A Lirttle Dirt, A Little Asphalt

With a lot of cooperation from Mother Nature, we were able to enjoy one more full weekend of racing as October winds down.
 Saturday, Darryl, Fred and I set sail for Kansas City, as I looked forward to my first visit to Lakeside Speedway, which would also be my first race in the state of Kansas. After settling in our motel, we headed for the track, arriving in time to tour the pits before the call came to vacate so they could sell pit passes for the second night of the Clyde Ellis Memorial Showdown. As it turned out, it would also be the final MLRA late model event staged under the direction of Alan " Cowboy " and Harriet Chancellor, as the announcement was made mid week that the association had been sold the the Lucas Oil group. On this, the final night of racing for 2012 at Lakeside, 51 open modfieds signed in for a $2,000 top prize, and the late model count was 45 for a shot at a $5,000 check. Two late models from the Friday night show, Randy Reynolds, and Iowa driver Kevin Sather, did not return, but newcomers Junior Coover, Scotty Phillips, and Jason Rauen joined the fray.
As mentioned, it was my first time at the black dirt 1/2 mile speedplant just inside the Kansas border, and while the facility looked a bit rag tag from the outside, once through the gate, my opinion changed. Everything was bright and clean, the lighting was good, and much to my delight, the PA system worked quite well. It was announced the hot laps would begin at 6:45, and the clock on the scoreboard would not lie. Sure enough, the first of three groups of mods hit the track at 6:45, followed by the late models. With hot laps over before 7:10, there was some downtime, but sure enough, at 7:27 the invocation and national anthem began, and the first mod heat rolled out at 7:30. NASCAR veterans Ken Schrader and Kenny Wallace captured the first two of the six mod heats, and after a yellow flag for a false start to begin heat two, we stayed green until a caution debris during heat five. Kerry Davis, Kelly Shryock, Nick Bidinger, and Mark Dotson were the other heat winners.Six eight lap heats in exactly 30 minutes, with two yellows - if only our " local " mods could pull that off!
 The MLRA late models then contested five ten lap qualifiers, with the first three going caution free. Justin Asplin outdueled young Grant Junghans in heat one, Eric Turner topped Kyle Berck in heat two, and Brad Looney led the distance in heat three to defeat series point champion John Anderson. Polesitter Kevin Coyne brought out the first yellow in heat four, but it was no problem for Tony Jackson Jr., who edged Iowan Chris Simpson for the win. Missouri ace Will Vaught drew the highest number on the night, and started ninth in the final heat. He was up to fifth when he was involved in a three car altercation, sending him again to the back of the pack. But he was able to again charge through to take the win over the double duty driver,Mark Dotson. With the late models using my favorite qualifying format of passing points, the win earned Vaught the pole for the 40 lap finale that would end the nights racing.
  Next up was a C-Main for the mods, with the top two moving on to make a 20 car B-Main. Don Crnkovich and Cody Agler took the spots in a caution plagued event. Following an intermission, the 15 lap mod B-main took to the track. Amazingly the final qualifier went flag to flag, with the top six moving on to the 24 car finale. Local racer Jake Richards took the win, while Ron Jones, who made the trip south from Minnesota, earned a third pace finish. Another double duty driver, Iowan Ryan Gustin had collected the $1500 win on Friday, but nearly missed the cut on Saturday. Ryan ran seventh and eighth throughout most of the " B " charging to fifth on the white flag lap.
  Two twelve lap late model B-main were up next. Nebraska pilot Bill Leighton survived a challenge for Davenport, Iowa youngster Spencer Diercks and fellow Nebraskan Tommy Weder Jr, to take the first win, while Iowacitian Rob Moss came from row two to take the lead on the white flag lap of a caution free race to
claim a victory over Jason Bodenhammer and Sonny Findling to round out the feature field.
  When the green flag waved for the mods, Shryock charged from row three to the lead, but by lap four, Dotson had moved in to challenge. The two then ran a great side by side duel, Kelly up top and Mark down low, as the pulled away from the pack. By lap twelve the track was slicking up, and the leaders began to catch slower traffic. Schrader used his experience to ease into third on lap 18, but gave it up to USMTS ace Jason Hughes. On lap 23, disaster dtruck Shryock, as his fule pump belt failed, and he slowed on the top side, never stopping, and allowing the race to stay green as he ducked into the outside pits. From there, it was Dotsons race. Zack Vanderbeek chased Hughes, but settled for third, while Gustin came from 23rd to fourth on the white flag lap. Schrader completed the top five in the caution free 30 lapper.
  The final race of the night was the 40 lap late model showdown, with Vaught and Dotson setting on the front row. Vaught shot to the front, and the caution waved on lap three. By then Looney had powered from row four to third, and he grabbed the runnerup slot on the restart., with Dotson falling to fifth. The yellow waved again on lap six, as Chad Simpson, who was involved in the first caution, ducked to the pits with a flat tire. During the caution, Anderson came to a stop on the front stretch as the drive shaft failed on his # 2J. With the extra time, Chad was able to rejoin the field. On the restart, brother Chris Simpson nabbed fourth, and by lap ten, he was third, with Berck on his heels. The leaders found themselves in traffic on lap 15, and Gustin, who started 14th, entered the top five on lap 17. On lap 26, Berck eased around Simpson for third, the last pass inside the top five. At the checkers, it was Vaught in a flag to flag win, ahead of Looney, Berck, Chris Simpson, and Gustin. Eric Turner led the second five ahead of David Turner, Weder Jr., Jesse Stovall, and Chad Simpson. By edging out Dotson by three positions, Stovall finished second to Anderson in the season points chase.
 The final checkers waved on the 96 car field at 10:35, leaving me more than eager to return to the track in the near future.
 As a retirement gift, Darryl had received tickets to the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, so we three dirt trackers were off to see what gets our pavement brethren so excited. It had been more than 30 years since I had watched the big boys of NASCAR duel in person, and were it not for having three grandsons who deserve and want an up close look, I could likely be happy sticking to the dirt. I don't know if the unusually warm weather, or the repaving of the 1.5 mile track created issues, but a speedway record 14 cautions dampened my enthusiasm. I know time is passing me by, but the price of concessions, as it does at all major sporting events, also puts a dent in my enjoyment of the product. After surveying the situation as to how long it would likely take to get back to the interstate after the race ended, and with a long drive home, we made the decision to leave early. When we did, Matt Kenseth was leading and he did pick up the victory, so I guess we did not miss too much!
 There are still a handful of races throughout the midwest, and the Fall Extravaganza set for next weekend as the only event in 2012 at Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Mo. looks appealing as I look outside now at 70 plus degree temps. Unfortunately, the forecast for the weekend does not look too promising, so we will see if we can add to 2012 memories, or if a season recap is up next.
 The off season is already in high gear at Quincy Raceways, as the owners have announced that the hobby stock class will be dropped for 2012 and the IMCA stock cars will return, a decision that caught many in both divisions off guard. The awards banquet will be on January 12, the Quincy Mall car show on March 16 and 17, and opening night 2012 on Sunday, April 14.
 The former 24 Raceway in Moberly, Mo. has been sold and plans are to open in 2012 as Randolph County Raceway. The new owners intend to remove the dirt surface, then remove the asphalt racing surface below it and replace the dirt, hopefully before the snow flies. Unconfirmed reports have them leaning towards a USRA affiliation, with A mods as their top class, but nothing is official at this time.
Congratulations to both Morgan and Kyle Broeg on their recent engagements, Jeff  will be getting off the hook easy with a couple of rehearsal dinners to pony up for.
Now if he can just get the weddings scheduled away from racing season...