One must always be flexible in their plans and it never hurts to have a plan "B" or sometimes it's even necessary to resort to plan "C" and beyond. Plan "A" for Wednesday, June 19th was to continue to follow the Deery Brothers IMCA Late Model swing and head on to Independence Iowa for their next race following the Maquoketa event on Tuesday.
However, the environment had it own plans for Wednesday which included lots of rain for Northeastern Iowa including the Independence area which started on Tuesday night and it was still raining there on Wednesday morning. So it didn't come as much of a shocker when the plug was pulled by mid morning on the event at Inde.
So it was time to move on to the next item on the agenda and based on the weather and my location, it looked like a trip back into central Iowa was the most logical choice. There was a weekly show scheduled for the Stuart International Speedway and even though I had been there for two nights of racing last week, there was nothing that said that I couldn't enjoy another night of racing at their little bullring for a weekly show. I would drive through some light rain before I hit Des Moines but the rest of the trip was uneventful, except for the usual insanity that accompanies any trip on I-80.
Things were looking good at Stuart and I had time to kill but just as I got ready to head out to the track, a line of thunderstorms blew up literally in the backyard of the race track. Towering black clouds billowed just to the East of the race track but there were headed directly South and there was clearing to the West so that while it was reported to me that folks drove in rain and saw wet pavement nearly up the limits of the city of Stuart, there was no rain at the track with improving conditions then on through the rest of the evening.
Seventy cars in the five IMCA sanctioned classes were on hand for the show on Wednesday with two heat races in each class. There was also a left over feature race to be contested for the Sport Compacts from last week's two night show when rain shortened up the first night. The Bat Wing cars were also on hand Wednesday with fourteen of them to compete and I was surprised to discover that there were four drivers all the way from Northeastern Minnesota on hand along with one from Emo Ontario to compete including WISSOTA Modified drivers Tyler Jonson and Blake Ferris. This was quite a surprise to me to see them here and quite a surprise to them to find someone so far from home in central Iowa at the races. We're all just a bit loony. A small handful of Cruisers were also on hand to perform before the IMCA TV crowd as Bucky Doren, also scheduled to appear at Independence, had also found his way down to Stuart. Sadly for him, he thinks like I do. The crowd was a small one as MVG predicted with the vast majority of fans either driving through heavy rain on their way to the track or checking the skies and pre determining that there would be no racing. Also, the fact that two days of extra admission tickets had been asked for the previous week probably found some people with their racing budgets slightly stretched.
The track was in excellent shape for the show on Wednesday with it being smooth, wide and having multiple grooves and not a hint of dust. MVG reported that in preparation for this event, it was the first time he had never put any water on the track before, and just wheel packed the moisture provided by the heavens this week. Later in the afternoon, he did mist on some water and had the race cars help wheel pack and the result was an excellent track.
Before the races, I had the opportunity to speak with Ramsey Meyer and his father in a rather general conversation that opened up my eyes. You see, I'm not a student of the all particulars of IMCA racing and I did not realize that I was speaking to the defending IMCA National Sport Compact champion when I made a comment about all the "win stickers" on the side of their cars. Seems that nineteen and counting is the current feature win total for the Nebraska driver, who reported that he races four or five times per week, depending on track's schedules. There were on hand because of the rain out the previous week and the fact that it would be double feature races. We talked about the idea of him moving up to a "taller" division and they reported that they had considered it, yet it only cost them a fraction of what it would be to build a Hobby Stock for them to race a multi night season in their Sport Compact. So, for now, they will remain where they are at. Later, Ramsey would win the make up feature race but not be able to catch Mitchell Bunch for the second win. One thing I did not ask them that occurs to me is why the defending Sport Mod National Champion drives a car that looks like it has been through a war? His car has a taped on number and no graphics of any kind and looks, quite frankly, like a "beater", not a car to be feared. Perhaps that is the plan. How many remember when Nate Coopman from southern Minnesota won year after year in the Sport Compacts and racked up obscene win totals while driving a car that looks terrible and in fact always sported taped on numbers that blew off mid race. Perhaps that is a requirement for the class, but I jest.
Josh "Happy" Gilman scored a dominating win in the Modified class, getting to the front early after starting seventh and then fighting off a late challenge from Jesse Dennis. The two district lines on the track were highlighted in this race as Gilman hugged the tires all the way around the track while Dennis was "wall pounding" but both lines seem to be just about equal which is just what one might hope for.
As mentioned, Meyer would dominate the Sport Compact make up while Bunch would come from seventh to lead the second main, and his lead was such that Meyer couldn't catch him after starting tenth on the grid.
Brayden Carter, who showed up at Stuart after Oskaloosa rained out, took no prisoners in the Sport Mod feature. He started tenth but tore to the front quickly and by the halfway point had already commandeered the lead . He then continued to build on it as he won by a full chute over Hunter Longnecker, who had a good battle for second with Colton Nelson.
The Stock Car feature was a dandy race, as it usually is here. Chris Pruitt got to the front quickly from the second row and led most of the event but he was eventually caught by Josh Daniels who tried lap after lap to get past for the lead. Digging on the bottom, he got beside Pruitt on several occasions but just could never quite get the lead. A late yellow set up a four lap sprint to the finish and this time, Daniels was able to nose under Pruitt and with just over a lap to go, take the lead in turn one. He would go on for an exciting win with Pruitt and Jeremy Gettler next in line.
The Hobby Stock feature was also a close one, with some banging and an odd finish to the race. Brandon Cox came from the second row to take the top spot and he ran there for a number of laps. Charging up from ninth was Cory Madden, who waited until mid race to make his move but when he started coming to the front, he really made rapid progress. There was some banging bumping in the field but Cox continued to hold the lead. However, Madden caught him for the top spot and a little more "body work" between the two saw Madden shoe horn his way into the lead. However, Cox wasn't done and with a big run down the back chute, he dove to the inside of Madden and forced his way back into the lead. The next volley from Madden was then expected when we were all surprised to see Madden slow and pull up to the top of the track with some apparent mechanical issue. Cox drove on for the race, Madden, at slow pace, settled for ninth and we were all left a little disappointed, wanting to see more between these two.
I always marvel that with such tight but hard racing an this bull ring that there aren't more yellow flags but once again Wednesday, the show clicked off quickly with very few slow downs and whilte there is plenty of body contact and fever pitched racing, there is not a lot of slowdowns. Even with the extra races, extra divisions and the rides for the kids on the race cars before the show started, the final checkered flag still dropped before 10 pm, just the way it should be on a weeknight. MVG is one of those few promoters that truly "gets it."
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