After having the entire series postponed by bad weather for a week, the 2018 version of the "Frostbuster" got started on Wednesday night, April 11th at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. And totally unlike its name, the weather was marvelous for the opening night race with temperatures near seventy degrees and a caressing breeze out of the South.
For those of us from the Northland, it was almost like a godsend to not have to be all bundled up for at least one night. However, it sounds like the "other shoe" will drop again later this week and a slap of reality will once again strike everyone full on in the face.
Likely because this whole week had been postponed once and the coming forecast for the weekend is dire indeed, the car count wasn't what it might have been perhaps one week earlier and in preceding years. Still, there were plenty of cars on hand to put on a good show and at least nine states plus Canada represented in the pits.
Because of the one week postponement, this race was not the first for 2018 in the Hawkeye State but was still nevertheless one of the first for the Midwest region. As usual, promoter Mike VanGenderen was a busy man before the races, tending to the race track and all the other details that opening night brings. Special work was needed on the track above and beyond the normal preparation as much dirt had been moved on the speedway during the off season. A lot of the racing surface that had been kicked over the guardrail was retrieved, plus a lot of new dirt added. In some places, three feet of new dirt sat on top of the old racing surface. With this in mind, it was suspected that the surface could be a bit rough for the racing on Wednesday and that did indeed prove to be the case. While it was one of the rougher nights I had seen this track produce, it still remained racy and there were definitely multiple grooves available to pass on. No one likes the face that the cars were bouncing around and some damage was inflicted by the bumps, but it is not always possible to have a perfect racing surface, and especially so at this time of the year.
With one hundred and twenty four race cars on hand, multiple heats were held for all five classes with B Features required for both of the open wheel classes. Draw/redraw was the format on Wednesday so drivers were racing hard to both make the show and key to a good night, also making the redraw.
The biggest money was on the line for the Modifieds and they went twenty five laps in their main event after fighting it out in six qualifying events. And when all was said and done, it was the veteran Kelly Shryock that stood in victory lane. Early in the race, Shawn Ritter, Chad Holladay and Richie Gustin battled for the lead, but Shryock started fourth and remained among the leaders from the onset. He made a spectacular move going into turn three where he split two cars and found himself in the lead and once in front, he moved out to a comfortable edge.
Hunter Marriott redrew badly and had to fight his way up from eleventh but he was game to do so and worked his way up to second. It looked like a battle would soon ensue for the top spot but Shryock was having none of that. He found a groove where he ran high in one end and on the bottom in the other and no matter what Marriott tried, he could not close the gap. Carter VandenBerg and Jeff Aikey battled for many laps for third before Carter took the spot and former Late Model driver Chad Holladay completed the top five. Only two yellow flags slowed the Mod main with a third of the field dropping out to save their equipment when it was clear they wouldn't challenge for the top spot.
The Stock Car feature also had only two yellow flags but it started out with a bang when a wild scramble just as the field took the green on the main chute saw cars flying in all directions and Canadian Kody Scholpp end up going over. It was unfortunate for Kody as he looked to be a factor in the race and to have someone travel so far for so few laps was disappointing to everyone. This crash took out at least four cars missing for the restart.
Damon Murty started on the outside pole and he took the lead right away and built up some distance on the field. However, a driver that had looked fast all night was Todd Reitzler and after redrawing badly to ninth, he came charging through the field.
He had shown the ability to be quicker on the low side going into turn three than any driver in any class and he used that knowledge to drive past cars in bunches. He reeled in Murty and after a spirited battle for the top spot, Reitzler drove past to take over the lead. Once in front, he was able to pull away as the last seven laps ran green to checkered. John Oliver Jr finished third with former Late Model driver Tom Bowling Jr and Jason See next in line.
Austin Howes dominated the Sport Mod feature. After an early battle with Daniel Fellows, Howes was able to claim the top spot and he fought off several challengers to take the win. The stiffest challenger at the end was Jake McBernie who made several low dives to attempt and get past Howes for the lead. McBernie showed his nose to Howes several times at the end but Austin was able to utilize the high line and maintain control to the finish. Austen Becerra came from the sixth row to finish third ahead of Tyler Soppe who came from one row deeper in the pack than Becerra and Arie Schoutten completed the top five as there were many cars that gained positions during the race. Once again though, there were only two yellows to slow the action.
The most dominating performance of the night was in the Hobby Stock class and not surprisingly, it was Shannon Anderson at it once again. He quickly moved from the third row, drove past Leah Wroten and Eric Knutson and pulled away to the win. Much like last year, Anderson appeared to be in a different class from everyone else as he made the win look easy. Eric Stanton, in his hatchback, came from the fifth row for second ahead of Wroten, Knutson and David Rieks. Stanton and Wroten had a crowd pleasing battle for second for a number of laps before Stanton drove by on the high side.
A big field of Sport Compacts took to the grid for their main event and the bumpy surface took its toll on the small cars, with wheels flying off the vehicles left and right, front and bad. In fact, it was a lost wheel that cost Josh Barnes a likely win in the feature event.
He had worked his way up from the third row to challenge and finally pass Barry Taft for the lead as the two really went at it for the top spot. Just as it appeared that Barnes had it salted away, he lost a right front wheel, caused by structural failure , and it gave the lead back to Taft.
He wasn't out of the woods however, as Jake Benischek moved up from the fourth row to challenge. It was a two lap shoot out for the win after a yellow and while Benischek gave it his all, Taft held on for the win. Darin Weisinger Jr finished third with William Michel and Brandon Reu trailing. Almost as many Sport Compacts didn't finish as did as this was really the only race where the track "ate up" some of the cars.
I'm sure some will complain that the track was too rough and I'm sure there isn't anyone, including MVG, that wouldn't have liked to see it as smooth as glass. But it is a dirt track and sometimes the weather and other factors fight everyone's best intentions. The racing, I thought, was very good from start to finish with plenty of side by side racing, pack style racing and plenty of passing. A rare occurrence was the appearance of some track prep equipment part way through the program as that doesn't happen very often at MVG shows.
With the long line of drivers waiting to draw and with it being opening night and some not having their proper licenses, it was a miracle that they started just a half hour after posted hot lap time and after that, the program moved along at a very good pace. Considering the track and how hard everyone was racing, the number of yellows was very minimal.
I thought it was a good night of racing with plenty of entertaining action. The only disappointment for me was the size of the crowd which quite frankly, was not very good. This was MVG's only show of his own here at Lee County and if he hadn't put it on, there would not be a "Frostbuster" event at this track. Let's hope tonight's show doesn't dissuade him from trying it again next year.
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