For the first time in fourteen years, the IMCA Deery Brothers Late Model series made a visit to the Benton County Speedway in Vinton for a series event. Along with the Late Models , all the other classes that race at Vinton were also a part of the program on Thursday, June 28th except for the Modifieds which were given the night off.
It was Fair racing on Thursday night as the Deery Brothers show was a part of the first official night of the Benton County Fair. The Fair is about three weeks earlier than most years in 2018(I'm not sure of all the logistics that required this to be the case) but it felt kind of funny to be talking Fair before the Fourth of July holiday was even completed.
Nevertheless, it was definitely a Fair with all the things that a Fair brings including animals on display, a crowning of the Fairest of the Fair and all the other good stuff that brings everyone out to the Fair. It was also setting up to be the hottest weekend of the Summer to date, something that the animals and all the Fair workers dread. Stay hydrated was the mantra for the night and for the rest of the weekend.
First of all I need to say how lucky we were to even be at the races on this night and to see racing action take place. A huge line of nasty thunderstorms cooked up West of Des Moines and blasted to the Southeast but it also built far enough North that it looked like it would hit Vinton in the last afternoon, the perfect time to wreck any planned activities outdoors. But as it crossed I-35 heading East it started to break up and while it turned cloudy and sprinkles just a few drops of rain between 3 and 4 pm, that was all that happened and the skies gradually lightened as the evening progressed. It even kicked up a nice breeze from the East on the backside of the storms that helped refresh and while normally a breeze right into the grandstand is a formula for a dirty night for the fans, such was not the case on this night as the track was heavy and moisture laden.
The Deery Brothers Late Models turned out with a season high thirty three cars to compete on Thursday; an excellent field indeed. While some look at Benton County as a tough track of cars with the small quarter mile and plenty of speed generated, the fact is that it is also in a very good spot geographically for the Late Model teams as the current Late Model map lies, and lots of cars are within a reasonable distance for a Thursday night pull. And as would be later confirmed and is often the case at Vinton, while the racing was spectacular and close and very hard fought, very few race cars got torn up and nearly everyone went home with only minor touch ups to make for the weekend.
On the other hand, the support classes had surprisingly low car counts across the board which was even more surprising given that it was a points night for all classes except the Late Models. However, the program that saw these classes running only one or two heats and then their main did help move the show along on a night when there was the potential of the clock getting away from the officials.
I was surprised to find out also that the Compact class at Benton County isn't IMCA sanctioned which puzzles me that any class in the hometown of the sanctioning body wouldn't be carrying a sanction but such is the case. It does take away any chance for the local racers that get their names in the paper for winning races at Vinton of being rewarded on a national basis. None of the advertising I saw called for Compacts to even be a part of the program on this night, but there they were come race time with Wild Bill Whalen both driving and cheering them on at the same time. All classes except the Late Models were using the draw/redraw format for qualifying Thursday which again was a bit of a surprise.
Nine of the top ten in Deery points were on hand for racing Thursday with the Quad City duo of Terry Ryan and Andy Nezworski being surprising "no shows" along with Terry Neal so there was the real possibility that they could have been near thirty five cars if everything had worked out right.
Tyler Breuning was making his first Deery Brothers event of the year and would be a "player" in the evening's outcome while Todd Cooney, Johnny Emerson and Chad Holliday were all sporting new tin on their cars, a bold thing to do right before racing at Vinton which can be a little hard on the bodies from time to time. Two of the three would get through the night relatively unscathed while Holliday would get his door bashed in barely one lap into his heat race and then things would get much worse when the motor would spectacularly blow on the last lap of his heat, ending his night early.
The combination of a well watered track, high humidity and cloud cover all helped to produce a very tacky track of the kind seldom seen much any more. It required considerable extra packing by all race cars(something that they hate to do), and the grader even had to come out after the heats and skim off the top layer of racing dirt. However, the common truth is that a race track can't be perfect all night and that begs the question, when do you want to have the best racing surface? Should it be for the heats and then by feature time the track is a one lane burned out dust bomb, or do you want to have the first few heats have to kind of slog around in the mud and then see the track gradually get better and better as the evening progresses? The second option is what happened on Thursday and let me say that with the track provided, the Deery Late Models put on one of the best races I have seen so far in 2018. A coincidence, perhaps. But perhaps not either.
What we did see was a Late Model feature that saw several different leaders, a constant battle for the lead and also for the positions right behind the leader. We also saw much side by side racing and only two yellow flags for minor spins over the course of the fifty lap main. And twenty of the twenty four starters were still on the track at the finish.
Much happened over the course of the fifty lap finale. Early on we saw a great battle for the lead between Johnny Emerson and Todd Cooney that saw them exchange slide jobs and minor hostilities. Both would later let their extreme aggressive driving get the better of them as both took trips over the edge of the track and Emerson would end up tenth with Cooney even farther back.
Breuning looked to be a serious challenger until a restart call for the jump start that docked him a row and he never recovered from that set back. It actually looked like Emerson and Cooney were "jacking around " on the start and Breuning became the innocent victim and was made to look worse than he actually was.
And then were was eventual winner Hurst who started eleventh and ran the bottom almost exclusively for the whole race. After some laps were made in the feature and the track started to blacken up some, both Hurst and Justin Kay both came on as they like to work the low side of the track. Kay just didn't quite have the set up to win Thursday but he still hung in there and finished a strong third.
And how about veteran Curt Martin who pounded the cushion for fifty laps and finished a fine second as this year seemed to have brought a rebirth for the #45 car out of Indee. Rookie Chad Coyne was racing in rarefied air on Thursday night, having won a heat race and then been given the pole in the "revenge draw". He raced right with the leaders until his car quit on the first yellow and he was done but it must have helped him immensely to know that he can run with the best under the right circumstances.
Hurst's win was his first on the Deery Brothers circuit since the 2002 season and I know this to be fact since it came right out of the mouth of stat man Ryan Clark.
While the support classes were low on numbers, they weren't without their share of excitement. The Hobby Stock feature, for example, was enough to get many in the crowd on their feet and screaming for blood.
It was a three car battle for the win involving Brett Vanous, Leah Wroten and Nathan Ballard. Earlier in the evening when Ballard was on the track for hot laps, Clark announced that he was being welcomed back which drew a round of jeers so I'm assuming there must be some "history" going on here. And if that be the case, Ballard threw some more gasoline on the fire Thursday with his suspect racing style.
A late yellow with only two laps to go saw a Delaware double file restart with Wroten in the lead and Vanous and Ballard side by side behind her. Vanous was unceremoniously "dumped" by Ballard on the green and Vanous then got shoved into the back of Wroten's car, spinning here and giving her a flat tire. She is a special racer at this track and to rough her means big trouble. Ballard took the black flag on his next trip around the track, while Wroten scurried to the pits for another tire but it cost her a potential win.
Every track needs a "villain" and it appears that Ballard is comfortable with that role as Vanous went on for the win and Wroten scrambled back up to fifth.
Damon Murty struggled with the same problems that had plagued him at Webster City the night before as his car just quit during the Stock Car heat race. However, with help from his friends, they finally figured out the problem was a loose wire and with the small, ten car field of Stock Cars, starting in the back row was no problem for the "Chelsea Charger".
John Oliver Jr. fought hard but Murty took the Stock Car main with Norman Chesmore finishing third ahead of Scooter Dulin.
Tony Olson destroyed the field in the Sport Mod main in a nonstop main event that saw him win by a wide margin and Jake Benischek did the same in the Compacts, dominating a green to checkered event for the small cars.
The crowd was OK but not the huge turnout that I was expecting for this event. However, the Hogan Memorial Race is coming up next Tuesday and for the Modified dominated local fans, that is the BIG one that everyone is looking toward. Nevertheless, it was a very good night of racing with the Late Models doing it up right on this Thursday night special at the little action track in Benton County.
Friday, June 29, 2018
Thursday, June 28, 2018
Zevenbergen Tops Boone River Bayou at Hamilton County
It took four tries, but the Hamilton County Speedway was finally able to get in at least one night of the Boone River Bayou on Wednesday night, June 27th. Originally scheduled for the 19th and 20th of the month, the whole program was backed up one week by heavy rains in central Iowa.
Then, on its second try on Tuesday the 26th, once again it rained. Co-Promoter Todd Staley told me that last week they actually could have raced on Thursday but by then they had to make the call to postpone the whole event. Then, yesterday it didn't rain nearly as much as last week but it was more of the slow, soaking kind of rain and there was no way that racing could have been held of Tuesday. Of course, after it stopped raining it turned into perhaps the most gorgeous night of the early Summer and Staley was even able to get out of the golf course on Tuesday night.
So, the Boone River Bayou turned into a one night event this year, held on Wednesday and featuring the bigger second day payoff that the event had promised. By the way, the Boone River , which runs right behind the back chute of the Hamilton County Speedway was lapping at the tires of the maintenance vehicles parked outside the track and it wouldn't take much more in the way of rain before the back chute would be underwater. Fortunately, hot but dry weather is in the forecast for central Iowa for the next few days as the whole region needs to dry out.
It was an extremely "sticky" evening on Wednesday and if the fans and pit personal can stand it, this kind of weather is a beautiful thing for the race track as was shown Wednesday with a top notch track where drivers could run side by side and passing was certainly not hard. Good reports have been coming out of Hamilton County is recent weeks about the good racing surface and it was again very nice on Wednesday. Comparing it to most big half miles, there was much more close action than usually seen and Brad Radcliffe, who is in charge of track prep, is the man currently getting the credit. Of course, if he screws up one week there will be those that want to hang him from the city water tower, but such is the nature of the beast in this sport.
As a special promotion, the first thirty spectators in line when the gates opened on Wednesday would get in absolutely free and folks started lining up in the heat and humidity before 3 pm. One of those in line was Iowa icon, "Crazy Martin."
Big money was on the line for the drivers on Wednesday with the Stock Cars running for twenty five hundred dollars to win, the B Mods two grand and even the Hobby Stock winner would receive twelve hundred bucks. That's why I was surprised that the field of cars wasn't any larger than it was. Perhaps the rain out on Tuesday kept some from long distance from driving for just the one day show and there were two other Wednesday night tracks in action on this night, but it still seemed like there should have been more cars on hand then there were.
Not that the fields weren't acceptable but fields of twenty one, twenty five and thirty respectively were somewhat smaller than I would have guessed. Heat races using passing points set the fields with B Features required(perhaps) in the B Mods and Stock Cars.
The boss here at Positively Racing would have been livid when a seven car field of B Mods fought for six spots in the main. Fortunately track officials released what they had going and they cut the laps in half to five while the Stock Cars had a legitimate field of thirteen going for six spots also.
no break was taken and as soon as the B Features were completed, the first of four main events hit the track.
The Tuners were up first with twelve cars racing and as usual, Nate Coopman just motored around trying to make it look like a race until the two to go signal was given and then he stepped on the gas and drove away from Denny Berghahn for another easy win. Coopman, who wore out his welcome with IMCA is now beating on the competition at USRA tracks begging the question, will he be a career Tuner driver or will he ever move up and how much fun can it be to beat on the competition, week after week?
Eric Stanton started on the pole for the Hobby Stock feature and that made him the prohibitive favorite. He probably would have come through on that set up except for a mechancial issue that saw him shut his car down while in the lead one lap past the halfway point.
After that, the race was wide open with Chanse Hollatz taking the lead on the restart and holding off a stiff challenge from Miles Michehl , Dillon Nelson and Dustin Gulbrandson. They, along with Jamie Songer did a lot of jockeying for position while Hollatz continued to maintain the lead to the checkered flag in a race slowed three times for minor issues.
The twenty five car B Mod feature race was a good one that highlighted a two car battle between Ty Griffith and Cayden Carter. Carter was driving the #01 of his brother Brayden and I was not aware that he even drove the B Mods any more but here he was on Wednesday.
Griffith started on the pole and Carter to his right and they spent most of the race battling for the lead. Griffith was running the low line around the track while Carter was spraying the mud as he rode the outside guard rail. Time after time Carter would pull up to pass but just couldn't quite get the job done.
At about the three quarter mark of the race the #56 car seemed to get a bit loose in the corners and while Carter actually dropped to the bottom for a time , experimenting with that line, he eventually moved back to the top and drove past the former leader down the front chute to take over the point and he then held on through a late yellow to get the win.
At the end of the race, Jared Boumeester made a move and took over second, dropping Griffith to third. Big charges were made by Jake Sachau(eighteenth to fourth) and Johnathan Logue Jr(fifteenth to fifth).
This class was run with each group running their own rules as a nonsanctioned event with the IMCA cars using their spoilers and Hoosier tires while the USRA car ran sans spoiler and on American Racers. It's a good thing that a nice field of the IMCA cars invaded as thirteen of the starting field were on Hoosiers and four out of the top five, minus Griffith, were all running the IMCA spoilers.
Twenty four Stock Cars started their thirty lap main event and if not for a yellow flag, Brett Heeter might have run away with the show. He started on the outside pole and was a "rocket ship" at the beginning, pulling to nearly a full straightaway ahead of the field as Zevenbergen and Derek Green tried to stay with him.
However, things changed following the yellow as Zevenbergen and Green were all over him and a good, three battle broke out for the lead. As they raced for the top spot, Cayden Carter quietly moved his way forward, never being "showy" but being very effective as he worked the low side of the track and moved up into a challenging position.
Things got hot up front as Green made a slider to try and take over the lead but at the same time Zevenbergen made his own move, splitting the other two and taking over the top spot. Elijah then pulled away slightly from the pack while Carter started to work on Heeter for second. It took a bunch of laps but Cayden was finally able to move into second and he then set off after the #66z car.
The last fourteen laps of the feature ran off nonstop and Zevenbergen had a head of steam and while Carter was able to cut into his lead slightly, he was never able to offer a serious challenge and the northwestern Iowa star drove home to the win. Late in the race, Mitch Hovden and Dillon Anderson both made strong moves and worked into the top five at the finish.
Promoter Todd Staley still races his Stock Car at events like this and I always get just a bit nervous when the promoter is racing at an event he is running but Todd seems to make it work as he has a good staff to run the show and somehow manages to avoid the potential pit falls that a competitor that is also writing the checks can get into.
By the way, he does pretty darn good in the Stock Car, finishing a strong second in his heat and while he started sixth in the main, he did fade just out of the top ten at the finish, having jumped the cushion a few times in the late going.
It was a bad night for the Murty family, always one to be counted on to pull off a win. Damon was leading the B feature when he started to loose power and he eventually dropped off the pace on the last lap, missing the show. Meanwhile, Dallon got punted in the rear bumper just as the green flag flew, he spun into the guard rail on the inside of the track where much mud was sitting as a result of all the rain. He hit the rail, sprayed down a few of the pit people across the way and was done for the night before even crossing the line the first time.
The crowd seemed OK for a Wednesday night with support classes as the show and while the field wasn't quite what was hoped for, the big takeaway from the night seems to be that the interest in racing in Webster City is on the rise and the track seems to be moving very much in the right direction with much enthusiasm from the community and sponsors.
Then, on its second try on Tuesday the 26th, once again it rained. Co-Promoter Todd Staley told me that last week they actually could have raced on Thursday but by then they had to make the call to postpone the whole event. Then, yesterday it didn't rain nearly as much as last week but it was more of the slow, soaking kind of rain and there was no way that racing could have been held of Tuesday. Of course, after it stopped raining it turned into perhaps the most gorgeous night of the early Summer and Staley was even able to get out of the golf course on Tuesday night.
So, the Boone River Bayou turned into a one night event this year, held on Wednesday and featuring the bigger second day payoff that the event had promised. By the way, the Boone River , which runs right behind the back chute of the Hamilton County Speedway was lapping at the tires of the maintenance vehicles parked outside the track and it wouldn't take much more in the way of rain before the back chute would be underwater. Fortunately, hot but dry weather is in the forecast for central Iowa for the next few days as the whole region needs to dry out.
It was an extremely "sticky" evening on Wednesday and if the fans and pit personal can stand it, this kind of weather is a beautiful thing for the race track as was shown Wednesday with a top notch track where drivers could run side by side and passing was certainly not hard. Good reports have been coming out of Hamilton County is recent weeks about the good racing surface and it was again very nice on Wednesday. Comparing it to most big half miles, there was much more close action than usually seen and Brad Radcliffe, who is in charge of track prep, is the man currently getting the credit. Of course, if he screws up one week there will be those that want to hang him from the city water tower, but such is the nature of the beast in this sport.
As a special promotion, the first thirty spectators in line when the gates opened on Wednesday would get in absolutely free and folks started lining up in the heat and humidity before 3 pm. One of those in line was Iowa icon, "Crazy Martin."
Big money was on the line for the drivers on Wednesday with the Stock Cars running for twenty five hundred dollars to win, the B Mods two grand and even the Hobby Stock winner would receive twelve hundred bucks. That's why I was surprised that the field of cars wasn't any larger than it was. Perhaps the rain out on Tuesday kept some from long distance from driving for just the one day show and there were two other Wednesday night tracks in action on this night, but it still seemed like there should have been more cars on hand then there were.
Not that the fields weren't acceptable but fields of twenty one, twenty five and thirty respectively were somewhat smaller than I would have guessed. Heat races using passing points set the fields with B Features required(perhaps) in the B Mods and Stock Cars.
The boss here at Positively Racing would have been livid when a seven car field of B Mods fought for six spots in the main. Fortunately track officials released what they had going and they cut the laps in half to five while the Stock Cars had a legitimate field of thirteen going for six spots also.
no break was taken and as soon as the B Features were completed, the first of four main events hit the track.
The Tuners were up first with twelve cars racing and as usual, Nate Coopman just motored around trying to make it look like a race until the two to go signal was given and then he stepped on the gas and drove away from Denny Berghahn for another easy win. Coopman, who wore out his welcome with IMCA is now beating on the competition at USRA tracks begging the question, will he be a career Tuner driver or will he ever move up and how much fun can it be to beat on the competition, week after week?
Eric Stanton started on the pole for the Hobby Stock feature and that made him the prohibitive favorite. He probably would have come through on that set up except for a mechancial issue that saw him shut his car down while in the lead one lap past the halfway point.
After that, the race was wide open with Chanse Hollatz taking the lead on the restart and holding off a stiff challenge from Miles Michehl , Dillon Nelson and Dustin Gulbrandson. They, along with Jamie Songer did a lot of jockeying for position while Hollatz continued to maintain the lead to the checkered flag in a race slowed three times for minor issues.
The twenty five car B Mod feature race was a good one that highlighted a two car battle between Ty Griffith and Cayden Carter. Carter was driving the #01 of his brother Brayden and I was not aware that he even drove the B Mods any more but here he was on Wednesday.
Griffith started on the pole and Carter to his right and they spent most of the race battling for the lead. Griffith was running the low line around the track while Carter was spraying the mud as he rode the outside guard rail. Time after time Carter would pull up to pass but just couldn't quite get the job done.
At about the three quarter mark of the race the #56 car seemed to get a bit loose in the corners and while Carter actually dropped to the bottom for a time , experimenting with that line, he eventually moved back to the top and drove past the former leader down the front chute to take over the point and he then held on through a late yellow to get the win.
At the end of the race, Jared Boumeester made a move and took over second, dropping Griffith to third. Big charges were made by Jake Sachau(eighteenth to fourth) and Johnathan Logue Jr(fifteenth to fifth).
This class was run with each group running their own rules as a nonsanctioned event with the IMCA cars using their spoilers and Hoosier tires while the USRA car ran sans spoiler and on American Racers. It's a good thing that a nice field of the IMCA cars invaded as thirteen of the starting field were on Hoosiers and four out of the top five, minus Griffith, were all running the IMCA spoilers.
Twenty four Stock Cars started their thirty lap main event and if not for a yellow flag, Brett Heeter might have run away with the show. He started on the outside pole and was a "rocket ship" at the beginning, pulling to nearly a full straightaway ahead of the field as Zevenbergen and Derek Green tried to stay with him.
However, things changed following the yellow as Zevenbergen and Green were all over him and a good, three battle broke out for the lead. As they raced for the top spot, Cayden Carter quietly moved his way forward, never being "showy" but being very effective as he worked the low side of the track and moved up into a challenging position.
Things got hot up front as Green made a slider to try and take over the lead but at the same time Zevenbergen made his own move, splitting the other two and taking over the top spot. Elijah then pulled away slightly from the pack while Carter started to work on Heeter for second. It took a bunch of laps but Cayden was finally able to move into second and he then set off after the #66z car.
The last fourteen laps of the feature ran off nonstop and Zevenbergen had a head of steam and while Carter was able to cut into his lead slightly, he was never able to offer a serious challenge and the northwestern Iowa star drove home to the win. Late in the race, Mitch Hovden and Dillon Anderson both made strong moves and worked into the top five at the finish.
Promoter Todd Staley still races his Stock Car at events like this and I always get just a bit nervous when the promoter is racing at an event he is running but Todd seems to make it work as he has a good staff to run the show and somehow manages to avoid the potential pit falls that a competitor that is also writing the checks can get into.
By the way, he does pretty darn good in the Stock Car, finishing a strong second in his heat and while he started sixth in the main, he did fade just out of the top ten at the finish, having jumped the cushion a few times in the late going.
It was a bad night for the Murty family, always one to be counted on to pull off a win. Damon was leading the B feature when he started to loose power and he eventually dropped off the pace on the last lap, missing the show. Meanwhile, Dallon got punted in the rear bumper just as the green flag flew, he spun into the guard rail on the inside of the track where much mud was sitting as a result of all the rain. He hit the rail, sprayed down a few of the pit people across the way and was done for the night before even crossing the line the first time.
The crowd seemed OK for a Wednesday night with support classes as the show and while the field wasn't quite what was hoped for, the big takeaway from the night seems to be that the interest in racing in Webster City is on the rise and the track seems to be moving very much in the right direction with much enthusiasm from the community and sponsors.
Friday, June 22, 2018
Thornton Destroys the Field For Ten Grand at 141
Thursday, June 21st was the third and final night of the Clash at the Creek X at the 141 Speedway. All three classes that raced on Wednesday night would be back in action on Thursday with the Sport Mods and Stock Cars to again run a full show while the Modifieds would carve the eighty three car field down to twenty four and then decide the big winner.
141 caught a break from the weather on this night as rain spun from Milwaukee to Madison but it was all moving to the North and East and left the Michigan shore high and dry, providing some very comfortable weather with low humidity and a nice Easterly breeze off the lake to refresh everyone.
This is a very bucolic and peaceful setting for a race track here at 141, with the track set into the rolling fields among some of the finest dairy farms in the entire country. In fact, the race track is surrounded on three sides by pasture land and during this week the herd seemed particularly interested in the race happenings. In fact, while I was talking to the Steve and Tom Schneider Racing Team that was pitted right up tight against the wire fence that is the track's boundary, about thirty of the Jersey Girls came right up to the fence and seemed to want to be part of the conversation! I had nothing to offer them so eventually they drifted off when they found some nice grass to chew on.
However, I digress. It was an important night for the Modifieds and everyone had their "game faces" on Thursday. The top ten in Modified points after Wednesday night's double heat races automatically moved on to Thursday night's fifty lap feature race. Everyone else would be divided into five Last Chance races with the top two moving into the main and finishing positions three, four and five going to what they call the "Final Four" with the top four in that event tagging the twenty four car field. Only five Modifieds that raced on Wednesday failed to return and yes, Lance Mari was able to get his rig out of the pits and hopefully on to get the trailer fixed so that he can break his race car out.
Every last chance race was like a mini feature due to the car count in each race, the intensity of the driving and the length of each event plus the fact that many of the finest Modified drivers in the country were in these races. As an example, Terry Phillips, Jordan Grabouski, Scott Mullen, Jason Walla and Steve Schneider would eventually win these races. Not exactly slouches by any stretch of the imagination.
The "Final Four" event would see local driver Josh Long take the win and set the last four starters for the main. No provisionals or other artificial means to get certain drivers in the show were used. Either you raced your way into the main or you watched from the sidelines, just as it should be. Thus it was that drivers like Rodney Sanders, Marcus Yarie and Casey Arneson along with many others watched the feature from the stands.
Ricky Thornton Jr. had been very strong on Wednesday night as he was the top point gatherer and started from the pole in the fifty lap main. However, he clearly had saved a little bit on Wednesday because tonight he turned things up another notch and totally destroyed an outstanding field of cars and drivers. He led the whole fifty laps of the main and never once was in any danger of being passed or being challenged for the lead.
He pulled away from Benji LaCrosse immediately and quickly began to pull away from the pack. His lead just kept building and by lap fifteen he was in traffic as he caught the back of the field.
The race behind him was a good one though as most of the leaders lined up in the low groove. Kyle Strickler, who had started ninth on the grid, took to the top side and he began to make time, passing several of the front runners and soon battling Hunter Marriott for the second spot. Strickler took the position for awhile and seemed ready to set his sites on catching Thornton Jr but that didn't happen.
In fact, after a number of laps, Strickler began to fade and he was soon passed by several other cars that were moving forward. One of the drivers making the most progress was Phillips who started eleventh after winning the first B Feature. He gradually began to pick up positions but there was not a huge movement of drivers as most seemed to stay pretty close to where they started the race.
There was only one yellow flag in the whole race and that came after second running Marriott got tied up with the lapped car of Kyle Brown. Brown was tagged for the yellow and Marriott got his spot back.
Any doubt about the strength of Thornton Jr's program was put to rest when he pulled away on the green, just as he had earlier at the outset of the race. He put nearly a straightaway on the field in the final fourteen laps and coasted home the winner by a big margin. Finishing behind him were Marriott, Mike Mullen, Phillips and LaCrosse. Now I caution that as I type this I have not been able to find any official finish posted anywhere, so I am basing my finish on how I saw them cross the line.
Nineteen of the twenty four starters were still on the track at the finish and all but four were on the lead lap as most of those that had been lapped soon pulled off the track to save their equipment since they weren't going anywhere.
Thornton Jr was more than willing to take the traditional dive into the pond in the middle of the track after the victory lane ceremony on this comfortable June night, the ten grand he won serving as a nice life buoy.
It was just the way things worked out but after last night's hard racing with much passing, the feature race was a bit anti climatic with Thornton Jr's total domination and truly not a whole lot of other passing going on. It was impressive, though, that the drivers could run such a clean main event given the importance of the show.
Sport Mods and Stock Cars once again provided the support classes for the night. Both classes somewhat surprisingly turned out bigger numbers than they had on Wednesday with thirty six Sport Mods and thirty four Stock Cars ready to run.
Four heats and two B Features set the field for the main event in both classes with twenty four cars taking the green in each. For awhile it looked like it might be an Iowa sweep of the Sport Mod class after Ethan Braaksma won on Wednesday and Tyler Soppe took the lead briefly but he simply couldn't figure out 141 and he was clearly not comfortable running either the low side or the top. He was soon passed on the outside by Jason Ebert who was one of the few riding the outside line.
Ebert looked to be in good shape until Kyle Raddant picked up the pace. He started eleventh on the grid and did as much charging as any driver in any class all week, other that perhaps Nick Anvelink with his Late Model on Tuesday. Raddant came storming up on the inside line and Ebert couldn't hold him off. Raddant pulled away in the closing laps and had a comfortable lead over Ebert and Cody Schroeder at the finish.
The Stock Car feature saw plenty of contact as the "chrome horn" strategy was used on several occasions as a passing move. Luxemburg Speedway promoter Eric Mahlik took the early lead in the Stock Car feature but he had his car hiked up badly in the corners and on this track on this night, that wasn't a winning strategy. He fought as long and as hard as he could but he couldn't hold his line and John Heinz squeezed inside him to take over the lead.
At this point of the night, the track was pretty one grooved for the Stock Cars right on the bottom and they were hammering on each other pretty good as they tried to pass with not much doing in the second lane.
Kyle Frederick, last night's winner, was on a roll this week and he moved into the second spot and started challenging Heinz for the lead. As Frederick beat on the rear bumper of Heinz, John just about stopped several times in the corners but Kyle was unable to loosen the veteran racer up. After repeatedly tapping the rear bumper and not being able to make it work, it appeared that in frustration he moved to the second lane, feeling he was fast enough to make the pass.
However, that strategy did not work as the second lane just wouldn't work and Iowa's Jay Schmidt was able to drive under Frederick and take second. Schmidt did a little tapping of his own but Heinz was not going to be dislodged from the low groove and he drove on for the win, a victory some in the crowd didn't seem particularly pleased by. Dave Bouche and Hot Rod Snellenberger completed the top five.
A strategy I had seen employed for the first time on a dirt track was used this weekend. Called the "tap out" rule, this idea was stolen from the blacktop tracks in the Midwest. Basically, how it works is that if a driver causes another driver to spin or wreck and it is his fault, he taps on the roof of his car and then goes to the tail of the field and the offended driver then gets his spot back. In my home area the track officials make the call on such a thing and decide who goes to the tail and who gets their spot back. The only thing the "tap out" rule does is that it releases the track officials from making any decisions and places all the pressure on the drivers to settle it among themselves. Basically, I would consider it a "cop out" rule so that track officials aren't forced to do what their job should be.
Announcer Jerry VanSickel pointed out that Thursday was the Summer Solstice with the most light of any day of the year and as quickly as the program went off Thursday, they almost didn't have to turn the lights off. I was pleasantly surprised that there wasn't a lot of pre race "pomp" and that Jerry just read off the Modified line up, they did a brief four wide salute and then went racing.
With only one yellow flag in the Modified main, the final checkered flag of the night flew at 9 pm which I though was great. Being so early, many, many people that normally don't go to the pits were headed that way and I'll bet the t-shirt sales were exceptional on this night. I absolutely loved the fact that track management didn't feel like they needed to drag things out and obviously aren't of the belief that in order for the fans to get their monies' worth, they had to be there until the wee hours of the morning.
In summary, the Clash at the Creek was three days of good racing and promotion the way it should be done. There is a reason that Kruse and his tracks keep raking in promotional awards and it would be smart for more promoters to drop in at one of his shows and see how he and his crew of workers do things.
141 caught a break from the weather on this night as rain spun from Milwaukee to Madison but it was all moving to the North and East and left the Michigan shore high and dry, providing some very comfortable weather with low humidity and a nice Easterly breeze off the lake to refresh everyone.
This is a very bucolic and peaceful setting for a race track here at 141, with the track set into the rolling fields among some of the finest dairy farms in the entire country. In fact, the race track is surrounded on three sides by pasture land and during this week the herd seemed particularly interested in the race happenings. In fact, while I was talking to the Steve and Tom Schneider Racing Team that was pitted right up tight against the wire fence that is the track's boundary, about thirty of the Jersey Girls came right up to the fence and seemed to want to be part of the conversation! I had nothing to offer them so eventually they drifted off when they found some nice grass to chew on.
However, I digress. It was an important night for the Modifieds and everyone had their "game faces" on Thursday. The top ten in Modified points after Wednesday night's double heat races automatically moved on to Thursday night's fifty lap feature race. Everyone else would be divided into five Last Chance races with the top two moving into the main and finishing positions three, four and five going to what they call the "Final Four" with the top four in that event tagging the twenty four car field. Only five Modifieds that raced on Wednesday failed to return and yes, Lance Mari was able to get his rig out of the pits and hopefully on to get the trailer fixed so that he can break his race car out.
Every last chance race was like a mini feature due to the car count in each race, the intensity of the driving and the length of each event plus the fact that many of the finest Modified drivers in the country were in these races. As an example, Terry Phillips, Jordan Grabouski, Scott Mullen, Jason Walla and Steve Schneider would eventually win these races. Not exactly slouches by any stretch of the imagination.
The "Final Four" event would see local driver Josh Long take the win and set the last four starters for the main. No provisionals or other artificial means to get certain drivers in the show were used. Either you raced your way into the main or you watched from the sidelines, just as it should be. Thus it was that drivers like Rodney Sanders, Marcus Yarie and Casey Arneson along with many others watched the feature from the stands.
Ricky Thornton Jr. had been very strong on Wednesday night as he was the top point gatherer and started from the pole in the fifty lap main. However, he clearly had saved a little bit on Wednesday because tonight he turned things up another notch and totally destroyed an outstanding field of cars and drivers. He led the whole fifty laps of the main and never once was in any danger of being passed or being challenged for the lead.
He pulled away from Benji LaCrosse immediately and quickly began to pull away from the pack. His lead just kept building and by lap fifteen he was in traffic as he caught the back of the field.
The race behind him was a good one though as most of the leaders lined up in the low groove. Kyle Strickler, who had started ninth on the grid, took to the top side and he began to make time, passing several of the front runners and soon battling Hunter Marriott for the second spot. Strickler took the position for awhile and seemed ready to set his sites on catching Thornton Jr but that didn't happen.
In fact, after a number of laps, Strickler began to fade and he was soon passed by several other cars that were moving forward. One of the drivers making the most progress was Phillips who started eleventh after winning the first B Feature. He gradually began to pick up positions but there was not a huge movement of drivers as most seemed to stay pretty close to where they started the race.
There was only one yellow flag in the whole race and that came after second running Marriott got tied up with the lapped car of Kyle Brown. Brown was tagged for the yellow and Marriott got his spot back.
Any doubt about the strength of Thornton Jr's program was put to rest when he pulled away on the green, just as he had earlier at the outset of the race. He put nearly a straightaway on the field in the final fourteen laps and coasted home the winner by a big margin. Finishing behind him were Marriott, Mike Mullen, Phillips and LaCrosse. Now I caution that as I type this I have not been able to find any official finish posted anywhere, so I am basing my finish on how I saw them cross the line.
Nineteen of the twenty four starters were still on the track at the finish and all but four were on the lead lap as most of those that had been lapped soon pulled off the track to save their equipment since they weren't going anywhere.
Thornton Jr was more than willing to take the traditional dive into the pond in the middle of the track after the victory lane ceremony on this comfortable June night, the ten grand he won serving as a nice life buoy.
It was just the way things worked out but after last night's hard racing with much passing, the feature race was a bit anti climatic with Thornton Jr's total domination and truly not a whole lot of other passing going on. It was impressive, though, that the drivers could run such a clean main event given the importance of the show.
Sport Mods and Stock Cars once again provided the support classes for the night. Both classes somewhat surprisingly turned out bigger numbers than they had on Wednesday with thirty six Sport Mods and thirty four Stock Cars ready to run.
Four heats and two B Features set the field for the main event in both classes with twenty four cars taking the green in each. For awhile it looked like it might be an Iowa sweep of the Sport Mod class after Ethan Braaksma won on Wednesday and Tyler Soppe took the lead briefly but he simply couldn't figure out 141 and he was clearly not comfortable running either the low side or the top. He was soon passed on the outside by Jason Ebert who was one of the few riding the outside line.
Ebert looked to be in good shape until Kyle Raddant picked up the pace. He started eleventh on the grid and did as much charging as any driver in any class all week, other that perhaps Nick Anvelink with his Late Model on Tuesday. Raddant came storming up on the inside line and Ebert couldn't hold him off. Raddant pulled away in the closing laps and had a comfortable lead over Ebert and Cody Schroeder at the finish.
The Stock Car feature saw plenty of contact as the "chrome horn" strategy was used on several occasions as a passing move. Luxemburg Speedway promoter Eric Mahlik took the early lead in the Stock Car feature but he had his car hiked up badly in the corners and on this track on this night, that wasn't a winning strategy. He fought as long and as hard as he could but he couldn't hold his line and John Heinz squeezed inside him to take over the lead.
At this point of the night, the track was pretty one grooved for the Stock Cars right on the bottom and they were hammering on each other pretty good as they tried to pass with not much doing in the second lane.
Kyle Frederick, last night's winner, was on a roll this week and he moved into the second spot and started challenging Heinz for the lead. As Frederick beat on the rear bumper of Heinz, John just about stopped several times in the corners but Kyle was unable to loosen the veteran racer up. After repeatedly tapping the rear bumper and not being able to make it work, it appeared that in frustration he moved to the second lane, feeling he was fast enough to make the pass.
However, that strategy did not work as the second lane just wouldn't work and Iowa's Jay Schmidt was able to drive under Frederick and take second. Schmidt did a little tapping of his own but Heinz was not going to be dislodged from the low groove and he drove on for the win, a victory some in the crowd didn't seem particularly pleased by. Dave Bouche and Hot Rod Snellenberger completed the top five.
A strategy I had seen employed for the first time on a dirt track was used this weekend. Called the "tap out" rule, this idea was stolen from the blacktop tracks in the Midwest. Basically, how it works is that if a driver causes another driver to spin or wreck and it is his fault, he taps on the roof of his car and then goes to the tail of the field and the offended driver then gets his spot back. In my home area the track officials make the call on such a thing and decide who goes to the tail and who gets their spot back. The only thing the "tap out" rule does is that it releases the track officials from making any decisions and places all the pressure on the drivers to settle it among themselves. Basically, I would consider it a "cop out" rule so that track officials aren't forced to do what their job should be.
Announcer Jerry VanSickel pointed out that Thursday was the Summer Solstice with the most light of any day of the year and as quickly as the program went off Thursday, they almost didn't have to turn the lights off. I was pleasantly surprised that there wasn't a lot of pre race "pomp" and that Jerry just read off the Modified line up, they did a brief four wide salute and then went racing.
With only one yellow flag in the Modified main, the final checkered flag of the night flew at 9 pm which I though was great. Being so early, many, many people that normally don't go to the pits were headed that way and I'll bet the t-shirt sales were exceptional on this night. I absolutely loved the fact that track management didn't feel like they needed to drag things out and obviously aren't of the belief that in order for the fans to get their monies' worth, they had to be there until the wee hours of the morning.
In summary, the Clash at the Creek was three days of good racing and promotion the way it should be done. There is a reason that Kruse and his tracks keep raking in promotional awards and it would be smart for more promoters to drop in at one of his shows and see how he and his crew of workers do things.
Thursday, June 21, 2018
Braaksma, Frederick Top 141; Modifieds Qualify
Wednesday night, June 20th was night number two of the Clash at the Creek X at the 141 Speedway between Francis Creek and Maribel Wisconsin near Lake Michigan's shore. Gone were the Late Models who had their night on Tuesday and the program on Wednesday night included a full show of IMCA Sport Mods and Stock Cars plus double qualifying heats for the Modifieds in preparation for their ten grand to win main event on Thursday night.
While sixty eight cars had practiced on Wednesday night, a number more arrived to race on Thursday eschewing hot laps on Wednesday for a number of reasons. Some had work issues to contend with while others were regulars that felt they didn't need to spend another night practicing. When everyone got signed in and drew, the final count of Modifieds was eighty three cars including the last car through the gate, North Dakota's Casey Arneson who arrived just a half hour before the cut off occurred.
Everyone drew a number to establish starting positions for the first round of heat races and the second set of heats was simply the line up of the first set, but inverted. This way you raced against the same cars twice which seems the fairest way of running things. Passing points were used for both twelve lap heat races and the total points earned would set the running order for the races on Thursday. The top ten would automatically be locked in for Thursday night's feature race.
The field of cars was an outstanding one with the best of the best travelers on hand plus many from Toby's connections in Iowa in both the Mods and Sport Mods plus just about everyone from the eastern side of Wisconsin. The biggest names missing from the lineup locally were the Wilinski's and the Muensters.
The twelve lap heat races were much like main events with, as you might guess, some very intense racing. While there were not a bunch of yellow flag slowdowns and wrecks, there was plenty of hard racing action with each position so important to each driver. The Sport Mods and Stock Cars ran their heats before the Modifieds took to the track so the groove had already been moved out and the track mostly cleaned off for the Modifieds.
Two distinct race lanes opened up quickly with some choosing to hug the low groove, which, quite frankly, just looking at this tight and small oval, looks to be the best way around the track, but there was a second school of thought that believed that running the high side was the way to go. For most of the top runners that made the top ten, moving around on the track and using the high side was very beneficial. For Thursdays long distance finale however, the track might change enough that the high side would perhaps give up, but that remains to be seen.
The cream rose to the top, so to speak, in the heat races and there was not a single driver of the top ten that could be considered even a remote surprise. Four traveling stars, three Iowa drivers and three area Wisconsin drivers made up the ten that are locked into the show.
The top point earner was Ricky Thornton Jr, trying to come back from last week's roll over at another track while racing another big money show. He won both heats he started, coming from fifth and sixth positions to do so and thus earned many passing points for doing so. The other travelers that made the main included Hunter Marriott, Dylan Smith and defending champion Kyle Strickler.
The three Iowa drivers that made the show included Joel Rust, Cayden Carter and Kelly Shryock while the Wisconsin drivers that will start up front Thursday included Benji LaCrosse, Mike Mullen and Jason Czarapata with LaCrosse and Mullen scoring the second and third highest point totals. Shryock snuck in when Terry Phillips, who was in good position to make the top ten as the second round of heat races took place, accidentally got into the back of another car and had to tail his heat and while he finished up that race fairly strong, he put him just short of what he needed to gain a "locked in " position.
There were a total of four DQ's over the course of the night in all divisions but the most damaging occurred in the first Modified heat after Russ Reinwald was DQ'd after winning his heat race while starting seventh. Later he would win his second round heat and with the two wins would have surely made the show but his "no points" first race now requires him to race Thursday just to try and get in the field.
But the "hard luck" award of the night and probably the whole week would likely go to Lance Mari. The California racer, who is staying and racing throughout the Midwest this Summer, had to scratch out of both of his heat races on Wednesday night. But the reason he had to do so was the most frustrating part of the whole deal. What happened was that the lift gate on his trailer failed to operate and quite simply, he couldn't get his race car out of the trailer to race!
He had practiced on Tuesday night and reported that the car was the best ever and that he was very confident going into Wednesday night's show. However, in putting the car away the lift gate got stuck part way up and they could neither get it to move up or down. It was stuck. They worked on it late into the night on Tuesday, finally giving up and then going back to it on Wednesday morning. They went for parts to Green Bay and worked all day on the darn thing but just couldn't get it to budge.
Much later, well after the races were over on Wednesday night, they were finally able to cobble things together to the point that they could get the lift all the way up and lock the back door. They were then heading out to find a place where they could get repairs done to the motor that they believe failed, causing the whole mess. But they would be forced to miss the whole racing event with their next show planned for Saturday night in Minnesota.
As mentioned, Sport Mods and Stock Cars ran a full show on Wednesday night and will do so again on Thursday night. Thirty five Sport Mods and thirty three Stock Cars helped fill the rather small pit area to overflowing on Wednesday night. The Sport Mod field saw a number of Iowa drivers come up and join the action while the Stock Car field was mainly area competitors except for Texan Ronnie Christopher who always pulls up to this race.
Four heats and two B Features set the field for the Sport Mod main and Iowa visitor Ethan Braaksma humbled the local contingent, starting on the outside pole and running away from the field. In the rare, nonstop main event, Braaksma had no competition as he won by nearly a full straightaway with his only challenges being fighting his way through the lapped traffic as only two cars failed to finish the event.
At the finish, Braaksma had plenty of track space and three lapped cars between himself and runner up Kevin Bethke. The rest of the top five included Lucas Lamberies, Cody Schroeder and Justin Green. The second most damaging DQ of the night saw apparent third place finisher Bruce Belland removed from that spot for a post race technical issue.
The Stock Car feature was not the compelling kind of event that I am used to seeing the Stock Cars run either. It was a smooth race after we got the first lap grinding crash out of the way but Kyle Frederick started on the pole, led all the way and was never seriously challenged for the lead. A couple of mid race yellows for spins bunched the field but each time he pulled away from the pack and was never under any serious pressure and there were enough yellows that kept the field bunched that lapped cars, always a real battle on this tight track, never came into play either.
The race for second, though, was a good one with four cars trading spots on the track on each yellow. Jeremy Christians came from the third row to score the second place as he found the low groove to be his best line and he was trailed by John Heinz, Aaron Stolp and Hot Rod Snellenberger.
Eric Arneson came from twentieth to finish sixth and the top placing Iowa driver was Jay Schmidt who finished twelfth.
Jerry Van Sickel was brought in by Kruse to do the announcing on Wednesday and I got a chance to talk to him as he worked the pits before the show, meeting drivers and updating information. He gave me crap for not saying hello to him at Marshalltown when I've been there but I reminded him that I hadn't seen him in the pits there and that was the only way to find me before the races start. Jerry is announcing at Boone and Marshalltown again this year but not regularly on Wednesdays except as a fill in and sometimes for his brother at Fort Dodge as needed on Sundays. Still sounds like a lot to me.
Ken Schrader was scheduled to be the special guest at this event but I guess he got a better offer elsewhere as he was not to be seen and no mention was made of him during the week to date.
One thing Toby has brought with him to 141 from Iowa is the ability to run off a quick race program, something that so many other promoters continue to struggle to figure out how to execute. Wednesday night, with just a brief hot lap session before racing started, the first green flag waved five minutes after the scheduled starting time and after that, it was non stop racing. The Sport Mod drivers and Stock Car drivers had to be "on the stick" because as soon as their B Features were over, they turned right around and ran off their main events.
When all was said and done, twenty nine races were held and three hundred and thirty eight laps were put on the track and the final checkered flag waved before 10 pm! But Toby is a smart guy. He knows that his Left Turn Lounge on the property is a huge money maker, particularly for all the people camping and staying in the haulers on the grounds and the sooner he can get the races done, the sooner all those folks will probably want to eat and drink, all through the night. Plus, I believe he is operating under a 10:30 curfew and with things a bit testy between the track and the local township authorities, it's always a good idea not to "push their buttons" if not needed. It was a top notch show from start to finish and more is likely in store for Thursday.
While sixty eight cars had practiced on Wednesday night, a number more arrived to race on Thursday eschewing hot laps on Wednesday for a number of reasons. Some had work issues to contend with while others were regulars that felt they didn't need to spend another night practicing. When everyone got signed in and drew, the final count of Modifieds was eighty three cars including the last car through the gate, North Dakota's Casey Arneson who arrived just a half hour before the cut off occurred.
Everyone drew a number to establish starting positions for the first round of heat races and the second set of heats was simply the line up of the first set, but inverted. This way you raced against the same cars twice which seems the fairest way of running things. Passing points were used for both twelve lap heat races and the total points earned would set the running order for the races on Thursday. The top ten would automatically be locked in for Thursday night's feature race.
The field of cars was an outstanding one with the best of the best travelers on hand plus many from Toby's connections in Iowa in both the Mods and Sport Mods plus just about everyone from the eastern side of Wisconsin. The biggest names missing from the lineup locally were the Wilinski's and the Muensters.
The twelve lap heat races were much like main events with, as you might guess, some very intense racing. While there were not a bunch of yellow flag slowdowns and wrecks, there was plenty of hard racing action with each position so important to each driver. The Sport Mods and Stock Cars ran their heats before the Modifieds took to the track so the groove had already been moved out and the track mostly cleaned off for the Modifieds.
Two distinct race lanes opened up quickly with some choosing to hug the low groove, which, quite frankly, just looking at this tight and small oval, looks to be the best way around the track, but there was a second school of thought that believed that running the high side was the way to go. For most of the top runners that made the top ten, moving around on the track and using the high side was very beneficial. For Thursdays long distance finale however, the track might change enough that the high side would perhaps give up, but that remains to be seen.
The cream rose to the top, so to speak, in the heat races and there was not a single driver of the top ten that could be considered even a remote surprise. Four traveling stars, three Iowa drivers and three area Wisconsin drivers made up the ten that are locked into the show.
The top point earner was Ricky Thornton Jr, trying to come back from last week's roll over at another track while racing another big money show. He won both heats he started, coming from fifth and sixth positions to do so and thus earned many passing points for doing so. The other travelers that made the main included Hunter Marriott, Dylan Smith and defending champion Kyle Strickler.
The three Iowa drivers that made the show included Joel Rust, Cayden Carter and Kelly Shryock while the Wisconsin drivers that will start up front Thursday included Benji LaCrosse, Mike Mullen and Jason Czarapata with LaCrosse and Mullen scoring the second and third highest point totals. Shryock snuck in when Terry Phillips, who was in good position to make the top ten as the second round of heat races took place, accidentally got into the back of another car and had to tail his heat and while he finished up that race fairly strong, he put him just short of what he needed to gain a "locked in " position.
There were a total of four DQ's over the course of the night in all divisions but the most damaging occurred in the first Modified heat after Russ Reinwald was DQ'd after winning his heat race while starting seventh. Later he would win his second round heat and with the two wins would have surely made the show but his "no points" first race now requires him to race Thursday just to try and get in the field.
But the "hard luck" award of the night and probably the whole week would likely go to Lance Mari. The California racer, who is staying and racing throughout the Midwest this Summer, had to scratch out of both of his heat races on Wednesday night. But the reason he had to do so was the most frustrating part of the whole deal. What happened was that the lift gate on his trailer failed to operate and quite simply, he couldn't get his race car out of the trailer to race!
He had practiced on Tuesday night and reported that the car was the best ever and that he was very confident going into Wednesday night's show. However, in putting the car away the lift gate got stuck part way up and they could neither get it to move up or down. It was stuck. They worked on it late into the night on Tuesday, finally giving up and then going back to it on Wednesday morning. They went for parts to Green Bay and worked all day on the darn thing but just couldn't get it to budge.
Much later, well after the races were over on Wednesday night, they were finally able to cobble things together to the point that they could get the lift all the way up and lock the back door. They were then heading out to find a place where they could get repairs done to the motor that they believe failed, causing the whole mess. But they would be forced to miss the whole racing event with their next show planned for Saturday night in Minnesota.
As mentioned, Sport Mods and Stock Cars ran a full show on Wednesday night and will do so again on Thursday night. Thirty five Sport Mods and thirty three Stock Cars helped fill the rather small pit area to overflowing on Wednesday night. The Sport Mod field saw a number of Iowa drivers come up and join the action while the Stock Car field was mainly area competitors except for Texan Ronnie Christopher who always pulls up to this race.
Four heats and two B Features set the field for the Sport Mod main and Iowa visitor Ethan Braaksma humbled the local contingent, starting on the outside pole and running away from the field. In the rare, nonstop main event, Braaksma had no competition as he won by nearly a full straightaway with his only challenges being fighting his way through the lapped traffic as only two cars failed to finish the event.
At the finish, Braaksma had plenty of track space and three lapped cars between himself and runner up Kevin Bethke. The rest of the top five included Lucas Lamberies, Cody Schroeder and Justin Green. The second most damaging DQ of the night saw apparent third place finisher Bruce Belland removed from that spot for a post race technical issue.
The Stock Car feature was not the compelling kind of event that I am used to seeing the Stock Cars run either. It was a smooth race after we got the first lap grinding crash out of the way but Kyle Frederick started on the pole, led all the way and was never seriously challenged for the lead. A couple of mid race yellows for spins bunched the field but each time he pulled away from the pack and was never under any serious pressure and there were enough yellows that kept the field bunched that lapped cars, always a real battle on this tight track, never came into play either.
The race for second, though, was a good one with four cars trading spots on the track on each yellow. Jeremy Christians came from the third row to score the second place as he found the low groove to be his best line and he was trailed by John Heinz, Aaron Stolp and Hot Rod Snellenberger.
Eric Arneson came from twentieth to finish sixth and the top placing Iowa driver was Jay Schmidt who finished twelfth.
Jerry Van Sickel was brought in by Kruse to do the announcing on Wednesday and I got a chance to talk to him as he worked the pits before the show, meeting drivers and updating information. He gave me crap for not saying hello to him at Marshalltown when I've been there but I reminded him that I hadn't seen him in the pits there and that was the only way to find me before the races start. Jerry is announcing at Boone and Marshalltown again this year but not regularly on Wednesdays except as a fill in and sometimes for his brother at Fort Dodge as needed on Sundays. Still sounds like a lot to me.
Ken Schrader was scheduled to be the special guest at this event but I guess he got a better offer elsewhere as he was not to be seen and no mention was made of him during the week to date.
One thing Toby has brought with him to 141 from Iowa is the ability to run off a quick race program, something that so many other promoters continue to struggle to figure out how to execute. Wednesday night, with just a brief hot lap session before racing started, the first green flag waved five minutes after the scheduled starting time and after that, it was non stop racing. The Sport Mod drivers and Stock Car drivers had to be "on the stick" because as soon as their B Features were over, they turned right around and ran off their main events.
When all was said and done, twenty nine races were held and three hundred and thirty eight laps were put on the track and the final checkered flag waved before 10 pm! But Toby is a smart guy. He knows that his Left Turn Lounge on the property is a huge money maker, particularly for all the people camping and staying in the haulers on the grounds and the sooner he can get the races done, the sooner all those folks will probably want to eat and drink, all through the night. Plus, I believe he is operating under a 10:30 curfew and with things a bit testy between the track and the local township authorities, it's always a good idea not to "push their buttons" if not needed. It was a top notch show from start to finish and more is likely in store for Thursday.
Wednesday, June 20, 2018
Anvelink Turns Out The Lights On The Dirt Kings At 141
Tuesday night, June 19th, the 141 Speedway just North of Francis Creek Wisconsin kicked off a special three night midweek extravaganza. The opening night(Tuesday) will see the Dirt Kings Late Model Tour Series from Wisconsin make a stop at the track with a full program of racing. Along with them, Modifieds, Sport Mods and Stock Cars will all be practicing intermixed between the Late Model events.
Wednesday night will see the Stock Cars and Sport Mods run a full program while the Modifieds will run qualifying heats that will determine how they will line up for Thursday night. On that night, the Last Chance and Main events will be run for the Modifieds with ten grand on the line for the winner plus a "bath in the infield pond" while the Stock Cars and Sport Mods will again run a full program.
The Dirt Kings is a second year Late Model touring series that was organized in eastern Wisconsin to try and salvage Late Model racing on that side of the state and in less than two short years they have come a long way. They have a full schedule of special events and have brought Late Model racing to tracks that never had run Late Models before. They suffered some setbacks when two tracks(Oshkosh and Manitowoc) that were strong supporters of the series both closed after the 2017 racing season, but they have found some new venues to appear at and they have a couple of three and four thousand dollar to win races on their schedule. Their basic twelve hundred and fifty dollar to win race isn't a huge amount but it is still better than what they run for at the two remaining weekly Late Model tracks on the eastern side of the state(Shawano and Plymouth).
So far, one of the big keys to their success is that they are getting great support from the drivers. Twelve hundred and fifty to win for a midweek special doesn't sound like a huge drawing card but yet, on this night at 141 Speedway, they drew a fine twenty six car field including the top sixteen in Dirt Kings current points. That was impressive to me.
It has been a rainy time in Wisconsin for the last week or so and many spots across the state have been suffering from flooding issues. While it hasn't been quite as bad in eastern Wisconsin, they were still reported to have received over two inches of rain at 141 overnight Monday and into the morning on Tuesday. The rain had stopped by the time I got to the track and of course, Toby Kruse was determined that the show would get in. It remained gloomy and cloudy most of the day and the track prep crew stayed off the track as long as possible, allowing the wind to help dry it off.
Late in the afternoon they finally got on to the track and they were successful in getting it whipped into shape rather quickly and the original time table of hot laps at 6 pm and the first Late Model race at 7 pm was able to be maintained. The infield was a sea of mud and there would be no swimming in the pond for the winner on this night, simply because it was so muddy it would be hard to even get to the pond!
The track was blinding fast for hot laps with both the Late Models and Modifieds setting near track records during their warm up sessions. The Late Models were in the mid twelve second bracket as they were as close as humanly possible to holding it wide open all the way around the unique, egg shaped quarter mile track that if you have ever been here, you know how tight the corners are even though they are also very wide. It is definitely a "different animal" than most drivers are used to.
The other classes practiced for nearly an hour which helped to roll in the track and widen it out but it was still "hammer down" when the Late Models came to the grid for the first of four heat races. They would run passing points for their heats, take three more out of the Last Chance and provide one driver a provisional based on Series points so they would start twenty cars for thirty laps.
Things were going go through three intense heats when suddenly, out of the blue, it started to rain again. Not hard, in fact more of a heavy mist, but it was just enough to make the track too slick to race on. They booted the Late Models off the track and brought out the packing rigs, of which they have many and also started to till up the track at the same time. The rain was persistent but the track workers refused to loose, and they kept circling the track until it finally stopped drizzling and they were able to quickly then make progress.
Before too long, they were ready to send out the fourth and final heat which really screamed around the track. Open practice sessions then followed between the last heat and the B Feature and then once again before the main event which was scheduled to hit the track at 10 pm. One of the unusual by products of all the open practice was that we would see Late Models come out and take a few laps before the B Feature to make sure they had the right set up and some even came out just before the Feature race to check out their setup. But at 10 pm the Late Model feature hit the track to wrap up the night.
The series announcer(who didn't identify himself) stated that what we were about to see would be a "clash of cataclysmic proportions" and while he might of overstated things just a bit, I would prefer to characterize it as a "severe butt kicking" by one Nick Anvelink. The series point leader coming into this event, Anvelink showed why he is the one driver on this series who can travel to any race at any facility and be a serious contender, whether it be an open show or a WISSOTA spec engine show that he typically visits late in the racing season. He is just that good and has that good of equipment. Plus he is an exceptionally smart driver.
All the practice sessions had finally caused the track, which typically is very hard and slick and was atypical earlier in the evening, to slow down and slick off. However, many of the drivers didn't catch this fact and were still trying to "floorboard" it all the way around the track, causing then to slide high.
Anvelink started ninth in the main and had a car working great in the low groove so he just showed great patience and waited for everyone to slide up out of the groove and then he drove past them on the bottom. He did this time and again and after the only yellow with seven laps complete, caused when "Diamond" Jim Letezia pounded the back stretch wall, He was able to pass both the leader and second place car in one swoop and he drove into the lead.
It took him all of ten laps to go from ninth to first and after that, he pulled away from the field. Even when he was fighting his way through heavy traffic, he was still gaining on the cars trying to catch them and his work in the heavy traffic was magnificent. At the end of the race there were only six cars on the lead lap and Anvelink had seven lapped cars and nearly a straightaway between himself and Brett Swedberg who finished second.
Paul Parker had made a fine drive of his own and had moved into second, although it was in a different zip code than Anvelink when he lost power coming to the white flag and pulled into the infield. Behind Swedberg, it was Ron Berna, Jared Siefert and Mark Rose at the finish. Only four of the nineteen started failed to finish with Tom Naeyaert dropping out on the pace lap when he couldn't get his car to fire.
After the conclusion of the Late Model feature, the Modifieds were allowed some more practice as their time had been cut short earlier due to the rain. I counted sixty eight different Modifieds that took practice laps and surely there will be others on hand Wednesday night, although no practice will be held on that night; it is simply line up and race at 6 pm.
Among the drivers obseved who made practice laps in no particular order were: Joel Rust, Hunter Marriott, Jason Walla, Tim Ward, Jason Hughes, Kyle Strickler, Mike Mullin, Lance Mari, Rodney Sanders, Brian Mullen, Kyle and David Brown, Dylan Smith, Cayden Carter, Racer Hulin, Ricky Thornton Jr, Jordan Grabouski, Terry Phillips, Dan Nelson, Anthony Roth, Kelly Shryock, Mike Mashl, Troy Cordes, Cory Dripps, Wade Taylor, Benji LaCrosse, Bone Larson and Shane Demey. Phillips was even putting some laps on his "open" Modified as well.
A few Stock Cars and Sport Mods also were practicing but other than Ethan Braaksma, it looks like most of the entrants in those classes will be local competitors.
The heat race action as drivers jockey for positions for the big money on Thursday is expected to be intense. Stay tuned.
Wednesday night will see the Stock Cars and Sport Mods run a full program while the Modifieds will run qualifying heats that will determine how they will line up for Thursday night. On that night, the Last Chance and Main events will be run for the Modifieds with ten grand on the line for the winner plus a "bath in the infield pond" while the Stock Cars and Sport Mods will again run a full program.
The Dirt Kings is a second year Late Model touring series that was organized in eastern Wisconsin to try and salvage Late Model racing on that side of the state and in less than two short years they have come a long way. They have a full schedule of special events and have brought Late Model racing to tracks that never had run Late Models before. They suffered some setbacks when two tracks(Oshkosh and Manitowoc) that were strong supporters of the series both closed after the 2017 racing season, but they have found some new venues to appear at and they have a couple of three and four thousand dollar to win races on their schedule. Their basic twelve hundred and fifty dollar to win race isn't a huge amount but it is still better than what they run for at the two remaining weekly Late Model tracks on the eastern side of the state(Shawano and Plymouth).
So far, one of the big keys to their success is that they are getting great support from the drivers. Twelve hundred and fifty to win for a midweek special doesn't sound like a huge drawing card but yet, on this night at 141 Speedway, they drew a fine twenty six car field including the top sixteen in Dirt Kings current points. That was impressive to me.
It has been a rainy time in Wisconsin for the last week or so and many spots across the state have been suffering from flooding issues. While it hasn't been quite as bad in eastern Wisconsin, they were still reported to have received over two inches of rain at 141 overnight Monday and into the morning on Tuesday. The rain had stopped by the time I got to the track and of course, Toby Kruse was determined that the show would get in. It remained gloomy and cloudy most of the day and the track prep crew stayed off the track as long as possible, allowing the wind to help dry it off.
Late in the afternoon they finally got on to the track and they were successful in getting it whipped into shape rather quickly and the original time table of hot laps at 6 pm and the first Late Model race at 7 pm was able to be maintained. The infield was a sea of mud and there would be no swimming in the pond for the winner on this night, simply because it was so muddy it would be hard to even get to the pond!
The track was blinding fast for hot laps with both the Late Models and Modifieds setting near track records during their warm up sessions. The Late Models were in the mid twelve second bracket as they were as close as humanly possible to holding it wide open all the way around the unique, egg shaped quarter mile track that if you have ever been here, you know how tight the corners are even though they are also very wide. It is definitely a "different animal" than most drivers are used to.
The other classes practiced for nearly an hour which helped to roll in the track and widen it out but it was still "hammer down" when the Late Models came to the grid for the first of four heat races. They would run passing points for their heats, take three more out of the Last Chance and provide one driver a provisional based on Series points so they would start twenty cars for thirty laps.
Things were going go through three intense heats when suddenly, out of the blue, it started to rain again. Not hard, in fact more of a heavy mist, but it was just enough to make the track too slick to race on. They booted the Late Models off the track and brought out the packing rigs, of which they have many and also started to till up the track at the same time. The rain was persistent but the track workers refused to loose, and they kept circling the track until it finally stopped drizzling and they were able to quickly then make progress.
Before too long, they were ready to send out the fourth and final heat which really screamed around the track. Open practice sessions then followed between the last heat and the B Feature and then once again before the main event which was scheduled to hit the track at 10 pm. One of the unusual by products of all the open practice was that we would see Late Models come out and take a few laps before the B Feature to make sure they had the right set up and some even came out just before the Feature race to check out their setup. But at 10 pm the Late Model feature hit the track to wrap up the night.
The series announcer(who didn't identify himself) stated that what we were about to see would be a "clash of cataclysmic proportions" and while he might of overstated things just a bit, I would prefer to characterize it as a "severe butt kicking" by one Nick Anvelink. The series point leader coming into this event, Anvelink showed why he is the one driver on this series who can travel to any race at any facility and be a serious contender, whether it be an open show or a WISSOTA spec engine show that he typically visits late in the racing season. He is just that good and has that good of equipment. Plus he is an exceptionally smart driver.
All the practice sessions had finally caused the track, which typically is very hard and slick and was atypical earlier in the evening, to slow down and slick off. However, many of the drivers didn't catch this fact and were still trying to "floorboard" it all the way around the track, causing then to slide high.
Anvelink started ninth in the main and had a car working great in the low groove so he just showed great patience and waited for everyone to slide up out of the groove and then he drove past them on the bottom. He did this time and again and after the only yellow with seven laps complete, caused when "Diamond" Jim Letezia pounded the back stretch wall, He was able to pass both the leader and second place car in one swoop and he drove into the lead.
It took him all of ten laps to go from ninth to first and after that, he pulled away from the field. Even when he was fighting his way through heavy traffic, he was still gaining on the cars trying to catch them and his work in the heavy traffic was magnificent. At the end of the race there were only six cars on the lead lap and Anvelink had seven lapped cars and nearly a straightaway between himself and Brett Swedberg who finished second.
Paul Parker had made a fine drive of his own and had moved into second, although it was in a different zip code than Anvelink when he lost power coming to the white flag and pulled into the infield. Behind Swedberg, it was Ron Berna, Jared Siefert and Mark Rose at the finish. Only four of the nineteen started failed to finish with Tom Naeyaert dropping out on the pace lap when he couldn't get his car to fire.
After the conclusion of the Late Model feature, the Modifieds were allowed some more practice as their time had been cut short earlier due to the rain. I counted sixty eight different Modifieds that took practice laps and surely there will be others on hand Wednesday night, although no practice will be held on that night; it is simply line up and race at 6 pm.
Among the drivers obseved who made practice laps in no particular order were: Joel Rust, Hunter Marriott, Jason Walla, Tim Ward, Jason Hughes, Kyle Strickler, Mike Mullin, Lance Mari, Rodney Sanders, Brian Mullen, Kyle and David Brown, Dylan Smith, Cayden Carter, Racer Hulin, Ricky Thornton Jr, Jordan Grabouski, Terry Phillips, Dan Nelson, Anthony Roth, Kelly Shryock, Mike Mashl, Troy Cordes, Cory Dripps, Wade Taylor, Benji LaCrosse, Bone Larson and Shane Demey. Phillips was even putting some laps on his "open" Modified as well.
A few Stock Cars and Sport Mods also were practicing but other than Ethan Braaksma, it looks like most of the entrants in those classes will be local competitors.
The heat race action as drivers jockey for positions for the big money on Thursday is expected to be intense. Stay tuned.
Monday, June 18, 2018
Roth Stars at Dubuque
On Sunday, June 17th I was chasing the weather, much as I had been doing all weekend. Lots of heat and lots of storms were blanketing the upper Midwest and my success rate for the weekend was far from spotless.
Sunday was just another in a nearly week long series of challenges to try and find a race and avoid yet another rain out. With everything wet or likely to become wet before the day was over, I focused my attention to the South and I selected one of my favorite racing tracks, The Dubuque County Fairgrounds Speedway, to be my Sunday oasis.
While it was rainy and threatening to add more to the weekend totals, some of which in the area were ridiculously high, as I left home, by the time I got to Dubuque the sun was out and the heat was oppressive. My car indicated that as much as it was showing 97 degrees as I stepped out and headed toward the pits. Fortunately there was a strong breeze that was probably the saving grace between folks really being stressed and just somewhat miserable.
Dubuque had been fighting their own weather problems and they were coming off of a rain out that caused their Fan Appreciation night activities to be postponed for one week to Sunday. I caught a break on that as I partook in the half price concessions, eating and drinking my way to a comfortable state and even throwing in a little ice cream for desert on a day when ice cream tasted oh so good.
Dubuque is still in a transition state with their changing of the Late Model rules for their track which was huge news in the off season all across the Hawkeye State and while the middle of June is still way too early to be making any final judgments, so far the "new" Late Model class doesn't seen to have caught on with the enthusiasm that track owners might have hoped for. There were seven Late Models on hand Sunday and that has been around the number that they have been having so far with this being just the fourth race of the year at Dubuque due to their many weather issues. Farley has switched to a "specials only" schedule since the year started so no comparisons can be made based on what has happened so far there this year. So far the Late Model field is primarily just local drivers, ones who would have been racing at Dubuque no matter what and in some ways has seemed to even having driven off some drivers that were IMCA supporters in the past but are not racing at the track so far in 2018. So, time will tell how this grand experiment works out and perhaps it will be the fans in the stands, or lack there of, that drive any further change.
Dubuque is also experimenting with a small, by comparison to most tracks, program of just four classes in action on Sunday nights. To me this seems like a great way to go to help ensure that the program gets done early, always a key ingredient to the success of any program on a Sunday night. However, to make a show worthy of the fans' support on a regular basis, those four classes must have solid fields in them and Sunday, for instance, the fendered classes were not well represented with just thirteen entrants between the two Late Model divisions while the open wheel cars had thirty three cars between their two classes. It was a marked difference and it did indeed make a difference in the quality of the show.
For their part, the drivers did a great job of putting on an entertaining show despite their relatively small numbers and also having to fight track conditions that left a lot to be desired. I would have thought that with the high humidity the track would have held the moisture well on a night such as this but apparently the sun and strong wind trumped the sticky conditions and the track was extremely dry, blowing huge clouds of dust into the stands all the way through the night. And of course, the wind was in the direction that it blew into the crowded turn one section of bleachers full force, making for a miserably uncomfortable evening of straining to look for the cars through the clouds of dust. Truly, it might have been the dustiest that I have ever seen this track get. And guess who happened to be sitting right in the middle of that section of bleachers?
The dry material just laid in piles near the outside wall and except for one time at the break when they watered the whole track, they didn't touch the surface at all and I thought that a good misting of the top side would have served to help both the racing and the dust packed eyes of the spectators. However, none was forthcoming.
Here's where the drivers showed their mettle however, as they made chicken salad out of chicken ****, even when the track refused to cooperate. And the star of the show was Wisconsin's Jason Roth, who showed the rest of the pit area that there was a groove up against the wall, even if it didn't look like there was. After a series of nondescript heat races, the first feature was that of the Sport Mods and right away, Roth moved to the top side of the track, racing forward from his sixth row starting spot, emitting clouds of dust into the air until the top groove finally started to clean off some.
Early on, the Sport Mod feature was tedious with four yellows in the first five laps. However, after that they settled down and put on a good show. Roth continued to pound the cushion and move forward and pretty soon he had caught Tyler Soppe, Jerry Miles and K.C. Ansel, the lead pack cars who were mostly just hugging the bottom groove. A late race yellow gave Roth the chance to move up beside leader Ansel and he then drove by him to win the main and complete his good run. And just as importantly to the fans, he showed the rest of the drivers a line that allowed passing and widened out the whole track, making racing much more interesting. Ansel and Miles trailed Roth at the finish. Roth deserves the "Driver of the Night" award.
Despite having a meager field of only seven Late Models, Eric Pollard and Johnny Emerson managed to make their main event fairly entertaining. It took Emerson a few laps to work his way into second and then he trailed just Pollard, who was driving his car for everything it had in an effort to maintain the lead.
That's when things got interesting as Emerson started throwing slide jobs at Pollard, trying to get past him. After several attempts he was finally able to get past and after Pollard was able to retake him once, he couldn't pull off the maneuver again and then Emerson pulled away in the final laps as the point leader scored another win. Jason Udelhoven finished third as only three cars were on the lead lap at the finish.
The Modifieds had enough cars and enough good cars that they could put on a solid main event. It was Austin Moyer that got to the front early and he fought off challenges from Matt Gansen and Bryce Garnhart to get the win. After a smooth early part of the race, the yellow waved twice for top five cars that wrecked with Garnhart and Jed Freiburger both eliminated and Moyer having to fight off the field on two green, white and checkered attempts before the race was completed.
The scrambled finish saw Mark Schulte sneak into the top three and Jaden Fryer, who at one time was in the infield and headed to his pit area, somehow came back out and up to finish in the top five.
The only "stinker" was the Limited Late Model feature where words can not describe some of things that took place. With only six cars you have thought that things could have gone smoothly but that was not to be the case. Five yellows slowed the fifteen lap event including a spin by then leader D. J. Sweet. Pat Quinn spun three times all by himself but somehow managed to avoid getting sent to the pits(which would have been the proper call) and at the end, actually had a decent chance of still winning the race which would have been a travesty of justice.
The only good thing about the race was that winner Mike Mills, apparently returning to racing after having been sidelined for a period of time, was a very grateful winner. If this class is the future of Late Model racing in Iowa, God save us all as this event would have to rank as among the worst seen all year to date.
Announcer Jerry Mackey was a busy "voice" of the speedway on Sunday as he was in charge of organizing the candy toss and kids door prize drawings at the break. You could tell that Jerry had experience as a "cat herder" from his years of driving school buses. He also had the experience to turn his back and head the other way once he gave the signal for the kids to go after the candy as there was no way he was going to get caught up in any "official rulings" when two kids started to fight over a piece of candy! A very smart man indeed.
Thanks to all the folks at the pit gate that helped me sign in. The track announced that starting next week that the hot laps would be pushed back one half hour to 6 pm with racing to follow in an effort to allow them to get more moisture into the racing surface and start the program when it will presumably have cooled off just a bit. They must be careful though, so as not to have this make the show run any later, as getting done early on a Sunday still should remain goal number one.
Sunday was just another in a nearly week long series of challenges to try and find a race and avoid yet another rain out. With everything wet or likely to become wet before the day was over, I focused my attention to the South and I selected one of my favorite racing tracks, The Dubuque County Fairgrounds Speedway, to be my Sunday oasis.
While it was rainy and threatening to add more to the weekend totals, some of which in the area were ridiculously high, as I left home, by the time I got to Dubuque the sun was out and the heat was oppressive. My car indicated that as much as it was showing 97 degrees as I stepped out and headed toward the pits. Fortunately there was a strong breeze that was probably the saving grace between folks really being stressed and just somewhat miserable.
Dubuque had been fighting their own weather problems and they were coming off of a rain out that caused their Fan Appreciation night activities to be postponed for one week to Sunday. I caught a break on that as I partook in the half price concessions, eating and drinking my way to a comfortable state and even throwing in a little ice cream for desert on a day when ice cream tasted oh so good.
Dubuque is still in a transition state with their changing of the Late Model rules for their track which was huge news in the off season all across the Hawkeye State and while the middle of June is still way too early to be making any final judgments, so far the "new" Late Model class doesn't seen to have caught on with the enthusiasm that track owners might have hoped for. There were seven Late Models on hand Sunday and that has been around the number that they have been having so far with this being just the fourth race of the year at Dubuque due to their many weather issues. Farley has switched to a "specials only" schedule since the year started so no comparisons can be made based on what has happened so far there this year. So far the Late Model field is primarily just local drivers, ones who would have been racing at Dubuque no matter what and in some ways has seemed to even having driven off some drivers that were IMCA supporters in the past but are not racing at the track so far in 2018. So, time will tell how this grand experiment works out and perhaps it will be the fans in the stands, or lack there of, that drive any further change.
Dubuque is also experimenting with a small, by comparison to most tracks, program of just four classes in action on Sunday nights. To me this seems like a great way to go to help ensure that the program gets done early, always a key ingredient to the success of any program on a Sunday night. However, to make a show worthy of the fans' support on a regular basis, those four classes must have solid fields in them and Sunday, for instance, the fendered classes were not well represented with just thirteen entrants between the two Late Model divisions while the open wheel cars had thirty three cars between their two classes. It was a marked difference and it did indeed make a difference in the quality of the show.
For their part, the drivers did a great job of putting on an entertaining show despite their relatively small numbers and also having to fight track conditions that left a lot to be desired. I would have thought that with the high humidity the track would have held the moisture well on a night such as this but apparently the sun and strong wind trumped the sticky conditions and the track was extremely dry, blowing huge clouds of dust into the stands all the way through the night. And of course, the wind was in the direction that it blew into the crowded turn one section of bleachers full force, making for a miserably uncomfortable evening of straining to look for the cars through the clouds of dust. Truly, it might have been the dustiest that I have ever seen this track get. And guess who happened to be sitting right in the middle of that section of bleachers?
The dry material just laid in piles near the outside wall and except for one time at the break when they watered the whole track, they didn't touch the surface at all and I thought that a good misting of the top side would have served to help both the racing and the dust packed eyes of the spectators. However, none was forthcoming.
Here's where the drivers showed their mettle however, as they made chicken salad out of chicken ****, even when the track refused to cooperate. And the star of the show was Wisconsin's Jason Roth, who showed the rest of the pit area that there was a groove up against the wall, even if it didn't look like there was. After a series of nondescript heat races, the first feature was that of the Sport Mods and right away, Roth moved to the top side of the track, racing forward from his sixth row starting spot, emitting clouds of dust into the air until the top groove finally started to clean off some.
Early on, the Sport Mod feature was tedious with four yellows in the first five laps. However, after that they settled down and put on a good show. Roth continued to pound the cushion and move forward and pretty soon he had caught Tyler Soppe, Jerry Miles and K.C. Ansel, the lead pack cars who were mostly just hugging the bottom groove. A late race yellow gave Roth the chance to move up beside leader Ansel and he then drove by him to win the main and complete his good run. And just as importantly to the fans, he showed the rest of the drivers a line that allowed passing and widened out the whole track, making racing much more interesting. Ansel and Miles trailed Roth at the finish. Roth deserves the "Driver of the Night" award.
Despite having a meager field of only seven Late Models, Eric Pollard and Johnny Emerson managed to make their main event fairly entertaining. It took Emerson a few laps to work his way into second and then he trailed just Pollard, who was driving his car for everything it had in an effort to maintain the lead.
That's when things got interesting as Emerson started throwing slide jobs at Pollard, trying to get past him. After several attempts he was finally able to get past and after Pollard was able to retake him once, he couldn't pull off the maneuver again and then Emerson pulled away in the final laps as the point leader scored another win. Jason Udelhoven finished third as only three cars were on the lead lap at the finish.
The Modifieds had enough cars and enough good cars that they could put on a solid main event. It was Austin Moyer that got to the front early and he fought off challenges from Matt Gansen and Bryce Garnhart to get the win. After a smooth early part of the race, the yellow waved twice for top five cars that wrecked with Garnhart and Jed Freiburger both eliminated and Moyer having to fight off the field on two green, white and checkered attempts before the race was completed.
The scrambled finish saw Mark Schulte sneak into the top three and Jaden Fryer, who at one time was in the infield and headed to his pit area, somehow came back out and up to finish in the top five.
The only "stinker" was the Limited Late Model feature where words can not describe some of things that took place. With only six cars you have thought that things could have gone smoothly but that was not to be the case. Five yellows slowed the fifteen lap event including a spin by then leader D. J. Sweet. Pat Quinn spun three times all by himself but somehow managed to avoid getting sent to the pits(which would have been the proper call) and at the end, actually had a decent chance of still winning the race which would have been a travesty of justice.
The only good thing about the race was that winner Mike Mills, apparently returning to racing after having been sidelined for a period of time, was a very grateful winner. If this class is the future of Late Model racing in Iowa, God save us all as this event would have to rank as among the worst seen all year to date.
Announcer Jerry Mackey was a busy "voice" of the speedway on Sunday as he was in charge of organizing the candy toss and kids door prize drawings at the break. You could tell that Jerry had experience as a "cat herder" from his years of driving school buses. He also had the experience to turn his back and head the other way once he gave the signal for the kids to go after the candy as there was no way he was going to get caught up in any "official rulings" when two kids started to fight over a piece of candy! A very smart man indeed.
Thanks to all the folks at the pit gate that helped me sign in. The track announced that starting next week that the hot laps would be pushed back one half hour to 6 pm with racing to follow in an effort to allow them to get more moisture into the racing surface and start the program when it will presumably have cooled off just a bit. They must be careful though, so as not to have this make the show run any later, as getting done early on a Sunday still should remain goal number one.
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
Andy Eckrich Takes the Deery Loot at Marshalltown
On Tuesday, June 5th, the Deery Brothers Summer Series held an event at the Marshalltown Speedway which featured IMCA Modifieds and Karl Chevrolet Trucks as well as the Deery Brothers Late Model series. It was a gorgeous night for racing and without the wind blowing right into the main grandstand at top speed, it was so much more pleasant for the spectators.
A big crowd was on hand for the event, dubbed the Steve Priske Miller Lite 50 to honor the memory of a former promoter at the track who had much to do with returning the Late Models as a weekly class for racing at the Marshalltown high banked quarter mile.
Before the race, former announcer Denny Grabenbauer, who returned for this event, had a very interesting interview with Priske's co-promoter Barry Neuse, and I learned much about the history of the Marshalltown Speedway as well as the forming of the IMCA Late Model division and what role both Priske and Neuse had in that. It was telling to hear how far ahead of the "game" Priske and Neuse were for their time.
It was a very late arriving group of drivers to the pit area as for the longest time it didn't appear that the field of cars in any class was going to be very stout. Of course, this doesn't take into consideration the fact that most of the drivers on hand to race Tuesday are working folks and not professional racers and they have a job to do to earn their income before they can come to the track to race.
By race time, all classes had very solid fields of cars with the IMCA Late Model group again solidly supporting their events. Twenty nine Late Models signed in to race with eighteen of the top twenty in current points on hand to run.
Darrel DeFrance, who was racing on his birthday and as I learned, actually a triple D and not just a double D, would start his four hundred and eighty fourth Deery Brothers event, a record that is mind boggling for both its length and the persistent of Darrel to not miss an event anywhere, no matter the circumstances.
Also joining the field Tuesday was all time feature win leader in the Deery Series, Jeff Aikey. Aikey, who has been focusing on a Modified this years was making one of his first, if not his first, Late Model run of 2018. He was driving the #24 car of Scott Fitzpatrick. He proved that adjusting to the #24 car was not a problem and that it didn't take long to knock off the rust as he won a heat race and finished a strong fourth in the fifty lap main while running with the leaders all night.
The heat race win was just a bit misleading however, as Ben Seeman actually crossed the line first and nearly a full straightaway in front of the field. However, the wheelbase on his #60 car was found to be too short and he was disqualified from the event. He did not return to the track the rest of the evening.
Four heat races and two B Features set the twenty four car field for the Late Model fifty lap main. Curt Martin would lead the first couple of laps before Andy Eckrich, coming off the high side of the track, would take over the lead. He would then be officially scored as the leader for the rest of the race, as he put in a dominating performance.
Early in the race, the yellow flag waved quite often with four slow downs in the first fourteen laps. A couple of the yellows involved cars running near the front as Matt Ryan, Jeremiah Hurst and Cayden Carter were all involved in wheel banging incidents that led to spins and put all three to the rear. Carter and DeFrance, who was the cause of the first yellow on lap nine for a spin also, would both drive their way back up into the top ten at the finish.
The last thirty six laps of the main would go nonstop and this is when Andy Eckrich would shine. He was running a line that most others weren't using as he was running high all the way around the track while most others were high in turns three and four but were hugging the low side in one and two. However, he made it work and he pulled away while the positions behind him continued to be contested.
Eventually and gradually, point leader Justin Kay would begin to move up from his sixth row starting spot and when he finally cleared Todd Cooney to move into second, he really picked up the pace. He started to cut considerably into Echrich's lead but he ran out of laps and Eckrich drove home for the win by several car lengths. Andy sounded very relieved during his victory lane talk as he hasn't been performing well so far this year and the frustration has been starting to get to him. There's nothing like a nice two grand win to pick up your spirits! Brother Denny rounded out the top five behind Cooney and Aikey.
The Modified field of thirty two cars was also a strong one and their program was a good one too. While Carter has some frustration with his Late Model run, he caught everyone's attention with the great job he did in the Modified main.
He started ninth on the grid and immediately moved forward running the low side. While others were having trouble holding their line, he drove under car after car, eventually taking over the top spot and then pulling away for the win. Passing drivers like Joel Rust, Ethan Dotson, Kelly Shryock and eventually Hunter Marriott to take over the lead, Carter proved that he was definitely the fastest car on the track.
Tough luck plagued a few of the front runners as Chris Simpson spun while in a contending spot and Tim Ward was involved in a wheel banging issue that gave him a flat tire. Simpson would eventually race his way back up into the top ten before the race was over.
However, the wildest moment of the whole evening took place with ten laps in the book in the Modified feature. The field was screaming around the track in full racing mode when suddenly and without any warning, all the track lights went out and it was as dark as dark could be on the racing surface! What a wild and scary moment and something that I recall only seeing one other time in all the years I have been going to the races. The pit lights stayed on as well as power to the tower but all the track lights went dark at once.
I counted twenty two cars on the track at the moment that all went dark and somehow they all got stopped without nary a single crash or even fender bender. It was quite an accomplishment and certainly a stroke of good luck also.
We waited in the dark for a few minutes and then the lights came back on and we went racing once again. Of course Jerry VanSickel refused to let some little thing like a power outage keep him from talking and he scrambled down to the track to an emergency vehicle where he used their portable speakers to update us on what was happening. Actually, it was a very good thing for him to do and I shouldn't give him a hard time about his "traveling microphone."
After racing resumed, Carter continued his charge and eventually found his way into the lead and no matter how much Ricky Thornton Jr pushed, he couldn't catch the fleet Carter who actually pulled away impressively from the pack.
Richie Gustin made up a lot of ground as he came from twelfth to garner third place honors. It was, however, a "hit and miss" night for the Gustin family as Jimmy Gustin didn't make the main while things were even worse for Ryan. He was flying to the front in the first heat race when he literally started flying as he flew off the first turn and did what I believe were a couple of barrel rolls before coming to a halt. I can't say for sure on the specific details of the wreck as the high banks obscured the specifics of the flip but VanSickel, from his perch high above the track, spoke to seeing the car going over at least a couple of times. Ryan was done for the night.
The Karl Chevrolet Trucks had enough vehicles for two heat races and a main event and their feature had a wild finish. Steve Jackson appeared to have things in control after a good battle with Pat Graham and Rick Clark. However, the yellow flew late in the race and set up a two lap sprint to the finish. Things got wild then with trucks going every which way and at the line, Graham was the winner over Clark while Jackson failed to finish as things really got shook up at the end.
Some of the best heat race action of the year took place on Tuesday with both the Modifieds and Late Models having a number of memorable races that saw some intense action, a great deal of lane swapping and some thrilling finishes. The track stayed in very good shape all night and for once, the wind helped move what little dust there was away from the crowd in stark contrast to what I had experienced the previous times this year. All in all, it was a very fine racing program that would have held to a tight window time wise too, if not for the power failure delay.
A big crowd was on hand for the event, dubbed the Steve Priske Miller Lite 50 to honor the memory of a former promoter at the track who had much to do with returning the Late Models as a weekly class for racing at the Marshalltown high banked quarter mile.
Before the race, former announcer Denny Grabenbauer, who returned for this event, had a very interesting interview with Priske's co-promoter Barry Neuse, and I learned much about the history of the Marshalltown Speedway as well as the forming of the IMCA Late Model division and what role both Priske and Neuse had in that. It was telling to hear how far ahead of the "game" Priske and Neuse were for their time.
It was a very late arriving group of drivers to the pit area as for the longest time it didn't appear that the field of cars in any class was going to be very stout. Of course, this doesn't take into consideration the fact that most of the drivers on hand to race Tuesday are working folks and not professional racers and they have a job to do to earn their income before they can come to the track to race.
By race time, all classes had very solid fields of cars with the IMCA Late Model group again solidly supporting their events. Twenty nine Late Models signed in to race with eighteen of the top twenty in current points on hand to run.
Darrel DeFrance, who was racing on his birthday and as I learned, actually a triple D and not just a double D, would start his four hundred and eighty fourth Deery Brothers event, a record that is mind boggling for both its length and the persistent of Darrel to not miss an event anywhere, no matter the circumstances.
Also joining the field Tuesday was all time feature win leader in the Deery Series, Jeff Aikey. Aikey, who has been focusing on a Modified this years was making one of his first, if not his first, Late Model run of 2018. He was driving the #24 car of Scott Fitzpatrick. He proved that adjusting to the #24 car was not a problem and that it didn't take long to knock off the rust as he won a heat race and finished a strong fourth in the fifty lap main while running with the leaders all night.
The heat race win was just a bit misleading however, as Ben Seeman actually crossed the line first and nearly a full straightaway in front of the field. However, the wheelbase on his #60 car was found to be too short and he was disqualified from the event. He did not return to the track the rest of the evening.
Four heat races and two B Features set the twenty four car field for the Late Model fifty lap main. Curt Martin would lead the first couple of laps before Andy Eckrich, coming off the high side of the track, would take over the lead. He would then be officially scored as the leader for the rest of the race, as he put in a dominating performance.
Early in the race, the yellow flag waved quite often with four slow downs in the first fourteen laps. A couple of the yellows involved cars running near the front as Matt Ryan, Jeremiah Hurst and Cayden Carter were all involved in wheel banging incidents that led to spins and put all three to the rear. Carter and DeFrance, who was the cause of the first yellow on lap nine for a spin also, would both drive their way back up into the top ten at the finish.
The last thirty six laps of the main would go nonstop and this is when Andy Eckrich would shine. He was running a line that most others weren't using as he was running high all the way around the track while most others were high in turns three and four but were hugging the low side in one and two. However, he made it work and he pulled away while the positions behind him continued to be contested.
Eventually and gradually, point leader Justin Kay would begin to move up from his sixth row starting spot and when he finally cleared Todd Cooney to move into second, he really picked up the pace. He started to cut considerably into Echrich's lead but he ran out of laps and Eckrich drove home for the win by several car lengths. Andy sounded very relieved during his victory lane talk as he hasn't been performing well so far this year and the frustration has been starting to get to him. There's nothing like a nice two grand win to pick up your spirits! Brother Denny rounded out the top five behind Cooney and Aikey.
The Modified field of thirty two cars was also a strong one and their program was a good one too. While Carter has some frustration with his Late Model run, he caught everyone's attention with the great job he did in the Modified main.
He started ninth on the grid and immediately moved forward running the low side. While others were having trouble holding their line, he drove under car after car, eventually taking over the top spot and then pulling away for the win. Passing drivers like Joel Rust, Ethan Dotson, Kelly Shryock and eventually Hunter Marriott to take over the lead, Carter proved that he was definitely the fastest car on the track.
Tough luck plagued a few of the front runners as Chris Simpson spun while in a contending spot and Tim Ward was involved in a wheel banging issue that gave him a flat tire. Simpson would eventually race his way back up into the top ten before the race was over.
However, the wildest moment of the whole evening took place with ten laps in the book in the Modified feature. The field was screaming around the track in full racing mode when suddenly and without any warning, all the track lights went out and it was as dark as dark could be on the racing surface! What a wild and scary moment and something that I recall only seeing one other time in all the years I have been going to the races. The pit lights stayed on as well as power to the tower but all the track lights went dark at once.
I counted twenty two cars on the track at the moment that all went dark and somehow they all got stopped without nary a single crash or even fender bender. It was quite an accomplishment and certainly a stroke of good luck also.
We waited in the dark for a few minutes and then the lights came back on and we went racing once again. Of course Jerry VanSickel refused to let some little thing like a power outage keep him from talking and he scrambled down to the track to an emergency vehicle where he used their portable speakers to update us on what was happening. Actually, it was a very good thing for him to do and I shouldn't give him a hard time about his "traveling microphone."
After racing resumed, Carter continued his charge and eventually found his way into the lead and no matter how much Ricky Thornton Jr pushed, he couldn't catch the fleet Carter who actually pulled away impressively from the pack.
Richie Gustin made up a lot of ground as he came from twelfth to garner third place honors. It was, however, a "hit and miss" night for the Gustin family as Jimmy Gustin didn't make the main while things were even worse for Ryan. He was flying to the front in the first heat race when he literally started flying as he flew off the first turn and did what I believe were a couple of barrel rolls before coming to a halt. I can't say for sure on the specific details of the wreck as the high banks obscured the specifics of the flip but VanSickel, from his perch high above the track, spoke to seeing the car going over at least a couple of times. Ryan was done for the night.
The Karl Chevrolet Trucks had enough vehicles for two heat races and a main event and their feature had a wild finish. Steve Jackson appeared to have things in control after a good battle with Pat Graham and Rick Clark. However, the yellow flew late in the race and set up a two lap sprint to the finish. Things got wild then with trucks going every which way and at the line, Graham was the winner over Clark while Jackson failed to finish as things really got shook up at the end.
Some of the best heat race action of the year took place on Tuesday with both the Modifieds and Late Models having a number of memorable races that saw some intense action, a great deal of lane swapping and some thrilling finishes. The track stayed in very good shape all night and for once, the wind helped move what little dust there was away from the crowd in stark contrast to what I had experienced the previous times this year. All in all, it was a very fine racing program that would have held to a tight window time wise too, if not for the power failure delay.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)