Chad Simpson Is MLRA Champion, Marrant Wins ROY

   Tri City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Il. was the site of championship night for the Lucas Oil MLRA Super Late Model series on Friday. Originally scheduled as a two night event, the Saturday finale was canceled by the promoters due to family issues. It has been a tough season for the Gundaker family run facility as they elected to switch from weekly racing to specials only in 2024 only to see many of their events fall victim to wet conditions. And now family illness will force their season to conclude one day early.  Ironically this second week in October would offer an unseasonably warm and dry day followed by a cool evening, great for late season racing. In addition, the points race has tightened considerably during the last few events, creating an exciting atmosphere in both the grandstands and the pits. The concluding race would pay $7,000 to win, with UMP Modifieds filling out the card with a $1,000 winners' share up for grabs. 

   With a modest field of twenty Super Late Models and twenty five Modifieds, we hoped for a quick show, but unfortunately that would not be the case. Heavy rains, remnants of Hurricane Helene created a soggy infield and a track with as they say "character," but other than perhaps a couple extra flat tires, that only made things a bit more interesting. The real culprit, apparently also blamed on the storms, was a malfunctioning timing loop, which caused qualifying to stretch well beyond the one hour mark. Early on in Modified hot lap/qualifying several cars were checked for transponder issues. ( Note to all tracks  that do time trial group qualifying :if you need to pull a car in to check the transponder, please pull the next in line out for time during the process. NO ONE wants dead time watching track personnel crawl under a car to do the check.) After Late Model driver Chris Fetter turned roughly eight qualifying laps it was decided to finish off the Late Models one at a time. Time trials finally wrapped up about 8:19, then three heat races in each division clicked off in just under thirty minutes. The announcement came that the MLRA thirty lap feature would be up first, but with their heat races just complete, we then had a thirty minute plus intermission as the headline class readied their machines.

   All but one, Adam Tischauser, lined up for the main event. Heat winners Tony Jackson Jr., Chris Simpson, Chad Simpson and fast timer Kayden Clatt would fill out the top two rows. In search of a third straight and fifth overall series championship, Chad would start the night atop the points while brother Chris held a slim five point advantage over Tony for second. All three were still on the hunt for the $20,000 championship payday. Chris would grab the early lead with Tony, Kayden and Chad in pursuit. Following a lap three caution Chad would move to third. Three more yellow flags would slow the action, and after the final restart eleven laps in only a dozen cars remained on the track. The final nineteen circuits saw Jackson Jr. in hot pursuit of the leader, nearly completing the pass on a couple of occasions. But even as Chris would bounce off the turn two concrete in the later laps he was able to slightly increase his margin, taking a flag to flag win. Chad would, by his own words drive a "conservative" race, ensuring the series title. Rickey Frankel gained eight positions to come home fourth, while series Rookie of the Year Aaron Marrant came from tenth to complete the top five. Trevor Gundaker, Jeff Herzog and Steve Stultz rounded out the cars running at the checkers, with Lane Ehlert and Allen Middendorf credited with ninth and tenth. 

   With post race and season ending ceremonies complete, twenty three Modifieds would line up for twenty five laps. Unfortunately, the open wheelers seemed unable to negotiate the tricky surface, and after a half dozen or so yellow flags in the first half of the event we took our leave as the clock ticked past 10:30. Up to that point it had been Danny Ems holding off Kenny Wallace in a battle of #36s', but results show Wallace grabbing the win over Ems, fast qualifier Ryan Hamilton, Jacob Steinkoenig and Rick Stevenson. Ems, Wallace and Hamilton were heat race winners. 

   Several upcoming improvements to the facilities at Tri City were announced for the upcoming off season - they still have a B Modified Bash coming up in two weeks, and a return to weekly racing is also scheduled for 2025.

    Plans for yours truly for next weekend remain up in the air, but be sure and check back to see which direction I will be Racin' Down the Road in search of some dirt track action!

Becerra Times Two, Reitzler, Van Wyk, Griffiths, Delonjay Tops at Harvest Hustle

    Following a cancellation following overnight and early morning rains on Friday, the annual Harvest Hustle event at Lee County Speedway was reduced to a one night show on Saturday. There were no such issues on Saturday as unseasonably warm temperatures and a stiff breeze greeted us at our late afternoon arrival. 

   One hundred and four race teams signed in to do battle in six classes on the super fast three eighths mile D shaped oval. Fifteen heat races clicked off in a timely fashion, and only the hybrid Sport Mod/B Mod division required a B Main to whittle their thirty competitors down to twenty four for the feature.

   Following intermission and the awarding of Junior Fan Club prizes, a short field of seven Hobby Stocks lined up for fifteen laps. Dustin Griffiths lined up outside row two, grabbed the lead on the opening circuit, then led all fifteen caution free laps to continue his 2024 unbeaten streak at the speedway. Shane Richardson cleared James Pilkington for second on lap three, but could not run down Griffiths, who opened a half lap lead by the end. Having returned from a lengthy "retirement," Harley Hill ran fourth after an entertaining top five battle with Aaron Martin. 

   Fifteen laps was also the distance for the Limited Mod main event. Cody Agee and Logan Anderson brought the field to green, running in that order ahead of a lap three caution. Following the Delaware Style restart, Dylan VanWyk charged from fourth to the runner up position with another yellow flag waving one lap later. Back to racing, the leaders ran three wide as Van Wyk grabbed the lead. Agee would go over the treacherous turn four cushion allowing both Anderson and Mexico, Missouri racer Parker Smith to drive by. With the race staying green the rest of the way, VanWyk opened a commanding lead. He would catch the back of the pack with just two laps remaining, but he worked the traffic smoothly to collect the win. Anderson, Smith, Brandon Lennox and Agee would complete the first five. 

   Sixteen Stock Cars would go at it for twenty laps. Derrick Agee outgunned Todd Reitzler as the green flag flew, but a yellow flag would set up an original restart. This time it was Reitzler gaining the advantage from the outside pole. Racing around the top of the track, Reitzler opened a lead before he also went over the cushion in turn four allowing Agee to erase his advantage. As the race hit the half way mark, Johnny Spaw began to close on the top two. Two more times the caution flag would be displayed with six then four laps remaining. On the final restart Reitzler appeared to pick up the pace, and he drove on to a flag to flag victory. Agee and Spaw were trailed by a back and forth battle between Abe Huls and Jason See to round out the first five positions. 

   The rules were also relaxed in the 4 cylinder Compact division, and eighteen cars checked in. Outside row one starter Jaden Delonjay and fourth starting Travis Demint would pace the opening circuit before the red flag would fly for an accident on the front stretch. Harrison Horn clipped the guardrail, then did a complete rollover in his #58 machine. He was uninjured, and soon it was back to racing. Delonjay would open up a lead as the next five cars battled side by side and nose to tail behind him. A final stoppage came at lap five as Joey Laws and Kimberly Abbott got together, eliminating both cars from the action. Brandon Reu would join the leaders in third as racing resumed, now chasing Jeffery Delonjay in second. While Jaden again extended his lead Jeffery would dart to the infield on lap ten of the fifteen lapper. Jaden would drive off for the win ahead of a close battle for second between Reu and Demint. Cincinnati, Ohio visitors Jack and Joe Pflum would bookend fifth place Barry Taft at the checkers.  

   A solid field of eighteen Late Models lined up to contest twenty five laps. Dustin Smith in the Leroy Brenner #53 and Freeport, Il. driver Mike Fryer paced the field. Smith would lead lap one ahead of track regular Darin Weisinger Jr., but fifth starting Quad City ace Evan Miller would pick up the chase on lap two. Miller would move to the front out of turn four as lap five was scored, and one lap later Austen Becerra would drive to third while Jackson Frankel powered his new ride to fourth. Those three soon gained separation from the pack, and on lap eleven Becerra cleared Smith for second. Miller was working the inside line as Becerra pounded the cushion. The first yellow came at the mid point as Weisinger Jr. saw his #11 go up in smoke. Back under green the top three again pulled ahead and Becerra began to hound Miller lap after lap. With just five laps left Becerra worked a partially successful slide job exiting turn two with Miller making contact with the left rear of his car. Both maintained control as the yellow waved a final time one lap later. With a final wave of the green by starter Kevin Eggleston Becerra drove away for the win. Miller would take the runner up spot in front of Frankel. Sport Mod hot shoe Logan Anderson made I believe his first Late Model start wheeling the Travis Denning #56D and turned in an impressive run coming from row six to fourth at the checkers. Denny Woodworth gained four positions to complete the top five. C. J. Horn advanced seven spots to sixth besting Tommy Elston, Jeffery Delonjay, Gary Webb, and first time visitor Fryer. 

   Modifieds would round out the action, fifteen strong for twenty laps. Becerra redrew the outside pole position, and as the saying goes, "that was all she wrote." He would open a sizable lead over pole sitter Dakota Simmons and former track promoter Mike Van Genderen ahead of a caution period with three in the books. As the green flag again waved, Becerra pulled away and seventh starting Kurt Kile charged to second. By the halfway nark, Austen had caught slower traffic, but he was now working with a full straightaway advantage. He would extend that lead to a full half lap before the yellow would wave a final time as Van Genderen tagged the turn one guardrail flattening a tire during a close battle with Robbie Reed for third. This yellow would replace the white flag to set up a green, white, checkers finish. It was no issue for Becerra, who collected win number two for the night. Reed cleared Kile for second in the closing laps, Simmons outran Jesse Belez for fourth. 

   The final checkers on the crisp, well run show waved just past 10:00 P.M. Thanks as always to Neal, Patrick and the LCS crew for their hospitality. We now await one final show at the track for 2024, the highly anticipated Shiverfest event on Saturday, October 26. The now legendary program, drawing cars from several states features trick or treating and hay rack rides for the youngsters and exciting racing for all, so don't miss out! In the meantime, there is still plenty of racing throughout the mid west, so check back to see where we show up next!

One Hundred and Seventy Nine Race Teams Highlight Fall Bash Night One

    Thursday we traveled north for night number one of the Darkside Promotions annual Fall Bash at the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa. Five divisions would be in action for the opening night, including four IMCA classes,  Late Models, Stock Cars, Modifieds and Sport Mods as well as open 4 Stocks, with both Late Models and Modifieds racing for a $1,000 top prize. Additionally the Late Models would compete for twenty eight laps in their feature in memory of long time car owner and driver Brad Coin. This would be the only night for Late Models, while the other divisions would race two more times, accumulating points towards the awarding of a championship belt. Additionally a Modified points fund upwards of $12,000 would be awarded. 

   There would be no hot laps on this night, with heat race action kicking off moments after the 6:30 advertised start time. It would take twenty three heat races and seven B Mains to set feature fields for the huge one hundred and seventy nine cars checked in. An outstanding group of fifty Modifieds needed six heats and three B mains to trim their field to twenty four!

   Following the qualifying events, the first feature hit the track with no sign of an intermission, likely to the delight of the large crowd, as the eighty plus degree daytime temps had descended quickly into fall sweatshirt conditions.

   With no B Main required, Late Models would be up first as all twenty cars lined up to decide who would claim the championship belt. The luck of the redraw left long time fans with a bit of deja vu, as the front row found a pair of Iowa legends, National Dirt Late Model Hall Of Famers, on the front row. Gary Webb would pull the number one pill, while semi retired Ray Guss Jr. would line up to his outside. Ray was behind the wheel of the Joe Beal #77 for the night. Guss would jump to the early lead but the pack would have a hard time stringing laps together in the opening laps. After very minimal caution periods in all preliminaries, the yellow flag would fly four times in the first four circuits. With the jitters finally over, fourth starting Jeremiah Hurst put the Joel Callahan #40 out front. As Guss settled into the runner up spot, Matt Ryan and Mitch Morris battled for the third position. The laps now clicked off to the halfway mark as Guss, Ryan and Morris duked it out, and by the time Ryan took control of second sixteen laps in, Hurst had opened a nearly straightaway advantage. But a fifth and final yellow flag would bring Jeremiah back to the pack, and as racing resumed the top two dueled nose to tail and side by side, while Morris, Guss and third heat winner but twelfth starting Nick Marolf contested third behind them. Hurst maintained a slim lead as starter Doug Haack displayed the white flag, but down the backstretch for the final time, a slower car meant the leaders had to pick their line. Turn four saw contact between Ryan and Hurst, with Matt leading a scant few feet to take the checkers first. Jeremiah voiced his displeasure with the contact in victory lane, but it was the #07 claiming the belt between the two heat race winners. Guss topped the battle for third over Marolf and Morris. Steve Johnson led the second five, besting Fred Remley, Webb, Bobby Hansen, and T.J. Fortmann. 

   As the crowd buzzed over the dramatic finish, 4 Stocks lined up for a dozen laps. Alex Hayes charged ahead from the pole taking along fourth starting Cyle Hawkins. A side by side battle saw Hawkins use the inside groove on the constantly shifting fast line to move to the lead with four laps scored. Hayes would fight back to lead lap five, but it would be Hawkins out front at the crossed flags. Slower traffic came into play just ahead of a lone caution eight laps in. As the field restarted, Hayes dropped out, possibly with a tire issue. Hawkins would hold on for the win ahead of Dustin Forbes, eighth starting Shawn McDermott, Mitch Bielenberg and home town racer Josh Starr.

   Jeff "Bone" Larson and Jeff Mueller would bring the twenty four Stock Cars to green, racing for twenty laps. They would take off in that order with Gage Neal in third. Again yellow flags would interrupt the action, five times in total. While the inside line seemed the fastest way around, several times Larson would drift high in turns three and four, opening the door for Mueller, who could not quite complete the pass. As Larson finally settled on the bottom, one driver was making the higher line work. Dallon Murty had started in the eleventh position, and found the higher grooves his only opportunity to move forward. With four laps remaining he had climbed to fourth and had a run going that may have taken him to second, but a yellow flag left him restarting on the inside of the Delaware Style line up. Two more cautions marred the closing laps, but Larson held on for a flag to flag win in the Lee Kinsella #21. Mueller came home second while Murty nipped Neal for third. Winton, California driver Paul Stone wheeled his #66 to a fifth place finish. 

   Thirty one Hobby Stocks checked in and twenty four lined up for fifteen feature laps. Following an original restart, outside pole sitter Jordon Miles powered to the lead ahead of third starting Bradly Graham. Miles found the top line around the high banked quarter mile to his liking while Graham worked down low. Restarting after a lap two yellow, Miles opened a nice lead before a caution with ten circuits in brought him back to the pack. Once more the caution came, but it was of no consequence as Miles took a flag to flag victory. Graham held the runner up slot all the way, as Corey VanDerwilt advanced seven spots to slip around Daniel Wauters in the closing laps for third. Randy LaMar started and finished fifth. 

   We were now facing our self imposed 10:30 curfew, so with thirty four races down in just four hours and two to go, we headed for the parking lot. Sport Mod action saw veteran Tony Olson redraw poorly, but move up ten spots to claim the twenty lap win over Jason Roth, Tyler Bannister, Jarrett Franzen and Justin Veloz. 

   The twenty five lap Modified finale went to Torrance, California hot shoe Cody Laney after starting in row three. The next three in line at the checkers all climbed seven positions, fellow Californian Dylan Thornton in second followed by Zack VanderBeek and Drew Janssen. Tom Berry Jr. would top that, starting fourteenth and coming home in fifth. 

   As mentioned, the Fall Bash will continue for the next two nights on the quick quarter mile. Thanks to Ryan, Timmy and the entire Darkside crew not only for their hospitality, but for presenting an ultra competitive and lightning fast program. 

   Plans for the next two nights should find yours truly closer to home at Lee County Speedway for the annual Harvest Hustle. Six classes of cars will compete in separate shows with plenty of cash and bragging rights on the line. The weather looks great, so I hope you will attend one of these great fall specials!

  

First Time Winners at Quincy Raceways Finale

    The season began as Adams County, Il. Speedway but on Sunday the final 2024 checkered flag waved over Quincy Raceways. In such an unprecedented and crazy year, it seemed only appropriate that first time winners would be in victory lane on this final night. UMP Dirtcar Modified champion Austen Becerra would tow his #22 Late Model to the track for the first time and drive away from the field for his first Quincy win in that division. Multiple time track champion Justin Reed drove the Begley #B4 to victory in the Modified class for the first time. Dyllan Bonk debuted a sharp looking #98, winning the most hotly contested race of the night in the Dirtcar 4 Cylinder class, and former track champ Terry Houston came out atop the first year Crown Vic division. The hybrid Sport Mod, Bmod, E Mod mash up on this night saw Tanner Klingele make it four wins in a row, while Jake Powers added to his victory total in the Street Stocks.

   Although things started well, it was a bit of a rocky night for the new promotions team, with intermission followed by the back stretch lights temporarily going out, a delay for a medical call in the grandstands, and more than the usual number of spins and crashes as drivers raced with full abandon on this closing night. 

   Responding to somewhat dwindling car counts of late in the Sport Mod class, on this night drivers competing at other venues as a B Mod or E Mod were welcomed to the speedway. Fifteen competitors checked in, and they would open feature racing with a scheduled fifteen lapper. Tanner Klingele redrew the pole position and as he paced the parade laps, the back stretch went dark. Fortunately track officials had brought in some extra portable lights, and with some redirection racing began, with the bank of lights eventually coming back to full strength. An early caution period was followed by a four car pile up on the front stretch. Back to racing, Klingele would open a commanding lead ahead of another yellow flag with twelve laps scored. As the field reset, the red light came on for the medical call to the stands. With the time limit now in play, the race ended with a two lap green, white, checkers. Klingele drove on to his fourth consecutive win to close out the season. Visiting B Mod second generation hot shoe Damian Kiefer ran second ahead of A.J. Tournear, fifteenth starting Michael Goodwin, and former track champion Eddie Dieker in a Dave Weitholder #05 machine. 

   Dave Weitholder and Justin Reed lined up in row one for a fifteen lap main event. The caution flag flew as the field attempted to complete lap one, and back under green, the two veteran drivers took off from the pack. Behind the leaders, Shawn Deering and Frankie Wellman battled side by side for third. A final stop came with eight laps in the books, and back to racing Reed and Weitholder again raced well ahead of the field. The checkers waved over Reed, followed by Weitholder, Wellman, Deering and Joey Gower. 

   It was now Late Model time, battling for twenty five circuits. With Vance Wilson already headed home, ten cars were left to take the green flag. Rookie Jackson Frankel shot to the front with Austen Becerra and Denny Woodworth in pursuit. On lap four Frankel misjudged the cushion in turn one, falling to third behind Becerra and Woodworth. The first caution came at lap seven for Matt Kay, and by the half way point of the race Becerra was checking out. At lap fifteen a second and final yellow flag came for Bill Berghaus, and back to racing heavy contact between Frankel and Woodworth ended the night for Jackson, while Denny continued on with sheet metal damage. Becerra cruised to the win ahead of Woodworth, Darin Weisinger Jr., Jason Oenning and Sam Halstead. Jeffery Delonjay, Mark Enk and Berghaus rounded out the cars still running at the checkers. 

 Again the Street Stock class was short on entries, but quickly an intense three car battled developed between Rudy Zaragoza, Jake Powers and Beau Taylor. As Powers and Zaragoza ripped around the .29 mile oval, Jake moved to the lead on lap six. Zaragoza then jumped the tricky turn one and two cushion, allowing Powers to pull well out front. A single caution five laps from the finish brought Powers back to the pack, but he had no problem driving to the fifteen lap win. Zaragoza came home second while Brandon Boden outgunned Taylor for third. Braydon Rich completed the top five. 

   Fifteen laps would be the distance for the 4 Cylinder main event. Following the original start being called back by a caution flag, Spencer Coats, Dyllan Bonk and Jaden Delonjay did a three car breakaway from the field. Coats and Bonk battled side by side while Delonjay lurked behind looking for an opening. With Bonk edging ahead by a nose, the lone yellow flag came with nine laps scored. Back to racing, Delonjay moved around Coats on lap eleven, but he could not overtake Bonk, who drove the #98 to victory lane to the delight of his considerable cheering section. Delonjay took runner up honors over Coats while Kimberly Abbott made a late race move to fourth. Landon Neisen completed the first five. 

   Houston grabbed the final checkered flag of 2024 with a win in the combined Crown Vic, Mini Hauler Truck division. While the Mini Haulers were a late addition to the lineup, only three signed in, so they were mixed in with the dozen Crown Vics. Glen Wiley chased Houston to the checkers trailed by Alex Hatfield, Jordon Zummalt and Brian Kaylor. Randy Ronner in ninth was the top finishing Mini Hauler. 

   While the on track action in Quincy for 2024 is complete, this will be an off season yielding lots of rumors mixed with hard news. Considerable updates are planned for the 50 year old facility, and indications are that 2025 will be celebrated for a half century of operation. And of course the big decision, not yet official will be the regular night of operation for racing. Along with our other travels, I will do my best to keep up with any announcements coming from new owners Jeff and Renee Delonjay and new promoter Chance Bailey, so stay tuned!

   A class reunion for good ol' Keokuk High and some family activities will keep me away from the track for possibly two weekends, but our season is far from over, so check back for updates along the way and thanks for reading!

Alberson Doubles Up at Corn State Nationals

    Saturday it was back to Davenport for night two of the Corn State Nationals. Once again MLRA Super Late Models would be the featured division, this time vying for a $10,000 top prize. IMCA Modifieds were looking for a $5,000 payday, and a late sponsor stepped up to swell the late added IMCA Sport Mods purse to a $1,000 winners share. Outlaw Street Stocks would once again try for a $500 payoff. 

   The total car count for the evening sat at ninety two, four higher than the opening night show. Thirty six Super Late Models topped the bill, with five new entrants off setting three drop outs. The early cancellation of the MARS Late Model program brought in a handful of hard chargers, including World of Outlaw points leader Brandon Sheppard. The IMCA Modified count sat at a healthy thirty one, while the Sport Mod numbers fell by eight to seventeen and the Outlaw Street Stocks continued their soft turnout with eight signed in. 

    I had seen a post earlier in the day that hot laps had been moved up by 45 minutes, however this did not seem to be the case as action kicked off at the original time of 6:30. Whether a bogus post or track officials were wary of the rain falling in all directions, I am unsure. But although we drove through a  worrisome shower on the way north, and rain eventually stopped racing just to the north in Maquoketa, only a few renegade drops dotted the pavement in Davenport. 

    Late Models again time trial qualified two at a time, and the early draw proved most fortunate, as the first car out, Tyler Bruening would set overall quick time at 13.449 seconds. Four heat races would then set the first eight rows of the Late Model feature. Only the third eight lapper bucked the trend of front row winners. Pole sitters Bruening and Garrett Alberson captured heats one and two, but it was Dennis Erb Jr. breaking through for the win in heat three. Sheppard then powered from outside row one to top the final qualifier. Once again a pair of B mains set the next three rows, with victories going to Tim Simpson and Curt Schroeder. On this night the provisional starters increased by two, giving us a twenty six car starting field. 

    IMCA Modifieds staged three eight lap heats to determine their feature line up, with wins going to double duty Chris Simpson, temporarily out of retirement Bruce Hanford and Ben Chapman.

    Things seemed to be moving along at a smoother pace than on Friday, but once again their was a lengthy delay ahead of the features for track prep. And when cars finally hit the track, it was the eight Street Stocks give the assignment of rolling in the surface after a  heavy dose of water had been added.

    By the time the green flag waved for the fifteen lap Street Stock feature, only six cars remained on the track. Cary Brown took the early lead ahead of Blake Woodruff and Jesse Owen as those three battled for position. As the race approached the mid point, Woodruff moved to the front and began to stretch his advantage. The caution flag would come with four laps remaining, and back to racing Owen drove to the high line in turn one as Woodruff moved up the track, and contact between the two sent Owen over the top of the cushion, bringing the yellow flag out once again. After clean up only two cars were left on the track for the final four circuits. Cary Brown would find himself with his second win in two nights while Tyler Roth crossed the line in second. 

   It was now Late Model time, and perhaps to further "run in" the racing surface, the field would circle the quarter mile oval many times before the green flag would finally start the action. Bruening would take off from the pole with Erb Jr., Sheppard, Alberson and series points leader Chad Simpson in hot pursuit. Tyler Erb would soon join the chase in fifth, and the lead pack caught slower traffic about lap nine. Bruening had opened a nice cushion when the only yellow of the race came a dozen laps in. Top contenders Simpson and Dillon McCowan sat in the infield as the green flag waved once again. Bruening continued to pace the field while Alberson and Sheppard battled behind him and Tyler Erb and Dustin Sorensen contested fourth before Dustin slipped off the top of the tricky turn three. By lap twenty two of the forty lapper, Alberson had closed the gap on the front runner, and one lap later he was scored the leader. Slower traffic again came into play around lap twenty five, as Sheppard cleared Bruening for second. Working the lapped traffic to perfection, Alberson pulled away temporarily, but by lap thirty three Sheppard had found speed on the high line of the track and moved in to make a challenge for the top spot. However Alberson was not giving up, and seven laps later he completed a Davenport sweep to go along with his runner up finish Thursday at Tipton. Sheppard would complete his strong run in second followed by Bruening in third, both making their only appearance of the three night swing. Tyler Erb and another "newcomer," McKay Wenger in the Quad City based Curless Racing #99 would round out the top five. Tony Jackson Jr. gained four positions to sixth ahead of Trevor Gundaker, Frank Heckenast Jr., Sorensen and Erb Jr. 

   Although we had not set a "hard" curfew, it was now approaching 10:30, and with all three of us facing early Sunday commitments, we decided to head for the car and catch the televised action on the drive home. 

   The Sport Mod main event clicked off in fine fashion, with Tony Olson bringing home the win from the pole position in front of Friday winner Logan Veloz, Rayce Mullen, Cole Stchter and California racer Tyler Bannister. Olson and Veloz would trade the top two spots from the Friday finish while Mullen collected his second top five.  

   Thirty one laps would be the distance for the IMCA Modified finale. Austen Becerra charged to the front from outside row one and led the majority of the race. Becerra was ripping around the top of the speedway and soon had Ben Chapman alongside racing the inside line. With a liberal dose of caution periods, fifth starting Trevor Fitz soon took up the chase, also working down low. Although Becerra attempted to switch his line, his #22 did not seem to like the low groove, and eventually Fitz found his way to the front. The Camarillo, California driver who has been a 2024 regular on the Iowa ovals would pick up the $5,000 check, besting Becerra, Chapman, Eric Barnes and twelfth starting Chris Zogg. 

   It was an entertaining end to our three day northern swing, and now the plan is to wrap up our long racing weekend close to home tonight at the "reborn" Quincy Raceways.

   Thanks to SR Promotions and their team as well as MLRA officials for a fun Saturday night, and a special thanks to Tina at the pit shack for her friendly assistance. Also thanks to Jeff for hauling two old guys up and down the road! 

  The clock is ticking on 2024, so get to a track near you soon!

Alberson Tops Night one of the Corn State Nationals

     On Friday we followed the MLRA Late Models as they began their two night "Corn State Nationals" on the quarter mile at the famed Davenport Speedway. This opening night event would match the $5,000 prize from the night before. Also on the Friday card were IMCA Late Models and IMCA Modifieds, both competing for a $1,000 to win plus Outlaw Street Stocks racing for a $500 top prize.

    The addition of several competitors swelled the Super Late Model count to thirty four, backed by nineteen IMCA Late Models, twenty five IMCA Sport Mods and nine Outlaw Street Stocks. The time trial format on this night saw two cars at a time trip the clock, and qualifying went smoothly with Las Cruses, New Mexico driver Garrett Alberson pacing the field with a lap of 13.780 seconds. Alberson, who wheels the Quad City based Roberts Motorsports #58 would later make a clean sweep of the evenings' events, but unlike Tyler Erb the night previous, his pathway there was not an easy one. 

   Four ten lap heat races would set the first eight rows of the feature line up for the MLRA stars, with Alberson, Dillon McCowan, surprise entrant Dennis Erb Jr. and Frank Heckenast Jr. all collecting wins from the pole position. A pair of B mains added to the field, with Chris Simpson rebounding from heat race woes and Arizona racer Steve Stultz both victorious from outside row one. Two series provisionals would round out the twenty four car field. 

   As we had seen previously, there seemed to be some glitches in the MLRA procedures, but with all preliminary action in the books, the track crew went to work prepping the surface for feature racing. A generous helping of H2O required quite a bit of track packing before the Sport Mods could line up for fifteen laps, and by now it was "check your watch time" with the ever present city curfew looming.    

   Fortunately the full field of twenty five were on their best behavior. Jason Roth would shoot to the early lead ahead of Todd Dykema, with fifth starting Logan Veloz taking up the chase on lap two. Along with Tony Olson, those four would soon separate from the pack, catching slower traffic on lap six. As Dykema slipped back a bit, Veloz grabbed the lead just past the halfway mark. A pair of yellow flags came with ten laps scored, and following the Delaware Style restart Olson climbed to second while twelfth starting Brayton Carter threw his hat in the ring in fourth. Veloz would then race to the checkers first, followed by Olson, Roth, Carter and Rayce Mullen. 

   With the time crunch in evidence, post race festivities were postponed until all racing was completed, and the two dozen high powered Late Models came to the track for thirty laps. The first attempt at a start was called off when young Kayden Clatt spun in turn one. As luck would have it, that would be the only caution period of the race. Alberson powered to the lead only to be overtaken by Erb Jr. on lap two. Off like a shot, Erb Jr. quickly opened a commanding lead, catching the tail of the field on lap eight. Flying around the top of the speedway, the leader worked the lapped cars to perfection, with the best battle going on between Heckenast Jr. and Dustin Sorensen for third. But as the lap counter clicked past twenty and to the surprise of the gathered onlookers, Alberson began to quickly reel in the front runner. With five circuits remaining, he was in a position to challenge for the top spot, and on lap twenty seven he executed a successful slide job to clear Erb Jr. for the lead. Garrett would then drive on to the win in front of Erb Jr., Heckenast Jr., series points leader Chad Simpson and Sorensen. Tyler Erb would gain five spots to finish sixth, topping McCowan, Hilsabeck, Tony Jackson Jr., and Wisconsin visitor Chad Mahder.

    Again, to the surprise ( and relief, I would think), of all, the post race hoopla was postponed as the Street Stocks came to the track for fifteen scheduled laps. Jesse Owen led Cary Brown ahead of a caution flag with one lap in the books. Back under green it was Allen Provenzano coming from his row four start to the front, taking along Landen Chrestensen in second. Chrestensen would soon move to the lead and as the front duo raced hard, apparent contact sent the leader for a 360 degree spin, bringing out a yellow flag with five laps to go. I am not exactly sure what then transpired, but suddenly all the cars headed for the pits and the race was called complete and the two front runners disqualified. This would give the victory to Brown over Blake Woodruff and Owen. 

   Only the IMCA Late Model event remained, with all but Matt Ryan lining up for twenty five laps. Pole sitter Jay Johnson charged ahead of his row one mate, Bryce Garnhart. The first caution came on lap three, and back to racing Johnson maintained his lead in front of a four car scrum for second involving Garnhart, Cruz Birkhofer, Nebraska visitor Cory Dumpert and row seven starter Travis Denning. Seven laps in Dumpert finally cleared that group for second with Denning taking command of third. By lap ten the top three were nose to tail and side by side, with Denning moving to the runner up position. He continued his charge, clearing Johnson for the lead one lap later. Dumpert would soon move to second, but by then Denning had stretched out to a considerable advantage. As the laps wound down tenth starting Jesse Bodin began to make his presence felt, and with only a pair of laps remaining he cleared Dumpert for second just ahead of a late caution. One more lap was scored before the yellow flag waved a final time, but despite Denning again brought back to the field, he remained out front for the green, white, checkers finish. Dumpert would regain the runner up spot at the checkers trailed by Bodin, Evan Miller and Joe Beal. Birkhofer finished where he started in sixth, besting Mitch Morris, fifteenth starting Chris Lawrence, Anthony Guss and Johnson.

   Again, major kudos to the track staff for managing to complete the program in fine fashion against the ticking clock. Thanks to SR Promotions for their hospitality, with a special shout out to the very friendly and helpful lady at the pit shack! Tonight we will head back to Davenport for night two of the Corn State Nationals, and night three of four of our planned "racing staycation."

Erb Claims MLRA Hawkeye Land 40, Janssen, Richards and Bannister Also Tops at Tipton

   Thursday night we joined the MLRA Late Models as they began a three night competition in the Hawkeye state. This opening night venue, dubbed the Hawkeye Land 40, would be the quarter mile Cedar County Fairgrounds Raceway in Tipton, Iowa, nine miles north of Interstate 80 in the east central part of the state. Three IMCA classes, Modifieds, Sport Mods and Stock Cars would fill out the card. $5,000 would go to the Late Model winner, $1,000 to the Modified victor, a $750 top prize for Stock Cars and $500 for first place in the Sport Mods. The event was Co promoted by Kay Promotions and Darkside Promotions.

   A manageable total of eighty nine cars signed in for racing led by twenty nine Super Late Models and twenty seven Modifieds, with hot laps kicking off right on time at 6:30. However, the first glitch appeared when officials encountered problems with the automatic timing loop. As a result, the Late Models had to qualify one car at a time under the stop watch as opposed to the usual three or so. Overall fast time and the accompanying $500 bonus went to Texas racer Tyler Erb. The other classes would use a draw - redraw format for heat race action.

    Drama ensued during Late Model time trials when series points leader Chad Simpson was unable to complete a lap due to rear end issues with his #25. But when heat race time came, it was brother Chris Simpson who found his #32 unable to make the call. Fortunately, his back up machine was already qualified with Jason Rauen set for competition. With Chris vying for the series championship, Rauen would turn the wheel over, giving up a front row start in the first eight lapper. It would seem that this would present no problem, with Rauen out and the others moving up. But for whatever reason, after a considerable delay, cars were added and deleted, apparently based on times. Eventually we went racing, with the four heats captured by Erb, Jeff Herzog, Garrett Alberson and Dillon McCowan, all from the front row of the "straight up" starts. Both Simpsons found themselves starting near the back of heat three, and that produced some of the best racing of the night as they battled side by side for the fourth and final qualifying position. Chad would find himself failing to make the transfer, however his outside row one start in the twelve lap B main would result in a victory, putting him inside row nine for the forty lap finale. 

   Heat race action was followed by a few minutes of down time as the track crew manicured the top of turn two, then it was feature time.

   IMCA Northern Sport Mods would go first, sixteen cars for twenty laps. Pole sitter Ryan Reed would pace the opening circuit with his row one mate Tyler Bannister, Bakersfield, California, taking over the next trip under the flag stand. Fourth starting Justin Becker would take up the chase on lap three ahead of a pair of yellow flags on laps three and four. As the field reset, ninth starting Jarrett Franzen had already entered the top five for the Delaware Style restart. Franzen moved to fourth as Becker used a slide job to grab the lead. But Bannister quickly retook the top spot. Still on the move, Franzen powered to third on lap seven, then to the runner up position one lap later. The race stayed green until lap sixteen, when a final caution reset the field one more time. With the leaders mostly glued to the inside groove, Tony Olson worked the high line to try and improve his fourth position. As the checkers waved, it was Bannister with the win ahead of Franzen, Becker, Olson and Reed. 

   Erb and Alberson would bring the twenty four car MLRA field to green. However the pace setter appeared not to fire in turn four, stacking up the field with cars back in the pack facing all directions. In fact the #67 of Jimmy Vanzandt wound up partially underneath the #15C of Curt Schroeder. The delay to clean things up was a lengthy one, but when racing resumed only Vanzandt could not continue. With Erb out front of Alberson and Herzog, the yellow flag would fly three more times in the first six laps. But from then on, it was green flag racing. Early on it was Alberson and McCowan battling side by side foe second before McCowan fell back a bit and Frank Heckenast Jr. took over the third spot. The leaders caught the back of the pack about lap fourteen, and as the race neared the halfway point Alberson pulled alongside Erb on a couple of occasions. However he was unable to make the pass, and as the laps clicked off Erb gradually increased his advantage. The big mover in the second half of the race was fifteenth starting Tony Jackson Jr. He was able to overtake row seven starter Chris Simpson in the closing laps, crossing the line in fourth behind Erb, Alberson and Heckenast Jr. McCowan faded to sixth, finishing ahead of Dylan Thornton, Chad Simpson, Daniel Hilsabeck and Aaron Marrant. 

   With post race activities finally complete, sixteen IMCA Stock Cars lined up for twenty laps. Second generation driver Casey Shelliam raced side by side with third starting Riley Hanson in the opening lap, then led the field through an early caution. It was fifth starting Gage Neal soon claiming the runner up spot, but the driver on the move was ninth starting Braden Richards who put his #11R out front about lap five. Following another yellow flag, an intense four car battle developed behind Richards ahead of a final caution for a spinning Shelliam with six laps scored. Now it was Dustin Vis moving up to challenge the leader while tenth starting Joe Zrostlik charged to third. As the laps clicked off, Richards drove off from the field, cruising to the win over Vis, Zrostlik and Neal. Matt Picray eased ahead of Hanson to round out the first five. 

   IMCA Modified action closed out the night racing for twenty five circuits. Drew Janssen redrew the pole position, and that proved to be the move of the race. Following a first lap mix up, Janssen would lead throughout to pick up the win. Another Bakersfield, California racer Jerry Flippo, who along with Janssen and Ryan Maitland picked up a heat race win, would finish in the runner up slot after a row two start. Matt Werner filled out the podium ahead of a pair of hard chargers. Jeff "Bone" Larson gained eight spots to finish fourth, while Jeremiah Hurst came from inside row thirteen all the way to fifth. 

   The track was fast all night, treating the large crowd to plenty of action. An added bonus for us was the discovery that long time Late Model racer Bob Helm and his family were sitting behind us in the grandstands, and Bob regaled us with great stories throughout the night. His family was on hand to watch grandson Dalon Helm, who now calls the state of Oklahoma home race his Late Model #4X. 

   Thanks to Brenda and the Kay Promotions team as well as Ryan Duhme and Timmy Current with Darkside Promotions for their hospitality. The Darkside group now moves to Maquoketa Speedway for the Kelly Meyer Challenge and All Star Classic over the next two nights. We will follow the MLRA Late Models to Davenport Speedway for the two night Corn State Nationals paying $5,000 to win on Friday with a $10,000 top prize on Saturday. The weather looks great, so turn off the television, get off the couch and head to a race track near you!