Once again, mother Nature interfered with our weekend racing plans to follow the MLRA late models to Tri City Speedway near Granite City, Illinois. Fortunately, that opened up several other possibilities for both Friday and Saturday night. With early church services on Easter Sunday, Friday racing seemed the best choice, and when the opportunity came to visit a track for the first time, it was too good to pass up.
So on Friday afternoon, we began the loooong journey to the Shelby County Speedway in Harlan, Iowa for what was billed as night two of the Awakening. With night one of this mini series weathered out last weekend, this would also be opening night 2023 for the track. The Malvern Bank SLMR west division Super Late Models would be the headline class with multiple $1,000 to win features on Friday, along with Malvern Bank 360 Winged Sprint and Keast Motors Northern Sport Mods also on the card.
Formerly a big half mile speed plant, the track followed the lead of many mid west fairground facilities, as it was reconfigured to a semi banked one third mile to begin the 2022 season.
We arrived during hot laps, making our way into the covered grandstands of the fairgrounds facility as twenty nine super late models followed the fourteen Northern Sport Mods for their practice laps. This would be our only look at the #76 of Zach Zeitner, for whom mechanical problems sent him pitside for the night.
Twenty three of the winged racers would fill out the card, and with hot laps in the books, it was race time!
The format for the late models on this preliminary night was a bit different. They would be time trial qualifying, two laps under the clock, then be lined up in alternating fashion for a pair of twenty lap features. Later in the program, the top eight from those qualifying feature races would once again run time trials with the fastest ten making up the first five rows for the Saturday night $4,000 to win headliner, while the rest would vie for starting spots in a pair of B mains.
Heat races for the sport mods and sprints clicked off with only one major incident, when contact in the first spring qualifier resulted in Seth Brahmer getting upside down in his #13V.
Following intermission, it would be late models up first, with the Zach Zeitner scratch giving us a pair of fourteen car events, which was actually an acceptable amount on the cozy black dirt oval.
Andrew Kosiski and Jake Neal sat on the front row of the six car invert for feature number one. Following a called back start, Justin Zeitner powered from inside row two to lead lap one ahead of Neal and Kosiski. While Justin worked around the low line on the track, Neal used a power move up top to move to the front on lap four. It quickly became a two car battle, and with no yellows, the pair caught the back of the pack as the race reached the halfway mark. Zeitner was then forced to change his line to negotiate the slower cars. He began to mount a challenge and coming through turns three and four to complete lap fourteen, he executed a slide job on Neal. Unfortunately, he did not quite clear the #1 car, Neal appeared to jab the brakes to avoid contact, and went for a spin, bringing out the caution flag. Zeitner was the new leader while Neal was placed at the end of the lead lap cars for the Delaware style restart. Bill Leighton outran Kosiski to grab second as the green flag waved, and the new front duo pulled away from the field. Although he stayed close, Leighton could not mount a challenge for the top spot, with Zeitner picking up the $1,000 prize. Following Leighton and Kosiski, it was Derrick Stewart, Curt Schroeder, Brad Perdue, and Curtis Glover. Neal was able to charge back to grab the all important eighth position, putting him in the upcoming time trial round.
J.C. Wyman and Todd Cooney brought he field to green in feature two, with Wyman grabbing the lead, taking along third starting Jesse Sobbing in second. As those two began to inch away from the pack, the yellow flew on lap five as Cooney slowed with a flat tire, his night over. Overall quick qualifier Tad Pospisil (13.684) and Charlie McKenna would now do battle for third, with Tad finally claiming the spot on lap eight as Charlie fell a bit off the pace. By the crossed flags signaling the halfway point, Wyman had checked out on the field. An entertaining duel for second saw Pospisil claim the position on lap fifteen. Wyman cruised to the win, with Pospisil and Sobbing next. Corey Zeitner came from row five to finish fourth ahead of impressive late model rookie Dylan Sillman. McKenna, Brian Kosiski, and Josh Leonard rounded out the top eight.
Following the sprint car feature, the top sixteen took their second crack at time trials, and the perseverance of Neal was enough to earn him the pole position in the four car invert for the Saturday finale.
Meanwhile, that twenty lap twenty two car sprint car money race was something close to a "show killer." A steady stream of spin outs and crashes resulted in seven yellow flags in the first nine scored laps. Pole sitter Jason Martin held the lead throughout, and when the final eleven laps clicked off caution free, he was able to stretch his advantage to a full straightaway, dicing his was through heavy traffic. His row one mate Cody Ledger would eventually cross the line in second. Ryan Roberts was an early challenger, but saw his night end early. But it was nineteenth starting Tyler Lee who turned heads, as he charged all the way to third before slipping to fourth behind Joey Danley at the checkers. Brendan Mullen would complete the first five.
With the sport mod eighteen lap finale in staging, we decided to begin our marathon drive home. Results show front row starter Corey Madden picking up the win over third starting Willy Kirk, row four mates Kaylin Lopez and Jake Sachau, while twelfth starting Carter VanDenBerg came home in fifth.
We were left with a very favorable impression on our first ever visit to SCS - other than the hike into the next county to get to the rest rooms! It is always a treat to visit a track for the first time, especially with a group of good friends.
Here's hoping the sunny skies and warming temps hold. IRA Sprint Cars will be back on the card tonight at Brad Stevens and Jessi Mynatts' 34 Raceway after a whopping forty eight cars competed last night. Then it is a very busy week of racing coming up on the schedule with three nights of MLRA late models, starting Thursday night at Ricky and Brenda Kays' Davenport Speedway, where IMCA late models and IMCA Sport Mods will fill out the card, followed by two nights at 34 Raceway for the Prelude to the Slocum 50 on Friday followed by the memorial fifty lapper on Saturday. Finally, Jimmy and Tammy Lieurance will stage their season opener at Adams County, Illinois Speedway on Sunday, April 16. If you haven't made your first race of the season yet, now is the time!
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