After two days of all most nonstop work, the staff at 34 Raceway plus all their friends, associates and everyone else they could marshal to drive a tractor or other piece of heavy equipment were able to subdue Mother Nature enough that the season opener for both the Deery Brothers Late Model series and the Sprint Invaders series were able to be held on Saturday, April 1st. I'm sure they didn't consider it an April Fool's Day prank that rain fell by the inches at the track most of the week, but everyone involved put in yeoman work to get the track and grounds in good enough shape that racing could take place. Other than those directly involved, no one else will ever know for sure just how much work was involved in getting the track in shape so racing could be held, but hopefully at least a few people took the time to thank the Laue's for their effort.
A doubleheader of the Deery Series and the Sprint Invaders was a very interesting combination to start the season and caught the interest of both the Late Model and open wheel fans with what I would guess was about a fifty fifty representation of fans following their action.
As much work as was put in on the race track, truly the most difficult part of the entire grounds was getting the pits in shape so that the big haulers could get to their parking spots. The pits were incredibly soft and the ruts left by some of the big rigs, a few of which had to be pulled into the pits by large tractors, were almost unbelievable. After the first few smaller rigs drove in, the first big rig got stuck right in the driveway and it took a large effort just to get it freed. At this point, I was worried that they might just throw in the towel and call it a night but the stubborn effort they had put in to this point continued, and the race crews also remained surprisingly determined to race while not letting the less than ideal conditions rule their thinking. I would guess that if the same thing happens again in July, the decision will be much different, but with this being the first race of the year for just about everyone, opening night enthusiasm by racers, pit crews, track officials and prep people along with the spectators themselves trumped everything else. Let the green flag fly!
Let's look at the Late Model division first. Thirty one Late Models signed in to race, a number that was slightly disappointing to me. While it is indeed very early and certainly many drivers are still not ready to go at this point, if anyone was seriously considering a run at the Deery points, they would have to be on hand for the opener.
I did have a side bet going on with a couple of the other "rail birds" before the gates opened and I can tell you that the cunning observer of racing for many years, Ryan Clark was the winner of our little contest.
Strong pockets of Late Models came from the Quad Cities, Dubuque and the Waterloo areas while there were virtually no local Late Models any more from right around Burlington. What a difference years have made as at one time, both the numbers and quality of the local cars was second to none. However, with no local tracks running Late Models weekly any more and the closest ones like Donnellson now running the Pro Late Models with crate motors, there just aren't many local cars to add to the mix. I was told that inquiries were made by some of the PLM group as far as running this show, but unfortunately, the rules between the two just didn't mesh to the point where there could be sharing of cars.
I thought the Late Model portion of the program was very entertaining and the drivers really were running hard for it being opening night. Nick Marolf was the star of the show as he was noticeably faster than anyone else and once he got past Jay Johnson for the lead, he pulled comfortably away from the field with only the lapped cars to cause him problems.
It was a night when the veteran drivers shone, even though not all of them had the finishes to match how they performed. Leading the list was the "Iron Man" of IMCA, Darrel DeFrance. Old DD looked like a "Spring Chicken" on this night as he got a strong second place finish in the main event. Not a fan of heavy tracks and challenging conditions, he nevertheless persevered for a strong opening night finish. A couple of other long time racers also looked good but couldn't finish out the night. Both Curt Martin and Johnson had plenty of zip to challenge the field but neither could keep their cars running for the distance. Johnson also got on his lid and Martin got tattooed enough that he finally had to call it a night. Lasting through the thirty five lapper was a challenge as fifty per cent of the field never saw the checkered.
Jesse Sobbing, making his first foray into Deery Brothers racing, looked fast and will be a good addition to the series. Two flat tires in the main eventually led him to parking his car after he was a challenger early.
What a terrible start for the season for Andy Eckrich. Once shutters to see any kind of bad wreck so early in the season but to ride the wall and spectacularly flip like he did is even worse.
One thing about the Deery series that I don't particularly care for is the way they determine the starting lineup. By taking only three cars out of each heat, they force the majority of the field to race three times in order to earn a check. It just seems to me that they artificially make the B features bigger by taking so few cars, and while that might make the B's marginally more exciting for the fans, it also forces a lot of the racers to put more laps on their cars and increase their chances of either wrecking or breaking equipment. I'd like to see a difference balance on how many are taken and reward a few more of the drivers for their heat race efforts by not having to run the always dangerous B features.
On the Sprint side of things, a strong field of thirty three cars signed in to race. The regulars on the Invaders Series were joined by many Knoxville regulars who have yet to turn wheels in competition and were also joined by a number of new drivers looking to move up in the open wheel ranks. The Sprint racing is always wild on any night but add in the tacky fast and somewhat bumpy conditions that developed and it is a formula for some wild racing action. Four flips occurred during the night with fortunately no injuries to report.
The three Phillips brothers are a show of their own and they garnered much attention Saturday. Tasker was the early leader until he stood his car on its nose in turn four, yet kept going and only lost two spots! Then Rager took over the top spot, only to get tangled with a lapped car and take a wild ride off turn four, fortunately without tipping over.
Carson McCarl then inherited the lead and held on for the win. Jon Agan was closing at the end, and if not for a bad restart with two laps to go, he just might have stolen the win. Despite the rugged conditions that developed as the evening progressed, the Sprint feature saw only two yellow flags and the majority were still running at the end.
There are clearly a lot of Sprint Car fans in this region as when the open wheel feature was completed, approximately 30-40 per cent of the fans got up and left, not staying for the Late Model show. Perhaps the late hour had something to do with this also, but I was surprised at the number who walked out early.
The track stayed very good for the early part of the show but as you might expect, as the evening wore on the track started to rut up and it was a pretty bumpy ride by feature time. The heavy Late Models seemed to ride the roughest with the Sprints seeming to be able to skim over the top of the ruts better. However, the number of drivers that took it easy and pulled off early was minimal.
Jeff Broeg and Bill Wright called the action on Saturday and they did an excellent job of entertaining us as well as giving us the information that we needed.
I can only hope that the Laue's were rewarded for all the work they put in and not overly criticized for the bumpy track conditions that finished off the evening as they had every reason possible for not racing but still opted to do all the work they did to get a race completed.
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