Friday night, November 14th brought much more racing action to the Springfield Raceway as Turkey XIX continued with its second night of racing action. On a spectacular November night, a total of thirty seven races would be held as three additional classes made their first appearance of the week while two other classes wrapped up their racing with feature races after having qualified on Thursday night.
The pit area appeared to be plenty crowded by Thursday night but add another two hundred and six entrants for Friday night's racing and they were nearly to the point of having to close I-44 and park race teams on the highway! A slight exaggeration to be sure, but even with the large turnouts from previous years, there is no comparison to what the pit area has extended to in 2025. Certainly the spectacular weather has something to do with that, along with the increased purses and the fact that this race has really gained a footing as a must attend race for drivers and teams from not only this area but from far and wide.
The Friday night program saw qualifying heats for the three arriving classes which were the Modifieds, B Mods and Midwest Modz A class. The Midwest Modz B class along with the Pure Stocks(or full bodied class or whatever they are calling them this year), ran B Features and then finished off their week here with two feature races.
Car counts are up across the board from last year's event with only the MMA being equal to last year while the B Mods and Mods showed significant growth in 2025. Especially strong was the Modified field with seventy three entries and many of the top Midwest drivers on hand with USRA, IMCA and UMP type cars all sharing the track.
All classes would be qualifying using passing points with the Modifieds running two heat races with their starting order shuffled for the second round of heats plus they would be racing against different drivers than in the first round, the only fair way of doing this.
Racing action began right at the advertised time and except for one break to dig the track and re water it, it was nonstop racing action. There were a few brief pauses also to spritz the racing surface but they took minimal time so there was plenty of racing for even the most particular of fan.
Both the Midwest Modz B and Pure Stocks raced their B Features and then ran the only main events of the night. While the tech area has been quite quiet so far this week with only a pair of disqualifications to report following night one, they loomed large in the two feature races completed on Friday as you will see.
Twenty one drivers would start the Midwest Modz B feature race with Clayton Ward starting on the pole and leading in the early going. The pace was fast and no yellow flags slowed the contest. Young Karter Jackson was on the move after starting in the second row and by the halfway point of the race had moved into second and was closing on the leader.
Ward was running the middle line while Jackson was pounding the cushion and was making time using that line. He caught Ward just past the halfway point of the race and made his move. He pulled to the outside of Ward down the back chute but just as he went to make the pass, the two leaders encountered a slower car which tightened things up considerable. As they pounded down the front chute, things just got too tight and there was contact between Jackson, in the middle, and the slower car up against the wall.
Jackson was launched off the first turn and slammed hard into the concrete wall surrounding the track. He hit very hard but was fortunately uninjured. However, his car suffered heavy damage and was out of the race. It was very bad luck for Jackson who looked like he might just grab the win but it was just one of those bad deals that truly was just a racing accident with really no one at fault.
The restart saw there to to be just eight laps remaining in the contest. Jordan Cater inherited the second spot and he began to challenge Ward as racing resumed. However, Ward was sharp enough to realize the top side was faster and he moved up into that groove, blocking any advance by Cater who followed closely over the final laps but couldn't must a serious charge.
Ward was the winner over Cater, Braxton Rupp, Gavin Buckley and Keegan Brookshire with only three drivers not finishing the race. Ward was quite pointed in his post race comments, mentioning that he had won the biggest race of the year after having been told before the season started that he couldn't do it.
However, post race tech was still to be passed, and while no official announcement was made as to the particulars, Ward was disqualified in tech for some irregularity with the rules. Cater was then moved up as the new winner with Cody Arnett now a part of the top five finishers.
Twenty one drivers would also start the twenty lap feature race for the Pure Stocks, a race that would not quite as smoothly as the previous feature race had. Chase Galvan got the jump on the station wagon of Allen Thompson to take the initial lead. Point champion at the track in 2025 Eric Clay started in the second row and quickly moved in to challenge Galvan for the lead. Using the high side of the track, Clay took over the lead with three laps complete, just before the first yellow of the race slowed the action.
Galvan, Thompson and Kolby Rathbone all challenged Clay with the top four drivers running in a tight pack. Clay continued to hold the lead but those behind him were swapping spots, with Rathbone up to second when the second yellow of the race flew when Mason Beck and Eddy Noll got tangled on the back chute, with it taking several minutes to pull the two apart. Beck was able to continue but most of the body on the car was torn off or pulled off by the wrecker crew and he was racing a highly altered looking car.
The last ten laps of the race ran off nonstop and Clay started to pull away from the pack. Most were focused on the huge charge then being put on by Beck who went to the back of the pack following his tangle but came charging forward in an epic run.
Clay was comfortably out front but lap after lap, Beck continued to pick off competitors, finally passing Thompson for second with just a couple laps left. He had nothing for Clay who drove home for the win but Beck's run from the back, minus body, was impressive.
However, for the second time of the night, tech inspection spoke loud and clear when second place finisher Beck was disqualified. No official word was given but there certainly was the possibility that he didn't make weight, given the condition of the car after the race. In any event, Thompson was moved up to second with Scotty Carter, Tyler Schoen, up from eighteenth and Rathbone completing the top five.
That track stayed in good condition and a nice sized Friday night crowd was on hand. Saturday night the Late Models move in for a full show. Their number appears to be very good also with around thirty just practicing on Friday night and the Super Stocks, making their first start in the Turkey Bowl, will also be joining the action. Feature races following B Features will also be held for the Midwest Modz A, B Mods and Mods. Quite confusing, don't you think?
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