It was a steamy Tuesday night on June 21st at the Hancock County Speedway in Britt. Thunderstorms were in the forecast but the weather people promised that they wouldn't arrive until 11pm or so, and while it's a dangerous thing to rely upon the weather people to control your destiny, that's pretty much what we were doing.
No hobos were sighted in Britt, but lots of IMCA Sport Mods as the event we were on hand to see was the annual Northern SportMod Topless Nationals with somewhere between $2,500 and $4,000 on hand for the winner, based on bonuses that some of the drivers could qualify for.
Interestingly, while the event name includes a reference to Sport Mods racing topless, there were no topless cars on hand as a decree on facebook this week indicated that all cars must have roofs on them. There was no indication why this changed and no reference made to it at the track Tuesday, but I'm guessing it had something to do with the sanctioning of the event and the cars not complying to basis rules without roofs. I didn't hear a single reference to it on Tuesday, either in the pits or in the grandstands and I guess it was a nonissue for most.
Much was added to the evening when I ran into Paul Vetter in the pits. Paul in the West Coast Regional Director for IMCA and was making his annual pilgrimage back to the Midwest for a week or so of solid dirt track racing. Paul is an almost endless fount of knowledge of what is going on in the world of racing and it is always a pleasure to talk to him. My only regret is that we usually only run into each other once or twice a year and most times he is so busy it's hard to commandeer too much of his valuable time.
Another person I always run into when I visit a Joe Ringsdorf promotion is announcer Chad Meyer. Meyer does best what a good announcer should do and that is to make sure the basics are covered. That would include telling the crowd who the drivers are, where they are from and just as importantly, who qualifies for the main, how many from the heats etc. I was just reading a rant on some board recently by someone who was complaining about many announcers being so worried about mentioning all fifteen sponsors on every race car and all twenty eight billboard sponsors the track has that they have no time to give the fans the basic information they need to make their evening more pleasurable. Meyer is not guilty of that. Being as interested in the qualifying information as anyone, I was pleased to hear when he told us how many Sport Mods qualified out of the heats, how many from the B's etc, rather than constantly reminded us that the track has the best hot dogs North of the Mason-Dixon line!
Along with the Sport Mod Nationals, all the classes that normally race at Hancock County were also in action as tonight's program replaces their regular Saturday night show this week. Modifieds, Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts were all also on the card. However, the Sport Mods had more competitors than the other four classes combined with only the Hobby Stocks needed two heat races to set their order for the main events.
A one spin rule in the heats kept the program moving as the clouds started streaming in from the West and the Sport Mods could have probably also used the same rule for their B's, as these were the only qualifying races of the night that seemed to get bogged down in yellows.
But, before we knew it, it was feature time with the premier event of the evening, the Sport Mod main event, saved for last. Often times for a show like this, with one of the support classes having the special, there would be plenty of people who came to see other classes race "bail" before the final event but it seemed that just about everyone stayed around to watch the Sport Mods in the finale.
Twenty four of the forty three Sport Mods made the main, with thirty laps being the distance. It was an interesting main event with lots of twists and turns. The first two thirds of the race went by with only a single yellow. Then the yellow bunting started to wave with regularity with five yellows in a four lap period, all leading to a five lap sprint to the finish.
For most of the race, Jared Boumeester was the leader with Carter VandenBerg chasing him. Behind those two, there was a cluster of cars that traded positions back and forth. However, I was keeping an eye on B feature winner Johnathan Logue who had won that event by running the low side of the track. I'm thinking that his B feature run was very beneficial to him when it came to setting up his car for the main event.
All the previous feature races had been won by driving hugging the low side of the track. However, they brought out the unique water bus to prep the track before the last feature, and this changed the dynamic of the track, making it a high groove track for the start of the Sport Mod main. However, I was keeping an eye on the track, as I felt it might change as the race progressed and turn back into a low side track.
Logue was doing the same thing as he chose to run the low side of the track throughout the event. For awhile the progress was slow but then he started to pick up the pace and with most of the drivers racing high in the corners, he had an open lane to the front of the field. With a few wrecks and yellows, suddenly he found himself in a position to challenge for the win.
Three times Logue passed Boumeester for the lead, only to have the pass negated by another yellow flag. Jared was trying as hard as he could but he simply couldn't keep his car on the bottom of the track where he needed to be, and finally, on the fourth shot, Logue drove under him and the pass counted and Logue then drove away for the win.
Logue was more than pleased with the win, stating that it was the first feature race that he had ever won at a track other than Boone. Austin Luellen also got past Boumeester before he could get to the bottom lane of the track. Same Wieben and VandenBerg completed the top five.
The Modified feature had a crazy finish. Clint Wendel had led from the start but near the end of the race he was getting slower and slower with the rest of the top five runners all catching him but due to the one lane nature of the track, no one was able to pass him as he guarded the low side. Finally, Jesse Hoeft made a move in turn four as the field came for the white flag. The leaders got together with both catching a fair amount of air. Hoeft suffered a flat tire in the contact and he slid off turn four into the track drive way while Wendel was able to keep going and with the track clear, the starter showed the field the white flag and then the checkered and Wendel drove home for the win.
When you say "Smith" in Iowa, you say feature win and Tuesday it was David, the only Smith on hand who was the winner. He got to the front early in the Stock Car feature and withstood a strong challenge from Derek Green for the win. Kevin Opheim gave all those in the stands who love to boo him some thrills as he went flying off the end of the track during the heat and broke the front end, which pleased his detractors no end. However, he did come from the back of the feature field to salvage a third place in the main event.
Cody Nielsen has been dominating the Hobby Stock class here this year and he added another victory to his totals Tuesday. He got to the front quickly too but then slipped up and let Andrew Borchardt pass him. Nielsen had to get his elbows up and dig and after a restart he was able to get under Borchardt down the back chute and retake the lead which he then maintained to the finish.
Oliver Monson cruised to the Sport Compact win over a small field of competitors with many of the regulars missing on this night.
One noticeable observation about the track I can make is how much the surface seems to have changed in recent years. It used to be that Hancock County was one of those black dirt tracks in Iowa where I could almost guarantee that the surface would remain sticky all night and the motors would be pulling so hard that they would be groaning in pain. Walk across the track after the races and it would still just about suck your shoes right off your feet. Now days just the opposite is the case as it is usually slick and hard to get a hold of. Once the track was rolled in, you would never see any kind of equipment on the track after that. Now days, the misting truck spends as much time on the track as do most of the race cars. Has this change come as the result of the types of motors that many race now days, with the low horsepower crates certainly liking a slick track much more than a heavy one. I do not know the answer to this but it is certainly different than it used to be.
In his final year as promoter at Hancock County before he retires, Joe Ringsdorf as many big events still on the schedule. Next up is Tuesday, June 28th with his Salute to the Veterans race. All veterans and their wives get in for free, big money is on the line for all divisions and the Hawkeye Dirt Tour Modifieds will be racing also.
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