Tony Olson and Rust Drive Forward For Summer Natonals Wins

 Tuesday night, June 2nd was night number two for the third annual IMCA Summer Nationals held this year at the Independence Motor Speedway in Independence Iowa. It was another beautiful early Summer day in Iowa and one hundred and seventy nine drivers signed in to race in the five IMCA divisions offered. 

There were five new winners on Tuesday night with no repeaters from Monday and in the two top paying events, both Stock Car winner Tony Olson and Modified victor Joel Rust drove from behind to make passes on the leaders and take home the biggest checks. Other Tuesday night winners included Cam Reimers, Karter Miles and Mitch Bielenberg. 

As in often the case for multi day shows such as this one, night number two goes much smoother than the opening night as drivers figure out the track, officials spot things that need to be changed and make the necessary improvements and things overall just flow better. 

Among the changes made for the Tuesday night show were less laps for some of the feature races, the running order for the races was changed and the track prep crew learned better when to freshen the track and when to leave it alone. The drivers meeting was moved up so that everyone was more prepared to start the show at its advertised time and while it seemed to me that the drivers raced even harder than they did on Monday night, there were many less yellow flags and not the serious incidents that occurred on Monday night. The snafu with the redraw for the feature races was ironed out thus eliminating the delays between main events which helped also while cutting down on some of the rising tempers in the pits. 

The vast majority of the drivers that raced on Monday returned with the crews for the teams doing their usual amazing job of fixing what looked to be unfixable equipment. Kyler Hefty, the roll over victim right in front of the crowd on Monday was back on the track after some extensive repairs over night and even raced to a top ten finish in the Hobby Stock feature.

The other roll over victim, Devin Coghlan, was taken in for treatment last night after he wasn't feeling well at his pit area and while the car was in the pits again on Tuesday, it was not entered in competition. 

Other than the running order being changed, the program used the same format as on Monday with heats using the draw/redraw format and B Features for all divisions except the Sport Compacts where all drivers that were running started the feature race. In a show such as this with so many competitors and so many fast teams, the draw is critical and many of the drivers that ran up front on Monday struggled to get through the heats on Tuesday. 

For the second straight night, all feature races were started three abreast and while that does pose some challenges, the drivers have done a good job navigating the heavy traffic early on in the main events. And impressively during the Tuesday night show, three of the five main events would go green to checkers with not a single yellow flag in them with the other two having just two and three slowdowns during them. However, as we have seen time and time again, one of the yellows during the Modified feature made the difference in who sat in victory lane. 

The Stock Cars started off the main events on Tuesday with this class starting twenty seven drivers in their twenty lap main, the largest field for the largest class assembled here this week. 

The track was a challenge to the drivers on this night with a big berm during the heat races that really caused some difficulty for many drivers. However, that berm was bladed off after the heats and after that, the issue was the changing fast lane which switched so many times it was hard to keep up based on track prep and some of the classes that seemed to run better on different parts of the track. It was a "heads up" time for the drivers and trying to pick the fast lane, either by planning or just "seat of the pants" racing was key. And sometimes that fast line changed during the race, leaving some potential winners high and dry by checkers time. 

Such was the case in the Stock Cars were Zach VanderBeek started on the pole and jumped into the immediate lead. he began to pull away from the pack quickly as the low line seemed to serve him well. However, Tony Olson, who started next to Zach, decided after losing some ground to the leader to move up to the cushion and that made him faster immediately. Lap after lap, Olson began to eat into the margin he was trailing by and with no yellows to slow the action, VanderBeek saw his lead get smaller and smaller. 

Finally, Olson blew past him to take over the top spot with VanderBeek defenseless to stop him. Olson then continued his charge as he drove away for the win. VanderBeek did hold off a late rush from Braden Richards to salvage the runner up slot however. Richards has been the most consistent driver in the field so far with two top three finishes. Kaden Reynolds and Kodey Miles completed the top five. 

Twenty four Modifieds were set to go for twenty two laps in their main event, racing as the Stock Cars had for three grand on Tuesday. Jed Freiburger blasted out from the middle of row one to take the early lead in the feature. Not many laps were completed before a wild scrum on the back chute saw several drivers turned in the wrong direction and last night's winner Cayden Carter slide off the track with several calling it a night at this point. 

Freiburger continued to lead back on green and began to extend his advantage while a good battle for second saw Brennan Chipp fighting to hold off Spencer Diercks and Joel Rust who had started fourth. 

They were battling for the runner up slot but Freiburger was motoring away from the pack and eventually would have the better part of a straightaway lead over the field as his lead seemed to be solid. However, this would all change with the blinking on of the yellow light when Ethan Braaksma slipped over the banking and stalled. 

When the green reappeared, the race had changed complexion considerably. How often have we seen the whole character of a race change caused by a yellow? Well, Rust, who was running the top side of the track suddenly found that he had speed to burn and he blew past Freiburger, who just a few laps earlier seemed to be untouchable, and took over the lead. That's how quickly things change sometimes following yellow flags. 

Tripp Gaylord, who started sixth, also drove by Freiburger in the last laps to finish second while Freiburger must have been asking himself why that yellow had to have happened while winner Rust certainly celebrated that late yellow, that saw him make the winning pass with just four laps remaining in the race. 

The Sport Mod feature went green to checkers with twenty quick laps spun off by the twenty four drivers that started this race. This race bore a similar look to the Modified feature with one big exception, that late yellow that might have changed things never appeared. It was a Cam Reimers show on Tuesday as he started on the pole and led all laps. He pulled away to a big lead and without any slowdowns, his only problem was lapped traffic that one the rubbered up track, made getting by some of the slower cars dicey. 

However, he had a big enough advantage that he was able to show patience and most of the slower drivers did a good job yielding so he was never in any danger. There was a good battle for second with Keegan Nordquist holding off a persistent Zach Davis to take that spot. Caleb Woodard and Dylan VanWyk completed the top five in this race. 

Carson Butt took the initial lead in the Hobby Stock feature but could only hold off Karter Miles for a single lap before Miles drove past him to take over the lead. And once in front, Miles would lead for the rest of the sixteen laps of the contest although Butt remained close enough to be a challenger. A couple collisions slowed this race and on every green Butt gave it a shot, but Miles was just a bit stronger and held off every challenge. 

Miles drove home with a few car lengths to spare over Butt while Brent Vanous recorded a second top five finish,  and on Tuesday he still had both doors on the car as managed to avoid any skirmishes on the track. Only two drivers failed to complete this race and everyone was still on the lead lap at the finish. 

Twenty five Sport Compact drivers took the green for their fifteen lap finale to the night and in a field of like looking cars, the three very different looking Fords would dominate, going one, two and three at the finish. 

Jay Orr started on the pole and led the opening laps but it wasn't long before he was challenged and then, shortly after passed for the lead by Mitch Bielenberg. Bielenberg, Orr and Monday night's winner Brad Chandler then engaged in their own little battle for position, far in front of the rest of the field. 

In the third and final nonstop feature of the night, these three continued to battle but while they raced close, they never did exchange positions and would finish in that same order. The second group was led by fourth place finisher Devin Jones and Michael Gardner but they were far back from the top three. 

The third annual IMCA Summer Nationals concludes on Wednesday night and the winnings jumping  back up to the Monday night levels with $1000, $2000, $3000 and $5000 and $5000 going to five lucky and skillful drivers. Race time is again at 6 pm. 

Carter Family Cashes In At IMCA Summer Nationals "Invitational" at Indee

 The third annual IMCA Summer Nationals kicked off on Monday night, June 1st at the Independence Motor Speedway in Independence Iowa and it could not have been a better night for the Carter family from Oskaloosa. Brayton Carter won the Sport Mod feature while his brother Cayden won both the Modified and Stock Car main events and they were able to return to that southern Iowa community having earned a nice thirteen thousand dollars between them on night one of this three night spectacular. 

Other winners on opening night included Leah Wroten and Brad Chandler on what turned out to be a beautiful night for dirt track racing in Northeastern Iowa. 

This was the third annual Summer Nationals special promoted by Mike VanGenderen and Trent Chinn and with Dana Benning also on board this year as the Indee contact person. The first two years of this race were held at the Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer but construction at the fairgrounds this year made that facility unavailable and since MVG promotes the shows here along with Benning, it was a natural place to transfer the event to. And while the entire facility is not of the size of Clay County, it worked out nicely with camping also available on the grounds and the pits organized so that there was room for all the racers. 

One hundred and eighty five drivers signed in to race on Monday night and given the great purse they were racing for, my only question was why weren't there even more racers on hand? I suppose that because these races are held during the week, it makes it tough for some people to get off work etc and Monday night's race is actually a non sanctioned event, perhaps some point chasers passed on this show. What I would think would be a huge drawing card is the fact that all three nights are stand alone events so that someone that perhaps couldn't make all three nights can still show up and race for a night or two and not be handicapped against those on hand for the full series. 

They actually started here with a regular race night on Saturday night, then followed on Sunday with practice and timed runs with the fastest four in each class being automatically elevated into the Monday night redraw and not having to race a heat race to get into the show. And with the full fields in all five divisions, that would be an excellent benefit. In fact, four of the five eventual feature winners went that route and didn't have to race heats. 

While national points were not available for Monday night's program, all IMCA rules were in effect and all three nights will feature three wide starts which have become a trademark of this event. At one point, the Monday night race was scheduled to be an "invitational" event only with certain criteria needed to be asked to be a part of the Monday night show but when the numbers were such that a full field wouldn't be racing, it was then opened up to anyone that wanted to enter so for some drivers it was an extra bonus to get one more night of racing in and to be racing for some excellent money too, by the way. 

B Features were needed in all five divisions with the Stock Car field being the largest with fifty four drivers signing in to race. All features started twenty four drivers with the exception of the Stock Cars where twenty eight took the green, likely because their numbers were the largest. 

Racing would start just a bit after the advertised time due to some extra track prep work needed on the sunny and warm June night with hot laps quickly run off just to "buzz" in the track just a bit before racing started. It was a draw/redraw show so drawing a good starting number was important but then again, when isn't it? A couple extra track prep sessions were built into the program over what is often seen at MVG shows but the surface at Indee does seem a bit more sandy than at most Iowa tracks and does tend to lock down if it isn't repeatedly worked on. 

Despite the large amount of money on the line, the feature races themselves weren't of an excessive distance with the Sport Mods, up first for their main, going twenty laps. Brayton Carter started on the pole after the redraw but just because he started in that position, it didn't guarantee victory for him. In fact, if not for a late race bold move, he may have had to settle for second. 

Caleb Woodard started on the outside of the three wide start and he jumped into the early lead and then showed the way for the majority of the race. Carter settled into second with Austin Kemp running third early. 

Woodard continued to lead and showed no indications of faltering as Carter continued to chase him with Jake Sachau moving into third by the halfway point of the race. Carter and Sachau may have been closing up some as the race went into his later half, but it seemed likely that Woodard would be the winner unless he faltered. And while the leaders were all running the inside line, Dylan VanWyk had driven into fourth using the cushion and did appear to be the fastest driver on the track at this point. 

Things all changed when the yellow flew with only five laps to go for a spinning driver. For the double file restart, Carter surprised many by picking the top side. Whether or not he saw that VanWyk was making time up there, or that he thought that would be the open lane in which to make a pass or perhaps he just threw caution to the wind, we won't know but the fact of the matter was that it turned out to be a brilliant decision as when the green flag waved, Carter moved as if shot out of a cannon and drove easily past Woodard to take over the lead. 

He extended that advantage in the final few laps and drove home for the uncontested win over Woodard and Sachau, earning three grand for the win. A smoothly run race, there were only three drivers that didn't finish but lapped traffic never became an issue with two yellows nicely interspersed. 

The Sport Compact feature was not nearly as smoothly a run event with several yellows, several grinding collisions, one flip and finally, the race finished up after being forced to go to a single file restart to get laps completed. 

Brad Chandler started in the middle of the front row but launched into the lead from the beginning and he would lead all laps, with the race being cut by five due to all the yellows. His lead early was over Lucas Rick with Ryan Bryant eventually passing Rick for that spot. 

A lap five red was called for when Devin Coghlan flipped off the back chute as a part of a scrum of cars going in all directions. He was OK and the race was restarted, only to see at least a half dozen cars again collide on the back chute, drawing a fourth yellow flag. 

The restart went single file at this point and the last five laps saw Chandler continue to control things, as he was never challenged as he drove on for the win in his first time of the year on the race track. Bryant finished second with Rick third as nearly half the field was gone by the time the checkered waved. 

The Stock Cars were impressive as twenty eight of them went nonstop for twenty five laps for their main event. Cayden Carter started on the pole and he led all twenty five laps with first Kodey Miles and then Braden Richards chasing him. Carter was untouchable as he raced right through the middle of the turns and no one able to even challenge him. 

Despite all the cars on the track and the race going nonstop, Carter didn't have to deal with a lot of lapped traffic, the one thing that might have thrown off his timing but he simply motored on at his own pace with no one able to keep up with him. Despite several other drivers trying to get into a challenging position, the top three continued to run in the same order and that's how they finished off the race. 

It was a rocky start for the Hobby Stocks with the front row starters tangling almost before the green flag was even waved with drivers going in all directions. Despite several having to go to the work area for repairs, all twenty four were on the track for the second attempt to go green. This one didn't go any smoother with Kyler Hefty ending up flipping right into the fence in front of the crowd in a very close up and personal wreck. 

Again, all drivers were OK  but the number of damaged machines was starting to mount. The third time was the charm with Karter Miles taking the early lead over Brandon Nielsen with Leah Wroten, who started in the middle of row two, quickly moving into third. 

While most of the drivers were trying the banking, Wroten planted her car right on the inside tires and it worked beautifully for her as she was able to slip under the other drivers and with great drive off the corners, move into the lead. There were three move yellows for assorted collisions but each time the green again waved, she was able to accelerate away from the pack with her low side runs. 

The last seven laps of the race went green and she just continued her smooth run as she drove on for the win. A late charge saw Brett Vanous, minus a right side door from an early collision, move up to third after starting thirteenth on the grid with Wayne Gifford, who ran second until the late pass by Vanous, settling for third. And despite all the crashing and bashing, there were only five drivers that didn't finish the race despite many looking the worse for wear. 

The Modifieds finished up the night with a thirty lap feature, the longest event of the night. But it might as well have been either three or three hundred laps because the distance didn't matter as no one would be catching Cayden Carter. 

For the second time of the night, he would again dominate a strong field of drivers, leading from start to finish to earn another five grand. In fact, the top two finishers, Carter and Konnor Wilinski, held those spots for the whole race and neither were really challenged at any point. 

There was only one yellow in the race and that was when Tripp Gaylord got tagged and spun but he got his spot back so that his heated battle with Spencer Diercks could continue. They went at it for the whole race, swapping the spot back and forth and at the line, it was Diercks who edged out Gaylord for third. Drew Janssen, running the Josh Fisher car on this night, was in the top five for the whole race and settled for that spot after running as high as third at the halfway point. 

I enjoyed the commentary provided by the announcers as Jeff Kroph, the regular track announcer, was joined by Positively Racing's Jeff Broeg and Stuart/Memphis announcer Tony Paris although their pa system was a bit edgy all night. 

Tuesday night all five divisions will be back in action for another full program. The purse drops slightly on Tuesday although it is still very good money before jumping back up on Wednesday to the Monday night level. I would assume just about all the racers will return and who knows, there might be some more with this night being sanctioned and points on the line for those chasing such things. Race time is 6 pm. 

All five classes will be back at in on

Lincoln Loggie After Washout

 The third leg of the opening week of FLO/Racing Night in America was scheduled for Thursday night, May 7th at the Lincoln Speedway located on the grounds of the Logan County Fairgrounds in Lincoln Illinois. 

An excellent field of thirty seven Late Models signed in for racing along with twenty seven UMP Modifieds for their own program. Five additional Late Models that hadn't been seen in Spoon, along with nearly a dozen different Modifieds were in the pits and ready to race on Thursday. 

Unfortunately, weather conditions started to  come unraveled as the afternoon progressed. What had been only a slight chance of a passing shower turned into much more and at about 5 pm a wave of rain came through. 
However it then cleared back up and using some of the most impressive track prep equipment seen lately, the track crew was able to get the track back into racing shape and the program proceeded, if not on schedule any more. 

In fact, the track was blistering fast and Hudson O'Neal's quick lap was at 12.748 seconds for what is probably an undersized quarter mile oval. Brandon Sheppard topped group two with a lap at 12.750 for the second wave so the track wasn't slowing down a bit. 

Something that we don't see at all at home but something that is actually quite common for these Illinois bullrings is the flagman working from the middle of the track and Lincoln is one of several in this area where that is the setup. 

Previously, as the last car out for Modified hot laps/qualifying, Michael Ledford's best lap was at 14. 239 seconds. 

Lincoln Speedway is located right in the middle of Lincoln Illinois and was likely on the edge of town when the Fairgrounds was started but now the city has grown up around it and noise and time restraints are a part of racing there. By the time the track was worked back into shape and qualifying quickly completed, the first Late Model took to the track shortly after 8 pm. 

Now the FLO Series and the officials that were working for them this week are among the best at running off a quick show, and it was still feasible to get it completed under the time lines they were dealing with. 

Unfortunately, just as the second Late Model heat took to the track, it started to rain once again. They were just small showers and were mostly concentrated right over Lincoln but they were enough to quickly get the track too slippery to race on once again. 

The heavy equipment came back on to the track and once again they tried to get the track back into racing shape. The rain just wouldn't stop and while it was light, it was enough so that the track crew was making no progress. It was even announced that if the track could be made ready to race on, they would run the Late Model show straight through and the Modified would only get to race if there was time after the Late Models were done. The curfew here, by the way, is 10:30 pm. 

Things were looking grim and with the rain starting and stopping and the track crew not making progress and the hour glass running down toward curfew time, the program was finally axed around 9 pm.

Despite the crummy weather, a great crowd was on hand and they will wait, along with the racers to see if an appropriate rain date can be found. The FLO Series is off to a shaky start this year, with only one of three races completed so far. The rest of Illinois Speedway sees the Lucas Oil Late Model Series replace them for the next two nights but the forecast for Friday is not promising either. 

Thanks to Bob Sargent and Adam Mackey and the crew at Lincoln for doing the best they could, dealing with unexpected and unpredictable Spring weather and trying to get the races run off. More tracks need to start catching a break here soon. 

Sheppard and Neville Top FLO Opener at Spoon River

 The FLO/Racing Night in America 2026 series started on Wednesday night, May 6th at the Spoon River Speedway in Lewiston Illinois. Originally scheduled to begin on Tuesday night at LaSalle Speedway, that event was rained out and rescheduled for September 15th, thus allowing Spoon River to host the 2026 opener. 

The FLO/Racing Night series has been an immediate hit since some clever minded folks at FLO came up with the concept of creating a largely midweek series of high paying events, scheduled so that the biggest names in dirt Late Model racing would be in attendance and provide spectacular shows for both the audience in attendance and more importantly, all those folks sitting at home and watching on FLO which they presumably had bought a subscription to, at least in some measure because of this series. 

The FLO/Racing Night has also been able to bring the series to some deserving tracks that otherwise probably couldn't or wouldn't dare to get on a national series schedule but have shown their tracks to more than worthy of such competition. 

Using the FLO/Racing Series as a baseline, other special events such at Illinois Speed Weeks, which this race is a part of, have been able to be organized. 

These lucrative midweek races, running when otherwise teams would be idling away time between events, have been an excellent source of extra income for them and with a point fund from a short eleven race series that offers $50,000 to the winner and seventy five if they run all races, a great additional source of income while also bringing their product to some places that otherwise would never see them race. 

Wednesday's event at Spoon River produced a power packed lineup of Late Model drivers with most of the best in the entire country on hand. Not only were the Lucas and WoO drivers on hand but a lot of independent racers that just hit the big shows across the country. Thirty nine of them signed in to race on Wednesday in a quick series of events that offers no provisional starters for the first race so if you don't race your way in, you watch from the sidelines which in a perfect world should be the way it is for every race, extenuating circumstances disregarded. 

Along with the Late Models, UMP Modifieds were also on the card but with just the two divisions racing, these shows are almost always very quick running events, packaged for the tv audience but also great for the fans on hand who mostly have to work the following morning. Back in the day, these races were almost entirely for the tv audiences with the live crowd secondary. Many times the cost to get into the races was very cheap as they just wanted to fill seats and make it look better for the tv audience. That has changed over the years with ticket prices comparable to other specials but with more fans on board, race teams can do better with things such as apparel sales etc. 

The standard big show format was used for the Late Models with qualifying setting the running order for heats and the heats setting the field for the main events and B Features. Bobby Pierce was quickest overall at 13.100 seconds while Brandon Overton topped the second group with the track slowing a bit and he turning a lap of 13.480. 

The Spoon River Speedway has been a "hit or miss" preposition  for me over the years with some nights being good and some nights were everyone was hugging the bottom and the passing was at a premium. Well, on Wednesday night we saw the Spoon at its best as it provided excellent racing all night with the heat races probably as entertaining events as seen all year. There was much passing and multiple grooves as drivers were passing and then being repassed as they jockeyed to get into the top five spots and make the mains. 

Two B Features set the rest of the field with just twenty four drivers starting the main and many very fast teams just watching from the sidelines where they make no money. 

And while the box score will show that Brandon Sheppard led all fifty laps to score the twenty grand victory, the actual race itself was much better and more exciting than that. While Sheppard took the lead right from the start, there was quite a battle for position behind him. Overton faded back quickly while Pierce and Hudson O'Neal moved to the front. An early yellow with seven laps complete when Dan Ebert and Ricky Thornton Jr got together found those two aleady behind Sheppard for the restart as Tyler Erb also moved into contention. 

Only one other yellow, with fifteen laps completed, slowed the action as Devin Moran showed in the top five for the first time. The last thirty five laps went green to checkers. Sheppard continued to run up front, running a line that was just a bit higher than most but he was fast right through the middle of the track. 

Pierce and O'Neal continued to trade the second and third spots before Hudson claimed the spot for good. With somewhere less than twenty laps to go, Sheppard finally hit lapped traffic for the first time and this allowed O'Neal to close in on him some. O'Neal was running lower in the corners and he seemed to be getting a better run off the turns than Sheppard. It got down to just a few cars length difference as Sheppard battled with traffic while still a bit higher up the track.

Perhaps the winning move was made when Sheppard, with just over ten laps to go, split a pair of slower cars while at the same time seemingly finding that low line which did have more speed and following that, he quickly expanded his lead once again. 

O'Neal experimented with the top side for one lap but it nearly cost him second spot before he dove back low to block off Pierce's charge. Sheppard crossed the line with room to spare while O'Neal and Pierce followed. 

Tyler Erb and Moran completed the top five with nineteen drivers still on the track at the finish, four of them a lap behind. It was a clean run event with no drivers suffering any major issues that shouldn't be able to be repaired for Thursday night's event at Lincoln Speedway. 

Nick Neville was quick qualifier for the Modified drivers, running a lap at 13.976 seconds or nearly as fast as the Late Models. However, it should be pointed out that the Mods qualified first with the track still in prime speed shape. 

Three heats and a B Feature set the twenty car field for the Modified main which also featured a star studded field with drivers on hand from as far away as North Carolina and Florida to run this event and presumably, other Midwestern events in the days to come. 

Their twenty five lap feature, run last and after the Late Models, saw the track with plenty of rubber from those Late Model tires and the low side of the track was the place to be. Drivers quickly lined up in the low groove and raced off the bottom, hoping to slip under other drivers as their best passing opportunities. 

Neville led early and indeed, did lead all twenty five laps. He did get a major scare though, near the midway point of the race when Blake Brown put on a serious challenge for his top spot. Brown was coming off the corners at speed just a little lower than Neville and after starting outside of Neville, he  began to close up on him. 

Just past the halfway point of the race, he made his most serious attempt to get under Neville and take over the lead. Coming off turn four, he got a good run to the inside of Neville and they squeezed into turn one. However, Brown didn't have enough room to execute the pass down low and he smashed hard into the ute tire marking the inside of the track which caused him to spin. 

This triggered the lone yellow of the race and Brown departed with serious front end damage. This restored Neville to the lead and he wouldn't fail, as he pulled away over the final ten laps to record the win. Michael Ledford chased Neville the last ten laps but couldn't catch him and settled for second. Drake Troutman, racing just Modifieds on this night, finished third with Cole Falloway and Mike McKinney next in line as area drivers more than held their own against the visiting stars. 

As is the expectation with FLO Midweek events, it was a quick racing program with the final checkers waving just after 9:30 pm. Lucas Oil officials were on hand to help the MARS Series officials run the program as an all star cast was assembled for this week. 

FLO debuted their new big video board for live timing and scoring and also for showing replays to the live audience, a group often forgotten these days but still desperately needed. This board will also be used at Lucas Oil races the rest of the year. FLO/Racing also uses the Choose Cone for restarts, a system I still really like even though it seems that not a lot of groups have adopted for whatever reason. 

Thanks to Matt Curl and Kari Perkins for their help and as always, Dustin Jarrett and Ben Shelton, both always willing to help out. If a FLO/Racing Nigh in America event comes to your area and you want to see the best Late Model drivers in a quick and entertaining program, make sure you attend.  

Pierce Dazzles at MTS, Chisholm Steals a Modified Victory

 Bobby Pierce and Joe Chisholm were opening night winners as the three evening Dairyland Showdown for World of Outlaws Late Models and Northern Lights Modified Series drivers began on Thursday night, April 30th at the Mississippi Thunder Speedway North of Fountain City Wisconsin. 

Both series will run three full shows, culminating in a forty thousand dollar to win Late Model event on Saturday night along with a three grand to win Modified series event also. 

Thirty seven Late Model drivers, most of whom were the same drivers that raced at Independence Iowa two nights earlier along with twenty USRA Modifieds made up the field on Thursday night. Both series would use the identical format with qualifying setting the running order for the heats, the two two in each heat redrawing for the main event and then everyone else lining straight up off heat race finishes. The B Feature drivers plus series provisional starters would tag the back of the field while the Modifieds allowed everyone to start their main. 

Nick Hoffman was quickest overall at 13.599 seconds while Michael Leach was fastest in group B at 13.956. The Mods qualifying as one group with Jacob Bleess fastest at 15.857 seconds. Track officials did a good job of running off the time trials in rather quick order so that the qualifying didn't drag on forever, a common occurrence at time trial shows with multiple divisions going "under the clock", and especially so on what would be an uncharacteristically cold last day of April in the Coulee region of Wisconsin. 

Probably the biggest shocker during the qualifying events was the "clunker" pulled by "Superman" Jonathan Davenport who for the second straight Outlaw event, performed at a less than spectacular pace, and actually worse than he did in Independence where he had trouble even staying on the track. 

At MTS, he only qualified for the third row in his heat race and then on the opening lap slammed the third turn wall so hard that he did damage not quickly able to repair. He was done for his heat, started tenth in a B Feature in a back up car and only made it up to fifth, thus failing to even qualify for the show as provisional rights to the main are granted on series loyalty, not speed and thus Dennis Erb Jr, Tristan Chamberlain, Logan Zarin and Brent Larson made the show, not Davenport.  

Twenty six drivers started the quick thirty lapper and while most lauded over the passing job put on by Pierce, most missed what was probably the key moment of the night and that was on the opening lap of the race. Pierce jumped the cushion and lost at least three spots immediately but his "bacon" was saved when Chris Simpson ground to a halt on the front chute with his car making some bad sounds indeed. The first lap was not then completed, so a complete restart was called for and Pierce was saved. 

The second attempt saw Drake Troutman jump into the top spot, a position that he would hold for the first eighteen laps. Ryan Gustin and Nick Hoffman raced hard for the second spot as Troutman put some distance on the field. 

Pierce, meanwhile, was running a line that no one else seemed to want to try, up high against  the wall while most of the drivers hugged the low side. For a number of laps Pierce didn't seem to be gaining but then slowly and then  more quickly, he began to put up the pace. 

Near the halfway point of the race, he caught the battle for second and on his second attempt, he was able to split Gustin and Hoffman on the front chute and drive into second. 

He then began to reel in Troutman who was having some problems at this point as he had caught the back of the pack. Pierce quickly reeled in the leader and with a slider on lap nineteen, he took over the top spot. 

And while he did put some distance, he wasn't able to completely shake Troutman as he also seemed to bog down a bit, as he related in his post race interview. Nevertheless, he continued to have the field covered and drove home the winner without a serious challenge. 

Troutman settled for second with Gustin edging out Hoffman for third. Time McCreadie ran fifth for most of the race and that's where he ended up. 

After the opening lap slowdown, the race went thirty laps nonstop and Simpson was the only driver not to finish. Seven were a lap behind at the checkers but all others finished. 

The Modified main saw a late race pass by Joe Chisholm steal away the win after Alex Williamson led the first twenty one laps. Williamson started on the pole and was in control for most of the race, an event that was stopped twice in the first six laps, the most serious of which saw Zach Brom and Darwin Karau involved in a grinding collision on the back chute that eliminated both. 

Williamson continued to lead by Kyle Brown slowly began to cut into his advantage as the race moved past the halfway point. Brown was able to get within striking distance as the top two drivers struggled with the slower traffic with neither of  them able to make a move to clear themselves. 

This opened the door for Chisholm who was running third and was some distance back from the top two. However, as their pace got slowed, he quickly caught the leaders and suddenly, with less than five laps to go, it became a three car battle for the top spot. 

Williamson and Brown continued to be befuddled by the slower cars, still now able to find and opening but when the door opened down the back chute for an inside charge, Chisholm was right there to find the seas parting and he went from third to the lead, just that fast. 

With only three laps remaining, he then pulled away with Brown left to salvage second while Williamson dropped all the way to third. Quick qualifier Bleess settled for fourth ahead of Parker Hale and all but three drivers finished this event. 

It was a cold night at MTS with temperatures dipping into the thirties before the final checkered flag waved. For this reason, plus it being a Thursday, while a good crowd was on hand, the stands will likely be much more crowded in the coming two nights. 

Recognizing that it indeed was nippy, Outlaw officials did an excellent job of moving the show along, with their ten minute horn going off nearly as the preceding race cars hit the scales. Discarding the extra glitz, it was just hardcore racing on Thursday with the complete show being done in two hours and two minutes with the final checkers waving at 9:30 pm. This was the Outlaws show this weekend as for the first time the Dairyland Showdown was an Outlaws race as they rented the track, rather than just being the sanctioning body on hand for the promoters. 

Full programs in both classes are upcoming the next two nights with the weather promised to gradually warm up as Saturday approaches. 

Pierce and Marolf Top Late Models at Indee

 The first big Late Model race of the 2026 racing season took place on Tuesday night, April 28th as the World of Outlaws Late Model Series made a midweek stop at the Independence Motor Speedway in that Buchanan County community. Along with the WoO Late Models,  the Premier Late Model Series from Iowa was one hand also along with IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Stock Cars in a power packed four division program. 

Running for the first time in two years at Indee, the WoO made this midweek stop on their way to Wisconsin for a three night event this coming weekend. As with most traveling series, they provide a core group of drivers running for points with the rest of the field filled in by regional and area drivers. The top fifteen drivers in WoO points were on hand and fortunately Iowa is blessed with a number of strong contenders of their own that don't run the series regularly so with the additions of such drivers as Bruening, Murty, the Simpsons and others, a solid entry list of drivers was on hand. There were thirty two drivers in total that took laps. 

The Premier Series features a lot of well known Iowa drivers that race around the state and early on into their point season, they have a good group of drivers too with twenty five of them racing. A solid group also of mostly weekly drivers in the Modified and Stock Car classes were also in attendance. 

There was a little concern for what the racing would be like after last Tuesday night's opener saw the track produce quite a big berm with some rather heavy shelves going into the corners. But a lot of work this week by the track crew produced a surface that allowed racing all over. There is also something to be said for open motored cars that have the power to get up and race on parts of the track where sometimes the spec engine cars just don't have the power to move the cushion out. These cars really attack the track and if there is a groove to be found, they can make it work. 

The track was blistering fast all night but was also a track that could be passed on as the drivers never at any point lined up in any kind of single file formation but instead were constantly moving around and trying various grooves. 

Nick Hoffman and Dallon Murty were the quick qualifiers in their groups with Hoffman setting a new track record at 12.549 seconds. Murty, however, was clearly the fan favorite by a wide margin and his quick lap was met with the most noise of the night by the fans. 

It was the usual format for the Outlaws with four heats and a pair of B Features setting the lineup for their forty lap main event. On this night it was Logan Zarin, Tristan Chamberlain and Eli Johnson using provisional status to set the twenty five car field. 

Hoffman had showed plenty of speed early and it looked like it might he night but when the feature started, it was quickly clear that it would be Bobby Pierce's night. While Hoffman took the initial lead, after a lap five yellow for a slowing car, Pierce made a slider work in turn one and overtook Hoffman for the top spot. After that, everyone was racing for second, even though five yellow flags allowed the field to pack back up behind him. 

Each time, however, Pierce would again pull away from the pack and the yellows were times such that he didn't even have to worry much about lapped traffic which is often the biggest concern of a race leader. It was a strange race in some ways with groans coming from the crowd as both Murty and Jonathan Davenport made repeated excursions off the end of the track in turns one and two, each time costing them considerable positions as the track was definitely throwing them a curve ball. 

The last yellow came with nine laps to go and Tyler Erb, who had started eighth, made some impressive moves. Only running fifth, he was able to get past first Drake Troutman and then Davenport when he made another off road excursion and then closed on Hoffman. 

Pierce was long gone up front but on the final lap, Erb got past Hoffman for second with Troutman next in line. Trey Mills moved up to complete the top five. Davenport had a disappointing run as did home state driver Ryan Gustin. 

Nick Marolf showed that patience can  be a virtue as he set a comfortable pace, waited to the race to come to him and then moved when the time was right to win the twenty five lap Premier Late Model Series feature and the two thousand dollar top prize. 

Travis Smock led the opening five lap with outside front row starter Jeff Aikey putting a hard challenge to him before finally making the pass for the lead on lap six. After that, Aikey fought off first Smock and then J.D. Auringer as he led the majority of the race. 

However, after starting sixth, Marolf was on then move, slowly and in a non flashy manner gradually pulling his way into contention. When the third yellow was triggered with twenty laps completed, Marolf was up to second and clearly had picked up the pace. As Aikey seemed to slip and slide a bit in the corners, Marolf was able to keep his car straight in the corners and get great drive down the chutes. 

On lap twenty two, in turn two, Marolf drove under Aikey to take over the lead and immediately put some distance on the field. However, a lap later the yellow flew one last time, giving Aikey one last shot.  But while Marolf took off strong, Aikey got too high on the restart in turn four and dropped back considerably. Marolf drove on for the win but Aikey's troubles brought several other drivers to the front at the end with C.J. Horn coming from eleventh to finish as the runner up with Troy Morris III coming home third. 

Interestingly, the Premier Series offers the option of drivers running either Hoosier or American Racer tires and Marolf was on the American Racers which also gave him a bonus. I wonder just when the last Late Model race in Iowa was won on American Racer (or McCreary before that) tires. It's got to have been quite a while. 

It was good to see hometown driver Sean Johnson back in action after a nasty flip just last weekend, even if his night ended early with mechanical issues. 

It was all Spencer Diercks in the Modified feature as he started on the pole and led all twenty laps to get the win. He was challenged early by Cody Laney who hung with him and indeed, challenged over the first few laps before Diercks seemed to find his rhythm and began to pull away. 

Laney was then pushed for second by Ethan Braaksma but Laney was able to fight him off and those three ran in that order the rest of the way with the final twelve laps going green to checkers. Kollin Hibdon finished fourth as he nipped Jed Freiburger at the line for that spot. 

The Stock Car feature wrapped up the night and it started off with a bang as there were three different leaders in the first eight laps. Rowdee VonGenderen grabbed the lead from the pole and led for three laps before Braden Richards passed him for the top spot. 

But Tom Schmitt then came on, passing Richards for the lead just one lap later. Richards refused to give up though and one lap later he returned the favor, passing Schmitt for the top spot. The first yellow flew at that point and it looked like we were in for a shootout. 

However, things changed following that slowdown. Richards seemed to get stronger and Schmitt was no longer able to keep up with him as Braden slowly but surely pulled away. Even another yellow didn't help Schmitt as following the lap thirteen slowdown, Richards again pulled away. 

A late rush saw Dallon Murty, who started in the fourth row, come forward and finish up third with Dakoda Sellers and Jr. MVG completing the top five. 

All racing was completed just at 11 pm with that being just a bit late for many of the folks that left following the two Late Model mains. I was a bit surprised that there were four classes racing on this night as I thought WoO liked to restrict the support classes to one or two at the most. I also think the extra classes puts a bigger strain on the budget for a race like this which is not a cheap race to promote to begin with.  

I was also just a bit unsure just how big the crowd might be, believing that it might be just a bit early in the year to be having midweek specials in Iowa that require such a big purse and corresponding ticket price demands on the fans. However, once again, I was mostly wrong as very nice sized crowd was on hand for the show, despite all the field activity ongoing, it being a midweek show with school still in session and the weather not the warmest. This is just another indication why MVG is running the promotional end of things and I am just a fan in the stands. 

A word to the "taking heads" from WoO. You can ditch the event by event updates on the points situation, declaring the big change even from time trials to heats and then the mains. The season lasts another flippin' six months and I don't think it's necessary to get so hung up on points at this juncture of the season. Also, ninety nine per cent of the fans watching live or on tv could care less whether the drivers are running 2's or 3's in the feature. It's a non issue for us. Find something else to talk about please. 

Thanks to all involved to hosting and putting on this race, a very nice early season bonus for Late Model fans.  

Last Corner Passes Make Harrington and Miles Dubuque Winners

 Changing weather conditions and racing updates found me eventually heading South where I was pleased to find the 2026 season opener for the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway to be "a go." While they did lose their planned opener last Sunday, fine weather graced them this Sunday and it was a very pleasant night to enjoy some dirt track racing, even as conditions were twenty degrees warmer from whence I had come. 

Opening night at Dubuque would feature five divisions of IMCA racing plus the Crown Vics which are now a weekly addition at the track. The highlights of the evening racing were three of the five feature races decided in the late going with both the Hobby Stock and Stock Car mains settled on the last lap and one was so close that the wrong driver actually went to victory lane!

Sixty nine drivers signed in to race in the six divisions, a number that surprised me in that it was smaller than I expected. Both the Sport Mods and Stock Cars had only enough drivers on hand to provide for a single heat race but I must assume that as the season progresses, more drivers will be on hand as race cars are completed and the inevitable early season shuffling between tracks shakes out. 

A lot of the folks that I always have seen at Dubuque have moved on as the times have changed but it was comforting to see that Kelly Welter is still running things at the back gate, "Big Boy" is still calling the action and Doug Haack, who has been here I think since the first green flag has flown here, is still in charge of traffic control. Making a return also was the Union 76 glow ball in the infield, something that has been here forever it would seen from back in the NASCAR days, but this is the first time I remember it actually working in decades. 

The track was an opening night track. By that I mean that with so much rain of late, the track prep crew's focus was on providing a smooth racing surface and for that reason they ran it dry. It did stay smooth and it got slick and fortunately the breeze was in the correct direction so that the dust blew away from the stands. 

The bad part was that the track remained "dirty" and never cleaned off so a second lane for passing was not found much all night. Actually, the Late Models in their last race of the night finally cleaned it off a bit and if they could have started the night that way instead of wrapping it up with those conditions, there probably would have been a lot more passing and drivers getting off the hub. 

However, with that being said, there still were several thrilling finishes to feature races that weren't decided until the last lap. Let's talk about those first. 

The Stock Car feature ended up being so close that many in the stands and apparently the pits also, didn't know who actually won! Jerry Miles took the lead at the start and then actually led for fourteen and nine tenth laps, only being nipped at the line for the win. While Jerry maintained the lead, Kodey Miles and Presley Harrington raced close behind him. The three were running in tight formation and trading second as they looked for an opening to take the top spot. 

When Kodey spun while going for the lead, it set up a four lap sprint to the finish and Harrington decided to go for broke. Instead of hugging in behind Jerry Miles, he stepped out on lane and tried to edge past the leader as Jerry was intent on protecting the low line. 

Harrington got up beside Jerry during those last four laps and they jockeyed back and forth, with Harrington trying to get a little run off the second lane to edge past. They entered the final lap side by side and stayed so through the final corners, They raced to the line still side by side and while I thought Harrington had nipped Jerry, my angle was bad and I was just guessing. Actually, no one has a decent angle for the finish line the way the seating is except for Haack and the folks in the tower. 

Initially, Miles went to victory lane but then Harrington was called from the infield and he replaced Jerry as the winner is what was one of the closest races of the season to date. Jordan Miles would finish third. 

Nearly as close was the Hobby Stock feature where a last lap pass saw Karter Miles take the win as the Miles family was prominent all night. In this race, Matt Bennett started on the pole and his job was to block the inside line and not let anyone get past him there. Several drivers tried getting up on the banking but there was simply no traction up there as it was like racing on beach sand so after losing spots, they dropped back in line. 

Karter Miles nearly ran up the back end of Bennett's car several times but Bennett closely guarded the inside line and with no one willing or able to move up the track, the line kept getting longer and longer on the inside. 

Bennett kept getting slower and slower, entering the corners and braking earlier each lap and finally, as the white flag waved, Miles went for broke and pulled to the second lane. He was able to find enough speed that he could get past Bennett down the back chute and then drove home for the win. 

Kyle Hefty, who had experimented with the second lane a couple times but failed, tried one more time on the final lap and he too was able to pass Bennett, shuffling him back to third at the finish. 

The third feature that played out much the same way was the Late Model feature, the final event on the card. Veteran Steve Johnson took the early lead in the race, which after a first lap spin that slowed the action, ran green to checkers for twenty five laps. T.J. Fortmann moved into position behind Johnson and followed him closely. A few other drivers tried the outside early, but most gave up on that line when then went into reverse and lost spots. 

Johnson guarded the inside line religiously and never got off the bottom. Fortmann couldn't get him to move out and instead nearly ran up his rear bumper several times but every time he tried to jump to the second lane, he simply spun his tires and lost ground. 

Ultimately, what cost Johnson the win was that that he kept getting slower and slower, entering the corners at reduced speed to hold the bottom. Finally, with just a pair of laps left, Fortmann tried again in the second lane and he had enough speed that he was able to clear Johnson and then duck back to the bottom down the back chute. 

He won by a comfortable margin then, gaining quite a bit of distance over those last two laps. Johnson did hang on for second over Joel Callahan though with Eric Pollard the only driver able to make the top work to some degree. 

The Modified feature was a runaway for Jed Freiburger, the defending track champion. Grant Manthe started on the pole and was the leader for the first three laps but there was no holding back Freiburger and once he made the pass for the lead, he was gone. 

A mid race yellow for a spin didn't bother him and once racing resumed, he again pulled away, leading by a considerable margin over Bone Larson to take the win. Spencer Diercks charged up at the end to finish third. 

Ian Hurst dominated the short field in the Sport Mods, taking the lead on lap three from Nick Shrope and then pulling away from the pack. Fifteen nonstop laps were completed after the first attempt to go racing was halted by a yellow and Hurst built a gigantic lead over the field to take the win. 

Shrope settled for second with Jarett Franzen rounding out the top three. 

A dominating driver so far in the Crown Vics, Derrick Dean won for the second time I saw him this week as he grabbed the lead on lap three and pulled away from the field for the win. Ross Christ claimed the initial lead but that only lasted for two laps before Dean drove past him and that was the end for the rest of the field. 

Even a lap ten red flag when Travis Nesteby flopped his car over after he rolled a tire off the rim didn't slow down Dean as once the green reappeared, he disappeared into the Iowa sunset. Rob Culbertson ended up second with Will Schmitt third. 

A nice sized crowd was on hand for opening night on what was a most comfortable night in April to watch racing. An opening night glitch found the scoreboard not operating but "Big Boy" did a nice job of appraising us on the lap situation of each race. 

Track officials did not fall into that mistake of because the car count was a bit down they would drag things out so that spectators would feel they got their monies worth. Instead they moved things along with the first green flag flying at 6:03 pm and the final checkered at 8:32 pm! And believe it or not, I didn't hear a single fan complain that the races got done too early!

Thanks to everyone at Dubuque for their help on opening night which from all appearances, went very smoothly.