I love it when a plan comes together, and Saturday night we were able to make the trip to Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri. The very large crowd was on hand for night two of the Memphis Spring Nationals. We felt lucky with the great weather last weekend in Springfield only to follow up with record breaking heat on this first weekend of Spring. Short sleeves and no jacket, as 9:30 found us on our way home! And that happened even though hot laps were pushed back, as the heat of the sun required multiple watering and packing sessions to get the track in racing condition. While turns one and two developed a bit of "character " that made for a bit of a challenge at times, the interviewed podium finishers were very complimentary with regards to the racing surface. Considering the amount of snow fall early in the week, I would say kudos all around to the preparation crew. And of course there is no one better than a Mike VanGenderen led staff at moving a show along once the first green flag drops!
Ninety one cars in the five divisions checked in to race with B Mods leading the way at twenty eight. They would be the only class in line for a B Main, but when one scratch plus an early on track incident whittled the field to a qualifying field of four cars, the race was called. Again, some tracks would have run eight unnecessary laps...
Following intermission, it would be Compacts first on the feature grid, with all but one of the eighteen signed in competing for a dozen laps around the big three eighths mile. Pole sitter Luke Fraise shot to the early lead over his row one mate Alvin Cooney. Soon it would be sixth starting Dyllan Bonk and ninth starting Brandon Reu up to battle behind Fraise. By the time Reu took control of the second spot, Luke had built a sizable advantage. Slower traffic came into play on lap eight, but Fraise was up to the task at hand. The white flag waved and I began to write down the order when the impending checkers was replaced by the yellow caution flag, setting up a green, white, checkered finish. Fraise restarted out front of the Delaware Style lineup, but as the white waved once more, Reu pulled alongside going down the backstretch. Through the final set of turns they raced in tandem, but Reu won the drag race to the finish line. Fraise was justifiably disappointed with his runner up finish, but that is racing. (Although I am a fan of a one lap shootout in these situations, especially on tracks bigger than a quarter mile, but I am not in charge!) Bonk held on for third ahead of a good battle behind him. Michael Gardner traveled from Des Moines to take fourth over Katelynn Watts.
Twenty four B Mods lined up next for twenty laps, although we lost two cars on the parade lap. A first lap pile up also eliminated Jamie Aleshire. Austen Becerra, driving the Bobby Six #6 and Cam Reimers sat on the front row, with Reimers jumping out to the lead. Along with Brandon Dale, the trio ran three wide as lap one was scored. Reimers took control the next trip around. and quickly stretched his lead. He caught the back of the pack on lap eight, and one lap later Dale dropped out with a flat tire. With eleven in the books, the red flag waved, as a violent crash on the backstretch sent Moberly, Missouri racer Colten Gerry barrel rolling and flipping end over end. After a few anxious moments, Gerry was declared uninjured, however his #93 was as mangled a mess as I have seen in a very long time. Thankfully he had taken no shortcuts with his safety equipment. Back to racing Reimers again pulled away as it was now Becerra working to hold back Colton Livezey for second. At the same time, Dakota Girard, Cody Agee, and Brayton Carter were locked in a tight duel for fourth. Reimers would build a straightaway lead, taking the checkers as the next group of five finished in that very same order.
All but one of the twenty Stock Cars were now up for twenty laps. Outside pole sitter Derrick Agee led third starting Dallon Murty through lap one before Stock Car rookie Bradley Graham charged from outside row two to the lead on lap two. With sixth starting David Brandies moving to second, he led a charge of Agee and Murty in pursuit of Graham and his sharp looking #2G. At the same time, Nathan Wood and John Oliver Jr. worked side by side to join the fray. Following a lap six caution, Wood climbed to fourth. Somewhere around lap twelve, (no scoreboard here!) Brandies powered to the lead taking Murty along in second. Those two would swap the position, running side by side as the laps clicked off. Meanwhile Wood was on the move to third and a three wide scrum developed for fourth. Murty would take the white flag first, but again the yellow would replace the checkered, creating another two lap shootout. Back under green, Young Murty, fresh off his first Super Late Model races in Florida, pulled ahead to make it two for two for the weekend. Brandies expressed some displeasure in victory lane, although I am not certain who the target was. "Papa" Damon Murty came on strong late to finish third, while Wood and Graham completed the top five. As is nearly always the case, the Stock Cars "stole" the show!
The Modified car count of nine was disappointing for sure, and only seven survived to take the twenty lap feature green. "Downtown" Kyle Brown sat on the pole and wasted no time leaving the field behind. A caution for Fisher Reese at lap seven brought second running Austen Becerra and the rest of the pack back to the leader, but again Brown drove away. Jace Eckrich used the restart to climb two spots to third. Once more the yellow waved with thirteen laps scored, but there would be no stopping Brown. He raced a middle line around the oval as Becerra ripped the top in turns one and two, then dove low at the other end, all to no avail. Brown scored the win while Becerra collected his second runner up finish of the night. Eckrich, Kurt Kile, and Charlie Mohr would round out the top five.
Hobby Stocks would cap off the evening, with all sixteen lining up for fourteen circuits. That previously mentioned "character" in the first corner triggered a melee on the opening lap, stacking up several cars. Back under green, pole sitter Briar Kriegel, making the long tow from Brooklyn, Iowa, jumped ahead of Des Moines hot shoe Tom Killen, Jr. Daniel Wauters in the Jared Miller #17M and Dustin Griffiths waged a duel behind the leaders. Wauters broke free, and by lap seven was challenging for second when the caution came. On the restart, Wauters got shuffled back on the high side while Brayden Wood charged to third. Lap after lap Kriegel and Killen battled side by side, swapping the lead in front of some very vocal and enthusiastic supporters. Mimicking the Compact feature, the pair exited turn four side by side with Kriegel crossing the line first for the hard fought victory. Killen Jr., Wood, Keaton Gordon, and Wauters rounded out the top five.
As previously mentioned, those final checkers from starter Kevin Eggleston waved just before 9:30. Thanks to MVG, his staff, the fair board and all the workers who came together to give us great racing in March! As the local racing schedule and prior commitments pan out, it may be a couple weeks or so before our next trip to the track, but be sure and check in with yours truly and my Positively Racing colleagues as the mid west season ramps up. Thanks for reading!
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