After a late start our 2020 racing season continued into November with our second visit of the year to the C.J. Speedway in Columbus Junction on Saturday evening. We were hoping to not bring along our apparent hex on the 4/10 mile fairgrounds track as our last three attempts to catch a show here have been interrupted by or completely wiped out by inclement weather. The occasion this time would be the Turkey Dash, which rolled off in fine fashion in 2017, but was wiped out by the weatherman the last two years. There would be no such issues this time, with sunny skies and temps topping 70 degrees! The four classes of cars that run weekly at the track would be in competition, including modifieds, sport mods, stock cars, and compacts as well as hobby stocks. In addition to the advertised purse, bonus money was on the line for the feature winners courtesy of LR Trucking and the head guru here at Positively Racing, Jeff Broeg. The potential extra cash is based on a drivers standing in the All Iowa Points, a bragging rights competition developed and promoted by Jeff "since Heck was a pup." Also a couple of local sponsors stepped up to sweeten the hobby stock payout.
One hundred and forty six cars overwhelmed the pit area, but track officials planned ahead and used some of the outside pit parking area to avoid having any race cars or haulers in the infield. In addition, while there were empty seats to be found, there was an excellent crowd on hand on what could not have been a better night, weather wise. Add that to a multi groove fast and smooth racing surface, a show that started close to the advertised time while wrapping up just after 8:30, and we had one fine night of racing! To top things off, once I settled in my seat after a quick tour of the pits, I noticed what appears to be the beginnings of a scoreboard that would be a welcome addition to the fairgrounds facility.
It took eighteen heat races and three B mains, all in the sport mod class, to set the grid for feature racing. The hobby stocks were up first, battling for a dozen trips around the 4/10 mile oval. All but one of the twenty one cars took the green flag, with Randy LaMar pacing the opening circuit. Fifth starting Jake Benischek took over on lap two, LaMar fought back on lap three, but it was again Benischek out front on lap four. By lap seven Daniel Wauters had moved to the runner up spot, and by lap nine he was side by side with the leader. Following the only caution of the race with three laps remaining, ninth starting Dustin Griffiths joined the battle up front. Kaeden Reynolds made it a four car scrum as the laps wound down, but it was the top two side by side coming to the checkers. Wauters appeared to have the edge at the line, but much to the disbelief of many in attendance, scoring gave the win to Benischek. Wauters was credited with second, followed by Griffiths, Reynolds, and Slater, Iowa driver Eric Knutson.
The fifty one car sport mod field was whittled down to twenty four starters racing for twenty laps. Polesitter Jared Boumeester, from Waseca, Mn. jumped to the lead, with Tyler Soppe in tow. As Boumeester stretched his margin, Dylan VanWyk rebounded from his outside row one starting spot to move to second. The first of two cautions came just before halfway, and back to racing Soppe regained the runner up spot. We now had a three car breakaway, with VanWyk powering to the lead on lap twelve. Meanwhile, Brayton Carter had redrawn the eleventh starting slot, lined up seventh after the caution and climbed to fourth as the yellow waved with eight laps to go. Following the restart, Carter charged to second with Boumeester third and Soppe dropping to fourth. Van Wyk began to open his lead even as Carter put distance on the third place car. At the checkers it was VanWyk, Carter, Soppe, Boumeester, and Ryan Walker.
Twelve laps would be the distance for the sport compacts. Double duty Jake Benischek would line up on the pole, take the early lead, and hold it to the checkers. Cody Staley came from row two to second on lap two, and appeared poised to make a move to the front on lap six when a slower car caused him to momentarily check up. From there, Benischek remained in control, expertly negotiating lapped traffic to pick up win number two for the night. Chuck Fullenkamp joined the party just past the halfway mark, crossing the stripe in third. Mitchell Bunch and Quincy, Il. driver Jeffrey Delonjay completed the top five.
Jason Cook sat on the pole for the twenty lap stock car main event, grabbing the early lead while another double duty driver, Dustin Griffiths took up the chase. A multi car mix up in turn four brought out starter Doug Haacks yellow flag on lap five. While Cook continued to lead, a pair of veteran hot shoes were now on the move. John Oliver Jr. started in row six, was seventh when the caution came, and now moved to third. Johnny Spaw followed him through, jumping from eighth to fourth. As Cook hugged the inside groove, Griffiths was working the top of the track, as was Spaw, who took over third about the ten lap mark. The front four separated from the pack, with Spaw claiming second with eleven laps down, Now it was Cook running the bottom, Griffiths up high, Spaw in the middle, and Oliver looking for racing room. While Griffiths led for a moment, Cook regained the spot when Dustin went a bit too high, and the #3D was stretching his lead when the yellow flew for a final time four laps from the finish. As the field came to the two to go sign, Spaw used his higher line momentum to grab the top spot, edging Cook at the checkers. Griffiths took third in front of Oliver Jr. and a fast closing Blaine Doplar.
The final event on the card was twenty laps of modified action. Kurt Kile flanked Derek Walker on row one, and quickly charged to the lead. Jeff Aikey, who has been on fire in both his modified and his late model, started eighth, and was in second by lap three. By this time, Kile had a sizable lead, but as the race reached midway, slower traffic came into play. The many laps turned to this point had left the corners a bit treacherous, and as Aikey was poised to challenge for the lead, he slipped in turn two, giving the leader some breathing room. However on the next lap it was Kile who bobbled in the same spot. With seven circuits left, Aikey was again breathing down the neck of the leader, but the next time through turns three and four he lost the handle, with only a brilliant save keeping him going in the right direction while still holding the runner up spot. It was four more times around before the two #77s were again nose to tail, but Kile was strong, leading flag to flag in the non stop finale. Aikey settled for second. Another pair of late model pilots came next, with Chris Simpson bringing home Timmy Currents #7 in third followed by Spencer Diercks. Derrick Stewart rounded out the top five.
This was the final curtain for Iowa Racing in 2020, as far as I can tell. We are not yet ready to call it a season, however, and have identified a couple more possibilities down for the next two weekends. Weather permitting, of course! So keep checking back, and if things work out, there may be a bit more reporting from Racin' Down the Road!
Great story as usual, Danny. I always enjoy your write-ups.
ReplyDelete