Thornton Thumps Frostbuster Modified Field at Boone

 Night number two of the annual Frostbuster series was held on Saturday night, April 5th at the Boone Speedway. While only two of the scheduled four races in this series were held due to weather conditions, the two nights of racing were well supported by racers from many states plus a tough core group of fans at both tracks.

Winners on Saturday night included Dylan Thornton, Kelly Shryock, Cam Reimers and Dillon Richards.  Only four classes were raced on Saturday night at Boone but car counts were still high with one hundred and seventy three drivers signing in to race in just those four classes and a full program of  twenty eight racing events kept the crowd entertained. 

Quite frankly, it was a miserable night for racing and only perhaps would Boone have attempted to race under such harsh conditions. With so many drivers traveling so far to race, I think there were plenty of folks just thankful that they would put their neck out and race on what was far from a nice night for auto racing, even in April in Iowa. And based on the number of pit passes alone that they sold, I hope that they came out just fine. 

While the temperature barely fought its way to the low forties, it was the bitter wind, blowing well over twenty miles an hour and never backing off until later in the program that made spectating so miserable. Of course it was right in the faces of the audience and there was really no way to avoid its blasts. It was a matter of wearing everything warm that you owned and then thinking warm thoughts as the wind blasted you right in the face. 

While the car count for Boone was right at or slightly exceeding the numbers from Marshalltown on Friday night, there were fifty nine drivers that ran at Boone on Saturday that weren't seen the previous night. By the same token, there were forty six drivers that ran on Friday that didn't follow the tour on to Boone on Saturday. 

The program consisted of four heat races for each class, a pair of B Features and then ending with four main events. Despite the large fields, track officials resisted the notion of running more than four heats with each heat containing at least nine drivers and some heats up to a dozen. While this helps speed up the overall program, using the draw/redraw method of lining up the races, this makes it tough to overcome a bad draw with heat races of only eight laps. Perhaps that is why things started out a bit rough, with the early events for the Sport mods turning into smash fests before everyone seemed to settle down and race better. After that the program ran off very smoothly and for the second straight night, track officials were able to click off a very large racing program in just four hours and with the early start time on Saturday, all racing was done by 9 pm. Boone even threw in two track prep periods but with six tractors and packers plus multiple water trucks, they can redo the track twice in about the same time as it takes me to lumber down to the restroom and back!

Twenty four car fields were set for all four of the main events with the Sport Mods rolling out first for their twenty lap event. And just like Friday night, we were in for some dandy feature races with lots of passing, great battles for the top spot and few yellow flags. 

The Sport Mods may have been the wildest of the night with my unofficial count of six lead changes between two drivers as the "White Castle" sliders were in full effect. Randy Havlik held the pole position with Cole Suckow to his outside but it was Cam Reimers who snuck up from the second row to take the lead on lap one. Suckow quickly moved in on him to pressure and two laps later, Suckow make the pass for the lead. 

Through the first half of the race, Suckow continued to lead but Reimers was all over the leader, looking to make a pass and retake the point. Havlik continued to maintain third at the halfway point with Dustin White and Nate Albrant close behind. A spin by Michael Johnson with twelve laps completed was the only yellow of the race with Dusty Masolini now cracking the top five. 

The last eight laps of the feature were wilder even than the early laps with Reimers claiming the lead on lap fourteen, only to see Suckow slide in for the lead one lap later. Not done yet, Reimers retook the lead with another slider on lap seventeen, only to see Suckow once again return the favor one lap later as the crowd was going wild. 

Reimers was not done yet, as the did another slider coming to the white flag to grab the lead one last time and he then maneuvered on the final tour so that Suckow couldn't return the favor and Cam drove across the line with a half car length on Suckow to grab the exciting win. There were also some big charges by other drivers to get to the top five, the biggest was that of Tyler Nerud. Nerud started twentieth on the grid and on the last lap, outfought Masolini for third while Taylor Kuehl completed the top five. 

Twenty four Modified drivers took the green for their thirty lap feature and when Troy Morris III came from row two to grab the lead on the opening lap, it looked like a repeat from Friday night. However, that didn't prove to be the case and using the healthy cushion to his advantage, Dylan Thornton came screaming to the front and passed Morris III on lap three. 

Thornton was flying on the top side and quickly put some distance on the field and when Morris III broke on lap seven and slowed rapidly with Tood Shute piling into him and ending the night for both, the first yellow waved. 

Thornton continued to hold the lead and pull away form the field with Jake McBurnie, Trevor Fitz, Izac Mallicoate and a charging Jeremy Mills battling behind him. Miles had really picked up the pace and after starting eleventh, he was up to third at the halfway point. 

Two yellows just after the halfway point kept the field bunched, but Miles was able to move into second but he could gain no ground on the flying Thornton, who continued to scream around the cushion. where he has much success. 

The final thirteen laps ran off nonstop and no one had anything for Thornton, who drove on for an easy win. Mills would finish off second but that late race story was the charge of Ethan Braaksma. Braaksma started tenth, was not even in the top five by halfway but in the second half of the race, tore all the way up to third where he finished ahead of Fitz and Logan Anderson as the former Sport Mod star showed the he will be a force in the Modified class also. 

The Stock Car feature was a classic example of when the track goes to a fast low groove, look out for Kelly Shryock. Even though he started tenth, he quickly picked away on the leaders, shooting pass them on the low side when they slipped out of the groove and by the halfway point of the twenty five lapper, he was up to second behind race long leader Jimmy Gustin. 

One lap after the halfway point, Gustin slipped off the bottom and Shryock, who had been plotting his move for several laps, blasted past Gustin to take over the lead and once in front, he was gone. Despite three late yellows and a red when Johnathan Logue got booted over on to his roof, Shryock dominated the late going to score the win. 

A late charge saw Braden Richards up to third and when Gustin hooked a rut on the final corner and nearly turned over himself, Richards drove under him for second. Jay Schmidt and Austin Bouzek completed the top five. 

What a weekend it was for Hobby Stock driver Dillon Richards. After blowing away the field at Marshalltown on Friday night, he again dominated a forty plus field of drivers on Saturday night, winning by a wide margin in a nonstop main event. 

It didn't hurt that he redrew the pole position or the fact that the race went twenty laps of green flag racing which didn't allow the drivers near that back to gain ground under yellow, but it probably didn't matter as he was clearly the class of the field, ever since he has been dating way back to Arizona in January. 

Eric Knutson started second and held that spot through the halfway point of the race, but a late charge by Joe Doran, who started seventh, allowed him to race into second in the late going to claim the runner up position. Knutson held on for second with rookie Kolby Sabin and Chris Krug also running in the top five. 

For the second straight night we saw a program that was very well run with little in the way of delays and a prompt starting time. Overall there was a lot of green flag racing and the one spin rule always keeps the drivers trying their best not to halt races. 

Logan Kelly was waving the flags on Saturday as he certainly works quite a few tracks in the Iowa area. The announcing duo, as usual, was the hard to beat combo of J Van and Ryan Clark. Sorry I missed seeing Clark before the races as I always like to talk to Ryan but on this day, he was probably hiding out where it was warm until the final second before race time. I even had a brief interaction with legendary promoter Robert Lawton on Saturday. He was working on the food booth in the pits when I saw him and noticing that he was wearing a walking boot, I asked him what had happened. "Broke it," was his quick comment as he moved on. That was our conversation as Robert is clearly not one to be making small talk on opening night. 

While the weather was not very pleasant either night, I have no complaints. Not many folks in this country, with all the bad weather this week, got to see two races within an hour of each other with nearly two hundred cars at each show, excellent racing and at top notch facilities. Thanks to everyone at Boone for providing the second half of a blockbuster weekend of racing. 

Morris III Tops Marshalltown Frostbuster

 The central Iowa racing season kicked off on Friday night, April 4th with the annual Frostbuster event at the Marshalltown Speedway. Scheduled to be a four night swing for the IMCA drivers, it has been cut, hopefully to no less than two events, depending if the Saturday night  show at Boone is completed. 

Even with the cold and wet weather of the early part of this week, Marshalltown promoter Jerry Van Sickel was determined to get his Frostbuster event completed and there were many race crews that obviously wanted to race also. 

When the draw window finally closed, one hundred and ninety six drivers from thirteen states and two countries had pulled a pill in the five IMCA classes offered on Friday night. As usual, the pit area was jammed as well as the field just to the South of the pit area. One of the things that always amazes me about this event is that with drivers spread out all over the county and no pa system back in the field, how everyone knows when they need to be ready to race and how such an immense event always goes off so smoothly.

Car counts were very similar to last year's event, even though races at both the front end and tail end of the tour had already been loped off due to weather considerations. The cold weather had produced one minor inconvenience at the track and because of the cold weather leading up to and potentially after the  races completion, the water could not be turned of for the restrooms, meaning that satellites were the order of the evening.

The track looks a bit different this year also. Remember that a stretch of guardrail was added on the back chute leading into turn three to keep the racers out of the neighbors. Well, that was an immediate safety hazard and several drivers had bad experiences with it last Fall. So this Spring, the guard rail was extended the whole length of the back chute, giving the track a new look. Thoughts that many drivers would test out the new rail proved to be incorrect though, as I only recall one driver that got into the barrier all night. 

Some moves within the employees of the track were noted also, with "Big Boy" Jason Froemell now calling the action as a co-announcer while "Foxman", Jeremy Fox, a former announcer and reporter for the track is now waving the flags as head starter. 

Many of the well known names from IMCA racing in Iowa and beyond were on hand, most sporting new cars and I noticed that more and more drivers are now becoming multi class racers with both the Olsons now racing in both Sport Mods and Stock Cars among many making moves. Not only does that take a big racing budget but it takes a big pit crew to keep two cars running. I also notices that more and more drivers are going to the new style Stock Car bodies but I still have not warmed up to them myself. 

With the completion of hot laps, racing would begin at 7:22 pm and once started, there would be no breaks all night except on a couple occasions to extract cars from wrecks. The drivers did an amazing job of racing with twenty of the thirty four races contested on Friday running off green to checkers including three of the five feature races. That is a remarkable statistic in my book, especially considering how many drivers are new to the track, how many are making their first races of the year and the considerable stakes on the line. 

Just as good as the racers themselves was the preparation of the track. It was smooth and wide all night with multiple racing grooves and once they rolled the cushion just a bit after hot laps, they never touched the track again all night! Fanstastic! And the drivers were still racing all over the track, right to the last checkers. It was a bit dirty after the wind nicely switched right into our faces and picked up intensity but that was a very minor inconvenience for real race fans. 

A bit archaic was the old draw redraw used for such a large field of drivers but no matter, the preliminary events were very hard fought with the drivers going three and four wide right from the drop of the first green flag. 

A big disappointment came early when fan favorite Taylor Kuehl was disqualified after her strong Sport Mod heat race run. She opted to just start in the back of the B Feature and putt around. She should have probably raced as Tony Olson started just in front of her and ended up winning the B Feature and making the main!

All five of the feature races were good ones and a couple were exceptional. The Sport Mods started things off and their twenty lap main included five different leaders and a situation where a couple of the cars battling for the top spot ended up taking each other out. 

Dustin Marquardt edged past Barden Claborn to lead the opening lap but one lap later Cam Reimers rolled from the outside lane to edge past both and take over the lead. Dylan VanWyk was on the move after starting eighth and just one lap later, he was able to pass Reimers to take over the lead.

These two then went at it, trading slide jobs as they battled for the top spot. Unfortunately, they came together while battling for the lead with Reimers flying off the end of the track and VanWyk slowing with a flat tire. The green flag stayed out and Tyler Nerud inherited the lead. 

He held the top spot through the half way portion of the race but pushing him was Gabriel Deschamp and with just three laps to go. Deschamp drove around Nerud to take over the lead. Two late yellows bunched the field but Deschamp held on to take the win over Nerud and Dustin White. 

Perhaps even more exciting was the Sport Compact feature that saw the winner not established until the final corner of the race. Pole starter Spencer Roggentien led the opening lap but Mitchell Bielenberg was on the move after starting fourth and he drove around Roggentien on lap four to take over the top spot. Roggentien then would dominate most of the race, leading right up to the finish. 

By the halfway point of the race, Michael Gardner had moved into second with Gilbert Aldape, Christian Grady and Roggentien following. Aldape continued his charge from the sixth row, as he took over second and then pulled up beside Bielenberg to challenge for the lead. 

They put on an entertaining battle with Aldape challenging on each lap but Bielenberg holding him off. On the final lap, it was time for Aldape to make his move and he drove deep into turn three, edging into the lead. Bielenberg tried to cross him over but came up just a bumper length short with Aldape taking a very exciting win. Gardner would finish up third. 

The Stock Car feature was another dandy race with the three challengers for the win crossing the line together in a close bunch. Minnesota driver Justin Luinenburg was scored the leader of all twenty five laps but the race itself was much closer than that would indicate. 

Luinenburg got the jump on Maguire DeJong to take the early lead with Steve Meyer, Kelly Shryock and Thor Anderson close behind. As Luinenburg continued to lead, the drivers close behind diced for position and were soon joined by Dallon Murty who had moved up from the fourth row. 

As the race continued past the halfway point, the top five continued to jockey for position with the running order of those right behind Luinenburg changing lap by lap. In the late going, Murty made the biggest rush, closing to the rear bumper of Luinenburg as the laps ran down. 

It would again be a last lap fight to see who would take the lead. Murty gave it his all on the high side with Luinenburg holding off Dallon while Shryock, using the low side as he often does, nearly snuck by both at the line, edging out Murty for second while Luinenburg held off both for the win. 

After a nonstop Stock Car feature race, the Hobby Stocks rolled on to the track and did the same thing, running twenty green flag laps. Solomon Bennett, running perhaps the most ugly car to take to the track on this night, grabbed the early lead, proving that speed is not skin deep. However, three laps later, he couldn't fight off Corey VanDerwitt who had started beside him on row one. 

By this point, Dillon Richards had moving in behind VanDerwitt and after trying a few preliminary moves, threw a big slider at VanDerwitt to take over the lead. And once in front, he would be hard to catch as he then led the rest of the contest. VanDerwitt stayed close but couldn't challenge and ended up second with Bradly Graham coming from mid pack to finish third. 

The Modified drivers would not be shamed by the two previous classes as they too, ran off a green to checkers race for thirty laps. In the most dominating performance of the night, Troy Morris III, a new addition to Iowa racing this year after his move from the West Coast, took the lead off the outside and then drove on to lead for all laps and grab the win. Another import, Trevor Fitz, battled with him in the early going  before sliding back. 

Ethan Braaksma, driving the #12j car on Friday, moved into second and chased Morris III, gaining that spot before the halfway point of the race and while he stayed in second, he never really pushed the leader. Jake McBurnie moved up to third at the finish with Joel Rust and Cody Laney completing the top five. 

Thirty four races were completed in just less than four hours on Friday night. How many weekly shows with eighty cars take longer to run than that? It was just an outstanding night of racing with close finishes and good management keeping things moving. Thanks to J Van and all the others involved in the production of the speedway. They have another big race coming up next week with the King of the High Banks Stock Car special on April 11-12 paying five grand to the Stock Cars with other classes also racing. Check their website for more information. 

Dillard Tops KOA; Clancy and Schweizer Also Winners

 Saturday night, March 29th, the XIV running of the King of America event wrapped up at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland Missouri, Twenty thousand dollars was on the line for the USMTS Modified winner and following a lap forty three yellow, Cade Dillard, who started seventh on the grid, swept past Tanner Mullens and then drove away from the field to claim his first ever KOA title. B Mods and Stock Cars also ran their third straight program and the winners in those two classes were Chad Clancy and Rodney Schweizer. 

Saturday brought summer like weather to the edge of the Ozarks but also the threat of heavy thunderstorms moving in by evening. Thankfully the storms held off but a light show from some boomers North of the track kept everyone on edge and also caused track officials to push, push, push all night. 

Five first night drivers in the B Mod field were on hand Saturday, pushing the three night total of drivers that participated to one hundred and ninety nine, a very impressive number given that only three classes raced. 

While the Stock Cars and B Mods ran the same format as the previous two evenings with heats and B Features preceding their main events, the Modifieds had a whole new format for the Saturday night finale. As we learned today, the Modified drivers had been receiving points each night for their qualifying, heat race, B Feature and feature race finishes along with hard charger points. The best night of the two point totals for each driver was used to set the final running order for Saturday with the top eight in points moving directly into the sixty lap main event and everyone else moving into one of three B Features with the top five in each moving to the main while the next eight ran a non qualifiers main. 

I did not know anything about this until I saw it posted on race day and while my knowing is hardly important to the overall running of the event, it would have been a nice courtesy to let the fans know about this as the weekend moved on. The announcers never mentioned this once during the two preliminary nights and I was told that drivers were told different things about the procedure over the weekend until it was officially announced. Transparency is such things and posting as such before hand is always a good thing. 

The Modified format for the final night as such was not a bad one and in fact, I would have liked to see it used for the other two classes on Saturday, thus eliminating eleven heat races and speeding up the show while allowing more time to focus on the three big main events. As it was, there was actually too much of a good thing on Saturday, with too many races that left the main events to run as such a late hour that many people had already called it a night. The formula should be to focus on the "big show" and not have so many preliminaries on the final night. 

The non qualifier features are another case in point. While I'm sure they are an attraction for drivers who otherwise might not get to run a main, for the crowd they are just another preliminary event pushing back the start of the three mains to a later hour. The decision to run those three races before the main events, particularly on  a night when the weather could produce a storm at any point, felt like a wrong one to me and I noted that many people in the crowd weren't even paying an attention to these three races. And if for any other reason, they should have been left for last just to save laps on the track, which by the way, held up very well despite the obscene number of laps on it over the last three nights. 

They did "farm" the track once with just the three feature races remaining to be run, and then the B Mods raced their main as a way of widening out the groove before the Mods it the track for their feature. 

J.C. Morton started on the pole and led the opening laps of the B Mod feature over the twenty four car starting field. Chad Clancy started right behind Morton and quickly pulled into the second spot with Kris Jackson moving up to third. Ben Moudry and Brayden Skaggs collided with six laps completed, triggering the first yellow flag. 

Morton continued to lead following the yellow with Clancy chasing him hard along with Jackson, Kyle Henning and Dennis Cole. A spin by Stephen Clancy bunched the field once again near the halfway point of the race and following that slow down, things started to change. In the next few laps Morton started to get loose exiting the turns and Chad Clancy was quick to jump on that, making an inside pass off turn two and taking over the lead. There was a long green flag period of racing after that, in fact all the way to the conclusion and Chad Clancy pulled away from Morton and the field as he drove home for an unchallenged win. 

Morton was able to hold on for second but the story in the late going was the run by Cody King. Not even in the top five on the second yellow flag, he came charging up in the second half of the race, reaching third with a late pass on Jackson but not getting a late yellow which would have beneficial to him. Jon Sheets rounded out the top five in a race that saw only four drivers not finish and only the two yellow flags to slow the action. 

It was then time for the sixty lap KOA Modified feature. While the starting field of twenty seven drivers was not even as large as the previous night, they made the start look different by starting the race with a three wide start that was handled well by the racers. 

The top eight drivers redrew and Tanner Mullens got the pole and he then led the opening lap before Keith Foss pounded the wall in turn four, triggering a quick yellow. Things got real racy on the restart with Mullens leading for a lap before he was passed by Jim Chisholm but Mullens was up to the challenge as he got right back past Chisholm one lap later. 

Mullens then took off like a rocket as he was clearly the fastest driver on the track through the first half of the race. He pulled away by nearly a full straightaway as the groove started to change with most of the front runners going to the top side of the track. As Mullens disappeared, Terry Phillips was one of the first to find the top side and he came from fifth to pass Chisholm for second. 

A spring on the track triggered the yellow with twenty three laps completed and Mullens lost his big advantage. However, he took off again and started to open his lead back up as Phillips, Chisholm, Cade Dillard and Alex Williamson rode in the other top positions at this point. 

By the halfway point, Dillard was one of the quicker cars on the track, having driven up to third after starting seventh with Dustin Sorensen in tow. Mullens still seemed in control and maintained his lead although Dillard continued his climb, getting by Chisholm for second. 

With forty three laps completed, things would change dramatically when the yellow flew for the third and final time when Kyle Strickler slowed with a flat tire. On the green, suddenly Mullens was eaten alive as Dillard passed on one side and Chisholm on the other and after dominating in the early going, Mullens was now struggling to stay in the top five. 

The last seventeen laps of the race would be completed nonstop and Dillard pulled away from the field, running a lane right through the middle of the corners while others struggled to stay with him. In the later laps, Chisholm would gain some ground, perhaps as Dillard's car got a bit tight or maybe he was just being careful. At the checkers, Chisholm made it closer but Dillard was still a comfortable winner. 

One of the big stories of the race was the performance by Modified rookie Bobby Williams as the former B Mod champ at Wheatland put on a great show. Hanging just outside the top five for most of the race, following the last yellow he moved to the low groove and made up much time, driving past both Mullens and Sorensen to finish a sterling third. Only four of the starting field failed to finish the race yet only one driver was lapped during the event. 

The Stock Cars completed the night, racing on a slippery surface but it suited them well as they put on a very entertaining event that saw three different leaders in the thirty lap finale. Chris Dishong led the twenty four car field to the green and he then led the opening lap. One lap later eventual winner Rodney Schweizer moved up from the second row to grab the top spot but the battle wasn't over quite yet. 

Following a lap five yellow for a Brandon Hare spin, Texas driver Blake Clark who started seventh, moved to the second lane of the track and made time immediately, edging past Dishong and pulling up beside Schweizer for the lead. Clark, one of the few driving the new style Camaro stock car body, was able to edge past Schweizer and lead lap seven but wasn't able to fully clear Rodney, who moved back into the lead the following lap. They raced side by side for a few laps before Schweizer solidified his advantage and Clark dropped back to the inside line.  

However, just like Friday night, both Jaylen Wettengel and Jeffery Abbey were on the charge, moving into third and fourth by the halfway point. As Clark faded back, a late race yellow with just six laps to go gave Wettengel and a surging Tyler Cadwallader the chance to challenge for the top spot. 

But the final green saw a wild scramble take place with drivers three wide and the sportsmanship award tossed to the wind. Schweizer was able to sneak away from the madness and drive on unhindered for the win. Cadwallader ended up second with Abbey, Wettengel and Myles Michehl completing the top five. Again, only four drivers wouldn't finish the race with the final checkers waving just at Midnight. 

Remember all the nice things I had to say about the scoreboard last night after I took it to task following the opening night Problems? Well, forget that as the board went back into snooze mode on Saturday. After providing us with helpful information for a few races that included a lap countdown and running order, it lapsed back into the opening night mode where all the running order information was so small it couldn't be read if you were standing right under the board and no information on laps was projected so for the vast majority of the night, we were clueless on what part of any race we were at. What happened to the board, I don't know. 

The tech building remained a busy place on Saturday night with four more drivers disqualified from events for technical issues. 

There has been much talk on line this week about Lucas Oil Speedway hosting this event for the first time and whether it should be here and some folks longing for the days of the past when the race was run at Humboldt Speedway in Kansas. Well I was there for all those races at Humboldt and while in the early years they had some great races there with big crowds and lots of cars, in recent years that has not been the case. They had struggled with the weather, which is not their fault but there can be no argument that the race had lost some of it's popularity in recent years with the crowds being down quite markedly. 

The race hadn't made money for several years and that was just not something that could continue and it was a cooperative decision between the ownership of Humboldt and USMTS that it needed to be moved elsewhere. 

The  KOA had some great years at Humboldt but there can be no question that it is now located where it should be. Thanks to all the officials of the USMTS and the working staff from Lucas Oil Speedway for three nights of intense racing action. A special nod should go to the track prep folks for a job very well done. 

Jim Chisholm, Sheets and Abbey Top Night Two of KOA at Lucas

 Friday night, March 28th was night number two of the XIV running of the King of America event featuring the USMTS Modifieds plus the USRA B Mods and Stock Cars at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland Missouri. Jim Chisholm and Jeffrey Abbey both survived late challenges by other drivers to take feature wins while Jon Sheets drove to a dominating win in the B Mod class. 

It was a hazy sunny and very windy Friday in southern Missouri and while the wind made it feel colder than the temperature actually concurred, the weather so far this week has been superior to many of the previous KOA's held in recent years. Everyone is hoping that the storms will hold off for one more night so that the drivers and fans can see a full weekend of racing, something that has been hard to come by for this event for quite a few years past. 

Another very large field of entrants were on hand for the Friday night portion of the weekend with one hundred and eighty two drivers entering competition. The Stock Car field was up two, the B Mods one while the Modifieds remained the same with seventy two drivers entering. However, there were an additional fifteen drivers on hand that hadn't raced on Thursday so in total, one hundred and ninety four drivers have raced so far this week. 

The format would be identical to Thursday's with the exception that the drivers would be racing for more money come feature time with the laps in all three classes bumped up few. Both of the support classes got a shot at hot laps on Friday before the Modifieds came out cold for their time trial efforts. 

Their field was split into three groups once again with New Mexico's Nathan Smith turning the quickest lap of the night at 17.354 seconds. His brother Mark and Jason Hughes would be quickest in the other two groups. Both Smiths have shown great speed this week but so far they haven't been able to transfer that to good finishes and that trend would later continue on Friday. The Modified pits went into a frenzy when Nathan pulled a six for the invert, the highest it could be and sending some of the fastest drivers into apoplexy at the thought of having to start on the outside of row three for their heat races. Perhaps as a result or just coincidentally, the heats is all three classes were exceptional on Friday with much three wide racing and great battling back through the pack. It didn't hurt that for the second straight night the track appeared to be "spot on" with multiple grooves and racing all over the surface while again at the same time having very few yellow flags to slow the action. 

Any nasty comments I made about the scoreboard Thursday should now be rescinded after the show on Friday. Perhaps they were having technical issues or maybe the board operator was not on hand on Thursday but no matter, all the things I was hoping the scoreboard would do, well it did them on Friday. Nice, easy to read running orders, plus the time trials and running count on the laps completed were all working on Friday as well as the instant replays for the crowd as well as for the tv audience. The touted scoreboard came through with even more than could be hoped for, thus adding to the pleasure of a visit to the "Diamond of Dirt Tracks."

The Modified feature would be up first again on Friday and apparently there were a lot of drivers guaranteed to make the feature that didn't make it in the old fashioned way called qualifying as a gigantic field of thirty two drivers would take the green flag from Chris Loberg for the forty lap main. 

Jim Chisholm had the pole and while he technically would lead all forty laps, he had plenty of company at various times as he fought to hold off the field. Nathan Smith and Stormy Scott battled for second early with Scott taking over the position when the first yellow was triggered by an A.J. Hoff spin. Reece Solander and Chad Wheeler had moved into the top five by this point and with the green reappearing, Scott put pressure on Chisholm for the lead. 

Another six laps were completed before Henry Chambers lost a wheel and the action slowed once again. The longest period of green flag racing then took place with a full sixteen straight laps under the green seeing Chisholm still up front with Scott settling into second with Wheeler moving into third ahead of Solander and Bobby Williams as the rookie Modified driver was making a strong move toward the front. 

At this point Solander went to the cushion and it paid immediate results as he blew past Wheeler and Scott and closed rapidly on Chisholm for the lead. He was just ready to drive around Chisholm when Jim, monitoring the video board, saw Solander tearing up at him using the cushion and he pulled to the top side of the track, just in time to hold off Solander's charge with the yellow flying just a lap later when Kale Westover hammered the wall in turn four. 

The restart went South with a big crash taking out Jason Langford, Tyler Davis, Nathan Smith and Steve Lavasseur in one of the messiest moments of the week so far. The final restarts proved to be a game of "cat and mouse" as Chisholm would select the inside for the double file restarts but then break for the cushion in the first turn, each time beating Solander to the top side which was critical. Reese was just not able to get the jump and had to settle in behind Chisholm and hope for a mistake. 

One more yellow with just seven laps to go when Rodney Sanders got a flat tire slowed things, but again, Chisholm got the jump and then moved to the cushion. Solander could do nothing but hope for a mistake but Chisholm made none as he drove home the winner. Cade Dillard made a great late run toward the front. Not even shown in the top five with just those seven laps to go, he moved lower on the track and found success,  driving all the way up to third and closing on Solander at the finish. Scott would follow and Kyle Strickler made his own charge, coming from twenty second to round out the top five. 

For the first time all week, there were a substantial number of drivers that didn't finish the race with eleven in the pits by the checkers, many with damage from a couple of hard crashes that took place. We also saw the first "killing" of  "The Choose Cone" when Jacob Bleess made his move too late and in trying to cut from one lane to the other, "murdered" the cone. For his transgression, he was put to the tail of the field.

Twenty four drivers would start the twenty five lap B Mod feature and on the opening lap, Jake Richards came from the second row to duck inside Boone Evans and Ben Moudry to take the early lead.  Moudry battled back and put pressure on Richards with Kris Jackson and Evans close behind. Jon Sheets quickly moved to the cushion where he has shown speed this week and he moved up to third riding the tall side of the track after starting ninth before the lone yellow of the event took place when Moudry was turned with Terry Schultz crashing into the spinning car, eliminating both from the contest. 

The green returned and it took Sheets only two laps to blast by Richards and take over the lead and he was spotless running the cushion as he pulled away from the field. Jackson continued to move forward and by the halfway point had raced up to second with Jones being followed by Landyn Randt and Dan Hovden. 

The race stayed under the green and Sheets was in the groove as he continued to work the high side of the track. Jackson pushed hard but he wasn't able to cut into the lead that Sheets maintained but Hovden was able to find some traction lower and he drove up to third. The top three would maintain their distance the rest of the way with Sheets driving home for the win, uncontested. Richards held of for fourth and Scott Bintz made a late charge, coming from thirteenth to complete the top five. 

The Stock Car feature saw Jeffrey Abbey start on the pole and that was where he remained after twenty five laps of racing. This nonstop event saw Abbey pull away at the start while there was considerable battling for position behind him. Most drivers were running low on the track at this point but Paul Conrad experimented with the high groove and it did work for him for a number of laps until he gradually faded back in the late going. 

Darrin Schmidt moved up and took the second spot by the halfway point of the race with Rodney Schweizer next in line. Making a steady charge was Jaylen Wettengel who started fourteenth and was up to third by the halfway point. He continued to move forward, finding traction when others struggled as he moved around and was able to pass for second and then set off after the leader. 

Abbey continued to hold the point but in the last five laps Wettengel closed up much of the margin that Abbey had. The green to checkers run helped Abbey and while Wettengel got close to a challenge, he ran out of laps and Abbey drove home for the win. Schmidt had a solid run for third with Schweizer  and Pat Graham completing the top five. Just a single driver failed to finish among the twenty five starters and all were on the lead lap at the conclusion. 

For the second straight night the racing surface was "spot on" with the drivers able to run multiple grooves all night on a smooth racing surface. They did take their first "farming session" of the week before the three feature races but think the track would have been fine even without the quick extra work. Whatever issues the track may have caused at other times, it has been excellent so far this week, even with another twenty eight races and nearly two hundred cars. 

Speaking of busy, the folks that manage the rules in the tech building have been working overtime so far this week. Of course, they got plenty of notice on Thursday night with the DQ for apparent race winner Dustin Sorensen and also Scott  but on Friday they were really busy as no less than eight drivers were DQ'd over the course of the night for various issues. 

Saturday night the KOA wraps up with another full show for all three classes, topped by a twenty grand to win Modified main. 

Dillard Tops KOA Round One after Sorensen DQ'd

 A big surprise came long after the checkered flag flew and the awards were handed out and the interviews completed Thursday night at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland Missouri. Apparent opening night Modified winner for the XIV running of the USMTS king of America event Dustin Sorensen was disqualified for having an illegal deck height violation on his car and second across the finish line Cade Dillard was awarded the win and the three grand that went to the opening night feature winner during one of biggest weekends of the USMTS racing season. 

Also joining the Modified drivers on the opening night of this three night bash were the USRA B Mods and the Stock Cars. No such post race dramatics resulted from these two races though, with first across the line drivers Kris Jackson and Derek Green both passing inspection and taking home their wins without additional drama. 

The XIV running of the King of America event here at Wheatland has been the first time this race has been held anywhere but at the Humboldt Speedway in Kansas. Last week during my conversation with Humboldt promoter John Allen this move came up as part of the conversation and he stated that it was a combination decision between the USMTS and Humboldt principals Allen and J.R. Sartain that this event would be moved in 2025. There was also much discussion about the move among the Humboldt faithful and there were plenty of them not happy about the switch, losing one of their big scale races of the year. 

However, Lucas Oil Speedway is an obvious choice if the race were to be moved and graced with good weather so far this weekend, something that plagued Humboldt in recent years, the opening night would be deemed a success, even if the crowd was still a bit on the light side. 

The drivers certainly turned out for the opening night of three, with full shows to be raced each night with the purse going up each night as well. One hundred and seventy night drivers signed in with just three classes racing including an impressive seventy two Modifieds. The pit area was so jammed that they had to go to overflow parking, something that I witnessed for the first time at Wheatland. 

Among the new items on display at Lucas Oil was their new scoreboard which, in my opinion, was very disappointing. Yes they did show replays which was nice but no where on the vast board does it show the laps completed or to go for a race and the running order is so small that there is no way it can be read from the grandstands. A lot of useless information is projected that is way too small to be read and no where does it show where we are in any race. A lot of money was spent with very little return for the customers. 

The racing procedures for the event would see the Modifieds qualifying with an invert picked by the fast qualifier. Passing points would then be used for the heats with the top twelve moving on. The rest raced in gigantic Jeff Broeg size B Features with twelve more moving on. Provisional starters completed the field. Double file restarts were the order and the "choose cone" was also used. 

The other two classes drew for heat races with passing points being used for them also. Heats and B Features were necessary for both because of the size of the field. They used Delaware style restarts with no "Choose cone" for some reason. There were no provisional starters with twenty four only in their feature races. 

Before the races one of the folks I ran into was Buck Monson, the photographer that got run over by an errant race car down at the Heart of Texas Speedway. He was sporting a cast on his right wrist as a broken wrist was discovered after the fact by doctors in his home town. However, he was upbeat as he said that as long as he can still shoot photos, he's a happy man. I also saw for the first time one of the "new" style Stock Cars with the new style Camaro body on them. I had been waiting to see one and it did quite a while this Spring before I saw one in person. One man's opinion on the first night of observation, thumbs down. I will say no more. 

With such a large group of cars, the Modified qualifying was divided into three groups on Thursday. Qualifying did provide some surprises with quickest overall being Mark Smith out of New Mexico with a lap of 17.268 seconds. Cade Dillard and Kaylin Lopez were quickest in the other two groups. The invert drawn by Smith was three for the heats, a significant draw. I still don't understand why if we're going to qualify and use passing points that an invert is justified but that decision is beyond my pay grade. 

In any event, six big heats and three even larger B Features were then held to decide who makes the main. Biggest news from those races was that Brandon Givens, leading a heat and then suddenly slowing which cost him his opportunity to make the main and Stormy Scott, running a Modified for the first time in six years, was in the show through a B Feature until he was disqualified post race for an illegal shock. 

By feature time the track was black and super slick but it was throwing no dust, despite the fact that a strong wind was blowing all night. With provisional starters, twenty nine Modified drivers would take the green for thirty laps. Interestingly, Modifieds would run first all night. 

Dustin Sorensen started on the outside pole and with the outside lane seemingly the place to be all night, he got the jump on Terry Phillips to take the early lead. Phillips and Dillard battled for second with Alex Williamson using the top side to stay with them while Sorensen was able to pull away in the early going. 

Kyle Brown got turned around to trigger the first yellow, they raced a few more laps and then Dustin Stand got turned around also, triggering yet another yellow in the only race all night that saw more than two yellow flag slowdowns which was quite amazing.

Sorensen and Dillard broke away from the field with Sorensen rolling the outside line and Dillard repeatedly trying to get under him in the corners. Momentum was big at this point and Sorensen was using that to keep him in the lead, despite Dillard showing him a nose on several occasions. By the halfway point, Tanner Mullens and Keith Foss had both moved into the top five as they progressed toward the front. 

Gary Christian slammed the first turn wall with fourteen laps completed, bunching up the field once again. The top two took off again with Mullens and Foss battling hard for fourth. Jason Pursley got turned with just seven laps to go, setting up one last battle for the lead as Sorensen had been changing up whether or not he started on the inside or outside on restarts. 

The gloves came off on the final green flag with Dillard building up a heat of steam down the back chute and throwing a wicked slider for the first time at Sorensen. Dustin patiently waited for him and then crossed back over, regaining the lead as Dillard lost time coming off turn four. This gave Sorensen the room he needed to pull away as Dillard now had Phillips to contend with. Cade was able to fight him off, however Sorensen was long gone as he drove home for the win. Phillips crossed third with Foss and Mullens next in line. 

It was well into the next feature race before the announcement was made to the public that Sorensen had been disqualified in tech for a deck height violation with Dillard elevated to the win. Everyone moved up one spot with Rodney Sanders then into the top five. Only two drivers failed to finish the Modified main with all on the lead lap. 

Twenty four M Mods were up next for their twenty lap main event. These drivers did an amazing job as there was just a single yellow flag in their main, but it was a significant one in the race outcome. Aaron Marrant got the jump on Rylan Gibbs to take the early lead with team mate Chad Clancy then driving into second. Kris Jackson was on the move after starting eighth  and by the halfway point he was up to third after a good battle with Talan Willis. Jon Sheets was putting on a show as he rode the top side of the track, coming from thirteenth to the top five by the halfway point of the race. 

The only yellow flew just past halfway when Gibbs, a challenger the first half of the race, blew up and wasn't able to exit the track. This moved Jackson up beside Clancy and he quickly sprang up to second when racing resumed. 

Marrant had his hands full with Jackson and with the field mostly working low, one slip off the bottom in turn one was all it took and Jackson was past him just that quick. And once in front, Kris pulled away and stretched his advantage over the final five laps. Marrant would hold on for second with Willis, Sheets and Tyler Kidwell completing the top five. That was, however, until they reached tech and this time it was Willis that didn't please officials with his third spot removed and everyone else moving up one which elevated Clancy to a top five finish. Only one car failed to finish this race with again, everyone still on the lead lap. 

Twenty four Stock Cars completed the night's racing with their twenty lap main. Using the outside starting spot, Texas driver Jeffrey Abbey took the early lead over Pat Graham. The Stock Cars lined up on the inside line and not much activity was done outside that first lane of traffic. 

Except for Derek Green as the Granada Minnesota driver moved up one lane and gradually, lap after lap, was able to edge past his competition using that second lane. Abbey tried to drive as deep into the corners as Green was able to, but when he slipped up the track in turn four, Green turned under him to take over the lead just before the lone yellow of the race, for a harmless spin, stopped the action for the only time in this race. 

Back on green, Green pulled away and by the finish, was nearly a full straightaway ahead of the pack. It was a battle for second but Abbey held off Brandon Hare , Graham and a charging Jaylen Wettrengel to hold on to second. Just a single car failed to complete the race and again, everyone was still on the lead lap at the conclusion. 

Kudos go out to several different groups on this night. There were twenty eight races contested on this night, under mostly sunny and windy conditions. Yet the track stayed racy right to the end with no dust and not any evidence that it was starting to take rubber. And just as importantly, the track was not touched once the race cars hit it for the first time. So the track prep crew hit a home run on Thursday. 

The drivers also did an amazing job with there being few yellow flags and not really a significant pile up all night. The vast majority of the drivers completed their races and all were very competitive as there were very few lapped cars. Sixteen of the twenty eight races went green to checkers and only the Modified feature that saw more than two yellows. In fact, the other two feature races had just one yellow each. And what about three twenty car Modified B Features, all three of which went green to checkers! That may never happen again. It was remarkable how smoothly the drivers raced, given the fact that many were making their first runs of the year, many others had never raced here before and that the stakes were high. 

Time trials were the time eater as they always are. Racing thus didn't get started until 7:51 pm but with absolutely no breaks between races and cooperation from the drivers, the full program was completed in just three and a half hours. That was amazing and likely won't be able to be accomplished again, ever. 

Schiffelbein Jr Repeats at Humboldt

 In what was probably the finest weekend of his Modified racing career, Berryton Kansas' Randal Schiffelbein Jr not only won his first ever Modified feature on Friday night at the Humboldt Speedway, he came right back on Saturday night to win again, making it a sweep of the Heartland Modified Tour opener and adding thirty five hundred dollars to his racing account. 

The win was not a "gimme" as both Shadren Turner and Tyler Davis had shots to pass Shiffelbein Jr on the final lap but neither was able to pull it off in what ended up being a thrilling finish. 

Factory Stocks and Midwest Modz were again the support classes on Saturday night with Dallas Joyce also recording a weekend sweep on the Factory Stocks while a late race tangle among the leaders opened the door for Jared Willard to take home the win. 

Despite plenty of action on Friday night, the Modified delegation proved to be very resilient with only a single driver not returning to race on Saturday. However, a blown motor in hot laps by Derek Watson would reduce the field to forty for racing action. 

Time trials would see Tyler Davis turn the quickest time overall at 15.759 on a slicker than Friday track while Dustin Hodges would top the second flight. Four heat races followed and in one change from Friday to help move the program along, five cars qualified out of each heat and they then ran just a single Jeff Broeg sized eighteen car B Feature that qualified the last four cars for the twenty four car starting field. 

There was heat race drama for Hodges when he got a flat tire while leading a heat and then failed to make the main out of his B Feature, thus putting one of the fastest cars in the pits early. 

The redraw for the Modified feature found Schiffelbein Jr on the pole and he got the jump, only to have that start called back for a spin by Dan Powers. The second attempt found Davis, from the outside, getting the jump this time and Tyler took the early lead. Drivers were mostly working the inside line on the track which was even more slippery by feature. Davis soon had trouble holding his car to the inside line and Schiffelbein Jr, getting a great run off the bottom exiting the corners, drove inside Davis on lap five to take over the lead after challenging first for a couple laps. 

As Schiffelbein Jr extended his lead, the battle then turned to the second spot where Davis fought to hold off Shadren Turner who had moved up from the fifth starting position. Turner was setting off sparks on every lap as he clipped the front stretch wall on most laps after bowing out off the corners. Turned continued to challenge and by the halfway point had ducked under Davis for second. 

By the halfway point of the race, the drivers were all rimming the inside line as the track started to take rubber and following the third and final yellow for a spinning Troy Gemmill , a single file restart was called for, recognizing the rubbered up surface. 

Schiffelbein Jr continued to lead but on the long green flag period that followed, Turner got close enough to take a couple strikes to the inside but each time, Randal held him off. 

Things got very dicey as the final laps approached. The field was running mostly single file and hugging the inside line and when Schiffelbein Jr caught the back of the field, he was faced with a tough decision won whether to try and pull out and pass the slower cars or stay in line and hope that they were fast enough that no one else could go around him. 

With less than five laps to go, Schiffelbein Jr chose to run the inside and hope. Turner had caught him and made a bold move to the outside try to and pin Randal behind the slower cars as the white flag waved. He continued to try down the back stretch but Davis, who had also caught up, jumped ahead of him and also tried to go to the top side on the final corner. 

Things worked out for Schiffelbein Jr as the back of the pack cars were just fast enough that he could stay ahead of his challengers and cross the line as the winner. Turner was able to get more momentum than Davis and beat him back to the line for second with Jason Pursley and Henry Chambers, who had run consistent races, completing the top five. Only four cars failed to finish and as such, the cars were strung out all the way around the track like a train in the final few laps. 

It was another short field in the Factory Stocks and after Dallas Joyce earned the pole position, the race was pretty much a foregone conclusion. Dylan Allen was able to stay with Joyce for a couple laps, but he then gradually pulled away in the nonstop race, winning by nearly a full straightaway. 

Grant Reeves, making his first start of the year, did eventually drive past Allen and claim the second spot with Ethan Vance and Kenny Schettler following. 

Twenty four Midwest Modz took the green flag for their main event with memories of the long contest fresh in track official's minds. On Saturday, the Midwest Modz were on the twenty minute time clock and while they had some action packed laps, they eventually had the plug pulled on their race after they managed to get fifteen successful laps completed. 

There was plenty of action up front however with three different leaders of the race that produced plenty of action despite the short laps. Jared Willard earned the pole and he led the opening two laps before last night's winner "The Real Tyler Davis" passed him. Willard didn't give up and continued to challenge as he tried to get the lead back. 

Dylan Daniels started seventh but was on the move early, driving past Willard to move into second as the halfway point of the race clicked off. Shortly after, the third yellow of the race was a dandy as a seven car pileup in turn three took quite some time to clear the track. When racing returned, Daniels continued his charge as he got past Davis to take over the lead. 

Davis refused to yield and charged back at the leader but unfortunately, Davis caught the rear end of Daniels in turn four and turned him around, triggering another yellow. Both Davis and Daniels opted to leave the track at this point and a surprised Willard inherited the top spot. At this point, track officials "gonged" the proceedings with a green, white and checkered finish called for. 

Willard then held off a charging Ryan Smith, who started tenth, for the win with Mitch Coulter coming home third. It was Willard's first ever win in the Midwest Modz and first also at Humboldt. 

Despite the Midwest Modz best efforts to slow the proceedings, the program was completed overall in a much more rapid fashion than on Friday and the final checkered waved at 10:30 pm. 

One of the best parts of the weekend was a chance opportunity to spend a goodly amount of time chatting with track promoter John Allen who had quite a long night on Friday and into Saturday morning following some of the on track action and resultant blow by. We covered a wide range of topics and I find Allen to be one of the more thoughtful and reasoned promoters of all that I have known. A talk with him would certainly be an eye opener for those folks that think a track promoters life is one of leisure, just sitting back and raking in the cash. 

Thanks to John, Trenton and all the other officials for a good weekend of racing with the Heartland Modified Tour. They return to action in a couple weeks with Missouri races. Check their schedule for details but if the openers were any indication, they are going to get great support from their drivers all year. Allen has a huge event next weekend when the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars take to his 81 Speedway in Park City Kansas.  

Schiffelbein Jr. Takes Heartland Tour Opener at Humboldt

 The Heartland Modified Tour season opener was Friday night, March 21st at the Humboldt Speedway in Humboldt Kansas. The regional Modified Tour series raced on Friday night as a part of their season opening weekend doubleheader here, dubbed the Whitworth Spring Classic in honor of the Whitworth family, the original owners of this facility that pushed it to the forefront among tracks in the Midwest for their big time Modified races. 

Randal Schiffelbein Jr made a big move on the opening lap to grab the front spot and then led from that point to the finish to score his first ever Modified feature win at "The Hummer." Midwest Modz and Factory Stocks were also on the racing card on Friday with "The Real Tyler Davis" and Dallas Joyce the winners in those two main events. 

Many will know that this was a weekend of conflict, for lack of a better word to use, among Modified racing teams and promoters over their scheduled events. Everyone is aware that there is also a one hundred grand to win Modified race going on this same weekend about two hours straight West of Humboldt. The establishment of this race, both of its timing and location, has created quite a schism among drivers and who they will support with long term ramifications possible. 

I talked to Heartland Modified Tour owner and promoter Trenton Berry about this as we both kind of tip toed around the subject. I didn't want to belabor the issue, feeling Berry had been asked these same questions about a million times since the announcement of the hundred grand show and not surprisingly, Berry taking the high road. Berry is trying to make this regional series work for the drivers of the Midwest and possibly the most disappointing thing to him is some of the drivers that were supporting the other hundred grand show, drivers that he would have expected to support this series designed to help the promoters and drivers of this area with some special events to help them while also at the same time not making the purses so big that it ham strings the promoters as this series does go to some fairly small facilities. 

Berry did work very hard to ensure a good field of cars for this event, believing that no matter what else was going on, he needed a solid field of drivers for the first events for the series this year. And he succeeded in doing so, as forty two Modified drivers signed in for the first of two nights of racing with full shows offered both nights. I suspect that Trenton was very happy with the number of drivers he drew and while the other event saw just over sixty drivers for the hundred grand, he was still able to provide the fans of Humboldt with a very solid field. Moving forward though, it will be interesting to see what ramifications come from where the drivers selected to race this weekend. 

The Heartland Tour, just as with the ARMS Tour that Berry also owns, has seen some procedural changed for 2025. Berry said he looked at a number of different qualifying tactics to use and talked to many drivers and in the end, despite that fact that Berry stated he doesn't like time trials, that is what the Heartland Tour will be using this year.  

The drivers qualify with a split field, and with the number of drivers on hand Friday, they ran four heat races. The heats are started straight up from the times with four drivers making the feature. the rest go into a pair of B Features to set the twenty four car field for the main event. The heat winners redraw against themselves for positions in the main and the second place heat race finishers do the same. It is virtually the same format that most of the Late Model series use with passing points apparently now a thing of the past. Modified drivers, just as the Late Model drivers have learned in recent years, now face a good portion of their evening's success on how they qualify. Is this a good thing? I guess the numbers of butts in the stands over time will tell us that but I know that I share Trenton's opinion on qualifying. 

The majority of drivers on hand this weekend are from the Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri area and kudos to them for having so many strong teams while still missing a number of drivers that would routinely be a part of this series. Even with some absent, there still were twelve of the top twenty in 2024 points on hand. Wyatt Gaggero and Jason Pursley were the quickest of their flights in time trials with Gaggero overall fastest at 15.340 seconds. As stated earlier, four heats and a pair of B Features set the running order for the main with no provisional starters.

Dustin Hodges and Shadren Turner shared the front row for the thirty lap main event but the move of the race was made by Schiffelbein Jr on that opening lap as Hodges drifted a bit up the track on the opening round and Schiffelbein Jr ducked under him in turn four and edged into the lead. He was able to completely clear Hodges on the next lap and the race lead was him. 

Only one full lap was made before the first year when Bobby Williams spun but Chase Sigg and Chevy Coleman had moved into the top five. Schiffelbein Jr continued to lead on the restart as Turner moved into second and provided the stiffest challenge to the leader. 

Several laps of hard racing saw quite a bit of contact back in the pack as the track had turned icy slippery and drivers fought for traction. Lap eight saw the second slow down of the race as Tyler Davis and Coleman came together in turn four. More on the fireworks involved in that accident later. 

As the race continued into its second half, Schiffelbein Jr continued to be challenged by Turner who nearly got a nose inside for the lead off turn four. Gaggero was on the move after starting sixth and he crashed the top three by the halfway point with Hodges and Brandon Givens next in line. One more yellow slowed the action when Derek Watson lost power on the track and slowed. 

Schiffelbein Jr then started to pull away from Turner and run alone as the leader. There would be no late challenges and he crossed the finish line alone as the winner. Turner finished a strong second with Gaggero, Givens and Hodges rounding out the top five. Seventeen drivers were still on the track at the finish. 

Speaking of the one "black eye" of the race, Davis had been moving forward after starting fourteenth on the grid. A couple of his passes had been done using quite a bit of force on the drivers he wedged out of the way. After doing so to Coleman, Chevy responded by taking out Davis and instead of Ford vs. Ferrari, we had Chevy vs. Davis. They slammed each other quite hard under yellow and then the scary part occurred when Davis went roaring into the infield to the hot pit area where Coleman was stopped for service. Lots of folks in the area with no protection as Davis came barreling into the area and a minor scrum broke out between crews with officials trying to mitigate the damage. Both drivers were disqualified from the event and it was a bad scene indeed. These are the types of things when people get hurt. It seems awful early in the season for such hot tempered behavior but both drivers are from the Wichita area and perhaps there is history from that but in any event, it was an ugly scene. 

It was noted that while the other two classes racing on this night used "The Choose Cone", the Modifieds did not and did their normal Delaware restart. Well known starter Mike Striegel was waving the flags for the Modified series also. 

A nice field of two dozen Midwest Modz signed in for racing on Friday which saw them run three full heat races and a main event using passing points to set their running order. 

In a bit of confusion, "The Real Tyler Davis", this one from Chanute, led from start to finish to win the twenty lap main event. Fortunately, the Midwest Modz did a bit better than last week's yellow flag fiasco, but they still managed to slow the action six times for one car spins with a couple of the multi spinners asked to leave the track due to their difficulties. 

Davis started on the outside pole and led the entire contest as he worked the high groove to his advantage. He had several challengers for second with Dylan Daniels running there first before he was replaced in second by Brady Folk. Folk's night ended when the rear end on his car locked up, triggering the last of the yellows. 

Davis remained solid up front and drove on for the win with Sam Keller coming from seventh to claim the runner up spot after a good battle with Daniels and Ryan Smith. 

The Factory Stocks had a very meager field of drivers on hand which resulted in just a single heat and then feature. Dallas Joyce started on the pole and led all the way, opening up nearly a full chute on last week's winner Dylan Allen. Donnie Devers finished third as only those three were still running when the checkered came out. 

When talking with Berry, one of the strongest reasons that he doesn't like time trials is because they always seem to cause the racing event to start late as tracks never seem to start early enough and budget the proper amount of time to do the trials and still start at their advertised time. But unfortunately, while the problem has been diagnosed, there was no cure for the ailment, at least on this night. 

The first race didn't start until 8:43 pm which put the rest of the program behind schedule and the final checkers didn't wave until Midnight on a March evening where once the sun set, it cooled off rapidly. And most unfortunately, many in the crowd had froze out by then and weren't even on the grounds to see the Modified feature which was the last race run. Humboldt has an advertised start time of 8 pm for their weekly shows, which seems ridiculously late as discussed in last week's blog. However, the racing product was good in the Modified class tonight with just a few loose ends to be tied up.