It's always good to have a back up plan and it's even better when you don't have to use the back up plan. However, if plan B is needed, it is nice when it all works out and hours spent on the road and money spent to get up and down the road are justified by seeing some racing. Such was the case on Tuesday, May 24th. Even if the featured class was different than I had planned and the racing was two states away from where I had counted on being.
The hope on Tuesday was to catch the Lucas Oil Late Model Series at one of my favorite tracks, the I-80 Speedway West of Omaha that is owned by the Kosiski brothers. On Monday night, it didn't look like they got much rain and the forecast, while still questionable, seemed to hold the possibility of a window of opportunity to get the races in on Tuesday. So I took off early on Tuesday morning but when I called the I-80 office shortly after 9 a.m., the show had been already canceled due to much rain in the Superior Nebraska area and a forecast that seemed to promise more. I believe I talked to Lee Ackerman on the phone, and he expressed surprise that they had received that much rain West of Omaha as he didn't get the much rain where he lived.
Anyway, here I was, all dressed up to go racing and no where to go. However, I knew that the Nobles Co. Speedway in Worthington Minnesota was scheduled to open on Tuesday night and if they didn't get too much rain, perhaps I would luck out. A phone call to promoter Justin Holzapfel found that Worthington had received between two and three inches of rain over night on Monday, but Justin said that the drain tile works very well at the track and that they were going to make a decision by Noon or so. So I pulled into the nearest rest stop, and killed a couple of hours reading the only race paper I still get, Area Auto Racing News. When I called just after lunch, I got the good news that the racing was on, and being only a couple of hours from Worthington, I got there in plenty of time.
At the track Justin told me their biggest concern was not the track but the pits as they have a low North end where all the water runs to, but they were able to get everything squared away and racing was on, which was a good thing since it was an absolutely gorgeous night.
The infield of the track was like a lake and there was a high berm of dirt graded to the inside of the track, so there would be no cutting of corners on this night. The track itself was a little soft, but a grader job after the heats made it much better for the main events.
For those that have not been to the Nobles County Speedway before, the facility is a unique one. Although it is at the county fairgrounds, the fairgrounds are right smack in the middle of town. At one time the fairgrounds was probably on the edge of the city, but now the city has grown up all around the fairgrounds. Interstate 90 butts right up against the North end of the pits and truckers going by frequently give an airhorn blast to the racers. A Walmart butts right up against the East side of the pits and the two are only a flimsy fence apart from each other. If there is such a thing as urban racing, this is it.
The Nobles County Speedway is referred to by many as "The Bullring of Southwestern Minnesota" and it is definitely an action track. It's a small quarter mile and while it is wide, the inside line almost always seems the fast way around the track so there is always much jockeying to get to the low side the times I have been to this track, which for me, was just last year for the first time.
This is the second year that Nobles County has operated on Tuesday nights, and I'm assuming last year was successful for them as they have gone from a limited schedule that they ran last year to a full schedule of Tuesday night racing in 2016. When you think about it, Northwest Iowa and Southwest Minnesota must be the area with more race tracks and more nights of racing than any place in the Midwest. You can literally race six nights per week and not have to travel too far. All of which means that the tracks are in heavy competition with each other for both fans and racers and that most of the tracks don't have an over abundance of race cars because there just aren't enough cars to go around.
All five classes that race at Nobles County are IMCA sanctioned this year and on opening night, a total of fifty one drivers signed in to race. Quite unusual was the fact that the Modified class had by far the largest number of drivers racing. I was a bit confused when all five classes ran a pair of heat races, even though three of the classes had less than ten cars. At home, ten cars are required as a minimum to run two heats but no less an authority on IMCA rules than Chet Christianson(who was announcing the race for TV), told me that IMCA has no such rule.
The usual opening night kinks caused the show to start a few minutes late, but once they got going they really banged the races through quickly. In fact, the heat races were completed in perhaps a record time of twenty nine minutes!
A little track prep was necessary before the features hit the track but the whole show was completed in two hours, perfect for a midweek race.
On the track, the racing was highlighted by a great Modified feature race. Ricky"The Racer" Stephan started up front and he had a big lead, but there were a couple of great battles going on behind him. Jason Fisher and Jim Cole swapped second back and forth and the Rogotzke brothers, Matt Hollerich and Jay Noteboom had a wild duel going on for position behind them.
Suddenly, the yellow flew with four laps left and the complexion of the race changed dramatically. Noteboom took off like a shot and gain a couple spots and then he, like a shark smelling blood, attached the lead duo. He was able to get past Fisher and then, with only two laps to go, he passed Stephan for the lead. Noteboom came from tenth to record the stunning win. It was a dandy way to wrap up the night.
Previously, Dustin Larson scored an easy Stock Car win after his main competition Luke Saathoff blew a motor. Matt Looft started on the pole for the Sport Mods and that was bad news for the competition. Dan Strandberg was impressive in the Hobby Stocks holding off some tough runners behind him and defending national champion Nate Coopman cruised in the Sport Compacts.
It was a very late arriving crowd but after everyone got there, I thought for a Tuesday night in May when there are a million things going on, that it was a pretty decent crowd. Truthfully, for a week night show, they really won't know what they're getting for both fans and drivers until school is done for the Summer.
Thanks to promoter Justin Holzapfel for his assistance on what is always a hectic night for a promoter. And not only is Justin running Nobles County this year, he has also taken over at Redwood Speedway in Redwood Falls, a Sunday night track running IMCA classes also.
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