Yes I really did see two dirt track races on the weekend of April 25-26. And yes, they were actually live and in person as opposed to watching some fake stuff on TV. For reasons having to do with the current situation in this country, I did not do a report from Saturday night's event.
However, I'm happy to report that I am able to deliver a full report of the events on Sunday night, April 16th from The New Raceway Park in Jefferson South Dakota. Known as "South Dakota's Church in the Dirt", no matter what your religion, if you were praying to see dirt track racing live and direct, those prayers were answered on Sunday and what was a beautiful night it was for racing.
A little back round on this race. Originally planned to be with limited spectators(500 tickets were sold), during the days leading up to this race, the track's promoter and owner received much pressure from a variety of both state and national agencies about canceling this race including South Dakota's Governor who told people they should not attend.
In order to keep the race from possibly being canceled at the last minute, Steve Kiraly(track owner) and Denny Moore(promoter), opted to not allow spectators in to the race(all who bought tickets received refunds), and just run the event with pit personal on hand as the only observers. On the plus side, this allowed the pit personal to spread out through the entire grandstand and cat walk in turn four so distancing was not a problem. Moore told me that he was going to lose money on the race once the spectators were no longer allowed to attend, but that he still wanted to go ahead with the race to show that it could be done and safely too.
Frankly, after observing what was going on in North Sioux City and other environs close by, I determined that I was much safer at the track than at any other place in town! I did not notice a single customer or employee at the gas station where I fueled up wearing a mask and the service people at the drive through for the fast food restaurant I went through were not wearing masks either.
At the track, no one was allowed to enter the pits until they had their temperatures taken, masks were required to be worn at all times in the pits and grandstands and folks were required to observe social distancing. Much of the spectator parking lot was turned over to pit area for this night because they wanted all the racers to be spread out and not tightly packed. Satellites were provided for the over flow area and quite frankly, it seemed like management went over and above to both ensure the safety of the racers and crews but also make it a pleasant experience. Quite frankly, I think we're all tired of talking about this whole subject which is certainly wearing on everyone, so let's now talk about the racing!
Drivers were required to pre enter for this race as they didn't want a huge number of cars for obvious reasons. In total, ninety five racers pulled through the gates in the five IMCA classes that were racing on this night. Three heats and a feature race were needed for four of the classes with the Modifieds needing four heats and a B Feature. In that class, nineteen of the racers were hold overs from the previous night across the street at Park Jefferson while the remainder of the field were getting their first night of the new year.
The track was smooth and slick for the first night of racing with a strong wind from the South helping to slick it off quickly. Drivers were running multiple grooves with some liking the high side on this heavily banked quarter mile while there were also plenty of "catfish" motoring around the tires. This made for a good mix and providing plenty of action. The show moves along quickly after they got a bit of a late start but with a minimum of yellow flags, the heat races went off quickly. The one spin rule and threatening time limits for the features kept everyone moving and there was not a race all night with more than three yellow flags and wrecking was not a problem.
For the second straight night this weekend, the star of the show in the Modifieds was Ricky Thornton Jr. He came from the seventh starting position to win the twenty lap Modified main after a hard fought charge to the front. Thornton Jr is such a pleasure to watch as he simply won't settle for following other drivers, he searches around on the track to find the best lane, even if it means racing where others fear to go. He is absolutely relentless at working the track until he finds the fast lane while so many others just prefer to follow each other.
Chris Mills was the early leader of the race and led the majority of the contest. As he held the top spot, Jeff Taylor and Thornton Jr made determined runs to the front. Taylor moved up the track and took second and he looked like the driver that might overtake Mills for the lead.
However, Thornton Jr was even faster as he worked both high and low and in the rapidly evolving event, he took second and then closed on Mills. Thornton Jr found his fast lane which involved being low in turn one and then running the high banking in turn three and gaining momentum down the front chute for a heavy dive into turn one.
With only three laps left, he was able to ease past Mills down the front chute, beat him to turn one and take over the lead. Unfortunately for Mills, he tried to retake the lead on the other end and ended up spinning which triggered the first yellow of the race. A three lap sprint to the finish saw Thornton Jr pull away from Taylor for the win with long haul winner Grey Ferrando finish a strong third. Tom Berry was up from fifteenth to fourth with Minnesota visitor Aaron Johnson completing the top five.
The Stock Car feature was a close race not settled until the final corner. Cade Richards had the pole but he slipped back at the start and it was Randy Brands that grabbed the lead. He led for several laps until he received some heavy pressure from Travis Barker who had started fifth. Barker tried several times before he was finally able to squeeze past Brands in turn one and take over the top spot.
Brands did not give up as most of the Stock Cars were running the low groove and to slip off the bottom was not a good thing. Barker several times gave Brands an opening and Randy came very close to retaking the lead but couldn't quite make the move. Meanwhile, Richards was working his way back up and closing on the lead duo and he suddenly appeared to be the fastest car on the track as he closed on the leaders.
A late yellow with four laps to go bunched the field and on the green, Richards took over second and then began to pressure Barker. On the final corner Richards gave in a shot on the inside and just came up short as Barker hung on for the win. Brands finished a strong third with Bo Lundquist and Cameron Wilkinson next in line.
Even though he didn't win a feature race, Cade Richards was clearly the second star of the night. While he came up close in the Stock Cars, he was just as close to a win in the Sport Mods. This race saw Cole Nordquist take the lead off the pole and hold the top spot for a couple laps before he was pressured by Johnathon Logue. Logue was fast and was able to make the pass following a lap three restart for a spinning car.
Once in front, Logue was able to extent his advantage as he seemed to be running free from the field. However, Richards, who had started eleventh, really started to pick up the pace as he got past Cody Thompson to take over second and began to close. Logue's lead, which had looked so comfortable suddenly began to shirk at an alarming rate. Richards caught him on the last lap and made a dive for the lead and as they raced to the flag, Logue was able to hold on by the smallest of margins to take the win. Richards and Thompson finished very close behind him with Nordquist and Rusty Montague next in line.
It was a night of close finishes and the Hobby Stock feature was no exception. The #77 cars of Craig Clift and Cody Williams started the main side by side and they battled hard for the lead until Clift took the point. A couple early yellows kept the field bunched and the top six or so drivers ran in close formation. Clift continued to lead but his advantage was a small one as Andy Hoffman was making a charge after starting ninth. He was also feeling pressure from Zach Ankrum, who was fast in his heat but redrew twelve for the main event. Ankrum was really picked up ground though, and he got under Hoffman for second and charged after Clift.
Ankrum caught the leader with two laps to go and made a hard dive to the low side but Clift was able to hold him off. The same strategy was tried again on the final lap and they came off the last corner side by side but Clift had just enough momentum to hold on for the lead. Hoffman, Williams and Cameron Wilkinson completed the top five.
The only feature not a nail biter was the Sport Compacts. This nonstop main event saw pole sitter Anthony Clark lead from start to finish. He was not challenged as he pulled away from the field with only second place finisher Nate Fontenot able to keep the winner within sight. Austin Honneycutt, Shannon Mahlberg and R.J. Esqueda were next in line.
The final checkered flag flew shortly after 10 pm and it was a good, entertaining program with several very close feature races. It's just too bad that it couldn't have been witnessed by real spectators instead of just a TV crowd. I was told that the track was debuting some new track lights which no doubt helped the TV viewing although their placement all on the outside of the track on the back chute does make for some glare for those watching from the main grandstand.
Now the question remains, was this just a "one off "event or will regular weekly racing now take place? The track schedule shows weekly events from now on but there was no mention at the track of when the next race would be held. For sure, the business model of no fans in the stands just doesn't work so unless the state gives the OK for fans to return to watch, the track will likely sit quick again this coming Sunday.
But no matter what happens going forward, Steve Kiraly and Denny Moore deserve a hearty thanks for putting on this Sunday night race. I believe they proved they could put on a race safely but we will now see if anyone was paying attention. They definitely put a lot of work in to get this show to happen and the amount of hassle they received will unfortunately not be equaled by revenue generated. My thanks to them for their efforts at this difficult time. To make my weekend complete, I also need to thank both Toby Kruse and Tom Berry Jr for allowing me to record a two race weekend when it looked like none might happen. Thanks gentlemen.
