Unzicker, Long, Rain Tops at Peoria

    If you live anywhere in the mid west, I probably don't need to tell you about the weather we are currently experiencing here in Northeast Missouri and the surrounding area. But we could spend some time talking about finding a race to attend. When the weekend began, my cohorts and I had a list of nine possible destinations in the "less than three hours from home" category for the three days. Cancel, cancel, cancel... could it be? Peoria Speedway, smack in the middle of a three day swing for the MARS series, announced that their quarter mile bullring had taken on the monsoon and came away battered but still standing. So against probably good advice and mostly ignoring the ominous forecast, Fred, Darryl, and I loaded up for the two and a half hour excursion to central Illinois. 

   True to their word, we found a flooded infield, but a track that looked to be in decent condition. The promoter at Peoria has added fresh dirt to the track since our last visit, and even though it seemed to be in good shape, we worried that the condition might deteriorate, especially with the strong car count. Thirty six Super Late Models and thirty three Open Modifieds topped the bill, along with enough Pro Mods and Hornets for three heats each and eight Kidz Modz to boot. 

   And although there were a few bumps here and there, the surface held up quite well, although most of the racing took place in the usually dominate inside groove. 

   Of course, with a traveling series, it was time trials, followed by straight up starts, at least for the Late Models and both Mod classes. So the heat races provided little in the way if drama, at least as far as winners go. All four Late Model heat winners came from the front row, three from the inside pole. And it seemed the same would hold true for the MARS Mods until Ray Bollinger suddenly rolled to a stop in heat four just as he took the white flag. B Mains were much the same, with four front row winners.  

   The original schedule had the Kids Modz feature rolling off first, but after I assume a peek at the radar it was announced that the MARS main events would go first. So after a quick dose of water (hard to believe, I know,) the Late Models lined up, twenty three strong for forty laps and a $5,098 top prize. The extra $98 was in honor of Garry Swibold, who this special event was named after. Unfortunately his son Cole is still recovering from a medical issue and was not able to compete, but he still had his #98 on hand for pre race ceremonies. 

   The heat winners had redrawn for their starting spots, and Bob Gardner in the McKinnon Racing #26M and three time Peoria MARS victor Brian Shirley sat in row one ahead of Dennis Erb Jr. and fast qualifier and first heat winner Colby Sheppard. 

   Six yellow flags would effectively chop up this race, however Shirley remained the dominate car for the first thirty five laps before apparently breaking something in the rear end just five laps from the checkers. A lap two pile up when Sheppard got out of shape exiting turn four sent sixth starting Jason Feger and others to the tail for the restart. Fortunately with the large amount of cautions, drivers were able to make up lost ground throughout the race. When they were able to string together some laps, Gardner and Erb Jr. waged a side by side battle for second while others made moves through the field. Two more cautions by lap fourteen found Feger back up to sixth, while sixteenth starting Justin Duty had run the mostly neglected high line all the way to third. Running in his tracks, Ryan Unzicker had advanced from row six to fourth. Shirley hit slower traffic at lap twenty two and following another yellow two laps later it was Erb Jr. and Unzicker in a war for the runner up spot. Ryan took possession of second at lap thirty, and two laps later under caution both third running Erb Jr. and Feger headed pit side with flat tires. Only Feger would return to action. The yellow came a final time when Shirley slowed on the track, and the field was realigned single file for the final five circuits. Unzicker then drove off into the Illinois night for the win. Tommy Sheppard Jr. drove a steady race and cashed in the runner up spot, the same was true for Jake Little in third. While the high side eventually deserted Duty, he still hung around the claim fourth, topping Allen Weisser. Frank Heckenast Jr. had an eventful race, but finished sixth after taking a series provisional to start twenty first. Mike "Opie" Spatola ran seventh ahead of twentieth starting Mitch McGrath and Rich Bell. Austin Howes, in many ways still a rookie in the Supers captured a B Main, then scored a top ten in the main event. Along with Shirley, hard luck honors should go the veteran Mark Voight who was running inside the top ten when he hit a rut on a restart and was hit by several cars, coming away with an apparent broken wrist. At leaast Shirley was able to collects considerable lap money for leading thirty five circuits, plus a rare $100 bonus for "winning hot laps!" Colby Sheppard would take home the $500 fast time award. This was the first race of the season for the MARS Late Models, and would be the only one of the weekend, with Brownstown, Il. on Friday and East Moline on Sunday both rained out.

    As post race ceremonies took place, eleven rows of MARS Modifieds lined up for thirty laps with a $2,098 payoff at stake. Trey Harris and series points leader Michael Long sat in row one in front of Michael Ledford and fast qualifier Mike McKinney after the Modified heat winner redraw. Long shot to the lead, quickly opening a sizable advantage as the pack battled behind him. McKinney was finally able to emerge in second, but before he could attempt to close the gap to Long, the first caution flag waved with thirteen laps scored. By now a couple of renegade raindrops had fallen, and with a pretty good idea of what was coming, the large crowd began an exodus to the parking lot. For a few moments the cars continued to circle the track, but the hand writing was on the wall, and the race was called complete. Long would pick up his second win on the young season and add to his points lead over second place McKinney. Harris would be scored third, besting Ledford and Kyle Hammer. Evan Fink would come home in sixth in front of Treb Jacoby, local driver Mike Chasteen Jr., Josh Allen, and Indiana hot shoe Zeke McKenzie. 

   Unfortunately the remaining three features will likely be worked into the regular season schedule at the track. 

   As was predicted and expected, the drive home was something of an adventure, with occasional downpours and awesome displays of lightning, but thankfully the tornado watches failed to create any issues. 

   Much appreciation to the MARS series for staging a one off weekend race, something most of the other traveling series seem loathe to do, and to the Peoria Speedway crew for going  the extra mile to prepare the grounds. I am also pleased that despite the adverse weather, they were rewarded with a strong car count and a large crowd! 

   Things are getting busy around here with non race activities, so plans going forward are a bit up in the air, although a visit by the MLRA to what will now be opening night at the Adams County, Il. Speedway in Quincy next Sunday is on the "can't miss" list! We certainly have needed the rain, but now let's see the sun for a while!

Thornton, Murty, Paris, Reynolds, Ballard and Rick Tops at Benton County

    After inclement weather wiped out their early April edition of the Frostbuster series, Benton County Speedway "The Bullring" began preparations for the opening of their regular season Sunday, April 21. For this opening event, five regular IMCA classes, Modifieds, Sport Mods, Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks, and Sport Compacts would be joined by the Pro Late Models. The brainchild of Late Model driver Brandon Davis, this would be the first of several stops for the eastern Iowa based traveling series at the Vinton quarter mile. After heavy rains wiped out much of the racing in the state earlier in the weekend, we were greeted with sunshine and cool temps as we arrived at the fairgrounds, and the line of racers on pit road indicated that we were not the only ones hungry for racing! 

   When the final tally came in, one hundred and nine race teams filled both the regular as well as the overflow pit area! As a result of the line and the late comers, hot laps were pushed back by about fifteen minutes. But track personnel were more than up to the task, and with only one sessions of quick warmups for each class - yes, twenty two late models can all hot lap at once on a quarter mile, thank you very much! - we were racing by 5:15. Only those same late models had more than two qualifying heats, with anywhere from seven to ten cars in a heat making for very entertaining preliminaries including plenty of passing. And with the one spin rule in effect, the yellow flag would wave only four times and at exactly the one hour mark feature lineups were set. 

   The track crew then took about twenty minutes to manicure the facility ahead of the six feature races.

   Sport Compacts would be up first for a dozen laps. After some shuffling of cars and a first lap caution, seventeen would line up for the complete restart. Jake Anderson would have the pole and he would shoot to the lead taking along third starting Lukas Rick. That duo quickly pulled away from the pack with Rick finally nosing to the lead on lap five. For the most part the leaders lined up in the low groove, completing the event with no more cautions. Rick grabbed the first feature checkers of 2024 followed by Anderson and Cristian Grady. Close racing behind the podium finishers saw Spencer Roggentien come from row five to fourth and Stephan Randall finish where he started in fifth. 

   Sport Mods had the smallest turnout with fourteen cars and they all lined up for fifteen laps. Shane Paris would draw the pole position and he would not be seriously challenged throughout the event. Following a lap two caution, cousins Tony and Kyle Olson would race side by side for the runner up spot before a final yellow eleven laps in. Again Paris would drive away while Tony would finally claim the second spot ahead of Kyle. Brady Hilmer was steady in fourth and the aptly named Rayce Mullen would round out the top five. 

   The Late Model lineup would be missing just one car, that of driver/promoter/defending series champion Corey Dripps, who suddenly rolled to a stop coming to the white flag in his heat race while running in a redraw position. Twenty five laps would be the hard fought distance in this one. Veteran Hall of Famer Jeff Aikey and Nick Marolf would take the green flag from row one with Aikey leading third starting Dylan Thornton as lap one was scored. Things were getting interesting as the leaders approached slower traffic on lap eight before the yellow flew for T J Fortmann. Andy Eckrich had lined up eighth, but used the Delaware style restart to climb to fourth. Now Aikey, Thornton and J D Auringer, debuting his sharp looking #00J began to put distance on the field. For several circuits, Aikey and Thornton ran side by side for the lead. The caution came at lap sixteen when Bobby Hansen went up in smoke and again one lap later for a spinning car, then once more on the restart for debris from the #20 of Zach Less. Back under green, Thornton muscled his way to the lead in turns three and four on lap twenty one. This was followed by one more quick yellow, and on this final restart both Auringer and Eckrich cleared Aikey. As Thornton, a Modified and Stock Car ace who is new to the Late Model ranks, pulled away for his second win of the weekend, Auringer held second while Aikey recovered to finish in third. Eckrich and Marolf also scored top fives. Coming all the way from Denison in the western part of the state, Shane DeMay ran sixth ahead of twelfth starting Matt Ryan, Dalton Simonsen, and Logan Duffy. Chad Holladay recovered from an earlier excursion off the track to round out the top ten. 

   This edge of your seat barn burner was followed by another attention grabber as the Stock Cars came to the track, eighteen strong for twenty laps. Gage Neal and Dustin Griffiths paced lap one, with Rowdee Van Genderen moving to second one lap later, while Griffiths retook second on lap three. Now it was the front pair riding in the low line while advancing Kaden Reynolds and John Oliver Jr. worked the middle and high grooves looking for a way to the front. With the top four fighting hard, Griffiths slipped into the lead on lap twelve. Oliver Jr., Reynolds, and Neal were battling three wide for second when the only caution came just five laps from the finish. Back to racing it was Oliver Jr. using the high line to charge to second. Suddenly on lap seventeen Griffiths dove to the infield, his run over. With Oliver Jr. and Reynolds joined by Kyle Olson in a side by side tussle, Oliver took the white flag in first. But coming through the final set of turns, Reynolds found just enough speed to win the drag race to the checkers, picking up a thrilling win. Oliver Jr. and Olson filled out the podium, while Jay Schmidt and Neal also scored top fives.

   Sixteen Modifieds would go at it for twenty trips around. Troy Cordes led Mike Van Genderen through the opening circuit, with Dallon Murty quickly moving up to challenge Cordes. On lap five Murty drove around the leader on the high side, followed by a quick yellow. Tim Ward then moved to second on the Delaware restart before the next stoppage at the halfway mark. As Murty, Ward, and Cordes pulled well ahead, there was a gaggle of about six cars battling hard behind them. One more caution came with five to go, and in the closing laps Ward was all over the Modified rookie, Murty. But Dallon was up to the challenge, driving home for the win. Ward ran second, with Cordes in third. Another Mod rookie, Ben Chapman missed his heat race, started at the tail of the field and charged all the way back to fourth in front of Patrick Flannigan.  

   Hobby Stocks would offer up the fifteen lap finale. After Joren Fisher led lap one, sixth starting Bradly Graham would open a sizable lead ahead of a five car scramble for second. When the yellow flew with five in the books, the hottest driver in the state, Nathan Ballard, was up to fourth. Two more laps were scored before Ballard was locked in a side by side duel with for second with Justin Wacha.  Although Graham had again opened a nice lead, Ballard soon took over the runner up spot and began to quickly close on the leader. Coming to the white flag, Graham was running the middle line rolling into turn three when he was caught momentarily behind a slower car. That was all Ballard needed, as he powered to the front, then raced home for another checkered flag. Graham recovered for second, besting Wacha, Fisher, and Corey VanDerwilt.

   That would put the wraps on a great night of racing that concluded before 8:30, how cool is it to leave the track before dark! Thanks to Corey, Rick, and crew at "The Bullring" for their hospitality, and to Ryan Clark for the kind words towards PositivelyRacing. Hopefully we can make it back to Vinton soon. In the meantime, we will continue to watch the cranky spring weather as we make plans to go Racin' Down the Road!

  

A Full Night of Action at Indee

   After inclement weather wiped out our racing plans for last weekend, we decided to take advantage of  a delightful Saturday with a trip to Independence, Iowa Motor Speedway. The Mike Van Genderen and Dana Benning promoted fairgrounds facility opened their season with a seven class program highlighted by a visit by the Pro Late Models. There would also be points racing in five IMCA classes, Modifieds, Sport Mods, Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks, and Sport Compacts. In addition, the always entertaining American Iron Racing Series would make a special appearance. The addition of fresh clay to what was a bit of a sandy surface would make racing something of a new experience for even long time competitors on the three eighths mile oval. With all this in mind, the track held an open practice on Friday. This all came after the first night of the scheduled five night Frostbuster traveling mini series was canceled on Wednesday, April 3 due to wet conditions.

   One hundred and nineteen race teams checked in with twenty two Stock Cars and twenty two Sport Compacts leading the way, meaning no B Mains were necessary. Surprisingly and disappointing I imagine to fans, promoters and the series director, only eight Pro Late Models came to the special non points season opener. 

   Seventeen heat races clicked off in about one hour and five minutes thanks to minimal yellow flags and a rapid fire process from one heat to the next. Track personnel then took around twenty minutes to manicure the surface ahead of the seven main events. 

   So we were feature racing before 8:30. From there, however the pace slowed considerably. In an attempt perhaps to encourage drivers to use the top half of the track and widen the racing groove, a dose of water followed the first five features, requiring the cars to turn multiple laps to run in the moisture. Because of or in spite of, the track took on "character" as the night went on. Still the racing was competitive with side by side action and drivers advancing through the field. 

   Sport Compacts would be up first, twenty one cars came to the track for fourteen laps, although Clayton Loeb would park in the infield ahead of the green flag. After a false start, Jake Anderson would lead the pack as lap one was scored. Korey Lana used a slower car to his advantage, grabbing the point at the halfway mark. Two laps later, Mason City visitor Devin Jones would grab the top spot, then begin to pull away as Tyler Mannion came up to battle Lana for second. As the white flag waved, it was replaced by the caution for debris setting up a green, white, checkers finish. Jones again drove off to pick up the win, while Anderson rebounded to second when Lana had a mechanical issue. Ryan Bryant advanced eight positions to third, followed by Tyler and Christopher Mannion.  

   All but one of the seventeen A.I.R.S. competitors lined up for sixteen laps. Tracy Quigley paced the opening circuit, giving way to hard charging Matthew Hirst and Travis Heier. Heier was able to move to the front as a pair of cautions came at lap nine. As those three battled, Doug Yates began to make his presence felt, and he nosed by Heier at the checkers in what was either a Ford Torino or Mercury Cyclone. Heier was runner up in his Maverick followed by Quigley, Bruce Yoerger and Brian Gade. 

   The Sport Mod count was also surprisingly low at an even dozen, and they ran a caution free eighteen laps. Pole sitter Brandon Tharp would lead this one flag to flag, and was a happy camper in victory lane. Tony Olson, who should probably pay me to stay away, as he always seems to have issues when I am in attendance, suddenly dove to the infield after climbing to second about lap five. Seventh starting Cole Suckow managed to clear traffic and was closing on the leader before running out of laps. Kyle Olson, Curt Smeins, and Brady Hilmer completed the first five. 

   All twenty two Stock Cars contested a lively battle marked by a false start and three yellow flags, Veteran Vern Jackson shot from the outside pole to lead early, before his row one mate Chris Luloff took over about lap five. Meanwhile, visitor John Oliver Jr. was working his way forward, moving to third after starting in row three. As those three waged a fierce battle, Jarod Weepie and Tom Schmitt closed the gap to make a five car scrum. The caution came as Jackson retook the lead about lap fourteen. On the restart, Oliver Jr. had a tire come apart ending his run and Luloff also had issues as well. Back under green, Schmitt moved to the lead and held on through a caution for debris to take the win after starting in ninth. Jackson followed ahead of Weepie, tenth starting Leah Wroten and eleventh starting Ty Hill. Young hot shoe Kaden Reynolds had problems in his heat race, lined up in row eleven and charged forward as high as third before falling to fifth on the final restart, then slowing in a cloud of smoke in the final corner, dropping to tenth in the final rundown.

   Modifieds would be next, all nineteen on hand for twenty laps. Troy Cordes drew the pole start and shot to a commanding lead. He held on through yellow flags around laps four and six before a multi car pile up culled the herd on lap seven. Clearly the class of the field on this night, Cordes again put his #71C well out front before a final caution set up a green, white checkers finish. Troy would cruise to the win in front of Jeff Aikey, Patrick Flannagan, Brennen Chipp, Jerry King, and Josh Fisher, the only cars still running at the checkers. 

   With the racing surface now particularly challenging, it was decided to forego more water, and "tickle" the surface instead ahead of the sixteen lapper for all but one of the nineteen Hobby Stocks. With the improved surface, only one yellow flag on lap two would slow the action. Quinton Miller would hold serve until Joren Fisher took over on lap seven. Fisher opened a sizable lead in front of an entertaining battle for second between Adam Streeter and Bradly Graham. Graham would see his run come to an end with four laps remaining. But this race belonged to sixth starting Fisher. Streeter held on for runner up honors, besting Miller, Brad Graham, and Tyler Ball. 

  Twenty laps for the Pro Late Models would close out the program. Dalton Simonsen checked in with a sharp looking #60, but he had smoke rolling from under the hood in hot laps, ending his night. Bobby Hansen and local legend Curt Martin drew the front row with Martin powering to the lead. At the mid point, it was Martin, Hansen, Logan Duffy, and heat winner Sean Johnson leading the way. One lap later, the only caution came as a slowing Lance Mish came to a halt over the top of turn one. The first attempt at the Delaware style restart was called back when Duffy charged around Martin too early, but on the next try he still was able to use the outside line to take over the lead. Logan then put distance between his #14 and the field, driving to the win. Rookie Late Model driver Tyler Sommerlot ducked to the infield with two laps to go, leaving a five car finish of Duffy, Martin, Hansen, Johnson, and Brandon Davis. 

   Even with the delays, the final checkers came around 10:30. All in all, a pleasant night with close racing on what looks to be an extremely fast surface. And for sure, Indee is a fine facility with plenty of seating and great sight lines. Unfortunately, at least on this night, the scoreboard was not working, and the P. A. system could use some work, things that I am sure will be addressed as the season gets going. Indee features regular Saturday night racing from here on out, and for those looking for an extra fix, this will be season two for their unique series of Monday Madness races. Thanks to MVG, Dana, and the helpful ladies at the pit shack for an enjoyable Saturday night of racing three hours from home!

   Weather permitting, the upcoming week is chock full of outstanding events at some of our favorite Iowa venues like Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, 34 Raceway in West Burlington, and Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. Decisions, decisions!