Sorensen Pads USMTS Point Lead; Zieman Tops Exciting Stock Car Main at Mason City

 Monday, Memorial Day, May 30th found me at the Mason City Motor Speedway for the rescheduled 8th annual Double Down Showdown which is part of the USMTS schedule.  This race was originally scheduled to be run on Thursday of this week but was moved back in the schedule due to a day of rain in northern Iowa. 

But here is the most remarkable part of the rescheduling. Labor Day Monday was predicted to be a day of bad storms with the heavy weather moving in around mid evening. In the old days, we would just have gathered at the track(the brave ones or foolhardy) and hoped that the show got completed before all Hell broke loose. There would be no thought to moving up the time because there would be no way to get ahold of everyone(spectators, competitors and track employees) to let them know. 

Fast forward to 2022. Todd Staley and the folks at USMTS and Mason City Motor Speedway realized that they had a window to get the show in but in order to do so, they needed to start earlier and try to beat the storms. So they simply got on social media, face book and all the other social media platforms that I know zip about and the problem was solved. All times were moved up by a couple hours and the race cars all made it on time and the crowd was a real nice one for a rescheduled program on a holiday. Even yours truly, as ignorant as I am about social media etc. , managed to find out in time to make the four hour drive and still get there with time to roam the pits a bit. This, I guess, would be one time that social media and all it entails, was a possible thing and may have been the only thing that saved us from a rainout along with possibly being caught in a serious weather situation. 

Twenty eight Modifieds would sign in to race, considerably lower than the car counts for previous races this week. Likely some teams already had Memorial Day plans that didn't involve racing while others were using this day to make a long drive home for which they needed to be back on the job on Tuesday am. However, the top ten and twenty one of the top twenty five in USMTS points were on hand so I guess it is now pretty clear who will be traveling with them the rest of this year. Still, with a lot of cars available from just across the border, I would have thought a few more Deer Creek regulars would have made the pull for five grand to win. 

Along with the Modifieds, a full program would be held for three USRA classes, the Hobby Stocks, B Mods and Stock Cars. There were enough cars in each class for two heats and a main, perfect on a night when everything needed to click and click quickly to get the show done. 

More and more upgrades are showing up here at Mason City where anyone that has been out of the loop for the last year and a half would be shocked to see how this place has changed, and for the positive in my opinion. Not being a big half mile fan, this high banked third mile that they now have is worlds better and a very fast track it is. I still have not seen a race here in the evening but for afternoon shows, both events I saw here provided good racing and particularly so considering the weather conditions. The new lights are now up but weren't even turned on for this race as they weren't needed. We were done that early. I understand a scoreboard will be showing up at some time but it hasn't been erected just yet. 

I have no idea how they got any moisture into the track today with race time temperature at ninety one degrees , mostly sunny skies and a wind howling out of the South somewhere between 30 and 300 miles per hour, and it might have been both at certain times. But they did. There was no dust in the stands and the racing was quite good, even when the track started to take rubber near the end of the Modified feature. And yet, following that event the Stock Cars raced and put on the best event of the night. 

This was one night where you dared not take an extra breath as you would miss something for sure. That's how fast the pace was on this night to beat the weather and anyone not paying attention in the pits would be left behind. Todd Staley and his crew used to do this on occasion when needed and they used to be one of the best at cracking off quick programs and it was good to see that they still had it in themselves to do so once more. 

The first green flag flew at 5:28 pm following group qualifying for the Modifieds. Three heats and two B Features would set their running order for a twenty four car, forty lap main event. And not letting any time go to waste, while the B Feature cars were prepping for the main event, track officials snuck in the Hobby Stock feature so there was no wasted time. 

Twelve cars would start the Hobby main, which was stopped just one for a spinning car. Scott Gobel, current track point leader, would start on the pole. However, he didn't lead a single lap as Troy Hovey, now in a Hobby Stock, threw a "dirty Slider" at Gobel in turn four and took the lead on the opening lap. Later, under the single caution, Gobel would let Hovey know what he thought about his move. 

However he got the lead, Hovey would hold the front spot for most of the race. But back in the pack, after starting tenth, Dylan Clinton would be on the charge using the high side of the track. By the halfway point of the race, he would be up to third and still moving forward. His high side racing was working supremely, and on lap twelve he went buzzing by Hovey to take over the lead. He would extend that margin and drive home for the win over Hovey and Gobel. 

Two surprising developments in the Modified class saw Carlos Ahumada Jr, who drew the pole for a heat, scratch out of that event and the rest of the night after qualifying. And Darren Fuqua, who was scheduled to start fourth in the main, scratched out of the big show. 

For Dustin Sorensen who is making a serious run at the national title, it was a dominating victory for him as he started on the pole and would lead all forty laps, mostly without any challenge of any kind. There were two early cautions that kept the field bunched but Sorensen was always able to maintain his lead and then start to build on it during a long green flag stretch. Cayden Carter and Zach VanderBeek did some battling back and forth for second early, with them swapping that position a couple of times. But eventually, the biggest challenge to Sorensen would come from Dereck Ramirez who had started eighth after Fuqua scratched out. 

By the halfway point of the race, Ramirez was up to second, albeit a second place quite a bit is distance to the leader. However, Sorensen did run into issues the second half of the race when he hit quite a bit of lapped traffic and the groove had narrowed up as rubber was being taken by the track. Sorensen was having difficulties getting by the slower cars as he slipped out of the rubber trying to pass them and Ramirez smelled blood in the water and he closed to about four or five car lengths. 

However, the race was turned with about five laps to go when Ramirez blew the fourth corner, going very high in the loose dirt and losing a considerable amount of real estate. After that Sorensen just needed to put together solid laps and make no big mistakes and he drove home for the win with a comfortable lead. Ramirez, VanderBeek, Carter and Tanner Mullins would complete the top five. 

The B Mod feature would be rather straight forward as Ben Moudry would start on the pole and lead all eighteen laps and not really be challenged. Brandon Hare and Zach Davis would battle for second but then they were joined by Josh Roney and Joe Chisholm in a fight for that spot and with a late charge, Roney would take second with Chisholm third. 

The Stock Car feature would wrap up the night and it was one that would leave the crowd talking on their way to the exits. And it's never a bad thing when a home town driver makes the show of the night. Myles Michehl would start on the pole and lead the first lap before Pat Graham would slide past him one lap later to take over the point. 

Graham would soon be challenged by Andrew Borchardt for the lead as lap after lap, Borchardt would get a good run off turn four, only to have Graham slide out and hold him off as the #1G Stock Car suddenly became about forty feet wide!

As this fight continued, Kevin Donlan moved in to make it a three car fight when suddenly attention shifted farther back in the pack to Josh Zieman. Zieman had started in the second row but had been sent to the back following the first yellow for contact but he was making a spirited run back to the front, using the high side of the track to move up. By the halfway point of the race, he was up to fourth and and still moving. 

As Graham continued to lead, Zieman displaced Donlan and then Borchardt to take over the second spot as the laps ran down. With the crowd making the most noise of the day, Zieman continued to roar and with a crossover move off turn four as the two to go signal was given, Zieman blasted into the lead. He would extend that on the final lap and would be a happy winner with the crowd's approval. Graham would have to settle for second with Borchardt third. 

The final checkered flag waved at 7:30 pm, two hours after the whole show started and we beat the weather. As to whether or not it ever did rain, I don't know but the chance was high and measures taken to beat any storms and get the show in were greatly appreciated by all. The Mason City Motor Speedway certainly seems to be a track on the rise and I look forward to seeing a night show some time when there is more bite in the track and I suspect it will be very fast and racy with its high banking. 

Thanks to everyone at MCMS and the USMTS for their help. 

Shryock Takes The Big Bucks at Spencer Stock Car Special

 The Clay County Fair Speedway continued their series of successful Monday night race programs as they hosted the Masters Manufacturing Clay County Classic for Stock Cars on Monday night, May 23rd at the Fairgrounds dirt oval in Spencer Iowa. Along with the special for Stock Cars, they also featured the IMCA Modifieds, Sport Mods, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts, all paying the thousand dollars to win purse format that they have been using this year, except for the Compacts where their feature paid five hundred dollars to win. Perhaps what was most impressive about the Stock Car purse was that while it was five thousand dollars to the winner, everyone that started the main event earned at least five hundred dollars and for many of the teams, that's what they notice, not necessarily what it pays to win but what it pays to start. As we all know, there can be only one winner but it costs just as much for every team to get to the track. 

The response among the drivers so far this year has been great as these Monday night events have been pulling in solid fields of race cars and putting fans in the stands. Monday night one hundred and forty eight drivers signed in to race with nearly half that group being in the Stock Cars as sixty four of them turned out to race. The crowd in the stands was excellent again, and to me it seemed even larger than the one they hosted for their first Monday night show a couple of weeks ago. Success breeds success and right now the Clay County folks are on a very nice roll. 

There were teams that pulled all the way from Kansas to race on this night along with drivers from Minnesnowda, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Missouri to race, some I would presume, on their way for a full week of racing in the Hawkeye State as scheduling this event right before the holiday weekend was a very smart thing to do. 

Among a few new items(at least to me) as I walked the pits before the program was that there are now three Rogotzke Brothers from Sanborn Minnesota now racing Modifieds. Jordan is new, never having raced anything before but jumping right into a Modified. Over course, given family tradition, the car would be numbered in a derivative of the X so now this class features an X, XX and XXX racing plus throw in Chris Abelson's 1X and you have more X's on display than the last film festival on Times Square in New York. 

Jeff Steenbergen, long a Sport Mod driver from Wisconsin, is now racing a Stock Car and Brandon Beckendorf would be behind the wheel of Jim Horejci's car on this night and would do great things with the car. Dylan Fitzpatrick has moved up to a Stock Car from a Hobby Stock as has Matt Olson  and Tyler Pospisil and Jason Brees is in a Stock Car from a Modified.  Matthew Looft has added a Stock Car to his Sport Mod arsenal, a car believed to be one built by Shryock. And there may have been others that I missed as some of these drivers I just don't see very often. 

It was good to run into Chad Meyer in the pits and we has a quick chat about what it takes for a track to be successful or not, in our own humble opinions. Hopefully, when I next return to Spencer there will be room for him in the announcing booth as to me his voice is synonymous with racing at Spencer. 

While the number of cars on hand was substantial, with this big track they were able to squeeze all the drivers on the track for the feature races except for the Stock Cars, where it was necessary to run three B Features to get all qualified for the main event. 

As you can imagine, with only two drivers coming out of the ten and eleven car heat races in the Stock Cars and a lot of really good drivers on hand, the action was intense during qualifying with the B Features more like main events with eighteen or so cars in each and only four making the show. There was a lot of heartbreak and more than a few ruffled features before all the qualifying was done with only twenty four of sixty four Stock Cars making the show. 

There was much qualifying to be done and lots of racing so by the time they got to the feature events, even with virtually straight through racing, the hour was already starting to get late. The Stock Car feature, the highlight event of the night, would be the third main to take the green. 

Twenty four drivers would take the green for the thirty lap feature and following a first lap spin when Kansas driver Troy Burkhart got turned around, the field was able to make a number of nonstop green flag laps. Eric Mahlik would lead lap one before he was passed by Breckendorf for the lead. However, it was fourth starting Shryock that was soon challenging for the lead and he would make a pass and take over the top spot. 

Quite frankly, after that it was a battle for second and Shryock was in control the rest of the way. There was only one other yellow when Mahlik was turned and the offender missed with Mahlik going to the back but none of this would bother Shryock and he once again pulled away for the win. There was a good battle for second with Beckendorf challenged for the spot several times but he would hang on for second over Dylan Thornton. Chanse Hollatz would make a nice run from the sixth row four fourth and even farther back, Damon Murty would come from sixteenth to complete the top five. Shryock has been off to a great start this year at tracks in western Iowa and he continued that tonight, taking on and defeating the best of the invaders. By the way, after the redraw for the feature, not surprisingly, no one took the Back Row Challenge to try and win an extra $1,000. Just too many good cars to make that kind of attempt with so much other money on the line. 

The best feature of the night without a doubt though, was the Hobby Stock main. While it took awhile with four yellows to slow it down, it also saw five different leaders in eighteen laps and a last corner pass for the win by Dylan Nelson. Cory Gronewald would lead the first lap until he was passed by Brandon Nielsen and as well as he has been running so far this year, it could likely be that this would be the end of the battle. 

But not on this night as the lead pack was running in a tight bunch and after following Nielsen for a number of laps, some drivers started to experiment by moving up the track and not just following Nielsen around in the low groove. 

John Briggs made a spectacular move to the second lane and was able to drive past Nielsen and it looked for all the world that he would spring the upset. However, things would play out different and there would still be two more different leaders before the race was over. After a yellow, Briggs gave too much room on the low side and John Watson would drive under him and take over the lead with only two laps to go. 

But Watson fell victim to the same conservative strategy that cost Nielsen and that was to hug the inside line and slow down too much in the corners. Dylan Nelson, who had been running third when the yellow set up a two lap sprint to the finish, charged the second lane on the final restart and he made it work spectacularly as he dove past Briggs and then keeping his momentum up, would drive around Watson on the final corner to take a very exciting win. Watson would settle for second and another driver who used Nelson's line, Gavin Bussinger, would charge up to third ahead of Briggs and Nielsen in what was a spectacularly competitive race. 

By the time the Stock Cars were done, the track was starting to take rubber and the low side was the place to be. The Sport Mod feature was a largely follow the leader event and when Alec Fett took the early lead and there were few yellows for others to gain ground on him, he would drive on to win, leading from start to finish. Jared Boumeester and Looft would be next in line. 

It was a pretty heavily rubbered up track that the Modifieds used in the last event of the night. With the late hour and no time to do track prep, they raced on what they had and Cody Thompson would lead this race from start to finish to take the win. Tim Ward did a sensational job, making the most of track conditions as they were as he fought his way forward after starting eighth and made it up to second before a late race yellow. He went for broke and tried for the win and just about pulled it off before the second lane bit him but he somehow fought his way back past Shryock and Josh Rogotzke to claim that spot. 

Earlier the ten car Sport Compact field would have their feature event and Jaeden Erickson would lead from start to finish to claim that win. Nate Coopman would go to the back early for a spin and then fight his way back up through the field and he would make a last lap charge that would see him get to Erickson's rear bumper but no closer as he settled for second with Brandon Hartmann finishing third. 

It got to be a pretty late evening with so much racing to be completed and it was about 11:45 pm before the final checkered waved, more than a little too late for a Monday night in May. So far, both shows run here this year have gone a little bit later than they should have and I am just a bit concerned about that going forward. A lot of people were gone home by the time that the Modifieds took to the track and I would be a little concerned it those people will return next time, now knowing that the shows have run just a bit late. 

I am not a big fan of hot laps, especially for all classes on a night when so much racing is going to take place. I noted that when the first car rolled on to the track for hot laps until the time the first race started, it was forty minutes. Forty minutes that could have been used much more productively with racing taking place. And think about the extra strain put on the track with one hundred and fifty cars making extra laps during hot laps, laps that could have been saved for a track that got locked down pretty bad before the night was over. Perhaps just hot lap the featured class and not everyone. Heck, more and more tracks don't even have hot laps any more with time constraints an issue, especially for a week night show and why burn up any more tires than we need to? Just line 'em up and race 'em has always been my credo. 

Other than that, it was another successful show for the folks here at Spencer. This does to be one track on the rise again this year with big car counts and lots of butts in the stands. Spencer's next race is Monday night, June 6th with a Hobby Stock special paying two grand to win while the other classes except the Sport Compacts, will again be racing for a grand. With the show the Hobby Stocks put on Monday, that might be the race of the year! Thanks to Trent Chinn and all the folks at Spencer. 

Shryock Now Three For Four As He Sweeps Kossuth County

 Thursday night racing returned for the second straight week to the Kossuth County Speedway in Algona for another night of IMCA racing in the five core classes that entertain the fans here every week as well as the six Cruisers that were on hand for yet another week. 

Incredibly, weather conditions were almost identical to the previous week, which previously I had thought were very rare for this time of year in Iowa. The temperature was again around the ninety degree plateau with another hurricane wind blowing, this time out of the Southwest which for the second straight week challenged the track prep crew to try and keep some moisture in the racing surface. And again for the second straight week, track officials would be chasing the weather with storms in the forecast once again but this week a tornado watch through in just for good measure. If there ever was both a fan and race car killer forecast, it would be one calling for severe storms to hit just around race time but that's exactly what the forecasters cooked up. 

Fortunately, for the benefit of the track and the safety of all concerned, this forecast never materialized. We did watch the storms build up virtually right over our heads and sprinkle for just a minute or two but then everything drifted off to the Northwest, were a lightning show continued throughout the night plus a nice rainbow thrown in for good measure. 

The car count was not good with fifty four cars on hand in the five sanctioned classes. However, for weekly shows this year, something tells me that particularly here in northern and western Iowa, for the weekly shows, a field of two heats per class might be all that can be expected this year. But I guess we will see how that all plays out but it does seem early in the year to already be concerned about car counts. 

Despite putting more than sixty thousand gallons of water on the track this week, with the wind and sun the track was still drier than a popcorn flatulate. They even tried doing some misting between races but while the track wasn't dusty for the fans, the second groove has yet to be opened up for the drivers and for the second straight week there was a lot of hugging the inside line on the track. With that being said however, the winners still found a way to move up through the field as the point average has now kicked in with it being week two and we would see the five feature winners come from the five, six, seven, ten and ten starting spots in their mains so they found a way to get to the front. 

The track welcomed back announcer Chad Meyer, absent last week to call the races at the Dirt Track at the Charlotte Motor Speedway as Chad continues to add to his resume by doing a number of high visibility races. However, he told me that he still enjoys coming home and doing the local shows were he runs into so many people he knows as he works, Algona, Britt and Spencer. 

With the weather still being an uncertainty, little time was wasted  once the action got underway. The show started at 7:30 pm and forty eight minutes later, all the qualifying was done and after a brief break to set up the lineups, it was  feature race time. 

The one driver that so far has mastered the track conditions as they have been the first two weeks has been Kelly Shryock. Perhaps that is also why he has won three of the four feature races he has participated in over the first two weeks of the season while finishing a close second in the other. 

On this night he would sweep both the Stock Car and Modified mains and not really work up much of a sweat in doing either. It took him only four laps to go from tenth to the lead in the Stock Car feature as there has been no one able to get through the corners like he has and if necessary, make an outside pass to take over the lead. Once he got by Calvin Lange he was gone and while McCain Jennings did his best, he wasn't able to stay with Shryock who drove home for an easy win. Lange would settle for third. 

That difficult outside pass, the one that Shryock tried last week but just wasn't able to pull off on Cody Knecht, was available again on this night but the difference was that Shryock made it work this week. Austin Wolf led nearly the whole first half of the race as Shryock worked his way up from fifth. 

However, once he got to second, he didn't hesitate to step outside of Wolf and while it took a couple laps to build up his momentum, on lap nine he drove into the lead and with the rest of the race running off nonstop, Shryock was able to stretch his advantage to the point that some in the crowd started to head for the parking lot early. Jeremy Mills would work on Wolf for second but not be able to pull off a pass. 

Alec Fett would record a fine win in the Sport Mod feature, coming from the third row to pass Jacob Tacheny for the lead by the second lap. After that, the challenge was to hold off last week's winner Matt Looft who moved into second by the halfway point of the race. 

Despite two late yellows in the last three laps, Fett had things under control on this night and Looft wasn't able to close in on him and had to settle for second with Charlie Stevens finishing a strong third. 

Steve Wickman would return to the Hobby Stock field despite last week's roll over that took him out of the action but it would be Josh Sidles that would lead the first nine laps of the Hobby Stock feature. As he led the field, it would be a pair of #22 race cars, Seth Butler and Mike Smith, that would come storming through the pack, to challenge. Smith  would get past Butler for second and following the only yellow flag of the event, make a pass on Sidles for the lead when Josh got just a bit high in turn four. 

Once in front, Smith would pull away to take the win for the second straight week, making his and Shryock the only repeat winners. Sidles would hold on for second but there was again last corner action, just as there was last week. Last week there was a couple drivers mad at each other after some last corner bumper business and it happened again on this night. 

Butler was running third going into the last corner when it appeared that he got some bumper help and around he went, spinning out of a nice finish. James Burns was scored third officially but no doubt there were some inflamed feelings in the Hobby Stock pit ounce again. 

The disparity in speed between the fast and slow Sport Compacts is quite noticeable and the green flag for their main event usually triggers the equivalent of a nine alarm fire as the fast cars try to storm to the front, generated first lap mayhem more often that not. Charles Prime would hold off the pack for one lap but then Kaytee Devries would blow past him to take over the lead. 

Not letting wheel bearing problems that fell her last week mess her effort, she pulled away in the green to checkered main event to record the win. Tyler Fiebelkorn did his best to stay with Devries but he had to settle for second while Kolby Sabin came from tenth to finish third.

Yellow flags were a rarity on Thursday as starter Logan Kelly had a relatively easy night with the sticks and the final checkered flag waved at around 9:20 pm. Skies to the West had cleared and a lot of people made their way to the pits with the early hour to meet and greet their favorite drivers. For me it was a time to celebrate another race completed without a rain event and get my five hour trip started.   

Things were "Floing" In Marshalltown as O'Neal Tops Late Models

 Wednesday night, May 18th, was a very special night at the Marshalltown Speedway in Marshalltown Iowa. This was a night much anticipated by racing fans familiar with Marshalltown and also certainly the many Late Model fans that Iowa and neighboring states harbor. Open motored Late Models would be making their first appearance at Marshalltown since the 2013 racing season. And this wouldn't be just any open motor show. Marshalltown was lucky enough to get on the schedule for the Castrol Flo Racing Night in America series, featuring a top prize of over twenty two thousand dollars, an amount unheard of for Marshalltown to be offering, given the limited seating available at this quarter mile track. The Flo series is providing many of the biggest names in the sport so the guarantee would be that a top notch field of drivers would be on hand. 

Everything was in place for a spectacular night of racing and the night did not disappoint. The racing would be spectacular, not only in the Late Models but also the other two classes that are featured at Marshalltown, the IMCA Modifieds and the Stock Cars. 

There has been a few rumblings that the Marshalltown track was slipping just a bit and wasn't quite as racy as it had been in years past. But I am here to tell you that on this night, it would have been hard for any track in the country to provide a better racing surface and more spectacular action. The track was wide, smooth, fast and with no dust. It didn't give up, even with the pounding of soft tired Late Models for fifty laps and was still great for the Stock Cars and Mods that followed. 

Certainly this night was special for the folks at Marshalltown and they probably spent a little more time prepping the track on this night than they might for all shows. They had less classes racing and weren't under the time crunch that normal Friday night racing brings which were positive things. They did a little more misting of the track than I remember for some regular shows and even though that didn't take much time at all, it provided great benefits in terms  of the racing. But all I can say for sure was that the track was in mint condition on this night and provided for some great racing, and all those that had a part in this should take a bow. 

The field of cars was of the perfect number with enough Late Models to provide a B Feature while the other two classes were just perfect with twenty four in each which allowed three nice sized heat races but didn't require any B Features. 

Qualifying would provide a new track record with Mike Marlar storming around the oval in 13.758 seconds as qualifying is always important for these open Late Model shows where everything is started straight up. Six of the top ten in Flo point standings were on hand with some of the WoO regulars having to take a pass on this race as they were required to be Pennsylvania by Thursday night. However, that wouldn't stop home state driver Ryan Gustin who would refuse to miss this race in his old hometown and then "book it" down the highway as soon as the Late Model feature was over. The best open motor drivers in Iowa were on hand to take on the invaders while defending IMCA National Modified champion Bone Larson got a nice opportunity to race in the Jeff Curless car out of the Quad Cities. Iowa driver Tegan Evans would have mechanical issues early and would not participate.

Thee heats and a B Feature would set the twenty two car field for the Late Model feature which was first on the schedule, both for tv considerations and also to give the drivers the best track available. Two of the Iowa drivers were eliminated on the first lap when Chad Simpson and Spencer Diercks collided. 

However, Gustin would please the state wide fans when he got the jump off the outside pole and would lead the first thirty laps of the feature. Riding the cushion, he would fight off challenges from Mike Marlar and Hudson O'Neal. Meanwhile, there was plenty of hard racing going on behind him and plenty of position swapping as well. 

Another driver with Iowa connections in Ricky Thornton Jr would be challenging until he slipped over the banking in turn two and turned over on his roof. He was fine but done for the night 

Eventually  O'Neal would close in as Gustin seemed to be struggling just a bit in the corners and Hudson would drive past Gustin to take over the lead. There was still a swarm of drivers close behind though with Brandon Sheppard using the bottom lane to work his way into second. 

Sheppard seemed like he was ready to challenge but then O'Neal picked up the pace the last ten laps or so and pulled out to a more comfortable lead, one he would hold to the finish. Gustin fell to fourth behind Marlar with Tyler Erb coming from sixteenth to round out the top five. There were only two yellows, the last forty two laps ran off green and there was only one lapped car. Pretty impressive, right?

And of course the local fans and many other familiar with how racy the support classes can be, stuck around to watch the last two mains. David Atcher would lead the first two laps of the Stock Car feature before being passed by Chanse Hollatz. Hollatz would lead the rest of the race but it was much more exciting than just that, as the battle for second was spectacular. Kaden Reynolds, Dallon Murty and a low riding Jeff Mueller would make for a great battle as they fought for that spot. Reynolds would eventually hold on for second and what an impressive rookie driver he is. Showing no fear, he put his cars in tight holes that it didn't look like there was room, but he made it work off  the top of corner four lap after lap and held off Murty which is something to brag over. The Stock Car feature had only one yellow  flag and only one driver that didn't finish the contest as all night we would see intense racing with plenty of passing but not a lot of smashing, crashing and yellow flags waving. 

One of the Stock Car entrants was a surprise as Justin Whitehead, who  I had seen race Stock Cars and Factory Stocks in Texas, pulled all the way up from Texarkana TX. just to race this one night. They had no other races on their schedule up North other than this race and running here checked one item off their "bucket list." There aren't many tracks running Stock Cars near them and they are new to this class, being very successful in the Factory Stock class in Texas which is very popular. 

The Modified feature would complete the night's action and it was another local favorite in Richie Gustin that would lead for much of this race. While he rode the cushion, he was pressured by Josh McBurnie as Tom Berry Jr and Cayden Carter also moved up to challenge. 

With only five laps left, Carter found an opening and drove into the lead but Berry Jr then picked up the pace and made a pass for the lead with only three laps remaining. Carter tried to come back but Berry Jr was rolling and he would take the win while Gustin had to settle for third. The support classes were great on this night as they did just what was expected of them. They gave the Late Models time to prepared for their races and also provided plenty of spectacular racing of their own as well as attracting their fans out to the track too. 

Co-owner of this website, Barry Johnson was on hand for this race and I spoke to him briefly. He doesn't get to many races with his busy schedule but like many others, had this event earmarked on his schedule as a "must see" event. 

Reserved seats were offered for this event, and I was pleased to see that management had done this correctly, having ushers on hand to make sure that folks got their correct seats and offering advise to all those that had purchased general admission tickets to make sure that everyone got seated without any hassles. I didn't catch the name of the gentleman that was assisting me but he did a great job, being patient and helping me find the best seat that was available. 

Waving the sticks on this night was track General Manager Jerry VanSickle. Not having to be Race Director on this night with Flo officials, including Kelly Carlton handling those duties, VanSickle went back to one of the many jobs he has done at tracks across the state, and that is flagging. A man of many talents, he is as good a flagman and any around and also is preferred by many people for his announcing skills. Perhaps one day, for a hoot, he will be race director, flagman and announcer all at once, only after watering the track too!

Certainly the racing was dynamic on Wednesday and depending on what the world of Late Model racing looks like in 2023, I would certainly expect to see Marshalltown on someone's schedule or perhaps even more than one as everyone may want to put on a show here, now that they have seen what this joint can offer. Thanks to J Van, Toby Kruse and all the folks at Marshalltown for a great night of racing.

Berry Jr. Blows Away The Stuart Field, Murty Tunes Up for the "Whole Hog"

 Monday night, May 16th was an absolutely gorgeous night to be at the races as the weather produced one of the best nights of the season to date. And a large crowd was on hand Monday night to see the drivers in action at the Stuart International Raceway for the Dynamic Driveline Dirt*Duel. The four core classes that normally compete at Stuart, the Modifieds, Sport Mods, Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks would all be racing for extra money due to the generous sponsorship by businesses from the area. The Karl Chevrolet Dirt Trucks would be also be making their first appearance of the year and the Bat Wings were also on hand as they often are here. 

Features for all but the Trucks and Bat Wings would be paying a grand to win along with other extra monies(apparently the Hobby Stocks were supposed to race for $500 to win but a clerical error somewhere along the line saw that inadvertently boosted up also so Mike VanGenderen went along with it and paid them the big bucks too.) They did respond with a very nice field of twenty four cars and more than held their own in feature race action and excitement. 

After some experimentation, MVG has apparently settled on what kind of a schedule his track will have going forward. He no longer has a weekly show although the drivers end up getting just as many races here as most weekly tracks do provide. Just about every race is some sort of special with extra money on the line and he's not afraid to race various nights of the week, running on virtually every night from Monday to and including Sundays, It all seems to depend on how the calendar falls, who else is racing and when and also making his schedule fit with traveling series' needs. He also needed to make the Stuart schedule fit with his increased traveling needs as his skills in track prep are in demand at big races nation wide.  He has more than proven by now that it doesn't make that much difference what night a race is on, it can be successful with the right kind and amount of promotion and changing things up and offering different kinds of cars and groups is key. I think one of the things that has caught people's eyes and made MVG's promotions more interesting and successful is that he isn't afraid to try different things and race on nights that most promoters would opt out of without a second thought. Shaking up the norm sometimes works, even in the world of racing where change is most often met with much skepticism

An almost perfect sized field turned out for Monday night's show. There were eighty five cars on hand in the four core classes plus another eleven Trucks and there heats worth of Bat Wings. Just enough cars to provide full heat races but not quite enough to require B Features, perfect with the time constraints that a Monday night show always carries. 

New this week was the scoreboard that I have been longing for ever since I started attempted MVG's promotions here. And it will be great when it actually becomes operational. This week we just had a whole board of #7's on it but soon I would expect it to be totally working and at Stuart, mostly I just need something to show me laps, I can figure out the rest on my own. Also on display but actually working was a very nice new water truck as Mike adds to his arsenal of tools for track prep and dust control on the property. One other change on this night saw Jeremy "The Foxman" waving the sticks and he would do a fine job at one of the track's most difficult and visible assignments. 

The track was in terrific shape on this night and as good as perhaps it will be all Summer. It was smooth and slick from top to bottom but also had a groove right up against the Jersey barriers so drivers were racing all over the track. It was a great "slider" track and we saw some dandy ones being through in all classes and there is nothing more exciting in the world of dirt track racing. 

On Sunday night I was at the races at the Casino Speedway in Watertown South Dakota and then here on Monday. Both are terrific little bullrings and among the best tracks of their type anywhere. Two nights in a row featured terrific track prep and spectacular racing. Thirteen qualifying races plus the Bat Wings were accomplished in fifty four minutes on this night with only two yellow flags necessary as I say "God bless the one spin rule." 

When you think of Stuart, you think of some of the dominant drivers who have really figured this place out and the names Berry Jr, Carter and Murty come to mind immediately and all three had banner nights with all of them winning feature races, most in spectacular style. . 

Berry Jr. had perhaps the most dominating performance of the night as he was totally in control of he Modified feature. Nick Roberts would lead early with Tim Ward pressuring him but it took little time for Berry Jr to blow by both of them and once in the lead, he was gone. This race would go twenty two laps straight through and Tom's only challenge was working through lapped traffic. This he accomplished with little scary moments and he drove home well in front for the win. Ward and Todd Shute would be chasing at the checkers. 

It seems nearly impossible to expect that Brayton Carter could possibly be a challenger in the Sport Mod feature, starting twelfth in a strong field of drivers. But the way he maneuvers through traffic is a  treasure to watch, with him moving high and low on the track and picking his holes with expertise. Dusty Masolini would be the early leader but then he was passed by Logan Anderson for the top spot. 

This race would be the only one of the night with too many yellows as they managed to race nearly the first half of the event caution free and then once the yellow waved once, the proverbial wheels came off with six yellows in the next seven laps. 

By the halfway point, Carter was up to third with him soon moving into second, dragging Cam Reimers on his coat tails. Then it got interesting as Anderson and Carter battled in a thrilling and spectacular fashion, trading sliders on the track before Carter was finally able to nail down the lead. 

Then things got strategic with Carter in front and with the yellows, Anderson trying to decide whether to take the top or bottom for the restarts and which could possibly gain him an edge. In the end, he tried both but came up just a bit short as Carter would take another win here with Reimers settling for third. 

A big and strong field of Stock Cars was on hand with the early battle seeing Miciah Hildebaugh take the lead with Elijah Zevenbergen pressuring him. It didn't take Dallon Murty long to make it a three car battle(Damon was in the field on this night), and when Dallon found an opening, he blew past both to take the lead. 

He then built up an advantage not normally seen in Stock Cars as he had most of a straightaway on the field as he pounded the cushion. The best battle in this race was for second as Hildebaugh opened some eyes and he hung right with Zevenbergen, trading punches as they fought for second. At the end, experience won out with Elijah finishing just in front of Miciah for second while Murty withstood a late yellow to cruise home the winner 

The Hobby Stocks wrapped up the evening with a nice feature race of their own. Twenty two started and twenty were still on the track at the finish and only one car was lapped so that shows that the field was pretty well balanced. Dylan Nelson would take the early lead and actually would pace the field for most of the race. 

He was challenged by Brandon Cox and John Watson who was making things especially interesting by pounding the cushion very hard. Eventually Cox would get some momentum built up and would drive past the bottom hugging Nelson down the front chute to take the lead. He would then stretch his lead in the closing laps. Cox, who earlier in the evening nearly ran me over the pits(inadvertently) would wrap up his drive as he rode home for the win while I learned one spot not to stand in the pits! Nelson would hold off the challenges of Watson to finish second. 

The Track feature saw would see Shawn Cooney, who has raced in nearly every division available at the track, take the lead on the opening lap and run away with the win over Shonn Mapes and Rod Richards. All racing was complete just after 10 pm as Stuart, which has justifiably earned a reputation as a "pretty racy joint" further cemented that label on Monday.  

Knecht and Shryock Go Wheel to Wheel at Algona

 After being postponed one week by wet grounds and awful Spring weather, the Kossuth County Speedway in Algona opened up for the 2022 racing season on Thursday night, May 12th. Moving directly into Summer and avoiding Spring altogether, when I pulled into the Fairgrounds in Algona the temperature was ninety eight degrees with a hurricane style wind blowing and it remained nearly that hot at race time. 

Along with that, storms were forecast for the evening and were already starting to show on the radar by race time so the track  and all its officials were under the gun to pull off a very speedy opening night, something not always easy to do given those surprise glitches that often occur for an opener plus there may also be some key officials new or doing new duties that might slow the process down just a bit. 

It would be the familiar five class program of IMCA racing plus Algona continues to run their two perso Cruiser class that they have seemingly since time immemorial. In fact, the same six cars that were racing on this night were perhaps on hand for their very first opener those many years ago. Still, those drivers seem to very much enjoy what they're doing and the fans still respond positively to their appearance on the track. Sixty four cars would sign in for the five class program plus the six Cruisers so no B Features would be needed on this night, perhaps a good thing considering. 

I have been running into a familiar face at the pit gate as I attend races here in Northern and Western Iowa and tonight I took the time to get her story. Jake Long works the pit gate here at Algona and well as at tracks in Spencer, Alta and Britt. When all tracks are up and operating she can be working four or more nights a week at the pit gate, depending on specials. She grew into racing at an early age as her father Warren built and worked on race cars, her brother Kevin is a former racer and her other brother Brian has been working at tracks for decades. In fact, she said that this would be her fifty second year of working at race tracks in the western Iowa area! With busy schedules upcoming for tracks under her watch, I suspect I will be running into her many more times this racing season. 

Elijah Koenig from Wisconsin was making his first ever visit to the Kossuth County Speedway on this night. He runs a Sport Mod with a Skyrocket chassis and Kelly Shryock had his come down here for this race to work on his racing setups. Koenig would later get sixth in the main event for that class. 

I also spoke to Modified driver T.J. Laveen, originally from Arizona. However, T.J. told me that they had moved to Klemme Iowa a Summer ago, making the decision that if he wanted to get better as a driver, they needed to race more and Iowa was a great place to do that. They are trying to follow the patch of other Arizona drivers who have moved to Iowa to further their careers like Tim Ward and  the various Thorntons along with other western drivers like Berry Jr and Hibdon. 

Logan Kelly was back on the flagstand again for 2022, renewing the unusual dynamic that sees him as a racer in the Sport Compact class at certain tracks and then he turns around and flags those same racers at other tracks. I guess it works OK for them but I can certainly see that there could be problems with this setup too. 

Well regarded regular announcer Chad Meyer was absent for the opener this year, instead doing TV at the Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway as a part of his XR involvement. Rising from the ashes as his replacement on this night was veteran announcer Lonn Oelke from Fairmont Minnesota. Lonn has a rough year last year with a dust up with officials that saw him step down as the announcer at Fairmont, details of which to not need to be reprocessed here. But Lonn has survived and will be announcing when Fairmont begins their Wednesday night programs starting next week as well as a replacement when other track voices need a night off. 

Algona was in a struggling situation for a few years and their choice of settling for a Thursday night show seems to have worked for them well. It does provide a unique dynamic though as getting a very fast paced program started and over for a week night is key. This they do well and they would be tested again on Thursday with the weather situation. 

It would be draw/redraw for the opening night of the IMCA season and while the one spin rule was not in play here, the drivers knew that if they spun they darn well better get moving and the ten race qualifying events saw just a lone yellow flag, remarkable for an opener and this allowed them to complete all qualifying in forty five minutes as the storms started to take aim at Kossuth County. 

They quickly moved into feature racing action and saved all the winner's presentations and interviews to the post race, another wise move to keep the show moving. The strong wind and high heat made track prep tough but the crew produced a smooth but very slick track that showed a pretty narrow groove and with no time to delay, the racers had to make due with what they had. 

However, the final race of the fifteen on the card produced the best and closest race of the night as Cody Knecht and Kelly Shryock raced side by side for the majority of the contest before Knecht edged out the veteran for the win. Jamie Anderson would lead the first three laps before Knecht would drive past him for the lead. Shryock started sixth but it wasn't too many laps before he settled in behind Knecht. 

The groove was only one lane wide by this time and no one has ventured to the outside for several of the features but Kelly wasn't about to just tuck in behind Knecht and settle for second and he moved out a lane and tried to make a pass. Lap after lap he would edge up beside Knecht in the corners but he just couldn't get enough bite on the outside to pass. Lap after lap this occurred and it was great entertainment as Shryock just kept trying and one slip by Knecht and he would have been by. 

Shryock edged past one time to be scored the leader but he couldn't get to the inside quick enough and Knecht filled the space and they continued side by side. It was very technical racing and required great precision. Shryock made one last try but he would come up short and Knecht would take the win. Congratulations to both drivers as Shryock just kept plugging away and never gave up when most would have just settled for second and also to Knecht who ran his own line and gave Shryock room to race. 

Shryock would have better luck with his Stock Car. Even though he started way back in tenth for that main, a first lap scramble saw the running order get severely upset, even though a yellow wasn't triggered and before a couple of laps were complete, Shryock had driven past McCain Jennings to take over the lead. After that it was a cruise as Kelly built up a big lead and would go on for the win. 

Getting through the corners was key for the Sport Mods as traction was hard to find. Taylor Kuehl was the early leader and it seemed like she might run away with the win but then she started struggling getting through the corners and Colby Fett was able to make the pass for the lead. 

Normally, once Fett is in front, everyone is racing for second but he also struggled keeping his car down on the inside in the corners and Matt Looft was able to duck under him at the halfway point of the race to take over the lead. Fett would try to pressure  and get back in front but Looft would give no openings and would drive on for the win. 

Another driver that once in front, seldom gets passed, failed to hold on Thursday and that was Brandon Nielsen in the Hobby Stocks. Micah Levrenz would lead the first three laps but then Nielsen, who started third, would take over the top spot. However, he also had trouble holding his car on the bottom and it was Mike Smith who would drive past him and take over the lead. Later, Nielsen would spin in turn one and exit on the back of a wrecker. 

Smith would lead the rest of the way with Chris Krug making a nice drive to finish second. As the leaders passed under the finish line, a wild scrum broke out among cars in turn four that saw Steve Wickman end up on his lid, another driver get the black flag and only six cars finish the race. 

Another upset of sorts occurred in the Sport Compact feature. Kaytee Devries seldom loses when she starts in front but it did happen on this night. She seemed to be comfortably in the lead when with just two laps to go, she seemed to be slowing and her car started showing sparks. Tyler Fiebelkorn, the Sport Compact driver that doesn't seem to miss a race anywhere in the state, took advantage of the opportunity to make a move and he would lead the last two laps and pull the upset. 

Lucas Parsons would race into second and Devries would limp home third. 

Track officials did a great job of moving things along, even when a few yellow flags during the feature races made a complete finish somewhat questionable. With Oelke urging on the troops, the whole show was completed with lightning all around but the races got done, with the last race winding up about 9:20 pm. Thanks to everyone at Algona for a quick show and being able to get the whole event in the books.  

Late Race Passes Highlight Hot Osky NIght

 After battling weather issues recently that saw their last race canceled due to rain, the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa got race number two of their season completed on Wednesday night, May 11th. On the first NCN(no coated needed) night of 2022, and in fact the weather was so drastic that  I broke out the shorts which possibly could have hurt attendance, the racing action would provide a mixed bag of entertainment. 

Three of the five feature races contested saw last lap or nearly lap lap passes for the feature wins. One other main offered a dominating performance by one driver and the final race of the night was a good old fashioned battle amongst the Hobby Stock drivers with lead changes and close competition. 

As stated earlier, it was a very hot May night at the "Mahaska Monster" with a cool and dismal Spring suddenly transitioning very quickly into a typical Summer's night here in Southern Iowa. Two months later and it would one of those nights when you could say you could hear the corn growing in the fields at night, but on this night it would more likely that you were hearing the tractors in the fields instead. It would be a challenging night to keep moisture in the race track and it did slick up quickly and while the groove might have been a little narrower than on some nights, as always, the fast guys found a way to make it work. 

An even sixty cars were on hand in the five classes that race at Osky, so you can do the Math with two heats and a feature race for each class. Actually, those following the Sprints were quite happy as they reached the double digit plateau for the first time in quite a while. A tour of the pits before the races found me loving the Stock Car of Andrew Schroeder. He has put together a beautiful throw back scheme for his car, using an older style and somewhat unusual body on the car and no wrap for this car, the lettering is all old school style. And for some reason, it always seems like there is at least one car racing at Osky along these lines. 

This is a track that has survived for decades running a midweek show, something that most promoters would not even attempt these days. They make it work by running a speedy show and getting the drivers and fans in and out of the track in a prompt manner. Yes, they have to sacrifice a few things that other tracks can do with weekend shows, but just the fact that they are still around after all these years is testament that what they do works and that the local people and businesses that support the track continue to have an appetite for half mile racing at this historic venue. 

Heat races started right at the 7:30 pm hour and less than an hour later, all qualifying was done. They took a break for about five minutes to get the lineups done for the mains and then the Sprints were called to push off for their main event. 

Some of us have some feeling of angst with the non winged Sprints racing on this big track where many of the drivers are inexperienced and the speeds are high, even in this restricted class. Only a half lap of the first heat had started when one car dumped it on the back chute which resulted in a "dust up" requiring security being summoned to the wreck site. However, everything got worked out and the Sprint feature  would be the first of three straight that came right down to the wire. 

Doug Sylvester would take the early lead and in fact would lead all the way to the white flag. He was chased by Ben Woods to a yellow when Robert Bell bounced off the first turn rail and stopped. Sylvester would continue to lead in a close race with Woods and opening night winner Jonathan Hughes. 

As the leaders took the white flag, they came up on a slower car who did as he should have by moving low on the track. However, Sylvester caught him just as he hit turn one and in trying to move around the slower car, he got out of the groove, way up into the loose dirt and both Woods and Hughes would drive under him. 

Woods would hold off a last corner charge by Hughes to take the win while a chagrined Sylvester would have to settle for third. 

The Stock Cars would click off sixteen nonstop laps of action, resulting in yet another late race pass for the win. Nathan Wood started off on the pole and he would quickly disappear into the Iowa haze as he built nearly a full straightaway lead over the field. It took Derrick Agee a few laps to finally get past Dustin Griffiths and take over second. 

Wood has what seemed to be a comfortable lead of nearly a full chute but Agee put the "wood" to the floor(bad pun) and gradually caught the leader. In the last few laps he reeled in the Iowa educator, and made a serious bid for the lead when it seemed earlier there was no way he could have caught up. 

Wood got just slightly high going into turn three with under two laps to go and Agee made a bold move to the inside, squeezing between Wood and the dreaded "Infield Tractor Tire" that are so prominent here and he would take over the lead and then stretch it on the final tour for an impressive win indeed. Agee has been the man to beat in this class here for the last couple of years and it appears that will remain the case. Jason McDaniel would complete the top three. 

The Sport Compacts would continue the pattern with a nonstop main event and a last lap pass for the win. Louie Winkleman would lead the opening lap before being passed by Matt Moore for the lead. Moore would then lead all laps except the one that pays cash, as opening night winner Terry Bickford would come from the third row, catch Moore on the final lap and blow past him on the high side for the win. Moore had to be wondering what just happened when his comfortable lead suddenly became just a second place finish with Bickford blowing past him for the victory. Winkleman would settle for third. 

With a front three rows of DeJong, Carter, Anderson, VandenBerg, Vanderwal and VanWyk, the Southern Iowa Speedway may be slightly short on numbers in the Sport Mod class but definitely not short on talent. What, on paper, looked like the toughest and most competitive feature race of the night instead turned into a blow out win as Maguire DeJong destroyed this strong group of drivers, winning by a full straightaway, even after his big early lead was taken away by a yellow. 

DeJong pulled away from Carter in the early going with Logan Anderson eventually moving into second. Meanwhile, DeJong was in another league as he moved to a full straightaway lead over the pack in the first eight laps of the race. 

A yellow for a spin bunched the field and gave everyone one more shot but it made no difference as DeJong once again pulled away from the field like he was in a different gear. He won by nearly a full straightaway( and believe me the straightaways are plenty long here), with Anderson ending up second and Vanderwal third. 

Rounding out the night were the Hobby Stocks with a close and competitive main event. Rick VanDusseldorp would lead the opening lap before Arron Martin would get past him for the top spot. Martin would lead the rest of the race but he had a close run with Keaton Gordon and then joined late by Dustin Griffiths. Several yellows for spins and mechanical issues kept this race close and Martin on his toes for challenges. 

The race ended up with a two lap shootout for the win and while Martin maintained his edge, the battle for second came down to the wire with the call for Griffiths by inches over Gordon, one too close for me to get correctly. 

A trip to Osky is always a sentimental journey for me as this place was one of the first tracks in Iowa that I ever visited and I remember those nights of forty or more Stock Cars, the place just packed with fans and the atmosphere being just electric with flagman Engel DeKock waving the sticks in his unique "short arm" manner. 

It still is a cool reminder of the past with "old timers" Jerry Mackey, Kevin Feller and Doug Haack running the show. All racing was done by 10pm, perfect for a midweek show. Thanks to everyone on the Race Committee and the Fairboard here at Osky for their help and for keeping this Wednesday night tradition going. 

Berry Smokes Modified Field at Clay County Opener

 It is a bit of an oddity for Monday night racing, particularly in early May with school still in session and the fields full of workers preparing the soil and then starting the planting. But somehow, this has been the formula for success for the Clay County Fairgrounds Speedway in Spencer Iowa for the last couple of years and they continued that plan with their season opener on Monday night, May 9th. 

The last couple of years, the folks at Clay County have had a number of high level successes with their racing programs while many other tracks have struggled. They went against the grain just a bit a couple of years ago but met with immediate success and they have continued with that business plan here in 2022. 

Racing on a Monday night. Most unusual. But they make it work. For the second straight year, most of their shows are on Mondays and all are during the week. While many other tracks have switched to racing their specials on weekends and then banging heads with other tracks, Spencer has embraced their Monday night shows and the big crowds in the gigantic grandstand here in Spencer are testament to the fact that the fans approve. 

They also go against tradition by paying the same top prize to their top four classes and make it five on this night at IMCA Racesaver Sprints were added to the show and they also raced for a grand to win. While the lower classes see a slighter bigger falloff in their purse as the positions drop, essentially all classes are racing for the same money. Is it successful? Would one hundred and fourteen cars on a Monday say yes? I think so. Add another dozen Sprints and we are pushing a field of nearly one hundred and thirty race cars. 

Adding a sixth class of cars for this night. Not sure if that was advisable but they made it work and while it did get a bit later that one would hope for, it seems like many in the crowd stay until their time limit has been reached and then they drift off into the night, seemingly not upset if they don't get to see the whole show as so far, they have been shown to support the efforts here at Spencer, event after event. 

Trent Chinn is on board once again as the Race Promoter here in Spencer and his success of late has turned him into a very busy man as he will once again promote the action at Buena Vista Raceway in Alta and has also added the track in Britt to his schedule this year. 

The season opener on this night would be called the Frost Buster but with the day's temperature at ninety two degrees and a hurricane force wind blowing, there was not much chance that there would be any frost in the track or anywhere else for that matter. With the high winds, strong sun and low humidity, it was a beastly task trying to keep moisture in the racing surface and it turned into a wind swept slick track almost immediately. One nasty by product was when the wind switched at race time from the Southwest to the Northwest, turning things much dustier than normal for the fans, even though they sit back quite a distance from the track here. 

Racing would begin at 7:40 pm after it took over a half hour to hot lap all the race cars, a strategy that could use some revisiting in my opinion. Reducing the number of classes allowed to hot lap or perhaps even dropping hot laps, as a larger and larger number of tracks are doing, would ensure that they could get started just a bit earlier because after the first green flag waves, track officials do a great job of keeping the show moving.  And once racing began it was nonstop all the way with there being just a very brief break after all the heats were done to line up the first feature race. The one spin rule and a wide and forgiving race track keeps the yellow flags to a minimum and remarkably, even with such a large field of cars and some drivers unfamiliar with the track, there was only one race all night that saw as many as three yellow flags and that was the Hobby Stock feature. Once they get started here, they really bang off the program and the only fly in the ointment has been the late time that the first race hits the track, something that has carried on from last year. 

Even with the big field of cars, no B Features were held with everyone running allowed to make the mains which meant that a couple of the feature races had some large fields of cars but again, everyone seemed to navigate the situation nicely. 

Four of the six feature races on this draw/redraw night were won from the front row and perhaps there is something to what many of the drivers say that on this big track, it is key to get to the front early as "clean air" (and I hate to even use that term) makes it hard to pass once things get rolling. 

Sport Mods would run their feature first  and they would show their meddle, running off a nonstop main event. However, it would be the two cars starting in the front row that would run away from the field and fight it out for the win. Putting Matt Looft and Colby Fett on the front row was bad news for the competition and they carried on a battle for the lead, but far removed from the rest of the pack. 

On this night, Looft didn't appear to have the fastest car but he hung in the groove and blocked any attempt by Fett to get by .Colby tried different lines but just couldn't quite get past Looft and settled into second, waiting for a mistake. Of course, Looft doesn't Make many of them and despite a last lap attempt to drive high in turn three and make the pass. Fett would come home second to Looft. Nearly a full straightaway behind, Dyllan Ricks would finish third. 

Much to my surprise, the Sport Compacts had the most competitive feature race with the five hundred dollar top prize bringing out a larger and stronger field than usually the handful that race at Spencer. And we would see three different leaders in the eight lap main. 

Nate Coopman would start on the pole and take the early lead. However, local favorite Kaytee Devries would come roaring up  and would dive under Coopman to take over the top spot. Coopman looked surprised and tried to fight back but Brandon Hartmann was suddenly faster than both of them and as they split Kaytee and dropped her back to third, Hartmann pulled into the lead. 

The battle was then on and coming to the white flag, Coopman would make a pass and take back the lead. He would stretch it on the final lap as Hartmann started to slow and Devries would nip him at the line for second as Coopman would add another trophy to his collection. 

The Racesaver Sprints were a part of this weeknight series for the first time and they had eleven.  cars for their main. A familiar racing name to fans from Western Iowa would end up in victory lane in this event. The Rosenboom's have been a part of just about every track in this part of the state and on this night it would be Jody that would dominate the main event. 

Joe Miller would be the early leader but Jody quickly moved up from the second row, got to the outside and blew past Miller down the front chute to take over the lead. Once in front, he extended it considerably in the nonstop main and ended up winning by nearly a half lap over Monty Ferriera and Andrew Sullivan. 

The largest field of the night was in the Stock Cars and twenty eight of them would start their feature race. Local driver Cody Nielsen would take the early lead, much to the pleasure of the fans on hand. However, Chanse Hollatz was very fast and he quickly moved in on Nielsen and then made the pass for the lead down the front chute. 

After that, Hollatz would lead the rest of the event which was stopped twice early on and did provide one of the few grinding crashes of the night. While Hollatz was comfortable up front, there would be quite a battle for second and Nielsen would eventually get tracked down and passed by both Jim Horejsi and and Elijah Zevenbergen. They would battle for second  but Hollatz would lead the rest of the way for the win. 

The other racing Nielsen, Brandon, would help satisfy the local fans as he would lead from start to finish to take the Hobby Stock feature race. He was challenged early by Corey Gronewald until he spun at the top of turn three which triggered the other grinding crash of the night and eliminated several cars. 

Once racing resumed, Nielsen would pull away and take the win. A couple of drivers made impressive charges in this race with Dylan Nelson coming from eleventh to make a late race pass for second and Des Moines veteran John Watson came from twelfth to finish third. 

And probably the biggest spanking of the night was provided by Tom Berry Jr in the wrap up event, the Modified feature. He started on the pole for what turned out to be a nonstop main event and he simpley disappeared into the Iowa sunset, building up a lead that hovered near the half lap margin and far enough that second place finisher Ricky Stephan couldn't even see him. Berry was incredibly fast and his only problem proved to be lapped traffic, of which there was so much with his big lead. In fact, he put six lapped cars between himself and Stephan at the finish. After a good battle, Jesse Regotzke would claim the third place finish over a charging Tim Ward. 

It's always a bit hard to figure the crowd size in the cavernous Spencer grandstand, but it looked like a lot of folks were on hand for this season opener, even with so much else going on. 

Regular announcer Chad Meyer was absent on this night, preparing to call the action this week at the Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway but a more than adequate replacement was brought in as Jerry VanSickel motored over from the Capital City to help call the action on Monday night. 

Clay County Fair Speedway will be at it again, in two weeks again on a Monday night with a five thousand dollar to win Stock Car feature the special attraction that should be a dandy while the other four classes that normally race here will be in action also. 

Fryer and Merfeld Top Quick Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway Opener

 Another  race track was able to get their season started on Sunday night, May 8th as the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway raced for the first time in 2022. Like most tracks in the Midwest, they have been battling the weather as they tried to get their opening race of the season under their belts. And even this day was a struggle was early morning heavy thunderstorms just missed the Dubuque area and a light and intermittent rain started falling around the Noon hour. Fortunately, this precipitation didn't amount to much and under clearing skies management declared that racing was on and so the 2022 season would start. 

Sunday tracks in my area are still too wet to race on so I was more than happy to make the winding trip South through Dickeyville and cross into Iowa and then up the hill to the Fairgrounds for racing. Upon arrival I found the track prep crew to be working busily, packing and rolling in the track and from my perspective, it looked like it would be more than adequate for racing tonight. As it turned out, the crew had hit on the track's "sweet spot" and it would be an excellent track to race on with all the feature winners raving about the surface. It was smooth, had multiple grooves, slicked up nicely and the drivers were able to race all over it, so it had just about everything to offer. Oh, and there was no dust either. Although, with the hurricane winds blowing once again, it would have swept any dust away and sent it toward Farley or Dyersville anyway. 

Racing on Sunday would be the five IMCA classes that are the staple at Dubuque including the Hobby Stocks, Stock Cars, Sport Mods, Mods and Late Models. The sixth rotating class would be the Limited Late Models on this night. I was just a bit leery with six classes on a Sunday but Dubuque runs their show off so quickly that it would not be a problem at all. 

Also, so far at least for this year, all three of the tracks that run on Sundays in the eastern Iowa, western Illinois region are dealing with relatively low car counts. All five core classes here had enough cars for a couple of heats but barely that and with just eight Limited Late Models, the total car count of seventy two in six classes is just a bit low. However, as is the case with most tracks early season, some drivers still don't have their cars ready, the questionable weather on this night couldn't have helped and for many, Sunday night racing is just not as appealing as it used to be. That is why a speedy show on Sunday is paramount and later on this night, Dubuque officials would show us just how that was done. 

Waiting for the gates to open on this night was Illinois driver Mike McKinney. He has been racing open Modifieds this weekend up in Wisconsin and would join the field for Sunday night's show driving a second car for Timmy Current. And after not doing much earlier, he would make a late race charge taht would get him up to second at the finish. 

Once the call came out to get the program started, it was nearly nonstop racing. The program would be using a draw/redraw format as the opener for the IMCA season so doing well in the heats was important. The heat races literally flew by, aided by the fact that the one spin rule was in effect and the heats were all relatively small. The first and only yellow of the heats was displayed in heat number seven and all twelve heat races and all qualifying was done in one hour flat!

The break was no more that five minutes until track officials were calling for the Hobby Stocks to line up and we were feature racing. Scott Wetter would lead all fifteen laps to win the Hobby Stock main after starting on the pole. There was only a single yellow flag in this race and the long green flag session allowed him to build up a good sized lead. 

David Crimmins would start in the fourth row and would eventually get to second and then would slowly cut into the lead that Wetter had built up. In the last few laps, Crimmins would repeatedly try to get under Wetter in the corners and each lap it would get closer and closer. That final lap saw Crimmins make one laps effort but he would come up just a half car length short as Wetter would hold on for the win. Kyle Jared would finish third. 

The Stock Car feature would see Mitchell Evens lead the opening lap before Cole Mather would drive under him and take over the top spot. Mather would then lead the rest of the way without much of a challenge, slowed only by the three yellow flags that would wave for minor spins. Dustin Vis and Evens would battle for second until Vis was turned, bringing out the yellow. 

Mather would go on for the win, his second over the weekend on area tracks while Vis would make a big charge back up through the pack and get to second with Richard Nelson completing the top three. 

The Sport Mod feature would see the best charge of the night as Justin Becker would put on a show. He looked very fast in his heat but redrew tenth so he had some work to do. Meanwhile, Wes Digman would be the early leader with Tyler Soppe all over his for the top spot. Unfortunately for Soppe, he tried to put a nose under Digman in turn three, they touched and Soppe slowed with a flat tire, thus taking him out as a potential winner. 

Digman would then lead over Jarett Franzen but Becker was on the move. He was up to fifth by the halfway point and would continue to charge, working the high side of the track. He continued to make progress and was soon up to second. He tried to make a high side pass but got pinched off so he instead made a brilliant cross over move, dove under Digman and took over the lead on lap ten. 

Despite a late yellow setting up a two lap sprint to the finish, Becker would pull away for the win. Things went South for Digman following that late yellow though, as he fell back to fourth with Franzen and Ryan Schilling getting past him. 

The Limited Late Model feature would see favorite to win Ron Klein spin on the first lap, get clobbered by another car and be done for the rest of the event. This completely opened up things and rookie driver in this class, T.J. Fortmannj would take the lead from the pole and lead the entire event for the win. The former Sport Mod driver was not challenged for the entire race and would win by a healthy margin over David Webster and D.J. Sweet. 

We would see some great action in the Modified feature with a number of thrilling slide jobs for position as a pack of about six cars battled for the second spot. And while they were fighting each other, Jaden Fryer would maintain the lead from start to finish to win the race. While that may sound boring, it was anything but and as Fryer would be scored the leader of all laps, the pack was nipping at his heels the entire time. 

A group that contained Steve Johnson, Ryan Duhme, Spencer Diercks, Jed Freiburger and Matt Gansen were going at it constantly, swapping positions and lanes on the track. Some of the best action included slide jobs between Freiburger and Diercks that were quite spectacular. 

At the halfway point, Fryer got perhaps his toughest challenge as Duhme moved in and put the pressure on for the lead. However, he tried to squeeze past in turn three and spun and his night was done. There were a couple of late yellows that made things tense but each time Fryer would hold on and he worked hard to get this win. The late going yellows saw some scrambling and this is when McKinney was able to smoothly take advantage and move up to second with Freiburger settling for third. 

The Late Model feature would see three different leaders before the issue was settled. Bryan Moreland would lead the first three laps before Eric Pollard would drive past him for the top spot. Pollard would then lead for six laps until Luke Merfeld, who started seventh, would roar past him on the outside to take over the top spot. 

Merfeld was flying on the cushion and there would be no stopping him once he got the lead. Two late yellows would bunch the field, the first being when second place Pollard broke and was done. 

The last six laps saw Merfeld pull away once again for the win with Ron Klein coming home second ahead of Mitch Manternach. "Dancing" Bobby Hansen would have a nice run too, coming from twelfth to finish fourth. 

The final checkered flag flew at 9:07 pm, exactly two hours and thirty six minutes after the first green flag waved! It was the perfect Sunday night program. The action was good, the racing good and everything went off like clockwork. Truly, on a Sunday, you don't need two hundred cars in the pits to put on a good show, just some good racing action and on a track that was spot on. 

The crowd was a bit modest on this threatening night but it was good to see Late Model Hall of Famer Ed Sanger among those enjoying the action. Thanks to the folks at Dubuque for staying the course, getting the show in and providing a fine night of racing. 

Pierce and Schott Dominate Dairyland Showdown Opener

 On Thursday night, May 5th, the first of three nights of the second annual Dairyland Showdown was held at Bob Timm's Mississippi Thunder Speedway just North of the quaint little Mississippi River town of Fountain City Wisconsin. Timm has been working toward this day for a number of years as he has gradually built up this facility and increasingly has booked bigger and bigger shows for this track. However, this would be the first time that the United States Modified Touring Series(USMTS) had booked a doubleheader event with the World of Outlaws Late Models so this would be a historic weekend and a power packed one with Saturday night's finale to the three nights of racing paying a whopping fifty grand to the Late Model winner and ten grand to the top Modified driver. Quite frankly, before Timm took over this track to even consider that this facility could support shows of this kind would be considered preposterous, that's how far Timm has elevated this facility. 

And the work continues, even as the race cars were pulling into the track on Thursday. He has acquired thirty acres just South of the pit entrance to the track that was to be used for camping. However, a snafu with zoning prevented that from happening this year so a scramble was on to find space for all the campers. They managed to do so but it made for a bit of a cluster in the parking lots but all worked out. To free up more space, new fencing was put up and a new pit road built so the the pits was expanded but in the opposite direction of where it had been, thus freeing up more space for campers. 

No support divisions would  be involved, just the two main classes of WoO Late Models and USMTS Modifieds, making for a power packed lineup and a nice tidy show that allowed them be done by 10:30 pm. A big crowd was on hand and that crowd is expected to swell even larger as the weekend approaches and the bigger money races are on the line. 

The WoO produced a field of thirty eight drivers with more expected if the rumor mill is correct as other series fell victim to weather issues and drivers were preparing to make banzai runs to the Dairy State. All of the top ten in series points were on hand with the WoO now a scramble with Brandon Sheppard's exit from the series. With powerhouses like Brian Shirley, Stormy Scott, Jimmy Owens, Chris Simpson, Jimmy Mars and Jonathan Davenport added to the regulars, it made for an "anyone's guess" kind of weekend as to just who would sparkle. It was good to see Justin Kay make a late appearance after all the SLMR races for the weekend were rained out. 

This would be the first race of the season at MTS, their opener falling victim to rain last week. However, Timm, who is a stickler for track prep, had the track in fine shape, both smooth and fast and while he threw a little water on the track from time to time, no big farming projects were necessary on this night. 

Obviously the track was in tip top shape as Dennis Erb Jr. broke the track record with a lap of 13,440 second for the third mile. The four heat races were especially entertaining on Thursday with more battles and side by side racing than is often seen in the heat races using this fast cars to the front format. Of great significance, Davenport was disqualified after a heat race win for a too tall spoiler which threw the main event wide open. 

However, Bobby Pierce would start on the pole and there would be no one that would have anything for him in the forty lap main event. He moved to the lead quickly as Ryan Gustin tried to stay with him by pounding the cushion but he would fade back into the field. There were only two yellow flags during the main for minor issues and following each one, Pierce would again pull away. The yellows were also perfectly timed for Bobby as each time he got close to lapped traffic, the yellow bunting flew. 

He did have to deal with some late race slower cars but he was able to move all over the track and they would provide no problems for him. Clearly, he was the class of the field on this night. Stormy Scott would make a nice drive up to second and Mike Marlar would finish third. Davenport would work his way up to mid pack before a tire issue would send him to the infield and out of the race while bad luck would strike Mars when brake issues caused him to pull off the track just before the green flag waved. Cade Dillard probably passed the most cars, with his new Black Diamond chassis as he came from ninth to finish a strong fourth . 

The USMTS Modifieds would supply a gigantic field of cars with seventy three signing in to race on Thursday, including twenty five of the top thirty in the current point standings along with a strong field of local and area competitors ready to take on the travelers. 

I'm assuming that due to time and tv constraints, the regular format used by the USMTS this year of group time trials and then inverting the top six in each heat and using passing points was changed to the old format of a straight draw for the heats and then racing for passing points. I'm hoping USMTS and other tracks noted this as the heat races, with a mix of cars starting throughout the field produced the best heat races of the year in my opinion and also allowed the whole program to start within scant minutes of the scheduled time instead of the routine thirty or more minutes late start for USMTS based on the fact that time trials always take longer than time budgeted for them. 

seven big heat races of more than ten cars per race and three B Features that were normal feature size fields made for some spectacular racing in the early going. Disqualifications were also a story in this class with heat winners Brandon Davis and Keith Foss both DQ'd for technical issues. Later Davis would be trying so hard to overcome his earlier issue and try to make the feature that he would flip his car after hitting the wall during a B Feature. 

Lots of provisional starters would swell the starting field to thirty cars of which twenty three would still be running at the finish. Lucas Schott would lead all thirty laps to take the win on Thursday after starting on the pole. For most of the race he would be in control, however at one point current series point leader Dustin Sorensen would put some pressure on him. 

In fact, Sorensen would be close to making a pass for the lead when the yellow flew for a slowing Jake O'Neil, ending his strong run and negating Sorensen's efforts. Because on the restart, Sorensen didn't get away well and ended up losing two spots in the closing laps as Schott was able to open up his advantage once again and would drive home unchallenged. 

Rodney Sanders would drive up from ninth to take the runner up honors but he had nothing for Schott at the finish while Carlos Ahumada Jr had a nice consistent run for third. Sorensen and Zack VanderBeek would trail. 

For VanderBeek, it was a good finish to what had been an awful start to his weekend when he hit a deer on his way to the track and while they managed to get the trailer to the grounds, his toter had to get some major repairs and extract "Bambi" from the radiator of his truck. 

It was a smooth run show and I would suppose a combination of the best of both worlds with the top drivers in both Late Model and Modifieds in action. The next two nights are expected to pack even larger crowds into the facility. 

"Herman" Tops UMP Mods at Adams County Speedway, Delonjay and Cottom Repeat

 I think all of us would agree that the month of April has been one of the  craziest and perhaps most frustrating Spring months in many a year. While we aren't fighting flooding conditions like they are in North Dakota and other places, the lack of sun, cool weather and oh that darned wind have made for a miserable month. 

Now, as we turn the corner into the month of May, we hope for better things but the first race night of the new month brought plenty of struggles for the folks at the Adams County Speedway in Quincy Illinois. However, they prevailed when the wind actually became their friend on Saturday and played a big part in the drying process that allowed them to race on Sunday. 

According to Race Director Blake Dotson, who was at the track until evening on Saturday, he was skeptical that racing would actually take place on Sunday but some help from the wind in drying things out plus some tireless efforts by the crew on the heavy equipment working the pits and track made all the difference, overcoming the inch of rain that the track received.  Their new project for the week in getting their regular entrance to the pits up and running worked out but they had plenty of work to do before that became a reality but everything worked out and much of the congestion of opening night was eliminated. 

You talk about crazy. Who could have predicted that after not having been at Quincy for a number of years, I would end up there on back to back Sundays to start the season, even though it is eight hours from home? But that's how strange this Spring has been. 

Things continued on an upward trend for the second night of the season here at Adams County with a nice car count of eighty five drivers on hand in the five classes offered. Car counts were very strong in both the Four Cylinders and Sport Mods. The Modified count built to a nice full pair of heat races with the Streets and Late Models edging upward too. The good thing is that they are moving in the right direction and with another good night of racing, done promptly and completed at an early hour, likely even more drivers will appear in the coming weeks as the word gets out. 

A surprise entrant on this night was Josh Holtman who after his very violent flip last week in the Sport Mod feature, seemed more likely to be sidelined for weeks but to the contrary, he was back at it tonight for week two. However, two more drivers were added to the flip list when Bill Roberts in his Modified and Dyllan Bonk in the Four Cylinder class both took tough flips from which both were unhurt. 

After qualifying for the Mods, which UMP is insistent on, racing started right at 6 pm and thirteen qualifying events went off like clockwork, aided by the one spin rule that Adams County is using for their heat race action. 

They took a short break to water the track and then it was right into the five main events. Despite a big car count in a couple of the classes, no B Features were held and everyone got to start the main event. And drivers in the Four Cylinder and Sport Mods did a great job as each class had only a single yellow flag during their mains, despite starting twenty eight and twenty four cars respectively on the "Broadway Bullring." 

The Late Models would start off the mains and with a field that was still a bit small but nearly double of what they had on opening night, the class seems to be moving in the correct direction. However, after letting one split away last week, Denny Woodworth was not about to let that happen twice as he dominating the race, leading by nearly a full straightaway over Sam Halstead in a main that went green to checkered. Ray Raker would finish third. 

One of the most dominant drivers so far this year has been Street Stock driver Robert Cottom and that would hold again on week two. Despite starting in the second row, he would make a powerful outside move on lap one of the feature, driving past both Austin Riggs and Leremy Jackson and he would have the lead by the completion of the first lap. Despite three yellows to bunch the field, there would be no stopping Cottom and he would win by a full straightaway over Rudy Zaragoza and Robert Thompson. It was Cottom's second in a row and he has yet to be challenged. 

Everyone's eyes got big in the crowd when all twenty eight Four Cylinder cars rolled on to the track for their main event  on the quarter mile and several people quickly scrambled to the rest room to prepare, just in case this would be an extended length event. However, the drivers surprised us all with an extremely smooth contest that was stopped just the one time when Bonk got tangled up with heavy traffic and took a quick and hard roll. Fortunately, he was OK. 

This race saw Jeffery Delonjay and Michael Grossman battle it out with Grossman holding the lead briefly twice, only to see Jeffery drive by him on both occasions. Grossman, who was leading last week when his oil filter caught fire and produced quite a spectacular display, led lap one before Delonjay drove past him for the lead. 

And later, after the red flag for the Bonk flip, Grossman would again steal the lead for one lap, only to have Delonjay drive past him again and this time Jeffery would not relinquish the top spot as he would pull out the win for the second straight week. Grossman would hold on for second over Cyle Hawkins with twenty three cars still on the track at the finish. 

Kenny Wallace would pay the track a visit on Sunday night and later would drive back to St. Louis with an extra $900 for the win, enhanced by some nice bonuses from area businesses. Wallace would lead all the way but things got tight a couple of times with his buddy Dave Wietholder giving him plenty of grief. 

At one point, Wietholder, who was working the top side of the slick track, would edge past Wallace for the lead, but the yellow flew for a spin, thus saving Kenny's "bacon." Austen Becerra, battling for the lead too, would catch just as big a break when he spun while making an all out move for the lead but a tail end car spun at the same time and was judged to be the caution producer, not Becerra who got his spot back and would finish up third. 

Wietholder would try the outside again and again but he just couldn't quite make it work and Wallace, who did not make any other mistakes, would drive home for the win and not surprisingly, have plenty to say in victory lane, as is his nature. 

Twenty four Sport Mods would wrap up the evening and while this one had all the makings of another lengthy affair, the drivers did a great job with only one yellow for a minor spin. A.J. Tournear would lead lap one before he was overtaken by Logan Cumby. Cumby would move out to a nice sized lead and would never be seriously challenged the rest of the race. 

However, there was plenty going on behind him as several drivers made a big charge to the front. This class, under IMCA sanctioning, is the only one using true point average inverts and for that reason, the most successful cars were starting far back in the field, not right in front like the other classes based on their heat race success. 

For that reason, we got to see Shane Paris, who won last week, charge up from the ninth starting spot while Logan Anderson, who wasn't here last week, charged up from twelfth. They both put on quite the show as they tore through the field, making clean but aggressive passes as they sought to get to the front. 

In the closing laps, Anderson got to second and Paris third but they ran out of time and Cumby can be thankful that there wasn't a late race yellow or things could have gotten quite sticky for him. As it was, it make for an entertaining race. 

Things seem to be really coming together nicely here for the folks at Adams County. With the final checkered right at 9 pm, this was a three hour program that allowed folks to get on their way home early and get ready for work or school on Monday. The racing has been quite good and the track in decent shape, especially with our difficult Spring. The scoreboard was working this week which was very helpful at keeping track of laps and another nice sized crowd was on hand on a night when it still got plenty cool before the final checkered waved. Thanks again to Jimmy and Blake and all the folks at Adams County for a good and quick night of racing.