Kay Tops Winners List In Closely Contested Feature Races at Dubuque's Finale

 Sunday night, August 30th, a last minute decision based on weather issues and other factors saw me headed South to the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway in Dubuque Iowa for their Season Championship night which was also their finale for the 2020 racing season. I was glad to be able to attend Dubuque at least once this year, as a late afternoon thunderstorm had spoiled my other opportunity to be here for racing and Dubuque has long been near the top of my list of favorite tracks to attend. In my opinion the track is just about the right size for good racing across the board in many classes and I have seen some dandy races here over the years. 

This year Dubuque is running four classes under IMCA sanction with their own version of the Four Cylinder cars. On this final night of the season, they had also added the Mini Late Models and the AIRS cars too so it would be a full night of racing as the kids would also get their crack at entering the track with trick or treat going on during the short intermission. 

It was Season Championship night here and I've discovered that Season Championship night is interpreted just about as many different ways as there are tracks in America. At Dubuque, they simply add up the points accumulated over the course of the season and declare Season Champions at the end of the final night. No true Championship Race is held as some tracks do, but  as long as everyone is on the same page, it really doesn't matter. 

However, they did have a different way of lining up the feature races from normal though. They did their typical point invert for the heats and then set the lineup for the feature based on those heat results. However, the point leader in each class then drew a chip between one and six and that would determine how many cars from that set lineup would be inverted for the feature. I believe the lowest drawn was two and the highest five so that was their exception to how they normally set the lineup.

I always forget just how late both the racers and fans are for a Sunday night show and for the longest time after they opened the pits up, I was thinking that this was going to be a debacle, with no cars and me having driven four plus hours to see little. However, at the last second everyone arrived and we had both a nice field of cars and a good crowd in the stands although it's always hard to gauge at Dubuque because people are spread out over such a wide area. 

They made some big heat races but the set all five classes with a pair of heats, did the redraw and then moved into feature race action. The Mini Lates and AIRS cars would get to run their features first and that proved to not be the best of ideas. 

I must admit that I'm not sure whether the AIRS cars are actually racing or just putting on a demonstration event. Here in my area, we have a similar group that visits area tracks but their racing is just a demonstration and they don't get paid. Perhaps it is different with the AIRS cars but their feature was test of the tolerance and patience of all with multiple spins, yellows and a feature that seemed to last forever and one that I would have been tempted to checkered a bit before they did.  

Sadly the Hobby Stocks must have been studying the driving style of the AIRS racers as their feature race was just as bad. Seven yellow flags and it got so bad that track officials starting deducting laps from their contest as the yellows mounted. It almost got so bad that the race ran out of laps before they could even complete another go round, there were so many stoppages. Brandon White would lead the first few laps before he was passed by Dakota Simonsen who then led the rest of the way through the many slow downs to take the win. He would also be crowned track champion. Kodey Miles and David Crimmins would trail Simonsen across the line. 

At this point after two straight "stinker" races and the clock ticking, I was thinking that I made a bad mistake on this night but then order was restored, the drivers got their heads screwed on straight and the night ended up with four very good feature races. The track was abnormally dry on this night and perhaps that accounted for part of the early troubles, but the racers in the final four classes did a great job of battling and we saw some tremendous charges from back in the pack as a part of the final four events. 

The Sport Mod feature started off badly with outside pole starter Jerry Miles spinning after cars got tied up in front of him. He went to the back but wait for later in the race for Miles to appear once again.  

Troy Bauer took the lead but he was receiving heavy pressure from Scott Busch, Matt Fulton and Grant Manthe until all three got together and crashed which sent all three to the back. This gave Bauer an open track and it looked like an easy win. But not so fast. Suddenly Miles who had been working his way back up through the field, made an appearance in the top five and he was then on a charge. Making the track nearly a half mile as he raced all the way around the track right against the wall, he was making time on the leader and as the laps ran down, he had a legitimate shot at the win. On the final lap, he had the momentum down the back chute but just then a lapped car drifted right up the track and into his way. He had to lift just enough that Bauer was able to edge out the win in what was a great finish. Miles had shown that even though the track was bone dry, there was an outside groove and from then on, it was typical Dubuque racing with cars all over the wide racing surface. Gage Neal, who finished third, would be crowned the track champion. 

The Modified feature was also a great race, with a surprise finish that stunned us all. Jason Schueller was the early leader, leading the first ten laps of the twenty lapper. He had to use a little road blocking during that time as eventual track champion Matt Gansen was all over him and Schueller had to block the outside lane a few times to keep from getting passed. Tyler Madigan, Jed Freiburger and Bryce Garnhart were also in the lead group. 

A lap ten yellow bunched things up and suddenly on lap thirteen, Garnhart made a push and slid into the lead. However, one lap later Schueller retook the top spot but he was then passed by Gansen as the wild slide jobs were flying at both ends of the track in spectacular action. 

A yellow with three laps to go set up a wild conclusion and that's what we had. Gansen was the leader but with two to go, Garnhart three a big slider at him and took over the lead. Schueller moved in to challenge as Gansen faded slightly and the wild finish saw Garnhart hold off Schueller and Madigan for the thrilling win. It was a great race by the Modifieds. Gansen would be crowned track champion. 

Although small in numbers in numbers, the Four Cylinders did their part to keep the momentum flowing. Although it was strictly a two car battle, they had a fight for the lead that lasted right to the checkered flag. John Campbell led from the pole but he was soon challenged by Josh Starr who took over the lead on lap three. However, one lap later Campbell regained the top spot as the Four Cylinders pulled slide jobs on each other, or as much as a front wheel drive car can pull a slide job!

Starr stayed after Campbell however, and on lap nine he retook the lead and would hold on to it for the final three laps. The finish was in question through the final corner and Campbell tried one last time to cut across the front of Starr but couldn't quite make it. Jacob Wetter finished third and that was good enough for him to edge out Campbell as track champion. Starr races an odd combination of cars as along with his Four Cylinder, he also races a Modified which he stated he hopes to have back on the track soon. 

It was left for the Late Models to hold up their end of the deal as our momentum of excellent feature racing was on the line and they did more than that, they set the bar just as high with a great closing event to the 2020 season at the track. 

Dalton Simonsen led the first six laps of the Late Model feature with heavy pressure from Ron Klein, Eric Pollard, Logan Duffy and Joel Callahan. A spin bunched the field at that point and again on the next lap, keeping the lead group in a wad. Justin Kay started twelfth but by the second restart was up to sixth. 

Following the resumption of the race, it took Pollard only a lap to get past Simonsen and take over the lead as he chased both a win and the track title, as he had to distance himself from Duffy who was the point leader. Meanwhile, with surgical precision, Kay was on the move, going both high and low to pass drivers and soon he found himself in second and closing on Pollard. 

We then were treated to some great racing action in the dozen great flag laps to follow as Kay tried everything he could to slide under Pollard for the lead but Pollard would have just enough off the corners to fight him off lap after lap. It was great entertainment and skillful driving to be sure. 

A stalled car set up a seven lap dash to the finish with Pollard holding the Delaware point and Kay just behind him and on the low side of the track. Pollard must have figured that he needed to block the low side where Kay must race so on the green, instead of racing to the outside banking, he stayed low in turn one. However, he slid up just high enough to allow Kay to have a lane under him and Kay pulled up beside him down the back chute. They raced side by side, very hard into turn three and Kay would edge past. Down the front chute Kay would beat Pollard to the top banking and the race was over as Kay would then extend his lead on the final laps. having tricked Pollard to give up his top side advantage that was ultimately the fastest way around the track. 

Simonsen would finish third with Duffy's fifth place finish allowing him to hold off Pollard for the track title by just six points. Whether or not that late pass by Kay made the difference in the point race, only someone who knows IMCA points better than I could answer. What I do know was that it was a very good way to conclude the racing season at Dubuque. It was announced that racing would return on Sunday night's in 2021 with the same management team on board for next year so obviously the Fair Board was happy with things at the track this year. 

Earlier in the evening I got the opportunity to spend a few minutes with Ricky Kay and I learned some very interesting things about how a Fairgrounds race track operates, and also something about how some of the big time race series do things. Kay was very satisfied with how things went at Davenport in 2020 and he will return to the track next year. I believe he said that he must still share the track with another promoter for a couple more years in what has to be one of the strangest setups in racing that I am aware of. 

It was a very unconventional track to what I remember most nights on Sundays at Dubuque but at the end of the night it still provided the great side by side action and close finishes that are hard to top anywhere. Thanks to the folks at Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway for their help on this night.

Chad Simpson hauls 7 K Back to Iowa From Mississippi Thunder

 Friday night, August 28th would be a very big and long night of racing at the Mississippi Thunder Speedway near Fountain City Wisconsin. It would be Season Championship night when they add up the track points earned all year and crown champions. This would involve all five classes that race at MTS during the year. However, as a bonus, the Late Model and Modified features from the Dairyland Challenge last Friday night, that were rained out, would also be held in addition to the regular show. And to sweeten the pie for the Open Late Models and try and get more of them to return, along with the make up feature, they would also be running another full show for the Open Late Models paying two grand to win. 

So we would be having six classes in action which would include two, forty lap main events left over plus another full show in all six classes that would include championship races for the regular divisions. And of course, with the rains having passed and the sun back out, all the racers want to get one more show in during the regular season so there were one hundred and thirty five racers on hand from the three state area near Fountain City. Our program would consist of twenty seven races including  eight feature races. Sounds like a long night, doesn't it? Well, indeed it was and I think every race fan on hand would say that they got their monies worth on this night, since it was just regular admission to attend after last week's disappointment when the last two features couldn't be run due to the rain. 

For Chad Simpson, the trip back from eastern Iowa was worth the effort to him as he was a double feature winner. Despite the offer of another feature race to entice the Open Late Models to return, eight of them opted not to so there were only seventeen on hand to race for five and two grand feature races.

Jake Timm, who had started on the pole, led the first ten laps of the Dairyland Challenge makeup feature before James Giossi, who has been tearing things up lately in the area winning big race after big race, perhaps destroyed his car when he went head on into the first turn wall. He needed two wreckers to assist his car to the pits and he was done for the night. 

On the restart, Timm's car started pushing badly in the corners and Simpson quickly drove under him to take over the lead. Once in front, he kept that position the rest of the race. Jimmy Mars worked his way up from a tenth starting position to put some pressure on Simpson at the end and actually closed to within a car length at the checkered as Simpson struggled to hand on with the challenging track conditions that saw a blinding fast track that developed lots of "character" as they say. Jesse Glenz would finish third. 

Of course, even with everything else going on, the Open Late Models would have to qualify for the second feature race, despite all the other divisions drawing for heat race positions. Simpson was the first one out for qualifying and not surprisingly, was the fastest qualifier. He then won a heat race that featured no passing, giving him the pole for the main event. 

This race went nonstop for thirty laps and only Jeremy Grady would not be around at the finish. This one was a walkover for Simpson who built up a big lead nd then cruised for the win. Lance Matthees ran second for much of the contest before being passed by Dustin Sorensen in the late going for the runner up honors. It turned out to be a very successful night for Simpson and his return was a wise choice. 

The Dairyland Challenge for the Modifieds was a war of attrition as the same bad fast but character building track faced the Modifieds for their make up feature. Twenty one cars started this race and only seven were still standing at the end. 

It was a good night for Dustin Sorensen too as he would win the makeup feature for the Modifieds. He set a blistering pace and would open up nearly a full straightaway on the field. Among those contenders not around at the finish included Jake Timm who spun and collected Lucas Schott, Ashley Anderson with all three out and Josh Angst who was running in the top three when he hit the wall and was done too. 

Sorensen continued to set a pace that no one could stay with and he would win by a big margin over Cory Crapser and Alex Williamson. 

The championship feature would see Schott build up a big lead over Angst until a late yellow nearly cost him. Anderson charged on the inside and nearly slipped into the lead before Schott moved back up the track and used the banking to pull away in the late laps over Angst and Anderson. Angst would be the track champion. 

Seventeen Hornets would fight it out for the track title with point leader Brandon Gleiter eliminated in a grinding early race crash that would also take care of contender Jason Johnson. Hunter Miller would move on to take over the lead, win the race and also become the track champion with Don Martens giving him a severe challenge that involved some contact  near the end of the race. 

Twenty four USRA Hobby Stocks would complete their season with Iowa's Scott Spilde taking the win. Point leader Chris Hovden and Steve Holthaus would both be early outs with mechanical issues but Hovden would have a big enough lead to guarantee him the track title. The feature race itself was a good one, despite several yellows that saw Spilde hold off Levi Sand and Cody Rollinger for the win. 

Flyin' Ryan Olson would live up to his nickname as he stormed around the high side of the track to take the lead and then hold off a strong late challenge from Jim Chisholm to take the B Mod feature win. Olson would also be the track champion in the division. Chisholm had made a determined charge up from the sixth row and was working the low groove well and moved into second. A late yellow, the only one of the race, saw a five lap battle for the win. Chisholm pushed Olson hard and very nearly slipped past him in the last corner. Fortunately for Olson, it was a twenty lapper and not a lap more. Danny Sauquitne finished a strong third. 

The USRA Late Models also had a field of twenty cars for their season finale. Track champion Lance Hofer would put on a strong drive, moving high and low on the track as needed as he charged up from the third row to take the lead and pull away for the win. 

A couple of early yellows kept things bunched up but when the last nineteen laps ran off green to checkered, Hofer was able to pull away. Olson, doing double duty, had an impressive run too as he came from eleventh to finish in the runner up slot with "quick" Kyle Johnson finishing third. 

Thus you have the very abridged addition of what happened at MTS on Friday night and into Saturday morning as it were. The first green flag waved at 6:55 pm and Friday and it was exactly one am Saturday morning when the final checkered waved. One thing everyone could agree on is that we saw all the racing that we wanted for one night, plus some. 

MTS still has one more big weekend of racing upcoming before they finally put the 2020 racing season to bed. Set for September 9-12, the 9th annual Modified Nationals will feature three full programs for the B Mods and Mods. The payoff is progressive with lots of money on the line. Paying the same purse for both classes, which is an interesting concept, the shows will pay two, four and a whopping ten grand apiece to win on Saturday night. Check the MTS face book page for more information. Thanks again to Bob Timm and his crew at MTS.  

Rain Shortens Scheffler Tribute Night

 On Thursday night, August 27th, the 3rd annual Russ Scheffler Tribute race was presented at the Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth Wisconsin. Late Models would be the focus on this night, as Scheffler was a very successful Late Model racer in Southern and Eastern Wisconsin primarily before his passing. However, also on the card on Thursday would be the three other divisions that weekly race at Plymouth and that would be the 360 Sprint Cars, the B Mods and the Grand National cars.

Very impressive fields of cars would be racing in all four classes with the Late Models signing in thirty cars while the 360 Sprints were just one behind, even though it was just a regular paying weekly show and of a Thursday night which made their strong presence even more impressive. Twenty five B Mods and seventeen Grand National cars would give us one hundred and one cars, a fine field indeed for a midweek show with only four classes of cars. 

It was not that long ago that the Late Model class was on life support in eastern Wisconsin with few cars and few opportunities to race with one likely the cause of the other. However, the Late Models on this side of the state have made a great rebound in the last couple of years with the emergence of the Dirt Kings traveling Late Model tour certainly helping this situation along. Consider that there are still only two tracks in eastern Wisconsin that race Late Models on a weekly basis and ironically, both race on Saturday nights! That would be Shawano and here but despite that, the class has grown impressively in recent years. For example, Thursday night there were thirty Late Models on hand and only one was not from the eastern side of the state and that would be Greg Cantrell who towed up from DeKalb IL to race. Otherwise, all the competitors are from this region. The one thing that the Dirt Kings tour does provide especially is opportunities to race as they book shows into tracks that don't race Late Models and the drivers from this area do a great job supporting that series. So Late Model racing in eastern Wisconsin certainly looks to be on the rise. 

Also, mention needs to be made about the strong 360 Sprint class here. Again, this was just a weekly show and on a Thursday yet they had twenty nine 360's in attendance and the announcer commented about how the numbers have been falling off some here at the end of the year, as often happens. If twenty nine cars is a "down" night, that fact alone is a pretty impressive statement. 

The B Mods are just IMCA Sport Mods without the sanction while the Grand Nationals are a class that features new style bodies, stock front stubs and limitations on the motors and is a class not seen many other places other than here in eastern Wisconsin. 

The Plymouth track is here at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds which is a beautiful facility right here in the city of Plymouth with the track and fairgrounds virtually surrounded by residences and the city itself. That must make for some interesting situations but there must not be too much push back, given that they are racing on a Thursday night. 

Plymouth hosts lots of big races, with the Sprints having shows from both the All Stars and World of Outlaws and the Late Models from that series have been here too as they have the seating and interest here to have those kinds of races. 

It was an incredibly humid and hot day and storms were in the forecast for late afternoon and evening. Despite that fact, the pits were filled with race cars while perhaps the spectator side paid a little more attention to the weather as the big grandstands had plenty of open seats on this night. Storms were building all around with some very impressive thunderheads and cloud formations drifting over the track, but no rain fell from them and the show started as planned. 

The track was very heavy with much packing needed and while the speeds when racing started were impressive, it was very tough to pass with the berm building to impressive heights to the point that even the 360's were struggling with it. They even needed to get the grader out and knock down the berm at one point, something that was risky given that we were racing on borrowed time. 

Finally, with all the areas around the track already having been "dumped on", the rains hit the Plymouth Dirt Track just as the last B Feature was coming to the track. It didn't take long for track officials to determine that racing was done and about a quarter after nine, our night was complete. The program was called complete and the drivers were paid off. I don't know how they determined just how the money was divided up, but the racers did go home with money for that part of the show we had seen. 

Interestingly, I found out that Lake Winnebago, the huge inland lake in Wisconsin that is famous for its Sturgeon population, is big enough that it often affects the local weather patterns, just like Lake Superior does for the towns around that lake. They were telling me that it often steers storms away from them, delays their arrival but then sometimes also funnels the race right at certain communities. Early in the evening, while we were watching the clouds boil and build, someone told me that their weather app, adjusted to the Lake Winnebago affect, told them that the rain would hold off until 9:10 pm, despite the fact that at that point it looked like it could pour at any second. Ironically and correctly, that prediction turned out to be within seconds of being accurate!

So I didn't get to see any feature race action on this night, but it wasn't a complete loss. A couple of interesting things I noted from the part of the show I saw included the fact that track officials used pylons when hot lapping , thus forcing the drivers to run a higher line early and hopefully, at least, widen out the track. 

They also have a fun thing that the crowd does, as after the announcer goes down to the track surface to introduce the night and play the anthem, he asks them if they are ready for racing and the entire crowd responds by stomping on the metal grandstand floor to let everyone know that they are ready for the races to begin! I thought that to be a neat local tradition. 

A couple of the local Grand National drivers had interesting names. A heat race winner was Chad Espen(I wonder if he likes sports?) but my favorite was veteran driver and many time track champion Richard Hed. Of course, he's not known at Richard Hed at the track. So if anyone says they really like that "old Dick Hed", no one takes that as an insult!

They plan to have a Dirt Kings tour race on Friday night as a part of their racing weekend doubleheader, but as I type this I have learned that they are already rained out for Friday. 

Roth and Aikey Control 300 Raceway Finale Features , Gain Point Titles

 Wednesday night, August 26th was the regular season finale at the 300 Raceway in Farley Iowa. Wednesday night would be the last point show of the 2020 racing season and the last competitive event before next weekend's Yankee Dirt Track Classic. All four divisions that routinely race here under IMCA sanction including the Late Models, Modifieds, Stock Cars and Sport Mods would all be in action on Wednesday. 

This was Season Championship night and even though the races were lined up under the normal point invert format, at the end of the evening the points would be added up and four champions would be crowned. 

There were however, several drivers making their first appearances of the year as they tune up for the Yankee next weekend along with several other drivers that had only made rare starts during the season and were on hand for that same reason, and that was to tune up their cars for the big money that starts next weekend as another regular racing season has just about reached its conclusion. In that regard, it will certainly long be remembered for what it was and also for what it wasn't with the good and the bad hrd to balance some times. Even now in late August, there will still likely be more blockbuster announcements of racing events cancelled at the last minute and perhaps moved to other facilities. On that, we will all just have to wait and see how things play out while trying to maintain our composure and sanity. 

I got a few minutes before the show to talk to Modified veteran Bob Dominacki who was making a rare start here and a driver that doesn't travel much like he used to for perhaps decades as he stays pretty close to the Quad Cities area tracks these days. He had a sticker on his car that I had to ask him about and he confirmed that the sticker on his race car signified that this is his fortieth year of racing, a milestone  by any stretch of the imagination. He said that he had a lot of good years but things have been much tougher for him this past decade but that he would be lost without racing to spend his time on. Perhaps a comment on where racing has gone would be best described by the engine identification on the hood of his Modified that reads, "F----N Crate". I think that says it all for some at least. 

It was another hot and steamy night in the country's heartland but once the sun got lower in the sky, it actually turned into a most comfortable evening. I got a ride from one end of the pit area by a track worker, it turns out he was in charge of watering, but since he delivered me so quickly, I didn't even catch his name. He gave me a ride as he was waiting for the water truck to fill up and he said that they would be putting about 50,000 gallons of water on the track for this night's race, starting in the evening on Monday and through the next two days. And actually, I thought the track was great on Wednesday. It started out a little top dominant but then that went away and drivers were racing all over the track which was slick and smooth and it held up nicely until the very end of the show when drivers started cutting through the infield, dragging the loose dirt up on the track which created a narrow groove and a cloud of dust in turn four but that was all on the drivers, not the track prep. 

A did a double take when I saw Cory Dripps unload a Late Model out of his trailer, not knowing that he has had a Late Model since this Spring but I was just not aware of this, although I am told that he has not raced it much. It is a Rocket chassis and although he was a DNF in the feature, he did a lot of track time on the car on this night. 

I ran into veteran starter Doug Haack who was in preparation for the driver's meeting when I ran into him. He will be the starter here for the rest of the season, having taken over that important job starting with the show two weeks ago. He also flags at Maquoketa, CJ and Quad Cities as he has gotten even busier once he retired from his "real" job. 

The program actually started just a few minutes before their advertised starting time and how many tracks can say that, especially for a midweek show? The qualifying heats went quickly and smoothly with only the Modifieds needing three heats while the others managed a pair of heats for each. 

Before long it was feature race time and the Stock Cars were up first for their fifteen lap feature race. This event saw three different leaders, quite a bit of passing and a couple of heartbreaking breakdowns right near the end of the race that cost a couple of drivers dearly. 

Jason Breimeyer was the early leader but was quickly overtaken by Leah Wroten. Meanwhile, Johnny Spaw was moving up quickly after starting eighth on the grid and by lap five he had driven under Wroten to take over the lead. Once in front, he controlled the rest of the contest but making things interesting was Timmy Current who was driving the #22 Miller High Life car. After not finishing his heat race, he started thirteenth in the main but driving like his hair was on fire, he quickly moved up into the top three. Following a yellow for Tom Schmitt who blew up while running third, Current deciding to go "checkers or wreckers" on the restart but he ended up spinning out and calling it a night. 

Spaw cruised on for the win with Wroten holding on for second and Duayne Herb lost a good finish when he too blew up on the final lap. Jarod Weepie held off rookie Andrew Chelf for the point title. 

The Modified feature saw a great two car battle for the feature race win as Dylan Thorton managed to hold off Aikey for thirteen laps before Jeff finally got by and secured another win here. Thornton had started on the pole and led those first laps while Aikey quickly moved up from eighth, showing the same strong moves he has shown in heat race action where he was spitting cars at will and forging his way forward. 

He followed Thornton for several laps, trying various moves before he got a head of steam and slid up past Thorton in turn one to take over the top spot. Once in front, he was gone and his only excitement was working through lapped traffic. Showing some strength early and then holding off Troy Cordes was Wisconsin invader Brandon Schmitt who came home third. Aikey was the runaway point champion in the Mods.  

Jason Roth continued his dominating season here in the Sport Mods with another victory that translated into a track championship also. It was tough sledding for awhile but he is relentless and would eventually find the openings he needed to pull off the win. Justin Becker led the first seven laps of the feature as both Troy Bauer and Roth would eventually catch him. Bauer made a move to take over the lead but he could only hold it for one lap before Roth would power past him and take the top spot for himself.  He would lead the rest of the way with Cam Reimers making a late charge up to third. 

The Late Model feature would have a surprise ending with a late yellow flag and the changing track both hugely a part of the surprise. Joel Callahan would hold the top spot for four laps before a charging Aikey would take over the lead. Aikey would then build up a large lead and he seemed home free without a challenge.

However, Justin Kay started to move up and as the drivers got deeper into the contest, Kay started to move up quite rapidly. Doing some innovative driving in the corners, he was able to pass  both Scott Fitzpatrick and Callahan and move into second. 

He still seemed pretty far behind Aikey until a late yellow ended Aikey's big advantage. On the restart, Aikey started to slide up the track and Kay was able to get under him and then pull away for the win, which was unexpected. 

I have long enjoyed watching Kay race in both his Modified and Late Model as he seems to be a driver that races all over the track and is not afraid to try different grooves. However, Wednesday night he took that to the extreme to the point where it gave him an unfair advantage in my mind. While everyone else was racing the slick surface, lap after lap he systematically clipped the corner tires and to his credit he did it expertly, until he had moved them back one full lane on the bottom and then he took off like a rocket. During the last yellow flag for a two car spin, they even replaced the uke tire in turn four but that didn't bother Kay, who just knocked it out of the way once they started racing again.  

It didn't help Aikey that his car started to get lose near the end too, but Kay was definitely racing through what should have been the infield and getting some pretty good bite there which in no time at all allowed him to race under and then pull away for the win. The last few laps saw the other drivers follow Kay's line through the corners and we went from a track that has drivers racing all over it to everyone following each other through the infield, throwing loose dirt up on to the track which ruined the three and  four corners as well as creating a cloud of dust where one hadn't existed before everyone decided to make the track a quarter miler.  Fitzpatrick got by Callahan for third at the finish and for the points, Eric Pollard held off Aikey by four, perhaps the one position that he lost late in the race making the difference? It was a good night of racing but that last race left a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth. 

They did a great job of running things off at a quick pace but I was stunned to see that the final checkered flag flew at 9:15 pm which meant that a full four class program was completed in just a few minutes over two hours. Terrific and terrific for the fans that had to head out and get home for work on Thursday. This is the kind of thing that gives people the confidence to come out and watch a midweek show. What they have planned for their weekly schedule for next year I do not know but midweek shows that can be run off so quickly and expertly are always in demand. This place continues to look better and better every time I am here and is certainly one of the finest facilities in the entire state now. 

Laney Takes The Bonuses at Stuart Inter. Speedway

 It was a rare Monday night special that wrapped up the 2020 racing season at the Stuart International Speedway on Monday night, August 24th. I say rare Monday night race, but with promoter Mike VanGenderen you just never know. One of the more innovative and aggressive promoters around, MVG is always working on some special or a new twist to the routine to make it different. The Monday night race was first run a couple of years ago here with I think that also being one dollar hot dog night and it went over very big. 

The latest twist is that this is Season Championship night with champions crowned at the completion of the night based on points earned during the point night races during the 2020 racing season. It also was the Monday night spotlight race on XR and as a result of that free world wide streaming of the race which allowed MVG to sell a bunch of advertising to sponsors and raise some nice bonuses for the drivers. 

It was another blazing hot night in central Iowa with the temperatures pushing the triple digit numbers along with plenty of sun and a fairly strong wind that was a hot and dry wind. In other words, a difficult night indeed to keep a dirt track race ready to withstand the night. However, as has been the case most every night that racing has taken place here this year, the track was a good one again on Monday. It started out a little bit more slimy than usual, likely the result of the recent enduro held here on Sunday night that packed the track down hard and made it a challenge to get the water deep into the surface. 

The track quickly cleared up though and provided a smooth and fast surface, dust free too, for the rest of the night and as usual, drivers were racing all over the track although many found the top side to be best for them on Monday. 

Speaking of water, it was again a challenge to find some to water the track, grounds and driveways once again as no rain has yet to materialize in west central Iowa. Given the options available to himself, MVG ended up hauling water for two days so that he would have enough for his last two events here and he had just enough left in the pond on the property to handle the Monday night show. Standing around the pond and watching the water get sucked into the tanker truck, it was a time to reflect on the racing season and also to look forward to events that were upcoming. This "pond talk" was very informative but however, not for publication. If you want to know the inside scoop, you'll just have to get a pond of your own!

A nice crowd was on hand for the races on Monday, especially given the hot weather and the other options that were available to watch the night's racing and the track has always been open concerning this night and encouraging people to watch the live stream is they just couldn't make it here. 

Sixty four cars were on hand to race plus the Mini Mods who also had a couple of heats. The only class that was just a bit short on cars was the Modifieds but that was more than made up for by some very strong fields in the other classes. 

Draw/redraw set the starting fields on this night so there was a real mixture of drivers that headed up the grids for the various classes. The driver who took most advantage of the bonuses offered was California Modified driver Cody Laney. Ethan Braaksma was the early leader of the Modified feature but he was fighting an ill handling car all night and when he pushed up the track, Laney was right there to take over the lead. He then held off a charging Tim Ward who gave him a strong challenge in the late laps when a nice move by Laney to get by a lapped car gave him the margin of victory that he needed. 

Because he had not won a feature race this year at SIS he was eligible for the bonuses and he went home with a nice paycheck for fifteen  hundred dollars for twenty five laps of work. Happy Gilman completed the victory lane top three while Braaksma, who eventually pulled off ,did earn enough points to win the track title. 

The Stock Cars had the biggest field of cars and other than one minor yellow for a spin, they ran off their twenty two lap main green to checkered. Their race also had a good battle early with Bob Daniels and Jeremy Gettler battling for the lead, with Daniels taking that top spot. 

However, it didn't take too long for Damon Murty to work his way up from the fourth row and soon he was all over the leader. I continue to be amazed how the big Stock Cars came move around this fairly tight track, changing lanes and running just inches apart without the tremendous wrecks that seen sure to happen at almost any time. They are truly skilled at what they do. 

As per usual, there was no stopping Murty as he slid past Daniels eventually and pulled away in the later laps for the win. Daniels would have a good run that would see him end up second with Brock Badger also strong for a third place finish in front of Chanse Hollatz who was down from Clear Lake, bonus hunting. Gettler would be the track champion. 

One look at the Sport Mods would tell you that the top six finishers were among the strongest in all of IMCA with the top six being Carter, Osantowski, Reimers, Thompson, Anderson and VanDenBerg. That folks, it a tough lineup and one that was hard to crack. Carter drew the pole and led all the way as all six ran just about the same and passing was tough because of that. 

Osantowski made the most moves, as he got from fifth to eventually finish second but Carter had a healthy lead at the line. He has been very strong here all year and also claimed the track title. 

A nice group of Hobby Stocks was on hand and their main event was a good one too, again marked by just a single yellow flag, despite the fact that they were running three and four wide more often than not. Tom Killen was the early leader but then with strong moves, Zac Hemmingsen was able to get by and take over the top spot. 

Track point champion Brandon Cox moved up also and as Killen and Hemmingsen battled for the lead, suddenly it was a three wide battle for the top spot and Cox, as he has done often this year, then just motored away on the bottom to take the top spot and leave the others battling for second. It would be Hemmingsen that would claim that position while a late race charge saw Dylan Nelson come all the way from tenth to finish a strong third. 

Hunter Patrick led from start to finish to win the Sport Compact feature race. He built up a big lead early after starting on the pole and held off a late charge by Mitchell Bunch to get the win. It was a tough night for Bryan Vannausdle who was turned around early in the main after some over aggressive driving but despite his bumper cover dragging behind him throughout the race, Bryan soldered on to grab just enough points with his eighth place finish to claim the track championship. 

Despite taking a few minutes to introduce the top ten in points that were racing in the feature races on Monday night, the final checkered flag still waved just a few minutes after 10 pm and put a cap on what was a very successful season at Stuart International Speedway. There still remains a possibility that one more race could be scheduled in September so race fans should keep an eye on social media for any announcements. And if not, MVG has plenty of upcoming races on his plate already including Memphis Mo, Corning and a number of other races throughout the county where his services are in demand. 

Thanks to MVG and all his hard working crew at Stuart. They have seen plenty of me this year with his off night schedule being very attractive for visiting along with his many interesting specials and I hope that I haven't worn out my welcome too much, as we all have hopes for an even better 2021 racing season when the world gets straightened back out once again. 

Hollatz Makes "The Move" at Mason City

 Sunday night, August 23rd was a discovery night for me. Although the track has been up and operating for about a year now in its new make over, this night would be the first time for me to visit the new Mason City Motor Speedway in Mason City Iowa. Most everyone by this time is aware of the huge changes that have taken place there, so I won't detail all of them, but suffice to say that it definitely doesn't look anything like the old half mile, that's for sure. 

From the West end of the track, I took a first walk up the old entrance to the track, crested the banking and was then amazed just how much farther I had to walk to get to the entrance to the new track. Likewise, the old turn one and two looked a long, long ways past where the current track is. The new track can't be more than a quarter mile, which is a fine length for a race track, by the way, but in this instance it looked even smaller with the old track running so far beyond it on either end. And from the grandstand, where the cars pit off the old turn four looks several miles away from the new track, which of course its not. I understand that another makeover is due for the track during the off season to come as the Staley's have had time now to run a number of races and have seen just what they want to fine tune for the track for its permanent state. The one-two corner is in for a reshaping I understand and they are going to extend the track just a bit farther on that end. I was told that they hoped to make it just about the same size as the Deer Creek Speedway as a number of drivers that race here also race there and find that track to be just about the right size. 

One nice thing about the new track is that now all the grandstand space, which is considerable by the way, can be used by the spectators for seating. With the old half mile, nearly half the grandstand was rendered so that you couldn't see the West end of the track by the VIP booths, which were unbelievably engineered and placed so that they blocked one whole end of the grandstand for the crowd, as well as making the one-two corner just a rumor for the announcer and scorers in the tower! All that has changed now and for the better for sure. A couple light poles behind the main grandstand might be a nice addition though, as the grandstands themselves are quite dark to navigate in once the sun goes down. 

On this night they were struggling just a bit with the track which was very heavy and while it was also very fast, it did roll up some and create some rugged racing conditions. It made for a lot of action but also a lot of strain on car parts etc and a number of the drivers, recognizing this, either chose to call it a night by pulling off early or a few didn't even enter the races. Nevertheless, the racing was very entertaining with a couple of very good battles for feature wins. They also had some very big uke tires moved out on to the track for the heats, forcing the drivers to race farther up the track. Those were then moved down for the features and that also seemed to help widen out the track which was their goal in the first place.The way the corners are shaped right now, outside passing is at a premium and that, I'm sure, is one of the prime reasons for the overhaul planned this Fall. 

Apparently I picked a very good night to attend as the car counts were up considerably over what I had seen in the results in recent weeks including three heats needed for both the B Mods and Stock Cars and sixty eight cars on hand for the four USRA sanctioned divisions plus the Mini Mods that were also racing. It was incredibly steamy when the race program started but cooled to be a comfortable evening as the racing progressed and a pretty nice crowd was on hand given the miserable conditions. Both car counts and crowd size were probably helped due to the fact that they didn't race here last week as they took a night off. 

As with all shows run by the Staley family, once they get going they move things along very quickly and the only breaks once the first green flag waved were to do a little packing and minor fine grooming of the racing surface after the heats which only took a few minutes.

The Hobby Stock feature was up first and in this race Scott Dobel led from start to finish in a contest that was stopped just once for a yellow flag. The drive of the race was put on by Chris Hovden who started seventh and worked his way up to second and was closing on the leader at the end. Whether he would have had enough to actually pass Dobel, we'll never know, but he did close up at the end. 

The Modified feature started off with a band when a tangle on the first lap saw Terrance Prohaska get over on his side. He was fine and while he drove the car off the track after the incident, he was done for the race. 

Jason Cummins  got to the front early and led the majority of the Modified main. Josh Angst had to do some major digging as he started eighth but he worked his way up to second and was putting a lot of pressure on the leader as the race ended. Devon Havlik finished third. 

The majority of the wild action and the best move of the night were all reserved for the Stock Car feature which had a full field of twenty cars bouncing and bucking around on the fast but choppy surface. This race also had the most yellow flags as the race was slowed four times including one big one near the end of the contest. 

Point leader Andrew Borchardt got to the front early from the second row but he was soon challenged by Travis Shipman for the lead. Shipman made a nice low move and got the top spot although Borchardt came right back to fight him for the lead spot. They were in a group of about six cars that were racing up front as the action was wild and the fenders were being swapped. 

A back marker spun to trigger the yellow and very nearly at the same second, Shipman also spun out of the lead. I thought that he might be saved by the yellow flag but apparently the rule here is that anyone not running when the yellow waves, whether they are a part of that yellow or not, goes to the back. So Shipman, without any hesitation or display of frustration, went directly to the back, telling me that he was OK with the call. 

That gave the lead back to Borchardt but he now had a major challenger in Chanse Hollatz, who had worked his way up after starting eight on the grid. He was just thinking about trying the outside when a major pileup occurred in turn one that collected several cars and eliminated Shipman from the contest. 

Then it became a two car battle for the lead. Borchardt was married to the bottom groove and wasn't going to move off it so Hollatz took a "chance" and decided to go "wreckers or checkers" as he attacked the high side of the track like no one had all night. And son of a gun, he made it work! A couple of times it looked like he was going to be eating concrete dust as he got mighty high in turn four but he just kept plugging away and gradually he made the move work, cleared Borchardt and took over the lead. It was the move of the night. 

However, he still had to negotiate the last few laps where one wrong move or one bump hit wrong would send him hurtling into a wall or off the track. But he held on and scored a very "chancy" victory, one that the crowd approved up. Borchardt settled for a conservative second with Pat Graham third. 

The B Mods wrapped up the night with a great two car battle for the win. It was visiting KC area driver Jake Richards and Brandon Maitland showing everyone that even with the challenging conditions, drivers could race side by side for lap after lap without nailing each other while still giving the other driver room to operate. It was a display of racing at its finest, especially under challenging conditions. 

Richards felt more comfortable racing the middle of the track and that is where he ran. But that opened up the prime inside lane and lap after lap, Maitland would dive deep into the corners and try and get under the Kansas driver. But each time, Richards would beat him off the corners and just hold on, lap after lap. 

They ran this way for nearly the entire race and the margin at the finish was still only a car length as Richards held on for the win. Just as credit for the win should go to Richards, just as much should also to Maitland for driving hard but not reckless. He had multiple chances to bore deep into the corners and root Richards out of the way and no one would have thought different if he did, given the track conditions. But time after time, when he saw that he was not going to be able to clear Richards, he kept he nose of his car pointed away from the leader and gave him room to race. It was a pleasure to watch two drivers race so hard but so clean. Wouldn't it be nice if we saw that more often? 

All racing was complete by 9:15 pm in what was an entertaining program. I understand there are still some out there from the area that are still boycotting the track since it is no longer a half mile. To them I say, get over it! While half mile racing may have its place, my favorite kind of racing has always been the short tracks, the third mile or less ovals where the racing is always close. Not to knock anyone who previously operated the old half mile or ran shows there, but I can honestly say I saw more action on this track tonight than probably all the times put together that I saw the blazing speeds but little passing or side by side racing on the old track. I will much more interested and anxious to return to racing under its current state in Mason City than I ever would have been with the old track. 

Thanks to Ryne Staley for taking care of me when I dropped in at the last minute unannounced and the rest of the staff at Mason City Motor Speedway. And seeing Lon Oelke twice in seven days work, he's going to think that I am stalking him!

Krause, Chisholm and Thunder Win at Mississippi Thunder

 Friday night, August 21st was another in a seemingly endless season of special events at the Mississippi Thunder Speedway near Fountain City Wisconsin. Friday night's race was named the Dairyland Challenge and the headline events were dual, five thousand to win feature races for the open Late Models and the USRA Modifieds. Also on the card would be two divisions that race weekly at the track, the USRA sanctioned B Mods and the Hobby Stocks. 

While many tracks across the country have struggled this year, MTS would surely have to be classified as one of the few tracks that has had a banner season, pandemic or not. They drew plenty of publicity early on when they decided to race come hell or high water, governmental approval or not. They have had special event after special event and have always seemed to be able to line up sponsors to cover their costs. They have also had excellent weather, with not a single weather related problem so far this year and have had very good crowds, probably the combination of good weather, an interesting variety of events and very delayed starts to the racing season by several of the tracks surrounding them. 

Even today, as race cars were filing into the pits before the program, more work was being done to the facility in the way of improvements and expansion. A bulldozer was moving around fill, free to them from a local foundry, to level off more area as a precursor to expanding their pits even more in anticipation of them needing more space. Also, off the West end of the track, fill be being placed there with the plan being to build up the entire area and make that corner tiered parking for motorhomes etc where one can watch the races from the comfort of their own vehicle. This is part of their plan to bring in even larger events in the seasons to come. While this track has always been a Modified hotbed, they are leaning more and more toward the Late Model class this year. Not coincidentally, track owner Bob Timm's son Jake is becoming a force racing the Late Models and has participated in a number of larger shows across the Midwest in his spare time this Summer. 

The track announcers, in their lead up to Friday night's show as the cars were waiting to start racing, made a point of telling how lucky they had been with the year, flying in the face of what most tracks have had to endure. They also made a point of describing what fine weather they have had all year with no issues to speak of, which of course would come back to bit them later on in the evening. 

Lots of qualifying events would be on the schedule this night with one hundred and twelve cars on hand in just the four classes. That meant multiple heat races for all classes and a couple of B Features too. The evening started out hot and incredibly humid, which made for a fast track but before the sun set, thunderheads could be seen building around the area and those would be the indicators of what we would be dealing with later. 

Even though MTS races USRA Late Models weekly, their special events for the Late Models have been gravitating toward the open motor cars. For this show, they were racing the "hybrid" Lates, which means that spec engine WISSOTA cars would be racing with the open motor cars, with the open motor cars required to run a carburetor plate or add weight on the motor plate of the car. Most go with the plate, not wishing to slug down the cars with extra weight on the nose. Even Friday, more than half the cars are of the WISSOTA variety as that is the popular sanctioning body in this area for Late Models and while the open motor cars still have an advantage I believe, the WISSOTA cars are competitive enough that they come to race and occasionally do pull off the upset. 

By the time the qualifying events were over, the lightning was flashing in the sky both to the North and West of the speedway. The Coulee county along the river does produce some unusual weather patterns from time to time but according to most people's phones, tablets etc, the rains were heading toward the track and the free time was limited. While they were doing a good job moving the show along, they had quite a number of races to run and if there is one staple of racing when time trials are used to set the lineups, it is the unalterable fact that a race program never starts on time as scheduled if time trials are to proceed the racing. And of course, such was again the case on Friday with the first race not taking the green until 7:50 pm and that lost time would come back to bite the track later. 

I will not second guess the management because "Monday morning quarterbacking" is a lot easier than making the calls in real time, but I will state just what did happen. When all qualifying was done, the decision was made to continue on with the schedule as planned and that meant that the Hobby Stocks and B Mods would proceed the other two feature races. 

Despite the fact that the lightning was getting brighter and occasionally a little thunder could also be heard, the Hobby Stocks and then the B Mods moved to the track. And of course, following the protocol of Murphy's Law, both races would be crash and spin strewn events with multiple yellow flags to bog things down. The Hobbies had six yellows and the B Mods four in their races which dragged them out. 

The Hobby Stock feature saw Steve Dwyer lead from start to finish. He got the trophy, the winner's check and the interview from the announcers. Then he got the DQ from the tech people as his car failed inspection for some issue, but we were not notified of that at the track. That was a discovery for the following morning. The new winner was Travis Krause with Chris Hovden and Scott Spilde, a pair of Iowa drivers, next in line. 

The B Mod feature was quite entertaining despite all the yellow flag slowdowns. However, it was a bit difficult to focus at the same time, as we were all "eye balling" the sky at the same time the cars were racing. The B Mods were clinging to the low groove, at least most of them until Ryan Olson showed them the top side. He moved from seventh to challenge for the lead and probably might have blew by everyone and taken the win, except for the last second decision by Jim Chisholm who moved up the track at the last second and blocked Olson's line. 

Chisholm found the high side to work for him also and he was able to drive into the lead as Olson's big charge seemed to have taken something out of his car and he started to fail. Chisholm continued to work the high side but then he started to get pressure from Dustin Kruse who was racing right on the inside tires. To protect himself, Chisholm moved back to the bottom to block Kruse but then in the late going, Taylor Ausrud, who runs a hellish line that includes slamming off the outside walls on a routine basis every week, was making the top side work and he closed up to challenge Chisholm for the lead. 

However, Jim held on for the win over Ausrud and Kruse in what was a fairly entertaining race that unfortunately, did take up quite a bit of what time we had left. 

At this point track management had a tough decision to make. Should they roll the Late Models right on to the track and start the feature or should they take the time to "farm" the track and give the Late Models the best surface they could provide. The lightning was getting very close but they needed to act. The B Mods had used much of the track but would it still hold up for another forty laps for the Late Models? That was the choice that management had to make and they opted to rework the track before rolling the Late Models. And they just didn't sprinkle a little water on the track, they completed tilled it actually multiple times and then watered it. 

Unfortunately, before they could completely water it, Mother Nature decided to speed up the process and the rains started. They were light at first and there was a hope that they could still complete the program but time was against them(it was already well past 10:30 pm) and then things were resolved when it started to cut loose and there would be no saving of the track. Thus the evening was ended and for many who had come to watch either/or the Lates and Mods, they went home unsatisfied. 

The announcement was made at the track that the Late Model and Modified features would now be a part of this coming Friday night's show, which is their last regular season event and also Championship night but the caveat was that folks should check the speedway website and face book page for further announcements. I did this morning and saw nothing yet so I do not know exactly what the plan is. I do know that it might be tough to expect the Late Models to drive all the way back to Fountain City for just a feature race with several of the drivers from eastern Wisconsin and Iowa. 

It is too bad that the weather couldn't have held off for them for a little longer but without being picky, a little better response to the conditions and situation as presented to them probably wouldn't have hurt either. But we move on. Thanks to Bob Timm and the staff at MTS as they continue to present as many special events as perhaps any track in the Midwest. 

Announced this week for their Fall special, the second week in September were three nights of Modified and B Mod racing with everyone allowed to run their own rules package as the event will be unsanctioned.  Features will pay two, four and ten grand for the three nights with a full show in each class all three nights.   

Murty and Berry Jr Dazzle at Stuart

 On Wednesday night, August 19th, Stuart International Speedway was back in action with their normal six class program which features five divisions of IMCA racing plus their Mini Mods. It would be their second to last regularly planned program with promoter Mike VanGenderen still remaining cloy about whether or not he will schedule a Fall special for the track. After tonight's racing action, the season will wrap up next Monday night with the RACEXR event, a live streamed event that will be free for the public with a world wide audience expected to witness the final race of the season. Point titles will be on the line next Monday night and a big field of cars is expected for this unique event. Admission will only be five bucks and if folks remember, it was one of these Monday night TV races that really got Stuart Speedway off the ground and launched into the major comeback that it has made. 

MVG tells me that he has the big race upcoming at Corning plus two weekends at Scotland County on his schedule so another race here might be dependent on whether and how much sponsors step up in the coming weeks. It has been a long season here with many special events and I'm sensing that in a way they are ready to call it a season here in the jinxed 2020 campaign. MVG may also be involved in a couple of special events upcoming in Texas and Arizona with track prep and running the shows and of course, he will be heavily involved in the Duel in the Desert upcoming in November at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway which is being promoted by XR this year. MVG promises me that he can knock three hours of the nightly show at Vegas after I expressed my concerns with it turning into an all night marathon following the addition of Stock Cars to the 2020 card. I may hold him to that promise. 

Water, or rather, the lack of water, is still plaguing the Stuart Speedway. I took a different route to the track on Wednesday that brought me through a number of towns that I had never been through before and I  couldn't help noticing that there is a swatch running North to South through central Iowa to the West of Des Moines where the fields look dry and the lawns brown and parched. This would include Stuart where MVG's plea for rain following his last show here went largely ignored and his pond is still dry. 

With his options limited, they hauled water to the track this week for track prep and to water the pits and driveways. However, with that strategy vehicles were required and breakdowns and small accidents plagued the operation this week to the point that MVG was considering just opening up the city hydrants and playing what it cost for the upcoming Monday night extravaganza. We will see what he ultimately decided. 

Not knowing just exactly how much water he hauled this week, I can only say that it was the perfect amount for the race as the track was great, smooth and fast, with a nice cushion and it threw not a whisper of dust all night. The driveways were also wet and the pits were dust free so whatever he came up with worked perfectly but that has been the history of this track since the current ownership took over, no two ways about it. Any deviation from the expected result would be the exception, not the rule. 

It was also Hall of Fame night and Larry Embrey, Joe College and Terry Pruitt were added to the Stuart Speedway Hall of Fame in a brief ceremony conducted at intermission(which there never really is one) by Rev. Wombat

Both the car count and crowd size were down on Wednesday as it is getting to that time of the year where only the hard core fans and track point chasers turn out for a regular show on a Wednesday night. However, the drivers on hand put on a good show with a couple of outstanding performances as a part of the quick program that once again got us on the road well before 10 pm. 

It might be a tossup as to which driver had the best run of the night but I will give the award this week to Tom Berry Jr. In a race that ran twenty laps nonstop, Berry Jr came from tenth to nip Kollin Hibdon for the win. Hibdon was running strong and had built up a nice sized lead and when Berry Jr finally passed Happy Gilman for second, he was about a half straightaway behind and had only seven laps to catch the youngster from Nevada. I didn't think he had a chance. 

But boy, was I wrong. Making scorching fast laps on the high banked quarter, he caught Hibdon with two laps to spare and blew right past him in turn four to take the win. It was an awesome performance in an awesome year for the Oregon racer who also lived for a time in North Dakota. It was too bad though, that instead of enjoying the spectacular win in victory lane, he instead spent his whole time on the microphone berating another driver that he is apparently in a running feud with as they made some contact again on this night. Take time to stop and smell the roses for a minute next time before you go off might be a good plan. 

The other driver who really shined on this night was young Dallon Murty It took him only six laps to come from tenth on the grid and then run away from the Stock Car field with a dominating performance. How these drivers get through the heavy traffic so quickly on a tight track like Stuart is an absolute wonder to me but just an expression of their tremendous skills behind the wheel of a race car. .  Dallon had a whole straightaway at the finish on Chad Legere. 

In victory lane Rev. Wombat asked Dallon how old he was and he replied that he was now fifteen but still waiting to get his driver's license. Holly Cow! He seems like a seasoned veteran by now. Just how old was he when he first started racing a Stock Car anyway? My goodness!

Five laps into this race, veteran driver Del Enos decided to exit the facility stage left. He climbed the dirt bank leaving turn two, cartwheeled over the dirt berm and ended up on the street running parallel to the track on its North side. Fortunately there were no "freebees" trying to watch from the road on this night or they might have been far to close to the action for their liking. He was far enough out of the facility that the ambulance and wreckers had to go through the pits and around on the city street to retrieve the car and check on Del's condition which was fine. Enos stepped out of the Truck class this year and got himself a Stock Car instead but I'm sure this wasn't part of the bargain. 

Brandon Cox took the lead four laps into the Hobby Stock feature and then held off a late challenge from Dylan Nelson to take the win. These two are locked in a close battle for the track point lead and this race might have been significant going into the finale on Monday. Cox had a big lead but Nelson caught him, aided by a couple of late yellows but the frenetic battle to the finish saw Cox hold on. 

The Sport Compact feature saw Mitchell Bunch get to the front early and dominate that race. The biggest excitement of the contest saw the hood on the car of Kolby Sabin come up and he tried to continue racing looking out of the corner of the windshield but eventually gave up and pulled into the infield. 

It took only two laps for point leader Brayton Carter to get to the front of the short field of Sport Mods and it looked like a real snoozer of a race upcoming. But while all of us and apparently Carter to some extent relaxed, Brian Osantowski did not and he fought his way back into contention, perhaps surprising Carter when he appeared just outside of him. 

A ferocious battle then took place in the late laps with Brian and then Brayton taking turns pulling sliders on each other for the lead. A late yellow seemed to aid Carter and he was able to right the ship and then hold off Osantowski for what turned out to be an exciting finish to the race.   

So even on what MVG would probably say was a "down night" there was plenty of action on the track and some dandy races to be seen in the quick program. More is expected when the regular season wraps up next Monday night. 

Merkes and Bauer Top 300 Thrillers

 300 Raceway in Farley Iowa is running an unusual schedule for the 2020 racing season. While they have a few special events on weekend, their weekly races, of which they have around a half dozen, are all planned for Wednesday nights. They run off a quick program and with only four classes on the card, it makes for the kind of fast midweek program that would appeal to the racing fan who still has to get up on Thursday morning and get to work.

On Wednesday night, August 12th, they had another of these midweek races with IMCA Late Models, Modifieds, Stock Cars and Sport Mods running for "Wide Open Wednesday." 

Arriving early to the grounds, the place was a beehive of activity as crews were prepping the track for the Wednesday night show as well as continuing preparations for the big Lucas Oil series pull scheduled for Friday and Saturday nights. And things have certainly changed around the track with updates, disappearing buildings and all sorts of changes observed. 

Count me as one that doesn't get to Farley terribly often so if I missed something, please bare with me but this is what I spotted. The scale had been removed, part of what was necessary to make room for the pulling pit just inside the front chute of the race track. A temporary scale was put in place out to the East on the property of the trucking company and the drivers had to follow a path that would wind them back out to the scale and then back to the pits. From what I saw it seemed to work just fine and the drivers had  a nice hard surface to drive on also. 

They didn't want anyone driving on the new pulling track so when the races were completed the drivers had to do a sort of rally around the flagpole circle and head back out the gate off turn two. Again, it seemed to work just fine. 

The tower in the infield is long gone and probably a good thing as having the scorers and announcer in the infield is from a time long past. It was refreshing to see a nice clean pit area. Where the scale will be placed I do not know but a suggestion would be to put that somewhere in the pits also and not in the middle of the track, trying to keep that area as clean and clear as possible. 

A very nice change was to move victory lane to a runway outside the flagstand and between the starter and the crowd on a very nice flat area where the interviews can be conducted and the driver(s) are much more visible to the crowd. They are escorted to that area after the race and then also after the ceremonies have concluded. I can think of a couple tracks in Minnesota set up very much the same way and it goes over big there too. 

They were just finishing up the installation of the new sound system and it is a dandy, rivaling the best that I have heard anywhere. Lots of speakers and lots of volume but nice clarity make this a great addition to the track. The system is all new and I was watching as a technician worked on it, using a laptop to make adjustments. State of the art stuff, indeed. 

Lastly, the flag stand has been moved so that it is in the middle of the front chute, instead of in the middle of the half mile which made it right coming out of the new corner four. This also is a good thing and should make starts work better. Veteran Doug Haack was waving the sticks on this night. 

The purse structure for this show was an interesting one and while I didn't hear much comment about it, I found it to be quite interesting. The Sport Mods and Stock Cars are paid almost identical purses with just a few of the positions varying by a few bucks. 

What caught my eye was the Modified and Late Model purses which again were very similar although in positions four through eleven the Mods actually get paid more than the Late Models while both race for six hundred bucks to win. Quite frankly, in my home area if the Late Model feature paid six hundred bucks to win, I doubt I could convince over a half dozen drivers to even take their cars off the trailers. Here on Wednesday, the Late Models had the highest car count with twenty four signing in to race so obviously there is a difference in thinking between the areas. 

They had plenty of moisture in the track tonight and they used every available opportunity to roll in the racing surface which produced eventually some great side by side racing and no dust at all. 

Among some of the changes I noted in the pits before the show was Wes Digman in a Sport Mod normally driven by Jerry Miles as Digman rolled his car at Vinton on Sunday night when he went there after Dubuque rained out and he got launched on an aborted start of the main event. Digman is battling for track points and was fortunate to have a fellow racer willing to give up his ride. 

Bone Larson was in the house car of Rage chassis after he wrecked his car last Friday night. I was told that Justin O'Brien, who owns Rage, offered his house car to Larson to use while they get some wheels ready for the Freeport Illinois racer. And in the Late Models, Joel Callahan had two cars out, one for Scott Fitzpatrick to drive. And while Fitzpatrick had a good run, Callahan's car took some damage in the first lap crash of the Late Models in the main event. 

The program went off at a very nice pace, with the heats quickly being disposed of and only a very short break before the first feature race hit the track. And two of the feature races were outstanding with great battles for the lead. Despite having relatively small fields of cars, both the Stock Car and Sport Mod features were dandies. 

In the Stock Cars, it was a two car battle between Kyle Merkes and Phil Holtz that carried on for twelve laps. Merkes took the lead from the outside pole and Holtz dogged him the whole race, trying several times to get a nose under Merkes and several times getting up beside him but just not able to make the pass. The Stock Car feature ran off nonstop and it was over quickly, with Merkes winning by a half car length. 

The Sport Mods was at least as intense with Jason Roth and Troy Bauer battling it out. It was fun to watch them work their way forward in the field with Bauer making the moves and Roth following him to the front. At the end, they were left to battle it out themselves and after a series of thrilling slide jobs, it was Roth who found the lead and then pulled away in the last couple of laps. Again, this was also a nonstop main event. 

Following a pattern of hard racing with no quarter given, the Modifieds went at it for twenty laps. Jeremy Thornton was the early leader but he was eventually challenged and then overtaken by a strong running Timmy Current. When Thornton tried to get the lead back, he suffered front end damage and clobbered the turn one wall which ended his night. With the last fourteen laps going off nonstop, Current showed great speed as he pulled away from the field and in a right battle for second, it was Ryan Duhme who held off Mark Schulte and Jed Freiburger. 

The "Darkside" duo of Current and Duhme were running retro looking cars sporting Skoal and Hooters colors respectively so they had both fast and distinctive looking cars. 

The Late Model feature got off to a bad start with cars coming together on the front chute on the green which resulted in a grinding collision that eliminated three cars and damaged several others. The running order was badly shuffled and with Jeff Aikey inheriting the outside pole, it was both bad news for the competition and for the fans looking for another close battle. Aikey took off and was never seen again by the competition as he drove home for a resounding win over Logan Duffy and Andy Nezworski. Nezworski, despite receiving some pretty severe sheet metal damage in the opening lap crash, drove up from the seventh row to finish a strong third. Bad luck was incurred by Mitch Manternach who was running second when it appeared that he lost a motor. 

It was pointed out to me by some of the teams and crews that helped work on the track this week that because of the length of the new pulling pit that the corner four area had to be changed and that it narrowed down coming off of turn four now and on to the front chute and they were worried about cars being forced up into the front stretch wall. They were spot on with that assessment as we saw quite a few cars tattoo the front stretch wall over the course of the night and several drivers on the outside lane that got crowded up into the concrete when the lower lane car drifted up too high. With the change to that corner, it would appear that some of the drivers are going to have to review their driving styles and etiquette in that area of the track. 

It seemed like a very nice crowd for a midweek show that was not featuring any kind of special event and despite a long clean up for the major wreck in the Late Model feature, it was still just a few minutes after 10 pm when the final checkered flag waved. All in all, it was a good and entertaining night of racing and everyone should be exciting about the many new positive changes taking place at the track.  

Ward Tops Wednesday Night Racing at SIS

As we get into the month of August and special events are piled on top of each other with drivers hauling all over the place to catch as many as possible, it was nice to be able to pause and catch a weekly show for a change. The season is winding down here at the Stuart International Speedway with just one more Wednesday night show in two weeks and the following Monday for their XR tv event. A possible year end special is still a possibility but nothing has been finalized at this point. But what we saw on Wednesday was just a nicely executed Wednesday night weekly show that provided plenty of action while getting the spectators in and out of the facility with a Thursday work schedule beckoning most. It was, almost to a "T", the perfect midweek weekly race. 

As the evening began to lay out, I was wondering at first if I had made a mistake driving all the way down here for what looked like it might be a really small field of cars to compete. But even more so that for most of the their midweek events, everyone arrived at the last minute and when everyone had finally signed in, there was just about the right amount of cars for a quick yet interesting show and plenty of strong running competitors among those on hand. 

I should back up for a minute and review my quick conversation with promoter Mike Van Genderen that we had before the races in the pits. The Monday night, XR tv race scheduled for this coming Monday has been postponed for a couple of weeks, now slated to be run on Monday night, August 24th. The reason for the postponement is one of the more bizarre and rare ones I have ever heard. Quite frankly, the race track is out of water. Here at home we have had plenty of rain but there are parts of the Midwest that are very dry and the Stuart area is one of them. MVG gets his water for the track, pits etc from a pond on the South side of his property down in the hole behind the parking lot. Well, with no rains the pond water has been depleted and he announced tonight that the pond is officially dry! Buying city water from a hydrant is far too expensive for him to consider as is having water trucked in so with his last two tanker loads filled before the show, he was officially out of water. 

The decision was made to postpone this race for two weeks with the hopes that some rains would come and replenish the pond. If he gets not significant rain in the next two weeks, I'm not sure what his strategy would be but we will cross that bridge when we come to it, so to speak. 

However, this is not to infer that the race track went "wanting" on this night which would be far from the truth. He had things planned out correctly for the track to have plenty to "drink" and it was in terrific shape for some great racing on Wednesday with not a whisper of dust to deal with and as smooth as glass. It was an excellent track to race on and as usual here, drivers used every inch of the racing surface plus just a bit of the concrete wall to find the fast way around this high banked quarter mile. 

It always amazes me that with the tightness of this race track and with the close racing action that is almost nonstop, that the yellow flag and wrecks would be more numerous. But that is not the case at all and on this night they would speed through twelve qualifying events with just two yellow flags! The features would have a few yellows but nothing extensive so that is largely what allows them to run off such a quick show. Other factors that lead to a quick evening are starting on time, rushing one race on to the track after the other and making sure that post heat race break is a short one. 

I thought the highlight event on this night was the Modified feature that started twenty cars for twenty laps and saw some spectacular driving, especially when dealing with lapped cars. Todd Shute was the early leader but he couldn't fight off Tim Ward and Tom Berry who both came from the third row to pass him. They set a torrid pace and were soon dealing with heavy lapped traffic and with Berry pushing Ward, Tim had to make a quick choice of where to go or be overtaken as Berry was relentless. 

With just a few laps left, Ward made a spectacular winning move as he some how split three slower cars and gave himself just enough of a margin that a strong last lap charge by Berry came up a car length short in what was a very entertaining and intense race that was stopped only once by a yellow flag. 

Brock Bradger(love that name) led for much of the Stock Car feature but Bob Daniels was able to get to his lower side and take the lead from Badger late in the race. There was a real rush from the back at the end and while Daniels had just a small margin as the leader, it was a wild finish as second through fifth were in a wad and fighting right to the checkered. Badger held on by inches for second with Buck Schafroth coming from ninth for third. 

Brayton Carter dominated the Sport Mods, as he has been doing with regularity this year. He had to get a bit physical early in the race as he came from the third row, but once in front there was no one that had anything for him. The battle behind him was a good one though and while Dusty Masolini had ran most of the race in second, Garrett Nelson made the bottom hook up for him as he three wheeled his way around the track and on the last corner he nipped Masolini for second. 

The Hobby Stocks went at it as they usually do and it was Dylan Nelson that took the win. Early on, David Bailey had the lead with Patrick Pellman challenging until Brandon Cox caught them. However, a scrum for the top spot saw Cox and Bailey get together with them sliding into the infield and Cox was sent to the back. 

While Nelson had clear sailing in the lead, the rest of the top five were battling it out and Cox made quite the drive, coming from the back where, ironically, he would battle once again with Bailey for the second spot and for the second time in the race, it would be Bailey who would hold on for the runner up honors. 

Rounding out the evening were the Sport Compacts and in a nonstop fourteen lap main, it was Hunter Patrick who got to the front quickly and had a pretty comfortable margin for most of the race in what was probably the most straight forward of the five mains. Curtis Masterson would finish second ahead of Bryan Vannausdle. 

They wrapped up the evening with Mechanics and Powder Puff races but I was on the road by the time they dropped the green for those events. But the beauty of it was that if someone like myself had to get up early the following morning or had a long drive ahead of them, they were able to hit the road at a very early hour. Despite seeing a full racing program in five classes, the show was done just a touch after 9:30 pm and I ambled to the parking and was still on the road early. This folks, is the way that a midweek show should be run if you want to be successful. 

As usual, thanks to MVG and his fine crew of competent officials, with Tony Paris sharing the announcing duties of this night with "The Foxman" who kept us all informed plus spun a few stories along the way. Keep an eye on the track face book page for announcements regarding the rest of the season and pray for rain, just not on race day!

Abelson Tops Dirt Knights Modified Event at Spencer

Continuing their successful run of Monday night events in 2020, The Dirt Knights were the featured attraction for the Monday night, August 3rd event at the Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer Iowa. 

The Race Committee of the Fair that runs the racing here in Spencer has opted for a special events only schedule this year with the vast majority of their races being on Monday nights. While some would question whether that would work or not, so far it seems to have been a big success here in Spencer. The races I have attended here this year all have had stout car counts and the grandstand crowds have been the biggest that I have seen in years here on a consistent basis. Once again on this night, perhaps assisted by some spectacularly beautiful weather that included a nice cool evening, the crowd was a big one.

Their "game plan" to pay all the classes a grand to win the feature for each race night(except the Sport Compacts) seems to have been successful to as even the support classes racing not as the featured attraction have produced large fields of cars. 

For example, on this night the Modifieds were the primary attraction and forty of them signed in to race. But the Stock Cars, Sport Mods and Hobby Stocks all had nearly thirty in each of their fields too. Only the Sport Compacts were lagging badly behind with them once again not being able to produce even a two heat race sized field. This has been the case for all the races I have attended here this year and I would say it would be time to "show them the door" until such time as they could guarantee that they could produce enough cars to justify the time it takes to run their events. 

There were lots of visiting racers on hand Monday, particularly in the Modified class, as the number of big races in the Hawkeye State and close by are really picking up in the coming couple of weeks and drivers begin to congregate here in anticipation of all these high paying and prestigious events. A number of drivers from the West Coast and even some that haven't spent the summer in Iowa are adding to the field and most of the upcoming races will see very interesting fields of cars. 

One driver I wanted to see back in a Modified was Jake O'Neil but he didn't have an open wheel car in the pits to race. Instead he was driving the Stock Car of Chance Hollatz but sadly that didn't last long as the motor blew on the car on the first lap of his heat race and the beer drinking started early for that crew. 

I took a few minutes before the races started to chat with IMCA official Kevin Yoder who is one of the nice guys in the sport. I had not seen him all Summer as I missed the Dirt Knights races he worked at and with the Deery Brothers series no longer in operation, that was a time when I would always run into him. Considering all that has happened so far this year, and with the rest of the year still a question mark, he said that things have really been going quite well and as I have observed, those tracks that have been able to race have done very well so far this year as I think they have discovered that folks don't have a lot of other things to do or attend right now, and the races have been a good alternative for many. He said his figure eight races that he runs in have been well attended and things like that and demo derbies have been big hits this year. 

Only the Modifieds needed B Features as they ran everyone in the other main events, and perhaps after the fact, might have wondered if it would have been better and quicker overall to run a couple of B's and perhaps eliminate a few cars that were struggling going the right direction around the track a a couple of the mains were plagued by yellow flags. Earlier things looked to be very promising as incredibly, seventeen heat races were run off with only a single yellow flag slowdown! That is amazing but our luck wouldn't extend through the rest of the night. 

The track was in very good shape and drivers were running all over the surface, both high and low. With the Modified feature rolling out, it would be interesting to see where everyone ran. This was the last race of the night and by then most had trickled down to running a lower groove but the water truck gave the high side just a spritz before the Mods rolled out, and Chris Abelson saw that and once the green flew, he barreled to the cushion and made it work for twenty five laps. 

It was a bit choppy up on the berm but he didn't let that slow him down as he roared past Nick Meyer and Tanner Black to take the lead early and he led the rest of the way for the win. A couple early yellows bunched the field but he pulled away each time. Late in the race the top side started to slow down and his lead began to evaporate but fortunately for him, the race ran out before anyone could get too close while a late yellow could have been a real problem, but it didn't happen.

Making the moves late were Kelly Shyock and Jesse Rogotzke who moved up from the sixth and fourth rows respectively to complete the top five. Both were working the low groove and really made up quite a bit of ground near the end. Earlier I had talked to Rogotzke who is in the midst of an eleven race in eleven days swing that has seen him crisscross the states of Iowa and Minnesota but race on every single night.

The Stock Car feature was dominated by Derek Green as he jumped into the lead early and controlled the action for most of the contest. It was a very good night for Shryock  who also finished second in the Stock Car feature with Jake Masters coming from the sixth row for third. 

The Sport Mods had the toughest time keeping the green flag waving but when they were under power, their race was a good one also. In a good three car battle for the win, it was Brian Osantowski who held off the challenges of Cody Thompson and Doug Smith for the victory. 

The Hobby Stock feature saw about five cars in a swarm for the lead with them exchanging slide jobs and cross over moves nearly the entire contest. In the last couple of laps, Cody Nielsen made one of those moves to take over the top spot but on the next turn of the oval, Cody Probst returned the favor and his move was the winning one as he then held off the last lap charge of Nielsen to take the win with the hard driving Mike Smith coming home third. 

Only four Sport Compacts were on hand and Kaytee DeVries rolled to an easy win that was quite predictable from the drop of the green. 

The only thing I would say that would not fit the "positively" part of racing  was that for the second straight time here, I thought the show ran quite late for a Monday night with the final checkered not waving until nearly 11:30 pm. I know that they were expecting a large field of cars and perhaps anticipating that, it might have been good to leave a couple classes home on this night so that a nice 10 pm finish would be more likely. I know that's a though thing to do but it's also tough to watch family after family head out because it was getting too late, particularly when the featured event was run last. 

Now it's not that they run a poor program, in fact, it was anything but. One race followed the other immediately and Chad Meyer barely has time to get the names of the drivers out for the next race before the green flies. So there is not a lot of wasted time there. 

The big problem, as I see it, is that they never start anywhere near the advertised time. Monday night it was 7:50 pm before the first green flag waved and the last time here it was 8 pm before racing started. I think they need to move up the starting time as it seems that the drivers always find a way to get there in time if necessary and hot laps take incredibly long here which is the primary reason they always start behind schedule. It's August, do all the cars really have to practice? Why not limit the hot laps to just the featured class of the night and then just start racing? Once they dropped the first green, it was about a three and a half hour show which is excellent given the field of cars. It's just that the whole thing starts too late in my opinion. 

Otherwise, it was another good show here at Clay County and it is good to see this track prosper in 2020 after having a couple of years where things didn't go quite so well and the future of weekly(or more than just Fair races) seemed in doubt. Check their website for updates on the rest of their yearly schedule.