Aikey Tops Night One of the Yankee

 " The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated. " While this quote was attributed to author Mark Twain after it was falsely reported that he had died, it could also be uttered concerning the storied race track in Farley, Iowa. Formerly known as Farley Speedway, and at one time a half mile speed plant, it has undergone a name change to 300 Raceway, and is now a 3/8 mile venue, but despite social media buzz over the last couple of years, it is very much " alive and kicking." Although weekly racing is no longer presented, there have been several special events held since the track was sold a few years ago.
  So when we received an offer to tag along for the Thursday night portion of the 42nd annual Yankee Dirt Track Classic, we were on board.
  After a practice night on Wednesday, the Thursday show would consist of a full program of sport mods, stock cars, and modifieds, along with the headline class of Malvern Bank SLMR super late models vying for a $5,000 top prize. This would be the first time the Yankee would run under the SLMR sanction, although both Thursday and the $12,000 to win Friday finale would not count towards the series points title.The series is based in Omaha, Nebraska, the brain child of former late model standout Joe Kosiski, and features a combination of rules that allows different types of engines to be competitive, which has resulted in overall strong car counts.
  Venturing a considerable distance from home on a week night, we were facing a self imposed curfew of 11:00 PM, and with the late models third in the running order, we were hoping for an efficiently run program.
  We arrived during hot laps, and as they wrapped up, the late models moved to time trial qualifying, four cars at a time for two laps, with a total of forty nine drivers signed in! Tyler Bruening posted the quickest overall lap, with a mark of 16.422 seconds. The top six in time were then inverted in the six heat races, with passing points awarded. Only later did we learn - hat tip to roaming announcer Jerry Mackey - that points were also awarded for time trials, creating some rather odd scenarios. Heat five winner Ryan Griffith was forced to qualify for the twenty five lap feature through one of the two B mains, lining up in row one outside Josh Leonard, who finished sixth in heat two, while heat two winner John Emerson, and heat six runner up Matt Ryan sat on row one of the first " B ," with Emerson failing to transfer to the main event. Fourth place Justin Kay was the only driver to qualify for the feature out of that second heat race.
  A pair of heat races for the eighteen sport mods and seventeen stock cars, along with six heats and three B mains for the forty two  modifieds set us up for feature racing, with no down time ahead of the sport mod twenty lapper.
  Tony Olson and Bryan Moreland lined up at the front of the pack on what was now a heavily rubbered up racing surface. Following a first lap caution as Jason Roth came to a stop, Olson shot to the lead ahead of Moreland and fourth starting Brayton Carter. Carter eased his way to second one lap later, and row four starter Tyler Soppe entered the top five on lap three. Following the second and final caution, Soppe powered to third, moving up to challenge Carter on lap six as the leaders ran the inside line on the slick surface. As Carter and Soppe battled, Olson was able to gain a bit of separation. Tony hit his marks, picking up a flag to flag win. Carter won the race for second, with Soppe in third. Joe Docekal and Mitch Manternach completed the top five.
  As Olson was being interviewed in victory lane, the stock cars came to the track for twenty laps. Dick Steadman sat on the pole, flanked by Joe Zrostlik. With Zrostlik shuffled back on the start, it was third starting David Brandies, fifth starting Phillip Holtz, and sixth starter Johnny Spaw chasing Steadman. Again, the leaders mostly stayed glued to the low groove, but tenth starting Damon Murty soon discovered he would need to find a higher line if he was going to move forward. Running one groove higher, Murty charged into the top five on lap seven. Holtz also took a look at the middle line as the top five cars ran in the tightest of packs, with non stop back and forth action. Several times Brandies was able to stick the nose of his #71 under Steadman coming off turn two, but he was unable to complete the pass. As lap seventeen was scored, contact up front sent the #00 of Spaw up on two wheels, Holtz for a spin, and another four machines unable to avoid the melee. Holtz would be forced to restart at the tail of the lead lap cars. As the race restarted, Brandies found his way to the lead, and the caution waved again with him out front with lap eighteen in the books. With a green, white, checkers finish ahead, Murty took one more shot at the higher line, and in the final lap came side by side with Brandies through turns three and four, and winning the drag race to the line. It was a hyped up Murty in victory lane, putting an exclamation mark on an epic battle! Brandies was left with runner up honors, with Spaw in third. Corey Brown and Brayton Boyer scored top five runs.
  Twenty six late models lined up next for the twenty five lap, $5,000 to win headliner. Jeff Aikey ( third in his heat) and Bruening ( fast qualifier and fourth in his heat ) made up row one. Aikey jumped out front at the green, leading Bruening, third starting Jason Rauen, fifth starting Ricky Thornton Jr. in the Todd Cooney #30, and fourth starting Kay, in tow. Aikey was in command before catching slower traffic about lap eight. Bruening was able to close the gap, nosing ahead as lap ten was scored just as the only caution of the race came for Jason O'Brien, who stopped at the top of turn four. Following the single file restart format used by the SLMR, Bruening set sail to a comfortable lead. But slower traffic again made things interesting at the lap eighteen mark. It was then that Bruening moved briefly out of the bottom groove, giving Aikey the opening he needed. The veteran then made the decision to tuck in behind the back of the pack, daring Bruening to leave the preferred low line. For his part, Tyler stayed in line, and Aikey cruised to the win. Following Bruening at the checkers, it was Rauen, Thornton Jr., and Kay. Nebraska driver Tad Pospisil led the second five in front of Chris Simpson, Andy Eckrich, Chad Holladay, and Charlie McKenna. Pospisil was the only non Iowan in the top ten. Incredibly, O'Brien was the only one of the twenty six starters not running at the end.
  With about five minutes left before our curfew, we headed for the parking lot, more than happy with the pace and presentation of the show. A text as we rolled down the highway let us know that pole sitter Justin Kay took the final checkered flag of the night, capturing the modified main event over Mike Mullen, Richie Gustin, Ricky Thornton Jr., and Jed Freiburger.
  Action resumes tonight in Farley, with the late model feature paying a cool $12,000 to win along with the prestige of being a Yankee Dirt Track Classic winner.
  Sticking closer to home, I will be heading to season championship night at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. Six classes of cars will be in action, including late models, mods, stock cars, sport mods, sport compacts and 305 winged sprints, with an adult admission price of only $3.00!