I was in the pits at Humboldt when I received a phone call from a friend to inform me that the season opening Frost Buster event at the Hancock County Speedway in Britt Iowa had been postponed from Saturday night to Sunday due to high winds and cold temperatures. With the weather forecast seemingly much more promising for the coming twenty four hours, it seemed likely that they could get their show in on Sunday. Since I would be motoring up the freeway not far at all to the East of Britt, and I have been at this track a number of times over the years and am familiar with many of the drivers that race there, it seemed like the natural thing to do to stop in on my way home Sunday.
Sunday was considerably warmer than Saturday had been in northern Iowa, at least until the wind shifted later in the day and made things cool before the final checkered flag waved. The big thing was the wind, which was blowing near hurricane force and making the drive on the freeway a handful, especially for the truckers sharing the road (and much of my lane on occasion) with me.
As I cut my way up through central Iowa and drove through some monstrous large wind farms, many with the blades on the wind mills not even moving, I had to ask myself, "why, with it being the windiest day of the Spring aren't these blades even turning?" Perhaps someone who knows more about these things than I(which should include most of the population) can explain this to me.
In any event, Joe Ringsdorf and his crew at Hancock Co. had their hands full with track prep on this day. The track was still wet underneath so they didn't water much and instead let the wind dry out the track. However, as race time grew near they had to put some water on the track or dust everyone out. In the early going it was very dusty but the wind was fortunately in the proper direction so as not to dust out the fans and also keep the dirt moving so that overall it didn't affect the drivers ability to see. It was a tough series of events to have to deal with, especially for the opening race where the loose track surface could have also been subject to getting rough, which didn't happen by the way. Eventually the cars racing firmed up the lower groove and then they just watered the cushion which allowed the track to widen out some, and overall, considering the circumstances they had to deal with, they ended up with a pretty good race track.
Despite the fact that this was a weather delayed race by twenty four hours and much of the promotional materials for this event stated the rain date as April 9th, a solid field of one hundred and twenty cars was on hand in the five classes that race at Britt. They got started in a timely manner and expect for the delays taken to quickly mist the track, the program charged right through without any breaks in the action.
There were thirty Sport Mods in action and high twenties in the other classes, except for the Sport Compacts which did field enough cars for two heats. Only the Sport Mods required a B feature with all other classes running everyone still operational in the feature events.
Before the races I had the opportunity to roam the pits and see who was on hand. I also got the chance to talk to track announcer Chad Meyer who is the voice for much of northern Iowa racing . I also got to visit with Toby Kruse, who was on hand with Tom Berry, a California Modified racer who is living with Toby in Boone and racing in Iowa all summer. Unfortunately, Berry was the only Modified driver not able to take a green in the main after he snapped a driveshaft in his heat.
The Sport Compact feature was first on the track and the results of this event were probably as surprising as for any of the night. Nate Coopman was the leader early and for the driver from Mankato MN who has won about three hundred feature races in the last couple of years(only slightly exaggerating here), once he is in front, he seldom loses. However, on this night his car wasn't handling very good in the corners and Sioux City's Cody Thompson was able to get under him and drive away for the surprising win.
The Hobby Stock feature was plagued by yellow flags but Cody Nielsen, who started in the front row, led all the way for the win while Trevor Holm charged up from seventeenth to finish a close second over Weston Koop.
Just the opposite of the Hobby Stocks, the Sport Mods accomplished their main with only one yellow flag. George Nordman made a great move to go from the second row to the lead in one swoop and he then pulled away for a pretty easy triumph. Joey Schaefer, in the 2$ car finished second. Earlier his car owner told me he wasn't putting Joey's name on the car so as to motivate him to keep driving hard but after this race, perhaps he will at least write his name on the roof in erasable ink!
Minnesota drivers made their presence felt here in northern Iowa on this early April afternoon and another was Dan Mackenthun. He started on the pole and despite the fact that he was surrounded by Smiths, he kept his whits and maintained his line to take the Stock Car win.
Twenty six Modifieds took the green flag and again it was a Minnesota driver showing the way as Trent Loverude led for much of the first half of the race. However, there were enough early yellows to keep the pack bunched and when Loverude wandered off the bottom, he got freight trained by a crisp running pack. "Downtown" Kyle Brown moved into the lead but he had Kelly Shryock putting on the heat. Shryock was one of the few not afraid to move up the track to try and pass and while it helped him, it also cost him positions that he had to fight back to gain. At the end, Brown held his line and smartly drove home for the win. Jay Noteboom, Adam Larson and Tim Ward trailed.
It was interesting to see both Shryock and Mark Noble racing Modifieds today. It would appear that their careers have traveled full circle as both have returned to their earlier roots as they reach this station in their racing careers.
Most impressive of anything for the entire day? The size of the crowd in the stands. Given only twenty four hours notice that the rain date was Sunday and not next Saturday, the spectators filled the good sized grandstands with nary an empty seat to be found. At the drop of the final checkered, they scramble to the warmth of their vehicles and mentally prepared for Monday morning and work or school. Hancock County returns to their regular schedule with the season opener next Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
Thanks to Joe Ringsdorf for rolling out the red carpet for me. For next week I'm leaning toward some Iowa Late Model racing but as always, everything is subject to the weather.
No comments:
Post a Comment