Bloomfield Was The Place To Be On Monday

    Back in my younger days, holiday weekends meant an extra day off work, afternoons around the grill, then an extra day of racing! Some time between 1986 and 2026 habits changed and track promoters crunched the numbers and apparently decided that holiday Monday racing was not a profitable venture. I can't say if this Memorial Day was a "one off " or a trend, but a full grandstand at the Bloomfield Speedway certainly bucked the trend. 

   Mike Van Genderen typically schedules a handful of races each season at the fast dirt oval on the Davis County Fairgrounds, and he had planned to bring back Late Models this season with the Friday opener of a three day trek across Iowa for the east division of the SLMR series. However wet conditions made that a no go. But rather than cancel the show entirely, the decisions was made to move the race to Monday with an early start time, and what a good decision it was!

   It was not just the fans, but the racers turned out as well, with eighty five entrants across the five divisions checking in. With sponsor money coming in late, IMCA Modifieds were a late addition to the program, and unfortunately only seven cars were on hand, however the original four scheduled classes turned out a range between seventeen Late Models and twenty two IMCA Stock Cars. And those in the pits represented at least seven different states!

   A 6:00 start combined with unlimited sunshine, warm temps, and a steady breeze created less than favorable track conditions early, as the heat races were mostly a one lane follow the leader affair. But during intermission MVG reworked the (one third, three eighths? mile) oval, and feature racing was multi groove, back and forth action. 

   Racing began with time trial qualifying for the Late Models, and South Dakota driver Blair Nothdurft topped the field with a lap of 18.313 seconds. Top contender Tad Pospisil encountered issues during hot laps and was unable to take his qualifying laps, but made repairs by heat race time. To counter the "start the fastest cars up front," SLMR uses a six car invert for heat race action. However they do reward time trial with a points system to reward the quick qualifiers. Regular readers of this blog will know that I am a fan of  passing points and SLMR uses the process along with the time trial points to set feature lineups. However it seems like they must have used government mathematicians to come up with such a complicated system! 

   Anyway, feature racing kicked off with all twenty one IMCA Northern Sport Mods lining up for eighteen laps. Cole Gillenwater jumped to the lead before a multi car mess on the front stretch eliminated three cars and resulted in an otherwise original restart. Now it was Cody Agee powering to the front, opening a sizable lead over Gillenwater. Meanwhile it was Brayton Carter on the move from row three to third on lap five. Also on the move was Will Wolf, as Agee continued to set a fast pace. Further back in the pack cars raced three wide, fighting for position. Agee caught slower traffic as Carter moved to second at the halfway point followed by a second yellow flag. Back under green, Carter powered to the lead while Agee and Wolf now battled for second. Carter would pull well ahead until a final caution at lap fourteen brought him back to the field. Now it was Brandon Dale finding late speed, and he grabbed the runner up spot as the white flag flew. Carter breezed to his third victory of the weekend, while Dale held off Wolf, twelfth starting Dylan VanWyk, and Agee. Always the gambler, at his special events Van Genderen offers all drivers the opportunity to drop an extra thirty bucks at check in for a chance at a double payoff for a feature win. "Speedy Bray" was one of several who took the challenge, and he collected a cool $1,000 for his win. 

   The travelling SLMR series has a challenge of their own a Skyline Materials Lucky Six bonus to the top points earner who can elect to start and win from sixth, collecting the rolling bonus which sat at $2,750 on top of the $3,000 feature payday. On this night pole sitter Jesse Sobbing declined, passing the torch to outside row one starter Chad Simpson who accepted the challenge. 

   This would move Nothdurft to outside row one, and he would lead Sobbing early. Meanwhile Simpson and eighth starting Dylan Thornton were on the move, climbing to third and fourth by lap five. Soon Sobbing would begin to apply pressure, grabbing the lead on lap ten, and Simpson also cleared Nothdurft for second. The top four continued to battle closely, separated a bit from the pack. On lap fifteen Simpson jumped to the high line and shot past Sobbing off turn two for the lead. The race stayed green and Chad caught heavy traffic by lap nineteen, but he was patient and moved smoothly through the slower cars. He would eventually open a nearly straightaway advantage, cruising to the win and the big payday in the non stop twenty five lapper. Sobbing was second followed by Thornton, Nothdurft and Jason Hahne. Jacob Hobscheidt led the next five over Pospisil, Derrick Stewart, C. J. Horn, and Charlie McKenna. 

   All twenty two IMCA Stock Cars would contest eighteen laps. Front row starters Jason See and Wisconsin racer Tyler Wilson quickly pulled away from the pack before a single caution with five laps scored brought them back to the field. Now Derrick Agee and Dustin Griffiths joined the leaders in a four car scramble. Agee charged to the runner up spot on lap nine, then ran side by side with See, grabbing the top spot two laps later. As the laps would down, Wilson also cleared See for second, but Agee remained in control, also becoming a " double down" $1,000 winner. The final rundown would be Agee, Wilson, See, and Griffiths, with Corey Strothman holding off John Oliver Jr. for fifth.

   A solid eighteen car field of IMCA Hobby Stocks checked in, with only Billy Scott missing the fifteen lap feature call. Garrett Porter paced lap one before Tom Killen Jr. climbed to the front one lap later ahead of the only yellow flag. Back to racing Killen Jr. drove off from the pack as cars battled three wide behind him. The Des Moines driver was never seriously challenged in picking up the win. A pair of #55's came next with Brett Maasdam in the runner up slot chased by Corey VanDerwilt. Keaton Gordon and Porter would complete the top five. 

   Eighteen laps of IMCA Modified racing would put a wrap on the racing. Cory Sample, who calls Winnemucca, Nevada home charged from outside row one to pace the opening circuit over Colton Nelson. Jace Whitt moved to second on lap two just ahead of the lone stoppage of the event. Brandon Banks moved in to battle Whitt as racing resumed, taking over second briefly before Whitt retook the spot on lap five. Sample was not to be denied, however, as he led all eighteen laps to score the win. Whitt held off Banks and Dakota Simmons, with Nelson the last car running in fifth. 

   The final checkers came a bit after 9:30 and we headed for the exit ahead of what looked to be a quality fireworks show. 

   Thanks to MVG and his team for their hospitality and as usual a tight, well run show. 

   Next up for us will be a return to weekly racing Friday at Lee County Speedway. School is out, summer weather is here, let's go racing!