Friday night found us navigating the back roads of Henry and Louisa Counties as we wound our way around the closed Highway 92 to C.J. Speedway in Columbus Junction, Iowa. It was opening night in 1970 when I made my first visit to the Louisa County Fairgrounds during the heyday of the Mississippi Valley Speed Club racing every other Saturday on the big half mile. Although there have been changes over the seasons, including the track shortened to something close to a four tenths mile, the grandstands and the atmosphere within have remained constant over our many trips there. One of the recent changes involves the first year in charge of rookie promoter Dan Keltner. The former racer heads up four IMCA sanctioned divisions racing on Friday nights with those classes also involved in a dual points championship with Lee County Speedway.
The extra excitement on this night was the yearly visit by the Malvern Bank Super Late Model Racing series (SLMR) as part of the 3rd annual Tony Stewart Tribute. Chad Holladay was the 2022 winner while Derrick Stewart took a popular win one year ago. $3,000 would await the 2024 victor.
Twenty seven Late Models checked in to do battle in front of a large turnout of enthusiastic fans. The car count in the regular divisions was down fifteen or so, likely in part to the special fair races in Eldon, Iowa, an area where several of the weekly CJ competitors call home.
Hot laps kicked off right at the advertised 7:00 PM, and we quickly moved to Late Model time trials. Transponder issues slowed the process, with several drivers needing to come back out when their cars did not trip the timer. With qualifying for groups A and B complete, Chad Holladay sat first overall with a lap of 19.224 seconds. The track was in "hammer down" condition for heat race action, and all four SLMR eight lappers were won from the front row despite the six car invert. Chad Simpson in a Jay Johnson #93, Justin Kay, Darrel Defrance, and Curt Schroeder picked up wins. Charlie McKenna appeared to blow the engine in his #22 in heat race two, but he would later take a provisional start in the feature behind the wheel of the Ron Boyse #74. Luke Goedert was running in a qualifying position in heat four when he slowed and ducked to the infield. Fortunately he was able to make the show with a third place run in the B main, which was won by outside row one starter Jason Hahne. Local driver Johnathan Huston was racing in a transfer spot in that B main before mechanical issues took him down.
With heat races complete, the ten minute intermission ahead of the Late Model B main stretched to about twenty five minutes with some special activities, but no extra track prep. After the Stock Car main event we would have another unofficial intermission, more on that later.
All but one of the thirteen Stock Cars lined up for sixteen laps. Fourth starting Kirk Kinsley shot to the early lead, while eighth starting Corey Strothman charged through the field to the runner up spot in what quickly became a two car breakaway. Strothman had a nose out front as lap four was scored then ran side by side with Kinsley on lap five. Meanwhile John Oliver Jr. had lined up in tenth, drove to fourth on lap four, then took third one lap later. Strothman opened a sizable lead, but the only caution period of the race came at the half way mark. Oliver Jr. capitalized on the Delaware Style restart to move to second, and by lap eleven was side by side with Strothman for the lead. From there the third generation racer eased ahead, holding on for the win. Strothman settled for second followed by Kinsley, Chad Krogmeier, and Norman Bean.
Following his post race interview we were waiting for Oliver to exit his Stock Car and climb in the #55 Sport Mod when suddenly the bank of lights on the backstretch went dark. Of course with the newer style lights, it is not simply a matter of flipping a breaker. A cool down period is required, which takes several minutes after whatever the issue that is first corrected. I will confess that I did not time the delay, but it for sure qualified as a second intermission.
When racing resumed, all nine Sport Mods prepared for sixteen laps. Pole sitter Randy Farrell paced the opening circuit, with fourth starting Tyler Heckart hot on his tail. Tyler moved to the front one lap later and soon had a nice lead. At the same time, Oliver Jr. was battling with Nick Aupperle for second, with John securing the position on lap five. Using a diamond high to low move in turns one and two then hugging the inside line in turns three and four, Oliver quickly closed in on the leader. Oliver actually crossed the line out front on lap eight, but a yellow flag negated the pass, putting Heckart back on top for the restart. With Oliver showing his nose, Heckart moved down the track in three and four to hold the top spot, but he got up in the marbles in turn two on lap eleven, and Oliver was able to drive by for the lead. Oliver was cruising out front when the white flag waved, but a spinning car brought out a final yellow leaving us with a green, white, checkers finish. There was no change in the running order over those two laps, with Oliver taking a second win. Heckart came home next chased by Aupperle, Levi Gaunt, and Todd Hansen. If I heard Oliver correctly in his post race interview, he said this was the first time he had won in both classes on the same night.
Now it was Late Model time, twenty three cars going at it for twenty five trips around. The combination points from time trials and heat races saw Nick Marolf and Dave Eckrich sitting in row one. Eckrich shot to the lead, with Holladay coming from row two to second. With three laps down, contact on the front stretch sent Marolf sideways in front of the field, and he was able to wrestle his #33 to the apron, narrowly averting disaster. Although no one actually stopped, understandably the yellow flag waved, and Marolf was allowed to restart in fourth. He then fell back on the restart, likely with damage to his car, while fifth and sixth running Bill Leighton and Justin Kay moved to third and fourth. On lap eight, Kay saw his run come to an end with mechanical woes. The top three of Eckrich, Holladay, and Leighton had checked out by lap nine, but a yellow for Derrick Stewart brought another caution and ended his night. Leighton powered to second on the restart, then just ahead of the crossed flags signaling the halfway mark, he drove around Eckrich on the top side of turn four to take the lead. Two more times the caution would come, but each time Leighton would pull away. Tenth starting Andy Eckrich was now the man on the move, taking fourth on the lap fourteen restart, then third two laps later, taking along Chad Simpson and Dylan Thornton in the top five. On the final restart with four laps to go, Andy would clear older brother Dave for second while Holladay appeared to have issues, falling back through the pack. At the checkers, it was Leighton, making the long tow from Lavista, Nebraska, in victory lane. Andy and Dave would follow, with Thornton and Jeff Tharp grabbing top fives. Chad Simpson paced the next group ahead of Marolf, J.C. Wyman, Hahne, and Tim Simpson.
Two more features were on the card, but the clock now showed 11:00, so we regretfully headed for the exit. Checking results shows the hottest driver in the state, Nathan Ballard came from ninth to top the Hobby Stocks, while Kyle Madden claimed the Modified finale.
Thanks to Dan Keltner and his crew for their hospitality and overcoming the brown out to give us an exciting night of racing!
Tonight we will be staying close to home with a visit to Lee County Speedway in Donnellson for six divisions of racing. The weather is great, so wherever you are, get off the couch, turn off the streaming, and take in a race - in person!
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