Rio Grande Waste Services Inc, along with Hoker Promotions and Darkside Promotions and with Ricky Kay Promotions doing much of the track work, all came together in concert to promote the Nippy 50 for Super Late Models at the Maquoketa Speedway right in town in Maquoketa Iowa. Friday night would be the preliminary event to the Nippy 50 but it was certainly more than just a "chump change" event as the Friday night event for the Late Models would pay ten grand to win with a thousand bucks just to start. The biggest money would come on Saturday night when the top prize, along with the start money, would be doubled.
And after some fine weather of late, if the Saturday night show should be called the Nippy 50, than the Friday night show should be called the "More than Nippy 40" as it was a cold night in eastern Iowa. Particularly the wind made it miserable with it howling at high speed right out of the East, in preparation for the storms that would later threaten the proceedings.
This program was designed for efficiency with just two classes in action as the Late Models would be joined by the IMCA Modifieds in a full program also but with just the two classes racing, it should have been a quick show and indeed, that is just what happened. That was a good thing too, as the racing action would be able to be completed even as the skies flickered and the clouds grumbled around us.
An all start team was on hand to call the action with Ben Shelton and Dustin Jarrett calling the races along with Iowa's own "Big Boy" reporting from the infield while also doing the Modified call. Unfortunately, opening night gremlins struck the sound system which cut out just as the National Anthem was about to be played and that part of the program had to be eliminated. Big Boy would call the opening races while they got the sound back working for the other duo, situated on the roof.
The Maquoketa Speedway certainly has undergone quite a revival in recent years, thanks to the Jackson County Fair Board as it certainly looks nothing like the facility I remember from my first visit here quite a few years ago. In fact, the last time I was here, they were literally assembling the new grandstand in turn one even as the racing took place that night. Now they have plenty of seating to host big races like this and with the pits moved to the back chute, good lighting and sound(when it works) along with a nice stage for music and such, it certainly meets all the criteria needed to hold big events, such as this weekend's show.
While I did not get to speak to either of the Darkside gentlemen, I did speak with both Shelton and Jarrett who did much of the legwork in lining up the Super Late Model drivers for this event and they were both extremely disappointed in the car count as only twenty six drivers signed in to race for the twenty grand that will be on the line Saturday. Of course, with this being two separate events, it would still be possible for someone to roll in and race Saturday without penalty but the likelihood of that happening is small. They were as disappointed as anyone and some of the adjectives they used to describe some of the Late Model drivers can't be repeated here. However, we were all in agreement that while the number of drivers on hand wasn't up to par, there were still plenty of top not drivers on hand that would put on a good show. But still, in this day and age, we want not only quality but quantity as well.
Much of the talk through the afternoon was about the weather and folks were continuously checking their phones for updates and radar. The chance of storms would increase dramatically as the evening would wear on and track officials were keen to this and promised a fast show. Darkside normally puts on some of the quickest shows that I have been to so I was not worried that they would do their best.
The program was altered to get the Late Models on the track first and both the driver's meeting and hot laps were moved up. Qualifying went quickly and the first heat hit the track at 6:57 pm. It was just one group for qualifying with Brian Shirley, who qualified right in the middle of the field, turning the best lap at 13.382 seconds. With only twenty six cars, the program was altered to just three heats and a B Feature and ultimately, there were only two drivers that didn't make the main.
The Late Model feature would be first with drivers starting straight up off the heats. Shirley would start on the pole and get the early lead over Cody Overton with the first yellow waving after just four laps when Brian Harris looped in turn two. Bobby Pierce would be up to third with Ryan Gustin and Tyler Erb next in line. Shirley would continue to lead as the green returned with Overton under the gun from Pierce for second with Gustin close behind.
A second yellow would slow the field as Erb broke and was out of the show, moving Ricky Thornton Jr into the top five. Another short burst of racing would see the field complete another four laps before Todd Cooney went for a spin with Pierce and Gustin now putting Overton behind them.
The final twenty seven laps would go nonstop, as the lightning flickered with the storm just skirting by on the North side of the Fairgrounds. Pierce was all over Shirley for the lead as Bobby turned up the heat and on lap sixteen , Pierce would drive around the outside of Shirley in turn four to take over the top spot.
Pierce would then steadily pull away with lapped traffic not a problem for him as he would lengthen his advantage to most of a straightaway. As the laps ground off, Shirley would start to slow a bit with Gustin and a charging Brandon Sheppard closing on him. Then Garrett Alberson would pick up the pace and get into the mix too with both Sheppard and Thornton Jr starting to slide back. Pierce would have no issues nor challenges as he would drive on for the win easily. Gustin would make a late race pass for second with Shirley holding on for third with Alberson challenging while Sheppard would round out the top five. Ten cars would finish on the lead lap with nine not around at the finish of the twenty four car field where you had to race your way into the show with no provisional starters granted.
The IMCA Modified field would number twenty eight for this event with several "Cheese heads" joining the field along with several Illinois drivers and Mitchell Hunt who came all the way from Michigan to race with the Iowa drivers. The Modified format would be the same as the Late Models with three heats with the biggest difference being the Modifieds would draw for their starting positions and redraw for the feature, thus making the result much harder to predict.
We would see an excellent Modified feature with the final result not determined until the final lap with the race itself would have only a single yellow flag to slow the action. Jacob Snyder would start on the pole but it would be Spencer Diercks, jumping out of his Late Model and into the Modified, that would be the early leader. The two Darkside cars of Bone Larson and Jacob Hobscheidt would be in chase of the leader.
The lone yellow would fly with eight laps complete when Jayden Schmidt would fly off turn four and the field would be bunched with Jeremy Mills cracking the top five at this point. Diercks would be working the high side of the track and he would continue to lead with the two #12t cars really battling each other for second. Hobscheidt would eventually get the better of Larson, taking second and then gradually moving in on Diercks.
Hobscheidt would make the low lane work and he would pull up beside Diercks, edging past on lap seventeen to be scored the leader. However, Diercks would not give up and would continue to pound the cushion, running side by side with Hobscheidt in a pleasing battle for the lead. On lap twenty two, Diercks would get a great run off turn four and would edge back in front but Hobscheidt would continue to run right with him.
Hobscheidt would run the low side while Diercks would peddle up top and it would come right down to the finish. They were still side by side on the final lap but Hobscheidt was held up as two slower cars at the back of the pack were both running in the lower groove and he lad to lift. Diercks would find room up on the banking and would drive through the cluster, gaining time and coming home the winner. Hobscheidt would settle for second with Larson third. Consistent runs would net Mills and Snyder top five finishes. Only three cars would fail to finish the race.
As the lightning continued to flicker, the final checkered flag waved at 8:53 pm. In response to the threatening weather and cold night, all the track officials did a fantastic job of running off a very quick program with the cooperation of the drivers. The whole show, from first green to final checkers, was completed in one hour and fifty six minutes! With very quick shows having been run the last two weekends, I'm going to get spoiled and the next time I run into one of the normal style, drag 'em out events that are too common, it will really seem like a stinker. The crowd was a very late arriving one, which I suppose is expected on a threatening looking Friday night, but hopefully there will be many more in the stands on Saturday for the finale.
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