Wednesday night 300 Raceway in Farley, Iowa staged their rescheduled season championship races. The track ran a part time slate of points races sandwiched around an aggressive schedule of special events. This Wednesday night show was the opener of four nights of action, followed by an open practice on Thursday, then two nights of the Yankee Dirt Track Classic featuring the SLMR late models racing for $3,000 to win on Friday and $10,000 on Saturday. Track officials made the decision to only allow drivers would had raced on at least one points night to be eligible to compete in the season championship events, which no doubt contributed to the low car counts. Four IMCA divisions were on the card, late models, modifieds, stock cars, and sport mods.
Moving quickly through heat race action and a short intermission, stock cars were up first for fifteen laps of feature racing. Chase Zaruba paced lap one, with three cars in a tangle coming to the line. His row one mate Tom Schmitt then grabbed the lead. Johnny Spaw moved from row three to third on lap two and was soon dogging Zaruba for second. As starter Doug Haack displayed the crossed flags indicating seven laps complete, he switched to the yellow flag for a spinning Timmy Current. On the restart Spaw powered to second with the yellow flag out once again as Zaruba slowed, sparks shooting from underneath his #27 machine. The race stayed green the final seven circuits. Spaw was able to stick the nose of his #00 inside Schmitt, taking his best look with three laps to go, but to no avail. Schmitt took the win over Spaw, Philip Holtz, Jason Doyle, and Current. Spaw took the stock car championship title.
A dozen modifieds lined up for twenty laps, with Jeff Aikey a no show after he exited his heat race in a plume of smoke. After the initial start was waved off, Eric Pollard set the pace from the outside pole position. Timmy Current, one of a handful of drivers doing double duty, slipped past second running Tyler Madigan for second on lap seven. By the halfway mark, Current was out front and pulling away from Pollard. The only caution of the race came with thirteen laps in the books, but back under green Current again stretched his lead. Jeff Larson started in row five, then slowly worked his way forward, taking the runner up spot after a tight battle with Pollard. At the finish it was Current cruising to the win while the track champion Larson took second. Mark Schulte started in third and wound up there, while Pollard dropped to fourth ahead of Brennen Chipp.
Sport mods would battle for fifteen laps in what turned out to be a non stop event. Justin Becker opened a sizable advantage in the early laps before row four starter Troy Bauer made it a two car race as the race passed the halfway mark. That duo ran side by side as lap nine was scored before Bauer took control. Becker stayed on his bumper until the final couple of circuits when he came upon a lapped car which momentarily broke his momentum. Bauer then cruised to the win and the championship. Becker was runner up, topping Jason Roth, Tyler Soppe, and Rusty Deshaw.
Late models put a cap on the evening, duking it out for twenty five trips around the 3/8 mile oval. Eight cars took the green flag, with Kevin Miller on the trailer after he tagged the turn two wall in his heat race. Ron Klein was also listed in the line up, but was a no show in both his heat and the feature. Rookie Bryan Moreland jumped out front with double duty Pollard in second. Point leader Matt Ryan and Justin Kay filled out row three, with Ryan taking third on lap two. One lap later Kay powered to fourth. Pollard pulled even with Moreland on lap thirteen, then suddenly slowed, belching heavy smoke from his #P7, ending his run and bringing out the only caution flag of the race. Ryan chose the high line behind Moreland on the Delaware restart, and he charged to the lead. Kay followed in second one lap later. The final five laps saw a two car battle between Ryan and Kay, a familiar sight in IMCA land. Kay first looked to take the lead on the high side with no luck, then stuck his nose inside the #07. Coming through turns three and four to the checkers, Kay was able to build enough momentum to make the pass, taking the checkers by less than a car length. This was a deja vu moment, as I have seen this scenario played out twice before this season between these two. Ryan settled for second place, but still picked up the track championship. Joel Callahan raced to a third place finish in his heat race, then turned driving duties over to Aikey, who piloted the #40 to third in the feature. Colton Leal and Steve Schueller also picked up top fives. Moreland rolled to a stop in turn one on the final lap,and was scored sixth, while Steve Hunter was the last car running in seventh. Pollard was credited with eighth.
The final checkers waved just before 9:00 P.M.! As mentioned, the stage is now set for the forty fourth running of the Yankee Dirt Track Classic on Friday and Saturday. As for me, I will be watching the weather before deciding where next to go, and I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable Labor Day weekend at a race track near you!
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