while Martin drove inside the still rim riding Harrison for third one lap ahead of a final caution with six laps remaining. For this final Delaware style restart, Gordy took the inside position forcing Martin to the outside. Nevertheless, Martin charged to second, then became a wall scraper as he tried to move to the front. Although he made it close at the checkers, it was Trevor Gundaker with the emotional win. Martin crossed the line in second ahead of Gordy. Brian Shirley lined up eleventh and raced to fourth, while Jason Feger was the hard charger, advancing eight positions to complete the top five. Harrison ran sixth ahead of Mark Burgtorf, Vandenbergh, Simpson, and fifteenth starting Justin Reed.

   With post race festivities complete, all nineteen mods came trackside for twenty five laps. Disaster struck as the green flag waved, with outside row one starter Conoyer spinning in front of the field in turn two. A major pile up ensued, eliminating several contenders including Conoyer, Danny Ems, and Kenny Schrader. As racing resumed, Hoffman was out front, followed by Steve Meyer Jr., Michael Long, the damaged car of Dave Wietholder, and double duty Harrison. Long and Harrison advanced one position on lap four, and it was two more circuits scored when Long powered to the lead. With eight in the books, Harrison ducked to the infield, his night ended. Long was cruising with a big lead when the caution flag flew on lap later. Long was again well ahead when a second stoppage came five laps later. On this Delaware style restart, Wietholder came to life, driving from fifth to third. However the rim riding Long was again putting distance on the race behind him. A final caution came eight laps from the finish, and back under green, Wietholder moved to second using the middle line around the track. Hoffman fought back, and as he and Wietholder battled for second, Long again checked out for an impressive victory after starting in sixth, picking up $2,000 for his efforts. Wietholder won the battle for second, advancing six spots. Hoffman settled for third, while Hill and hard charger, fifteenth starting Jake Trebilcock, rounded out the top five.

   By 10:15 we were in the car, much appreciated on a night when the temps were in the forties and the wind was again starting to howl. 

   MLRA will put a cap on things tonight, while I check out the baseball playoffs in the warmth of my living room! 

   Though the season is quickly winding down, there are still several options, check back next weekend as we will let the weatherman help guide us to the races!

Another Harvest Hustle in the Books

     One hundred forty race teams braved the elements as the 11th annual Harvest Hustle at Lee County Speedway drew to a conclusion. The thirty six Sport Mods on hand barely topped thirty five open rules Compacts for class honors. It took twenty one qualifying races to set the feature fields, then despite the dropping temps, the track crew decided to rework what seemed to be a pretty darn good racing surface. Thirty minutes or so, and we were feature racing. It should be noted that the three make up features from an early rain out on September 10 had been moved to the end of the program. The reason given was that  the Harvest Hustle features came with a higher payout, and officials decided it would be better to give drivers their best shot at the extra money. 

   IMCA Stock Cars would run first, with all twenty seven cars coming to the track to contest twenty two laps. Along with Late Models, Modifieds, and Sport Mods, the stock car folks would be chasing a $1,000 top prize, while the Compacts were in search of a cool $2,000 to win! Veteran Tom Cannon and Patrick Phillips wheeling a Thompson Racing #3T made up row one. Phillips grabbed the early lead trailed by row two starter Derrick Agee. "Yellow fever" came early and often, a rarity for the Stock Cars, perhaps partially as a result of the rewatered track, four cautions in the first three laps! One of those mishaps sent Friday winner Dustin Vis to the tail, effectively ending his chance at a weekend sweep. With Agee now out front being chased by Cannon, Friday runner up Johnny Spaw began a march forward, moving to third on lap six. As  the laps clicked off , the leaders hugged the inside line, but with four to go Spaw moved to the cushion, falling to fourth behind John Oliver Jr. Following another yellow flag, the field went single file, then a final caution came with two circuits remaining. This is when things got dicey. With the white flag in the air and the leaders racing the final lap, there was a mixup behind them in turn four. But instead of another yellow flag, starter Rodney Bleisner waved the double checkers as the front pack scrambled to avoid the stopped cars even as those drivers worked to get out of the way. Crossing the line, it was still Agee out front, while Oliver Jr. crept within half a car length to take second. Spaw was third ahead of Cannon, with Abe Huls in fifth. It was announced that the time limit on the race had expired, so throwing the yellow would have had basically the same effect as the checkers, although perhaps with a bit less suspense!

   With the crowd still buzzing, IMCA Late Models lined up, eighteen strong for twenty five laps. After a day spent repairing his #54, Tommy Elston redrew the pole position alongside Chuck Hanna. But it was third starting Nick Marolf in second as lap one was scored. Hanna briefly took over the runner up spot as he ran in a three car pack with Marolf and Andy Nezworski, several car lengths behind the leader. Elston caught the back of the pack with ten laps down, and Marolf began to tighten the margin to first. A caution flag at about the halfway mark gave Elston a clear track, even as Nezworski shot ahead of Marolf for second. A final restart one lap later saw Elston use a strong restart to open up a sizable lead while Marolf retook second and Hanna dropped Nezworski to fourth. Although Marolf steadily closed the gap, he could never get close enough to challenge Elston, who led all twenty five laps for the win. Hanna held off Nezworski for third, and C. J. Horn gained seven spots to finish fifth. Mark Burgtorf wheeled the Richard Racing #15R to a sixth place finish ahead of late model rookie Jaden Fryer, Denny Woodworth, Darrel Defrance, and Gary Webb.

   IMCA Sport Mods would go twenty laps after having their field whittled down to two dozen competitors. A whole bunch of zeros dominated early, with outside pole sitter Dakota Girard, #0, leading pole sitter Shaun Slaughter #00 on lap one, with Kyler Girard #00 also in the mix from row two. Eighth starting Friday winner Tony Olson moved to third on lap seven as Dylan Van Wyk and ninth starting Logan Anderson also operated in the top five. At the mid point, Anderson suddenly slowed and pulled to the infield, his fourth place run ended as Olson powered to second. With thirteen laps scored, the first caution came, and on the Delaware style restart, Brayton Carter lined up fifth after starting eleventh. He followed that by charging all the way to first in one lap, and was pulling away from the pack when a second and final yellow came with four to go. Olson was able to retake second as racing resumed, but Carter was long gone, cruising to the checkers. Adam Birck moved up seven spots to third, Dakota Girard held fourth, and Brandon Dale came on late, gaining eight positions to run fifth.

   All but one of the twenty two entrants took the feature green for the IMCA Modifieds, racing for twenty two laps. Daniel Fellows topped Eric Barnes for lap one, both front row starters. Barnes then grabbed the lead, holding it through a lap three caution. Friday winner Jarrett Brown drew the unlucky twelve chip for the invert, but he was soon in the top five, then fourth with five in the books. Brennen Chipp lined up in row four, but he quietly moved to the lead ten laps in. With Brown advancing to third running high on the track, Chipp began to pull well ahead of the field. A caution with eight circuits remaining wiped out his commanding lead, and now Brown jumped to second on the restart, while Denny Eckrich followed in third. Now Dakota Simmons caught fire, driving past Eckrich with six to go. Meanwhile Chipp was working the low line while Brown searched for a bite on the cushion. But this race would belong to Chipp. Brown, Simmons, Eckrich, and Barnes would complete the top five.

   Although there was an abundance of good racing all night, the Compacts took home the trophy for best race. Twenty four cars, thirty five laps, and $2,000 for the winner! UMP regular Derrick DeFord started on the pole and led Chandler Fullenkamp as lap one was scored. Those two drove off from the pack as a traffic jam formed behind them, eventually sorting out with everyone hugging the bottom line. Michael Grossman began his march forward, claiming second on lap eight, and one lap later Jake Benischek followed in third. With the leaders navigating slower traffic, Grossman moved in to challenge DeFord, grabbing the lead at lap fifteen, before DeFord regained the spot on the next trip around. With twenty laps scored, Grossman suddenly slowed and pulled to the infield with a throttle issue, his run over. The only caution of the race came with fourteen laps to go, and back under green Kimberly Abbott climbed to third behind DeFord and Benischek. Soon it was a two car race, as Abbott fought to hold off Ohio driver Jack Pflum and Chevy Barnes. Five laps from the finish, Benischek was able to squeeze inside DeFord for the lead, they then ran side by side for a lap before DeFord returned the favor, squeezing low to slip back around the #5B. As the wave of the green signaled two laps to go, again they ran side by side, before DeFord was able to put a lapped car between them and claim the win. Abbott continued to hold off Pflum and Barnes to round out the first five.

   There were still the three make up features to go, but the clock had passed 11:00 and the temp had hit the low 40s, so we decided the time was right to pack up and head south. Congratulations to those winners, John Oliver Jr., Brandon Dale, and Kimberly Abbott, who all improved on top five runs with make up feature victories! 

   Again, thanks to Brian, Marcie, Brian, and the staff for another night of top notch racing. Lee County still has at least one more event on the calendar, the now legendary Shiverfest, this year on Saturday, October 29. Meanwhile, we are mulling our options for the next two weekends before that, but weather permitting, look for us squeezing as many races as we can from the schedule!

Harvest Hustle Eleven Kicks Off in Donnellson

    Friday began the 11th annual Harvest Hustle at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. Two nights of IMCA racing would be on the card this year, with Late Models Modifieds, Sport Mods, and Stock Cars all racing for increased purses. Sport Compacts would also be in action, with an open rules package. Originally, Stocks and Sport Mods were scheduled to run make up feature events from September 10 immediately following hot laps on Friday, with the Compact make up due on Saturday. However after talking with some of those qualified drivers, it was decided to run all three make ups on Saturday. This turned out to be a wise decision, as temps dropped into the thirties before the final checkered flag fell!

   A solid but manageable one hundred sixteen cars signed in to race, with thirty Sport Mods topping the count. It took fifteen heat races and a pair of B mains to get there, then following a brief intermission it was feature time. 

   Modifieds kicked things off, with all twenty one cars lining up for twenty laps. Columbus Junction track champion Jarrett Brown picked up the pole position start on the redraw, and he shot to the lap one lead with fourth starting Drew Janssen in tow. As Brown opened a good sized lead and Janssen also gained separation, cars raced side by side and nose to tail for positions three through eight. Brown caught the tail of the field on lap six, but two laps later the caution flag would fly. Back under green, Spencer Diercks, who had started eighth and was up to fourth, now gained another spot to third. Janssen found extra speed and was pressuring the leader when a second and final caution came for debris with eight laps remaining. Diercks now found himself in a four car scrum with Dustin Smith, Turtle Lake, North Dakota driver Marcus Tomlinson, and row six starter Denny Eckrich, with those four racing through turns three and four all side by side at one point! With four circuits left to go, Janssen set up a slide job exiting turn four, but Brown was able to crossover and maintain the lead, and after that he held about a three car length advantage to the checkers. Behind those two, Eckrich advanced to third, with Diercks in fourth, and outside row one starter Daniel Fellows rebounding to fifth.

   It would now be Stock Cars, and again all twenty one cars came to the track for twenty laps. Following a caution on the start, front row starters Dustin Vis and Beau Taylor paced the early laps. John Oliver Jr. quickly made his way from row four to third, and began to apply pressure to Taylor. While Vis ran a middle groove around the smooth as glass three eighths mile, Taylor and Oliver "catfished" around the bottom as the race passed the halfway mark. With eight laps left on the Avis scoreboard, Oliver tried to squeeze inside Taylor off turn two and smacked the tractor tire, sending it rolling on the track to bring out the yellow flag. With front end damage, Oliver Jr. was done for the night. Back to racing, it was twelfth starting Johnny Spaw the man on the move. Lining up fifth, he quickly cleared Jason See and Kirk Kinsley to move to third. With Vis and Taylor running their lines and most of the field running low behind Taylor, Spaw was pounding the cushion in turns three and four, then tucking in low at the other end of the track. A caution with five remaining helped Spaw climb to second on the Delaware style restart. Two more cautions marred the final circuits, but try as he might, Spaw could not overtake Vis, who like Brown before him, led flag to flag for the win. See drove to third in the closing laps and Andrew Schroeder was steady if not spectacular coming from seventeenth to nip Taylor for fourth.

   Sixteen Late Models would now race for twenty laps, with only Austin Russell failing to make the call. A knock on the crate type late models is that it can be difficult for them to pass, but such was not the case on Friday, with plenty of action during the event. Darin Weisinger Jr. and heat two winner Mack Mulvany, a Quad City area high schooler, redrew the front row, with Weisinger leading the charge. Mark Burgtorf was doing double duty behind the wheel of the Richard Racing #15R, and he joined the leaders in third. With three laps down, Bryan Klein slowed on the front stretch, and Sean Johnson stopped in turn four, where he was apparently hit by track champion Tommy Elston. All three cars were sidelined for the remainder of the race. Back under Green, Burgtorf grabbed the runner up spot as sixth starting Nick Marolf raced into third. With the top three putting distance on the pack, Burgtorf cleared Wesinger for the lead with six in the books. When the crossed flags by starter Rodney Bleisner signaled the half way point, Marolf drove around Weisinger for second, setting his sights on the #15R. As the laps wound down the front pair pulled slightly ahead of the field, and Marolf nearly made the pass when Burgtorf briefly gave up the inside line. Finally, with the wave of the green warning of two laps to go, Marolf used the high groove to power to the top spot. The checkers waved over his #33, topping Burgtorf, Weisinger Jr., tenth starting Jaden Fryer, and twelfth starter C. J. Horn. Darrel Defrance ran sixth ahead of a trio of Quad City hot shoes, Chuck Hanna, Gary Webb, and Andy Nezworski. Surprise entrant Evan Miller, Sioux Falls, South Dakota drove his plain blue #88 to a tenth place finish. 

   The Sport Mod field had been whittled down to twenty four and they would go at it for eighteen laps. A first lap yellow saw a pair of cars hooked on the front stretch, but the first scored lap went to outside pole sitter Sean Wyett over his front row mate Joe Roller. Tony Olson advanced four positions to the second spot on lap three, and Logan Anderson moved from row four to fourth one lap later. Wyett and Olson were well out front when the yellow came for Colby Heishman seven laps in. Anderson took third on the restart, then moved in to battle Olson for second. Tony finally broke free, and was closing fast on the leader in heavy traffic when the caution came with two to go for a slowing Cole Gillenwater. The clear track ahead looked like good news for Wyett, but Olson was able to execute a successful slider on the restart to grab the lead. He claimed the win while Anderson and twelfth starting Dakota Girard slipped  past Wyett as well. Jesse Bodin completed the top five, gaining five spots.   

   Compacts saw their field trimmed from twenty seven to twenty four, however Noah Kayser was a no show for the fifteen lap finale, giving up a front row start. This moved Cincinnati, Ohio driver Jack Pflum, no stranger to LCS, to the front row, and he grabbed the top spot in front of Chandler Fullenkamp. Michael Grossman was on the charge, and he drove from row three to the front on lap two. Just after halfway, the red flag came out as Blake Driscoll rolled his #31D up against the guardrail in turn four. As the safety crew began their job, we decided to head for the exits, well chilled but satisfied having seen a quality show. It was no surprise to see that Grossman held on for the win, topping Pflum, the Fullenkamps, Chuck and Chandler, and Kimberly Abbott, Chuck and Kimberly advancing from row six!

   It was a cool 39 degrees as Fred fired up the van just after 11P.M. 

   In addition to the travelers mentioned, Compact driver Joe Pflum, also from Cincinnati was on hand, along with Stock Car racers Rob Brillhart and his #77B from Crystal, Michigan, Brent Wenzel, #0, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and Mike Tomlinson, also from Turtle Lake, North Dakota in his Modified, probably wondering why we thought it was so cold! This list does not include drivers from more than a few hours away in Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois, as well. 

   Thanks as always to Brian and Marcie Gaylord, Brian Neal, and the staff for their season long hospitality. Remember, racing will begin one hour earlier tonight, hot laps at 6:15. The forecast is for warmer temps, so bundle up and come watch a full night of racing PLUS three make up features! See you there!

Carter, VanWyk, Stanton, and Reu Take Bloomfield Checkers

   

 

   Friday night found us at the Bloomfield Speedway for the first time since 2017, as Mike Van Genderen presented the fall special at the Davis County Fairgrounds three eighths mile speed plant. Stock Cars, B Mods, Hobby Stocks, and Sport Compacts would fill out the card, using the same rules from the highly successful event the week prior at Scotland County Speedway. Friday would be the first of two separate weekend shows, with the Stocks and B Mods racing for $1,200 to win, Hobbys battling for $500, and Compacts fighting it out for $300. 

   An even one hundred race teams signed in, topped by a whopping forty B mods/sport mods. Twenty two would be the count for Stocks and Hobbys, while Compacts were a bit short at sixteen. Heat race action kicked off right at the advertised time of 7:30. It took thirteen heats and a pair of B mains to set the feature fields, with all Stock, Hobby, and Compact cars moving to feature racing. Incredibly, there were only a handful of actual cautions in preliminary action, although for some reason it took multiple tries to get going on several events as drivers on the front row consistently jumped the start. In fact, a couple of drivers were moved from their front row positions to try and remedy the situation.

     Just a quick bit of track work during a ten minute or so intermission and it was feature time. Although track personnel worked throughout the night to widen the track, it proved not necessary as drivers seemed content to use the low and middle lines around the oval. This was hardly an issue, however, as the track was smooth as glass and lightning fast, and those two lines proved to be equally a quick way around.

   Hobby Stocks would be up first, racing for sixteen laps. Calvin Dhondt would grab the early lead, followed by his front row mate, Solomon Bennett. Seventh starting Eric Stanton was the man on the move, advancing to third on lap six. It took three more circuits for him to clear the top two, and he was out front as lap nine went in the books. He then began to put distance on the pack, and although he was working in slower traffic by lap twelve, he continued to work effortlessly through the slower cars. With no cautions to slow his charge, Stanton rolled his #7B into victory lane. Dhondt ran a solid race in second, after a close battle with double duty Dustin Griffith. Bennett and Aaron Martin completed the top five.

    Sport Mods/B Mods would be next, with twenty laps the distance for the two dozen qualifiers. Back racing after nearly a year off due to injury, Brandon Dale put his #12D out front from outside row one, as third starting Dylan VanWyk powered to second and fifth starting Austen Becerra drove to third. On lap two, row four starter Cayden Carter, driving the #01 normally driven by Brayton Carter joined the party in fourth. Along with eighth starting Maguire DeJong, the front five pulled away in an intense battle. The first feature caution came with six laps down, and on the Delaware style restart, Becerra charged to second. One more lap was scored before a second and final caution for Nebraska driver Jim Blazina. On this return to action, VanWyk retook the runner up spot. Two more trips around and Dylan drove to the lead, and Carter cleared Becerra for third. Just past the crossed flags of starter Kevin Eggleston signalling the half way point, Carter eased around Dale for second and DeJong ducked to the infield, his run over. As the leaders entered lapped traffic, the order stayed the same. As the checkers waved, it was VanWyk with the win trailed by Carter, Dale, Becerra, and Jim Gillenwater. 

   Fourteen laps would determine the Compact victor. Lee County Speedway track champion Brandon Reu shot from row two to lead the opening lap, followed by Bob "Gabby" Hayes and sixth starting Chuck Fullenkamp. As Reu opened a commanding lead, Fullenkamp drove around Hayes for second on lap five. Justin Stevenson entered the top three on lap seven, but there would be no catching Reu, as he claimed the $300 prize. Fullenkamp held runner up honors, ahead of Stevenson, Hayes, and Kolby Sabin.

   Stock Cars would round out the evening, racing twenty laps. Cayden Carter was doing double duty also, and he raced side by side with Griffiths as lap one was scored. Driving the Peterson Racing #1X , he then assumed the lead after starting inside row two. A lone caution came with four in the books, and on the restart seventh starting Todd Reitzler charged to third. John Oliver Jr. had lined up behind Reitzler and he now turned on the jets, coming from ninth into the top five. But the man on the move was Johnny Spaw. Following a heat race incident, Spaw found himself starting in row nine, but by lap seven he was up to sixth. At the lap ten half way point, it was Carter, Griffith, Reitzler, Oliver Jr., and Spaw in the top five. Tow more laps and Oliver jumped to third, then to the runner up spot one lap later as Spaw cleared Reitzler for fourth. With four to go, Spaw cleared Griffith for third, and now the front three ran nose to tail. In the final two circuits, Oliver moved up the track hoping to find an extra bite to get around Carter. The shot at victory wound up costing him a spot, as Spaw worked inside the #05 for second. The checkers flew over Carter, with Spaw, Oliver Jr., Griffith, and Andrew Schroeder completing the top five.

   Racing concluded at 10:15 in front of a nice sized crowd on a chilly Friday night. Thanks to MVG and his team for a fun night of early fall racing! They will be back at it tonight, starting one hour earlier, hot laps at 6:00. Family activities will keep me away from the track tonight. Next on our calender is the two night Harvest Hustle at Lee County Speedway next Friday and Saturday.

  An unfortunate turn of events earlier this week had cancelled our plans to take in the opening night of the Darkside Promotions Fall Bash at Cedar County Raceway in Tipton. The wife of one of my loyal racing companions, Fred, unexpectedly passed away earlier this week. R.I.P., Judy.

Williamson Tops Sprint Invaders at Quincy

     The 360 cubic inch Sprint Invaders would close out their  championship weekend Sunday with a second 2022 visit to Adams County Illinois Speedway east of Quincy. Pro Crate Late Models, Street Stocks, and Hart Limited B Mods would also be a part of the action. This season ending race for the track would follow by one week the highly successful two day Chad McCoy Memorial, wrapping up a stellar first season for new track operators Jim and Tammy Lieurence.

   Twenty five sprinters would lead a field of sixty seven cars in the four divisions on a night plagued by yellow (and red) fever. Problems began in the first Invader heat, when Alex VanderVoot had his #5A dig in the racing surface entering turn one and he flipped hard multiple times. He was apparently uninjured, but was done for the night. 

   The track crew worked hard during the night to stay on top of a bit of a dust problem, and after some extra manicuring during intermission, the surface was plenty racy for the features, with a very "tall" cushion.

   Late models would kick off the feature action, going at it for twenty laps. Heat winners Tommy Elston and Braden Bilger sat on row one, which of course made the veteran Elston the odds on favorite. But that's why we race 'em! Bilger jumped to the lead from his outside starting spot, pacing the opening lap. Mark Burgtorf, in the Lynn Richard #15R started fourth and drove around Bilger to lead lap two. But Braden kept his #17B within striking distance, charging back to the front as lap six was scored. The first yellow came with eight in the books, as 2022 Four Cylinder track champion Jeffrey Delonjay slowed before exiting the track. Jeffrey was making his late model debut in a car his team purchased from Spencer Coats earlier in the season and put back together as #32D. One more lap was scored before a second yellow as Jason Oenning and Bill Berghaus got together. The third and final caution came on the restart as Elston slowed, the result of his right rear tire going down. Attempting a restart, Tommy then pulled to the infield, his night over. Through it all, Bilger stayed in command. He was a joyous first time winner in victory lane! Burgtorf went unchallenged in second, while Darin Weisinger Jr. cleared track champ Denny Woodworth for third. James Dickerson was the final car running in fifth.

   Sprint Invaders would then come to the track, twenty strong for twenty five laps. Paul Nienhiser had captured the dash win, but the redraw saw him line up fourth alongside Austin Archdale, while Garet Williamson and Chris Martin inherited row one. The first attempted start was yellow flagged when #99 of Bret Triplett stalled. Williamson grabbed the early lead ahead of Martin, with Nienhiser taking second on lap two. One more lap was scored before the next caution, and Martin retook second following the single file restart. The red flag then waved as Riley Goodno went for a wild upside down ride off turn three. Back to racing, previous Adams County winner Chase Randall entered the conversation in third, rode the cushion to second, then powered to the lead on lap eight. Another caution soon followed, and then Randall and Williamson engaged in a series of slide jobs with Williamson finally completing a decisive pass. After a caution near the halfway mark, Williamson was able to open a bit of breathing room as Nienhiser rebounded to battle side by side with Randall for second. Nienhiser settled in to second and Zach Daum drove the inside line to third as Randall faded to fourth. With five laps remaining, Cameron Martin brought out a final red flag, as he too flipped hard between turns three and four. Two more yellows marred the final laps, but Williamson held on to pick up his second ever win with the Invaders. Daum used a last lap pass to claim runner up honors over Nienhiser, and Chris Martin cleared Randall on that final circuit to finish fourth.

   We could now identify the sprint car faithful with a fair amount of the large, late arriving crowd headed for the gates as the HART Limited B Mods entered the track for twenty laps of racing. All but one of the twenty two signed in made the call. After a false start, pole sitter A. J. Tournear paced lap one ahead of third starting Tanner Klingele. Following a lap two caution, Klingele led by a nose as he raced three wide with Tournear and fifth starting Austen Becerra. Becerra then powered to the front, while Klingele, Tournear, track champion Adam Birck, and Dave Weitholder in the #117 battled for position behind him. The next stoppage came with eleven laps down, and Birck used the high line to claim second. Seven laps remained when the fourth red flag of the night waved as Michael Goodwin went for a roll in turn three. Back under green, Weitholder and Klingele swapped positions behind the front duo. Two more cautions came with five laps remaining, but it only delayed Becerras' appearance in victory lane, as he took the trophy and $600 prize. Birck was runner up, trailed by Klingele, Weitholder, and Tournear.

   Street stocks would wrap up the program, eleven cars for eighteen laps. Robert Cottom sat on the pole, quickly jumping to the lead ahead of Steve Grotz and Rudy Zaragoza. On lap two, Zaragoza moved to second while Beau Taylor raced to third ahead of a lap five caution, which sent him back to fourth. Taylor again took third on the restart, then a stack 'em up in turn two saw Zaragoza charged with the melee, sending him to the tail. A final caution came with six to go, but Cottom was not to be denied as he cruised to the win. Taylor was strong in second as Jake Powers raced home third. Zaragoza rebounded to fourth, while Steve Dieckmann completed the top five.

   This put a wrap on our three night, three state racing weekend as well as the season at Adams County Speedway. Next up, we hope to make the opening night of the Fall Bash at the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa on Thursday, so stay tuned for that!

Racing, Racing, and More Racing at Scotland County

     With clearing skies and warmer temps, Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri would roar to life with the Jim Oliver Sr. Memorial. The five class program, scheduled as two full shows would see the Friday portion moved one month to the late October fall extravaganza at the speedway. A mods, B mods, Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks, and 4 Cylinder racers would fill the pit area which stretches nearly half way around the three eighths mile facility. The final tally showed a whopping 149 cars, led by 45 B Mods, set to do battle.

    With an afternoon practice session in the books, the track was apparently reworked and needed a bit of "run in" time, but soon hot laps clicked off in brisk fashion and the first heat hit the track just before 7:00. It took twenty of them for early qualifications, then we moved into the novelty event of the night.

   With Oliver Heating and Air providing the purse money, four of the five divisions raced First Time Winners mini features. Drivers who had never won a main event in the class in which they were entered were eligible  to compete, with a trophy and $300 going to each victor. Brandon Lambert led things off by topping the twelve lap B Mod challenge. Christian Huffman was the Hobby Stock winner. Seventeen year old Rowdee Van Genderen made Poppa proud with the Stock Car title. Young Fisher Reese capped things off with a decisive victory in the A Mods.

   Four B mains came next to set the starting lineups for feature racing, and we now had twenty eight races in the books as the clock showed 10:06. When intermission was announced and the grader came out, we decided to set a midnight curfew for ourselves, hoping it would not be needed. A troublesome area had developed in turns one and two, resulting in an unusual amount of suspension issues on the cars, and the reworking of the surface seemed to help that, although it also dredged up a surprising bit of dust that fortunately did not affect the grandstands. 

   Unfortunately, the track work took about thirty minutes, with the twenty lap B Mod feature then coming to the track. And as so often happens when time is a factor, a massive crash occurred on lap two in front of the grandstands. The #57 car of Brandt Ames climbed the fence, landing with the front wheels atop the advertising billboards. It took considerable time to get his car down from its perch. Several other cars were eliminated, including top contender Brayton Carter who had been forced to qualify through a B main and was caught up in the melee, suffering front end damage and losing the drivers side sheet metal off his #01. As the front five, led by outside row one starter Dylan VanWyk drove off from the field, a second red flag was displayed when Colton Livezey flipped his #29 in turn four on lap seven. Again, the single wrecker crew along with a rollback on site spent quite a bit of time clearing the racing surface. Only one more stoppage at lap thirteen slowed the action. VanWyk held the top spot throughout, with Maguire Dejong and Logan Anderson locked in a side by side duel for second. At the checkers, it was VanWyk with the flag to flag win, followed by Dejong, Anderson, Tim Plummer, and Curtis VanDerWal. The win was worth $1,500 to VanWyk.

   Fourteen laps of Sport Compact action came next, with two dozen of the twenty nine cars on hand lining up doing battle for $300. Kimberly Abbott has been on a major roll of late, and her streak continued as she drew the pole position for the race. She shot to the lead with Chuck Fullenkamp hounding her early on, diving low in the turns before Abbott drove away down the chutes, lap after lap. A maddening series of yellow flags slowed the action, with the final ones resulting in the field realigning single file. Fullenkamp chased the veteran speedster Abbott for the entire distance to no avail, as Kimberly led all the way for the win. Luke Fraise moved up from row four to grab a podium finish, while Tim Schnathorst and Des Moines racer Kolby Sabin rounded out the top five.

   The Stock Car field had also been whittled down from twenty nine to twenty four, with twenty laps the distance for the $1,500 prize. Trenton Witt sat outside row one and was out front as lap one was scored. But as the leaders worked into turn four on lap two, the #33 of Witt was suddenly up in the air , landing upside down. When finally we got back to racing, it was Nathan Ballard charging to the front with Dallon Murty hot on his heels. Johnny Spaw had pulled an eleven on the redraw, but was swiftly moving forward, taking third on lap four. Murty and Spaw then engaged in an intense battle for second. Spaw worked around the low side while Dallon operated higher on the track, the duo often racing door to door. On lap fourteen, Johnny was able to gain an advantage, then moved up one lane while Murty then took the short way around, hugging the inside tire barrier. With the race staying green, Ballard cruised to the win, while Murty drove back around Spaw for second. John Oliver Jr. was steady in fourth, while Michael Jaennette chased him to finish fifth.

   Hobby Stocks were up next with A Mods headed to staging, but our self imposed curfew had arrived, and while much of the large crowd stuck around, we regretfully headed for the parking lot. Congratulations to Luke Ramsey for his $500 Hobby Stock win, and to Austen Becerra for taking home the $1,500 A Mod check. 

   Thanks to Mike Van Genderen, Haylee, Kevin, Tony and the rest of the crew at Scotland County for an action packed night of racing!

   Early church is over, racewear laundry is next and (hopefully) a nap, then we will be off to Adams County, Illinois Speedway for their season finale of Sprint Invaders, Crate Late Models, Street Stocks and Hart Series B Mods. Hope to see you there!

  

Kay and Murty Take Davenport Wins

    Friday afternoon we journeyed north to Davenport Speedway for night one of the 45th Yankee Dirt Track classic. This late season special has been a staple of the Farley Speedway for many years after originating at the dirt version of Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids in 1978. For unknown (to me) reasons, the Farley track cancelled the 2022 event, which was set to take place over the Labor Day holiday, so Ricky Kay and his team picked up the torch and put together two nights of racing under the Yankee banner. The event would revolve around their previously scheduled Saturday visit by the SLMR late models. The Friday card would be headlined by IMCA late models, a regularly featured class at the track racing for $1,045 to win. Also in action would be a visiting class, IMCA stock cars, also competing for $1,045. The action would wrap up with an Enduro for the 4 cylinder cars.

   As we made our way north, trying to ignore the steady drizzle which occasionally turned to a rain shower, one by one tracks in the region began to post cancellation notices. But Facebook missives kept assuring us all was well in Davenport, so we soldiered on. Even as I made my first pass through the steadily filling pit area, I was silently questioning the wisdom of our excursion. But luck was on our side, as the mist stopped, at least long enough to allow racing to go on as planned! 

   The final tally had an outstanding field of twenty eight IMCA late models signed in along with twenty top notch IMCA stock cars, an excellent total considering the class did not race here in 2022. However, the rumors were later confirmed that IMCA stock cars will be a part of the lineup at the track in 2023. With hot laps under way, the 4 cylinder Enduro cars continued to trickle in, with a final count of twenty two. In addition. five SLMR cars wandered in early and were allowed a hot lap "practice" session ahead of tomorrows' program.

   Stock cars were split into three heat races, with the top four redrawing for the first six rows of the twenty five lap feature. Chase Zaruba, Kaden Reynolds, and triple duty Justin Kay picked up heat race wins. 

   Four seven car ten lap heats set the feature field for the late models. The top three from each redrew for the first six rows, but all twenty eight cars advanced to the thirty five lap money race. When rookie Anthony Guss elected to tag the tail of heat one, that moved Chuck Hanna to the outside pole, and he picked up the win. Fourth starting Andy Nezworski overtook Kay to capture heat two. Tommy Elston, wheeling the Lynn Richard #15R worked around early leader Darrel Defrance for the heat three win, and Matt Ryan charged from row two for the heat four victory.

   Hot laps for the SLMR early arrivals served as intermission, then it was feature time for the stock cars. With the opening night of the Jim Oliver Memorial at Scotland County Speedway rained out, John Oliver Jr. made the trip to Davenport, and lined up on the pole alongside Dallon Murty. Dallon quickly shot to the lead, with Damon Murty driving to second from row two. The son and father team immediately began to put distance on the field, while a pack of seven cars battled side by side and nose to tail behind them. With twelve in the books, the leaders moved up on a pair of slower cars, but that presented no problem as the leaders raced nose to tail around them. Meanwhile, twelfth starting Reynolds was moving forward, advancing to fourth with nine laps to go. But his charge was stalled when he drove over the top of the track out of turn two. By the time the scoreboard showed five laps remaining, the front duo had nearly a half track lead, Two laps from the finish, Damon nosed ahead briefly down the backstretch, but Dallon rode the cushion back to the front out of turn four. At the checkers, it was Dallon on top, followed by Damon. Dustin Vis started and finished third, Jesse Sobbing advanced four positions to fourth, while Kay started and finished fifth. 

   All twenty eight cars took the green flag for the thirty lap late model main event. Nezworski and Kay lined up on the front row, and once again it was Kay grabbing the early lead. Although challenged throughout, he did not give up control this time, scoring a flag to flag win. He opened up a big lead early before encountering heavy slower traffic by lap six. As he and Nezworski wormed their way through, Ryan, who had been lurking in third, cleared Nezworski for the runner up spot. As he began to bear down on Kay, the first yellow flag flew. On the first attempt at a restart, a brake check in the middle of the pack resulted in a five car pileup between turns three and four. Following a lengthy clean up, Kay, with an open track ahead, again took off. By lap twelve, the top three had put distance on the pack, but were once again catching the back of the pack. Unlike his inside line "catfishing" in the stock car, Kay was working high around the quarter mile while Ryan switched lines looking for a way to the front. Nezworski took advantage of that to close in on Ryan, and now Matt was occupied with hanging on to second. As a  result, Kay drove away to the win. Ryan held off Nezworski for runner up honors, while Joel Callahan climbed five spots to fourth. Jacob Waterman was racing the #77 car for the evening, starting eleventh and finishing fifth. Hanna led the second five, topping Anthony Franklin, Fred Remley, Defrance, and Jaden Fryer. 

   As Kay was being interviewed by Shane Davis in victory lane and the Enduro cars waited in staging, the sprinkles fired up once again. Although it was just after 8:30, Fred and I, as well as several others in the rather sparse crowd headed for the exits. Hopefully they were able to complete the 150 laps, as I see Rick Zifko from Aurora, Illinois picked up the win over Brody Rivest from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and Nate Coopman from Mankato, Minnesota. This novelty race paid a whopping $2,645 to win!

   After some quality family time today, we will head for Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri tonight for Jim Oliver Sr. Memorial action. Check back tomorrow for a report on the five class program. We hope to cap off the weekend with the season finale at Adams County, Illinois Speedway for season championship night for the Sprint Invaders racing along with Crate Late Models, Street Stocks, and HART Limited B Mods.

Clanton Grabs Preliminary Night Win at Knoxville

    Thursday was opening night of the 18th annual Knoxville Late Model Nationals. Forty eight cars took time trials although there was one additional team in the pits. Thirteen year old Kayden Clatt had made the trip from Edina, Missouri to take his first crack at the big half mile and was on the roster to begin the night. While the Lucas Oil late model sanctioning group was okay with his participation, Knoxville Raceway has a minimum age requirement of sixteen, so he was relegated to spectator for the event. Kayden has been racing his #50 late model for a couple of years now, and has steadily improved, vowing to be back at Knoxville in three years!

   The format for this three day weekend allows drivers to compete on one or both preliminary nights, keeping their best points night to earn starting spots in the Saturday lineups, whether in the $40,000 to win finale, a B or C main. Points are awarded during the preliminary events for qualifying, heats, and feature races.

   Qualifying was broken into two groups. Spencer Hughes was tops in group A with a quick lap of 17.557 seconds, but the overall fast time was turned in by Brandon Overton who tripped the clock at 17.494. There would then be a six car invert in each of six twelve lap eight car heat races. Shane Clanton raced from row two to capture heat one, slipping around race long leader Ross Robinson on the final lap. Chris Madden came from the outside pole to top heat two with surprise entrant Justin Zeitner nursing his smoking #62 to a third place finish. Ryan Gustin also lined up outside row one to grab heat three. Group B cars saw Chase Junghans claim heat four from his pole start. Fast timer Overton smacked the turn three wall, then recovered to advance to fourth, narrowly missing a transfer spot.  Richmond, Missouri driver Aaron Marrant started outside row one and won heat five. Behind him, National Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Billy Moyer and Tad Pospisil were battling back and forth for second when the engine let go in the Moyer #21 on the final lap. Marrant then held off Pospisil and Jimmy Owens on the one lap shootout. Pole sitter Stormy Scott topped the final twelve lapper. 

   With the top three in each heat moving to the feature, a pair of fifteen car fifteen lap B mains would also send the top three in each to the finale. The Saturday night "Big Dance" winner in 2021, Mike Marlar charged from row three to top B main one. Hughes and Bobby Pierce had lined up in row one, but Pierce had issues in turn three to bring out a yellow. He restarted on the tail, but pulled to the infield mid race. Hughes led a good portion of the race until the caution waved for Jesse Sobbing. Marlar lined up fourth for the restart, but charged all the way to first, while Hughes fell to third behind Ricky Thornton Jr. There was plenty of action in the final qualifier. Rookie of the Year contender Daulton Wilson was running in the final transfer spot when he suddenly slowed, ending his chances. With six laps to go, Overton was cruising out front when he had a tire go down, turning him into the turn three fence. With Garrett Alberson now in first for the restart, second and third running Daniel Hilsabeck and Tyler Bruening got together on the front stretch, with Bruening spinning to a stop. At the checkers, it was Alberson, Hilsabeck, and veteran Chris Spieker. 

   It took just a bit of time to get the lineup correct for the twenty five lap, $7,000 to win main event. Clanton and Pospisil would sit on row one. Zeitner had earned a row four starting spot, but would go to the tail after pulling his back up car from his trailer. Clanton would pace lap one, with row two starters Hudson Oneal and Earl Pearson Jr. trailing. Jonathon Davenport is by far the hottest driver in dirt late model racing in 2022 , and on the second circuit he moved to fourth after starting sixth. Davenport then moved to third ahead of a lap three caution for a slowing Madden. Pearson retook third on the restart as Clanton continued to lead. Eight laps in, Oneal was close enough to the leader that he tried to slide him for the front in turns three and four, but could not complete the pass. Two laps later, Hudson suddenly slowed, bringing out the yellow flag, ending his run. Brandon Sheppard now powered from a row five start to fourth, but could not get close enough to Davenport to attempt a move for  third. From that point, Clanton was not challenged, opening up a comfortable lead for a flag to flag win. Pearson Jr., Davenport, Sheppard, and twelfth starting Kyle Strickler turned in top five runs. Lucas Oil Series points leader Tim McCreadie ran sixth ahead of Owens, Gustin, Brian Shirley, and Junghans.

   Action wrapped up shortly after 10:00 P.M. on this first night of what promises to be a great weekend of racing!

  

Sanders, Crawley, and Zevenbergen Tops at Clay County Fair

    On Tuesday night I had the opportunity to visit the Clay County Speedway in Spencer, Iowa. The occasion was the Clay County Fair, obviously held much later than most county fairs in the mid west. This would be my first ever visit to the three eighths mile facility and would be the first of two nights of action at the track. Racing on this night would be Tri State Late Models, the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series, and IMCA Stock Cars. A top prize of $3,000 would be on the line for the late models and sprints, with stock cars chasing $1,000. "Tri State", in this area, would represent Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota!

   We were greeted with a healthy and well balanced field of twenty six sprints and stock cars, edged out by twenty seven late models, good numbers for a mid week show. After choosing from the dozens of "fair food" choices, we settled into the massive covered grandstands, complete with stadium style seats, obviously installed since the 1931 erection of the facility. Sprint car heats were set up by three lap group qualifying, with Sapulpa, Oklahoma driver Blake Hahn turning the overall fastest lap at 14.087 seconds. They would then run three heat races with the top sixteen in passing points moving to the feature. Another six drivers would make the lineup through a twelve lap B main. Three heats for the stock cars and four plus a B main for the late models would set the stage for feature racing. Amazingly, all ten heats plus the sprint B were completed with no yellow flags to slow the action!

   Intermission came ahead of the B mains, so with the preliminaries finished, all twenty six stock cars lined up for twenty laps. Three caution periods marred the opening laps, with early leader Jim Horejsi turning the lead over to Mike Albertsen about lap six (another track without a scoreboard!) Two more yellow flags about lap nine saw the field reset single file, with now second running Chance Hollatz moving in to challenge for the lead. Hollatz and Albertsen ran side by side for several laps before catching the back of the pack on lap seventeen. As they negotiated the slower cars down the backstretch, eleventh starting Elijah Zevenbergen found an opening, driving around the two leaders. Those three then ran in tight formation to the checkers, with Zevenbergen taking the win. Hollatz came home second, trailed by Albertsen, Horejsi, and hometown driver Cody Nielsen.

   Sprints would be up next, with twenty five laps the distance for the twenty two starters. Tim Crawley sat on the outside pole and led Hahn through the lone caution on lap three. With the single file restart, the top three of Crawley, Hahn, and Wayne Johnson caught the back of the pack about lap ten. At that point, third starting Matt Covington joined the party, with the leaders running the faster top line around the banked oval. As the laps wound down, Crawley was able to stretch his lead, and with no more cautions, he cruised to the win. Hahn, Johnson, and Covington followed in that order, with Kyler Johnson rounding out the top five. Landon Britt topped the second five in front of Christopher Thram, Chris Martin, Jason Martin, and Riley Goodno.

   Late models would round out the program, and although it was difficult to decipher the P.A. under the tin roof stands, we counted twenty five laps for the twenty three qualified cars plus provisional starter Brad Vogt. Outside row one starter Scott Ward took off at the green flag ahead of Corey Zeitner and Tyler McDonald. McDonald moved to the lead on lap two ahead of a spin by Lane Brenden. Back to racing, a pair of national stars were on the move. Row five starter Rodney Sanders charged to second, and a few laps later Blair Nothdurft joined the party in third. By now McDonald and Sanders had separation from Nothdurft and the rest, but soon the red flag was displayed as the #73 car of Dave Carlson made a sharp right hand turn off the banking at the end of the front stretch, getting upside down. He was uninjured, and after a bit of a delay, we were once again racing. McDonald remained in control, with the caution again waving just as the crossed flags were set to signal the halfway mark. On the restart, Nothdurft appeared to make contact with Sanders, and while Rodney carried on in second, Nothdurft began to fade back in the pack. With just four laps remaining, Sanders made his move, closing the gap and grabbing the lead one lap later out of turn four, with a bit of bumping between the front duo. With the white flag displayed, the flag man replaced it with a final yellow, setting up a green, white, checkers finish. This was only a temporary delay, as Sanders, the modified standout from Happy, Texas, picked up the win. McDonald held on to second, chased by Chad Olsen, Shane DeMay, and fifteenth starting Gary Brown Jr. Nothdurft took sixth, followed by Corey Zeitner, Nate Beyenhof, Trevor Anderson, and David McDonald. Anderson, the series points leader, had issues in his heat race, finishing in fifth, which put him twentieth in the starting lineup.

   The program wrapped up sometime early in the 10:00 hour, with the large crowd filtering to the carnival midway as we headed for the gate. Thanks to the folks at Clay County for offering up an entertaining mid week show. I could certainly recommend a visit to this track, which runs a limited summer schedule, with a series of Monday night races. If only it weren't 380 miles from home!

Elston Collects $5,000 at Donnellson

    Saturday it was back to Lee County Speedway in Donnellson for the IMCA late model Drive for Five finale. Thirteen drivers would be eligible for a $5,000 top prize in the 50 lap headliner, while anyone who did not run the required number of qualifying events would still collect a cool $2,000. Sandwiched around this action, would be four other regular IMCA classes, with modifieds racing for $750 to win, stock cars and sport mods for $600, plus sport compacts. In addition the limited schedule Mini Hauler Trucks would be running their season championship event.

   A couple of things were evident as late afternoon gave way to evening and what was already an earlier than usual planned start time. One was that there would be a first time Drive for Five winner, as Justin Kay, who was two for two since the series began in 2020  was not in attendance. The other was that there may not be a winner at all unless the program moved along quickly, as persistent rain showers were making their way across the state, taking dead aim at Donnellson.

   With the earlier start, racers continued to trickle in even as hot lap time approached, with a final tally of seventy seven teams signed in, led by a strong field of twenty two late models. But to their credit, track personnel got the show started right on time, with warm ups kicking off at 6:15 sharp, and the first race was on the track thirty minutes later. It had already been decided to scrap the scheduled ten minute break at lap twenty five of the late model feature, although there would be a brief fuel stop around lap thirty five. And after conferring with the drivers it was announced that the double passing points heat races would be replaced with one round of draw and go ten lappers, with the top four in each redrawing for their main event starting spot. 

   It took about an hour to complete the dozen qualifying heats, and with no delays, the Mini Haulers came to the track for their twelve lap season championship feature. Brian Tipps and Tucker Richardson lined up in row one and continued their total dominance in this class. Tipps would lead the non stop race flag to flag with Richardson close behind as they ran off from the pack. Tim Wagner, Luke Phillips, and Sheldon Brockett were next in the ten car field.

   Although modifieds had been second in the heat race order, the late models were called next, perhaps with an eye on the radar. All twenty two made the lineup, with heat two runner up C.J. Horn and heat two winner Chris Lawrence sitting in row one. Horn grabbed the early lead and soon began to pull away from the battle for second between Lawrence, and the top two from heat three, winner Darin Weisinger Jr., and Dustin Schram. Track champion Tommy Elston lined up in row three and began his move to the front by charging to fourth on lap four. As Horn continued to lead by a considerable distance, Elston moved to third, then quickly to second about lap nine ( the scoreboard was being cranky!). Horn caught the back of the pack on lap eleven, but one circuit later the first caution came as Schram stopped facing the turn four guardrail. Back under green, we now had a two car battle going on. Horn was pounding the cushion while Elston searched multiple lines for a way to the front. Twenty two laps in, Horn came upon a pair of slower cars racing side by side for position, but he was patient and was able to find a way through, with Elston still in tow. Five laps later, Horn got in the crumbs at the top of turns one and two, with Elston driving under him for the lead, but C.J. fought back and was again in front at the flag stand. With twenty one laps remaining, a second caution came as contact caused Bryan Klein to slow on the backstretch. Although the show was up front, intense battles were going on behind the front two, with cars swapping spots and making runs from third on back. It was decided to have the fuel stop at this time. As racing resumed, Elston took the outside line behind Horn, with Nick Marolf now in the mix in third. Elston quickly raced around Horn for the lead, and two laps later Marolf followed in second. Although Elston was now in control, Marolf stayed within striking distance, even as first heat winner Matt Ryan climbed to third and Horn began to fade back in the pack. Seven laps from the finish, Marolf had his best chance, nearly pulling even with the leader exiting turn four. But Elston survived the challenge, and when he again caught slower traffic two circuits later, he showed off his driving expertise as he set up the lapped cars, passing them in the turns where he was able to put some distance on second place. Tommy then cruised to the checkers, collecting $5,000 for his efforts. Marolf held on to second, while Andy Nezworski showed his strength late to overtake Ryan for third. Denny Woodworth started eighth, fell back a bit early, then charged to fifth at the checkers, nipping Horn and seventeenth starting Chuck Hanna as the trio crossed the stripe side by side. Dalton Simonsen, row ten starter Jay Johnson, and Sam Halstead completed the top ten.

   After the briefest of victory lane festivities, the modifieds lined up, eleven cars for eighteen laps. Jadin Fuller and Skyler Harroun led the field to green, with Fuller grabbing the lead, even as fifth starting Bill Roberts Jr. charged to second. Track champion Austen Becerra loaded up and left rainy Boone, Iowa and found himself starting in row three for the feature. He moved to the runner up spot on lap four, powered to the front on lap five, and proceeded to disappear from the pack by the time Dennis Laveine drove to second with eleven laps to go. With six laps to go showing on the board, the only yellow flag came for rookie Matt Diaz. Fuller retook second following the Delaware style restart, but again Becerra drove away to take the win. Laveine followed Fuller in third, while Wisconsin visitor Lance Arneson ran fourth ahead of ninth starting Jesse Belez.

   Stock cars were quickly ushered to the track, with eleven cars scheduled to run sixteen laps. As sprinkles began to fall, the first start was called back, as Shane Richardson needed time to jump from his modified into his stock car. When the green flag waved, outside pole sitter Johnny Spaw charged to the lead with his row one mate John Oliver Jr. hot on his tail. But with a handful of laps in the books, our luck finally ran out, the sprinkles gained in intensity and the yellow flag waved, effectively bringing the program to an early end. 

   At this time, I do not know the fate of the remainder of the stock car feature nor that of the Sport Mods, or Sport Compacts. But Lee County Speedway still has three race nights on the schedule, with the Harvest Hustle on Friday and Saturday, October 7 and 8, and Shiverfest October 29. so perhaps they will be rescheduled during those shows. 

  In my opinion, there was a decent sized crowd on hand considering the amount of people who may have been in Boone, or at the World 100, and I want to give a big high five to the staff at LCS for presenting a fast paced program allowing for as much racing as possible. 

   Although the nights are getting cool, there is still a lot of racing to be had, and next weekend is chock full of special events. Close to home, Adams County, Illinois Speedway will off er up their two day show Friday and Saturday for A mods, Hornets, and B mods, check the track website for details. Wherever you might see me, stop and say " Hi!"

Tony Jackson Jr. Tops the Weiner Nationals

    After being postponed earlier in the summer due to rain, the second annual Weiner Nationals was held Sunday at the Randolph County Raceway in Moberly, Missouri. Area businessman and super late model driver Reid Millard was the driving force behind the 2021 inaugural event, and with his purchase of the speedway this season, it promised to be bigger and better. This event would be a non profit, with all proceeds going to area first responders in memory of Gary Evans, a longtime worker at the speedway.

   As far as racing was concerned, while being an unsanctioned event last season, Millard was able to secure the MLRA as a sanctioning body this time around. The forty lap headline feature paid a cool $10,000 to win and a healthy $750 to start, while the companion B mods boasted a $2,500 top prize and $200 just to start the twenty five lapper. 

   Other entertainment included a hot dog eating contest paying a $1,000 to the winner, music by up and coming band Murphy's Ford, and much more.

   Whether it was the sanction or the change in dates could be up for debate, but the car count saw a drastic improvement over 2021. The late model count of thirty seven was just more than double that of the previous year, and with a whopping forty B mods signed in, the infield pit area was well stocked. The fact that Millard paid the MLRA entry fee for all late model competitors was also mentioned to me, and that too may have been a contributing factor! Even those large numbers likely paled compared to the huge crowd. With portable bleachers added near turn one, the massive grandstands were still jammed full! 

   Considering the track had sat idle for over a year, it held up quite well. There appeared to be a bit of a sip at the exit of turn two, but otherwise the wide high banks stayed smooth and racy, with three grooves available. The cushion soon traveled up to the edge of the outside concrete wall, while the low line around the inside concrete was equally fast. Millard enlisted the aid of Tri City Speedway owners Kevin and Tammy Gundaker, and Kevins' abilities in track prep shined through. I have heard the track described as being anywhere from a three eighths to a half mile, and my sense is that it lies somewhere in between. With the high rise grandstands, there is no problem viewing the backstretch, even with the stacker trailers in the infield. The only issue on Sunday was a stiff breeze from the north that never let up and kept those of us in the stands well dusted!

   The on going entertainment was sandwiched around the racing activities making for a long night, but most of those in attendance seemed to be having a good time.

    B mods hot lapped and time trialed together, ten in a group, with Trey Harris topping the list at 20.309 seconds. Late model qualifying was two cars at a time, and Tony Jackson Jr. continued his weekend hot streak with a fast lap of 16.820. Each division then ran four eight lap heat races, with the top four in each moving on to the feature. The B mod class had an interesting mix of cars, with USRA, UMP, and IMCA all represented. Curtis VanDerWal topped heat one in his IMCA #1V. Kelly Smith, second generation driver Damian Kiefer, and Clint Young also collected wins, with all coming from row one.

   MLRA heat winners also all came from the front row, with Aaron Marrant, Rickey Frankel, Billy Moyer Jr., and series points leader Chad Simpson taking wins. 

   Each class ran a pair of B mains, with the top four B mods and top three late models moving on to the big dance. Veteran western Iowa hot shoe Josh Most suffered a flat tire in his heat race, then came from row five to grab the first ten lap B main for the mods, while Dawson David started outside row one and grabbed the final qualifier. Another second generation ace, Chris Smyser, who races a very limited schedule, put the Mike Crump #00s in the show by topping the first late model ten lapper, winning from the pole position, while Marysville, Kansas driver Dusty Leonard did the same in B main two. A pair of MLRA points provisional starters would make up row twelve, with Brennon Willard taking one spot. Peoria, Arizona regular Steve Stultz was edged out of the final transfer spot by thirteen year old Kayden Clatt, but was in line for a provisional spot as well. As part of the fundraising effort, former NASCAR star Mike Wallace was added to the field as the twenty fifth starter. Wallace was driving a #6 throwback design from his dirt days, a car from the Millard Racing stable. Millard would then add $100 to the donation bucket for each car Wallace passed in the feature.

   While the hot dog action went on, a change in the program saw the late models line up on the front stretch for driver introductions. It had been announced during the drivers meeting that due to the tire situation the feature length may be reduced, and that would indeed be the case, with thirty laps now the distance. Marrant and Moyer Jr. would pace the field from the front row, and they would be scored that way as lap one went in the books. Marrant was riding the very top of the track while Moyer worked down low, along with fourth starting Simpson. Marrant had opened up a nice advantage before catching the back of the pack on lap nine. Moyer quickly moved in to challenge, and he had a nose in front as that lap was scored. Marrant was able to keep a fender alongside Moyer for another lap before traffic caused him to slow a bit, allowing Simpson to drive into second. Chad was ready to mount a challenge for the lead when the only caution came with fourteen in the books. Clatt spun between turns one and two and was hit in the drivers side door by Logan Martin. After checking on the drivers, the red flag came out briefly as the ambulance workers tended to Clatt. He received a ride back to the trailer as both cars went pitside behind a wrecker. By this point the mover of the race was Jackson Jr., who had lined up in tenth and was now in fourth. On the restart he dropped briefly to fifth, then dove under Daniel Hilsabeck and Marrant down the back chute to claim third. With Moyer taking the high line in turns one and two, then working low in three and four, the front group of Moyer, Simpson, Jackson, and Marrant drove off from the field. About lap twenty one ( Moberly needs a scoreboard!) Jackson powered around Simpson for second. One lap later, slower traffic again became a factor, and Moyer was now moving around the track in search of a fast line and to avoid the heavy traffic. Jackson Jr. was sitting in the catbird seat, closing fast, and on lap twenty eight he pounced, taking the lead and quickly driving off to a big lead. The Lebanon, Missouri hot shoe collected his second win in two nights, while a somewhat disappointed Moyer Jr. settled for runner up honors. Simpson continued his points dominance with a podium finish in third. Marrant came home fourth, while Mason Oberkramer completed the top five. Rookie of the year leader Kolby Vandenbergh started twelfth and finished sixth in front of Dewayne Kiefer, Hilsabeck, sixteenth starting Dylan Hoover, and Trevor Gundaker. 

   The B mods sat patiently in staging during the victory lane festivities, and as they prepared to come to the track, we saw the flagman leave his perch. Minutes later it was announced that there was a medical emergency behind the grandstands that would require the attention of the ambulance. Soon after it was announced that racing would be delayed until another ambulance arrived, and with the clock now on the wrong side of 11:00, we decided to head for the gates. Reports this morning show fourth starting Ava, Illinois driver Clint Young picked up the win, followed by Damian Kiefer, VanDerWal, thirteenth starting Brandon Lennox, and seventeenth starting Most, so it looks like we unfortunately missed a heck of a race.

   Thanks go out to Reid Millard for doing a lot of non profit work for a good cause, to the Gundakers for their efforts and to the very helpful ladies at the pit gate! Also thanks to Brandon Queen for giving this old timer a ride to the infield. Millard announced that the track would have a new name in 2023, I believe he said Moberly Motorsports Park, and I am excited to see what he has in store for this fine facility going forward. ( That scoreboard would be nice!)

   Next up on our racing schedule is the late model Drive for Five finale this SATURDAY night at Lee County Speedway, hope to see you there!

Holladay Grabs SLMR Make Up at West Liberty

   We opened the Labor Day weekend with our second visit of the season to the Kile Motorsports West Liberty Raceway. The occasion was the rescheduled visit by the Hoker Trucking SLMR east division, a race that was rained out early in the program on August 20. The super late model winner would collect $3,000, while IMCA modifieds,  IMCA Sport Mods, and the Midwest Jalopies would fill out the card with the show restarting from the beginning.

   Seventy eight drivers passed by Katie at the pit gate, led by a solid field of thirty one late models, three more than the original date. Following hot laps, late model qualifying went by in a flash, with three, four and even five cars at a time on the clock. Omaha, Nebraska hot shoe Jake Neal paced the leader board with a lap of 18.778 seconds around the big half mile. ( how well I remember fast times in the mid twenty second range what seems not so long ago!)

   Ten heat races and a pair of late model B mains set the feature fields. With the invert and passing points system employed by SLMR, there was plenty of passing in their four heats. Jonathon Brauns topped heat one from the pole position, while Andy Eckrich grabbed the second eight lapper from row two. Popular veteran Jeremiah Hurst climbed in the Joel Callahan #40 for the night and captured heat three from outside row three, then Chris Spieker led the distance from the pole in the final heat. Pole sitters Nick Marolf and Derrick Stewart topped the B mains. A pair of provisionals, Curtis Glover and Ron Boyse filled out the twenty two car lineup.

   There was a brief intermission ahead of the late model B's and after that we went straight to feature racing. Sport Mods were up first, with all but two of the twenty three cars making the call for fifteen laps. Curtis VanDerWal sat outside row two, and charged to the lead as lap one was scored. The first caution came for a pile up in turn two on lap two, and following the Delaware style restart, fifth starting Tim Plummer put his #66 in second. VanDerWal drove off to a sizable lead while Plummer also put distance on the rest of the pack. By lap eight, the leader was in slower traffic, and when he came upon a pack of three racing side by side for position it looked like things might get interesting. But some slick maneuvering gave him a clear track and he was again on the move ahead of a second and final caution with ten in the books. Plummer was able to challenge briefly for the top spot, but although he stayed in range this time, VanDerWal drove on to the win. Shaun Slaughter was steady in third after starting eighth, while Rusty DeShaw and Ryan Walker both advanced from row six to round out the top five. After victory lane ceremonies, VanDerWal needed the wrecker to tow him back to his pit!

   The Midwest Jalopies were the novelty class for the night, but only ten cars were on hand. A well known name at the track, Matt Picray paced the opening circuit, but turned the lead over to tenth starting Matt Fulton on lap two. By lap four, Terry Doud  had moved from row five to second and was closing on the front runner in what became a two car race. Following a caution flag, Doud took over the top spot, and along with Fulton they pulled away from the pack. With two laps remaining, Fulton charged too hard into turn one, spinning and bringing a final caution. Doud then drove his "For Sale" #2 with the sprint car looking front scoop to the win. Tom Honts, Tanner Girard, and Picray were next, while Fulton rebounded to fifth in the ten lap affair.

   IMCA modifieds had an $800 top prize, but only fourteen signed in. Thirteen of those took the green flag for twenty laps. Dakota Simmons powered from outside row one to the lead. The yellow flag waved with two down when Kurt Kile slowed out of turn four. He then quickly ducked to the pits, returning in time to tag the tail. Brandon Banks cleared Derek Walker for second on the restart, with Denny Eckrich following in third. When Eckrich moved to second on lap four, Simmons was well out front. Denny began to close the gap, and by the halfway mark the front duo led the pack by nearly a full straightaway. On lap thirteen, Simmons drifted high in turn one, and Eckrich charged to the front on the inside. The "Flying 50" was pulling away and negotiating slower traffic when a second caution came just ahead of the "two to go" signal. Back under green, seventh starting Chris Zogg used the inside line to take the runner up spot, but the race belonged to Eckrich. Mark Schulte grabbed third ahead of Simmons and Banks.

   Twenty five laps would be the distance for the late model finale. Todd Cooney was the pole sitter alongside Jason Hahne in a system I must confess I have yet to figure out. Cooney paced the opening circuit, with Chad Holladay coming from fourth to second. With three laps scored, an altercation between turns three and four saw Jeff Aikey retire for the night. On the restart, Holladay was able to slide under Cooney for the lead. As he opened a commanding advantage, he caught slower traffic just ahead of the halfway point. He was able to move with seeming ease through the traffic while maintaining his margin. However with about five laps left, whether he slowed up a bit out of caution with the heavy traffic, or he was losing a bit of "mojo," Cooney began to cut into the lead. It was too little, too late, though, as Holladay soon celebrated in victory lane. Cooney came home second, while Hurst used a late pass of Neal to claim third. Hahne faded to fifth at the checkers. Series points leader Justin Kay started third and finished sixth ahead of Andy Eckrich, who started and finished in seventh. Charlie NcKenna was eighth, followed by Dave Eckrich, while Matt Ryan lined up fourteenth and completed the top ten. 

   The final checkers came just after 10:00 in a very efficient and well run show, the last of the season, I believe, at West Liberty.

   Thanks to Katie and all the folks at Kile Motorsports for their hospitality. Tonight we will step away from racing for a little country music courtesy of Clay Jansen, but weather permitting we will have more racing action to report on Monday. So stay tuned, and thanks for reading!