Fall Bash Starts with a Bang

 After two weeks off due to Mother Nature and a 50th class reunion, I was ready to get back to the track. The opening night of the Hoker Trucking Fall Bash at the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa has become a yearly destination for us, as the event staged by Ryan Duhme and Timmy Current with Darkside Promotions continues to grow.
 We arrived Thursday night to a pit area that was once again overflowing with cars, and by hot lap time, roughly 230 cars had signed in for the six divisions featured on this first of three nights of racing!
  Despite receiving more than 3/4 inches of rain on Wednesday, the 1/4 mile banked track was perfectly prepared, with multiple grooves available throughout the night, none more dominant than the others.
  With the late influx of cars on a week night, hot laps still kicked off just after 6:00, and using the green, white, checkers format for those hot laps, the first of the twenty six heat races hit the track at 6:55.
  With a long night staring them in the face, a " one and done " rule was adopted for the heat races, meaning if you were stopped when the caution flag waved, you were done for that race. Promoters, please take note, it is amazing how many cars can refire quickly with this rule in place! Heat race action gave way to ten B mains, beginning about 9:15, and wrapping up in exactly one hour. With sixty and sixty two cars respectively, the IMCA modified and IMCA sport mod classes in particular had what would have been quality feature fields on the trailer already by feature time.
   The only class not needing a B was the eleven car two person cruiser class, so they came to the track first for a ten lap feature. The #32K car of Keith Keltner and Wayne Hora established their dominance in their heat race, and then survived a handful of cautions to take the checkers after starting in row three.
  With no intermission taken, the only delay in the program, and it was a short one, came at this time. The IMCA late models had been slated to run next, but with a short turn around time following them running the final B, it was decided to move the IMCA stock car finale up in the order. Unfortunately due to the packed and spread out pit area, several drivers were out of earshot of the pit P.A. and had to be notified in person. Soon, the twenty four car field was on the track, ready for twenty laps of action. Andrew Lokenvitz and Elijah Zevenbergen lined up in row one, but it was inside row two starter Joe Zrostlik who grabbed the lead as starter Doug Haack waved the green flag. The first of three cautions came for a multi car tangle in turn two on lap four,  with five cars eliminated from the event. Back under green, John Oliver Jr. vaulted to third behind Zrostlik and Zevenbergen after starting in row three. A debris caution slowed the action one lap later, and disaster struck Oliver, as he clipped a boundary tire on the next restart, bringing out the final caution and sending him to the back of the remaining nineteen cars. With the Delaware restarts keeping the field bunched, the father son duo of Damon and Dallon Murty raced in the top eight positions after starting eleventh and fourteenth, respectively. Zrostlik, who was competing in three divisions on the night, elected to keep his #50 in the bottom groove, while Zevenbergen took the high line. As the race hit the halfway mark, the Murtys were racing side by side for third and fourth. With three circuits remaining, Dallon found his way to the runner up spot and tried to close the gap to the leader. Zrostlik, who in his victory lane interview stated in graphic terms that he was aware of the drivers immediately behind him, held his line and picked up the win. The younger Murty settled for second, while Damon advanced to third. Jay Schmidt came from row five to overtake a fading Zevenbergan, completing the top five.
  All but five of the twenty nine IMCA late models lined up next to race twenty five laps for a $1,500 payday. Chad Holladay and Andy Eckrich both turned in third place runs in their heats, but were fortunate in drawing the front row for the main event. Eckrich shot ahead at the start, with Holladay and row two starters Matt Ryan and Dave Wada, both heat winners, close behind. The front duo began to distance themselves from the pack, with Eckrich running about a half car width higher than the bottom hugging Holladay. As the race stayed green, they caught slower traffic on lap nine, allowing the next group of Ryan, Zrostlik, and first heat winner Joel Callahan to close in. A surprise entry, Chad Simpson in his #25 was also on the move, charging to sixth on lap fifteen after lining up in row five. Meanwhile, Zrostlik found the track to his liking as he had in the stock car, and he drove around Ryan and to the bumper of Holladay. As the laps wound down in the caution free race, Holladay became trapped behind the lapped car of Dirk Hamilton as Ryan decided to search the top of the track for some extra speed. Finding plenty of bite, he charged around Zrostlik and Holladay to second, then pulled even with Eckrich as the white flag waved. He was then able to use that momentum off turn four to cross the line less than a car length ahead of Eckrich as the checkers flew. Needless to say, he was pumped in victory lane. Eckrich was steady in second, besting Holladay, Callahan, and Zrostlik. Simpson led the second five, topping Terry Neal who started fourteenth, Jeff Aikey, Jeff Tharp, and Darin Duffy in the Beckler #35. Also of note was fifteen year old Kollin Hibdon, the youngster from Pahrump, Nevada who spent the summer racing an IMCA modified in Iowa under the watchful eye of Jeff Aikey. Kollin competed for the first time ever in an IMCA late model, wheeling a car out of the Justin Kay stable. Failing to qualify through his heat, Kollin captured the B main, then advanced six spots to finish eleventh in the feature.
  The IMCA sport compacts were preparing to hit the track as the clocked ticked past 11:00, the temperature hovered in the mid forties, so we made the difficult decision to head for the car.
  I was not surprised to see that second starting Zrostlik picked up his second win of the night, and third top five in the ten lap event.
  The fifteen lap sport mod finale went to third starting Ryan Maitland over row five starters Brayton Carter and Jake McBirnie. Rookie Dylan Vanwyk finished fourth, while Tony Olson came from fifteenth after capturing the third B main to round out the top five.
  The final contest of the night, the twenty five lapper for the IMCA modifieds went to fifth starting Cayden Carter, topping Joel Rust, Jeff Larson, Jeff Aikey, and Richie Gustin, who moved up eight spots after winning the first B main.
  Special thanks to Ryan, Timmy, and the all star crew assembled for a fast paced night of superb racing on a smooth, fast track. Racing continues tonight and Saturday with six classes of cars each night, and there are already 69 cars signed in for tonight, Friday, as of 2:30! But would someone please be sure Jerry gets at least one cup of coffee brought to the tower!
  Friday and Saturday are filled with outside activities, but I hope to see you Sunday night at Quincy Raceways for open competition topless racing in the crate late models, modifieds, sport mods, and stock cars, as well as the twice postponed $1,000 to win sport compact event for IMCA and UMP four cylinders.
  Stop by and say " Hi! "