After finally getting back to the track on Sunday, raindrops and all, we were looking for our first midweek event of the season. Things did not look too good, at least here in northeast Missouri with another inch plus of precipitation lasting into Monday morning. But as the storms moved on, word came from the powers that be at Independence, Iowa Motor Speedway that they would be good to go for their second Tuesday race in a row. With a stacked program of World of Outlaw Late Models, Karl Chevrolet Premier Late Models, IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Stock Cars along with a near zero chance of the "R" word, we were more than pumped, cool temps be darned! It had been a couple of seasons since I had checked in on the Race Indee folks and the improvements made to the racing surface since my last visit. Scott Webb Concrete would be the presenting sponsor for this marquee event.
It was a very large and early arriving crowd, but the lines at both the ticket booth and concession stands moved smoothly and efficiently as obviously a lot of planning went into this event. The track surface was in good condition except for a pesky dip in turn one that was mostly corrected during a manicuring session before the feature races. And even the eventual World of Outlaw feature winner admitted in victory lane that he was initially not pleased with the amount of water laid down on the three eighths mile, but the yield was two or three good racing lanes, so "I guess they know the track better than I do." Kudos to Mike Van Genderen, Dana Benning and crew for a job well done!
The WoO visit scheduled for 2025 at Indee was washed out, so having been two years since the Super Late Models had hit the oval, the track record was ripe for picking. And sure enough, it was eclipsed on multiple occasions before Nick Hoffman set the bar at 12.549 seconds in Group A qualifying. The Iowa dominate crowd soon erupted in cheers as native son Dallon Murty paced Group B at 12.854 seconds.
Thirty two competitors were divided into four eight lap heat races, and with "straight up" starts, it was no surprise that all four winners came from the front row. Hoffman, Jonathon Davenport and Murty all led the distance from the pole position while Bobby Pierce did the same from outside row one after pole sitter Daulton Wilson was penalized for jumping the start. Still there was a fair amount of movement in the qualifiers, including a charge from seventh to third by Justin Duty in heat two. Later in the program the sixteen non qualified cars ran a pair of Last Chance races with the top three moving on. Ethan Dotson and Dustin Sorensen both advanced from row two to victory lane, while another Iowa favorite, Chad Simpson made a dramatic late charge from seventh to third to earn a feature spot. Three provisionals would round out the twenty five car starting grid.
A solid field of twenty five Premier Late Models checked in, and they too ran four heats. National Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Jeff Aikey, defending series champion J.D. Auringer, Travis Smock and Logan Duffy picked up eight lap wins.
Sixteen IMCA Modifieds and twenty two IMCA Stock Cars would round out the ninety five car field. Kollin Hibdon ran off with Mod heat one and Etham Braaksma roared from sixth to take heat two. Stock Car heats came after intermission, with Gage Neal, Tom Schmitt and Braden Richards victorious.
The four car Super Late redraw saw point leader Hoffman and Murty line up in row one for the 40 lap #12,000 to win headliner. Hoffman shot to the lead taking along third starting Davenport and his row two mate Pierce. Davenport was absolutely ripping the lip all night, and on lap five he went over the top of turn two, falling to fifth. One lap later the first yellow came for Tyler Bruening. It was now Hoffman, Pierce, Garrett Alberson and Cade Dillard out front. Back to racing, Pierce shot below Hoffman, blasting to the lead out of turn two, Davenport rebounded to third and Drake Troutman powered to fourth. Pierce and Hoffman put some distance on the field and the leader had caught the back of the pack when the caution flag waved with thirteen laps scored. Two more laps went in the books before a third yellow as Murty drove off the top exiting turn two. Back under green, young Trey Mills found speed, entering the top five. On lap eighteen Davenport again went over the top of turn two losing several positions, but he caught a break as the yellow flag negated his mistake. To this point "Turbo" Tyler Erb had been a non factor, but suddenly he was on the charge, climbing to fourth. Pierce was now comfortably ahead, but he would again catch the tail of the field with about a dozen laps left, and with cars running side by side for position Hoffman would quickly close the gap. But just as things were getting interesting the yellow flag waved for a final time on lap thirty one. Erb would move to third as Davenport jumped the turn two cushion for a third time. With clear track ahead Pierce went on cruise control as Hoffman now found himself working to fend off Erb. On the final lap as Pierce drove to the win and the series points lead Erb eased around Hoffman for second place honors after starting in eighth. Troutman gained five spots to finish fourth while Mills crossed in fifth. Alberson paced the second five ahead of Davenport, Dotson, Sorensen and Dillard.
The clock was ticking as the Outlaws performed their made for TV post race festivities. Finally the Premier Late Models lined up for twenty five laps of action. Pole sitter Smock would lead his row one challenger Aikey as the green flag dropped. Smock would survive an early yellow, but as lap five was scored Aikey was ahead by a nose. One more lap went in the books before another caution, and on the restart Auringer muscled his way to second, Joel Callahan and Nick Marolf followed as Smock fell to fifth. Aikey held a nice lead as the race hit the mid point while Marolf picked off Callahan for third. Lap sixteen saw Nick clear Auringer for second, however Aikey was still in control. That would change when the caution flag would fly at lap twenty. Back to racing Marolf was all over the leader, finally moving to the front on lap twenty two. One more stoppage would set up a green, white, checkers finish. As Auringer faded back, Aikey missed his mark coming to the green, scrambling the field on the final laps. At the checkers it was Marolf taking his second series win. Quiet for most of the night, C. J. Horn suddenly found himself in the runner up spot after starting in row six. Troy Morris III advanced seven spots to third while Matt Ryan charged from row seven to fourth. Auringer completed the top five. Callahan, Aikey, Logan Duffy, Jason Hahne and Bobby Hansen rounded out the top ten.
Our self imposed curfew of 10:30 was moments away, so we headed for the car and the three hour journey home. Thanks to My Race Pass, for results, as Spencer Diercks picked up the Modified win over Cody Laney, Braaksma, Hibdon and Jed Freiburger. Richards took the Stock Car top prize, besting Schmitt, Damon Murty, Dakoda Sellers and Rowdy VanGenderen.
This event has been on my "can't miss" list since it was announced, and it did not disappoint!
Next up is a planned Friday visit closer to home as Darin Weisinger and crew try again to open a new chapter at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson.
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