Ballard, Jackson, Braaksma Double Up While Taft and Jaennette Are Also Scotland County Winners

    After three weeks in dry dock, it was time to restart our 2024 racing season. The plan would be to travel to the Quincy (Il.) Town Center on Saturday morning to preview the upcoming activities of the Adams County, Il. Speedway at their annual car show. Thirty some racing machines turned out, including an encouraging nine Late Models. Modifieds, Sport Mods, Street Stocks, Compacts, Go Karts and even one Sprint Car were also on hand, with drivers and crew members present to answer questions. After a few practice nights, the racing season at the .29 mile oval will begin on Sunday, April 28.

    Now even though the weather might have been more suitable for football, a carload of us headed for Scotland County Speedway for night two of the Memphis (Mo.) Spring Nationals. This is year thirteen for mid west traveling promoter Mike Van Genderen as the front man for the limited schedule of special events at the wide, fast fairgrounds oval, and it seems often as not, this early season extravaganza falls victim to Mother Nature. Indeed, with a forecast of a brief shower on Friday and temps stuck in the 30's or low 40's both days, no one could have blamed MVG and the race committee for pulling the plug once again. But ever the risk takers, they carried on and we were rewarded with some top notch racing!

   After 69 teams signed in on Friday, that number was bumped up to 82 for the Saturday action. Slightly warmer temps with less wind and a start time of 4:00 as well as a natural Saturday bump likely all contributed to the increase. Although I was not in attendance on Friday, multiple people who have been around the track for many years told me it was one of if not the coldest night of racing they could remember!

   Hot laps kicked off just a few minutes past that 4:00 bell, and the program went pretty much rapid fire to its conclusion just after 7:00. There were eighteen total races with a very brief break following the heats as MVG added a bit of water to the oval. 

   With the feature lineups set, Hobby Stocks would kick things off, all thirteen cars making the call for fourteen laps. Friday winner Nathan Ballard drew the pole position for the main, and was never headed as he doubled up in the victory column. The race was red flagged early when Jeremy Dooley took flight off turn three. The restart was then waved off as heat two winner Calvin Dhondt saw his night come to an end. As Ballard disappeared from the field, Tom Killen and Dustin Griffiths waged a second place battle. Following a caution at the halfway mark, Dustin used a low side pass to grab the runner up spot. As the laps wound down, David Crimmins and eleventh starting Curt Reed dueled for the fourth position. At the checkers it was Ballard cruising to the win ahead of Griffiths, Killen, Crimmins, and Reed.

   B Mods waited on the track for the brief post race picture taking, then all but one of the nineteen cars on hand prepared to roll off for eighteen laps. However Dakota Girard came to a stop on the front stretch with apparent rear end problems on his #0 machine. Again, it was a Friday winner, Kris Jackson starting in row one and taking another checkers. But his trip to victory lane would be no cake walk. As Kris shot to the lead, Brandon Dale and Chris Spalding made it a trio of Missouri hot shoes leading the way. As Dale and Spalding fought for second, row five starter Brayton Carter was headed to the front, picking off cars until he climbed to second at the mid point of the race. As Shadren Turner joined the challengers for third and the front pair put distance on the pack, the yellow came with ten laps down for a slowing car. Adding a new twist to the weekend, the Delaware restart ( leader out front of a two by two formation), was scrapped in favor of the first and second place cars restarting side by side with the leader choosing inside or out. This put the pair of Jackson high and Carter low in what was shaping up to be an epic battle. But three more laps were scored when Carter slowed and pulled to the infield with front end damage after possibly clipping one of the tire barriers. Jackson then completed his weekend sweep, with Turner claiming second. St. Joseph, Minnesota driver Jake Smith in third was the lone interloper in an all Missouri top six, as he topped Dale, Spalding, and Dawson David.

    The Compact count swelled by eight to twenty two for Saturday, and again all but one lined up for fourteen laps. A grinding crash as the field entered turn one sent Rachel Kile hard into the turn one guardrail, bringing out a red flag. Although she was able to walk away from the carnage, her #13 machine suffered what looked to be terminal damage. Back under green, Brad Mick paced the opening lap before Brandon Reu took command the next time by the flag stand. But it was ninth starting Barry Taft charging through the traffic, as he arrived in the runner up spot just four laps in. By now it was Reu and Taft well ahead, and it took just one more circuit for Barry to put his #57 out front. As a race for third went on between Bryan Vannausdle and Dyllan Bonk, Taft drove off into the chilly evening. Eleventh starting Jeffery Delonjay and Chuck Fullenkamp worked into the top five as Vannausdle faded a bit and at the checkers it was Taft, Reu, Bonk, Delonjay, and Fullenkamp. Interestingly, both Delonjay and Bonk also had taken part in the Quincy car show earlier in the day, Jeffery with his new Late Model, and Dyllan with a shiny new Street Stock. Friday Compact winner Josh Barnes was a no show on night number two.

   Stock Car action saw sixteen of the seventeen signed in line up for twenty laps. Michael Jaennette and David Brandies filled row one, with Michael jumping to the lead. Following a lap three caution for a spinner, fourth starting John Oliver Jr. powered to second. Two more laps were complete when the yellow waved again, and although Oliver Jr. now lined up beside the leader, it was Brandies charging back to the runner up position. The field now mostly migrated to the low line around the track and Jaennette and Brandies began to put distance on the rest of the competitors. Only ninth starting two class star Griffiths was willing to try the high line around the track, but he was unable to improve on his fifth place position. With just a pair of laps remaining, Oliver Jr. and Oshkosh, Wisconsin driver Presley Harrington had closed the gap to the front duo, but it was too little too late, as Jaennette took the flag to flag win over Brandies, Oliver Jr., Harrington, and Griffiths.

   Wrapping up the action, it was ten of eleven Modifieds going at it for twenty circuits. Another Friday winner, Ethan Braaksma, stayed hot, drawing the number one pill to start on the pole with Jarrett Brown to his outside. And the race was pretty much over from the green flag as Braaksma, formerly #111, but now apparently just #11, drove off to a full straightaway lead before the race hit the ten lap mark. However there was plenty of intense racing behind the leader. Brown held second for most of the event but a late charge by Chase Rudolf saw him grab runner up honors as the laps wound down in the non stop finale. Brown held off Zack Rawlins and NASCAR legend Kenny Schrader to complete the top five.

   On a very chilly evening in front of a respectable sized crowd of hearty fans, it was a textbook Mike Van Genderen presentation, crisp and orderly, again coming in right at three hours from the start of hot laps to the final good night, and we were miles down the road before darkness hit! Thanks to MVG, the race committee, and all involved for their hospitality and for giving all a place to race in March!

   Between family commitments and Easter activities, it looks like we will be taking a week off before what is shaping up to be a busy April of racing. Stay tuned, and thanks for reading!

A Successful Lid Lifter in South Dakota

    My 2024 race season took off earlier than expected as I hitched a ride to a new to me venue, Park Jefferson International Speedway just across the Iowa border in Jefferson, South Dakota. With an early forecast of temps in the upper sixties, track officials two weeks ago made the unlikely decision to present a Saturday afternoon event dubbed the Spring Kickoff Classic. With the addition just last week of 305 Sprint Cars, six classes of cars would be in action,also including Modifieds, Sport Mods, Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks and Compacts. Hot laps were scheduled to hit the three eighths mile dirt oval at 12:30, with heat races beginning at 1:00. Officials were rewarded with a whopping 136 cars through the pit gate along with an announced crowd of 900! Surely this number could have been even larger were it not for the strong south east wind which blew into the open grandstands all afternoon. Fortunately this was not an issue for Jeff, Barry and myself, as we arrived just in time to secure chairs inside the "clubhouse," a leftover from the days when Park Jeff was a dog track with para mutual betting!

   Hobby Stocks led the way with thirty two entries, which required four heats and a pair of B mains to set the feature field. The other divisions ranged between nineteen and twenty three cars, with three heat races in each, giving us twenty one preliminary events. With the one spin rule in effect, the qualifying action moved along fairly quickly once racing began, and it was about 3:13 when a fifteen minute intermission was announced. During the break, track officials decided to dump several loads of water on the black dirt surface even though there was multi groove racing and despite the sun and wind, dust never seemed to be an issue. As a result, it was about fifty minutes before the next green flag, and with our five and six hour drive back home, this put us dangerously close to our self imposed 5:00 PM curfew. Once the features kicked off, however the action again moved at a fairly brisk pace. Part of the delay was due to the unlikely front stretch flip of the #22T car of Tyler Smith as he helped to roll in the surface.

   Hobbies would be up first, battling for fourteen laps. Four caution flags slowed the event, with Bo Lundquist using his pole start to lead the first four circuits before a flat tire ended his run. His row one mate Carter Davis then took over, fending off challenges from first seventh starting Matt Rezac, then outside third row starter Corey Black. At the checkers it was Davis, Black, and Rezac.

   Sport Mods would be next, racing for sixteen trips around. Outside pole sitter Willy Kirk, who I believe is a third generation hot shoe powered to the lead followed closely by Brayton Carter in the Carter Vandenberg #7V through an early caution. Back to racing following a final lap seven yellow flag, pole sitter John Rebstock used the Delaware double file restart to beat Carter to turn one. As Kirk opened a comfortable lead, Rebstock and Carter followed to the checkers. 

   Now it would be Stock Cars dueling twenty laps. Daniel Eckblad took off from the pole to lead ahead of a lap two caution. Back under green, row eight starter Levi Feltman methodically worked his way through traffic, moving to the runner up slot at the halfway mark, then used an outside pass to grab the lead with just six laps to go. As the pack migrated to the inside line, Feltman stretched his margin, soon catching the back of the field, with Eckblad and Jason Fisher soon cutting into his lead. With only two circuits remaining, a car spun in front of the leader, bringing a final caution. When racing resumed, Feltman drove on to the hard fought victory chased by Eckblad and Fisher. 

   We were still a few minutes ahead of our curfew, which we decided to extend as Modifieds rolled to the speedway for their twenty lap finale. Following a first lap restart, third starting Jeremy Mills shot to the front, trailed by his row two mate Cody Thompson, and pole sitter Jerry King. Sixth starting Shane Demay climbed to third after a lap five caution, while Nebraska late model standout Justin Zeitner began a march forward to fourth. Just past the halfway mark, Zeitner suddenly rolled to a stop on the front stretch, bringing out a yellow before then driving to the pits. Troy Cordes had lined up ninth in his #71C, but used this last restart to charge to third. That was where he would stay, as Mills cruised to the win while Thompson came home the runner up. 

   As always, it took a while for the Sprint Cars to go through the process of getting to the green flag, but by now we were hooked, and soon they took the green for twenty laps. There would be four yellow flag periods during the race, but fortunately zero reds. Andrew Sullivan would shoot from the pole, and lead throughout. The track appeared to be a "tire eater," as several front runners fell by the wayside with flats during the event. Things were getting interesting up front as the lead pack caught the tail of the field, staying in formation for several trips around before a spin by third running Brandon Bosma reset the field seven laps from the checkers. There was yet one more stoppage with just two laps left, but Sullivan was up to the challenge, taking a flag to flag win. Dusty Ballenger advanced from row three to claim second while Trefer Waller powered all the way from row eight to fill out the podium. 

   We were now nearly one hour past our original curfew, so it was time to hit the road as Sport Compacts prepared to close out the program. A check of the results shows that Kaytee DeVries, a standout performer in the Compacts, took the win over Tyler Thompson and Kaylee Richards.

   It was for this reporter a most enjoyable and unique experience. I cannot remember the last time I attended a scheduled afternoon race, but it quite possibly goes back to the 1970's? Also the diverse field included drivers from eight different states competing, one of the reasons that we so enjoy the early spring and late fall specials. 

   Thanks to the operators of Park Jefferson International Speedway for taking a chance on what appeared to be a successful idea. I would expect to see this on the calendar again in 2025, weather permitting, of course. And who knows, maybe we will be there to cover it once again! In the meantime, where the road takes us next will depend a lot on the forecasts, so stayed tuned. Race season has begun!

   Edit: For whatever reason, Andrew Sullivan was a DQ in the Sprint feature, turning the win over to Dusty Ballenger and moving Lee Goos Jr. to third.