Back to Weeknight Racing!

Last season, I was able to attend my first Corn Belt clash series race at the Independence, Iowa Speedway, and found it to be right up my alley, harkening back to the short lived Hawkeye late model tour back in the 80's. So when promoter Cam Granger released the 2010 schedule, I salted away some vacation time from work to catch the series at the CJ Speedway on the Louisa County Fairgrounds in Columbus Junction, Iowa, where the count fair would be going on. As race day approached, circumstances dictated that I would be traveling solo, but the 100 mile trip from home is a cake walk when compared the the days when Highway 218 was a challenging two lane highway. The trip north was 20 miles longer, but I was able to leave work in Quincy, Il early, and I arrived in time to take in some of the county fair atmosphere as well as stake out a spot on pit road to see who might show up to race. It was there that I ran into former late model racer Brian Hetzler, who my son nicknamed the " Fruitland Flash " in his days as a columnist. Brian and his parents, Curt and Pat were throwbacks to the days of racing out of the family garage, and although they were usually out spent, they competed with smiles on their faces, didn't complain, and always had time to chat about this and that. Brian is helping the Wood and Tipps families at the 4/10 mile oval, but said his folks have not been to a race since disbanding the # 47 team. I often find that former drivers, as Curt was, cannot sit and watch a race if they are not actively involved.
With this being by far the southernmost stop on the tour, the 18 car turnout was on par with what I expected. In addition, the points chase allows drivers to " throw out " two races, counting the best 13 finishes in the 15 race schedule. The neat thing about the series is the rules variations allowed to even the playing field between the spec motor IMCA late models and the " open " cars. Because of this, there is usually a surprise spec engine driver ot two in the field, and on Thursday it was Brian Harris in a black # 21H. The Davenport ace has been wheeling the famous # 75 out of Peoria, Il this summer, mostly at UMP and open competition events in Illinois, although back in May Keagan and I were in attendance at Davenport Speedway when he showed up and captured the IMCA late model feature. Brian, as well as spec engine pilots Justin Kay and Kevin Sather were utilizing the extra aerodynamic offerings designed to add downforce to the under horsepowered machines, while hometown driver Mick Wiele and Wapello pilot Jay Chenoweth kept their cars as is. It was my first time to see Sather, a regular on the tour in a late model. Indeed, spec cars picked up two of the three heat race wins, with Wiele and Kay taking checkers after series point leader Chad Simpson used a final corner pass to edge out veteran Ron Boyse in the first ten lapper. With hot laps and racing starting on time, and the ten heat races going off in good fashion, it looked like those less fortunate than myself - folks who had to show up for work on Friday - might be on the road early. And the promoters did the right thing by going straight to feature racing in the four divisions without an intermission. Unfortunately, things went somewhat downhill from there, with the usually well behaved IMCA stock cars running a marathon 15 lap main event. Between drivers spinning and stopping on the track, and more than a little grudge racing, the best thing to be said about the race is that it eventually ended. Through all the delays, Nathan Wood and Jim Redmon waged a good battle up front, with Wood getting by Redmon early, then holding on for a close win. The 4 cylinders drivers were much better behaved, the lead changed hands three times, and at the end, it was the veteran Wayne Noble standing in victory lane. Known to race fans as the driver who wheels his cars with his left hand while gripping the overhead roll bar with his right, Wayne mentioned that his career is now in its 51st year. It is not often I get to see a driver older than me get a checkered flag. Good job, Wayne! Paul Hallett was fast all night in his black # 26 mod lite, and when Troy Philpott spun in turn three and was collected by Illinois driver Justin Bucholtz who rolled his #69, there was no looking back for the driver who picked up his third straight checkers at CJ.
The thirty lap late model feature then rolled to the track, and with Chad Simpson redrawing the outside front row, it looked like the race would be for second. As it turned out, that was a mostly accurate guess, although early on it looked like there may have been a upset in the making. Harris started ninth on the grid, and was totally hooked up on the bottom of the track, especially in turns three and four. Brian moved quickly into the runner up slot, and began to reel in Simpson, who had built a big lead. Just as suddenly as he had closed the gap, his # 21h slowed in turn two on lap 15, and his night was over. With polesitter Justin Mitchell already pitside, Jason Rauen tried to stay with Simpson, but he could not mount a challenge, and after being involved in an accident that sidelined Wiele, Justin retired his # 98 with a flat tire. Attrition was high, with 11 of the 18 starters taking the checkered flag, all on the lead lap. Justin Kay drove a steady race, bringing his spec engine # 15K home in the second spot, ahead of hometown driver Jason Utter. Chris Simpson, Chads brother nabbed fourth ahead of Dave Eckrich, the top performer of the three Eckrich brothers in attendance. The Kile brothers filled the next two spots, with Kurt edging Kile. Sather ran eighth, Denny Eckrich ninth, with Chenoweth and Jake Meier in a # 5M car campaigned for several season by various drivers for Bill Moyer of Des Moines rounding out the finishers. Even with the delays, I was on my way back to Missouri by 11:00, happy I had made the trip to my 12th different venue of the season. It was good to be able to swap a few stories with Bob Litton and his wife, as well as Jeff Broeg.
With some more vacation time next week, I hope to make it to the Farley Speedway for the Deery Brothers Summer Series event on Tuesday. In the meantime, we will try to get in a weekly show Sunday at Quincy Raceways after two weeks off rain outs. If you see me out and about, say " Hi. "