Sheppard Fights Off Dillard to gain Davenport WoO Win

For the third time this year, the World of Outlaws Late Model series paid a visit to the Davenport Speedway at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds oval on Davenport's West side. The first two times they were here this year, it was for Covid special events with no fans in the stands and racing on back to back nights using both the quarter mile and the half mile track. Fortunately, on this night they were back on the quarter mile which was the difference in me being on hand or not. Now you know how much superior I think the quarter mile is over the big track here.

The other big change was that fans were allowed in the stands and there was a large group of them on hand on a pleasant, if just a bit warm late July evening. When I was last here this year for the MARS race, there were no restrictions in the grandstands but on Tuesday I found that every other row was roped off and temperatures were taken of all spectators before we could pass through the gates.

With the big crowd on hand, the markings on rows were quickly ripped down as stubborn race fans will sit just where they want and no one is going to tell them otherwise. So all semblance of social distancing went right down the drain quickly. However, on the positive side, it was good to see a large turn out for this event, which again was promoted by the Outlaws themselves with key people to run the program supplied by the regular staff at Davenport. Mr. Kay and Dlouhy did all the track prep and they did a wonderful job, supplying a race track that was quick from top to bottom, provided multiple grooves and got the drivers up on the wheel as the fast lane seemed to change rapidly and often, depending on the driver's style, their car's set up and what they were running for tires.

The fine surface resulted in a new track record with Jimmy Owens scorching the oval at 13.977 seconds but more importantly than just fast, the track was wide and drivers could pass using all parts of the track.

Twenty nine Late Models signed in to race with the top ten in WoO points on hand which is about as many from any series these days that you might expect to be in attendance. The field was supplemented by a few of the Lucas Oil drivers returning from Nebraska and a nice mix of eastern Iowa and western Illinois open motor drivers that regularly partake of events in their home areas. Iowa fans must have been disappointed however that Brian Birkhofer was not among the entrants as he is considered to be "the man" for many race fans in this area. There were rumors explaining his missing of this show but nothing to be known as fact however.

Among the local drivers entered was Hall of Fame Late Model member Gary Webb. While racing mostly IMCA events in the Quad Cities this year, Webb does have an open car among his fleet of Kryptonite race cars and the one he had on this night had a 434 cubic inch aluminum block under the hood.

His son Billy and wife were home on vacation from New York where they live, and in talking to Billy I learned just exactly how many feature wins Webb has in his career. While the numbers reported are all over the place, Billy said his dad kept very detailed records of every race and the correct number of feature wins for him is 517, despite some much inflated reporting by some, including the track announcer on this night.

Along with the Late Models, also racing on this night were the IMCA Sport Mods in a full program. So it was just the two classes which is a perfect number for a special event such as this, especially being a midweek show and with a rigorous curfew in place.

Seven preliminary heats plus a Late Model Last Chance race set the grid for the two main events with all Sport Mods making the finale. With only three yellow flags in all the prelims, we were quickly into main event time. Sadly, Webb was among the Late Models that just didn't have enough speed to make the main event on this night.

The Sport Mods did just exactly what was asked of them on this night. They covered the breaks in the Late Model program with their show but didn't hold up the festivities with a lot of yellow flag slowdowns. Their fifteen lap main event was spun off quickly with just three yellow flags and not a lot of damaging wrecks.

While their race was efficient it wasn't particularly thrilling as race winner Jarett Franzen led all fifteen laps and was never really challenged. There was not a lot of movement among the top finishers and just about everyone was hugging the inside tires in their race. Thankfully the Late Models would race nothing like this. Matt Fulton would finish second with Ben Chapman completing the top five.

The fifty lap WoO race was a dandy and while the headlines will read that Sheppard wins again, it was certainly not that easy and until the final four laps, his win was very much in question.
The feature was a three car battle with Cade Dillard getting to the front quickly and passing Chad Simpson for the lead. Sheppard moved in to challenge and so did Jimmy Owens. These three would be the main factors for the rest of the race and what a race they put on.

What was particularly interesting was how they moved around the track, especially Sheppard and Owens, as they searched for the fastest way to gain time. Sheppard made his first pass of Dillard while running the bottom on lap nineteen but later, after Dillard had retaken the lead, Sheppard had to "tippy toe" around the top side to get back into the lead. Corners three and four were particularly tricky with the berm throwing many a driver off and costing much time.

It will be a great shootout right to the finish with first Dillard and then Sheppard leading at the line, just depending on who ran the best lap that particular lap with Owens lurking right behind and looking for an opening.
Sheppard finally gained
 the upper edge with just four laps to go but Dillard didn't back off and the margin of victory after fifty tours was just over a half second with Owens a very close third. It was an excellent race with only three minor yellow flags and only three cars that didn't finish the race. The crowd got their monies worth on this race, even if they were looking for the upset and didn't get it.

But one must give Sheppard his due. He is absolutely relentless on the race track and isn't afraid to move around the track in search of the fastest line. That's what I most appreciate about his driving style. He just doesn't tuck in behind the car he is following and waits for a mistake; he makes things happen. His ability to read a track and figure out where he needs to be to go faster separates him from most of the others and is reflected in his great success. He is a "wheel man."

It was a very satisfying night of racing. With everything going smoothly and only two classes, the final checkered flag waved at 9:30 pm, perfect for a midweek show and still allowing time for those interested to go next door and pay a line or two of bingo before heading home! And it is great to see such big crowds here in Davenport which now must be considered one of the top racing cities in this state. I understand the weekly shows are going great guns under the new promotional team of the Kay family and all the special events seem to fill this humongous old grandstand to the rafters. All this is very good to see.

Richards Rolls a "300" at Farley

If they had been bowling, a three hundred would have been a perfect score but since they were instead dirt track racing, it was a perfect move on lap seventeen by Josh Richards during the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series that earned him his "300" score and then the win in the main event Monday night at the 300 Raceway in Farley Iowa.
IMCA Modifieds and Sport Mods were also a part of the program with Jeff Aikey and Jason Roth the winners in those two events.
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series came to the 300 Raceway on a beautiful Monday night as a part of their traveling series and there were twenty seven cars on hand to compete. One local driver, Colton Leal, tried to enter the race also but was turned down by series tech officials as some of his safety equipment did not come up to the standards as required by the Lucas Oil Series.
Before the races started, I was able to have nice discussion with James Essex, the "voice" of the Lucas Oil Series and it was very interesting to get his take on the state of dirt track racing these days in the midst of our current pandemic and unfortunately, both of us feel that there might still be some very rocky days ahead of us that might even transfer to the next racing season. So we are both of the feeling that we should enjoy very race day that we have because the future is still a very uncertain thing.
I also ran into Jerry Ingvalson from Blooming Prairie MN in the pits before the races. Jerry was largely the person behind the whole idea of the Gopher 50 which was held over the years at the Chateau Raceway, the fairgrounds half mile at Owatonna MN and now at Deer Creek Speedway. It was one of the first and biggest mega events for Late Models in the Midwest and a huge success for the non profit entities  that were involved with the race.
Of course Jerry was feeling pretty low about this year as the Gopher was one of many races to fall by the way side due due to the pandemic and I believe he told me that this was only the second race he had been to all year. Like all of us, he is hoping for the best when it comes to the rest of the racing season and beyond.
Three heats and a B Feature set the field for the fifty lap main event for the Lucas cars and they produced a very entertaining event for the fans. Richards, Kyle Bronson and Jimmy Owens battled it out for most of the race with Richards leading early and then eventually being overtaken by the other two.
However, he fought back and caught them and on lap seventeen made a spectacular move down the front chute as he split the other two and roared into the lead and he would lead the rest of the race. While he would control the final laps, he was never out of the woods as first Bronson and then Owens would close in on him but each time he fought off the challenges.
In the final laps, it was apparent that Richards was fighting his car in the corners and Owens closed up on him but Josh had enough to fight off Owens and take the win, which was his second on the tour so far this year.
There were a lot of yellow flags; too many to make this a classic and they highly affected the running order of the race with several drivers that were challenging the victim of flat tires, which were the source of most of the yellow flags. For what reason this kept on happening, I'm not sure and I would imagine the crews for the various teams would like to know the same thing. In fact, the yellow waved seven times during the course of the race with the longest stretch of green flag racing being the final twenty laps.
There was a huge reword of the track done before the Late Model feature, which was run as the first main event of the night. It did take a long time on a week night but was probably worth it as it made a considerable difference in the quality of the race itself and allowed the drivers to run all over the track.
The Lucas Series seldom disappoints as they supply on a consistent basis the best drivers in all of dirt Late Model racing and they drive very hard every time they race. They don't mess around and they put on a quick and interesting show.
It was a very good idea to run the Late Models first on this week night, thus allowing those people that had to leave an early exit from the speedway and they will remember that the next time 300 proposes a week night special. I only wish that more tracks would see this as a smart thing to do but still far too many tracks want to save the special event for last, even though way too often it then gets too late and the track may already past its prime due to other divisions racing and wearing it out.
On this night for example, the crowd would have been most upset if they would have had to wait until last to see the Late Models as both the Mods and Sport Mods, while indeed providing interesting races with quality fields of cars, had a tough time getting consistent green flag laps and their part of the show ran on until almost 11:30 pm before they got done.
Seldom do you see Justin Kay start on the pole for a Modified feature and then not be a factor but he really wasn't on this night. It was Aikey, who surged up from the third row with some bold outside moves, that took the win. For the longest time during the race, he was battling with young Kollin Hibdon for the win, with both these cars coming out of the same racing trailer.
However, late in the race, Jeff "Bone" Larson made a strong march to the front and he was able to split those two and take a runner up slot finish.
The Sport Mods saw about five top runners battling for most of the race until Jason Roth moved up from the fourth row and took the win. He passed a bunch of really fast cars to do so and left guys like Justin Becker, Tony and Kyle Olson and Tyler Soppe in his wake as he drove to a most impressive win.
The track held up well after the "farming" at intermission and gave all three classes a good racing surface to use. The program moved along well and the only down side was the late hour for those that wanted to see all three features. Probably those that left after the Late Models were done were probably even singing higher praises for the night. By the way, the crowd was huge and management had to have been pleased by the turnout of fans. The facility looks great and the shorter racing surface and pitting outside the track is the smartest thing they could have ever done here.
It was a very good night of racing and everyone had to have walked away from this evening feeling like they had been entertained by dirt track racing at its best. Thanks to the management of 300 and best of luck with the rest of their season, one that interestingly will be virtually all specials conducted on Wednesday nights. Perhaps the wave of the future is race tracks not running every single week but instead highlighting specials and utilizing quick, midweek shows so that they don't have to battle all the different forms of competition for the racing fan's dollar that are offered on the weekends.

Hughes Continues To Roll at Osky

Wednesday night, July 8th, I made my first visit of the year to the Southern Iowa Speedway at the Mahaska County Fairgrounds in Oskaloosa Iowa. Call it intimidating, call it imposing, call it challenging. The "Mahaska Monster" half mile is one big race track, whether you are racing non winged Sprint Cars or Sport Compacts and those two classes, along with several others, would all be in competition on this sizzling hot Wednesday night in the Heartland.
Other tracks closed on this blistering Wednesday night, but with a late start to the year and only a limited number of dates available to race, the Race Committee left it to the drivers and fans to vote whether or not to race on this Wednesday, The numbers were strongly in  favor of racing so they opted to put a show on and those that didn't agree had the option to stay home in the A/C if they wished.
The car count was small and the attendance in the grandstands was also small but race they did. Thirty nine cars signed in to race in the five classes that were offered on Wednesday with only the Hobby Stocks needing a pair of heat races. For the other classes, it was a heat and a feature, all ran off in quick time by management that didn't want to keep either the fans or competitors out in the blazing heat any longer than necessary.
In the grandstands it really wasn't that bad as while it was hot, the big roof kept the blazing sun from shinning directly on us and that made all the difference in the world. The competitors however, had no shade and they were the ones that were really miserable, no doubt at least part of the fact that the car count was down, while the big half mile is part of the problem itself, as not many people seem to enjoy racing on such big tracks anymore, especially on nights like this when even the winners had overheating cars just due to the extreme temperatures.
Dirt n Asphalt provided cases of cold drinking water for both the competitors and fans and there was no reason not to stay hydrated on this evening at the track. This was a very nice touch on their part.
Two drivers were racing with bounties  on their heads on this night, the result of dominating performances by them over their competitors already this season. One would retain his choke hold over his class while one would be upset in a close finish.
The driver who would continue on the roll was Jonathan Hughes in the non winged Sprint Cars. Going into Wednesday night's program, he had won nine feature races in a row at Osky, dating back to the end of last year. So a $250 bounty was placed on him for this night. However, he easily made it ten in a row and kept the cash from circulating. He started third on the grid and it only took him a half lap to gain the lead and after that he cruised, winning by half a lap as he tuned up for the invasion of the USAC Sprint Cars to Knoxville this coming weekend.
The driver that saw his dominating streak end was Derrick Agee who saw his winning streak in the Stock Cars end at three. He had a $100 on his head on this night and the Stock Car feature turned into a two car shootout between Agee and Cayden Carter.
Carter, who has a pretty strong record of success at this track himself, returned to the action tonight in the Stock Car he races from time to time and the starting positions were key. By the Stock Car feature, which was the last race of the night, the track was pretty "tired" from the heat and pounding and was pretty much one groove on the bottom. Carter got their first from the front row and while Agee caught him, he just couldn't find a way past for the lead. Carter guarded the bottom groove and while Agee ran him very close, he also ran him clean and at the finish he was a car length behind the Osky resident. Announcer Jerry Mackey was right there to deliver the crisp hundred dollar bill to Cayden in victory lane.
The Sport Mod feature was a complete domination by Curtis VanderWal who led from start to finish and was never seriously challenged in the nonstop main. Maguire DeJong and Logan Anderson had a nice race for second with Maguire holding on for the win.
The Hobby Stocks had the biggest field of cars and their action started out with a bang. Trent Orwig, having moved up from the Sport Compacts, was sporting a brand new, sharp looking car for his first appearance of the year. Unfortunately, he made it to only to the second turn on his first hot lap when he spun into the big ute tire there and his car flipped over. A thoroughly disgusted Orwig climbed out unhurt, but he was done for the night.
The Hobby Stock feature was also a two car battle between the drivers that have been dominating here this year. Rick Van Dusseldorp took the early lead but with perhaps the strongest move of the night, Dustin Griffiths drove around Van Dusseldorp to take over the lead and despite Rick's constant pressure, he would drive on for the win.
A late yellow set a sprint to the finish but Griffiths would pull away while a good battle behind him saw Van Dusseldorp hold off Brad Stevens and Jesse Williams. Apparently there must be some ill will between Griffiths and Stevens as Dustin had some snide remarks to make about Brad in victory lane.
Speaking of drama, it was heavy in the Sport Compact class on this night as a couple of the competitors got "into it" in the pits before a wheel had ever been turned on the track and a near fight had to be broken up. Promises were made about what would happen on the track but I didn't know the competitors so it was hard to follow up and see if anything did indeed happen during the race. Perhaps that is yet to come. Why is it that the entry level class always seems to have the most drama?
There was a tough battle for the lead though as Billy Cain took the early lead, only to be challenged by Tyler Haring for the top spot. They were rubbing on each other pretty good before Haring was able to make the pass and take over the top spot.
However, he didn't lead very many laps until he slowed suddenly with problems and was nailed by Austin Barnes which eventually ended the night for both competitors. Cain retook the lead at this point and drove on for the victory over Seth Meinders and Dalton Sauers.
The show went off smoothly and quickly and before 10 pm all racing was done after which everyone headed for the AC. And in probably the smartest words of the night announcer Mackey reminded us not to blame those competitors that were on hand Wednesday night.
Thanks to the Race Committee for having the fortitude to go ahead and run on Wednesday and we hope for them that more racers and fans will return next week when the weather is a bit more forgivable for Hall of Fame night.

Sorensen Gets First Win at MTS Rumble

Friday night, July 3rd was night number two of the River City Rumble at Bob Timm's Mississippi Thunder Speedway located just North of Fountain City Wisconsin on the beautiful River Road running along the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River.
The highlighted event was the Firecracker 40 for the Late Models of the Dirt King's Tour out of eastern Wisconsin who have been running at this track on a regular basis this year with their planned schedule thrown much to the wind due to track closings and delayed starts for others.
Along with the Late Models, also running would be the USRA sanctioned Hobby Stocks, B Mods and the Modifieds with all classes running for extra pay including the Modified feature which would pay two grand to the winner.
It was another hot and steamy night as it has been most of this week with everyone drinking plenty of fluids while the track prep crew worked tirelessly to get as much moisture into the track's racing surface as possible, a tough task under normal circumstances but made even tougher due to the weather conditions plus the fact that this was the second night of the doubleheader and the track had already been pounded by race cars on Thursday night too. The track rubbered up quickly last night, i was told, so their mission was to see that the same thing didn't happen again and they were successful in that regard as they provided a very fast track that did not take rubber all night.
Full fields of cars would be in attendance in all four classes that were racing on this night but only the Late Models would require a B Feature to set their field for the main events.
The qualifying events were completed in a remarkably smooth manner and in fact, through fourteen heats and the Late Model B Feature, the yellow flag was only required to be used two times! So even while everyone was racing hard with passing points used to line up the mains, all drivers were able to run hard while not either spinning or running over each other. A couple of the feature races would not be able to be run off quite so clean however, but that sometimes comes with the territory.
Hobby Stocks were up first with all twenty on hand able to take the green flag for their main event with several northeastern Iowa USRA cars among the field with some even being regulars at this track.
One of them, Scott Spilde, was the early leader of the feature. However, track point leader and former blacktop racer Steve Dwyer drove around Spilde and was then to dominate most of the race. However, almost unbeknownst to the crowd and myself, Travis Krause, who started nineteenth in the main, was gradually but decisively moving to the front of the field. As Dwyer continued to dominate, Krause moved into the top five and battled with Cody Rollinger and Chris Hovden behind the leader.
Suddenly leader Dwyer  had a mechanical issue in turn two and his car lost power and slid sideways on the track, costing him a number of positions and he eventually would pit because of the issue.
Krause was right there to take advantage of the opportunity as he drove into the lead and then pulled away over the last few lap to score a big win after starting in row ten. Rollinger and Hovden would follow him home as they completed the top three.
A tradition of the River City Rumble has been for the open wheel classes to line up for their main event in three wide fashion. Thus it was that the twenty two cars able to take the green flag would do so in the three wide formation but based on passing points in the heats.
This put Ryan Olson on the pole and the winner of the last two mains at MTS would soon make it three in a row as he dominated this race, leading from start to finish and no one really able to provide much of a challenge to him.
Even a late race slowdown that set up a six lap sprint to the finish didn't give him any grief as once again he pulled away and drove to an easy victory. There was, however, a nice battle for position behind him with Taylor Skauge outlasting Shawn Walski in a good battle for second that saw them swap the position a number of times during the race. Eric Thill and Brandon Hare completed the top five.
Then it would be time for the Late Models with twenty four cars going forty laps and while the stats will show that Dustin Sorensen led all forty laps, it was anything but a breeze for him as he was challenged quite hard for much of the race and there were just enough yellows to allow the field to bunch up on several occasions, making his work just that much harder.
Sorensen, along with track owner Timm's son Jake, have both developed strong open motor Late Model programs in the last year to go along with their USRA Modified racing so when the Late Models come to this track, which they probably not just by coincidence have done more often than ever in track history this year, the visiting cars find plenty of competition.
Sorensen is the son of long time Modified racer Mike and the grandson of Dick, who was a Late Model star back in the days when people like Mert Williams, Dave Bjorge and Wendell Kuehn made southern Minnesota a Late Model hotbed.
Now Late Model racing seems to be making a comeback in this area and both Sorensen and Timm will be carrying the torch in that division. Sorensen was strongly challenged the first half of the race by Jesse Glenz, who was leading the charge for the spec engine cars on hand. He was right on Sorensen's tail until he clobbered the wall on lap twenty three and his race was done. It was then a battle for second between Timm, Ryan Unzicker and Jake Redetzke for that spot.
Unzicker, looking for a new challenge this weekend and pulling to MTS for the first time, made a late race pass stand for second but he was several car lengths behind Sorensen at the finish on a track that remained blazing fast throughout the race and provided a real grind to the drivers on this hot night. Sorensen earned five grand for his efforts.
While Late Models are making inroads at this track, MTS is still in Modified country and the open wheel cars pulled on to the track as the featured division on Friday, running thirty laps for two grand.
Just like in the previous race, Sorensen and Timm would be two of the favorites to win but they had plenty of stiff competition in Lucas Schott and Jacob Bleess.
Sorensen, in fact, would be the early leader from the middle of the three wide start but Schott came charging up from the outside of row two and would make the pass on Sorensen and take over the lead.
Once he was in front, he would lead the rest of the contest but Bleess would continue to pressure him right up to the finish. It was a tough race for several of the contenders as both Jake Timm and Calvin Iverson would hammer the concrete walls and limp off with much damage in both instances.
Schott was setting a blistering pace but Bleess would manage to stay right with him through the whole race, but he could never get closer than a couple of car lengths behind and that is the way the race would conclude. For most of the race, a great battle for third saw Cory Crapser and John Doelle swap the third spot with Crapser holding on for that position at the end. Doelle's new car this year has made him more competitive than at any point for him in perhaps the last decade of his racing career. Josh Angst completed the top five finishers.
A large crowd was on hand and were treated to a very good fireworks display before the final feature race. With many cities and other events having canceled fireworks for this year, this might be one of the few chances folks would have to get to see this tradition. However, I am in the midst of day two of what should be a four consecutive night display of fireworks with two tracks on the schedule yet this weekend both promising big booms from the sky and not those associated with thunder storms!
Thanks to Bob Timm and his hard working crew as he presented yet another in what seems like a plethora of special events held at his track this year.   

Teenager Larson Tops The Field at Algona

The Midwest Madness Tour moved on to night five of their holiday grind as the traveling troupe headed about an hour South from Fairmont to Algona Iowa and the Kossuth County Speedway where they would be running on Wednesday night at the "Thunder Dome" as Kossuth Co. is called.
Somewhere in length between a third mile and a three eighth mile black dirt oval, this track has long straightaways and tight corners and generally produces some interesting racing action. The Fairgrounds themselves are very well maintained with some new buildings having been added since I was last there and two nice restrooms in the pits that have made the "satellites" expendable. A big covered wooden grandstand definitely gives the entire place the feel of your classic Midwestern Fairgrounds and there are many shade trees to provide some comfort as folks mill about during the day while waiting for the evening action.
The pit area is a tight one though and race rigs are parked in every nook and cranny available including opening up a fence and parking some of the big rigs on neighboring property lots. But everyone makes due to this yearly procedure that is required.
By this time of the racing week, a lot of race car maintenance is going on in the pits and teams arrive early as many have much work to be done. Those lucky enough to be living close by utilize their own shops but many are working in the sweltering heat and here is where the crews more than earn their money. Many of the cars are looking pretty rank by this time of the week with some having numbers that can't even be read on their doors due to the black dirt stains and beating that many have taken. Once this racing week is over many will be due for a considerable overall maintenance check before they head out for racing action again.
Car counts were down just a little bit for this show but I have no explanation why. This track races just as well as most of the tracks on this schedule and it might be that some not racing for points just need a one night midweek break. The Modified count remains solid with most of their field visiting all tracks but the other three classes were down to the point that no B Features were required except for the Modifieds. Only four classes were racing on this night with the Sport Compacts and the tracks own Cruiser division getting the night off.
This would be an evening that would provide both expected results and at least one shocking finish in the four feature races. Kossuth County has some very strong teams that race in the support classes on a weekly basis and the fact that they would again be up front surprised absolutely no one but the Modified feature provided a stunning finish with a shocking result. Who would have guessed that one of the most veteran of Modified drivers who perhaps has as many laps in a Modified as any driver on the planet could not pass a young driver that is still not old enough to have a driver's license! But that is exactly what happened.
Young Jayden Larson pulled off the upset of the year to date as he held off the constant challenges of Kelly Shryock and Travis Hatcher to win the Modified thirty lap main event and stun the crowd as well as everyone monitoring the race results.
I have some history with Larson, having seen him race since the very beginning of his career. He started out racing B Mods/Midwest Mods/ Sport Mods ,racing under virtually every sanctioning body in the Midwest at one time or another and actually mixing in racing with various groups with several different cars. In fact, he still has a fleet of race cars at his disposal to meet the needs of various sanctioning body rules.
Age, or rather the lack of age, has always been an interesting facet of his career. He raced at the age of twelve for about four years or until he was actually old enough to officially declare his age so as to meet the regulations of the various racing bodies. In other words, he really started racing when he was about ten years old or perhaps even younger. Even now, I asked a relative of his following the win on Wednesday just how old he was and she said he is now fifteen with this being perhaps his fifth or sixth year of racing. He always showed talent, even from the beginning but now has really started to smooth out his driving skills to the point that he can now race with the best that IMCA can provide.
Wednesday night he started on the outside pole and drove around Hatcher to take the early lead. As Shryock moved up to battle Hatcher for second, Larson was able to pull away slightly but eventuallly the group of Shryock, Hatcher and Nick Meyer were following him closely, lap after lap.
Larson was running the trickly outside line up against  the cushion and while that lane was fast, it was also very tricky with several contenders having jumped the cushion and lost spots. However, lap after lap, Larson continued to hit his line just right and despite having Shryock and Hatcher flashing below him, he remained smooth and didn't let them bother him.
Yellow flags were a concern and with ten laps to go, a yellow for a spin almost proved his downfall. He missed his mark in the corner and was passed by both Shryock and Hatcher but another yellow before a lap was completed saved him and on the following restart he got right back in his groove and maintained the lead.
The last six laps ran off nonstop and Larson pulled away for what would be a memorable win for both him and his family but also for all of us that saw it in person. Hatcher was able to sneak past Shryock for the second spot.
Shryock was a busy guy, racing both his Stock Car and as well as the Modified and while he couldn't win the open wheel class, he did take the Stock Car win after a good battle with several other drivers. Troy Swearingen was the early leader but he got passed by Elijah Zevenbergen who was running the cushion as he seems to enjoy doing.
That lane was a handful though, and his car was fighting the ridge as he tried to hold off a group of drivers that included Shryock and Derek Green. Zevenbergen began to fade some, just like he did the night before at Fairmont as his car seemed to go away from him as the race continued and Shryock, who was "catfishing" around the bottom, drove under him to take over the lead.
Green continued to provide a challenge throughout the race but Shryock, who never once moved off the bottom, was able to hold off Green to take the win. Chad Palmer, who pitted early for a tire replacement under yellow, was able to work his way back up to third at the finish as attrition was huge in this race.
Shryock is a popular figure here and received a much louder ovation in victory lane than he does at many other tracks. In fact, overall the crowd here is very supportive and vocal and much more so than the two previous stops on this Madness Tour week.
Both the Sport Mods and Hobby Stocks have a pair of brothers racing that are tough to beat anywhere and particularly so at Kossuth County. In the Sport Mods it is the Fett brothers. On this night it was Alec who took the early lead but Colby put a moster slide job on and took over the top spot as he led the last twelve laps to take the win. Behind the Fetts, it was Matt Looft who came from tenth to finish third.
The Hobby Stock duo is the Nielsens and they took advantage of an early pileup to take over the top spots. Kevin Bruck led the first lap until he spun out and was clobbered by a couple of cars, causing considerable damage to them.
The green saw Cody Nielsen drive by on the outside to take over the lead and that's the way the last eleven laps would go with Nielsen comfortably in front. For the second straight night, Jason Fusselman would finish second but on this night he simply couldn't catch the leader.Brandon Nielsen would settle for third.
Only one suggestion for improvement for the track and that would be to somehow fence off that area off turn four where in the "smokers lounge" the folks there were right up against the track fence, signaling and waving to drivers. It was a very dangerous place to be and while announcer Chad Meyer, during a break between mains went down there to shag people away from the fence, as soon as he left they returned. That is an issue that needs dealing with; otherwise it was a very nice night at the races. The final checkered waved about 10:30 pm and it would have been even earlier if not for  couple of late yellows in the Modified feature.

Hobscheidt Dominates Midwest Madness Tour at Fairmont

The Midwest Madness Tour continued on Tuesday night, June 30th as the troops rolled North across the border into Minnesota for one night before heading back South to wrap up the series with three more nights of racing during this grueling week of racing. The target on Tuesday was the big half mile at the Martin County Fairgrounds, the Fairmont Raceway for round four of the series.
It was another steamy day on Tuesday and  while not at all unexpected for this time of year, it still presents a challenge to all the teams to keep their cars maintained and their crews fresh while fighting the oppressive heat and humidity. Fortunately on this day there was quite a stiff breeze out of the Southeast that kept things a little more refreshing and was probably good news for everyone but the track prep crew who were presented with an even more difficult task of trying to keep the dust down when the winds were blowing very much toward the main grandstands.
Car counts still remained strong with one hundred and three cars on hand in the four classes racing for points in this series plus another thirteen Sport Compacts also racing on Tuesday for a total of one hundred and eighteen race cars jammed into the infield in what remains one of the few tracks still pitting in the infield, although there still may be more of these types of tracks in Iowa than perhaps any other state in the Midwest.
Fairmont also remains one of the few tracks left where the track packing is done in the opposite direction of how the racing will be done later. There was a surge of the clock wise packing at tracks for awhile before most went back to a more familiar way of doing it, and I never did get a reasonable explanation of why track packing should be done in the opposite way that the racing is carried out. It was a fad that eventually went away at most places but is still carried out at Fairmont. And we did see lots of track packing on Tuesday as in response to the temperatures and strong winds, the prep crew really dumped the water on the black dirt racing facility and in late afternoon cloud cover blocked out the sun and suddenly we had quite a muddy mess on our hands. It made for a late start to the program and a number of the early heats were compromised because it was still very slick and additional laps of packing the cushion were needed after just about every heat. It did take away the dust threat though but also might have helped develop a couple of significant holes in the first turn, but perhaps those would have been there one way or another.
Still covering the action at Fairmont Raceway was track announcer Lonn Oelke and his wit and humor never gets old at the track. He is a character all of his own and his style has never been copied by any other announcer in the business. Lonn tells me that he still stays busy announcing even though he gave up traveling with the USMTS years ago as he still announces at Alta and Mason City as well as here. The starters duties were also well taken of here with the highly competent Grant Ostvig waving the flags on this night.
Car counts were biggest in the Modifieds and Stock Cars as you might imagine and a B Feature was required in each class with the other classes just running heats and their mains. Fourteen of the top fifteen in series points in the Modifieds were on hand so it appears that those desirous of chasing points have made themselves known. The other classes were much less so with only half the Stock Cars tops in points on hand and even less in the other two classes with track regulars filling in the gaps when many of the top point cars opted not to travel to all the series stops.
The track was still pulling hard come feature time and the twenty five lap mains for the Modifieds and Stock Cars were tough ones on the equipment with lots of overheating racing machines and an attrition rate that was quite high.
Twenty four of the thirty seven Mods on hand made the main event with Kelly Shryock and T.J. Wyman taking provisionals with Shryock just taking the green and pulling off. Chris Palsrod was the early leader with a quick yellow when challenger Brandon Beckendorf shut down quickly and contender Chris Abelson also called it a night quickly.
Jeff James overtook Palsrod following the green and he led for the next three laps until the yellow flew again. This would be it for the yellow flags and the last twenty laps would go nonstop. And Hobscheidt, who started fifth, would blow past James on the restart and that would be the story for the rest of the Modified feature. Hobscheidt found a groove that would really let him motor around the track and while it was dangerously close to the walls in the turns, he never faltered once and soon his lead became astronomical in distance as he built it to a full straightaway and the only question was whether or not his car would hold together under the terrific beating he was giving it as cars dropped out , many with cooling problems.
However, Jacob never backed off but kept his frantic pace as he worked through lapped traffic near the end of the contest and he managed to put five lapped cars and most of the front chute between himself and James when he took the checkered flag. Kyle Brown had a nice run for third and point leader Jesse Sobbing padded his lead with a strong run from seventeenth to fourth at the finish.
Attrition in the Stock Car feature was even higher with only eleven of a twenty four car field running at the finish. It took three tries in fact to get the first lap complete with two early leads by Bubba Alvarado lost when the yellow waved.
The third try was the charm but this time it was Jake Masters who took over the top spot and he would hold the lead for the rest of the race. Alvarardo would soon be out of the contest after rolling to a halt and Elijah Zevenbergen would challenge for several laps but would eventually fade when he just couldn't match Masters' pace.
Jeff Larson and Austin Jahnz would both move up and challenge but both of them would suddenly drop out of the race too with mechanical issues. Derek Green would come up from the fourth row to finally grab the second spot but he could offer no serious challenge for the lead and was happy to be able to run second as Masters drove away from everyone.
The last eighteen laps went green and Masters just continued his pace and no one could stay with him. Finishing third behind Green was Dusty VanHorn with a solid run from tenth.
The Sport Mod feature may have been the most entertaining race of the night as it had only a single yellow flag and we got to see some very aggressive driving from a number of drivers that started a little further back in the pack than they preferred but quickly had their target of getting to the front.
James Richert led the opening laps but all eyes were on Jared Boumeester, Josh Most and Matt Looft  and the trio of heavy weights were on a charge to the front. Driving without abandon, they were thrilling to watch with the later two especially interesting as they motored to the front after starting in the sixth row.
However, Boumeester had the advantage of starting three rows ahead of the other two and he was the one to catch and then pass Richert for the lead. He began to build on that advantage until a late yellow, the first of the race, set up a four lap sprint to the finish. The top three were pretty even after that and Boumeester was fast enough that he was able to keep some distance between himself and the charging Most who did everything he could but had to settle for second with Looft third as Boumeester drove on for the win.
The Hobby Stock field in this area has an apparent fascination with the number #27 as there were no less than five cars with that number racing in their main event, and yes, one of the #27 cars did win the main with a late race pass.
Jason Fusselman took the lead from the outside pole after one of the other #27 cars spun on the opening lap and he would lead for all but the last lap of the feature. With only two minor yellows in the race, this class would get to do some racing and Fusselman built up a strong lead, only to see it start to be cut down when Malik Sampson would move into second.
The last few laps of the race saw Sampson began to seriously shorten the distance and with only two laps to go, Sampson had found the rear bumper of Fusselman. There was contact between the two in turn four as they came to the white flag and more contact in turn one on the last lap. Sampson got to the inside and took over the lead with what wasn't the prettiest of passes but since no penalty flag was waved in his direction, I guess it was just a beautiful move as he pulled away down the back chute on the final lap and drove home for the win with Fusselman settling for second  and another #27, this one Jason Kohl, in third. With his strong run, Kohl likely has taken over the point lead for the series in this division.
The Sport Compacts did not play well on this night with a couple of penalty decisions required by track officials before the eight laps were over. Brandon Hartmann was the initial leader of the race but it took only about a lap and a half and Nate Coopman had stormed up from row three to take the lead and he quickly pulled away in what looked to be a runaway race.
However, with just two laps to go, Bubba Brown hammered the turn four wall and a red flag was needed to check on his condition. He eventually would get out under his own power and walk away but he was shook by the impact.
During this red, it was announced that Coopman would be sent to the back of the pack for not stopping quickly enough when the red flag was waved. He discussed the situation briefly when the cars started to roll once again but then complied.
The race resumed with Jaedon Erickson leading and Coopman on the charge. However, the yellow waved again for debris on the track setting up a one lap sprint to the finish with Coopman back up to fifth.
The last lap was wild with cars charging for the finish. Coopman made heavy contact with the car in front of him as they raced into the final corner with Coopman sitting third. This set off a wild series of events with cars flying in all directions and the finish a mess.  Track officials black flagged Coopman for rough driving and the win was awarded to Erickson with Calvin Hinz second and R.J. Esqueda ruled third.
Again on this night, once they got the show started the officials did a great job of moving things along and rolling into the following event as soon as the previous one was complete. They completed the entire show in about three and a half hours which was quite good considering the amount of cars and the fact that half mile racing just takes a bit longer. However, for the second straight night they didn't come close to hitting their starting time as the first heat race didn't take the green until just about five minutes before 8 pm which is way too late for any show, but particularly one that is being held mid week with this driving the finishing time back to 11:30 pm, again, way too late.
Much of the delay was due to the extra track packing needed because of the wet track conditions which was somewhat understandable but I still would have hoped that we could have started a little closer to the planned time. Otherwise, it was a good show and a nice facility and a good addition to the series.