Seriously, it wasn't near as bad as that but I'm sure that I caught a few Simmons Promotions Inc. folks off guard when I showed at the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway for the second straight Sunday night of racing.
Let's face it, a four and a half hour plus drive, depending whether the wind is at my back or not, is not something that a lot of people(sane or not) will do but with the weather being dreadful in my home area and plenty of sun shining to the South, I'm more than willing to put in the time required to see some good Sunday night racing. And one thing that SPI has shown that they will do, and that is to move through a quickly paced program that will get the folks who pay the freight out the doors at an early hour, thus making Monday morning not near as painful.
When I left home it was forty eight degrees and had been pouring most of the night and was still raining as I left. When I jumped out of the car in Dubuque it was seventy five degrees, the sun was shining and later when the wind dropped down, it was a near perfect night to be outside for dirt track racing.
Before we talk about the racing, let's spend an important moment discussing how a race program should be run off, particularly on a night when some people might be just a little "gun shy" to go out to the races. SPI has had the smart notion not to try and run an unlimited number of classes for their Sunday night shows, instead focusing on four classes which makes things more manageable.
And even though a goodly number of drivers are last minute arrivals on Sundays, they go ahead with their scheduled time lines, and leave it to the drivers and crews to make sure they are ready to race when the car is made. Sunday the warmups were completed and the first race hit the track at six twenty nine p.m. All the preliminaries were completed in forty minutes. Officials found off the tendency that many do to then take a copious break before starting the main events.
In just a few minutes the features were called and to make things move even better than perhaps normal, three of the four features ran nonstop with the last sixty laps of the night going green to checkered.
At eight twenty eight it was still seventy degrees, I was rolling down the road and when I got home it was again forty eight degrees with the rain temporary halted. I always figure if I can get home and hit the sack before bar closing time I'm doing well and such was the case on Sunday. I guarantee you this, no race fan every walked out of a track after a quick show and complained that they got done too early! However, a lot of people have walked out of tracks after a long night and said they wouldn't do that again.
Dubuque is now two weeks into their 2016 racing season and toward the end of the night I finally started to see the Dubuque Speedway start to show some of the characteristics that have made it one of my favorite tracks. Opening night it was strictly a "hug the rail" track with the drivers quickly falling into a single file pattern. Finally, in the Late Model feature we started to see the drivers move around on the track more and utilize the higher line. And not surprisingly, the driver that opened things up was none other than Jason Rauen, a driver known for his rim riding expertise, no matter where he might be racing.
However, Sunday he really started to open up the track by moving up the banking and when he was joined by Joel Callahan, the two of them really helped clean off the upper groove. While Rauen was never able to track down Luke Merfeld who got off to a big lead right from the green, Callahan was able to gain quite a few spots from his nine starting position.
This Sunday the big tires were only one lane off the guard rail and once the show started, they weren't touched after that. Hopefully the pattern of more multi groove racing continues as with the MLRA coming in soon, if the track is capable of handling them, these big horsepower Late Models will put on a dandy show.
To be fair, Sport Mod driver Tyler Soppe has passed a lot of cars for his back to back feature wins including this night when he started tenth for his win. However, it should also be noted that many of the cars he did pass were right at the start or following caution flags when the field was doubled up and jumping to the second groove to make passes is somewhat easier.
Before the races Sunday, I had the opportunity to talk to rookie Modified driver Bryce Garnhart for a few minutes. Coming off a very successful year in the Sport Mods last year, he told me that he and his team felt it was the right time to move up and while he has found the competition to be tough, he has been pleased at how much more professionally the Modified drivers have raced him to this point. He has raced at several different tracks already this year, and living across the border in Illinois, most of his trips are rather long ones to the track. Sunday saw him start ninth in the main event and finish up seventh.
Thanks as usual to all the folks at SPI for a good night of racing run in a most professional manner.
Monday, April 25, 2016
Monday, April 18, 2016
Disaster Strikes Jon Merfeld on Dubuque
It was opening night on Sunday, April 17th at the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway in Dubuque Iowa and I was lucky enough to be able to be in attendance. The fantastic weather that had prevailed all weekend continued with the temperatures peaking at over eighty degrees and with plenty of sunshine, it was a magnificent night for auto racing in the river town bordering on Wisconsin and Illinois.
As announcer Jerry Mackey told me, he couldn't remember a weekend ever in April where he was able to go racing three straight nights without any weather interference, and especially under such marvelous conditions. This would give those that attending last weekend's bitterly cold racing nights a chance to thaw out their bones just a little on one of Dubuque's earliest opening nights in quite a few years.
For the second straight year, Dubuque will be running a weekly program that features just four classes of racing. There are many pluses and minuses to this and one of the most unusual aspects to this four class program is that there is no so called entry level class. Along with Late Models and Modifieds, Sport Mods and Stock Cars fill out the card and none could be called beginner classes by any means, although I see more and more young drivers starting right out in the Sport Mods, a move that seems to backfire more often than not but continues to be done with increasing regularity. Perhaps part of this is due to the fact that there truly is no beginner class anymore.
Track officials were uncertain just what kind of car count they would have for the opener. They believed they would be solid in both open wheel classes and due to the fact that national points weren't available for the Late Models, they just weren't sure how many would show. It's surprising to me that some would fall into drinking the Kool Aide idea that unless points were available, what would be the sense of racing? Whatever happened to racing for the cash? As it turned out, there were fourteen Lates that signed in and they gave a fine account of themselves.
Officials were worried about the Stock Cars which is a class that never seems to have been able to build any kind of numbers at Dubuque and it appears that 2016 won't be much different as only seven were on hand for the opener.
Pioneer Rest Area was the event sponsor on this night and their traveling trophy for the feature winner would be going to the Sport Mods on Sunday. Purely by accident, I actually filled my car with gas at Pioneer on the way to the track, and while it was an accident, I was pleased to find out that I had supported a business that supports the track. They are located, by the way, just off of Hwy. 20 on the old road to the Fairgrounds.
It was a very late arriving crowd at Dubuque on Sunday as I suppose most Sunday night tracks are. It didn't seem to me to be the smashing crowd that I might have expected given the great weather but then again, estimating the crowd at Dubuque is always difficult as they are spread out over such a wide area.
I was disappointed at one of the opening night snafus that often hit a track on the first night and in this case, it was a nonworking speaker that made it impossible for those of us seated in the first turn area from hearing anything Mr. Mackey had to say. Thus, we missed out at hearing the winner's interviews as well as more information on the Mills family that was being honored on this night, having lost the patriarch of the family over the Winter.
The race program got started a little bit late on this night as a late watering of the track caused a little extra track packing to be needed. No doubt the sun and wind played a part in all of this. However, once they got rolling they made up lots of time and the whole race program was completed in just about two hours, key to the success of any Sunday night program.
The headline of this blog speaks to the bad luck that hit Jon Merfeld during the running of the Late Model feature. Merfeld had taken the lead early the race and had been chased for nearly twenty laps by Joel Callahan. Several times Joel would get to the rear bumper of Merfeld but each time Jon would then pick up the pack and gain more space between the two.
However, with only six laps left in the race a car running near the back of the pack would spin in turn four directly in front of the leaders and with no where to go, Merfeld plowed hard into the other car. The front end was gone on Jon's car and he took the long lonely walk back to the outfield pits, his car following him home on the wrecker. What a disappointing end to what could have been a big opening night victory. Callahan accepted the break given to him and led Jon Poll and Luke Merfeld home for the win.
The Modifieds spun off twenty five laps nonstop and after an early charge that saw him get under the car of Mark Schulte, Brandon Wilson raced home for an impressive win. Schulte hung on for second with Bryce Garnhart, up from the Sport Mods, finishing a strong third .
The Sport Mods had a shaky start with a couple of grinding crashes in the first five laps. However, once they got that out of their system, the last ten laps clicked off nonstop. Tyler Soppe put on the drive of the night, coming from the fifth row to take the win as he moved both low and high to pass cars and carve his way to the front. Mike Mills was not able to hold off Soppe but as much as he would have liked to win on the night honoring his father, Mills was very gracious in victory lane to congratulate Soppe.
With only seven cars taking the green, the Stock Cars didn't provide much on the track entertainment as Jerry Miles led easily all the way. However, there was plenty going on off the track that amused and entertained those who saw what was happening.
Early in the race, while battling for position, Tim Helle and Kyle Nesteby tangled on the back chute with the front nose of Nesteby's car being torn loose. Track officials sent Nesteby to the pits to have the nose removed but no matter what they tried to do, they simply couldn't get the nose to come off the car and the race restarted without him.
Nesteby was clearly not pleased and after spinning a couple of donuts at his pit spot which raised a huge cloud of dust, He nearly launched his race car right through the back of his tow vehicle when he hit his trailer at about thirty miles per hour too fast. He then nearly wore out his arm as he leaned over the inside guard rail and flipped Helle "the bird" on nearly every lap left in the race. With all this "activity" so early in the season, I can hardly wait to find out what happened when it gets hot and humid in July!
With opening night track conditions always a question mark at nearly every track in the Midwest, track officials did some interesting things at Dubuque on Sunday. Normally the track is raced on from inside guard rail all the way up to the wall. However, after watering the whole track, they put down some big tractor tires at least two car lengths out from the rail during the heats which out of necessity forced the cars to run more through the middle of the track.
However, right before the features they removed the tires and after packing the track for a few laps, ran the feature races on the now opened up track. I'm sure the theory was that by doing this there would be more groves for the feature. Instead however, the cars all went to the moisture right on the rail and that's where they raced during the main events. The only problem was that the inside wasn't packed down near as tight and being loose, it produced a lot of dust that just hung in the air with the wind having died down.
A few drivers tried to run up against the wall but that lane was just too far around on this night and most everybody settled back into the low groove. However, I give the track crew an "A" for at least trying something to make the track as racy as possible.
As always, it was enjoyable to spend some time with the heart and soul of Simmons Promotions Inc.(Jerry Mackey, Kevin Feller and Doug Haack.) and with a solid field of cars and a program that allowed me to be on the road home by 8:45 pm, the night was a big winner.
As announcer Jerry Mackey told me, he couldn't remember a weekend ever in April where he was able to go racing three straight nights without any weather interference, and especially under such marvelous conditions. This would give those that attending last weekend's bitterly cold racing nights a chance to thaw out their bones just a little on one of Dubuque's earliest opening nights in quite a few years.
For the second straight year, Dubuque will be running a weekly program that features just four classes of racing. There are many pluses and minuses to this and one of the most unusual aspects to this four class program is that there is no so called entry level class. Along with Late Models and Modifieds, Sport Mods and Stock Cars fill out the card and none could be called beginner classes by any means, although I see more and more young drivers starting right out in the Sport Mods, a move that seems to backfire more often than not but continues to be done with increasing regularity. Perhaps part of this is due to the fact that there truly is no beginner class anymore.
Track officials were uncertain just what kind of car count they would have for the opener. They believed they would be solid in both open wheel classes and due to the fact that national points weren't available for the Late Models, they just weren't sure how many would show. It's surprising to me that some would fall into drinking the Kool Aide idea that unless points were available, what would be the sense of racing? Whatever happened to racing for the cash? As it turned out, there were fourteen Lates that signed in and they gave a fine account of themselves.
Officials were worried about the Stock Cars which is a class that never seems to have been able to build any kind of numbers at Dubuque and it appears that 2016 won't be much different as only seven were on hand for the opener.
Pioneer Rest Area was the event sponsor on this night and their traveling trophy for the feature winner would be going to the Sport Mods on Sunday. Purely by accident, I actually filled my car with gas at Pioneer on the way to the track, and while it was an accident, I was pleased to find out that I had supported a business that supports the track. They are located, by the way, just off of Hwy. 20 on the old road to the Fairgrounds.
It was a very late arriving crowd at Dubuque on Sunday as I suppose most Sunday night tracks are. It didn't seem to me to be the smashing crowd that I might have expected given the great weather but then again, estimating the crowd at Dubuque is always difficult as they are spread out over such a wide area.
I was disappointed at one of the opening night snafus that often hit a track on the first night and in this case, it was a nonworking speaker that made it impossible for those of us seated in the first turn area from hearing anything Mr. Mackey had to say. Thus, we missed out at hearing the winner's interviews as well as more information on the Mills family that was being honored on this night, having lost the patriarch of the family over the Winter.
The race program got started a little bit late on this night as a late watering of the track caused a little extra track packing to be needed. No doubt the sun and wind played a part in all of this. However, once they got rolling they made up lots of time and the whole race program was completed in just about two hours, key to the success of any Sunday night program.
The headline of this blog speaks to the bad luck that hit Jon Merfeld during the running of the Late Model feature. Merfeld had taken the lead early the race and had been chased for nearly twenty laps by Joel Callahan. Several times Joel would get to the rear bumper of Merfeld but each time Jon would then pick up the pack and gain more space between the two.
However, with only six laps left in the race a car running near the back of the pack would spin in turn four directly in front of the leaders and with no where to go, Merfeld plowed hard into the other car. The front end was gone on Jon's car and he took the long lonely walk back to the outfield pits, his car following him home on the wrecker. What a disappointing end to what could have been a big opening night victory. Callahan accepted the break given to him and led Jon Poll and Luke Merfeld home for the win.
The Modifieds spun off twenty five laps nonstop and after an early charge that saw him get under the car of Mark Schulte, Brandon Wilson raced home for an impressive win. Schulte hung on for second with Bryce Garnhart, up from the Sport Mods, finishing a strong third .
The Sport Mods had a shaky start with a couple of grinding crashes in the first five laps. However, once they got that out of their system, the last ten laps clicked off nonstop. Tyler Soppe put on the drive of the night, coming from the fifth row to take the win as he moved both low and high to pass cars and carve his way to the front. Mike Mills was not able to hold off Soppe but as much as he would have liked to win on the night honoring his father, Mills was very gracious in victory lane to congratulate Soppe.
With only seven cars taking the green, the Stock Cars didn't provide much on the track entertainment as Jerry Miles led easily all the way. However, there was plenty going on off the track that amused and entertained those who saw what was happening.
Early in the race, while battling for position, Tim Helle and Kyle Nesteby tangled on the back chute with the front nose of Nesteby's car being torn loose. Track officials sent Nesteby to the pits to have the nose removed but no matter what they tried to do, they simply couldn't get the nose to come off the car and the race restarted without him.
Nesteby was clearly not pleased and after spinning a couple of donuts at his pit spot which raised a huge cloud of dust, He nearly launched his race car right through the back of his tow vehicle when he hit his trailer at about thirty miles per hour too fast. He then nearly wore out his arm as he leaned over the inside guard rail and flipped Helle "the bird" on nearly every lap left in the race. With all this "activity" so early in the season, I can hardly wait to find out what happened when it gets hot and humid in July!
With opening night track conditions always a question mark at nearly every track in the Midwest, track officials did some interesting things at Dubuque on Sunday. Normally the track is raced on from inside guard rail all the way up to the wall. However, after watering the whole track, they put down some big tractor tires at least two car lengths out from the rail during the heats which out of necessity forced the cars to run more through the middle of the track.
However, right before the features they removed the tires and after packing the track for a few laps, ran the feature races on the now opened up track. I'm sure the theory was that by doing this there would be more groves for the feature. Instead however, the cars all went to the moisture right on the rail and that's where they raced during the main events. The only problem was that the inside wasn't packed down near as tight and being loose, it produced a lot of dust that just hung in the air with the wind having died down.
A few drivers tried to run up against the wall but that lane was just too far around on this night and most everybody settled back into the low groove. However, I give the track crew an "A" for at least trying something to make the track as racy as possible.
As always, it was enjoyable to spend some time with the heart and soul of Simmons Promotions Inc.(Jerry Mackey, Kevin Feller and Doug Haack.) and with a solid field of cars and a program that allowed me to be on the road home by 8:45 pm, the night was a big winner.
Monday, April 11, 2016
Shirley's Detour Pays to the Tune of Five Grand
Night number two of Lucas Oil Speedway's Spring Nationals was bigger all the way around than Friday night's show had been. Purses were up for all three winners and larger car counts were on hand in all three classes also. Temperatures also warmed up somewhat with the nasty wind that seems to have plaguing the entire Midwest only slightly tempered. It did change directions though and along with that change, I also changed course on which side of the track I sat on.
To avoid a hurricane wind in my face on Friday night, I sat in the main grandstand with the suites cutting the wind nicely. However, on Saturday night the wind was howling out of the Southeast, so I shifted my operations to the back chute where the large grandstand on the pit side served the same function. This in only one of the niceties that Lucas Oil Speedway features and with the sound system and lightning just as good on the back chute as the main grandstand, it really makes no difference where on sits at the track as every seat is a winner.
With the cancellation of the Saturday night World of Outlaws Late Model show at Tazwell Tennesseee due to the cold, Brian Shirley and Tyler Erb made the decision to make the over night trip back up to Missouri. While Erb had a nice top ten run after a pitched battle for position with Billy Moyer, things worked out very nicely for Shirley who continued the hot streak that he has been on of late.
Racing well in his heat, he made the front row of the main event for the Late Model and then just drove away from the field for the win. The forty five lap feature went non stop and only three cars failed to make the distance, so you know that lapped traffic was a constant for the leaders. However, Shirley navigated through the field without any trouble and he maintained a lead of nearly a straightaway throughout the event. From the first time he hit the track, his car just looks so much more stable than anyone else on the track. He rolls through the corners so effortlessly and with all kinds of forward bite, he just leaps off the corners. He's also able to maneuver either high or low to get around traffic.
All three of the top finishers all had a good story to tell Saturday. Bobby Pierce came from fifteenth to second as he put on a show for the fans. When there is a top side to race off of, Pierce is always a threat and no matter how hard he pitches his car into the corners, he always seems to somehow save the car and move on. It was revealed that the drivers were instructed to not roll in the high side of the track and to leave a berm to race off of, and it helped the racing by opening up the track even more than expected. The track was much slicker than Friday, when it bordered on being too "hammer down" and while it was still plenty fast, there was a top side Saturday that really wasn't there on the opening night.
To show how tough the Late Model field was, Jimmy Mars, who finished a strong second on Friday night didn't even make the field on Saturday after he drew to the back of a killer heat race and just couldn't pass enough cars to fight his way out of a B.
What a great night for Brantlee Gotschall! The veteran Missouri racer has been a Late Model regular for a number of years and one of those drivers that is always on hand, but never has hit pay dirt in any big races. However, Saturday night he drove himself a whale of a race, starting sixth and hanging right with the leaders for the whole race, eventually finishing third and holding off Tony Jackson Jr and Randy Timms for that spot.
Speaking of drivers that had a terrific weekend. The list would start and end with Modified driver Terry Schultz from Sedalia. Not only did he win the feature on Friday night, he came right back against an even bigger field on Saturday to repeat! And he did it the hard way, working the cushion and gaining inches each lap on leader Jason Pursley until he finally made the winning pass with just a few laps left. Again, the two groove track made the racing exciting as the drivers were able to circle the track side by side, lap after lap.
Veteran Burl Woods held off last night's winner Derek Brown to win the Street Stock feature. Interesting to me was the fact that the Street Stocks run on a ten inch "take off" asphalt tire which they buy in the neighborhood of six tires for a hundred bucks. How many support classes on dirt at other tracks pay that much for one tire! Most,I'd wager.
It was another very good night of racing and the show even moved along a little quicker than on Friday, even with more cars in the field.
The announcer sounded familiar to me but it took awhile for me to figure it out. Eventually he identified himself and it turned out to be Kevin Fletcher, who I used to run into all over the Midwest when he was the traveling announcer for "Cowboy" when he was running the MLRA.
Thanks go out to Dan Robinson and the entire staff at Lucas Oil Speedway for a top quality weekend of racing. Dan was apologetic for not getting back to me after I requested credentials at the last minute. Heck, I was pleased they would even consider them at the last minute. While many other tracks are still slogging through the opening night mud and landscaping is still weeks away, the whole facility at Wheatland looks spotless and even the grass in the infield lots like a golf course.
To avoid a hurricane wind in my face on Friday night, I sat in the main grandstand with the suites cutting the wind nicely. However, on Saturday night the wind was howling out of the Southeast, so I shifted my operations to the back chute where the large grandstand on the pit side served the same function. This in only one of the niceties that Lucas Oil Speedway features and with the sound system and lightning just as good on the back chute as the main grandstand, it really makes no difference where on sits at the track as every seat is a winner.
With the cancellation of the Saturday night World of Outlaws Late Model show at Tazwell Tennesseee due to the cold, Brian Shirley and Tyler Erb made the decision to make the over night trip back up to Missouri. While Erb had a nice top ten run after a pitched battle for position with Billy Moyer, things worked out very nicely for Shirley who continued the hot streak that he has been on of late.
Racing well in his heat, he made the front row of the main event for the Late Model and then just drove away from the field for the win. The forty five lap feature went non stop and only three cars failed to make the distance, so you know that lapped traffic was a constant for the leaders. However, Shirley navigated through the field without any trouble and he maintained a lead of nearly a straightaway throughout the event. From the first time he hit the track, his car just looks so much more stable than anyone else on the track. He rolls through the corners so effortlessly and with all kinds of forward bite, he just leaps off the corners. He's also able to maneuver either high or low to get around traffic.
All three of the top finishers all had a good story to tell Saturday. Bobby Pierce came from fifteenth to second as he put on a show for the fans. When there is a top side to race off of, Pierce is always a threat and no matter how hard he pitches his car into the corners, he always seems to somehow save the car and move on. It was revealed that the drivers were instructed to not roll in the high side of the track and to leave a berm to race off of, and it helped the racing by opening up the track even more than expected. The track was much slicker than Friday, when it bordered on being too "hammer down" and while it was still plenty fast, there was a top side Saturday that really wasn't there on the opening night.
To show how tough the Late Model field was, Jimmy Mars, who finished a strong second on Friday night didn't even make the field on Saturday after he drew to the back of a killer heat race and just couldn't pass enough cars to fight his way out of a B.
What a great night for Brantlee Gotschall! The veteran Missouri racer has been a Late Model regular for a number of years and one of those drivers that is always on hand, but never has hit pay dirt in any big races. However, Saturday night he drove himself a whale of a race, starting sixth and hanging right with the leaders for the whole race, eventually finishing third and holding off Tony Jackson Jr and Randy Timms for that spot.
Speaking of drivers that had a terrific weekend. The list would start and end with Modified driver Terry Schultz from Sedalia. Not only did he win the feature on Friday night, he came right back against an even bigger field on Saturday to repeat! And he did it the hard way, working the cushion and gaining inches each lap on leader Jason Pursley until he finally made the winning pass with just a few laps left. Again, the two groove track made the racing exciting as the drivers were able to circle the track side by side, lap after lap.
Veteran Burl Woods held off last night's winner Derek Brown to win the Street Stock feature. Interesting to me was the fact that the Street Stocks run on a ten inch "take off" asphalt tire which they buy in the neighborhood of six tires for a hundred bucks. How many support classes on dirt at other tracks pay that much for one tire! Most,I'd wager.
It was another very good night of racing and the show even moved along a little quicker than on Friday, even with more cars in the field.
The announcer sounded familiar to me but it took awhile for me to figure it out. Eventually he identified himself and it turned out to be Kevin Fletcher, who I used to run into all over the Midwest when he was the traveling announcer for "Cowboy" when he was running the MLRA.
Thanks go out to Dan Robinson and the entire staff at Lucas Oil Speedway for a top quality weekend of racing. Dan was apologetic for not getting back to me after I requested credentials at the last minute. Heck, I was pleased they would even consider them at the last minute. While many other tracks are still slogging through the opening night mud and landscaping is still weeks away, the whole facility at Wheatland looks spotless and even the grass in the infield lots like a golf course.
Saturday, April 9, 2016
The "Diamond" Shines on Opening Night
As everyone that was interested in attending dirt track racing this weekend already knows, it has been a trying time the last few days. My plans have been changed so many times by cancellations, postponements and studying the weather maps that I have lost track of where I finally decided to go(only a slight exaggeration.)
When everything settled out, I made the decision to head to Missouri and catch the opening two night show for the MLRA Late Models at Lucas Oil Speedway. Not that attending any event at Lucas Oil Speedway is a consolation prize, in fact the truth would be anything but. However, it is a long drive for me but with this being one of the few chances that I might have this year to get to Lucas Oil Speedway, I jumped at the opportunity.
Pre race planning involved lining up the warmest clothes I own and throwing on one extra layer before the races began. And in retrospect, whether it was the extra layer or the fact that with the gigantic grandstand behind me cutting the howling winds that swept across prairie helping, I was not as cold at Lucas on Friday as I had been all weekend previously at Humboldt. Of course it also helped that Lucas was done far earlier in the evening than Humboldt had for any of their three night show.
I have not been to Lucas Oil Speedway that many times previously or perhaps the fact is that I am easily dazzled. Either way, I still can't help but marvel at Lucas Oil Speedway as I walk into the pits and start roaming around the property. This still remains an amazing facility and certainly the example that other places should try to aspire to reach. From the lighting to the paved pits that extend nearly forever to the seating to the sound system to the concessions, the list could go on and on about the things that Lucas Oil sets the standard on.
Three classes were on the card for Friday night as the Street Stocks(newly renamed after being called Factory Stocks for many years) and Modifieds would join the MLRA on this night. I appreciate the fact that they didn't try to drown us with too many classes on this Spring night, such as many tracks would be guilty of. With the weather presumably cool for this time of the year, a three class program with no qualifying(thank goodness!) should be able to be run off at a prompt rate. After a late start(almost thirty minutes) caused by a wet track that was slow to come in on this cool and humid night, they did spin off the show at a quick rate. For those that were Late Model fans only, they must have appreciated the fact also that the Late Models were the second feature race run and not saved for the last event. However, for those people that wanted to visit the pits afterward, it wasn't quite so good as by the time they got there after the Modifieds were done, most of the Late Models were already buttoned up on this cool night.
An solid field of forty four Late Models were on hand for the MLRA opening event of 2016 after things got cancelled at I-80 last week. Among some of the drivers on hand that surprised me were Mars, Timms, Moyer, Gavin Landers and Chris Brown, Gundaker, Reed, Manville and a late arriving Bobby Pierce after action in Illinois was cancelled. Still, with this many cars on hand, Iowa fans must have been left wondering about the whereabouts of Gustin, the Simpsons and Utter.
I had a chance to spend a few minutes with Mars as we waited for the tech people to complete their jobs. Jimmy is on the Board of Directors at Red Cedar Speedway in Wisconsin, a club run facility at the Dunn County Fairgrounds where he first started his racing career as a fourteen year old. One of the classes they run weekly is the WISSOTA Late Models and while they field some of the toughest drivers in all of WISSOTA weekly, they have been having trouble providing even near close to a full field of cars for the past couple of years. Frankly, one of the reasons that they have trouble getting cars is that the weekly field that includes John Kaanta, Jake Redetzke, Chad Mahder, A.J. Diemel, Mike Prochnow, Rick Hanestad and Scott Gilberts along with Mars when he isn't on the road makes for some pretty tough sledding for visitors.
Mars has been working hard trying to get more drivers to move into the Late Models and for 2016, a couple of his employees at Mars Racing will be moving up from the Modifieds to the Late Models. He has also been on the phone, trying to line some eastern Wisconsin drivers for their season opening event next Friday, the Randy Buss Memorial to honor a former President of the club with a larger purse race. Jimmy reports that Nick Anvelink and a couple of other eastern Wisconsin drivers will be on hand for this race. Of interest also was the news that Mike Wedelstadt, a Modified racer from Fremont Wisconsin who will be fielding a pair of Late Models for Arizona's R.C. Whitwell. One will be for open shows and one for WISSOTA competition. I didn't ask but I would assume they will be MB Customs cars as that is what Wedelstadt races in the Modifieds for himself and Whitwell.
The track was smooth and very fast on this night. Moyer came from the third row to win his heat race and that gave him enough passing points to start on the pole. From that spot, he used the opportunity to fly away from the field as he wasn't challenged throughout the thirty lap main. His biggest job was working through the lapped traffic, as only one yellow five laps in slowed the race. But they don't call Moyer "Mr. Smooth" for no reason and he had no problems working through the traffic. Mars moved to second early but he was a straightaway behind and never closed. Drive of the night went to young Peyton Looney, who ran a strong third. One might wonder just how good this youngster could be if he had the resources that many racing far behind them had available to them. Pierce was exciting as he pounded the cushion, but that is normally his strategy. Perhaps on Saturday, if the lower groove slicks up more and the cushion remains, he could be the one to watch for the five grand top prize.
The Modified feature was a good one and even though Terry Schultz started and finished in position number one, it wasn't near that easy. Schultz and Chase Domer had a strong fight for the lead with Domer getting a nose inside Schultz several times. Johnny Fennewald and Jeff Cutshaw were also in the running and with just a few laps left, the top four were battling hard for the lead. They got into lapped traffic and a scramble saw Domer come to a halt with only one lap left.
The one lap sprint saw Schultz fight off Fennewald and a charging Logan Martin, who just might have buzzed by the entire field if he hadn't been squeezed into the front stretch wall. Schultz has been driving a very plain looking car #90 this year with no sponsors and he revealed in victory lane that the reason is that he lost his ride in the off season and he is on his own this year with no backers to this point. Perhaps an early visit to victory lane at a high visibility place like Lucas will help his search. I was expecting a bigger field than the twenty six Modifieds that signed in but perhaps that will happen on Saturday.
Twenty two of the speedway's fine looking Street Stocks signed in to race on Friday. Unfortunately, many didn't look quite so good after they got done beating on each other all night. The Street Stocks had a tough time sorting themselves out Friday and five yellow flags slowed their main event. Derek Brown started on the pole and prevailed for the entire race. As I look back through my records now, while it didn't seem so on Friday, all three winners started right on the pole of their respective mains, a product I would say was the result of the tacky track that allowed the low groove to be the fast way around the track. A little drier track might make for more racy action on Saturday.
One of the nice little things that the track provides is a very nice program that is handed out free of charge to all spectators.
Night number one of the weekend doubleheader proved to be a good one and the intensity level is expected to increase as the money offered goes up on Saturday.
When everything settled out, I made the decision to head to Missouri and catch the opening two night show for the MLRA Late Models at Lucas Oil Speedway. Not that attending any event at Lucas Oil Speedway is a consolation prize, in fact the truth would be anything but. However, it is a long drive for me but with this being one of the few chances that I might have this year to get to Lucas Oil Speedway, I jumped at the opportunity.
Pre race planning involved lining up the warmest clothes I own and throwing on one extra layer before the races began. And in retrospect, whether it was the extra layer or the fact that with the gigantic grandstand behind me cutting the howling winds that swept across prairie helping, I was not as cold at Lucas on Friday as I had been all weekend previously at Humboldt. Of course it also helped that Lucas was done far earlier in the evening than Humboldt had for any of their three night show.
I have not been to Lucas Oil Speedway that many times previously or perhaps the fact is that I am easily dazzled. Either way, I still can't help but marvel at Lucas Oil Speedway as I walk into the pits and start roaming around the property. This still remains an amazing facility and certainly the example that other places should try to aspire to reach. From the lighting to the paved pits that extend nearly forever to the seating to the sound system to the concessions, the list could go on and on about the things that Lucas Oil sets the standard on.
Three classes were on the card for Friday night as the Street Stocks(newly renamed after being called Factory Stocks for many years) and Modifieds would join the MLRA on this night. I appreciate the fact that they didn't try to drown us with too many classes on this Spring night, such as many tracks would be guilty of. With the weather presumably cool for this time of the year, a three class program with no qualifying(thank goodness!) should be able to be run off at a prompt rate. After a late start(almost thirty minutes) caused by a wet track that was slow to come in on this cool and humid night, they did spin off the show at a quick rate. For those that were Late Model fans only, they must have appreciated the fact also that the Late Models were the second feature race run and not saved for the last event. However, for those people that wanted to visit the pits afterward, it wasn't quite so good as by the time they got there after the Modifieds were done, most of the Late Models were already buttoned up on this cool night.
An solid field of forty four Late Models were on hand for the MLRA opening event of 2016 after things got cancelled at I-80 last week. Among some of the drivers on hand that surprised me were Mars, Timms, Moyer, Gavin Landers and Chris Brown, Gundaker, Reed, Manville and a late arriving Bobby Pierce after action in Illinois was cancelled. Still, with this many cars on hand, Iowa fans must have been left wondering about the whereabouts of Gustin, the Simpsons and Utter.
I had a chance to spend a few minutes with Mars as we waited for the tech people to complete their jobs. Jimmy is on the Board of Directors at Red Cedar Speedway in Wisconsin, a club run facility at the Dunn County Fairgrounds where he first started his racing career as a fourteen year old. One of the classes they run weekly is the WISSOTA Late Models and while they field some of the toughest drivers in all of WISSOTA weekly, they have been having trouble providing even near close to a full field of cars for the past couple of years. Frankly, one of the reasons that they have trouble getting cars is that the weekly field that includes John Kaanta, Jake Redetzke, Chad Mahder, A.J. Diemel, Mike Prochnow, Rick Hanestad and Scott Gilberts along with Mars when he isn't on the road makes for some pretty tough sledding for visitors.
Mars has been working hard trying to get more drivers to move into the Late Models and for 2016, a couple of his employees at Mars Racing will be moving up from the Modifieds to the Late Models. He has also been on the phone, trying to line some eastern Wisconsin drivers for their season opening event next Friday, the Randy Buss Memorial to honor a former President of the club with a larger purse race. Jimmy reports that Nick Anvelink and a couple of other eastern Wisconsin drivers will be on hand for this race. Of interest also was the news that Mike Wedelstadt, a Modified racer from Fremont Wisconsin who will be fielding a pair of Late Models for Arizona's R.C. Whitwell. One will be for open shows and one for WISSOTA competition. I didn't ask but I would assume they will be MB Customs cars as that is what Wedelstadt races in the Modifieds for himself and Whitwell.
The track was smooth and very fast on this night. Moyer came from the third row to win his heat race and that gave him enough passing points to start on the pole. From that spot, he used the opportunity to fly away from the field as he wasn't challenged throughout the thirty lap main. His biggest job was working through the lapped traffic, as only one yellow five laps in slowed the race. But they don't call Moyer "Mr. Smooth" for no reason and he had no problems working through the traffic. Mars moved to second early but he was a straightaway behind and never closed. Drive of the night went to young Peyton Looney, who ran a strong third. One might wonder just how good this youngster could be if he had the resources that many racing far behind them had available to them. Pierce was exciting as he pounded the cushion, but that is normally his strategy. Perhaps on Saturday, if the lower groove slicks up more and the cushion remains, he could be the one to watch for the five grand top prize.
The Modified feature was a good one and even though Terry Schultz started and finished in position number one, it wasn't near that easy. Schultz and Chase Domer had a strong fight for the lead with Domer getting a nose inside Schultz several times. Johnny Fennewald and Jeff Cutshaw were also in the running and with just a few laps left, the top four were battling hard for the lead. They got into lapped traffic and a scramble saw Domer come to a halt with only one lap left.
The one lap sprint saw Schultz fight off Fennewald and a charging Logan Martin, who just might have buzzed by the entire field if he hadn't been squeezed into the front stretch wall. Schultz has been driving a very plain looking car #90 this year with no sponsors and he revealed in victory lane that the reason is that he lost his ride in the off season and he is on his own this year with no backers to this point. Perhaps an early visit to victory lane at a high visibility place like Lucas will help his search. I was expecting a bigger field than the twenty six Modifieds that signed in but perhaps that will happen on Saturday.
Twenty two of the speedway's fine looking Street Stocks signed in to race on Friday. Unfortunately, many didn't look quite so good after they got done beating on each other all night. The Street Stocks had a tough time sorting themselves out Friday and five yellow flags slowed their main event. Derek Brown started on the pole and prevailed for the entire race. As I look back through my records now, while it didn't seem so on Friday, all three winners started right on the pole of their respective mains, a product I would say was the result of the tacky track that allowed the low groove to be the fast way around the track. A little drier track might make for more racy action on Saturday.
One of the nice little things that the track provides is a very nice program that is handed out free of charge to all spectators.
Night number one of the weekend doubleheader proved to be a good one and the intensity level is expected to increase as the money offered goes up on Saturday.
Monday, April 4, 2016
Busting the Frost in Northern Iowa
I was in the pits at Humboldt when I received a phone call from a friend to inform me that the season opening Frost Buster event at the Hancock County Speedway in Britt Iowa had been postponed from Saturday night to Sunday due to high winds and cold temperatures. With the weather forecast seemingly much more promising for the coming twenty four hours, it seemed likely that they could get their show in on Sunday. Since I would be motoring up the freeway not far at all to the East of Britt, and I have been at this track a number of times over the years and am familiar with many of the drivers that race there, it seemed like the natural thing to do to stop in on my way home Sunday.
Sunday was considerably warmer than Saturday had been in northern Iowa, at least until the wind shifted later in the day and made things cool before the final checkered flag waved. The big thing was the wind, which was blowing near hurricane force and making the drive on the freeway a handful, especially for the truckers sharing the road (and much of my lane on occasion) with me.
As I cut my way up through central Iowa and drove through some monstrous large wind farms, many with the blades on the wind mills not even moving, I had to ask myself, "why, with it being the windiest day of the Spring aren't these blades even turning?" Perhaps someone who knows more about these things than I(which should include most of the population) can explain this to me.
In any event, Joe Ringsdorf and his crew at Hancock Co. had their hands full with track prep on this day. The track was still wet underneath so they didn't water much and instead let the wind dry out the track. However, as race time grew near they had to put some water on the track or dust everyone out. In the early going it was very dusty but the wind was fortunately in the proper direction so as not to dust out the fans and also keep the dirt moving so that overall it didn't affect the drivers ability to see. It was a tough series of events to have to deal with, especially for the opening race where the loose track surface could have also been subject to getting rough, which didn't happen by the way. Eventually the cars racing firmed up the lower groove and then they just watered the cushion which allowed the track to widen out some, and overall, considering the circumstances they had to deal with, they ended up with a pretty good race track.
Despite the fact that this was a weather delayed race by twenty four hours and much of the promotional materials for this event stated the rain date as April 9th, a solid field of one hundred and twenty cars was on hand in the five classes that race at Britt. They got started in a timely manner and expect for the delays taken to quickly mist the track, the program charged right through without any breaks in the action.
There were thirty Sport Mods in action and high twenties in the other classes, except for the Sport Compacts which did field enough cars for two heats. Only the Sport Mods required a B feature with all other classes running everyone still operational in the feature events.
Before the races I had the opportunity to roam the pits and see who was on hand. I also got the chance to talk to track announcer Chad Meyer who is the voice for much of northern Iowa racing . I also got to visit with Toby Kruse, who was on hand with Tom Berry, a California Modified racer who is living with Toby in Boone and racing in Iowa all summer. Unfortunately, Berry was the only Modified driver not able to take a green in the main after he snapped a driveshaft in his heat.
The Sport Compact feature was first on the track and the results of this event were probably as surprising as for any of the night. Nate Coopman was the leader early and for the driver from Mankato MN who has won about three hundred feature races in the last couple of years(only slightly exaggerating here), once he is in front, he seldom loses. However, on this night his car wasn't handling very good in the corners and Sioux City's Cody Thompson was able to get under him and drive away for the surprising win.
The Hobby Stock feature was plagued by yellow flags but Cody Nielsen, who started in the front row, led all the way for the win while Trevor Holm charged up from seventeenth to finish a close second over Weston Koop.
Just the opposite of the Hobby Stocks, the Sport Mods accomplished their main with only one yellow flag. George Nordman made a great move to go from the second row to the lead in one swoop and he then pulled away for a pretty easy triumph. Joey Schaefer, in the 2$ car finished second. Earlier his car owner told me he wasn't putting Joey's name on the car so as to motivate him to keep driving hard but after this race, perhaps he will at least write his name on the roof in erasable ink!
Minnesota drivers made their presence felt here in northern Iowa on this early April afternoon and another was Dan Mackenthun. He started on the pole and despite the fact that he was surrounded by Smiths, he kept his whits and maintained his line to take the Stock Car win.
Twenty six Modifieds took the green flag and again it was a Minnesota driver showing the way as Trent Loverude led for much of the first half of the race. However, there were enough early yellows to keep the pack bunched and when Loverude wandered off the bottom, he got freight trained by a crisp running pack. "Downtown" Kyle Brown moved into the lead but he had Kelly Shryock putting on the heat. Shryock was one of the few not afraid to move up the track to try and pass and while it helped him, it also cost him positions that he had to fight back to gain. At the end, Brown held his line and smartly drove home for the win. Jay Noteboom, Adam Larson and Tim Ward trailed.
It was interesting to see both Shryock and Mark Noble racing Modifieds today. It would appear that their careers have traveled full circle as both have returned to their earlier roots as they reach this station in their racing careers.
Most impressive of anything for the entire day? The size of the crowd in the stands. Given only twenty four hours notice that the rain date was Sunday and not next Saturday, the spectators filled the good sized grandstands with nary an empty seat to be found. At the drop of the final checkered, they scramble to the warmth of their vehicles and mentally prepared for Monday morning and work or school. Hancock County returns to their regular schedule with the season opener next Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
Thanks to Joe Ringsdorf for rolling out the red carpet for me. For next week I'm leaning toward some Iowa Late Model racing but as always, everything is subject to the weather.
Sunday was considerably warmer than Saturday had been in northern Iowa, at least until the wind shifted later in the day and made things cool before the final checkered flag waved. The big thing was the wind, which was blowing near hurricane force and making the drive on the freeway a handful, especially for the truckers sharing the road (and much of my lane on occasion) with me.
As I cut my way up through central Iowa and drove through some monstrous large wind farms, many with the blades on the wind mills not even moving, I had to ask myself, "why, with it being the windiest day of the Spring aren't these blades even turning?" Perhaps someone who knows more about these things than I(which should include most of the population) can explain this to me.
In any event, Joe Ringsdorf and his crew at Hancock Co. had their hands full with track prep on this day. The track was still wet underneath so they didn't water much and instead let the wind dry out the track. However, as race time grew near they had to put some water on the track or dust everyone out. In the early going it was very dusty but the wind was fortunately in the proper direction so as not to dust out the fans and also keep the dirt moving so that overall it didn't affect the drivers ability to see. It was a tough series of events to have to deal with, especially for the opening race where the loose track surface could have also been subject to getting rough, which didn't happen by the way. Eventually the cars racing firmed up the lower groove and then they just watered the cushion which allowed the track to widen out some, and overall, considering the circumstances they had to deal with, they ended up with a pretty good race track.
Despite the fact that this was a weather delayed race by twenty four hours and much of the promotional materials for this event stated the rain date as April 9th, a solid field of one hundred and twenty cars was on hand in the five classes that race at Britt. They got started in a timely manner and expect for the delays taken to quickly mist the track, the program charged right through without any breaks in the action.
There were thirty Sport Mods in action and high twenties in the other classes, except for the Sport Compacts which did field enough cars for two heats. Only the Sport Mods required a B feature with all other classes running everyone still operational in the feature events.
Before the races I had the opportunity to roam the pits and see who was on hand. I also got the chance to talk to track announcer Chad Meyer who is the voice for much of northern Iowa racing . I also got to visit with Toby Kruse, who was on hand with Tom Berry, a California Modified racer who is living with Toby in Boone and racing in Iowa all summer. Unfortunately, Berry was the only Modified driver not able to take a green in the main after he snapped a driveshaft in his heat.
The Sport Compact feature was first on the track and the results of this event were probably as surprising as for any of the night. Nate Coopman was the leader early and for the driver from Mankato MN who has won about three hundred feature races in the last couple of years(only slightly exaggerating here), once he is in front, he seldom loses. However, on this night his car wasn't handling very good in the corners and Sioux City's Cody Thompson was able to get under him and drive away for the surprising win.
The Hobby Stock feature was plagued by yellow flags but Cody Nielsen, who started in the front row, led all the way for the win while Trevor Holm charged up from seventeenth to finish a close second over Weston Koop.
Just the opposite of the Hobby Stocks, the Sport Mods accomplished their main with only one yellow flag. George Nordman made a great move to go from the second row to the lead in one swoop and he then pulled away for a pretty easy triumph. Joey Schaefer, in the 2$ car finished second. Earlier his car owner told me he wasn't putting Joey's name on the car so as to motivate him to keep driving hard but after this race, perhaps he will at least write his name on the roof in erasable ink!
Minnesota drivers made their presence felt here in northern Iowa on this early April afternoon and another was Dan Mackenthun. He started on the pole and despite the fact that he was surrounded by Smiths, he kept his whits and maintained his line to take the Stock Car win.
Twenty six Modifieds took the green flag and again it was a Minnesota driver showing the way as Trent Loverude led for much of the first half of the race. However, there were enough early yellows to keep the pack bunched and when Loverude wandered off the bottom, he got freight trained by a crisp running pack. "Downtown" Kyle Brown moved into the lead but he had Kelly Shryock putting on the heat. Shryock was one of the few not afraid to move up the track to try and pass and while it helped him, it also cost him positions that he had to fight back to gain. At the end, Brown held his line and smartly drove home for the win. Jay Noteboom, Adam Larson and Tim Ward trailed.
It was interesting to see both Shryock and Mark Noble racing Modifieds today. It would appear that their careers have traveled full circle as both have returned to their earlier roots as they reach this station in their racing careers.
Most impressive of anything for the entire day? The size of the crowd in the stands. Given only twenty four hours notice that the rain date was Sunday and not next Saturday, the spectators filled the good sized grandstands with nary an empty seat to be found. At the drop of the final checkered, they scramble to the warmth of their vehicles and mentally prepared for Monday morning and work or school. Hancock County returns to their regular schedule with the season opener next Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
Thanks to Joe Ringsdorf for rolling out the red carpet for me. For next week I'm leaning toward some Iowa Late Model racing but as always, everything is subject to the weather.
Great Night for VanderBeek at Humboldt
The three night run for the King of America Modified Nationals at the Humboldt Speedway wrapped up on Saturday, April 2nd. By far the best weather night of the three plus the significance of the night brought out a big crowd to "The Hummer" for championship night plus another full show for the B Mods.
The Modifieds were running the ladder of qualifiers as they worked their way down to the top twenty eight to start their twelve grand to win main event. With nearly one hundred Modifieds still on the grounds and only twelve qualified so far, each rung of the ladder was fought bitterly, with each race just like a feature event.
Although there were more yellows in the qualifiers than there had been in the previous two nights heat races, there was really only one big crash of the entire weekend, although the one they did have was a dilly. With twenty four cars battling for fourteen starting spot in the feature race, the B Feature was a war and while racing in very heavy traffic, Ricky Thornton Jr got into the back stretch wall and ground to a halt. With the rest of the field tightly behind him, a big crash took place that triggered the red light. Eliminated with heavy damage were Thornton Jr, Jeremy Chambers, Aaron Olson, Todd Shute, Bobby Malchus and Keith Tourville. At the end there were only fourteen cars still running and all made the main event.
Appearing with a wad of bills in his hand, Dereck Ramirez bought Thornton Jr into the main event during the auction for the final qualifying spot. He peeled off three grand for the spot and Thornton Jr drove the car of Casey Skyberg since his car was toast. "Big Daddy" Joe Duvall was in the bidding against Ramirez and he must have impressed track officials with his persistence as when the feature rolled out, the rules had been changed and the field went from twenty seven to twenty eight with Duvall also on the track. To do so Duvall had to roll out a back up car himself as he blew a motor in the B feature.
The USMTS has had their issues with communication at times over the years and occasionally has been guilty of changing things on the fly without letting everyone know what was going on. A good example was Saturday night's Modified feature. Most everyone was assuming that the main event would be one hundred laps but apparently that race distance had been under discussion earlier in the day and come race time, the announced distance was seventy two laps, not one hundred.
As far as I am concerned, seventy two laps was plenty. Any longer than that and it stopped being a race and turns more into a conservation contest to save tires, fuel etc. If I wanted to see something like that, I'd watch NASCRAP! Modified racing should be hammer to the firewall, non stop racing and not an endurance contest.
The other source of confusion was the lineup for the main event. Many were assuming that the feature would be lined up three wide and indeed, USMTS Media mogul Jeff Nunn cranked out a release on race day talking about the three wide start later that day. I imagine Jeff was surprised to find out, as the rest of us were, that the race would feature a normal two wide start.
The smart money as the green flag dropped seemed to be with Jason Hughes. Hughes, who had looked dominant all week was starting right on the pole, based on his efforts over the week, and if not him, then Rodney Sanders seemed the second best choice.
The feature itself was a very entertaining event with four different feature leaders. Hughes appeared to let Kyle Strickler take the early lead from the outside pole. The outside is frequently the best way to get the jump on starts here, and it looked like Hughes just let Strickler go and then settled into second. However, when Sanders quickly closed on Hughes, it appeared Jason picked up the pace and quickly caught Strickler. They then engaged in a three way battle for the lead and using lapped traffic, Hughes took the lead.
Sanders was then all over Hughes and after a great battle, Rodney took over the lead. Sanders extended his advantage and he appeared to be on the way to riding home for the win. Meanwhile, VanderBeek was quietly and without fanfare moving forward after starting ninth. The longer the race went, the faster his LG2 appeared to be. The track got slicker and slicker and while others, including Sanders, found their cars wanting to slide out in the corners, VanderBeek was able to drive his car straight and true right on the bottom.
A lap fifty two yellow, the first of the race, proved to be Sanders' downfall. It is possible that he might have had a big enough advantage that if the race had continued under the green, he might have been home free. However, with the field brought back to him, he became a sitting duck. VanderBeek moved from third to second and then put the heat on for the lead. Sanders knew he had to protect the bottom and things got real exciting as the two leaders raced hard for the top spot, banging wheels hard in turn three as Sanders tried to prevent the pass.
However, VanderBeek blew past on the bottom and then rapidly pulled away. A late yellow set up a three lap dash, but again Zach pulled away. A late charge by Johnny Scott saw him come from thirteenth to second while Sanders held on to third. Early leaders faded as Hughes finished seventh and Strickler dropped all the way to fourteenth. Sanders held on to third but was going backwards at the end while Jeremy Payne slipped back and then rallied to finish fourth ahead of crate running Hunter Marriott.
For VanderBeek, it was one of, it not the greatest win of his long career. Long a supporter of the USMTS and carrying one of USMTS's iconic sponsors on his car, VanderBeek's mojo for almost as long has he has been racing has been consistent driving, a clean racing operation and a no controversy kind of guy that has let his driving on the track do the talking for his team. When I told people that hadn't heard the results the next day who had won, their general response was two fold. Number one, they were surprised that neither Hugher or Sanders had won and number two, they were universally happy for VanderBeek. I concur.
The B Mods turned out forty strong to complete their weekend of racing and Missouri driver Lucas Isaaks led all the way for the win. Scott Bintz drew his first decent starting spot in three days and powered home second, edging the other Isaaks brother, Ethan. The track was "farmed" just before the B Mod feature which made it tacky and fast. The race went smoothly with only one yellow but everyone was fast due to track conditions so there was very little passing.
Thanks to all the hard working employees of the Humboldt Speedway and everyone at USMTS for a great three days of racing. Fans from all over the Midwest took advantage of the great field of cars for some great spectating and my untrained eye from the parking lot seemed to indicate that the state of Minnesota was far and away the leader in track visitors. March 23-25, 2017 was already announced as the dates of next year's race so everyone must have been satisfied with this year's race.
The Modifieds were running the ladder of qualifiers as they worked their way down to the top twenty eight to start their twelve grand to win main event. With nearly one hundred Modifieds still on the grounds and only twelve qualified so far, each rung of the ladder was fought bitterly, with each race just like a feature event.
Although there were more yellows in the qualifiers than there had been in the previous two nights heat races, there was really only one big crash of the entire weekend, although the one they did have was a dilly. With twenty four cars battling for fourteen starting spot in the feature race, the B Feature was a war and while racing in very heavy traffic, Ricky Thornton Jr got into the back stretch wall and ground to a halt. With the rest of the field tightly behind him, a big crash took place that triggered the red light. Eliminated with heavy damage were Thornton Jr, Jeremy Chambers, Aaron Olson, Todd Shute, Bobby Malchus and Keith Tourville. At the end there were only fourteen cars still running and all made the main event.
Appearing with a wad of bills in his hand, Dereck Ramirez bought Thornton Jr into the main event during the auction for the final qualifying spot. He peeled off three grand for the spot and Thornton Jr drove the car of Casey Skyberg since his car was toast. "Big Daddy" Joe Duvall was in the bidding against Ramirez and he must have impressed track officials with his persistence as when the feature rolled out, the rules had been changed and the field went from twenty seven to twenty eight with Duvall also on the track. To do so Duvall had to roll out a back up car himself as he blew a motor in the B feature.
The USMTS has had their issues with communication at times over the years and occasionally has been guilty of changing things on the fly without letting everyone know what was going on. A good example was Saturday night's Modified feature. Most everyone was assuming that the main event would be one hundred laps but apparently that race distance had been under discussion earlier in the day and come race time, the announced distance was seventy two laps, not one hundred.
As far as I am concerned, seventy two laps was plenty. Any longer than that and it stopped being a race and turns more into a conservation contest to save tires, fuel etc. If I wanted to see something like that, I'd watch NASCRAP! Modified racing should be hammer to the firewall, non stop racing and not an endurance contest.
The other source of confusion was the lineup for the main event. Many were assuming that the feature would be lined up three wide and indeed, USMTS Media mogul Jeff Nunn cranked out a release on race day talking about the three wide start later that day. I imagine Jeff was surprised to find out, as the rest of us were, that the race would feature a normal two wide start.
The smart money as the green flag dropped seemed to be with Jason Hughes. Hughes, who had looked dominant all week was starting right on the pole, based on his efforts over the week, and if not him, then Rodney Sanders seemed the second best choice.
The feature itself was a very entertaining event with four different feature leaders. Hughes appeared to let Kyle Strickler take the early lead from the outside pole. The outside is frequently the best way to get the jump on starts here, and it looked like Hughes just let Strickler go and then settled into second. However, when Sanders quickly closed on Hughes, it appeared Jason picked up the pace and quickly caught Strickler. They then engaged in a three way battle for the lead and using lapped traffic, Hughes took the lead.
Sanders was then all over Hughes and after a great battle, Rodney took over the lead. Sanders extended his advantage and he appeared to be on the way to riding home for the win. Meanwhile, VanderBeek was quietly and without fanfare moving forward after starting ninth. The longer the race went, the faster his LG2 appeared to be. The track got slicker and slicker and while others, including Sanders, found their cars wanting to slide out in the corners, VanderBeek was able to drive his car straight and true right on the bottom.
A lap fifty two yellow, the first of the race, proved to be Sanders' downfall. It is possible that he might have had a big enough advantage that if the race had continued under the green, he might have been home free. However, with the field brought back to him, he became a sitting duck. VanderBeek moved from third to second and then put the heat on for the lead. Sanders knew he had to protect the bottom and things got real exciting as the two leaders raced hard for the top spot, banging wheels hard in turn three as Sanders tried to prevent the pass.
However, VanderBeek blew past on the bottom and then rapidly pulled away. A late yellow set up a three lap dash, but again Zach pulled away. A late charge by Johnny Scott saw him come from thirteenth to second while Sanders held on to third. Early leaders faded as Hughes finished seventh and Strickler dropped all the way to fourteenth. Sanders held on to third but was going backwards at the end while Jeremy Payne slipped back and then rallied to finish fourth ahead of crate running Hunter Marriott.
For VanderBeek, it was one of, it not the greatest win of his long career. Long a supporter of the USMTS and carrying one of USMTS's iconic sponsors on his car, VanderBeek's mojo for almost as long has he has been racing has been consistent driving, a clean racing operation and a no controversy kind of guy that has let his driving on the track do the talking for his team. When I told people that hadn't heard the results the next day who had won, their general response was two fold. Number one, they were surprised that neither Hugher or Sanders had won and number two, they were universally happy for VanderBeek. I concur.
The B Mods turned out forty strong to complete their weekend of racing and Missouri driver Lucas Isaaks led all the way for the win. Scott Bintz drew his first decent starting spot in three days and powered home second, edging the other Isaaks brother, Ethan. The track was "farmed" just before the B Mod feature which made it tacky and fast. The race went smoothly with only one yellow but everyone was fast due to track conditions so there was very little passing.
Thanks to all the hard working employees of the Humboldt Speedway and everyone at USMTS for a great three days of racing. Fans from all over the Midwest took advantage of the great field of cars for some great spectating and my untrained eye from the parking lot seemed to indicate that the state of Minnesota was far and away the leader in track visitors. March 23-25, 2017 was already announced as the dates of next year's race so everyone must have been satisfied with this year's race.
Saturday, April 2, 2016
More from the Hummer
Round two of the qualifying events for the King of America Modified Nationals took place on Friday night, April 1st at the Humboldt Speedway. Let's be clear here, the only April Fools Day joke that took place on this night was the weather, and that was no joke at all. A brutally strong wind out of the Northwest made the conditions very miserable and I must admit that I was surprised that as many people showed up as did. It was no where near what kind of crowd that they need to make this event a financial success, but when you consider that they are just running heat races for the second straight night with the exception of the B Mods that run a full program, it is surprising how many people do attend the first two nights.
Most of the people from out of town are here to see the Modifieds, and when their part of the program is completed, most of them scramble off to their vehicles in the parking lot and then off to some warmth, leaving only the diehards to hand around for the B Mod feature. But at least they do come.
The Modifieds participated in another two rounds of nine heats per round with about a dozen cars in each race. Very important to earning their qualifying positions for Saturday night's big race, each heat is treated more like a main event and the racing is intense. Except for some track prep after the first round of qualifying, we saw solid non stop racing right from 7:30 p.m. until the last checkered flew at about 11:15 p.m. I guess is I was required to muster up one criticism for this event, it would be the late starting times that have been scheduled. A 7:30 p.m start of Thursday seemed just a bit late and with most of the drivers and fans on the grounds milling around the majority of the day, another 7:30 p.m start seemed unnecessarily late, especially with the weather being so cold. Even the Saturday night finale won't start until 7 p.m. and again, that could easily be moved up at least an hour and not cause problems. But, let's face it. We're nit picking. Any race that draws over one hundred Modifieds and forty B Mods is on pretty solid ground.
Four less Modifieds were on hand Friday due to some mechanical issues and among the missing were the two cars that flipped on Thursday night while the B Mods actually picked up a couple more entrees probably due to the fact that the winners share went up to a grand Friday.
When all the math was done and the numbers calculated after all four sets of nine heat races were completed, it was absolutely no surprise at all to find that Jason Hughes will start on the pole for the three wide race to the twelve grand winners purse on Saturday night. Hughes has been dominant all week and historically runs very well on this track. The only kicker for him may be that he might not want to start on the inside pole for the three wide start as often here the outside line is the way to go at the start into turn one. However, I'm sure that Hughes will handle the situation just fine. The biggest trick will be to get the race off to a clean start with the three wide start so that they can thin out and truly start racing.
Hughes will have a couple of upstarts to the USMTS beside him in the form of Kyle Strickler and Hunter Marriott, two drivers both capable of pulling off the tall upset. The second row will consist of Jeremy Payne, Rodney Sanders and Brady Gerdes. Cudos to Gerdes for running so strong as he seldom gets to run open motor shows, being a strong competitor in WISSOTA's Minnesota region with his spec engine. We understand that William Heath, one of the two flippers on Friday night, was seeking permission from track officials to punch out Sanders's lights after their front stretch tangle. A little hard to follow was Heath's logic in that one, since he started two rows ahead of Sanders and on the outside lane also!
Others to gain access to the feature race Saturday were Cade Dillard, Jason Cummins, Zack VanderBeek, Travis Saurer, Darron Fuqua and Stormy Scott. Special cudos also to Saurer, who is not driving his normal ride but instead behind the wheel of Scott Bintz's MB Custom for only the second time.
The B Mods wrapped up the night with their twenty lap main, worth $1,500 to the winner. It wasn't as exciting a race as Thursday night with Steve Muilenburg starting on the pole and leading all the way in the nonstop main. Last night's winner Shawn Strong and Kris Jackson were both coming hard at the end and another five laps might have changed the outcome. However, it was a good win for one of Missouri's "good old boys", a driver that I have seen, along with others in his family, racing for as long as I can remember at southern Missouri tracks along with at adjacent states. With a slight quiver in his voice, in victory lane he informed the crowd that he had lost his wife over the off season.
Most of the people from out of town are here to see the Modifieds, and when their part of the program is completed, most of them scramble off to their vehicles in the parking lot and then off to some warmth, leaving only the diehards to hand around for the B Mod feature. But at least they do come.
The Modifieds participated in another two rounds of nine heats per round with about a dozen cars in each race. Very important to earning their qualifying positions for Saturday night's big race, each heat is treated more like a main event and the racing is intense. Except for some track prep after the first round of qualifying, we saw solid non stop racing right from 7:30 p.m. until the last checkered flew at about 11:15 p.m. I guess is I was required to muster up one criticism for this event, it would be the late starting times that have been scheduled. A 7:30 p.m start of Thursday seemed just a bit late and with most of the drivers and fans on the grounds milling around the majority of the day, another 7:30 p.m start seemed unnecessarily late, especially with the weather being so cold. Even the Saturday night finale won't start until 7 p.m. and again, that could easily be moved up at least an hour and not cause problems. But, let's face it. We're nit picking. Any race that draws over one hundred Modifieds and forty B Mods is on pretty solid ground.
Four less Modifieds were on hand Friday due to some mechanical issues and among the missing were the two cars that flipped on Thursday night while the B Mods actually picked up a couple more entrees probably due to the fact that the winners share went up to a grand Friday.
When all the math was done and the numbers calculated after all four sets of nine heat races were completed, it was absolutely no surprise at all to find that Jason Hughes will start on the pole for the three wide race to the twelve grand winners purse on Saturday night. Hughes has been dominant all week and historically runs very well on this track. The only kicker for him may be that he might not want to start on the inside pole for the three wide start as often here the outside line is the way to go at the start into turn one. However, I'm sure that Hughes will handle the situation just fine. The biggest trick will be to get the race off to a clean start with the three wide start so that they can thin out and truly start racing.
Hughes will have a couple of upstarts to the USMTS beside him in the form of Kyle Strickler and Hunter Marriott, two drivers both capable of pulling off the tall upset. The second row will consist of Jeremy Payne, Rodney Sanders and Brady Gerdes. Cudos to Gerdes for running so strong as he seldom gets to run open motor shows, being a strong competitor in WISSOTA's Minnesota region with his spec engine. We understand that William Heath, one of the two flippers on Friday night, was seeking permission from track officials to punch out Sanders's lights after their front stretch tangle. A little hard to follow was Heath's logic in that one, since he started two rows ahead of Sanders and on the outside lane also!
Others to gain access to the feature race Saturday were Cade Dillard, Jason Cummins, Zack VanderBeek, Travis Saurer, Darron Fuqua and Stormy Scott. Special cudos also to Saurer, who is not driving his normal ride but instead behind the wheel of Scott Bintz's MB Custom for only the second time.
The B Mods wrapped up the night with their twenty lap main, worth $1,500 to the winner. It wasn't as exciting a race as Thursday night with Steve Muilenburg starting on the pole and leading all the way in the nonstop main. Last night's winner Shawn Strong and Kris Jackson were both coming hard at the end and another five laps might have changed the outcome. However, it was a good win for one of Missouri's "good old boys", a driver that I have seen, along with others in his family, racing for as long as I can remember at southern Missouri tracks along with at adjacent states. With a slight quiver in his voice, in victory lane he informed the crowd that he had lost his wife over the off season.
Friday, April 1, 2016
King of America begins
Thursday, March 31st, the King of America Modified Nationals kicked off at the Humboldt Speedway in Humboldt Kansas. A three day program, the K of A event has an unusual format, at least in part because of the huge car counts that turn out for this event. With the numbers of Modifieds, which are the featured division for this event, turning out numbers that make it prohibitive to run full programs each night, USMTS officials have come up with an innovative qualifying format that the drivers seem to like.
On both Thursday and Friday night, drivers draw for starting positions in four qualifying races, two of which are held on each night. The drivers start in different positions in each event and race against different competitors. Points are recorded for their finishes in all four events and the drivers are allowed to throw out their worst race, thus making it their best three of four. The top twelve in points after two nights of qualifying automatically make the main event while the rest of the field is lined up for last chance races, based on how many points they have earned.
All the qualifying events are very intense as you might imagine with each race truly being a mini feature event. One spin or bad break can end a weekend early, and if a driver has one bad race, the pressure is really on as they then have nothing to fall back on. For example, Ryan Gustin scratched out of his first heat race for reasons unknown. He raced the second heat and finished a strong second. However, he still faces two more heats on Friday and if he has one bad race, he is sure to be then be buried deep in a B feature on Saturday. A couple of drivers scratched on second round qualifying after having troubles in the first heat so they are in deep trouble indeed, having had two or non finishes which surely would put them at the back of a Saturday B.
There is always drama in these heats too. Brad Dierks won the opening heat of the night, only to soon be disqualified due to having the wrong "chip" in his motor. He started well back in the pack for his second heat and didn't finish well, so he is already in deep trouble.
Dave Elson from Missouri made only a few laps with what appeared to be a brand new car when he hit the back stretch wall and did a violent flip, ending up on his roof. A significant amount of time was required to extract him from his car and he went to the hospital for evaluation while his car likely went to the scrap yard.
Later, William Heath rode up the wall on the front chute on the green for a heat and took Rodney Sanders with him. Sanders nearly got out of the ball park while Heath went for a flip. Sanders was able to restart and finished fourth in his heat but he might have been able to do better if his right front was pointed in the proper direction. Heath tore his car apart in the flip and his blood pressure was skyrocketing when he climbed from his car.
The only down side to this format is that after night one, while for might have some notion where the drivers stand, until they race again on Friday you really have no idea who's feature race bound and who is heading for B mains.
The B Mods ran a complete program on Thursday, as they will for each night of the three day show. They had a strong field of cars that required five heats, two B's and then of course, the main event. Their feature was a dandy and one that I would have wished could have been a little longer than its twenty lap distance as it was a very entertaining event and slowed by only one yellow flag. Shawn Strong led most of the race but he was challenged on every corner by Kris Jackson and Yancy Shepherd with Shepherd's team mate Mike Tanner joining the front pack late.
The finish had a bit of controversy as the flagman showed the white flag to the field, then pulled it back again and then waved it again on the next circuit. Jackson, who was racing for the win, appeared to back off when he saw what he thought to be the checkered when in fact it turned out to be the white, and by the time he got going again, he had dropped from second to fourth, with both Shepherd and Tanner passing him.
Pity poor John Feirn. He towed all the way from Chippewa Falls Wisconsin to race but found that he couldn't make it through the tech line before even getting on the race track. The perplexed Feirn loaded up and headed home, a nice nine hour pull, without ever turning a lap on the track.
I've seen some strange things in the upper berth of race car stacker trailers before but Thursday brought a first for me. On the upper berth of Randy Sandvick's trailer was a full size airplane, minus the right side wing! it seems that Sandvick, a flying aficionado, had been doing some flying in the area, but was going to drive his hauler back to North Dakota, so they merely took off the right side wing, tucked it away and loaded up the rest of the plane in the trailer.
There were forty two B Mods and one hundred and six Modifieds that signed in for opening night race action. When I asked USMTS head Todd Staley what accounted for the big increase in the Modified car count over last year's event, when only eighty two Modifieds were on hand, he just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. Even the experts have a tough time explaining some things.
On both Thursday and Friday night, drivers draw for starting positions in four qualifying races, two of which are held on each night. The drivers start in different positions in each event and race against different competitors. Points are recorded for their finishes in all four events and the drivers are allowed to throw out their worst race, thus making it their best three of four. The top twelve in points after two nights of qualifying automatically make the main event while the rest of the field is lined up for last chance races, based on how many points they have earned.
All the qualifying events are very intense as you might imagine with each race truly being a mini feature event. One spin or bad break can end a weekend early, and if a driver has one bad race, the pressure is really on as they then have nothing to fall back on. For example, Ryan Gustin scratched out of his first heat race for reasons unknown. He raced the second heat and finished a strong second. However, he still faces two more heats on Friday and if he has one bad race, he is sure to be then be buried deep in a B feature on Saturday. A couple of drivers scratched on second round qualifying after having troubles in the first heat so they are in deep trouble indeed, having had two or non finishes which surely would put them at the back of a Saturday B.
There is always drama in these heats too. Brad Dierks won the opening heat of the night, only to soon be disqualified due to having the wrong "chip" in his motor. He started well back in the pack for his second heat and didn't finish well, so he is already in deep trouble.
Dave Elson from Missouri made only a few laps with what appeared to be a brand new car when he hit the back stretch wall and did a violent flip, ending up on his roof. A significant amount of time was required to extract him from his car and he went to the hospital for evaluation while his car likely went to the scrap yard.
Later, William Heath rode up the wall on the front chute on the green for a heat and took Rodney Sanders with him. Sanders nearly got out of the ball park while Heath went for a flip. Sanders was able to restart and finished fourth in his heat but he might have been able to do better if his right front was pointed in the proper direction. Heath tore his car apart in the flip and his blood pressure was skyrocketing when he climbed from his car.
The only down side to this format is that after night one, while for might have some notion where the drivers stand, until they race again on Friday you really have no idea who's feature race bound and who is heading for B mains.
The B Mods ran a complete program on Thursday, as they will for each night of the three day show. They had a strong field of cars that required five heats, two B's and then of course, the main event. Their feature was a dandy and one that I would have wished could have been a little longer than its twenty lap distance as it was a very entertaining event and slowed by only one yellow flag. Shawn Strong led most of the race but he was challenged on every corner by Kris Jackson and Yancy Shepherd with Shepherd's team mate Mike Tanner joining the front pack late.
The finish had a bit of controversy as the flagman showed the white flag to the field, then pulled it back again and then waved it again on the next circuit. Jackson, who was racing for the win, appeared to back off when he saw what he thought to be the checkered when in fact it turned out to be the white, and by the time he got going again, he had dropped from second to fourth, with both Shepherd and Tanner passing him.
Pity poor John Feirn. He towed all the way from Chippewa Falls Wisconsin to race but found that he couldn't make it through the tech line before even getting on the race track. The perplexed Feirn loaded up and headed home, a nice nine hour pull, without ever turning a lap on the track.
I've seen some strange things in the upper berth of race car stacker trailers before but Thursday brought a first for me. On the upper berth of Randy Sandvick's trailer was a full size airplane, minus the right side wing! it seems that Sandvick, a flying aficionado, had been doing some flying in the area, but was going to drive his hauler back to North Dakota, so they merely took off the right side wing, tucked it away and loaded up the rest of the plane in the trailer.
There were forty two B Mods and one hundred and six Modifieds that signed in for opening night race action. When I asked USMTS head Todd Staley what accounted for the big increase in the Modified car count over last year's event, when only eighty two Modifieds were on hand, he just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. Even the experts have a tough time explaining some things.
Apologies to Gendel
I was packed and fully ready to roll out the door on Wednesday, March 30th. I was planning to head South to the Southern Iowa Speedway to catch round one of the Frostbuster, an event I have attended for the past few years and have always enjoyed.
However, I had also been monitoring the weather forecast for a few days previous to the event and everything I saw gave me "pause." I checked one last time on Tuesday night and then decided that I would roll out of bed early on Wednesday morning and make my final decision. The a.m. hours on Wednesday showed nearly a 100% chance of rain before race time and multiple sources were saying the same thing. Since I have been running all over Hades this Winter and into the Spring and my racing budget is far from bottomless, the last thing I needed was to head South to the Hawkeye state, hit rain and spend the evening holed up in some over priced motel biding my time until Thursday morning. So I grudgingly decided that I would pass on this race, something that I do seldom, but with the belief that I would see rain at Osky before race time and it would all make sense.
As the day progresses and Osky stayed dry, I grew increasingly agitated. However, I still believed that some "big time" storms would cook up over Missouri and Kansas and that Osky would still be wet before race time. As race time grew near and the storms blew up, unbelievably they were all managing to split the Osky area and leave the track high and dry, even though in many directions around the track it was storming heavily. The radar screen indicated the Osky should be able to get their show in and that is the point that the "F-Bombs" were hurled at my innocent computer screen!
For promoter Mike Van Genderen, he may have well been praying that the rains would indeed hit him. I have not spoken to anyone that was at the races, but with all the bad weather in the area and the dire forecast, I can't imagine that the crowd was any too large. In fact, staring at the dreadful forecast he was facing, he might have well canceled early if not for what had happened the previous weekend at Donnellson.
The car count turned out to be anything but special but likely the result of the weather which no doubt kept many of the racers' cars still in the garage, rather than make a drive to the track for nothing. In any event, they did race and I made my first strategic "boo-boo" of 2016, something that hopefully won't be repeated soon but that's not a guarantee by any means.
Good for Mike V. that he got his show in, hopefully he made a few bucks and I will sometime again make a stab at seeing some racing at the big Mahaska County half mile.
However, I had also been monitoring the weather forecast for a few days previous to the event and everything I saw gave me "pause." I checked one last time on Tuesday night and then decided that I would roll out of bed early on Wednesday morning and make my final decision. The a.m. hours on Wednesday showed nearly a 100% chance of rain before race time and multiple sources were saying the same thing. Since I have been running all over Hades this Winter and into the Spring and my racing budget is far from bottomless, the last thing I needed was to head South to the Hawkeye state, hit rain and spend the evening holed up in some over priced motel biding my time until Thursday morning. So I grudgingly decided that I would pass on this race, something that I do seldom, but with the belief that I would see rain at Osky before race time and it would all make sense.
As the day progresses and Osky stayed dry, I grew increasingly agitated. However, I still believed that some "big time" storms would cook up over Missouri and Kansas and that Osky would still be wet before race time. As race time grew near and the storms blew up, unbelievably they were all managing to split the Osky area and leave the track high and dry, even though in many directions around the track it was storming heavily. The radar screen indicated the Osky should be able to get their show in and that is the point that the "F-Bombs" were hurled at my innocent computer screen!
For promoter Mike Van Genderen, he may have well been praying that the rains would indeed hit him. I have not spoken to anyone that was at the races, but with all the bad weather in the area and the dire forecast, I can't imagine that the crowd was any too large. In fact, staring at the dreadful forecast he was facing, he might have well canceled early if not for what had happened the previous weekend at Donnellson.
The car count turned out to be anything but special but likely the result of the weather which no doubt kept many of the racers' cars still in the garage, rather than make a drive to the track for nothing. In any event, they did race and I made my first strategic "boo-boo" of 2016, something that hopefully won't be repeated soon but that's not a guarantee by any means.
Good for Mike V. that he got his show in, hopefully he made a few bucks and I will sometime again make a stab at seeing some racing at the big Mahaska County half mile.
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