What better way to celebrate the beginning of summer than a visit to one of our favorite race tracks?! So after some back and forth around noon time Friday, Darryl and I decided to hit the road to Davenport Speedway for weekly racing. In his first year of promoting, long time Street Stock competitor Jeff Struck and his SR Promotions team has been turning out solid car counts in the IMCA Late Model and Modified divisions, making the two and a half hour drive worthwhile. Although it was another scorcher on Friday, there was a nice breeze blowing gently through the massive covered grandstands, and the beautiful full moon that was soon on display helped to light the road on the drive back home.
Hot laps kicked off just about ten minutes after the advertised 6:30, but with only about one half of the eighty three drivers in attendance taking warm up laps, the first heat was rolling right at 7:00. By my count it took sixty one minutes for the thirteen qualifiers to go in the books ahead of intermission. The track was perhaps not as racy for the heats as the track crew would like, so a rather extensive and lengthy - thirty minute or so - farming session took place that proved well worth the effort.
IMCA Sport Mods would navigate the reworked quarter mile, with all but one of the sixteen lining up for fifteen laps. Justin Schroeder would hold the lead as lap one was scored followed by a yellow flag. Back under green, Josh Starr would swap the lead with Schroeder, racing side by side ahead of another caution period with four in the books ending the night for Logan Veloz. Racing once again, it was fifteenth starting Justin Veloz marching all the way to the lead. He then began to open a sizable advantage while Starr took control of second. A final caution came with nine laps down. Back to action, Veloz was rim riding around the oval when he slipped off the top of turn four, losing several positions just four laps from the checkers. Starr was there to grab the lead and the happy driver would collect his first Sport Mod win. Rayce Mullen came home second ahead of Ryan Walker, Veloz, and Perry Gellerstedt.
Nostalgia Late Models were on the card this night, with ten signing in. Eight were still running for the twelve lap feature. It took Ray Guss Jr. six laps to come from row four to the front in the non stop event. Stan O'Brien would race home in second.
All thirteen Outlaw Street Stocks were up next for fifteen laps. Cary Brown would jump from row two to the early lead ahead of Andrew Chelf. It took only four circuits for Tony Von Dresky to power the #4S from row five to the front, and he quickly drove away from the field while Donnie Louck moved to second. A lone caution came with six laps scored, but back to racing again Von Dresky drove off into the night. Equally so, Louck was all alone in the runner up position. When the checkers waved, the front duo were chased by Landen Chrestensen, Brown, and Zach Zuberbier.
Like so many tracks along the mighty Mississippi, the Sport Compact class seems to struggle here to turn out cars. Only seven signed in on Friday, although all made the feature call for a dozen laps. Shawn McDermott shot from the pole position to a commanding lead, while Cyle Hawkins moved quickly to second. Soon the seven were strung out around the speedway, and all twelve laps clicked off caution free. Following McDermott and Hawkins across the line it was Dustin Munn, Drew Wise, and thirteen year old rookie Harrison Horn.
Eighteen IMCA Modifieds braved the heat to race on Friday, with only veteran Bob Dominacki missing from the twenty lap feature call after appearing to lose an engine in his heat race. Brandon Durbin led lap one before pole sitter Steve Gustaf took command ahead of a lap two caution. When action restarted, Durbin moved back to the lead while Gustaf, Matt Stein, and Charlie Mohr battled three wide for second. As Durbin opened a bit of a cushion now six cars were in a tight scrum close behind. With seven laps scored, Mohr would clear that gaggle of cars to take the runner up spot, then move past Durbin for the lead one lap later. Now it was Chris Zogg on the move, as he claimed second on lap nine. Mohr and Zogg were locked in a tight battle when the yellow flag stopped the action with nine laps remaining. Zogg grabbed the top spot as racing resumed, holding on as a final caution came two laps later. Following this final restart, Durbin briefly retook the runner up spot, but Mohr quickly moved back around the #15D. As that battle played out Zogg opened a nearly full straightaway lead, cruising home to the win. Mohr was strong in second, while Stein barely nipped Durbin at the stripe for third. Mitch Way ran a steady race to round out the first five.
IMCA Late Models would cap off the evening, and sporting the largest car count on the night, all nineteen came to the track for twenty five laps. Joe Ross and Travis Denning filled out the front row with Ross pacing the opening circuit. Denning then took over one lap later. As Travis began to stretch his lead, again there was a tight pack of six cars racing back and forth behind the front runner. With five in the books, Evan Miller had climbed from row four to clear the pack in second. Two laps later Andy Nezworski showed some muscle, grabbing third after starting in tenth. The top three then began a chase, Denning running the treacherous cushion, Miller about one lane lower and Nezworski operating low around the tire barrier. By lap nine Matt Ryan was on the move, after lining up in row six he entered the top five. Things began to get interesting around the mid point of the non stop finale as Denning caught the tail of the field. Meanwhile, Ryan continued to pick off cars, clearing Mike Goben for fourth, then easing past Nezworski at lap fifteen. By now Miller had reeled in the leader in what was shaping up to be a tight battle. Each lap Miller would move close to Denning exiting turn four, but lose ground in one and two, where Denning had a decided advantage. As those two kept each other occupied, Ryan closed the gap, making for a three car chase. But with no stops Denning made zero mistakes, driving home for a hard fought win. Miller crossed in the runner up spot chased by Ryan, Nezworski, and Goben. Joe Beal led the second five in front of Kasey Williams, C.J.Horn, rookie third generation racer Cruz Birkhofer, and ageless wonder Gary Webb.
The final checkers came just before 10:00, putting a wrap on a solid show. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a sparse gathering on hand to witness it, as the intense heat no doubt scared off many. But as stated earlier, it was actually a rather pleasant evening with the breeze wafting through and the ice cream truck on the grounds offering up tasty frozen treats!
Hopefully Mother Nature will cooperate today as we make plans for a visit to Lee County Speedway where the Late Models will contest another $1,000 to win Drive for Five qualifier. Wherever you are, turn off the T.V., and head to a track near you!
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