Lamberies Last Lap Slider Wins Thrilling Shelby County Speedway Tour Race

 The Western Iowa Racing Results Tour made it's fourth stop of this busy racing week on Wednesday night, June 29th at the new look Shelby County Speedway in Harlan Iowa. And on a night when three of the five feature races came down to the last lap, it was Wisconsin "Cheesehead" Lucas Lamberies who made a last corner pass on Jarrett Brown to win the Modified feature and send the crowd home happy, knowing that they had seen an outstanding night of racing action. Other feature winners included Devin Smith and Mike Smith, both with close victories also and Caine Mahlberg and Brayton Carter also found victory lane in this five class extravaganza that was played out in front of a very large Wednesday night throng of fans on a hot and sticky June night. 

One hundred and fourteen cars signed in to race on Wednesday including forty four cars that were making their first tour race of the week, the vast majority of them Shelby County regulars, several of whom ended up being right in the hunt for wins on this night. 

Only veteran race fans might recall the name, but as soon as I cracked the city limits of Harlan I could not help but think about the most famous race driver that came out of Harlan and that would be NASCAR Hall of Famer Tiny Lund. I wax slightly sentimental about this because the Shelby County Speedway is one of the few race tracks in Iowa that I had never been to before until this night and Lund was the driver that made this track famous on the old half mile days before he moved to NASCAR county to make a name for himself. I might not be the Iowa expert that Jeff Broeg is, but I  have been to most of the tracks in Iowa at some point, however Harlan was one that I had always missed for no particular reason, it just never worked out. 

But this is a new day for the "new look" Shelby County Speedway and while the remnants of the old half mile can be seen surrounding the new track, things are new and exciting now in Harlan with the new track that was built early this year. Instead of a big flat half mile, the new track is somewhere between a quarter and a third mile and while one driver told me that the distance was more like three eighth, I disagree with that unless that would be running on the wall all the way around the track. But whatever the official distance is, it has made for a great improvement in my opinion over what they had. 

Of course, I was raised on quarter and third mile tracks and have never been a big fan of big half miles, and I would say this track is just about the perfect size for great racing. After watching the show on this night, it is hard to imagine that this was only the third race on this new track, as the show was spectacular and offered just about everything that a race fan would want. The action was super close, there was much passing and also plenty of rubbing which fans like a bit of too. Three of the features came right down to the finish and the amount of side by side racing could never be achieved on a bigger half mile. 

The new track uses part of the front straightway from the old track so the racers run right in front of the fans just like they always did. The new track has been placed inside of the old track, the remnants of which are used for pits down the back chute and through turns three and four. The pits has been moved out of the middle which is always a positive for me. The scoreboard was back up and operating on this night and the new lights have been smartly located not on the outside of the back chute like some tracks have mistakenly done, but on the inside of the track so the race cars are illuminated for the fans. Drivers enter off turn four and exit the track entering turn three. Right now the corners seem to flatten off a bit near the wall and keep drivers from running right up against the concrete but they were able to use much of the track in the feature races and keep in mind, this is still a work in progress with much left to refine. But what they have done to this point I give them a double thumbs up for a job well done. It takes guts to break with a long tradition and if I check around, I'm sure I could find some people that still miss the old half mile but this new track that they have created will provide much closer and competitive racing, a great viewing experience for the fans and will be much easier on the equipment than a big half mile would be. It's a little bigger than Stuart but will race much like Stuart once they build up the cushion on the top size and to my untrained eye, the entire place reminds me very much of what they have done at Mason City, to the size of the track, the way the drivers race it and even the old track surrounding the new one. 

The old grandstand, a wooden one that likely dates back many years, gives the place a "throw back" feel to the glory days of fairgrounds racing but the many poles holding up the roof are an annoyance but I chose to sit under the roof rather than get toasted sitting in the open grandstand just to the West of the old stand. If I had a dollar for every beam in the stands obstructing my view, I'd leave Harlan a rich man!  It was a day with temperatures in the nineties and with a strong wind blowing right out of the South, it would be challenging for the multitude of water trucks on hand to keep the track, pits and driveways moist but they gave it a great effort.  

With the smaller track, Midwest Madness Tour officials opted to start slightly smaller fields of cars in the main events on Wednesday with twenty two instead of twenty four which meant that there would be one more B Feature as the Sport Mods would need one also on this night. 

The biggest fields remained in the Modified and Stock Car classes with twenty nine and twenty seven respectively in those classes. 

As has been the case this week, racing would start right on time with the first heat to hit the track at 7:17 pm. Despite the fact that the majority of drivers racing here on this night had never turned laps at Shelby County before, they put on a great show yet one that didn't include a huge number of crashes and yellow flags. In fact, the seventeen qualifying heat races had a grand total of just two yellow flags! The one spin rule certainly helped keep things moving and the whole qualifying process took just over one hour. Four more B Features and it was time to go feature racing. 

They had watered the track generously just before race time and the cars needed to do some extra wheel packing before the show started but this resulted in a very fast track with plenty of bit and we saw several of the Stock Cars particularly three wheeling it around the oval. The heavy conditions would prevail during the feature races also which I can best describe as very intense with much close racing, side by side action and also plenty of drama. 

The most dramatic of the feature races was the last race of the night, the Modified feature. Jarrett Brown would start on the pole and while he was constantly chases, he would lead for twenty four and three quarters laps. Unfortunately for him, the money was distributed based on twenty five laps and that cost him dearly. Lucas Lamberies would start fifth in the main event which was stopped twice for spins on laps seven and eleven. By lap six, Lamberies had drove up to second and he and Jacob Hobscheidt would continue their chase on Brown for the rest of the race. 

The last fifteen laps would go nonstop and Brown seemed to have a fairly comfortable edge built up but then he started to struggle in the later laps, having a tougher time getting through the corners and Lucas started to close on him. It seemed Lamberies last his chance with three to go when he jumped the cushion but he fought back and as Brown was slower in the corners, Lamberies closed again rapidly. 

On the final lap, Lucas got a great run off turn two, flew down the back chute and executed a perfect slider, nosing under Brown in turn three. And Brown didn't have anything to return him with as Lucas pulled away off the last corner and would drive home for a thrilling and somewhat unexpected, comeback win. The three "Cheeseheads" in the crowd, Lucas, his father and I would bask in the glory of the moment. Brown would settle for second ahead of Hobscheidt. 

Dallon And Damon Murty never get beat when they start side by side in the front row. Except, on this night they did with Devin Smith being the spoiler. Dallon would lead lap one, Smith would take over on lap two after starting in the third row, but Dallon would overtake him again just two laps later.

 Dallon would continue to lead but Smith was all over him for the top spot and on lap eleven, when Dallon slipped off the bottom, Smith was right there to drive under him and take over the lead. After that, the Murty's chased but simply couldn't catch Smith on this night who drove home for the win with the Murty pair close behind in a battle of perhaps the two top racing teams around in the Stock Car class. 

The other very close feature was in the Hobby Stock class, where Mike Smith would edge out Zac Hemmingsen on the last lap with a somewhat questionable pass. Smith had led since the drop of the green from his pole spot while Hemmingsen gradually worked his way into second quickly after starting fifth.

Hemmingsen would dog Smith and in the last few laps really start to pick up the pace. In the last couple laps, the two would exchange thrilling slide jobs as they exchanged the lead, each one done cleanly by both drivers. However, as they came out of turn four to see the white flag with Hemmingsen holding a tenuous lead, Smith would crowd inside him and shove him up to the wall where Zac would have to lift, giving Smith the lead. Hemmingsen would then dive to the bottom of the track in turn one, giving him a perfect opportunity to "dump" Smith for what he had done. However, Zac, with the bottom covered by Smith, instead hit the brakes and rolled through the corner glued to Smith's rear bumper. 

Smith kept the low groove blocked and there was no opportunity for Hemmingsen to try a last conner pass as Smith drove on for the win with Zac close behind. Smith received the first place check and the trophy but the real winner here was Hemmingsen who played it clean to the finish. Perhaps there will be a time and a place where this move might come back to haunt Smith. 

Brayton Carter has the uncanny ability to find the smallest of openings on the track and make passes that don't seem possible and it did it again on Wednesday as he showed why he is so successful winning races despite always starting deep in the field. 

While Izac Mallicoat and then Geoff Olson would lead the opening two laps of the Sport Mod feature, Carter was busily moving up after starting tenth on the grid. By lap three he was third and following a lap six yellow for a slowing car, he would challenge leader Olson for the top spot. 

When Geoff slipped up in turn four, Carter made a quick move to the bottom of the track and took over the top spot. From then on, it was easy sailing as Brayton would lead the rest of the way for  the win. Tyler Watts made a nice drive to finish in the runner up slot with Olson third. 

Rounding out the racing, Caine Mahlberg would start on the pole and lead all the way to take the Sport Compact feature over Matt Miller and Tyler Fiebelkorn. 

All racing was completed before 11 pm and this first chance to show off the new Shelby County Speedway before a larger audience was no doubt a smashing success. They have done some very good things with this track and it can only get better as more racing is done on it. My first visit here was most certainly a very positive one and the hard and intense racing will be remembered for some time. I look forward to the opportunity to again get here in the future and before too long I hope. Thanks to everyone at SCS for a great night of racing. 

Damon Murty and Brown Highlight Madness Tour Races at Alta

 The Midwest Madness Tour moved on Tuesday night, June 28th to the big half mile at the Buena Vista Speedway in the heart of Alta Iowa. This would be night number three of the tour and would feature the Kyle Suter Memorial celebration, the biggest race of the year for promoter Trent Chinn and the folks at Buena Vista. 

All five classes that are a part of the tour would be on hand again for a full night of racing and just for fun the local Bomber class got to race on Tuesday night too as I guess we needed a couple more races as a part of a jam packed night of racing. However, the Bomber class is a local favorite that has been brought back to life this year at Alta and as a sort of rolling demolition derby, it certainly seems to appeal to the local interests as the crowd seemed to have a ball watching the hijinks that this class provided. 

The car count was one hundred and fourteen cars in the six classes, down somewhat from the earlier races this week but still more than double the count for a normal Wednesday here at Alta. There just aren't as many local weekly racers here to supplement the travelers who are with the tour all week, so the count was expected to be somewhat smaller on this night although there were still enough cars to provide four Modified heat races and a B Feature while the other classes ran just heats and main events. 

The main events on this night would provide an interesting variety of outcomes with three of the main events seeing one driver lead from start to finish while the other two provided a mad scramble with a variety of leaders while I'm just not sure how to accurately describe the Bomber main except to say that it was different. 

The normal format for this series would continue with all mains lined up on the draw/redraw format with the Stock Cars and Modifieds doing that redraw at center stage on the track. A number of Modifieds were left sitting in the pits come feature time with their large field of cars while everyone still running could start the other main events. 

There were only six cars for the Bomber feature and likely the same six that started the season and will be there every week all season. This is the same thing that happened to this class here years ago when the number always remained the same and no new cars ever joined the class. While this is their first year back again at Buena Vista, things look very much like a repeat performance to this point. Their main would see just about every car spin at least once and several made multiple trips in the wrong direction around the track. At the end, it was young driver Wyatt Johnson that collected the glory. 

The Sport Compacts had a nice field of fourteen cars and it would be Trent Reed that would take the green flag from the pole and lead all laps to earn a pretty easy win. However, in post race technical inspection, Reed's car faired to uphold all the rules and regulations as prescribed by the International Motor Contest Association in their rule book and he was then disqualified from the event. As I left the grounds, runner up and surprise winner Tyler Fiebelkorn was at the stage to collect his trophy and the check as the winner. The change in standings elevated Kaytee DeVries to second and Cody Gordon to third. 

Perhaps the most dominating run of the night was provided by Sport Mod driver Jake Sachau who blitzed the field in that class as he led from start to finish and built up nearly a full straightaway lead over the field and at the big track here in Alta, that measured out to be quite a large distance. He took the lead from the outside pole, the perfect starting spot on this night and simply pulled away from the field. 

Rusty Montague had worked his way into second but then he suddenly slowed and pulled into the infield, giving second to Carter VandenBerg who had started on the pole. With only one early yellow flag, the field got strung out and there was quite a long period of green flag racing. Sachau would hold a big lead at the finish as he used the high side successfully to win over VandenBerg while Connor VandeWeerd would make a nice drive up from ninth to finish third. 

The other feature that saw one driver lead all the way was in the Hobby Stock main where Luke Ramsey would start on the pole and hold the lead from green to checkered. And while he would be scored the leader of all laps, he did have plenty of pressure on his rear bumper with Jay DeVries being his number one challenger. Early on there was some mad scrambling going on behind him with drivers using all of this wide track as they sought a line that would work for them. Behind Ramsey, there were at least six cars that jockeyed for position but by the halfway point, DeVries had settled in as the main challenger. 

Lap after lap, Jay would try to get to the outside of Ramsey but Luke was keeping his car very straight in the corners and no amount of sliding by DeVries would allow him to edge past for the front. This prevailed right up to the end of the race with Ramsey winning by a couple of car lengths over DeVries and Justin Frederick would finish a solid third. 

The Stock Car feature would be a mad scramble as we've grown to expect in this class with all twenty three cars on hand taking the green flag. Trey Klein would draw the pole but before a lap could be completed, Justin Nehring would take a wild slide off the end of the track, necessitating a restart. The second try would see Brian Blessington take the initial lead with immediate pressure coming from Randy Brands, Dallon and Damon Murty and Devin Smith. 

Blessington was flying on the high side of the track but he couldn't shake Brands and Damon Murty who had fought off his son to secure the third spot. Brands would sneak past Blessington to lead a lap but then Damon Murty would find an opening between the two of them and blast into the lead, an advantage that he would never relinquish the rest of the race. 

Both Blessington and Brands would continue to hound the leader but Damon would always maintain a small but stable lead from that point on. They would cross the finish line in that order, with Damon a couple car lengths in front at the finish. Quite a drive was executed by David Smith who would start twenty second on the grid and wind up fourth. 

The Modifieds would wrap up the evening with a good main event, one that was led for many laps by Drew Janssen before he was passed by Kyle Brown, who would go on for the win. The early laps of this race would also see a group of drivers, perhaps as many as a half dozen, battling for position behind leader Janssen who showed strength early as he fought off challenges from Cody Laney and Jacob Hobscheidt in the early going. 

Brown started third on the grid but slumped back as far as fifth following an early yellow and then worked his way back up toward the front. Laney was the price challenger for the first half of the race and nearly drove the top side to the lead but Janssen was able to fight him off several times. 

As the scrambling continued, Brown started to show more strength and following a restart, he got a great run off turn two and drove past a surprised Janssen to take over the lead. Once in front, he was able to put just a little distance on the pack as the battle turned to the second spot where Janssen was now under the gun from Chris Abelson. 

Abelson had started tenth but was progressively working his way to the front and with his preferred high side open, he drove past Janssen in the late going to take over second. However, he had nothing for Brown who drove on for the win. Lucas Lamberies was the hard charger of this event, coming from twentieth to crack the top five late. 

The groove was a little narrow early and it took some caressing from Chinn and his staff on the track to get the best out of it but come feature time, it was slick top to bottom, had a cushion to work off of and the drivers were using every inch of its wide surface to race on. All this and dust free too. 

All racing was completed around 11 pm and a very large crowd was on hand in the mammoth covered grandstand at Alta. Thanks to all the workers for a good job as the track prep crew especially fought the sun and wind to keep the racing surface good while at the same time tending to the pits and drive ways of the facility. It is a never ending job and not exactly a glamorous one but certainly one that is critical to the success of the night. And one that you couldn't pay me a million bucks to do, but thankfully there are people out there willing to do it or we wouldn't have a show.  

Berry Jr. Tops Midwest Madness Clay County Run

 Night number two of the Midwest Madness Tour through the state of Iowa would find the racers at the Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer on Monday night, June 27th. After the opening night on Sunday at the Worthington Speedway across the border in Minnesota, the racers will now spent the next four nights racing at a variety of western Iowa speedways, starting here on Monday at Spencer. 

The Midwest Madness Tour has been organized by the Western Iowa Racing Results face book page and is now in its fourth year of operation and has now reached that point where it is an annual event that is looked forward to each year by racers in Iowa and far beyond. In fact, participating in Monday night's race were drivers from eleven different states. Drivers from Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Colorado, Arizona and California were all on hand to race, with some of the drivers from the far West making a purposeful trip back to the Midwest just to be a part of this five night series. 

I spoke with a couple of the drivers from Arizona on hand, where their racing season is now on hiatus until September because it is just too hot to race this time of year, so that gives them the perfect opportunity to pull back East and do some racing in this area. 

It was a large and strong field of drivers that assembled in Spencer on Monday night with one hundred and thirty nine drivers signing in to race in the five IMCA classes that would be racing on Monday night. This is one of those interesting shows in that four of the five classes race for the same purse with all classes but the Sport Compacts racing for a grand to win. There is also a point fund for the five night run and many of the drivers are here for the duration, hoping to reach the top of the points and collect some extra bonuses. 

The format for all five classes for this series would be the draw/redraw format which can sometimes make for more exciting racing and sometimes not so much but it is probably as fair a way of lining up the races as is possible except for maybe using passing points but that seems to be a foreign and unknown topic for IMCA racers. 

There would be plenty of racing to get through on Monday night with sixteen qualifying heat races to start off the program. the car count size would require a pair of B Features for the Stock Cars and Modifieds while the other three classes ran everyone in the main events. 

A quick hot lap session for all cars and racing would begin just before 7:30 pm. The heat races would go very smoothly with sixteen heats clicked off in just over one hour and only five yellow flags in those races altogether which was quite remarkable, considering how hard everyone was racing and the fact that for so many drivers, this was the first time they had been on this track this year or perhaps, forever. Four more B Features, more like many features, would qualify the remainder of the fields and it would be time for the main events. 

The evening would be marked by several quick track work sessions to try and keep the racing surface wide and prevent it locking down or rubbering up with so many cars and so many laps of racing. 

And quite frankly, it would turn out to be one of those nights where there weren't a lot of battles for the lead as it seemed that there would be a dominant car in each class that once in the lead, would not be moved out of that position. There were plenty of drivers that put on big charges though and also a wholesale number of big battles in the pack with much two and three wide racing through the fields. 

Sport Compacts would be up first and after Tyler Fiebelkorn would lead the first lap, Nate Coopman would come barreling up from the ninth starting spot and take the lead on lap two. Once in front, he would control the rest of the nonstop main, always seeming to keep just the right amount of gap between himself and Caine Mahlberg. Whether or not it just worked out that way or Coopman had so much speed that he could essentially "play" with the field, we will never know but he crossed the finish line with that same gap over Mahlberg and third finishing Fiebelkorn. 

All twenty three Sport Mods that were on hand would start their twenty lap main event. Colby Fett would redraw the pole and that was bad news for the competition as he would take the immediate lead and keep that spot for all twenty laps. There would be three yellow during this contest so that would require Fett to be on alert on the restarts but each time he would hold off Matt Looft who chased him for the distance. 

Fett would move around on the track, always searching for the fastest lane with turns one and two approached totally different than three and four with many of the drivers finding the low line best in one and two while pounding the cushion and hopefully, not the concrete wall in turns three and four. 

Looft moved around too, trying to find that line that would give him an edge but on this night Fett had the field covered as he would drive on for the win. Tyler Watts, the Kansas driver, had a nice run as he came from seventh to finish third. 

The Stock Car field was the biggest and perhaps most balanced of any of the classes and they produced a good feature, marked mostly by good battles for second and back as Dallon Murty dominated the top spot. 

However, it was a shocking development that allowed him to claim that top spot and then control the field. Veteran Randy Brands would get the jump on Bo Partain to take the initial lead and he seemed to be in control early. However, suddenly and without warning, he would loop his car exiting turn four and the miracle was that he didn't get clobbered by the pack bearing down on him. However, he did call it a night and that gave the lead to Dallon Murty, who would lead the rest of the contest. 

There was a dandy battle for second behind him though with much three wide racing and jockeying back and forth before Dallon's dad, Damon would take over that second spot. A late yellow, when Jim Horejci, shockingly also spun out of a top five spot, would see Dad put the pressure on Dallon one last time but he couldn't make the pass on the outside and the Murty's would come home first and second. Kelly Shryock, who always runs good here, started seventeenth on the grid but he would complete a late race charge by driving past Jeffrey Larson to take the third spot so while there wasn't a lot of lead changes, there was certainly plenty of passing and racing going on. 

Twenty four Hobby Stocks would take the green flag with the top two in this event starting on the front row and finishing there too, a rare occurrence in this class that seems to feature plenty of balance. Dylan Nelson would take the initial lead and he would have John Briggs chasing him for eighteen laps but never able to catch him. They seemed to maintain the same distance, even as they endured through three yellow flags. Briggs would try to pass but each time, Nelson would pull away by about six car lengths and that is where it would stay throughout the race. 

However, as in most of the other features, there was that one driver that made a big charge and in this event it would be Jay DeVries. He would start twenty first in the field and make steady progress toward the front, using the yellows that bunched the field to make passes and when he found a fast line on the top side of the track he really started to advance. 

Using a late yellow, he would pass both Drew Barglof and Josh Sidles and get to third at the finish. One could only speculate what might happen if another yellow would fly but that didn't happen. 

An impending great battle in the Modified feature was disrupted by the only yellow flag in that race and that ruined what might have become an epic struggle for the lead. As it was, the early race provided plenty of action as Tim Ward took the early lead from the pole and looked to be in charge. However, Tom Berry Jr was able to find a line that worked for him and he showed great speed as he blew past Ward and took over the lead. 

At this point, it looked like Berry Jr was going to run away with the lead as he built up some distance on the field with the race remaining under green. However, Ward didn't give up and his searching around on the track allowed him to find another line that worked for him and he quickly started to reel in  Berry Jr. once again. 

Ward pulled up beside Berry Jr and they raced side by side for a couple of laps but just when things were getting good, the yellow flew and that small edge that Berry Jr had on the previous lap would be huge for him as when they took off again, Ward couldn't find that same rhythm again and Berry Jr would pull away, leading the rest of the way for the win. 

Shryock would be the driver to watch again in this race, as with a late charge, he would move from eighth to overtake Josh Rogotzke for third, ending the night with two race podium finishes. Only four of the twenty four that started the event would fail to finish. 

All racing was complete by about 11 pm and no one in the crowd could say that they didn't get their monies worth of racing on this night. As usual, thanks to Trent Chinn, his staff and the staff of the Clay County Fair for their great work on this night and throughout the season to date. Tomorrow night, it's off to "The Beaver" for another of Chinn's many far flung promotions. It was noted that his mentor, Mike Van Genderen, was on hand to help with track prep on this night also.  

 

Green, Jackson and Clinton Top Fairmont Summer Shootout Opener

 Wednesday night, June 22nd, it was time for another special event for the support classes. On this night I would cross the border back into Minnesnowta and head for the big half mile at the Martin County Fairgrounds in Fairmont for the opening night of the USRA Summer Shootout with the featured classes being the Stock Cars, B Mods and Hobby Stocks along with regular shows for the Modifieds and Tuners. 

Wednesday night would be the first of five consecutive nights for this high paying series for these three classes, sponsored by Stealth Oilfield Services, LLC. Obviously this is not a local company as oil drilling in southern Minnesota is a bit of a useless effort but Leslie Gill and his racing team from Odessa TX are putting on this event and Leslie even pulled his Stock Car all the way up here to race too. 

Big money is on the line for the Stock Cars, B Mods and Hobby Stocks with a good point fund also available at the end of the week for those drivers that run the majority of this series' races. Top prize for the Stock Cars and B Mods would be two grand on this night along with a grand for the Hobby Stocks but it will be much bigger for the finale on Sunday at Mason City plus the point fund money will be handed out on that night. 

This even would be under USRA rules and guidelines although an attempt was made to attract drivers that frequent other sanctioning bodies by offering alternative rules, particularly involving tires, always a sticking point. And here in southern Minnesnowta and northern Iowa, the lines between the sanctioning bodies have blurred with many drivers racing with both groups, mostly just depending who is putting out the most money. Drivers jump back and forth on an almost daily basis and sometimes it's hard to remember just who is running the show until you check the officials uniforms. 

And even that is not a guarantee. Chad Meyer, long a voice of IMCA, was called in as a last minute replacement for announcer Lonn Oelke, who was having some health issues and was reported to have undergone some surgery earlier on this day. The word of Lonn was positive though, and Chad proved to be a great replacement. So now Chad as called both USRA and well as being one of the voices for XR Racing so its getting hard to tell who's on first and what's on second anymore. Other than an occasional slip referring to Tuners as Sport Compacts and B Mods as Sport Mods, he did a solid job and I think, enjoyed seeing some drivers in action that he hasn't had the opportunity to see lately. And the bottom line is, racing is racing, no matter what color the track officials are wearing By the way get well soon Lonn. . 

This series certainly did attract plenty of attention from the racers with drivers on hand from Missouri, Kansas and Texas as well as the area drivers. And there were plenty of them with the thirty nine car B Mod topping the list. Thirty Hobby Stocks and thirty seven Stock Cars were on hand with the other two classes, not so much. The Modifieds had only eight cars and in fact I talked to a Modified driver in the pits that didn't bring his car because he thought Mods weren't racing! And the Sport Tuners didn't have enough entrees to have a good card game. Both classes probably should have been left home so as to focus on those three classes were the big money was. 

Once change when you cross the IMCA bridge to the USRA bridge is how the races are lined up. On this night the draw/redraw format was shelved with passing points qualifying the drivers for the main events and with such big fields, B Features would be needed for all three classes. 

Sixteen heat races plus five B Features would be the long process that would set our fields for the main events. And since hot laps were called for in all five classes(why, I do not know), and with all the qualifying events, it was a long process to get us to the five feature races. 

The Tuner Compacts, or as I prefer to call them, the Forwards (FWD) saw Jaeden Erickson finish about a mile and a half in front on this half mile track in their five lap thriller. The Modifieds weren't much better as Jason Cummins gapped runnerup Don Gerritsen Jr by about the distance between Fairmont and the South Dakota border in winning that event. With these two exercises in futility completed, it was time to get down to the serious racing. 

The Hobby Stocks would do a remarkable job, with twenty four cars going nonstop in their main event and only one driver not finishing the race! On top of that, there were four different leaders of the contest and winner Dylan Clinton didn't take the lead until he was coming down the front chute to take the white flag. It was a good race that saw Scott Dobel lead early until passed by Gavin Bussinger for the top spot. 

He would lead until Dylan Nelson would come storming up from the fourth row and take over the top spot but even his lead wasn't secure as Clinton would make a late charge using the middle and upper lanes of the track and he would drive by Nelson at the end to get the win with USRA national point leader Dustin Gulbrandson settling for third. 

There were quite a few B Mod drivers on hand from Missouri and Kansas and after the B Mod feature was completed, it was clear they didn't come North for the fishing this weekend as the top four spots were swept by drivers from Missouri and Kansas with the first Hawkeye driver being fifth place Dan Hovden. 

The Missouri boys ended up duking it out amongst themselves as they separated themselves from the pack. Earlier in the night, I talked to B Mod driver Jake Hodges who is driving a new J2 car built by Kris Jackson. Hodges told me that these cars were very good on a slight, smaller track but he wasn't sure just how well they would run on the big Fairmont half mile. Well, the answer was, just fine thank you. 

Shadren Turner, who is leading the USRA points right now, would lead the first twelve laps of the B Mod feature with Hodges and Jackson trailing. A big pileup would slow the action but on the green, Jackson elected to try and run up the track and he blew past Turner on the restart to take over the lead and then pull away over the last seven laps. A late arriving Ryan Gilmore, another Missouri driver, would get past Turner for third late in the race. 

The Stock Car feature would wrap up the night and after the local racers suffered much indignities early, it was up to Derek Green to bring home the Stock Car bacon for the local fans. Racing from just down the road in Granada, Green would start seventh in the Stock Car feature but would be on the hunt early and moving forward quickly. 

The early battle saw Chanse Hollatz and Todd Staley trade the lead back and forth as Staley, the head of USRA, has proved to have made himself into quite a race car driver also. After Staley led briefly, Hollatz slipped back under him to regain the top spot but on lap thirteen, Green would use the higher side of the track, one that most drivers had ignored, and blew past Hollatz for the lead. 

Most of the drivers were protecting the low line but perhaps his knowledge of the track gave Green the advantage or perhaps he just was not concerned by the big high banks as he rode up top and drove into the lead. 

A late yellow set up a two lap sprint to the finish but Green got away strong and would drive home for the win. Kyle Falck made a late rush as he got past Hollatz for second with Bill Crimmins and Staley completing the top five in a race with only two yellow flags. 

It was a good night of racing and good to see the support classes, which often times provide some of the best racing, get their chance to earn some big bucks. The down side was that with so much racing and a not particularly early start, it was Midnight before the last checkered flew and many folks, with work staring them in the face on Thursday morning didn't get the see the finale as they were already on their way home. It was, by the way, a very nice crowd that took in the action on Wednesday night. If you are looking for a race to attend the rest of this week, check out the schedule for the rest of the Summer Shootout venues. 

Thanks to the track officials and USRA officials and also the track management at Fairmont Raceway. 

Colby Fett Tops Sport Mods; Abelson, Albertson and DeVries Repeat at Park Jeff

 Tuesday night, June 21st was the second and final night for the first annual Premier Industries Heartland Horsepower Nationals at the Park Jefferson International Speedway located just off Interstate 29 in Jefferson South Dakota. The premier event on this night would be the Sport Mod thirty lap feature with the drivers racing for a top prize of five thousand dollars. Also racing a full program would be the other four classes that make up the weekly shows here at Park Jefferson. 

After a hard fought battle, Colby Fett would take the lead on lap twenty two and then hold off some heavy competition through two late race yellows to earn the win. Other winners on this night would include Chris Abelson, Mike Albertson and Jay DeVries, who all repeated wins from Monday night's show along with new Hobby Stock winner David Miller. 

I did get another chance to talk to outgoing promoter Adam Adamson and I must correct that he has received four offers to buy the race track from himself, not three as I stated yesterday. He tells me that two off the offers would definitely keep racing going at Park Jefferson and that two of the offers did not disclose their intentions for the property. Adam does hope to see the place to someone that would keep racing going  but did also acknowledge that the possibility exists that if the best offer comes from someone that has other plans for the property, that racing at Park Jefferson may be done after this year. 

Adam is involved in a new start up insurance company that will require him to travel extensively within the next couple of years and he will simply not have the time to run a race track as it needs to be done in order to be successful. Also, he has kids growing up and he is missing much valuable time with them and doesn't want to see that continue forever. So, I guess Siouxland race fans will just have to see what the coming months bring in terms of this track's future. 

One driver busy thrashing in the pits before the show that I did not expect to still be on hand was Sport Mod driver Justin Svoboda. He blew up a motor in hot laps on Monday night and I figured he'd be back home by now. However, with the never give up attitude that racers have, it turns out he bought a motor on Monday night, put it in on Tuesday and plans to race later this evening. 

Justin is in the midst of a period of terrible luck as he has blown up crate motors in the last two nights he has raced. The first one had quite a few shows on it and he believed it was just its time but the motor he blew up on Monday night was a brand new one and had only three laps on it before it let go! He thinks that motor might have been one that was from a batch that had a recall because of some poorly machined parts and he will be looking into that. 

In the meantime, he made a deal last night to buy a motor from a Hobby Stock driver that recently made the switch over from a crate to an open motor and with eight or so races on it, he is confident this motor will stay the course. Justin would later qualify for the "Final Four" race but drop out of that event and ultimately not make the feature for the Sport Mods. 

Full programs would be run for four classes on Tuesday while the Sport Mods would run five last chance heat races and their "Final Four" to set the twenty four car starting field for their five grand to win show. Car counts were up slightly in the support classes with fifty drivers signing in to race which meant that double heats would occur for all four classes while only two of the Sport Mods on hand Monday night didn't return. 

Jay DeVries would have a much tougher time of it on Tuesday but a last lap pass would allow him to repeat in the Sport Compact class. Anthony Clark would lead the first lap before being passed by Caine Mahlberg for the lead with the first few laps being highlighted by some wild scrambles as the pack, which numbers at least a half dozen cars, was running three and four wide. However, even with the crazy scrambling, they were able to stay under the green flag with DeVries eventually moving into second and putting the pressure on Mahlberg.

Jay would try several times and have his front bumper riding right on Mahlberg but he just couldn't get a good enough run to get past for the lead. On the final corner, Mahlberg, who had been riding the high side, for some reason decided to run through the middle lane. This gave DeVries an open shot to drive around him without having to break his momentum and he did just that, powering past Mahlberg off the final corner and driving by for the win. One wonders just what Mahlberg was thinking, but perhaps he felt guilty how he got into the lead. 

On the initial green, it appeared quite clear that he had jumped one or even perhaps two rows of cars before the flag waved but in the final standings he was scored second so while it appeared clear to me, apparently it was not quite so for those that counted, and that would be the track officials. So without that last corner pass by DeVries, Mahlberg would have won the race which would have gone down as a travesty. Zach Bohlmeyer would finish third. 

The only new winner of Tuesday night's show would be Hobby Stock driver David Miller. Jeff Fink would take the early lead and pace the field for the first three laps before Miller, who started fifth and quickly moved into contention, would make the pass to take over the lead. 

Fink and Carter Davis would stay right with Miller though as the front group of cars would number five or six for most of the race. Last night's winner Craig Clift would drive up to second and challenge until he went flying off the first turn and was done as he headed directly for the pits. This track is a tricky one and even veteran drivers, such as Clift who actually does the track prep here, find it tricky enough to overshoot the corners, even with the thousands of laps he probably has around this place. When it gets slick and icy, which is just about for every race night, you see some real surprises sometimes in who messes up. 

Two late yellows would put the pressure on Miller but he responded and in a tight finish, led Fink and Travis Landauer home for the win. 

The Stock Car feature was a yawner. Albertson, who started third, took the lead before a single lap had been completed and in what turned out to be a nonstop race, he simply drove away from the field. As the race progressed, he built his lead to nearly a full straightaway and was never pressed at all as he took his second win of the week and it's only Tuesday!

The battle for second was better, with Tyler Pospisil holding off a steady challenge from Joe Merrill to take that spot. 

The Modified feature was also a nonstop race and the scenario was much like Monday night for Chris Abelson. For the second straight night, Jim Cole was on the pole and for the second straight night he slipped off it and allowed Anthony Roth on this night, to take over the lead. 

Just like Monday, Chris Abelson took some time getting to second as he had to fight his way past Austin Svoboda to get second and then, just like Monday night, he had quit a distance to make up to catch Roth for the lead. And just like Monday night, while the distance seemed daunting, Abelson was able to gradually cut into Roth's lead as Abelson's Razor was wired to the corners while Roth was a little bit loose and slipping around in the corners just a bit. 

With four laps to go, Abelson caught Roth, and they raced side by side around the track but Abelson was able to drive much harder into turn three and he took over the lead and then pulled away in the remaining laps as he had the car with the best handling both nights and he made the rest of the field pay. Svoboda would hold on for third. 

The Sport Mod feature, slated for thirty laps , would round out the evening. The race started strangely with the front row quickly being decimated. Pole sitter Karl Brewer was forced to go to the tail of the field after he apparently had motor problems and changed an engine which was not allowed. Then, outside pole starter Josh Blom went flying off the first turn on the first attempt to start the race and also had to go to the back of the pack. 

That first lap yellow would be the only one for the next twenty six laps though with lots of good racing going on after that false first attempt to race. Jared Boumeester, from Waseca Minnesota, took the lead and he would really open up a gap on the rest of the field. 

As he motored away from the pack, there was a great battle for position behind  him with Colby Fett, Brayton Carter and Logan Anderson all charging up in a tight group. While Boumeester made time up front, that group continued to dice for position as they chased Jared. 

Things began to change at this point as Boumeester caught the back of the pack where they was a group of cars engaged in their own battle and the low groove, where Boumeester was running, was blocked and he found it very hard to pass. 

The starter was showing the slower cars the layover flag, but it was still tough for Boumeester to get by and his lead began to shrink rapidly. Fett was running a very dangerous high line, inches away from the tipping point that would have sent him flying off the ends, but he made it work and it was the perfect place to get past traffic. He caught Boumeester for the lead and with Jared blocked low, drove right past him on the outside in turn two to take over the top spot. 

Anderson, a charging Robbie Thome and Carter were also right there when the yellow flew with only four laps to go, setting up a wild finish. Devyn Peterson, having a good run, would spin on the first attempt but then the final four laps would be completed. 

Fett continued to run that risky high line but he made it work as he eased away from the pack. Anderson got by Boumeester for second and tried to dive under Fett for the lead but he couldn't make it work and Fett would drive on for the big win. Carter would move from fifth to third in the last four laps followed by Thome and things went South for Boumeester at the end as he would have to settle for fifth. 

It was an excellently run race with just three yellow flags and only two of the twenty four starters weren't around to see the finish. I believe this slippery but wide track to be the great equalizer as this becomes a driver's track when it is icy like this and big horsepower alone is not going to be the answer at this track. 

For the second straight night, the program was run off at a very nice, midweek pace with driver interviews taking place but no wasted time and the final checkered flew just a few minutes after 10 pm. 

Thanks to everyone at Park Jeff and good luck in his new adventures to Adam Adamson. We hope for the best for the track itself and hope that the new owners, who ever they might be, will keep dirt track racing as a part of its future. 

Abelson Makes Late Race Pass for Win; Sport Mods Qualify for Horsepower Nationals

 Monday night, June 20th, night one of two for the Premier Industries Heartland Horsepower Nationals was held at the Park Jefferson International Speedway in Jefferson South Dakota. This Monday show would be qualifying night for the Sport Mods as they tried to position themselves well for Tuesday night's big finale for their class, paying five thousand dollars to the winner. 

Along with the IMCA Sanctioned Sport Mods, a full program would also be held in the other four divisions that routinely race at Park Jefferson and that would include the Modifieds, Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts. 

These two nights would be the wrap up to a busy stretch of racing for the drivers from the Siouxland area. For those that don't know, Park Jefferson and Raceway Park share one of the most unusual set ups of any tracks I know of in the country. Park and Raceway are directly across the highway from each other and either one can be easily viewed from the parking lot of the other. The reason that there are two race tracks so close to each other is that while Raceway Park has long been an established track sitting right along Interstate 29, Park Jefferson was originally a track built for racing horses and for pari-mutuel betting, but it didn't last and eventually the track was converted for auto racing purposes so there are now two tracks so close together. Raceway races on Sundays and Park on Saturdays so on this weekend it would be possible to race four straight nights and never have to do more than literally drive across the street to do so!

Adam Adamson, the owner of Park Jefferson, has announced that this will be his last year as the promoter of the track. I understand that a new business venture and other work commitments will no longer allow him the time to run a race track so the track is for sale. I am also told that he has received three offers on the track that have yet to be reviewed so I can't say just what the future holds for the track and whether the offers to buy include keeping the track going. The property is within close proximity of I-29 which would make it appealing for interests both wanting and not wanting to use the facility as a race track moving forward. Frankly, I can't believe that there are three parties in the entire Midwest right now that would want to buy the facility to keep as a race track , but hopefully I am wrong. 

Adam has been reassuring people for the last week that this race would take place, no matter what the weather forecast would bring. And he was true to his word, despite the fact that conditions were brutal. The high temperature was just at the 100 degree mark and there was a blast furnace wind blowing right out of the South  sustained at twenty mph or more, making for just about the harshest conditions that I can remember in quite some time. The racing season is long enough in the Midwest that we get to both freeze and boil during the same year and hopefully, live to tell about it. I must admit that I was surprised just how good the crowd was, given the fact that it was brutal out. For myself, I just wasn't able to make as many rounds of the pits as usual and I had to sit down a couple of times; that or faint! The drivers and crews working on the cars had to be a tough lot on a night like this. 

Speaking of the drivers, with so much money on the line for the Sport Mods, the drivers had to show up, lousy conditions or not and forty  seven Sport Mod drivers, some from as far away as Green Bay, signed in to race. Drivers in the other four divisions were perhaps just a bit tired from a long weekend and had to take a night off and while there were a decent number of Sport Compacts and Hobby Stocks, the Stock Cars and Modifieds were limited to just one heat of each. The good thing is that drivers in those four other classes could take a night off, come back on Tuesday and still run another full show. 

As you might guess, with the heat and wind, the track was icy slick and was definitely a driver's track with raw horsepower not much of an advantage on this night. Honestly, just about every other time I have been at Park Jeff, the condition of the track has remained constant as they usually run it that way here, but it might have been to the extreme on icy racing on Monday. This race doesn't have an outside wall, just a runoff area beyond the corners and new drivers especially can be tricked by that with several taking a ride off the end before they figure out that they can't drop that right rear tire over the edge unless they want  to do some off road racing. I was a bit surprised that they felt the need to hot lap all classes, especially since most of the competitors in the other classes were regulars anyway. I thought that just hot lapping the Sport Mods would be a good way to save some precious laps on the track surface on Monday but they know their track better than I. It actually never did seem to take rubber on this night, just get slicker and slicker. 

The Sport Mods would run two heats with their starting order reversed for the second heat. They did, however, run against the same cars in both heats and I have seen some places that would mix the cars for the second go round but they chose not to do so here. Sport Mods got two yellows while the rest of the classes were running under the one spin rule. No matter, the whole program went down very smoothly with the twenty race show having only a handful of yellow flags and much green flag racing. 

There would be no big surprises in who qualified for the Tuesday night show with the top ten in combined passing points from the two heats locked in. Probably the most impressive run was that of Karl Brewer who came from ninth to win the second heat he ran in. That would insure for him the pole position for Tuesday night's big feature race. Others that made the top ten include Josh Blom, Jared Boumeester, Colby Fett, Willy Kirk, Arie Schouten, Brayton Carter, Brandon Spanjer, Logan Anderson and Devyn Peterson. The rest of the field will engage in Last Chance races on Tuesday. 

As far as the other four main events were concerned, Jay DeVries would take only two laps to come from ninth to take the lead in the Sport Compact feature and then he would run away with that nonstop main. DeVries still has his Hobby Stock but has been running more Sport Compact races of late where his success rate is much higher. Anthony Clark would finish  a distant second. 

The Hobby Stock feature would see Craig Clift, who does the track prep here as well as race, start on the pole and lead all the way for that main event win. Gavin Gilbertson would ride the rear bumper of Clift toward the end of the race but he would try no dirty sliders, which the track was primed to deliver, and instead ride home nailed to Clift's rear bumper. Track point leader David Miller would make a nice charge from ninth to finish in third. 

Devin Tripp would lead the first two laps of the Stock Car feature before he slipped up the track and Mike Albertson would be right there to take over the lead. Albertson would then pull away for a dominating win with Tripp holding off  Todd Gereau for second. 

The best race was the Modified feature which saw three different leaders in its fifteen lap length. Jim Thies would lead lap one before being passed by Bob Moore. However, Thies would fight back and by the halfway point of the race, he would be back in the lead. 

Patiently moving his way to the front was Chris Abelson who would grab second from Moore after a hard battle and then set sail after Thies. This race would go nonstop with momentum on this night a huge issue as gaining ground on this slippery track had to be done slowly and smoothly. It didn't look like Abelson would have the time to catch Thies but slowly he caught up and when the yellow flew with only two laps to go, it allowed Abelson to start right on Jim's rear bumper. 

Abelson used speed to pull up beside Thies in turn one on the restart. He didn't attempt a slider, clean or otherwise, but pulled up beside Thies and as they left turn two for the back stretch, Abelson was able to edge out in front. He cleared Thies, and then pulled away for the win, with the yellow a heart breaking blow for Thies who was oh so close to the win. 

Visiting announcer Jerry VanSickel was calling the action tonight and we had to wait for the very last race to hear J-Vans best quip of the night. Jim Cole was starting p 1 for the feature and was debuting a new sponsor broadly on his car. The sponsor is an area "Gentlemen's Club" and the graphic picture on the side of Cole's car gave J-Van the opportunity to tell us that Cole was "starting on the pole" which quite literally, he was, if you get my meaning. I don't believe the prominently displayed fanny on the sail panel of Cole's car was Jim's butt either. Jim would get a top five finish to boot. 

Track officials, recognizing the fact that it was hotter than Cole's sponsor out and that it was a week night, did a great job of moving the show along. The entire event was done just before 10 pm and I would expect they would show the same urgency on Tuesday night, although it is supposed to be about ten degrees cooler and the wind to switch in a more Westerly direction, thus pumping in less moist air and sparing our sandblasted eyeballs just a bit. 

A Late Race Pass Nets Whitman Ten Grand at 141

 It was quite a couple of days for the folks at 141 Speedway located between Francis Creek and Maribel Wisconsin(just South and East of Green Bay). Wednesday was supposed to be the first of two nights for the Clash At The Creek XIV for IMCA Modifieds with a top prize of ten grand to the winner along with two full shows for the IMCA Stock Cars and Sport Mods with each show scheduled to pay out a grand to the winners. 

It was incredibly hot and humid on Wednesday but even though storms were scheduled, everyone was preparing as though racing would take place. The timing of the storms continued to change and it started to look more optimistic for the evening, with Toby Kruse telling me that if he had two and a half hours, he could get the show done which would be a full show for the Stock Cars and Sport Mods plus double heat races for the Modifieds. They even moved up starting time by a half hour, trying to beat the weather. 

However, the speed of the storms picked up and instead of calling for the cars for the first heat, announcer Jerry VanSickel had to tell us all to get the hell out of town as the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department had advised shutting things down so even though it wasn't raining, the show was cancelled. It did rain shortly after but fortunately for all the campers on site, nothing too severe happened locally. However, there were several tornados in the region and enough damage was done that neighboring Outagamie Speedway in Seymour had to cancel their Friday night show due to power being out in the entire area. 

The plan, as I understood it then, would be to run one show on Thursday and split the original purse which seemed to make perfect sense to me as all armbands, tickets sold etc were rolled over to the Thursday show. However, I heard that a number of drivers, clearly not economists themselves, put up a stink about cutting the purse even though the revenue stream had been cut in half. So to appease the uproar, somehow Toby and his partners made the decision to pay the advertised purse, even though it was now a one night show.  In fact, a number of great supporters from the community stepped up, as they do quite often here and contributed cash toward the purse and along with the "One Night Stand For Ten Grand" now paying ten five to the winner, the Stock Car feature went up to $2,700 and the Sport Mods to n$1,750.  Sponsors also spread more money out throughout the purse but to what extend and the exact amount, I can not say but I can say that this area and 141 are a match made in Heaven. 

So virtually everyone of the racers returned for night two plus a few more pulled to the gates in the support classes, perhaps having been scared off by the weather on Wednesday. A late move saw Jordan Grabouski and Jacob Hobscheidt roll in from Nebraska after not having been on hand on Wednesday. The car count would be one hundred and forty five cars and that in just three classes. There were sixty four Modifieds on hand, which is not close to the record for this event but still a lot of iron. There was also thirty nine Stock Cars and forty two Sport Mods. 

The Fox River Valley area of Wisconsin is an anomaly when it comes to car counts. While most of the rest of the country is facing short fields of race cars, this area, and particularly 141 Speedway, has tons of cars for their weekly shows with several nights this year with over one hundred and seventy cars in the pits for a weekly show and I was told they are averaging nearly forty Stock Cars weekly. The other tracks in this area don't score quite that high but still have car counts well above the average for the rest of the country. While there are certainly visiting racers here from places like Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska but no Minnesota cars this year, the vast majority of the racers this week will be right from eastern Wisconsin. 

While the weather shorted out the racing action on Wednesday, it still had an affect on the Thursday show. Gale force winds from the West blew all day so getting and keeping moisture into the track was a major challenge. They did the absolute best they could and the track held up quite well considering all this plus the huge number of laps that would be put on the track during the evening. Unfortunately, the bleachers face the setting sun here at 141 and it was a night to pretend you were in the Sahara, as we all got a pretty good sandblasting before the night was over. But the good new was, we were racing. 

All three classes used a straight draw, redraw format with the Modified portion cut to just one heat race with B Features in all classes to fill the field. 141 does have a strict curfew after a run in with some area farmers in recent years, so their show must be done in a prompt manner, no matter the number of cars. The good thing is this is what they do weekly so if anyone would know how to run a speedy show, it would be these folks. 

With so many cars and so few starting spots available in the mains, you can correctly assume that the heat races were tough, cut throat events with no prisoners taken. Still, with these drivers well schooled in the one spin rule, there were only a total of five yellow flags in the fifteen qualifying heat races, which is quite amazing. 

And when the heats were done, they moved right into B Features and then the mains. A quick misting took place from time to time on the track but didn't cost more than an extra lap or two between events. This show was tear assing through.

Twenty four Stock Cars would go thirty laps for their main event and the early leader was Dusty Loberger for three laps until he was passed by Chase Parker. Moving in to challenge him was Luke Lemmens and while Parker hugged the low line, Lemmens tried lap after lap to edge past him on the high side. This continued through the first half of the race with Mike Mullen and Benji LaCrosse also starting to be a part of the challengers. 

Just pass halfway, Lemmens started to edge up closer and they would cross the line side by side. On lap nineteen, Lemmens would get the lead by .052 seconds and that was key, as the first yellow flew a lap later and Lemmens would have the point on the Delaware restart. 

Mullen would then move to the outside to challenge while at the same time, LaCrosse was on the move. A second yellow would bunch the field one more time and this would give LaCrosse his chance. He would drive past Lemmens to take over the lead on lap twenty six and then drive away from the field over the last four laps. He would have the biggest margin of the night as he took the chekcered and would take the win over Parker and Lemmens. 

The Sport Mod feature would have two different leaders and only a single yellow over its twenty lap distance. Tim Sheppard would grab the initial lead but was soon challenged by Cole Czarneski for the top spot along with Bruce Belland. 

On lap eight, Czarneski would take over the lead following the only yellow when Zach Rabb put the field under the red actually when he had a pretty substantial engine fire. Czarneski would grab the lead after racing resumed and with no yellows, he would build up a full straightaway over the field. 

Bad luck struck him however, with only three laps to go when he got a flat left rear tire and lost speed. As he slowed, Sheppard didn't realize that he was exiting the track and nearly ran up his back before turning to the right and taking the lead back. Despite being shocked by the changing events, Sheppard would drive on for the win with a scrambled jockeying finish that saw Tim Warner finish as the runner up ahead of Jacob Zellner.

The Modified main would be fifty laps of green flag racing. Modified turned Late Model and now back to the Modifieds driving for the Czarneski team, Jared Siefert would take the early lead. Just as in the Stock Car feature, Mike Mullen would move into second and as Siefert hugged the low groove, Mullen would work higher on the track and try to build momentum and make a pass. He attempted  this multiple times and while he could get close, Siefert continued to hit his marks and hold on to the lead. 

It was basically a two car battle during the first half of the feature but smoothly and surely, Johnny Whitman was working his way to the front after starting twelfth on the grid. By the halfway point he was third as he passed Cody Laney and Wyatt Block to get up to that spot. 

Both Whitman and Mullen continued to work on Siefert who continued to hold on but his lead was tenuous. The big moment came following a yellow on lap thirty eight for a spin. Siefert would block low on the green, wanting to keep Mullen behind him. This opened up the top side to Whitman who got a great run on the green and shot past Siefert, beat him to turn one and then ducked back to the bottom and pulled away in the last few laps. 

If I was the Race Director, I believe I would have called Whitman for a jump on that last restart as he has a pretty big swing at Siefert before they took the green but none was called by those who matter, and Whitman would pull away in the final few laps to take the win over Siefert and Mullen. For Whitman, it was a repeat win for him in this event. 

A very good crowd was on hand for this show and here is the most amazing stat of the night. The first green flag flew at 6:33 pm and the final checkered waved exactly at 10 pm. That means that twenty seven races and three hundred and fifty four laps of green flag racing action took place in three and a half hours! Now folks, tell me why your weekly program with seventy or eighty cars can't get done in the same length of time!

Thanks to the management of 141 Speedway this week. They made the best of a tough situation and were more than fair to both the competitors and fans and perhaps that is why there are so many of them here every week. 

 

Beckendorf, Larson, Boumeester and Sampson All In For a Grand at Jackson Motorplex

 Tuesday night, June 14th, The Bank Midwest IMCA Series made their season debut at the Jackson Motorplex in Jackson Minnesota. An earlier event last month at this track was rained out so this would be the first event in the series for 2022. Featuring an all IMCA show, the Modifieds, Stock Cars, Sport Mods and Hobby Stocks would all be racing for a grand to win, a formula now used by most of the tracks in northwestern Iowa and southern Minnesota for their special events that seemed to have gotten its start after such shows have had much success at the Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer. Sport Compacts would be also on the card, running for something less in their pay envelopes. 

For the second straight night it was hellishly hot, with temps well up in the nineties and a strong breeze also which did help to move the stifling air around. The one large difference was that there was not the humidity in the air as there had been on Monday night. This made all the difference in the world when it came to track prep and track success. Monday night the track remained tacky and while some might have said perhaps too much so, a perfect race track is seldom in the cards. On Tuesday night they dumped truck load after truck load of water on the track but with the low humidity it got sucked into "the cloud" almost immediately. The track dried out quickly, the outer groove was mostly nonexistent and most of the drivers were religiously protecting the inside line. 

While they had enough cars for multiple heats in all divisions except the Sport Compacts(which is par for the course), there wasn't that really big field of cars on hand like there was for the opener at Jackson last year when the car count was a knockout. Perhaps there has just been too much racing going on in this area where a driver car run three nights a week without towing too far and that's before the weekend even arrives often! That is a lot, especially in this heat and perhaps the expenses of traveling and tires are starting to cause reality to break out. 

This is one of the few tracks that still hot laps all the cars in all classes that chose to do so but they do it early enough that they can still touch up the track if needed before racing begins. And speaking of the racing , they have perhaps the latest starting time of any track around as they don't throw the first green flag until 8 pm which is a formula for a real late midweek race night. However, with no B Features to run and a very crisply run show, it would not be a late night at all. 

Early track action would somewhat alter the events of the night as veteran Robb Nutt would break in hot laps and be done for the night while Jim Horejci, one of the top running Stock Car drivers in this region so far this year, would scratch out of a heat race and have to start at the back of the feature. 

As I said, once they got started they rolled through the program quickly. Ten qualifying heats took only thirty six minutes to run and then after a very short break, it was time to roll out the feature events. Only six cars took the green for the Sport Compact feature and Jaeden Erickson would come from the third row to lead lap one and would then proceed to drive away from the field, earning a very easy victory. The nonstop race saw Erickson win by a wide margin over Nate Coopman and Logan Kelly, driving here instead of waving the flags like he does at many area tracks. 

Fireworks started off the Hobby Stock feature and got at least one of the drivers and a few fans in a dither almost before the green flag flew. Pole sitter Cory Probst was spun by another car in the first corner, creating a bottle neck and requiring a yellow flag. Probst was sent to the rear and neither he nor his vocal fans, were very happy about it. Of course, it would help to know just what the rule is on this sort of thing at Jackson because some tracks punish those dead on the yellow and automatically send them to the rear while other tracks hand out punishment to offending drivers and give drivers harmed their spots back. It would seem that Jackson favors the former although I'm sure the starter didn't appreciate the abuse heaped in his direction. 

It did chafe that the driver that clearly was guilty then would start on the pole but he faded quickly as first T.J. Twedt and then Blake Luinenberg held the top spot. But it didn't take too many laps before a strong running Malik Sampson would take over the lead. The entertainment was watching Probst as he tore back to the front of the pack, using up a few drivers along the way as his adrenalin was clearly pumping. 

Probst was able to get back to the second spot and actually closed some on Sampson but Malik had too much of a lead and drove home for the win with Drew Barglof finishing third. Probst should not complain too much however as he clearly jumped two full rows on the restart green but somehow that starter that couldn't give him any justice also apparently looked the other way when he committed a clear jump.. 

Jared Boumeester would lead from start to finish to win the Sport Mod main event. Matt Looft would do a good job getting to second as he had to slalom his way past Jeff Carter, and John and Justin Klynsma to get to second. 

By the this time the track had narrowed up and the inside line was the way to go. Looft was up right behind Boumeester  following a lap ten yellow and they would battle for the last half of the race. Looft appeared faster but Boumeester was guarding the inside line and wouldn't give Matt the opening he needed. Late in the race, Looft would get a shot off turn two but Jared would slam the door, nearly sending Looft hurtling over the infield berm but all straightened out and they would finish first and second. A late scramble would see Dyllan Ricks get to third. 

The Stock Car feature would see rookie driver and part time Late Model driver also Dylan Fitzpatrick take the early lead and hold the top spot for six laps. However, he was really slow as he tried to protect the inside line and Jeff Larson powered around him to take over the point. 

Once Larson was in front, he was gone and pulled out to a big advantage. The entertainment was provided by Derek Green, who feared to treat on the outside line where mere mortals were unable to advance. Starting tenth Green had little to lose so he gave it a shot and he was persistent about it, not giving up when it didn't work right away and eventually, the combination of him picking up speed and slow cars blocking the inside line allowed Green to drive all the way up to second. He gave it a shot but he had nothing for Larson who took the win. Colton would round out the podium. 

Brandon Beckendorf spanked the Modified field to the tune of an eight second win! He started right up front, took off like a rocket and was only seen by the rest of the field when the yellow brought them back to him. 

But no matter, each time he would pull away once again and at the finish he had nearly a half lap on the field. The battle was for second in this race also as Matt Bonine had his hands full with several competitors that all wanted to pass him for that spot. He fought tooth and nail and refused to give in, battling off competitor after competitor as a few tried to drive around him on the outside but to no avail. 

At the end, he held off Trent Loverude and Don Gerritsen Jr to take second. 

For a full five class program, this had to have been one of the quickest races of the year. The final checkered waved at 10 pm which meant that the complete fifteen event program was finished off in two hours flat! Great work by the speedway staff and good driving by the competitors certainly helped. The Jackson Motorplex is such a beautiful facility and certainly one of the finest in the Midwest. Hopefully next time the weather will cooperate a bit more so they can get that multiple lane racing that I saw last time I was here back again. 

Logan Anderson Cleans House At Hancock County SportMod Nationals

 Monday night, June 13th, was a big night for the Sport Mods and for Logan Anderson as the Landus Cooperative IMCA Nationals were held at the Hancock County Speedway in Britt Iowa and Anderson would dominate the event, taking home $2,500 for his efforts. He would take the lead on lap nine of the thirty lap main event and then pull away from the field for the win, despite the best efforts of Matt Looft to try and track him down. Other winners on the night would include Jade Lange, Chad Palmer, Chase Rudolf and Josh Sidles. All winners, except for the Sport Compact winner, would earn a grand each for their victories. 

We were all very lucky indeed to even be seeing racing on Monday night. An early morning storm dumped about a half inch of rain in the Hancock County region of northwestern Iowa and it was touch and go whether or not racing could be held. It was a very poor drying day with cloudy conditions hanging on all day, much humidity in the air and a stiff breeze out of the East that felt like getting hit in the face with a wet blanket. It was quite uncomfortable. 

However, Fair Board members in this largely agricultural county stepped up and there was a fleet of tractors and other heavy equipment working the grounds quickly. Promotor Trent Chinn, working just his second event since being named Promoter for this track, coordinated the efforts at drying the facility. 

I was able to talk to Trent for just a minute as the gates opened and he said that if this was just a regular event, it likely would have been canceled but being the Sport Mod Nationals and a lot of drivers pulling a distance, they wanted to get it in if possible. He said it was a tremendous amount of work to get everything ready and surprisingly, the biggest effort was required to get the pits passable. The track had been rolled in hard the previous night and while it would be very heavy and tacky, it would be fine. The big problem was getting the pits so that the haulers could drive in. But they got it accomplished and while I saw a few big rigs slipping and sliding a bit, I didn't see anyone get stuck or any one need a pull. 

One of the ongoing projects at the track is the rearranging of the pit area. The pit gate will eventually be moved more to the East and more of the new pits along the back chute will be used, thus giving more of the space on the West end of the pits to be used for spectator parking, particularly during the fair. The ticket booth hasn't been moved quite yet, but soon will be. 

Monday night's program would include all five classes that normally race at Britt, with thirty three Sport Mods on hand to battle and enough cars in the other classes for a couple of heats and a feature, except for the Sport Compacts, which seem to struggle at all tracks around here getting any kind of numbers. 

With the success of the programs at Spencer in the last couple of years, it appears that all the tracks around here have gone to the format used at Spencer, with offering nice money, generally a grand to win, for the other classes that run with the special event featured class and such was the case here on Monday night. Of course, many of those tracks are also under the command of Chinn, who is now in charge of three tracks in this area and a disciple of Mike VanGenderen. 

The track was extremely fast on Monday with most likely record speeds being turned. It was "hammer down" racing at its best for those that like those kinds of races, but it also made passing tough as the groove was a bit narrow and the tacky surface made everyone fast. The motors were groaning, they were pulling so hard and overheating, especially while running in pack formation was a large concern. However, we were racing and given the conditions, the Hancock County crew provided the absolute best track that they could. 

Four heats and a pair of B Features were necessary for the Sport Mods while the other classes just ran heats and a main. With passing being a challenge, such drivers as Izac Mallicoat, Braden Richards, Colby Fett, George Nordmann, Jared Boumeester and Nate Chodur all found themselves in a B Feature, fighting to make the show. 

Twenty four cars would take the green for the thirty lap Sport Mod feature with Nate Whitehurst taking the early lead. Josh Appel was challenging him while Alec Fett, Jake Sachau and Logan Anderson all tried to work their way forward. The pace was blinding fast and opportunities to pass were rare so a slight slip up had to be taken advantage of quickly. Anderson was able to move his way up to third quickly and then the first yellow flew when several drivers at the back of the pack decided to play demo derby with each other, intentionally hitting each other while using a questionable thought process. 

Both Whitehurst and Fett dropped out with mechanical issues and on the restart, Anderson made a great move from third to slide into the lead ahead of Appel. Just at the halfway point of the race, Looft moved into second and the race was on. The second half of the race clicked off nonstop and it was a two car battle. However, Anderson really stepped up his pace at this time and despite both cars having an open track, Anderson was pulling away from the entire field, including Looft who was doing his best to cut the margin. 

It was a very impressive and dominating performance by Anderson, and even though he backed off on the last lap to avoid traffic, he was still the better part of a straightaway ahead of Looft as he took the double checkers from Kevin Long.  Appel would hold on for third ahead of Jake Simpson and Taylor Kuehl. 

The Modified feature would produce another dominating performance as Chase Rudolf would start on the pole and lead from green to checkered in a nonstop main. I believe it was the first win at Britt for Rudolf and he would run away from the field. Austin Wolf would finish a distant second with Kelly Shryock third. Just as the checkers flew, Jamie Anderson would jump the cushion in turn three and produce a spectacular and violent flip. Fortunately he was OK in what was one of the more violent wrecks seen so far this year. 

Perhaps the best passing move of the night would secure Josh Sidles the Hobby Stock win. Gavin Bussinger would be the early leader but when he pounded the cushion too hard, he popped his right rer tire off the rim and slowed to produce the only yellow of the event. 

Drew Barglof would inherit the lead with Sidles chasing him. Just past the halfway point of the race, Sidles made a bold move as he rode to the outside of Barglof and was somehow able to squeeze by him on the high side and take over the lead. With the track being so blinding fast, outside passing was almost unheard of on Monday but somehow Sidles got it done. He would then drive on to the victory over Barglof and Brandon Nielsen. 

The Stock Car feature would see a sudden change of events decide the outcome. Troy Swearingen would take the lead from the pole and build up a big lead over Chad Palmer and Dan Ekblad. The yellow flew for debris and just about the same time Kelly Shryock, charging to the front, suddenly shut his car down. And before the race resumed, suddenly Swearingen was gone too, headed to the pits. Either overheating problems or motor failure appeared to be the culprit for both. 

Palmer then inherited the lead and he would hold off all challenges from Ekblad and Calvin Lange to take the win. 

Jade Lange would lead all the way to take the Sport Compact main over Oliver Monson and Brandon Hartmann. 

What a strange couple of nights for me in terms of weather extremes already this week. On Sunday night I was at a race on the shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota and the wind off the lake was so strong I was wearing my heaviest coat and still cold and then less than twenty four hours later, I'm at another race where I have removed all the clothes the law and civility will allow and I am still hot and clammy. But I saw racing at both and that is the big thing. 

Thanks to Trent Chinn and the staff at Hancock County for persevering and getting this show in. They were rewarded with a nice size crowd, especially for a Monday night.  

Ruby Runs a Gem at Fairmont for Modified Victory

 A last minute decision found me on the road Wednesday toward southern Minnesota. When the weather cleared and it became clear that Fairmont Raceway in Fairmont Minnesota would be racing, I decided to pay my first visit of the year to that track. 

Several things had changed since last year at this track. They are now racing on Wednesday nights, with this being their third show of the year. New promoters are now running the fairgrounds track with Zach and Leah Gerhardt in charge of things. And lastly, they have switched sanctioning bodies for their shows with USRA sanctioning now in effect for the five classes that race at the track. Some things had happened previously with this track and the former sanctioning body in charge and I believe they ended up racing last year with no sanctioning at all and when Gerhardts took over, it was announced that USRA would now be their sanction of choice. 

There is a mix of sanctioned tracks in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa with virtually every night of the week taken by some track racing, so Wednesday was one of the few open nights. With the occasional Monday night specials at Spencer and Britt, Tuesday night specials at Jackson and weekly racing now Wednesday right through Sunday, there is a real plethora of racing events and tracks to attend and it must be a real challenge to every track and promoter to make a go of it in this crowed market with all the challenges that have risen of late. 

Apparently I picked a good night to attend the races here as from what I was told, this was by far the most successful night o the year so far. With so many tracks racing, just getting race cars is a challenge and on this night, they had what would be considered a good number of cars for these times and against all the competition that exists. They had enough cars for two or three heats in all classes except for the Tuners and sixty cars in total. They also had a very nice Wednesday night crowd in the stands on Kid's Night with the bicycles to be given away to kids lining the entire front chute in front of the grandstand. 

A keynote of this night would be the prompt program that was completed which is essential for a midweek program. The racers on hand would be a mix of USRA faithful from southeastern Minnesota and extreme southwestern Minnesota plus some drivers that towed from South Dakota and northern Iowa. They were joined by racers that have raced at Fairmont as their home track for a long time and adjusted by switching tires and perhaps either bolting on spoilers or taking spoilers off as the rules allowed. 

Racing would start at 7:20 pm and it took only forty six minutes to crack off all the qualifying events. With Logan Kelly waving the sticks(he must flag about eight nights per week!) the program moved along quickly. After a brief break to give away the bikes, the racing promptly started again with the five feature races set to roll. 

While Mother Nature threw the track a scare in whether things would dry off enough so that racing could be held, the watering the skies provided was also a great benefit. The track would be nice and tacky without being hammer down, the groove was wide and with no dust and a smooth surface, it was about as good a half mile racing as could be seen. And this would allow the drivers to race hard and fast but not produce many yellow flag slowdowns, In fact, the five feature races would be contested with only a total of two yellow flags!

There were a couple of runaway events but there were also a couple of features that went right down to the wire. The closest would be the final race of the night, the Modified feature. Duke Erickson would be the early leader of the Modified feature and in fact would lead the majority of the event. However, slowly but surely, Kylie Kath would reel in Erickson and then start to challenge for the lead. Meanwhile, Cole Anderson, Josh Ruby and Don Gerritsen Jr would battle for third with first Anderson looking like he might challenge the leaders before Ruby started to track them down. 

On lap eleven, Kath would pass Erickson for the lead but Duke didn't give up, and would then mount a challenge to take the top spot back. Off turn four, the top two were wheel to wheel, leaning on each other at high speed in a wild duel that saw Erickson retake the lead. Things went bad for Kath when he tried to retake the lead and instead spun in turn one, triggering a two lap sprint to the finish. 

Erickson would hold the lead on the green but Ruby would then charge forward and as they came to the white flag, Ruby would squeeze under Erickson in the same corner where Erickson had made his pass earlier. It was an exciting finish to a good race that provided interesting racing with drivers making surges back and forth. 

The Stock Car feature was just as good with Jeff Larson and Derek Green battling it out right to the finish. Larson took the early lead but Green was challenging him right from the start. Green tried to get past Larson on the low side off turn four and while he got beside Larson, he couldn't quite make the pass and after showing Larson the line, Jeff adjusted his racing line. 

However, Green was determined and he started working around on the track, trying to find another groove that would work to make the pass stick. He tried doing a diamond off turn four but Larson would hold him off. Finally Green decided to ride the cushion all the way around turn four and that worked as he blew past Larson to take over the lead. 

Jeff wasn't done yet though, as he went all out on the last corner, driving low into the turn and while he made it close, Green would hold on for the win. Almost unrecognized, Chanse Hollatz had made a huge move when he finally broke free from traffic. After getting into third, he made up almost a full straightaway on the leaders and finished a couple of car lengths behind them.  A few more laps and we might have had a different winner. 

The other close feature was in the Hobby Stocks where eighteen cars went nonstop in their main event. Jeremy Crimmins used the high side to take the early lead and then for twelve laps, he had Dustin Gulbrandson nipping at his heels, looking to make a pass. Gulbrandson would dive low in the corners and try to beat Crimmins up the track as he would get to the rear quarter panel of Crimmins lap after lap, but just never quite could get the pass completed. One last attempt on the final lap would see him again just come up short as Crimmins drove a fine race to get the win. 

Jared Boumeester was a runaway winner in the B Mod feature. He would start on the pole and lead all laps for the win. A late yellow set up a two lap sprint to the finish but he would pull away from Kullen Kath and Zach Elward for the win. 

And the small Tuner feature field would be led from start to finish by Jerry Coopman who won over Al Lahr and Jaeden Erickson in another non stop main. 

A smooth and fast track and prompt work by all the track officials led to a quick night of racing with the final checkered waving at 9:25 pm. I would think that they picked a very good night to present their "A" game as the big crowd on hand had to be impressed with the show and the early finish and they likely made a very good statement for the remainder of the season as they fight for their place in a crowded entertainment field in the area. 

Mike Smith Impressive At Buena Vista Opener

 The Buena Vista Raceway, in Alta Iowa, under the direction again this year of Trent Chinn, began their 2022 racing season on Wednesday night, June 1st. Sanctioned by IMCA for five divisions of racing, they also have restarted a Bomber class and on this night had also invited the IMCA 305 Sprints to be a part of the action also, thus making it a big seven division program. 

Eighty four cars were on hand in those seven divisions with only the Bombers and Modifieds being short on cards so as to only be able to serve up one heat race and a main. There are, unfortunately, several tracks here in western Iowa that just don't get very many Modifieds and I can come up with four or five tracks right off the top of my head where getting enough Mods for two heats is a struggle week after week. 

The Bomber class was restarted here at Buena Vista again this year after having been and on and off class for a number of years. This class had pretty good numbers and was quite successful for a time but then the numbers started to drop as racers instead built Hobby Stocks and the class was eventually dropped. Now it is back again as apparently some feel that the Hobby Stock class is too big a step for a first time racer, even though that class had the largest number here tonight with nineteen of them on hand. And some are just not interested in starting out in a four cylinder class(I know I wouldn't be). 

However, if this class is going to take off, they better get some more cars on the track soon as three cars of widely varying speed, which is what they had on Wednesday, just doesn't make for much of a show. 

Speaking of the four cylinder cars, joining the Sport Compacts this week will be Mylee JoAnn and her team who pulled all the way from Farmington New Mexico to race in Iowa this week. However, they were disappointed upon arrival to hear that their Thursday night race at Algona had been canceled as their class was dropped this week because the Late Models are in town. That's a long way to drive, just to sit and watch. 

All three of the racing Rogotzke's from Sanborn Minnesota were on hand with their Modifieds. Jesse told me they kind of enjoy the looks and comments from particularly the announcers when they roll out for a heat that they are all in, as happened on this night with their three "X" cars, X, XX and XXX. Throw in Chris Abelson with 1X and most announcers heads are spinning by this time. 

The evening got off to an inauspicious start when a three car crash in hot laps off all things, The severely damaged the Hobby Stock of Drew Barglof, who was scheduled to start on the pole of one of the heats and took him out of action for the entire night. Some tracks and some drivers are way too in love with hot laps. Tonight they got the cars rolling on the track by 7 pm(good job) but by the time they got done with tedious hot laps for seven classes of cars, the first race didn't hit the track until 7:45 pm, way too late for a week night show. They then proceeded to run off a quick program in three hours flat(good effort) but that still made the show last until 10:45 pm, again too late for a week night show. 

There were a couple of noteworthy performances in the many main events run. The driver that passed the most cars for his win was Hobby Stock driver Mike Smith. In the last race of the night, Smith, who redrew the twelfth and final spot in the redraw, came from that sixth row to make a late race pass and take the win. Jay Devries had led the first half of the race until he was overtaken by Cory Probst but Probst only stayed in front for a lap or so before Smith came roaring up and took the lead away. 

A late yellow bunched things up but Smith showed great speed as he pulled away on the final restart and led Probst and John Briggs home for the win. It's not too often you see drivers come from that far back in such a competitive field to win. 

The Sport Mod feature also had plenty of action. It started out wild when a jingle on the back chute on the opening laps saw Wayne Becker turn over on his roof and then sail high into the air like a surfboard. Fortunately there were no injuries but Becker and Kirk Beatty were eliminated. 

Zech Norgaard would then lead the first half of the race with Rusty Montague gradually tracking him down. Dyllan Ricks, who got shuffled back into the pack early, then would make a charge back up through the field. Ricks, who wasn't even in the top five at the half point of the race, continued to roar through the field in the late going. Montague got by Norgaard for the lead but Ricks was closing on him. 

On the final lap, Ricks would throw a huge slider at Montague in turn three and at the same time, Montague would half spin and lose time. The double down effect was that Ricks would come out of the corner as the leader and drive on for the victory, his first ever in a Sport Mod. Kaylb Brunssen would finish third. 

Chris Abelsen would lead all the way to win the Modified feature in an event that started only seven cars. The Stock Car feature would see Mike Vondrak get the jump and lead early but it didn't take long for David Smith to get going and overtake Vandrak for the lead. And once in front, he was gone as no one could provide a challenge to the driver that is now sporting a 1970 Monte Carlo body on his Stock Car. Stefan Sybesma would finish second with Devin Smith third. 

The eleven car Sprint feature would see Mike Houseman Jrand Brandon Bosma trade the lead back and forth before Bosma would go on to take the win over Trevor Serbus. 

Kaytee Devries would hit Gilbert Aldape so hard on the opening lap that she would likely have loosened any fillings he had. Still, she would nevertheless drive on for the win to the crowd's cheers over Caine Mahlberg and Tyler Fiebelkorn. Wyatt Johnson would win the Bomber feature while the rest of the field spent much time pointed the wrong direction on the track. 

A very nice crowd was on hand for the opener on  cool June night and we hope that this trend continues all through the Summer. Thanks to the folks at Buena Vista on Wednesday .