I had not been to the Southern Iowa Speedway all year. Every time I thought about going on a Wednesday night either the weather was questionable or I had some other commitment that would not grant me the six and a half hours needed to drive to the southern Iowa facility.
However, it would have been the first time in many years that I hadn't been to Osky if I didn't make a move soon, since they have only two shows left this year for their regular classes and I didn't want that to happen if I could help it. So, on Wednesday night July 11th, even though I had to other race to tie it in with and it would be just a quick run down and back, I elected to make the trip to Osky. On the positive side, the weather looked excellent with no chance of rain and extra money in the purse on this night for the Stock Cars would likely bring in some extra wheels in that class and probably even up the intensity, if that were possible.
It was a hot and steamy night in southern Iowa, but not unlike many other Summer nights. There was a nice breeze so it was not intolerable by any measure. The track prep crew was working as hard as they could to try and combat the strong and intense sun as they had two water trucks working nonstop on both the race track and the drive ways and infield roads, keeping the dust down quite successfully.
A little back round on this year. At midwinter it looked like there would be no racing at Osky in 2018 as no promoter stepped forward, interested in running the track and it seemed for all the world that the track might sit idle all year except for the Sprint Car races promoted by Terry McCarl in August. Speaking of McCarl, he was on hand on this night with his 410 Sprint to make a couple of series of hot laps, along with a couple of other possibly either 360 or 305 Sprints, one of which was driven by a former Stock Car driver. McCarl also spoke about the upcoming events, of which there will be two this year, back to back on a Monday and Tuesday just before the Knoxville Nationals and he indicated he may have a couple of surprises to spring before the race takes place.
Anyway, fortunately, at the last possible second, a group of area drivers and supporters stepped forward and agreed to promote a concentrated series of about ten races, ending in July, at the track. One of the casualties was the Modified class, which was not a part of the schedule as they chose to run just four classes of race cars. The Modified class had been struggling to get cars anyway the past couple of years and their inability to field a decent group of racers made them an easy target for cuts as the new group was both looking to streamline the program and also to cut down on the "nugget" they had to come up with each week.
I did speak to one of the group promoting the track who also happens to be on the Fair Board and he was very positive about how the season was going. They fought the weather early, as did many tracks and things started a little slow but in recent weeks he said that they have begun to pick up momentum with a number of local businesses stepping up to help them, once they saw that the races would take place and realized just how important the track was to both the local economy and also the general well being of the community. He told me that they did not receive a lot of complaints about losing the Modifieds and that the race fans in general where just more happy that racing would take place, no matter what class got the premier status.
This gentleman told me that there was no question but that racing WOULD continue next year at Osky with them planning for about ten races again next year and perhaps looking for a way to bring in the Modifieds once as a part of a series. They would expect to start their season early and wrap things up much as they did this year before August starts. They have already been speaking to people about sponsorship opportunities and things look very optimistic for 2019.
As a part of their program this year, both to increase car counts and minimize their expenses, they have run unsanctioned this year using basic IMCA type rules but also allowing other things more USRS orientated. Both the Hoosier and American Racer tires are welcome and I did see both brands on cars racing on Wednesday. They use the draw/redraw system of line ups every week instead of point averages and put the previous week's feature winner at the back of the heat and the redraw for the main event.
They have two races left this year next week on Tuesday and Wednesday as a part of the Fair and then McCarl's two shows. He did mention however, that they have been in discussions with other tracks in the area looking for a date for a Fall special so race fans should keep that in mind that there may be one more race in October added to the schedule yet.
On this night they had a solid field of race cars, many of which had raced there before, proof that the rules and sanctioning body doesn't make perhaps that much difference as long as the track they prefer is racing. The Stock Cars topped the chart on Wednesday with twenty two of them on hand while only the Sport Compacts were a bit short, as they seem to be at a number of tracks this year.
It was also Hall of Fame night at the track and with Tony Paris gone for baseball, it was appropriate that an old announcer at the track, Jerry Mackey, would handle the microphone chores on this night. I also had a Barry Johnson sighting too, although I didn't get the chance to talk to either gentleman. Added to the Osky Hall of Fame on Wednesday were the late Johnny Babb and Dave Farren, along with the very much alive Ed Sanger and the Durien brothers, former promoters at the track. They had a very nice ceremony for them at intermission that ran just about the right length so as to properly commend them but also not to make the race night last too long.
On the track, the money highlight of the evening was the twenty five lap Stock Car feature that paid a grand to the winner and it was the "Chelsea Charger", Damon Murty who would take the money back North with him. He quickly moved up from the third row and slipped past early leader Brett Lowry, the same Brett Lowry that I believe was racing Sport Mods last year.
Once in front, Murty set a smart pace, not killing himself but staying just out of the reach of the competitors. As he always seems to do, late in the race it was Cayden Carter who made the most noise. He had slipped back some but made a charge to the front, moving into second and supplying a strong challenge to Murty. Several times he looked under Murty but just couldn't quite pull off the pass.
A late yellow set up a three lap dash to the finish and while Carter was able to stay nailed to the rear bumper of Murty, he couldn't pull off a passing move as Murty had picked up his pace also. Nathan Wood made a big advance, coming from twelfth to finish third and Mike Hughes came even farther, starting eighteenth and finishing fourth.
Curtis Vanderwal destroyed the Sport Mod field, winning by a large margin that could have been even bigger if he wanted it to be. He seemed to also just stay out of the reach of Blaine Webster and Tim Plummer who were driving the wheels off their cars, trying to keep up. Vandelwal must be thrilled with the draw/redraw format as he started outside pole, rather than the fourth or fifth row where he usually started under the point invert system.
Even though he led every lap, Jamie Songer and Dustin Griffiths made the Hobby Stock feature an interesting event with a very close finish. Songer had led all the way with his margin of lead varying throughout the race. Near the end of the contest, Griffiths came marching all the way up from the sixth row to challenge and the two veterans of the class fought it out for the win.
They put on an excellent show as on the final lap Songer went high in turn four, Griffths dove to his inside and they came to the line together, with Songer winning by half a car length. Interestingly, after the Hobby Stock feature was over, Songer would retire to the pits, put some big tires on the car and let Griffiths race it in the Stock Car feature after his own car went up in smoke during a Stock Car heat race.
Griffiths would start the Hobby Stock twentieth and last in the main event and ended up tenth so apparently the Hobby Stock had plenty of horsepower with the wider tires on it.
Brandon Housley, who has lost just once all season in the Sport Compacts, paced himself until he needed to go and then drove by Bill Whalen Jr with two laps to go to win yet another Sport Compact main event. There was a photo finish for second with Whalen Jr edging out Kyle Boyd for the second spot. Whalen Jr, who seems to appear in as many victory lane shots as the winners do, based on his timing at congratulating the winners, shared a few stories in victory lane with Housley while Mackey interviewed the winner.
The track was a little top side dominant on Wednesday but there was no dust and the new administration, likely in part due to the fact that Mike VanGenderen is still running the racing side of the show, cranked off a swift and compact program. Even with the special ceremonies at intermission the final checkered flag waved at 10 pm, straight up. The crowd, I thought, was a very good one and very local in nature with many being right from the community at large, which is just the way it should be for a local track to survive. While many had a short drive home, I pulled into my driveway at 4:15 am, just another night at the track completed.
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