Tuesday, May 23rd, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series arrived at the Kosiski family's I-80 Speedway for a highly anticipated event along with a two grand to win non sanctioned Modified contest.
On a night when by most measures we really shouldn't have even had the pleasure of seeing a race held, somehow the I-80 crew pulled together, fought off the unfavorable weather conditions, made the track much more than just raceable and still got the show completed at a very reasonable hour.
After rain on Monday night, the facility was pretty well soaked by Tuesday and an non cooperative weather system that kept spinning back showers at us from the Northeast didn't make things any easier. They were late opening the pits as they waited to see what the weather might deliver and twice after the cars started unloading and making themselves ready to race, it showered again. The second time it came down pretty hard and for more than just a minute or two. The pit lane was a mess with Modifieds as they were arriving needing to be pulled down pit lane as they were getting stuck in the mud. The track looked wet but no one had even ventured out on the racing surface at this point.
I think many at this point were assuming the worst and getting ready for the inevitable announcement. I happened to be standing near the Lucas Oil command trailer on pit lane just around 5 pm when Joe Kosiski came out of their trailer after an apparent meeting. Joe was carrying a microphone and was walking down pit lane as he prepared to make an announcement. This looked bad in my estimation, as all I could assume was that he was getting ready to "pull the plug" and send us home.
So, I, along with many others on pit lane were stunned when he asked the drivers for their help as much as possible, and stated that the races were still on and that they would be preparing the track for racing action as soon as they could. He also stated, however, that if they got hit by any more showers that they would be done. With that the heavy equipment moved on to the track while other vehicles continued to work making pit lane as passable as possible. Lucas Oil announcer James Essex then took the microphone to announce that the driver's meetings would be held as per the schedule and that everyone better either unload their cars, uncover them or in general, get ready to race as planned. This produced a wild scramble of activity for many of the Modifieds especially who had not unloaded their cars.
I saw several of the Lucas folks kind of shaking their heads and rolling their eyes and several of the teams were seen pleading their case to the Lucas officials but it appeared that Kosiski had "laid down the law" and that racing would be held unless they had a very good reason not to.
I have to admit that I was as "dumbstruck" as many others but since I drove seven and a half hours to see racing, I was tickled pink. And you know that it was the very same people that made the decision to race that would likely later be the ones to take it "in the shorts." With the very threatening weather, wind and cold conditions, it was not a "chamber of commerce" night and likely would hold the crowd down. If fact, at this time there were only a handful of people in the grandstands and while it would fill in later, it still was not the kind of crowd that one would expect for such an event. And certainly, the weather was the sole reason why. So I applaud the Kosiski family for their efforts and their "gumption" to pull this one off and I hope everyone else that benefited from or enjoyed the night makes sure to tell them thanks.
Just as amazing was how quickly the track came back into shape for them and before you knew it, they were hot lapping the Modifieds. They actually got the show started only about twenty minutes after the original advertised time and I'll be darned if I know just how they were able to get the track whipped back into shape that quickly. It was a minor miracle as far as I'm concerned.
Thirty two Lucas Oil Late Models signed in for the show including their top twelve in points. Other entrants included several regional traveling stars and a few of the local competitors, a couple of which ran very well and acquitted themselves well. Budding IMCA Late Model star Jesse Sobbing was on hand to debut a new Black Diamond car but his choice of power was a 525 crate motor and on this night, that simply wasn't enough horses to be competitive.
Surprise entrants included Pennsylvania's Mason Zeigler and Chase Junghans, now running an independent schedule. Also on hand was Rodney Sanders and the Duty family from Oregon along with the latest driver of the Gressell rig, Wichita's Tanner Mullins.
Four heats and two B features set the field for the fifty lapper with Don O'Neal having to take a provisional and pulling out his back up car. The feature event was a grueling event as the track was blinding fast and as such, very hard on the equipment with nearly as many drivers dropping out as those that finished. Many of those starting near the back just pulled off to save their equipment while there were a couple of wild wrecks as well.
One of Iowa's favorite sons, Chris Simpson, took a wild ride on the back chute after contact between himself and Hudson O'Neal. Simpson's car went high in the air as it cart wheeled down the back chute and after everyone exhaled, Chris scrambled out unhurt. I have to confess that I didn't see how the accident developed but Simpson appeared to have made up his mind, as he headed for the O' Neal car which was also damaged and gave young Hudson and earful. Just for good measure, he stopped by Don's car and spoke to him to before stomping off to the pits. Not knowing what Simpson's status is in terms of equipment, this was a very bad time to be majorly tearing up a race car with some huge races on tap this coming weekend.
Bloomquist took his second win out of the last three races held as he had the dominant car all night. The only driver who appeared to have the speed and fortitude necessary to keep up with "Bloomer" on this night was Mike Marlar who was all over Bloomquist until a strange occurrence on lap twelve when he suddenly pulled over and bailed out of the car quickly and appeared to be stunned and in pain. He apparently got hit with some kind of debris and while he was able to walk away, his race was over and he did later seek medical treatment. Every once in a while you see this happen and then you wonder why these cars don't have a better setup in the windshields to protect the drivers. Somewhere out there, there must be someone smart enough to come up with some kind of clear material that could be put over the windshield, on perhaps a roller so that it could be rotated when it gets dirty or covered with mud. I'm "spit balling" here but these cars now use twenty first century technology in so many areas yet the protection of the driver's heads and eyes from objects is about as "old school" as it can get.
Once Marlar was done, Bloomquist was on cruise control with only three more yellow flags that compacted the field to give him worry. Zeigler had a solid run for second and Earl Pearson Jr both passed a number of cars and took advantage of the attrition rate to finish third. Gregg Satterlee came from fourteenth to four with Tim McCreadie completing the top five.
The Modified field was a strong one as well with thirty six drivers signing in to race for the two grand top prize including a number of Hawkeye state drivers. Their format was identical with four heats and two B features setting the field and the Modified heats were just as entertaining as the Late Models.
In fact, the way the two feature races played out was very similiar with Jordan Grabouski playing the part of Bloomquist in the Modifieds, except that Jordan didn't wait as long as Bloomquist to take over the lead. He came from the second row to grab the lead on the opening lap and he led the rest of the way. There was an excellent battle for the spots right behind him with much swapping of positions but no one had anything for "Grabo."
Justin Kay moved into second, then fell back some and rallied a second time to move back into second. He made a brief challenge at Grabouski late in the race but simply didn't have enough to make a pass. Clint Homan, Jared Hoefelman and Shane Hiatt crossed the line next and they spent much of the race trading positions on the track in what was a very entertaining race, minus the drama for the lead.
Chris Abelson and Justin Zeitner were both strong contenders who failed to finish. Abelson was running second when he lost a wheel going into turn one, hit the wall and then pirouetted on the top of the wall before returning to earth. Much damage was unfortunately done to his car. At just the same instant, Zeitner, who had been running strong as he worked his way up from the back after also having trouble in his heat, suddenly shut his car down with problems.
A two class field with a full group in each class was just about the perfect number of cars for such a midweek special. Hint, hint to other tracks with upcoming special events. Management and the track crew did a great job getting the racing surface in proper shape and after that the drivers should be commended also, for quickly lining up so that a prompt show could be put on and racing their hearts out to put on a good show. I felt like we were very blessed to be able to see racing Tuesday night and want to thank the Kosiski family, the I-80 employees and especially Lee Ackerman for his help. They have their second big special of the week coming up this Sunday with the Charlie Clark Memorial race where the Modifieds get their night in the spotlight.
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