With near perfect April weather conditions for the second evening in a row, it was time for the annual Slocum 50 at 34 Raceway near West Burlington, Iowa. Originally scheduled for Saturday night, the memorial race, a highlight of late model racing in the mid west, was swapped with the previously planned Prelude to the Slocum. If 34 manages to avoid the predicted inclement weather, that race will now become sort of a "Postlude To The Slocum" event on Saturday. So stay tuned for that!
Once again it would be MLRA Late Models the featured class for the $10,555 headliner in honor of the late racing champion who called Burlington home before losing his life in a pit accident at his home track in 2005. IMCA Stock Cars and 305 Sprint Cars would fill out the scheduled card both nights.
The super late models would be competing for the second of a three night swing through eastern Iowa, with defending series champion and current points leader Chad Simpson picking up the $5,000 top prize Thursday night just up the road at the Davenport Speedway.
Forty one super late models (plus Kolby Vandenbergh, who quickly unloaded then reloaded his car) signed in for a shot at the coveted Slocum 50 title. "Local" drivers Mark Burgtorf and Jay Johnson, plus Missouri travelers Aaron Marrant and Dalton Imhoff joined the mini tour on Friday. Chad Holladay was an early evening scratch, along with Spencer Diercks, who displayed a badly smoking engine in hot laps.
But it was former Slocum 50 winner Shannon Babb who dug up a broom from his stacker trailer and put a clean sweep on the proceedings, claiming fast time, a heat race victory, then led all fifty laps of the main event!
Shannon circled the three eights mile high banked oval to the tune of 15.090 seconds, collecting his second fast time award of the weekend. He then captured one of the four eight lap heat races from the pole position, as did Minnesota driver Jake Timm, along with Brandon Sheppard, and Garret Alberson.
A pair of ten lap B mains were also won from the pole position by a pair of Arkansas hot shoes, series rookie Tyler Stevens and National Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Billy Moyer. Two series provisional starters and a pair of "emergency" provisional users completed the twenty six car starting field in front of a loud and boisterous gathering of fans.
Before the main attraction however, all fourteen 305 Sprint Cars lined up for their twenty lap feature. Chase Richards paced the opening circuit before third starting Jake Glasgow powered to the lead on lap two. Ironically, this would be the only pass for the lead in any of the feature races. As Glasgow opened up a nice advantage, Cody Wehrle began to pick off cars ahead of a caution period for Cole Helmerson, who spun then rolled to a stop with with five laps in the books. Cody then moved to the runner up slot following the single file restart. Row four starter Tanner Gebhardt now moved in to challenge Richards for third as the front duo pulled away in nose to tail fashion. About lap twelve Wehrle and Glasgow nearly avoided disaster when they made side by side contact on the front straightaway, bringing a collective gasp from the crowd. As Glasgow again opened a lead, Wehrle now had third running Gebhardt to contend with. Three laps from the checkers, Tanner took over the position, and although he was able to somewhat close the gap on the leader, he would ultimately settle for second. Following Glasgow and Gebhardt, it was Wehrle, Richards, and Noah Samuel completing the top five.
IMCA Stock Cars would see ten of the eleven competitors come to the oval for fifteen laps. John Oliver Jr. would redraw the pole position and lead all fifteen laps to secure the win. His row one mate, Gary Pesicka, coming all the way from Burt, Iowa in his fast and sharp looking #AK46 would have an eventful feature race. After winning the heat race, he would be involved with contact on lap four, do a 360 degree spin and KEEP GOING, to the delight of those of us in the stands. As Oliver went on cruise control, Jason Cook and ninth starting Corey Strothman battled behind him. A lap nine caution bunched the field, and Strothman pounded the cushion to grab the runner up position. Corey was then using the whole track in an effort to overtake Oliver, utilizing a diamond move in the corners, driving from high on the cushion to the bottom of the track hoping to slip inside the #05. But the veteran Oliver stayed true to the inside groove all the way to the checkers. Strothman, Cook, a revitalized Pesicka, and Jeremy Pundt would round out the top five.
With the pomp and circumstance of this special night complete, the remaining twenty six Super Late Model drivers got down to business. Babb would shoot from the outside pole to lead Timm, Sheppard, Alberson, and Mason Oberkramer as lap one was scored. The first caution came with three laps down as Brennon Willard, Steve Stultz, and Tony Jackson Jr. came together in turns one and two, ending the night for Jackson. Back to racing, Sheppard moved to second, and late model rookie Dillon McCowan entered the top five. A second caution came with seven laps scored as Matt Furman got crossed up in turns one and two. From that point, it was thirty one laps of green flag racing. Timm would retake the second position but on lap twenty one it was Sheppard again the runner up as he chased Babb through heavy traffic. Lap thirty saw both the leaders running with no lapped cars in the way, but Brandon could gain little ground on the hooked up #18. Back in traffic, Sheppard had closed the gap and looked as though he was ready to pounce at lap thirty eight, when Moyer, now in the top ten, slowed exiting turn four and even though on the bottom of the track, neglected to make the left turn to the infield to allow racing to continue, instead drawing a caution before driving to his trailer. One final stop came on the restart when Ryan Unzicker and Bob Gardner came together in turn four. Fourth running Oberkramer also headed for the trailer at this point. The final restart saw Babb with a strong run, and Sheppard could only watch the #18 drive off to victory. As he had the night before, Ryan Gustin made a late race charge, powering to third after starting in row eight. Timm would come home fourth, while Thursday runner up Chris Simpson also advanced several positions in the closing laps to score a top five. Tyler Bruening was sixth ahead of late model newcomer Dustin Sorenson, Alberson, Yaggy, and McCowan. Although I am not sure how the MLRA Lucky Dog procedure works, these ten cars were at one point the only ones left on the lead lap.
Babb would add a second Slocum 50 trophy to his many feature wins.
Although the southerly breeze wafted a bit of dust into the grandstands, I heard no complaints, as Brad, Jessi, and crew presented an awesome racing surface with multiple grooves along with a final checkered flag at about the 10:00 hour!
As I sit at my computer the rain is coming down forcefully here in Canton, Missouri, but that is a fair hike from West Burlington, Iowa, so keep an eye on the 34 Raceway website for updates, and hopefully we can get together again tonight for more Super Late Model action!
Update: Saturday racing at 34 Raceway for tonight April 15 has been canceled!
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