Wednesday night, July 5th, the Denny Osborn Memorial Race was held at the Independence Motor Speedway in Independence Iowa. It was also the first night of the Buchanan County Fair which goes through Saturday night, featuring some big name entertainment as well as dirt track racing. All six classes that normally race at Independence would be a part of this program on Wednesday night. The normal Monday Night Madness purse structure would be in effect for this event with the Late Models, Stock Cars, Modifieds and Sport Mods all racing for a grand to win with the Hobby Stocks running for five hundred dollars and the Sport Compacts $250. However, there were also a number of other contributions to the purse, primarily because it was the Osborn Memorial and the winner would actually go home with over twenty three hundred dollars in his pocket.
It was interesting scheduling for this event with a Monday Night Madness race held just two days earlier on July 3rd and then to come right back two days later would be challenging I would think. However, this date was probably set in stone based on when the Fair was in session. It also seems quite odd that a County Fair would start the day after the 4th of July but that was the case. In any event, I'm not complaining as it gives me a chance to attend anther event at Inde on a week night.
There were some storms rumbling around the state of Iowa on Wednesday but the forecast improved quite dramatically for the local area and other than one very light shower in the early afternoon, Independence remained high and dry. In fact, by race time the humidity was exiting the area and cooler weather moving in.
I must admit that I was slightly disappointed in the car count for this event. I would have thought that with the money being offered and on a non competing night that more racers would have been on hand. Perhaps the weather can be blamed slightly but more likely the face that after an extended weekend with lots of racing in the state, a lot of people had to go back to work on this day and a lot of people simply couldn't get here for this race. Still, with one hundred and one cars signed in, it was not a poor count. But I would have expected just a few more, particularly in the Late Model field. The highest car count was in the Modifieds where twenty five of them signed in with a B Feature first needed until scratches following the heats made that unnecessary.
Track icon Jim Roper was calling the action solo on this night and he mentioned that such personalities as Ed and Karl Sanger, Curt Martin and Jerry Mackey were all in the house on this night, none of which I happened to run into. The crowd was a very late arriving one but there was a good turnout of folks by the time the racing started which was just after 7 pm.
Some extra work was being put in on the track surface itself which seemed just a bit loose early on. However, it rolled in very nicely and was smooth as could be. It did, however, form a huge berm all the way around the track that was quite ominous. It was the fast route to go for most of the night but was also very tricky with any number of drivers hitting it incorrectly, sending them either over the banking or perhaps spinning back across the track. An extensive track working session again was held after the heat races, with the heats only taking sixty two minutes to complete. There was some thought that perhaps the Late Models would be sent out on a fresh track to run their feature first, given the importance of their event, but the heat race running order was continued to the mains which then saw the Hobby Stocks first out on to the track for their main event.
The six feature races would prove eventful with several big slips and passes altering the course of the action that also included one winner being disqualified in post race inspection.
Tyler Ball would take the Hobby Stock feature but it would prove to be a tough race. He would take the initial lead , be passed one lap later by Will Bird and then retake the lead on the following lap. Zach McNeese would start sixth and eventually move into second and put the pressure on Ball.
Three yellow flags in the second half of the race would keep things packed and tight but Ball would never forfeit the lead. A late race scramble would see Jacob Floyd move into second with Bradly Graham moving into third ahead of McNeese. The win was Ball's third of they year here and I have now seen two of them as he won the last time I was here.
A late race pass and a post race disqualification were all a part of the Stock Car feature which was stopped six times by the yellow flag for a variety of spins and collisions. Kaden Reynolds would take the early lead off the pole as it took four attempts to get the first lap completed. Early developments saw two of the biggest challengers eliminated when Damon Murty first went off the track over the berm and then was involved in a wreck that saw him leave behind a wrecker.
Tom Schmitt broke his front end early on and he wobbled his car to the pits as he was done also. All these yellows helped Cole Mather who started thirteenth work his way up to second behind Reynolds by the halfway point of the race. After that, it was a two car race with both running the risky but fast high side where one slip could prove fatal.
And that's what happened to Reynolds on lap fifteen with only five laps to go when he jumped the cushion in turn four and by the time he fought his way back onto the track, he was in second as Mather had passed him. Attempts to catch up didn't work as he only fell farther behind as Mather drove on to the win.
But did he? As it turns out, something bad happened to him in the post race inspection and he was disqualified from the event, giving the win back to Reynolds. Tanner Allen would be officially second with Leah Wroten third.
It was a bad night all around for Mather. The reason he started so far back in the feature was due to a spin in his heat where he ended up spinning backwards and climbing up a big tractor tire with the rear end of the car elevated quite high into the air and requiring a wrecker to remove him and place him back on the earth.
The berm would play a part in the Modified feature but eventually, Dylan Thornton would overcome its effects. Thornton started on the outside pole of the race and would get the jump on Jerry King for the early lead. In fact, in a race that would only be stopped once before a lap was completed, Thornton would be the primary leader for most of the race. Jeff Aikey would work his way into second after starting fifth and would chase Thornton but Jeremy had a comfortable lead, as comfortable as one could be while working that tricky berm.
However, when he went to pass a slower car, Thornton got too high on the front chute and got over the brink, allowing Aikey to pass him. Thornton did a great job fighting his way back on to the track though, and only lost one spot. And later, he was able to get back in his groove and repass Aikey to take the lead back. And once he did that, he would prove to be unpassable as he would drive on for the win. Aikey would settle for second with Dallon Murty making a late drive into third.
A small field of Sport Mods would take the green for their main event with Tony Olson moving from the second row to grab the lead before a single lap was completed. Brayton Carter, who had a bad heat run and would start ninth, would gradually work his way to the front as he became one of the first to test the low side of the track and he found it to work.
With pressure from Carter, Olson would flub in turn three and jump the cushion and by the time he fought his way back on to the track, Carter had taken the lead. Brayton changed things up during the second half of the race, running both top side and also on the bottom as he experimented with the best line.
Olson continued to struggle was while he still held second, he again jumped the cushion and lost time. Carter would cross the line with room to spare and record his nineteenth feature win of 2023. Olson would take second with Rayce Mullen third.
Then it would be Late Model time and the move of the night was made on the opening lap when Eric Pollard managed to drive from the inside of the second row to grab the lead before the first lap was even completed. The reason that was so important was that the Late Models all went to the inside of the track and after seeing most of the cars race the berm earlier, the Late Models all went cat fishing on the bottom, where the track took rubber immediately and passing became very difficult.
There were some problems in this race with the yellow waving on five occasions but each time Pollard would fight off any challenges, hold his inside line and then pull away. Everyone pretty much settled in and there would be little passing unless someone slipped off the rubber after that.
Pollard maintained and then pulled away in the late going, winning without a challenge. Evan Miller, who started on the pole, would drive home for a fine second place finish and Sean Johnson would finish third. It was a bit of a surprise and disappointing to see the track take rubber like it did which certainly limited the racing after that.
Later on I would find that there were varying opinions on whether or not the track was indeed taking rubber or that it was just super slick and smooth on the inside line and that made it appear that way. Not being a track prep expert by any means, I just went by what my eyes were telling me and by the way the drivers reacted to the conditions and where they raced. Several people that know a lot more about track prep and tires later would inform that the track didn't take rubber but that it was just smooth and slick and for some reason the Late Model drivers just chose to line up and run the bottom. They claimed that the berm was fast but that no one wanted to attempt that line. It would have perhaps taken more than just one driver to make that top side work effectively and that never happened.
I guess all I can say definitively was that with everyone running the low groove and just lining up, it did not make for the kind of race that I and others were hoping for, not matter the reason and circumstances. I believe that to be a fair statement.
Sport Compacts would wrap up the show and William Michel, who started on the pole, would lead all laps of what would be a nonstop main for the Sport Compacts. He was driving a borrowed car and one that I believe belongs to John Gill, but the taped on number didn't slow him down as he pulled away from the field , unchallenged for the win.
Second place would go to Steven Schmitz with Lukas Ricks making an exciting drive for third. The rest of the field was hugging the rubber on the inside while Ricks was bouncing off the cushion all the way around, making a speedy run on what was about twice as long of a track as everyone else was running. Still, he managed to move up from eighth to third.
It was a busy night in the tech area as a total of four cars were disqualified for a variety of naughty offenses with the other three coming during heat race action with two of the three returning to the track later.
All racing was completed around 10:30 pm on a most comfortable evening in north central Iowa. Thanks to MVG and Dana Benning and their whole crews, as always. The next Monday Night Madness event at Inde will be on August 7th.
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