Hoffman's Late Charge Tops River Cities WoO Late Model Event

 The northernmost journey part of the journey that is the World of Outlaws Late Model season began on Friday night, June 27th at the River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks North Dakota. The next three nights will see the Outlaws race once in Minnesota and once more in North Dakota after the opening night of the four night swing was rained out at I-94 emr Speedway in Fergus Falls Minnesota, a real shame since the Outlaws would have put on quite a show there. 

Along with the Outlaws, the WISSOTA drivers in the Street Stock and Midwest Modified divisions would also get the chance to strut their stuff on national tv with both classes running a full program. 

On what Johnny Gibson, the WoO Sprint Series announcer has proclaimed his favorite track, the Late Models also put on quite a show on this high banked quarter mile oval that has no outside walls and drivers frequently teeter on the brink of disaster as a trip off the end here is quite the ride. Still, most are not afraid to make that move as often the high side is the fastest way around this true bullring that qualifies for that title just as much as any track in America. 

River Cities is dominated by the WISSOTA Late Models with great turnouts by them on each race night. However, the WISSOTA cars are true spec engine cars and they struggle to keep up with the open motored variety that the Outlaws show up with. So car counts for this event are always a hot topic. 

This year, thirty one drivers signed in to race on Friday night. Seven drivers signed in to race using their WISSOTA equipment while three others opted to get open motors which they raced on this night. The top fourteen in WoO points were also among those that raced. Of the seven WISSOTA drivers in the pits, three made the show with one of them being the track provisional starter while Dustin Sorensen took the WoO provisional after a rocky qualifying session. 

The quickest qualifier for the night was Brian Shirley who turned at 12.011 second lap, seemingly quick but on a dry track which got faster as the evening progressed following a "farming" session. Tyler Bruening topped the second group with a 12.105. 

One of the drivers racing with the Outlaws this weekend was Wisconsin's Sam Mars. They told me that the car Sam was racing was the same one flipped at Tri City during Summer Nationals action last week and that they "stopped the presses" at MB this week to make sure they got the car repaired so Sam could make this swing. 

Four heat races and just one big B Feature set the field for the forty lapper. Weather moving into the area, which has been such a prominent factor in area racing for the last few weeks, was threatening once again so they made one big B Feature and also moved up the Late Models in the feature running order as lightning was getting increasingly brighter and closer so the forty lapper was hustled on to the track. 

They did a farming session shortly before the Late Model appeared on track which really sped things up and produced a hard charging feature by all the drivers. They were going at it hot and heavy and not many cars ended up the feature race without a few war dents on them. 

Nick Hoffman started on the pole but he slipped up the track in the first corner and both Ashton Winger and Brian Shirley got past him. As Hoffman settled into third, Winger and Shirley went at it hard for the lead with them running hard and swapping lanes on the speedy track. .Tyler Peterson slowed with ten laps completed to bunch up the field, after which it was Winger and Shirley again battling with Hoffman lurking just behind them. Dennis Erb was having another of his steady runs while Bobby Pierce finally worked his way into the top five on what would turn out to be a very quiet night by him. 

Winger and Shirley continued to go at it for the lead, with one instance when they tried to cross lanes on each other and instead slammed hard into each other down the back chute, tearing loose much of the body panels on Winger's car which then flapped in the breeze. 

Mars rolled to a halt with twenty seven laps complete and this turned out to be the turning point of the race. And as we have seen with increasing regularity, just after a yellow flag ends much of the passing these days is accomplished. 

And such was the case again on Friday. When the green dropped on  the double file restart, Hoffman, who Shirley put on his outside, got a great run and blew past Shirley for second and with a continuing head of steam, he dove low in turn three, beat Winger to that spot and took over the lead with a "two for one" move that had the crowd on their feet. 

The last thirteen laps of the race ran off green to checkers and Hoffman pulled away to an unchallenged win. Erb continued his fine run, racing "The Ditch" like he always does and while Winger was thrashing around on the cushion, Erb drove under him to claim second. 

It would appear that Winger and Drake Troutman don't always agree on the track and they spent the last few laps beating and banging off each other with both cars looking like they had lost a war as Winger held off Troutman for third while Shirley slipped back to fifth at the end. It was a good race with plenty of action and not a lot of yellow flag slowdowns. Only five cars that started the race weren't around at the checkers. 

The support class drivers appeared to want to share the prime time cameras with the Late Models as they showed up in big numbers with over fifty of them between two classes, which even required a B Feature in the MidMods. 

Twenty four drivers started the MidMod feature race and it was Canadian driver Austin Hunter that led from start to finish to win that twenty lapper. Grand Forks is only about two hours south of Winnipeg and there are a considerable number of Canadian drivers that race at River Cities weekly, many of them with qualify equipment. 

Hunter battled with Jamie Ditzler and Frank Veert for most of the race with Hunter always having just enough to hold off the other two with his Mullins chassis by Strand. Dietzler would settle for second with another Canadian Veert completing the top three. 

Over twenty Street Stocks took the green for their main event, a race that was held off until after the Late Model feature, just to make sure the top item on the program was completed. Chris Dudley took the early lead riding the cushion but the inside line still had too much bite and he was passed three laps later by Trey Hess, a hometown driver. 

Cole Greseth, a second generation driver who's father races Late Models, was on the move after starting sixth and he quickly drove up into the second spot. One of the best races of the night then took place as Hess raced as hard as he could to hold off Greseth but at the halfway point of the race, Greseth drove around Hess to take over the lead. 

Most of the Streets were in "the Ditch" but Greseth found speed higher up on the track and he was able to pull away from the field, stretching his lead. One yellow with six laps to go for debris bunched the field but no matter to Greseth, who pulled away from Hess once again to take the win. Greg Jose made a nice drive up from ninth to move into third in  the late going. 

With the weather putting a scare into all, track officials and series officials worked hard and fast to make sure that the whole show was completed. The Late Models were done by 10 pm and the last checkers flew somewhere before 10:30 pm. As always, the special shows here at River Cities, whether they are for the Late Models or the Sprints, draw big crowds and such was the case again on Friday. 

The WoO Sprints make one more appearance here yet this year and the season ending three night show, the John Seitz Memorial featuring Late Models plus other classes, happens the second week in September. 

Thanks go out to all the Outlaws officials and everyone associated with River Cities Speedway. 

Speedy Gustin Wins Even Speedier Program at Davenport Summer Nationals

 What will likely be the quickest racing program of the entire year was accomplished on Tuesday night, June 17th at the Davenport Speedway in Davenport Iowa. With a sense of urgency seldom seem but certainly appreciated by the fans who paid good money to see the stars of the Summer Nationals in action, track officials in cooperation with the traveling officials of DIRTcar produced a program that beat the incoming rain storms and gave fans the chance to see state hero Ryan Gustin win his first ever Summer Nationals feature event. Sport Mods sanctioned by IMCA and local Street Stocks were also on the program with their winners being Cole Stichter and Blake Woodruff.

It was a miserable hot and humid day in the Quad Cities area of eastern Iowa on Tuesday. My first experience of 2025 with this kind of weather sent me huffing and puffing through the pit area while most of the traveling teams got their work out of the way early and they were hunkered down in their transporter until the last possible second before it would be time to go to work. 

As the skies got increasingly darker and everyone started looking at the phones, the looks of doubt among those in the pits grew darker also. Most seemed to think that it was not a question of if but of when with the "smart money" betting on shortly after 7 pm for the rain to hit, perhaps after qualifying but surely before the bulk of the program could be completed. 

What transpired should be a good lesson for all of us, and that is to not rely totally on what your electronics are telling you. They are still guessing in their predictions and simulations and until the rain actually hits you in the head, it's better to go ahead with the plan. We've all seen it before where it looks impossible for a program to be completed but the rain poops out or the storms split and it never drips a drop. And tonight was a great example that you should continue on with the program until the rain forces you to stop. 

This kind of night is a promoter's nightmare however, but credit to the race fans of the Quad Cities and environs for showing up in good numbers, if not packing the gigantic grandstand, at least showing up in nice numbers. 

Great credit should go out to all who helped produce this blinding fast race program. That would include the local track officials and the DIRTcar officials, both of which did a great job of innovating and adjusting to the situation presented to them. The drivers and crews also deserve a round of applause for cooperating and being ready to race on very short notice. 

It also helped that the number of racing classes was small and even before things go progressively worse, track officials had already decided that if less than twenty cars showed up in the two supporting classes that they would run just a feature race and no heats and that helped greatly also. 

From the moment that the first race car hit the track for hot laps until the final checkered flag, everyone was in high speed mode and it was a pleasure to watch just what can be done when the proper motivation is offered. How's this for a statistic that will rival any other produced this year. From the drop of the first green flag until the checkered waved over the hood of the #19R car, the total time needed to run off the entire program was seventy one minutes!

That's right. One hour and eleven minutes to run off four heats, a B Feature and three main events. Of course, this could not be done without the cooperation of the drivers and smart work by the track officials who filled in every potentially "dead moment" by adjusting the running order and completing another event as there was no down time at all. 

If fact, they got things started so quickly that the horse rider carrying the National Anthem missed her cue and got left at the gate, so to speak which apparently created some upset feelings. However, it was for the greater good and she did get her moment to circle the track later as I think the race fans understood the situation perhaps even better than some others did. 

It was a great night for Gustin who took over the lead on lap two after Jake Timm had surprised on the opening lap, coming from the inside of row two to slip past both Gustin and Ashton Winger and claim the early lead. However, Gustin quickly made up for that gaff, driving underneath Timm on the following lap and then leading the last twenty nine for the win. 

Once in front, he really was never challenged for the lead, fighting off Winger following a lap five yellow and then later, when debris from an exploding tire by Jason Feger triggered the second and final show down. 

There was some good battling among top five drivers though, as Timm and Winger traded the second spot back and forth with Timm surprising and getting the jump following the last yellow and then holding off Winger the rest of the way. Timm had a good night as he was also the quick timer of the evening with his best lap about four tenth off the track record. 

Tyler Erb and Kyle Bronson also had a good battle for position with Erb finally prevailing in the late going. Dennis Erb made one of the best charges of the night. He was late leaving the Chicago area and barely arrived in time to be the last car to qualify and he started twelfth in the feature but passed Bronson right at the finish to round out the top five. 

Only two drivers of the twenty two that started the race failed to finish and all drivers were still on the lead lap at the conclusion, showing just how fast the track was as lapped cars never really came into play. 

Small fields were on hand for both the Sport Mods and Outlaw Street Stock classes, perhaps the weather or perhaps this being a nonpoint night for both classes being a factor. No matter, it actually helped on this night as track officials were just looking for quick breaks to fill while the Late Models got ready for their next event. 

Blake Woodruff won an easy Street Stock feature event. He started on the pole and for the rest of the field, who has been chasing him unsuccessfully so far this year, it meant bad news to them. He had a full straightaway on the pack when the red flag flew for Cody Staley, who got over the edge of the track in turn four, tried to fight his way back on when the car turned sideways and started barrel rolling. He was OK but the damage was heavy to his car. 

Woodruff took off again on the green and cruised home for the win over Donnie Louck and Chevy Andreatta. 

The Sport Mod feature was more competitive with Stichter coming from the fourth starting spot to take the win. Dakota Cole was the early leader and he held the top spot for the first half of the race as Stichter worked his way past Josh Starr and Tyler Maschmann to move into second. 

Stichter was fast on the cushion and on lap nine he drove past Cole to take over the lead and then extended it over the final few laps in a race that went green to checkers with everyone applauding both their skill and brevity. Behind Cole, Payce Herrera, visiting the Midwest, finished third. 

While Gustin will remember this night for his first Summer Nationals win, most of us will remember this night mostly for how fast the show was completed and how, at least on this occasion, we beat the weather. Again, thanks to everyone that played a part in getting this accomplished. 

Wilmot Summer Nationals To Drake Troutman

 I caught up with the UMP Summer Nationals "Hell Tour" on Monday night, June 16th at the Wilmot Raceway in extreme southern Wisconsin, actually just a couple miles North of the Illinois border. This is week two for the Summer Nationals tour with them making stops in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri before the week is concluded. Appropriate for the "Summer" part of this series, Summer weather has kicked in as it was a hot and humid day along the Wisconsin border, with T storms teasing but fortunately staying away from our door. 

It has been quite a few years since I was last at Wilmot and things look considerably different than they used to. lots of upgrades to the infrastructure have been made, not the least of which is the towering grandstand that provides an excellent view of the track along with great track lighting and sound system. 

About the only thing that still looks the same and that is the track itself, which sure is flat in the corners. It seems that Sprint Cars, which is the staple at this track, would find it hard to race on such a flat track and with plenty of space available, it seems interesting that they have never banked the corners up more than they are. 

Thirty five drivers signed in to race with the Summer Nationals on this Monday night and the tour regular do indeed really support their series as the top twenty four in current points were all among the entrants on Monday. Along with the Late Models, local Street Stocks and IMCA Modifieds are also a part of the show with both running full programs. 

One thing very Sprint Car like on this night was the way the track was prepped. The berm built up to be a monster one, with it having to be a couple feet deep or perhaps more as it was a monster on both ends. Eventually they worked on the third and fourth corner berm, but never touched the other corner all night and that was what eventually caught up with Ashton Winger, sending him on his feature race tumble. If you caught the cushion just right, it would give you quite a boost down the chutes but get sideways in it or jump it and you were in a world of hurt. If Sprint Cars were running on Monday, I feel we would have seen quite a few more of them on their tops. 

The Hell Tour last raced here in 2016 and the current track record of 15.030 seconds was blown out of the water, with twenty drivers breaking that record  and Winger being quickest overall at 14.394 seconds. 

The normal Hell Tour procedures were again in place on Monday, with the heats set straight up with four moving on to the main event. The C Feature wasn't needed on Monday so they ran a bigger B Feature with only two moving to the main. They start a surprisingly small number of twenty two cars for most events but on Monday they added five provisional starters to make a twenty three car starting field. The biggest development during qualifying action was when Brian Shirley, in a battle with Jason Feger, snapped a drive shaft and was done for the night, heading out the gate early. 

UMP officials realize that the Late Models are the show for this event and therefore, after some more berm beating down action, the Late Model feature would run off first, thus allowing those that came to see the Late Models the chance, if desired, to leave early and head home. 

All night the outside line off turn four seemed to provide an extra boost to those drivers trying to get a good start or restart for races. It worked again during the thirty lap main event when Joseph Joiner got the jump on Feger to take the early lead in the Late Model main. Drake Troutman was right there also and it quickly became a three car race. 

Numerous yellows early kept the field bunched with several spins and stalls slowing the action three times over the first eight laps. Then Winger, who was running in the top five, did his flip in turn two and the red flag stopped the action. It was the first 2025 appearance on the Summer National Tour for Winger, who won the points title in this series just last year. He was OK but the car left the track on a roll back. 

While Joiner continued to lead, Feger and Troutman traded the second spot three times during the early going, but it generally didn't make much difference who was in front for the restarts, as Troutman always took the outside and Feger the inside, no matter what order they were running. 

Troutman continued to try and get a run off the cushion in turn two and finally, on lap nineteen, following the fifth and final yellow, he got a big blast off the berm in turn two, drove around Feger and with a big burst of speed, dove low in turn three and slipped under Joiner for the lead. And once in front, he was gone as he received no challenges for the top spot the rest of the race. 

Feger eventually got past Joiner for second with Dennis Erb and Kyle Bronson completing the top five. Fifteen drivers completed the race with all still on the lead lap while quite a few dropped out early when they found they were making no progress toward the front of the pack. 

Nineteen Modifieds signed in to race on Monday night, most of them local drivers but interspersed with a few others that run other Wisconsin tracks. Their heat races were strewn with wrecks but they did a better job in the main event, only causing the yellow light to be triggered twice. Dan Jung took the early lead from the pole and paced the field for the opening seven laps. 

However, Joel Seegert Sr was on the move after starting third and he was able to drive under Jung, who got high off turn two, and take over the lead. And once in front, he pulled away from the pack to take the win. 

Past the halfway point, Joel Crowbridge was able to pass Jung and move into second but he wasn't able to put any pressure on the leader and Seegert Sr drove home for the win. Steve Mueller and James Fletcher completed the top five. 

The Street Stocks completed the evening's entertainment and they were in a word, awful. It seemed that their sole mission in this race was to see how many other drivers they could run into and wreck, or as an alternative plan, see how many times they could spin out. 

The yellow waved seven times during their endurance contest with track officials finally growing tired of the antics and sticking a fork in the proceedings by throwing the checkered flag two laps early. 

Blake Kreuser started third, but was able to take the lead before one lap was completed and he was able to stay in front of the messy action going on behind him. Rob Olson, who got wrecked in a heat race and had to start at the back of the pack, came through the carnage to finish second with Robby Olson, his son, next in line. About half the starters limped home to see the checkers. 

Racing got done a little later than it should have, largely due to the Street Stocks misbehaving but those fans that pulled the plug early got home at a reasonable hour. Thanks to all the UMP  and DIRTcar officials on board tonight and particularly Nick Graziano at the home office of DIRTcar for his help. The traveling band of the Summer Nationals moves to the Davenport Speedway on Tuesday. 

Simpson Dominates For SLMR East Win at Mason City

It was a stormy weekend with lots of cancellations, postponements and other adjustments in the planned schedule and that was also a part of my weekend. A last minute change in plans ended up with a not so pleasant Father's Day trip South down I-35 to the Mason City Motor Speedway. It's not that I didn't want to visit Mason City for the races, nor did I not want to catch the Late Models of the SLMR in action for the first time in 2025, but a holiday trip down a busy interstate was not the most pleasant of excursions. But we got it done and arrived just as the pits opened at Mason. 

It was clear that they had received plenty of rain in this area also with plenty of standing water and the track prep crew working hard with multiple pieces of heavy equipment on the racing surface. They were finding it hard to dry off things as we were shocked to step out of our vehicle and discover just how hot and humid it was. Wow, what a change for us in just the last few hours. Summer had indeed arrived. 

It was clear that it would be a heavy track for all four divisions that were racing on Sunday as they continued to pack and grade at every opportunity, widening the track out the best they could. In reality, considering the conditions they were fighting, the track ended up racing quite well for all classes. 

Sunday was a "stand alone" date for the SLMR East which makes it kind of tough to draw cars and the fact that it was Father's Day probably didn't help. However, they did draw twenty six Late Models for the show, helped by the addition of a couple when the PRO Late Model show at Dubuque rained out while the top sixteen in current East points were all in attendance. 

It would be the standard format used for the SLMR, a combination of points earned through time trials and heat race results that is so convoluted that no one has ever been able to fully explain it to me. It apparently is heavily weighed however toward time trial results as the three heat race winners ended up starting twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth in the feature race which kind of begs the question of why even bother to run the heats. 

The SLMR staff had a tough night with equipment problems as they ended up hand timing the drivers, 1960's style and they also had some glitches in the race results but everybody soldiered and made the best of things. 

I would have thought that with only twenty six drivers on hand they could have started them all in the main event and given everyone the chance to earn a check. But they remained firm in their plan of running three heats, taking the top sixteen in points and then running a B Feature and taking four more. They are big on provisional starters though, with three added and three poor drivers watching the feature from the pits. The field was reduced by one before we even started as Jesse Sobbing scratched out of the program after time trials. 

The Mason City staff was really trying to hammer things along as the skies to the West were getting increasingly angry looking and the radar looked grim. The entire qualifying for the four divisions racing, plus the Mini Mods, took just one hour but Todd Staley felt the track needed some attention so about a half hour was used to grade and widen things out. 

Then it looked like we were ready to go feature racing but instead of the Late Models, we were instead "treated" to the Mini Mods, who behaved and got their main event done in nine minutes followed by a profanity laced interview with Ben Kraus, even though it won the race he was pissed!

Chad Simpson is the current SLMR point leader, even though he had yet to win a feature race in the series so far in 2025. However, that was to change very quickly. After a first lap, three car tangle, the Late Model feature would go nonstop for thirty laps and it would be a Simpson show. 

Chad started on the inside of row two but made a great opening lap move to duck inside Curt Schroeder and lead the opening circuit. After that it was just academic as he pulled away from the field and built up a big lead, buoyed by the fact that the yellow didn't wave again to pack up the leaders. 

He continued his torrid pace, with only eleven cars left on the lead lap when the checkers flew. There was a good battle for second though with Jason Hahne and Justin Zeitner swapping that spot back and forth as they raced through traffic. In the end, Hahne prevailed for the spot. Dylan Thornton and Blair Nothdurft completed the top five. 

Dallon Murty was scheduled to start on the pole but opted to take the bonus challenge if he started sixth and won there was an extra twelve hundred dollars to be gained. It didn't work out so well for him however, as he ended up just where he started, sixth. 

Three other USRA classes were also racing on Sunday in regular point paying action. The Stock Cars, B Mods and Hobby Stocks all had enough entrants for a pair of heats and a feature race, a perfect number considering there was weather to beat as a short Sunday night program is always a bonus. 

Jeremy Crimmins led the opening lap of the Hobby Stock feature but then Joshua Monson drove around him to take over the lead. He then began to pull away while a good three car battle between Crimmins, Scott Dobel and Kolby Goepel was carried out. 

A late yellow set up a three lap dash to the finish with Monson again easily pulling away for the win. Dobel would hold off Goepel for second. 

Ben Moudry got off to a great start in the B Mod feature and that would allow him to pull away early from the field. He started third but used a strong inside move to drive into the lead on the opening lap and then he pulled away from the pack.

After a first lap yellow for two cars hooked together that ended up being a twenty minute delay while they tried to pry the two apart, this race ran off nonstop with Moudry putting plenty of distance on the pack. the only driver that was even close for most of the race was Tianna Mithun and she ended up finishing a strong second. 

Point leader Kaden Bronner had back luck early as he got crashed out of a heat race and had to start in the back of the pack for the feature race but he drove his way up through the field, passing Jenae Gustin on the last lap for third. 

A dominating green to checkers win in the Stock Car feature by Kevin Opheim ended the evening. He started on the pole and built up a big lead early, only to have Chanse Hollatz race his way up to second and start to close on the leader. 

A yellow flag with seven laps to go produced some close racing to the finish. East lap Hollatz would look to the inside of the leader but Opheim had just enough speed to fight him off down the straightaways. This continued for the rest of the race with Hollatz taking one last big swing in turn one on the final lap but he pushed up the track and the race was Opheim's. Myles  Michehl completed the top three. 

The races were concluded by 9 pm and the good news was that the rain did hold off. It was not many miles North of the track however, before we hit hard rain and some wild lightning. 

Thanks to the staff of Mason City Motor Speedway for their efforts, putting in a lot of work to get the show completed as well as the SLMR group. 

Braaksma Dominates at 141 For Ten Grand

 The Clash at the Creek concluded on Wednesday night, June 11th at the 141 Speedway near Francis Creek Wisconsin. After Tuesday night's preliminaries, Wednesday night's main event for the IMCA Modifieds would see the winner head home with an extra ten grand in their pockets as the seventeenth edition of this race would conclude.

The IMCA Stock Cars and Sport Mods ran a second full program totally unrelated to the Tuesday night show with the winner in each division earning a thousand dollars for their efforts. 

After Tuesday night's show was a very smooth event with little in the way of big crashes, just about everyone returned for the Wednesday event. Only two of the sixty three Modifieds in the pits failed to race on Wednesday night in Last Chance events, trying to make the twenty four car field for the fifty lap main event. 

Meanwhile, the Sport Mod and Stock Car fields both grew with forty three Sport Mods and forty one Stock Cars on hand to race their full show in each class. Seventeen drivers signed in on Wednesday that weren't on hand for the Tuesday night show and a total of ninety two drivers between the two classes raced one or both of the mid week shows. 

There once again were no hot laps and the first green flag of the night would fly one minute ahead of the advertised starting time. What had been a nice day saw the forecast start to go downhill as there was a prediction of rain by 10 pm so both the track curfew and potential weather led to a sense of urgency to get the program moving. 

The ten from Tuesday night's events were already locked into the main event so a series of heat races, based on Tuesday night's results would qualify a few more drivers. One more chance was given with a Last Chance race that would add the final four, with twenty four drivers starting the main event. 

I wish I could honestly say that the fifty lap Modified feature was a dandy and spell binding from start to finish but my laptop would not allow that and would probably burst into flames if I lied like that to it, even though it is just a machine. 

The biggest problem was with the weather. Track officials chose to run the same order of events as they did on Tuesday, which meant that the Modified feature would be last. Earlier I checked with some "in the know" folks that assured me that the Mod feature wouldn't rubber up, as they would redo the track if necessary right before their race. 

Unfortunately, the radar screens on everyone's phones said otherwise. I was obvious to the situation but was somewhat surprised when at the conclusion of the Stock Car feature, they moved right into the Modified main. But that was the deal. the radar looked bad and they wanted to get the Mod feature done, so they were left with the difficult choice of starting that event with a track that had already shown signs of rubber as the Stock Cars concluded. It was a difficult choice but you can imagine how the crowd would have reacted if they took time to redo the track and then it rained before they could drop the green flag. 

However, the choice they went with ended up producing what was at best a less than memorable fifty laps of Modified racing. Cole Czarneski got the jump and led the opening lap but there would be no stopping Ethan Braaksma who started on the outside of row one. He got up to speed, blew by Czarneski on the high side of the track and disappeared into the Wisconsin evening. 

As he opened up a large lead, there was some jockeying going on behind him as drivers quickly realized that the top line was gone and that they had been get in the rubber quickly or be shuffled off to Buffalo. Some passing was done as when a driver slipped out of the groove, there was always someone ready to fill that spot and move then back in the running order. Johnny Whitman was as successful as anyone, as he worked his way past Czarneski and took over the second spot by the halfway point of the race. 

Braaksma was untouchable as he continued to pull away from everyone. Things did get dicey a couple of times though, as when he caught the back of the pack and the slower cars, it became very hard to get past them. Many of the drivers, when the leaders caught them, were pulling out of line and heading for the infield, thus saving their cars and tires and not causing issues for the faster cars, who were having a devil of a time getting past them, particularly if they were in the rubber line also. 

But a couple times Braaksma got hung up pretty good but he showed great patience, waiting for the slower cars to shuffle themselves around and not falling into the trap of trying to pass them on the outside, which several front runners did and then found themselves stuck on the outside with no way to get back into line. 

The biggest tie up occurred with thirty three laps completed and triggered the only yellow of the night. At this point, Braaksma's lead was small, largely because he was behind a group of slower drivers running nose to tail and suddenly, the top five were lined up nose to tail also. When one slower car tried to slow up and dive into the infield. second place driver Whitman tried to go inside him and ended up sliding into the infield, triggering the yellow. 

He was rightfully restored to second and the race continued, With an open track, Braaksma again took off at a torrid pace, leaving the challengers far behind. Whitman, however, perhaps wrecked a right rear tire as suddenly he couldn't get off the corners and he began to drop like a rock as contender after contender passed him with Johnny dropping all the way back to eighth. 

The biggest mover was Jordan Grabouski who took advantage of the opportunities to move into second but with an open track during the last twenty or so laps, be couldn't mount any charge on Braaksma who was simply the fastest car on this night. 

The local drivers, who pride themselves on their competitiveness, took an ass kicking on Wednesday as behind Grabouski in second, it was Cody Laney, Tom Berry Jr and Tripp Gaylord completing the top five with the first local driver being Benji Lacrosse in sixth. Fourteen drivers completed the contest with just one driver a lap down. 

Just as the race was wrapping up, the sprinkles started to fall and they quickly hustled up to get the Non Qualifiers feature on the track, a race won by Chaz Baca Jr. However, it never really rained much after that and in retrospect, they actually might have had time to do a bit of track prep and get away with it, but they had no idea just that that nasty looking radar would produce or not. It's always easy to second guess after the fact. 

Mike Mullen didn't have a Modified to race this week, but he did have a Stock Car and he dominated the Wednesday feature in that division, taking the lead from the pole and running away from the field. This race ran off twenty nonstop laps and by the end of it, he was a full straightaway ahead of the pack. 

The rubber started to lay down even during this race and that helped produce a wild scramble for the second spot. Shawn Kilgore had started on the pole and settled into second as he guarded the low side and while there were other cars quicker than his, they weren't able to pass him on the outside. This produced a mad scramble as drivers jockeyed for position, banging and clattering off each other as they looked for holes to make passes and get to the inside lane. 

Kilgore managed to hold all of them off for second with Kyle Frederick taking third ahead of Eric Mahlik and last night's winner Luke Lemmens. 

The Sport Mod feature produced the most action as the leaders engaged in a battle of slide jobs in  the late going for the win. Brady Harshbarger took the initial lead but Dylan Schmidt, who wasn't in the field on Tuesday, moved into second and made it a close battle for the lead. 

The yellow waved three times in the first six laps and spins and one hard collision slowed the action. Cory Kemkes, also not on hand last night, moved in to make it a three car battle for the lead. Harshbarger continued to hold the top spot though with Schmidt, Kemkes and Cam Reimes moving into the top five. 

Schmidt found some speed up one lane on the track and on lap thirteen, he drove into the lead. Harshbarger wasn't ready to yield though, and he drove exceedingly hard into the corners, trying to get back under Schmidt for the lead. 

Harshbarger put it very deep into turn one and the leaders slammed together hard, but both were able to maintain control and continue their battle. On the next lap, Harshbarger again threw a wicked slider in turn one, but Schmidt saw him coming and crossed him over with Harshbarger sliding very high and while he was able to maintain second, he lost enough ground that he was unable to mount a challenge in the few laps left to run. 

Schmidt and Harshbarger were chased across the finish line by Kemkes, Coy Vlies, who came from sixteenth and Reimers. 

Drivers from eleven different states were on hand racing here this week and the 50/50 drawing on Wednesday paid out $1337 to one lucky fan. 

Thanks go out to track owner Tim Czarneski and all the great employees that he has who run the show and of course Toby Kruse for his help. Many more special events are upcoming at 141 this year including two day specials for both the Sport Mods and Stock Cars later this Summer. Check their website for full details. After I left the track, by the way, I never hit another drop of rain all the way home. 

Czarneski Shines In Creek Opener

 Cole Czarneski had raced all over the United States the last couple of years, literally from sea to shining sea. He has raced his Modified and Stock Car at tracks from the Southwest to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, and with just about every sanctioning body in the country at one time or another. 

But when he got the opportunity to race on his "home track" and in front of his local fans and sleep in his own bed, he took advantage of that chance and had the most success of any driver on the track during the opening night of the Clash at the Creek XVII at the 141 Speedway located between Maribel and Francis Creek in Wisconsin, about a half hour South of "Titletown", otherwise known at Green Bay. 

He won one of the qualifying features in the Modified class for the Modified finale on Wednesday night, a race that pays ten grand to the winner and also finished a half car length short of sweeping the program as he was edged out by Luke Lemmens in the Stock Car main event, by far the most exciting event of the night. 

Three IMCA classes were in action on Tuesday with the Sport Mods and Stock Cars both running a full program of heats, B Features and a main event, which they will also do again on Wednesday night. The Modifieds ran qualifying events and with a format that they seem to change up almost every years to spice things up, this year's format including a pair of qualifying feature races that would establish the running order for the main event on Wednesday night. 

For Czarneski, it was a rare opportunity to race at the track co-owned by his family and Toby Kruse and where he has managed to remain in the top ten in track points so far this year, even with his far flung racing adventures that have taken him to all parts of the country. 

141 Speedway is known for several things nationally, with perhaps their biggest bragging point the huge fields of cars they get for their weekly racing programs. They start out the year by pulling in around two hundred and twenty cars or so for their weekly Saturday night shows with it now slipping to around one hundred and eighty weekly with other tracks now starting their racing seasons. Their fields for the three classes that are racing here this week are huge for their normal Saturday night show and there can't be many tracks in the entire country that host as many racers for their weekly shows as here at 141. 

They are also  famous for running off an incredibly speedy racing program and they must, as they have a 10;30 pm curfew established by the local township board as some local farmers complained. You know you are in "America's Dairyland" when you pull up to the track here as the track is literally surrounded by farms with cattle contentedly grazing right by the pits and behind the back straightaway. 

The Modified racing program here this year is a complicated one, with a Philadelphia Lawyer necessary to fully comprehend it. Sixty three Modified drivers signed in to race on Tuesday with Iowa drivers dominating the visiting group. And although sixty three is an impressive group, it is nearly twenty short of the number on hand last year. 

The drivers would draw for starting positions for twelve lap heat races. Only one set of heats this year as opposed to last year when they ran double heats. The winner of each of the six heats would be guaranteed a top three starting spot in one of the twin qualifying features. The next fourteen in the lineups would be based on heat race passing points earned. The remainder of the field would go into one of four  B Features with the top seven in each making the feature. Thus, two twenty four car fields would race in twin Feature races. The top five in each feature would make the main event on Wednesday with everyone else running "The Ladder" to try and get into the Wednesday feature. 

Czarneski started on the pole for the first Modified feature and he set a blistering pace as he drove away from Shawn Kilgore and Brian Mullen in the early going. One yellow slowed the race as with just one lap completed, Josh Long was involved in a turn four tangle and stalled. Drivers were allowed two spins on Tuesday as apposed to the normal one spin rule but they didn't abuse it and the show was another famously quick 141 event. 

Back on green, Czarneski used the outside line, which was strongest for the Modifieds and he again pulled away from the pack. By the halfway point of the race, Benji LaCrosse had pulled into second spot with Johnny "Hitman" Whitman running third. Normally have those two behind you would be cause for concern but Czarneski was flying on Tuesday as he continued to hold his lead and perhaps even extend it a bit.

Late in the race he caught the back of the pack but that didn't slow him down whatsoever as he expertly navigated past five slower cars that he put a lap down as he drove on to a resounding victory. LaCrosse and Whitman would follow with Kilgore holding on for fourth. A last corner pass saw Cody Laney race his way into the show also. 

The second feature looked like a Saturday night show at Boone as Ethan Braaksma and Izac Mallicoat shared the front row with Tim Ward starting right behind them. In what turned out to be a nonstop main event, they set a torrid pace with a couple of nasty slide jobs thrown in for good measure. Braaksma got the jump at the start but just three laps into the contest, Mallicoat threw a nasty slider exiting turn two that ran both cars up to the wall with Mallicoat driving away with the lead. 

This didn't set well with Braaksma, however, as just one lap later he returned the favor with a "White Castle" that Mallicoat could taste! After that, they settled down to clean racing and Braaksma was just bad fast, setting a blistering pace that opened up some space for himself. 

Another visitor to Wisconsin on the move was Jordan Grabouski who started fifth on the grid. By the halfway point of the race, he was up to third and trying to track down Mallicoat for position. 

The blistering pace took its toll as the leaders were soon in lapped traffic, but the slower cars for the most part stayed low on the track and allowed the faster ones to race  by. At the conclusion of the race, only one car had dropped out but there were also only eleven cars on the lead lap as traffic was intense. 

That didn't bother Braaksma, however, wo maintained his torrid pace and took the win over Mallicoat, Grabouski and Ward. Taylor Schmidt salvaged the fifth place for the Wisconsin drivers. 

The most exciting race of the night was the Stock Car feature. Thirty six Stock Cars signed in to race which, believe it or not, is below a normal Saturday night car count but work kept many from attending. 

Czarneski was both fast and lucky on this night as he also started on the pole for the Stock Car twenty lap main event. He got the early lead as he chose to run up the track, where as most of the Stock Car drivers were running right on the inside tires, as opposed to the Mods that were rim riding. 

Czarneski had plenty of competition as Kyle Frederick, Luke Lemmens, Shawn Kilgore and Shawn Wagner were all running in tight formation right behind him. Following a lap five spin, Czarneski's higher line gave Lemmens the opportunity to run just inside him and for the next several laps, Lemmens would nose inside on every corner, only to see Czarneski edge him off the corners. 

This scenario continued until just at the halfway point when Lemmens got a good run and edged past Czarneski to take over the lead, an advantage he moved out to a full car length as Czarneski then dropped to the low side to fight off Frederick and Kilgore. 

A stalling Chase Parker brought out the yellow with just five laps to go. Parker proved to be the only driver in the twenty four car starting field that didn't finish the race with all on the same lap. 

Czarneski restarted on the top side and used that late restart to boldly drive up on the top side and edge up next to Lemmens. It was a great race in those last five laps as Czarneski edged up beside Lemmens and they ran wheel to wheel for the win. At the white flag, they were dead even and continued so down the back chute. 

Lemmens got a little better run off the final corner and edged past, winning by a half car length over Czarneski, who did a great job running that second lane and staying with the leader without rubbing him. Kilgore had a fine night for himself, doing great work in both the Mod and Stock Car with Wagner and a charging Mike Mullen completing the top five. 

Both the Sport Mods and Stock Cars ran a draw/redraw program and with thirty nine Sport Mods on hand, they would run four heats and a pair of B Features to set their lineup. Although a strong field, theirs was not even an average field for a Saturday night but again, midweek shows are a problem for many working folks. 

Colton See would be the driver to beat in this main event after starting on the outside of row one and no one was able to accomplish that task. He pulled away from the field quickly with Travis Schmidt moving up from the second row to drive into second by the halfway point of the contest. 

Coy Vlies, one of the fastest drivers in this class here all year, made one of the strongest charges of the night. He started eighth and by the halfway signal, was up to third. As See drove away from the field, the battle for second was a good one and with just two laps to go, Vlies was able to drive by Schmidt on the outside to claim second at the checkers behind a dominating See.

Ryan Schmidt and Shane Bahr completed the top five in a race that saw only two starters not finish out the contest. This race was run non stop in just five minutes! And now, for the most amazing statistic of the night. The Sport Mods ran four heat races and two B Features as well as their main event. However, in those seven races, there was not a single yellow flag flown! In other words, all the Sport Mod races went green to checkers. Try and top that!

It was another 141 speedy program. They ran twenty six races on this night, four of them being feature races. They started right on the dot at 6:30 pm, their starting time and they were done well before 10 pm. 

Ownership at the speedway has spent a considerable amount of money with upgrades since my last appearance here in 2024. Many of the seats have been replaced or repaired, a considerable amount of concrete has been laid down in the spectator walk areas and the turn one pits has been completely remodeled to improve things for the teams with new fencing among the many improvements. In the plans is a new driveway from the turn one pits to the main staging area so drivers don't have to go on to the track to get to staging but that might not get completed before 2026. 

Toby Kruse got his start in racing, I believe, as an announcer. Since then he has moved on to a number of different duties at race tracks including ownership. But tonight he was back behind the mic and it really is a shame that he doesn't announce more as he truly is one of the best at that difficult task. 

Wednesday night the Modifieds will fight it out for ten grand in their fifty lap main event while the Stock Cars and Sport Mods will run another complete program. Race time is 6:30 pm and for those not able to jump into the car and drive to Wisconsin Wednesday, the race will be on FLO. 

The Rich Get Richer During Wednesday Finale at Spencer

 Kelly Shryock, Brayton Carter, Ethan Braaksma and Cory Probst. All four have been big winners this year so far in Iowa and adjoining states racing action. All have won special events and big money races even though it is only the first week of June. So when I tell you that these for drivers were the winners in feature racing action on Wednesday night for night four of the IMCA Summer Nationals at the Clay Co. Fair Speedway in Spencer, you would not be surprised. All four continue to roll on what looks to be banner seasons for them. 

Wednesday was night number three of what was supposed to be a four night spectacular put on by Chinn Promotions along with Mike VanGenderen but a soaking rain that started on Monday night and lasted until around Noon on Tuesday took care any racing action proposed for that night. 

Most everybody came back strong however, for the Wednesday finale that was paying the highest purses for the Modifieds, Stock Cars and Sport Mods. After consulting with the affected drivers, the Hobby Stocks were added to the Wednesday night show which was originally supposed to be for just three classes. 

However, the Hobbies had supported the event with strong numbers and put on good races so the decision was made to add them to the Wednesday night show. And although some of them had other plans for Wednesday or weren't prepared to race one more night and had already headed home, a solid field of them were present on Wednesday to add to the show. In all, one hundred and twenty five drivers signed in to race in the four classes offered, including twenty five that had not been on hand earlier during the week. The Stock Car field, not surprisingly since they were racing for the highest dollars, had the biggest field with forty two of them signing in. 

One who wanted to be a part of the field on Wednesday was Travis Hatcher but he had to jump through a number of hoops to get that accomplished. He hurt the motor in his Stock Car on Monday night so crews from him along with Jesse Sobbing took the motor out of Sobbing's car and transplanted it under the hood of Hatcher's car. This left Sobbing with no car to race. No problem as Hatcher got his brother-in-laws Modified brought to the track and Sobbing would drive that car. All that hard work was not rewarded however, as neither driver made it into a main event, but they tried. 

The rains of the last twenty four hours left a much different track to race on Wednesday and then a scre with clouds and a few sprinkles mixed in put a scare in everyone just before race time. However, the clouds drifted past and the sun burst back out. The track was heavy to begin with but gradually slicked off as it normally does here. However, there was a large berm that built up and reappeared several times during the night, forcing the drivers to adjust for what turned out to be bumpy ride for some of the Modified drivers who chose to ride the cushion. 

It was quick paced and speedy show on Wednesday. Again the drivers cooperated by putting on some very good racing battles in the heats while not triggering much in the way of yellow flags. In fact, the yellow was waved only three times during eighteen qualifying races that led to the four feature races. 

Correction, that was two yellows and one red flag as Luke Silber went for a wild ride when his Modified hit the barriers protecting the exit off the back chute and he flew widely in the air before flipping and then being slammed by a couple of other drivers that couldn't avoid the flying Modified. It took a few minutes for Silber to climb out of his car and he will likely be sore tomorrow, and they did give a lift back to his pit area in the ambulance in what was likely the wildest ride of the week. 

Two of the feature races were "walk overs" with the winners building up big leads while the other two came right down to the wire before a winner could be declared. Let's cover the easy wins first. 

Back to back wins in the Stock Cars against a stout field are not easy to gain, but Kelly Shryock was more than up for the task on Wednesday. Again, Shryock used for what to me is a different way of getting to the front of the pack after he started eighth in the twenty four car field. 

Jeffrey Abbey took the early lead but Shryock was on the move immediately as a large group of drivers raced hard behind Abbey. Two yellow flags slowed the action after just one lap was completed and by the third restart, Shryock was up to fifth. He continued to charge and got by Levi Feltman to move into second. 

After the show start, this race would go green all the way to the checkers with twenty nine consecutive green flag laps. Shryock sized up Abbey for a few laps, then blew by him on the outside exiting turn four to take the lead and after that, he was gone. 

With the race staying under the green, Kelly just gradually built up his advantage and near the end, until he had to back off some as he drove past some slower cars, his advantage was a full straightaway over Abbey. 

Abbey was along by himself in second but there were some drivers charging to the front. Cole Czarneski used a higher line than most as he worked his way up to third but in the closing laps he got nipped for that spot by Braden Richards who had started in the seventh row with Jay Schmidt completing the top five. Shryock would earn five grand for his win. 

Ethan Braaksma started on the pole for the Modified feature and his win was also a dominating one, as he led all thirty laps and was never seriously challenged for the lead. Most of the Modifieds were running the cushion for their main event which was last on the card and while it was fast up top, it was also tricky and as the race progressed, the drivers found themselves bucking around more and bouncing through the heavy berm with several losing ground after they got steered too high. 

Braaksma had no such trouble however, as he maintained his lead over Brandon Beckendorf for nearly the whole race with Beckendorf comfortably in second but no challenge. Cody Laney was one of the few to make the low groove work and he was able to drive up to third from the fifth row. Jerry Flippo and Tim Ward followed him home. 

Carter has been very fast this year with perhaps over twenty feature wins to his total so far this year already. And he would become the second repeat winner from Monday, although it was a difficult task for him and while fast, it again required a fortuitous yellow to help his charge. 

Zach Davis led the opening lap of the feature but Jake Sachau was very fast, moving from the third row to drive past Davis and take over the lead. Meanwhile, Carter, who started eleventh, was mired in traffic and his low line, his preferred groove on this night, was badly blocked and he was having a tough time finding racing room. He was finally able to clear traffic and get to the outside, where he found some open track and he drove forward, but still not in the top five.

Here's where the gigantic break fell his way.  A spinning car in turn four triggered the yellow flag, even though it got moving again almost immediately. At this point, Sachau had a comfortable lead over Davis and Josh Barnhard while Carter would line up sixth for the restart. 

But my oh my, did Carter take advantage of that break. When the green flag dropped he roared to the outside and before one lap was completed, he was up to third. He dismissed Davis and then closed in on Sachau. 

These two produced the best side by side racing of the night, with Carter low and Sachau pounding the cushion. They exchanged the lead at least three times with each running their own distinctive line around the track. Carter was best on the bottom in turn one and he would get a great boost shooting down the back chute. Sachau was best on the banking off turn four and each lap, he would roar up beside Carter down the main stretch. The lead varied from a car length, to two and then back to side by side. 

Carter had a very small lead as the white flag was waved and Sachau knew he had to hit the cushion just right on both ends to have a chance. Unfortunately for him, he jumped the berm in turn three and it was "lights out" as Carter was then home free in what was a very entertaining event. Matthew Looft was no slouch either as he drove up from seventeenth to finish third, although he was a considerable distance behind the top two. 

The Hobby Stock feature was also a good one with Kalyb Brunssen taking the early lead from the pole. He led the opening half of the race and just laps into it, the race turned into a three car battle with Probst and Blake Luinenburg battling behind him. As the race neared the halfway point, Probst was up beside Brunssen with Luinenburg literally banging on the rear bumper of Probst. 

What would like have been a three car battle to the finish was ruined just at the halfway point of the race when Brunseen rolled a tire off the rim in turn one and was done as he limped to the pits. That left it to Probst to try and hold off Luinenburg who was providing a stiff challenge. 

A yellow for a slowing car set up a five laps dash to the checkers and Probst got away smoothly as Luinenburg seemed to be having trouble catching him at this point. We were all expecting a wild finish with slide jobs breaking out but Probst was just fast enough that Luinenburg couldn't set him up with the duo crossing the line with Probst ahead by several car lengths. Austin Jahnz ended up third, ahead of Brandon Nielsen and Justin Frederick. 

It was another smoothly run program with all cooperating and the final checkers waved just a couple minutes after 10 pm. Thanks to Trent Chinn, MVG and their assembled crew as they did a great job all week running off the programs and providing the drivers with two excellent tracks to race on. 

A note on the proceedings: The Clay Co. Fair Speedway does not have any kind of scoreboard so it is difficult to provide a totally accurate report on the racing action, as occasionally I have to guess at the lap count without a board and not always able to hear J Van under the yellow. 

For such a first class facility, could I implore the Clay Co. Fair Board to go out and find a sponsor that would be willing to put up a lap board? It doesn't have to be a big , fancy scoreboard but just a simple board that counts down the laps would so handy and helpful to not just me , but to the other spectators and the drivers themselves?

Richards and Shryock Lead The Charge at Spencer's IMCA Summer Nationals Monday

 On Monday night, June 2nd, I settled in for what I hope will be three consecutive nights of IMCA racing at the Summer Nationals hosted by Mike VanGenderen and Trent Chinn at the Spencer Co. Fair Speedway at the beautiful fairgrounds in Spencer Iowa. 

On Sunday the Sport Compacts and Hobby Stocks ran a full program and on Monday night the Sport Mods, Stock Cars and Modifieds join in to present a five class program. Monday night will be the last night for the first two classes while the other three are just beginning, racing each night through Wednesday night with progressively bigger purses on the line each night. 

One hundred and forty three drivers signed in for Monday night's show which required B Features for all classes except the Sport Compacts. It was definitely going to be a full night of racing, especially for a Monday night but then other circumstances came into play that made brevity an even bigger consideration. 

It was a brutal day to keep moisture in a race track. The temperatures were in the nineties with a bright sunshine most of the day. The winds were extraordinary, blowing up to forty miles an hour at times but it was a hot, dry wind that felt like it was sucking the moisture right out of your body. How in the world they could or would keep moisture in the race track was anyone's guess. We would learn when they started racing that the track would be just fine, thank you and actually produce some of the finest half mile racing I have seen in quite some time. 

Throwing a further monkey wrench in the proceedings was the fact that the weather took a turn for the worst, with a forecast that previously called for rain after Midnight that was suddenly bumped up to 6 pm and rapidly darkening skies that would confirm that update. When first the storm watches, followed by the storm warnings for areas West of Spencer were issued, I was more than worried. 

I have to hand it to MVG though, as when I spoke to him just before the driver's meeting, he was cool and calm about the whole thing. He quietly believed that they would get the show in, and while he admitted the hot weather followed by the threat of severe storms would likely kill the crowd, that was why they ran three full and independent shows so that one or more nights might make up for a bad one. I had no skin in the game, other than time and money invested to attend the races but when there is a chance an event might get rained out, I always go "bonkers', yet here he was cool as a cucumber with much more invested than I! I have to hand it to him. 

Despite all the factors that were making it tough to present and complete the program on Monday, I have to say that the races were some of the finest that I have ever seen at Spencer and as I said, one of the best "half mile" programs I had seen in a long time. Throw in the fact that it was one of the quickest and smoothest run programs of the year on top of that, and there was much to smile about on the way to the hotel after the final checkered flag. 

I was particularly stunned at how well the track raced. The heat races in most classes were just epic with great battles throughout the pack with only a certain number of drivers making the mains. They therefore had to really fight to get to the front and hopefully make a redraw starting position. They were going back and forth, high and low and yet, managing to race very hard without getting into each other. 

With the weather conditions deteriorating, track officials were in an epic battle to push through the program as quickly as possible and at least get the heats done so they could run double feature programs on Tuesday. And despite the fact that the heat race action was very intense, the drivers managed to put on a show without drawing much in the way of yellow flags. In fact, sixteen heat races were completed in sixty minutes and during those heats, the yellow flag flew only two times, both in heat race number nine! In fact, all qualifying, including B Features, was completed by 8:27 pm as the drivers delivered just what track officials wanted on a night when everyone was in attack mode to get the show done and not have to make anything back up at a later date. It was a great job done with everyone working together. 

And on top of everything else on a positive note happening, we would be in for two of the finest charges to the front of feature races seen all year with one feature winner coming from the fifth row and one from the seventh row. 

Let's highlight the biggest charge of the night and that was in the Hobby Stock feature where Dillon Richards came from the fourteenth starting spot to add to his rapidly increasing number of feature wins already in 2025. As Blake Luinenburg took the early lead from the outside pole, Richards was on the charge immediately. Passing through traffic like " a hot knife through butter" he was soon in the top five and by the first yellow with five laps completed, was up to fourth. 

He continued to move forward, passing Tucker Richardson and Tyler Smith to gain second and then he set his sights on Luinenburg, who was running at a quick pace. One more yellow on lap thirteen bunched the field and on the green, he was all over Luinenburg for the lead, finally sliding past on lap fifteen to take the lead and once in front, he pulled away for quite a remarkable win. 

Luinenburg settled for second ahead of Smith with Austin Jahnz and Will Smith's late charges moving them into the top five. Richards earned fifteen hundred dollars for his win.  

The other double digit charge to a win came from the driver that seems to own this place, that being Kelly Shryock. However, he won in a very un-Shryock type way tonight as the driver that seems married to the "ditch" or low side of the track, used the top side and the banking to make up much of the distance he gained. 

Jake Masters grabbed the lead from the pole and would be the only other leader, other than Shryock, to lead the field. Mike Albertsen and Dallon Murty were the early challengers to Masters but it was Shryock, who started on the outside of row five, who went storming to the front as he rode the cushion of the track and was able to pass cars in bunches as they chose to run lower on the track. 

He continued to fly forward and by the halfway point of the race was up to second. He put the pressure on the leader and when Masters stumbled in the turns, Kelly was right there to drive past him and take over the lead. It was quite a remarkable run by the veteran as he earned another feature win in a most unusual way. Masters would hold off Murty for second with Shelby Williams from the seventh row for fourth ahead of Justin Luinenburg.   Shryock took home twelve hundred and fifty dollars. 

A driver that is among the leaders in the state of Iowa in feature wins so far this year added another to the total and that was Sport Mod driver Brayton Carter. However, Carter will be the first to say that except for a late race yellow flag, he would have been a runner up driver on Monday night. 

Willy Kirk was the class of the field, starting on the outside pole and opening up a large lead over the field. Tyler Watts and then Brayden Ahlers chased Kirk, but he continued to maintain a comfortable lead over the pack. 

Carter started fifth and it took him until well past the halfway point of the race to move up into second. Then he did start to close on Kirk, but it still was doubtful whether he could have caught up, except for late race yellow. 

And as we have seen all year, the best time to make a pass is just following a restart and that is what Carter did, hugging the inside line in turn two and getting a big boost down the back chute to take over the lead. Kirk tried to fight back and jumped the cushion and then Carter was home free to lead the last four laps and get the win. Kirk held on for second while Taylor Kuehl made a big charge of her own, coming from twelfth to move into third on the final lap ahead of Jake Sachau and Matthew Looft, all strong competitors. 

Two dominating runs completed the feature race action. In the Sport Compacts, it was Gilbert Aldape who led from start to finish. He made a big move on the opening lap to come up from the second row and duck under Brooke Osler to take the lead. After that, the field just got a glance at the back end of his Cavalier as he drove away from the field, never being seriously challenged. 

I was very impressed with the communications between the drivers and the officials during this race. Twice during the feature, drivers suffered flat tires and slowed on the track but by listening to Race Control and following the signals of the flagman, they were able to avoid the other cars and safely pull into the infield without causing a yellow flag which was very important on this night. 

Osler held the second spot the reset of the way but Tyler Fiebelkorn did some hard charging as he drove up from thirteen to finish third. Justice Limoges and Tyson Roush completed the top five after early challengers Zach Frye and Travis Roush both left with flat tires. 

A big opening lap move by Tripp Gaylord from the fourth starting position to the lead before one lap was completed would set the stage for his race long lead and win in the Modified feature. Tanner Black was able to stay close to Gaylord but Tripp was in control the whole distance, even after a mid race yellow bunched the field. 

Following the yellow, Gaylord was again able to pull away from Black and had no problems as he drove home for the win. Behind Black, Chris Abelson made a nice run up to third and Jerry Flippo, who runs the highest line of anyone on  the track, moved up to fourth in the late going, edging out Clay Money. 

The weather was a battle all night. It started lightning during the Sport Mod feature and sprinkling during the Hobby Stock feature. The last two winner's presentations were held until after the final checkered, just to make sure that all racing was completed. But they beat the rain, which was coming down harder by the time I headed for the pits after the show. It was an impressive performance by all, from the drivers who raced hard but clean and lined up and were ready to go on short notice, to all the track officials who did their jobs quickly and efficiently and certainly to the track prep crew who prepared the track as well as it has ever been despite most difficult conditions. All should take a bow.