Saturday night 34 Raceway owners Brad Stevens and Jessi Mynatt rolled out the red carpet to celebrate sixty years of racing at the West Burlington speed plant. Grandstand admission when the high banked three eighths mile track opened in 1966 was a buck fifty. While they could not quite match that, the $5.00 Fan Appreciation price was even more of a bargain, and the large crowd on hand apparently thought so as well! A couple of replica Semi Super Modifieds from "back in the day" were on display, and long time racer Ned Fry had his various 34 Raceway history books on sale behind the stands. These text and photo books come highly recommended, I own several myself. While I am not a "charter member" of the track alum, I have been a frequent visitor since the late 1960's and have witnessed many changes to the facility. One thing has not changed, and that is exciting racing, and we had plenty of that on Saturday.
Five IMCA divisions plus 305 Sprints were on the bill while IMCA Stock Cars had the night off. A solid total of eighty racers checked in on what turned out to be a beautiful night with just enough cloud cover to mostly override that pesky setting sun.
Other than celebration, the theme of the night was patience and self control. Twelve heat races would help determine the feature lineups, and they clicked off caution free in just over an hour. During the twenty minute intermission, Brad, Jessi, and Ned addressed and entertained the crowd, then it was feature time.
IMCA Northern Sport Mods were up first with all twelve racing fifteen laps. Tim Tucker led lap one before Mexico, Mo. driver Kahne Groves took over on lap two. That duo raced side by side, Tucker ahead on lap three, Kahne on lap four. By the mid point Kahne had opened a lead while Tucker was also well ahead of the battle for third. With just three laps to go, the first caution flag of the night came as Levi Laymon spun in turn four, collecting Colton Laymon. Jarrett VanDenBerg took advantage of the Delaware restart to charge to second as Tucker was soon challenged for third by Sean Wyett. Kahne would hold on for the win, with VanDenBerg in second. Wyett would come next followed by Tucker and Jason Masengarb. All twelve cars were running at the checkers.
Twelve was also the number of 305's, and they lined up for fifteen circuits. Luke Lane sat on the pole and quickly jumped ahead, with fifth starting John Barnard in tow. Daniel Berquist would clear Barnard for second the next time around, as Lane pulled away. Just past the halfway mark Barnard was able to use lapped traffic to retake the runner up spot. With zero yellow flags, Lane spent the second half of the race in lapped traffic. Although Barnard was able to close the gap in the final laps, he could not get close enough for a serious challenge. Berquist crossed in third, trailed by Riley Scott and Ian Steward. Thirteen year old Braxton Flatt drove a steady race to finish in sixth.
IMCA Sport Compacts turned out only seven competitors with six taking the green flag for ten laps. Tim Schnathorst climbed from row two to lead every lap in front of Drew Stanek. Behind those two, Brandon Lambert and Darin Smith would race side by side for all ten caution free laps with Smith nosing in front for third at the checkers. Chadrick Edward Poland rounded out the top five.
IMCA Late Models topped the roster with twenty one entries. All except Blaise Lewis came to the track for twenty five laps. Teammates Jason Oenning and Denny Woodworth paced the field, with Denny grabbing the lead. The Late Model Lawyer opened a sizable lead before catching the back of the pack with ten laps scored. Oenning closed quickly, but as traffic cleared Woodworth again stretched his lead. As the laps wound down in yet another caution free event, Oenning soon had his hands full with Jeremy Pundt. With Woodworth cruising to the win, Pundt would clear Oenning for second exiting turn two on the final lap. Tommy Elston fought heavy traffic early before finishing fourth while Mitch Boles took hard charger honors gaining eight positions to fifth. Ray Raker, Sam Halstead, Jay Johnson, Curtis Glover, and Jake Griffin also scored top ten finishes.
IMCA Hobby Stocks were the "bad guys" with a whole three yellow flags slowing their fifteen lapper! The first came as the pack exited turn four on lap one, a multi car skirmish that resulted in two cars hooked together. A very lengthy delay followed as the safety crew worked diligently to separate the machines. Brett Timmerman would jump ahead on the original restart. Tucker Richardson and seventh starting Nathan Ballard cleared the leader ahead of another stoppage with four laps scored. Back under green Richardson led lap after lap around the cushion with Ballard running in his tire tracks just inches behind. The final yellow flag came with five to go, and Timmerman jumped to second on the Delaware restart. Ballard quickly retook the spot, then set sail after Richardson once again. On the final circuit, Tucker drifted high at the exit of turn two and Ballard blasted through the opening to take his first lead. Just as that looked like the winning move, Nathan then drifted high in turn four, opening the door. However he quickly recovered to take the checkered flag in front of Richardson. Timmerman held off Jaice Tuttle for third while Garrett Porter started and finished fifth.
All thirteen Modifieds would round out the night with twenty laps of, you guessed it, caution free racing! Kaylin Lopez used his pole start to grab the lead with Adam Shelman in second. Jace Eckrich powered to the runner up spot on lap two, and on the next trip around it was Eckrich, Shelman, and Chris Zogg racing three wide for second. Joined by Logan Anderson and Austen Becerra, the top six soon drove off, battling for positions. Eckrich was able to clear Lopez on lap six, then methodically stretched his advantage as the race hit the halfway point. Now it was Becerra on the move, third by lap ten and second two laps later. While Jace ran a steady line around the middle groove, Austen was pounding the cushion in turns one and two, then using a high to low diamond move to close the gap at the other end. With five laps remaining Becerra had moved to the rear bumper of the leader, who now had lapped traffic to contend with. With the white flag flying Eckrich tried to squeeze below a slower car while Becerra jumped to the cushion, blowing past both cars to take the lead and the thrilling win. Lopez also joined the podium , topping Zogg, Anderson, and Shelman.
Four yellow flags total and the final checkers waved just moments ahead of 10:00! Next Saturday is Kids Night at 34 Raceway, with lots of giveaways for the youngsters, mainly focusing on school supplies.
Thanks to Brad, Jessi, and their crew for a great night of racing!
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