After a precious few hours of sleep, it was time for my bleary eyes to provide navigational support as I followed the mighty waters of the Mississippi South and across into Iowa. My destination was the Farley Speedway for night number two of the Topless Weekend special at Farley promoted by Darkside Promotions.
After what sounded like a successful effort on Friday night, it was time for night number two of their weekend special at Farley with Modifieds racing for a big check of five grand for the winner of their fifty lap grind. Also on the card were Late Models, Sport Mods, Stock Cars and Outlaw Stock Cars(again I exclude the Micro Mods, just as last night). It was a pleasure though, to be able to count all the classes of cars and not have to use both hands and take off my shoes to do so!
Brevity is the key word I'm hoping for and in that regard I believe the officials and management at Farley are much more in accord with me on that point than the tracks I have been visiting of late have been. With bad weather looming off to the West and the clock ticking, a swift and precisely run program is what is called for on this night, and with the drivers cooperating to their fullest extend, that's what we would eventually see.
The top three classes would be running topless on this night and while I don't think I would like a steady diet of this kind of look, on a rare occasion it does make things kind of interesting as there are views of the drivers as they work their magic that you just wouldn't see if the cars all had roofs. It is surprising, though, how much different and sometimes difficult it is to pick out one car from another without the roof in place.
The Modifieds led the car count number on this night as they should with their division racing for considerably more money than the other classes. There were thirty nine of the Modifieds on hand with just the Stock Cars and Outlaw Stock Cars having smaller fields than comfortable but not much different than Farley normally has during the regular season as except for the top three classes, car counts are a continuing problem.
Hot laps were moved up an hour, presumably with the weather coming in and the first race took the green at 5:30 pm approximately. A one spin rule instituted for the heats kept things moving well and for those that couldn't or wouldn't start after they spun, woe on to you and a quick exit to the pit area.
I have seen racing now a few times at the shortened Farley Speedway and I'm really thinking that this was the best move ever for this facility. I assume that there are still those that favor the big half mile but likely those are people that grew up on half mile racing. For me, the short track is so much more interesting and on a night like Saturday, where it was slick from top to bottom but did not take on rubber, it made for some great racing. Also, the pit area off turns three and four seems to be working out very well and will likely be ever better in the future. No vehicles in the infield except service trucks also makes the place look much cleaner and provides a greater margin of safety for both the pit workers and everyone else in the pits.
The Modified feature was the headline event and it was an excellent race from start to finish. When the distance of fifty laps was announced, some in the crowd groaned as lightning could first now be seen on the western horizon. However, the drivers did a magnificent job of racing hard but clean and the race went forty laps before the yellow was displayed for the first time.
Cory Dripps was the early leader but there was no one that could stay with Richie Gustin in the early going as he charged up from the third row to take the lead and then gradually draw away from the field. The only driver able to stay with him was Tim Ward who continued to follow several car lengths behind but wouldn't go away, even as Gustin worked through lapped traffic.
With that many green flag laps, you can imagine the number of lapped cars and Gustin was constantly working through traffic but he could never shake Ward. With about fifteen laps to go, Ward started to move in on the leader and he closed to the rear bumper of the #19G. Ward tried a low side move in turn four and the two brushed together relatively mild. However, it was a hit at just the right (or wrong, depending on your perspective), place and Ward suffered a flat front tire. He slowed and the first yellow of the race flew with forty laps down.
Jason Walla, who had qualified for the main through a B feature, had gradually worked his way to the front and he inherited the second spot. He tried to track down Gustin, but Richie held on through one more minor yellow and drove home for the win. The winning interview was done, the rest of the racing continued and not a word was said about a possible disqualification. Traveling on Sunday, I did not know until Monday that Gustin was later disqualified and that Walla was awarded the win. Something to do with either deck height or spoiler height was apparently the issue and with the cars topless, an alteration to either could have provided a significant advantage. In any event, it was a tough way to lose five grand. However, for the yet to be crowned 2017 IMCA national champion, it was a nice bonus for Walla and made the long trip from North Dakota worthwhile. With so few cars left on the lead lap, Ward changed a tire, passed a few cars in the remaining laps and found himself scored second at the adjusted finish.
Joe Docekal, who normally runs Modifieds, won the Sport Mod feature after a nice drive past Justin Becker and Troy Bauer. Austin Heacock came from twelfth to finish as the runner up . Josh McBernie came from twenty second to finish third. Earlier, McBernie flattened his front bumper on another racer's rear bumper after the fact when he felt like he had been "roughed" during his heat race. Unfortunately for him, track officials frowned on the action and DQ'd his heat race effort, thus the deep in the field start for the main event.
The Stock Car field might have been tiny, but Tom Schmitt and Greg Gill put on a classic two lane battle for the win that lasted nearly the entire fifteen laps of their main. Gill was hugging the rail while Schmitt ran the high side. Early in the race, Gill tracked down Schmitt and passed him but Tom refused to give up on the high side.
As the laps ran off, Schmitt started to pick up the pace again and he gradually reeled in the leader. They were side by side with only a couple of laps left and then Schmitt gradually gained a slight edge. Gill was forced to come off his line and that gave Schmitt an interesting win. Gill would recover his edge as he led from start to finish to win the Outlaw Stock Car feature which had both Stock Cars and Quad Cities Street Stocks racing. Gill was the only driver to enter both classes.
The Late Models fielded nineteen cars for their main event. Ryan Dolan wasted little time taking the lead from the third row and it looked like he might dominate. However, yellow flags proved to not be his friend as Tyler Breuning used the slow down periods to his advantage as he took off like a rocket when the green came back out.
He was able to drive around Dolan and take over the lead and he led the rest of the way. Jeremiah Hurst came from twelfth to finish third in a race that saw a late yellow when veteran Darrel DeFrance hammered the home stretch wall hard and did significant damage to his car.
I applaud the track officials for a smooth run program and the drivers for putting on such a good effort. It was a "cracker jack" show and I didn't have to pitch a tent to get through the night. I was told that the crowd on Friday night was good but unfortunately, it was a bit light on Saturday. Perhaps the weather and all the football games played a part in that, but those that missed lost out on a good racing program. Thanks to Darkside for their help and a reminder that they still have one more program yet this year as they finish off last week's weather shortened event at Tipton on this coming Sunday afternoon.
I must say that there was certainly much discussion about the 2018 racing season in the pits before the show. Not from being right around the Hawkeye state, I was surprised how much talk was going on. While there is always some turmoil and changes from year to year, I think this off season is going to be one for the books. I have never heard so much discussion, uncertainty, and displeasure with the rules , some of the promoters and the sanctioning bodies that I have already heard this year concerning Iowa race tracks. It's going to be a real crap shoot what things will look like come 2018.
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