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.
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