As one of the first tracks in the state of Iowa to open for the 2020 racing season, Stuart, along with Oskaloosa, were also the first midweek tracks to get their season kicked off. With lots of anticipation and many big shows planned for this year, the delay at opening the season has weighed heavy on promoter Mike VanGenderen along with all his fellow race organizers across the Midwest.
But on a misty, windy and cool May night, Stuart was finally able to get their racing season underway and they did so with a bang. While Wednesday night's show was one of the first weekly events for this season, it will also probably be remembered by many as one of the top races they saw all year, it was that good.
I had a few minutes early in the evening to spend with MVG and I had a few questions to ask. A number of track improvements had been done to the facility during the off season but none were more noticeable than the huge new cat walk that runs behind the grandstand from the exit of turn four and at least half the way down the front chute. It is a very well constructed addition to the track and provides the pit crew members a very good place to watch the races as Stuart is one of the very few facilities with the pits on the same side of the track as the spectator grandstands and one would certainly not want to lose grandstand seating just for the sake of pit area seating.
This structure cost many thousands of dollars to build but in a reoccurring theme for this place, much of the financing of materials and labor was done by sponsors. Good businessmen from the region have paired up with MVG on many projects with the benefits to both groups obviously easy to see. The sponsors get a good "bang" for their buck, MVG gets the benefits of their assistance and the fans benefit by seeing races, events and drivers that they would not otherwise get the opportunity to.
Some other changes not so obvious but key the providing a big entertainment boost were the reshaping of the corners with some extra banking added in spots and some low spots filled in so as to allow the drivers to run many grooves and be able to carry their speed all the way around this small quarter mile oval. This would be quite obvious later when we would witness some spectacular racing in all divisions with more side by side and three wide racing than perhaps any where else around.
my second question had to do with the recent run double header at the Scotland County Speedway, one of MVG's other tracks. When rain it just as the first feature race got started on the second night, the event was canceled but I was never clear on how they settled up with the drivers.
Turns out that all drivers were paid. The B Features obviously paid as they finished while in the main events, the drivers that made the redraw, twelve I believe in each class, split evenly the purse money for the top twelve places while the rest of the starters split the rest of the money equally. This seems like absolutely the fairest way of dealing with an unfortunate situation and while I don't remember the exact numbers, both the Stock Car and Modified drivers that made the main event went home with well over three hundred dollars, not bad money for an eight lap heat race! The other divisions obviously were less based on their smaller purse.
Later on this evening, the only unsettling part of this entire Wednesday night race was that the spectator seating was completely empty except for an occasionally wandering MVG as he passed through while working the Raceceiver with the drivers during the mains. While we were witness to some spectator heat race action and wild slide job trading passes in the mains, the grandstands were as quiet as a mouse and that just did not seem right. I will never get used to that and I can only hope that something happens soon to stop this madness.
MVG roped off the entire grandstand and did not let even the crews or media sit in the stands as he wanted the folks watching to know that he was following the rules to "the letter" but the empty stands looked very strange indeed on the videos.
My question was, how was MVG affording to be able to put on three shows this week, including a Late Model special followed up by a Memorial Day special for the Mods while still having an empty grandstand? And once again, here is where his sponsors have come through for him. While he will certainly obtain some revenue for pit passes, of which there was probably a goodly amount on this night with the overflowing pits, and he would also get some income from the pay per view, that still likely wouldn't cover the "nugget" he will be required to pay, particularly when the Late Models come to town.
The answer is, his sponsors take came of the rest so that the race is financially sound and the events can go forward. Sponsors abound at Stuart as the list of supporters is long indeed and all have played a part in getting the racing going and keeping it strong. Where Stuart Speedway was just over one year ago and where it is now is like night and day. The renaissance has been an amazing thing to watch and is certainly worthy of some national attention by racing media, and I hope they see how this place has been turned around completely. Sure, the track could still use a scoreboard and a fire hydrant on the property would be a nice thing, but the reversal this place has made is truly special and can not be ignored.
MVG, despite only having promoted one weekend of racing so far this year, has been a busy guy indeed. He early on hit on the idea of private practice sessions at Stuart and he told me that he estimated that around one hundred and fifty different race cars had practiced at his track prior to opening night! Folks that is a nice revenue stream to start your season off while supplying a service that many drivers requested. Also, all those laps on the track did nothing but helping to get the track ready for racing and on this cool and moist night, the only water he needed to apply was just before hot laps. And the track proved to be great, as it cleaned of nicely and slicked up black and provided racing grooves all over while not throwing a bit of dust. It could not have been any better.
As far as the racing itself, it was great too. We saw battles for the lead in most events with some classic slide job action particularly in the Sport Mod and Stock Car features. The drivers were obviously ready to go also with by my count, one hundred and twenty two race cars plus the Mini Mods with twenty four races on the card.
Perhaps even more impressive that all the other parts of MVG's program is the marvelous way that he runs off his races. Functioning as his own Race Director, he commands a group of dedicated workers that are running their butts off for him and they put on a show that is as quickly run off as any around. It is impressive and also begs the question, why can't other places do the same? But that is a discussion for another time.
Despite the fact that he had race cars pitted all over the property and hot lapped all six of the classes, the first green flag actually waved a few seconds ahead of the advertised starting time, a wonder that not many others could duplicate. The Boss, Jeff Broeg was on hand and I'm sure that he will provide a much more detailed race report than I can, so I will suffice to say that all the main events were great. After leader Brayton Carter spun out in the Sport Mod feature, we then got to see a classic slide job battle between Tyler Inman and Cam Reimers with Reimers throwing the last shot that got him the win. A strong third place finish was executed by Sport Mod rookie Cory Madden. A "shout out" to fifth place finisher Matt Sanders who towed all the way from Oregon to race in Iowa this week.
And just when you thought you'd seen the best back and forth racing likely for awhile, the Stock Cars came out and duplicated, if not exceeded the Sport Mods. In this one it was Buck Schafroth and Damon Murty who went at it as they thrilled the non existent crowd before Murty came home the winner.
The Modifieds went nonstop and it was a dominating performance by Ethan Braaksma that saw him take home the win. We kept waiting for Clay Money or Ricky Thornton Jr or someone to challenge but no one could keep up with Ethan on this night. He was particularly brilliant as he worked lapped traffic and built up a huge lead as he worked through the lapped cars with all twenty four starters still on the track at the finish. New announcer Tony Paris pointed out that just in the Modifieds alone there were drivers on hand from seven states.
The Sport Compacts continued the format with another tight finish. It appeared that Mitchell Bunch, defending point champion at Stuart, would hold on for the win, but a restart with only three laps to go proved to be his downfall. He slid high in turn one on the green and that allowed Bryan Vannausdle to get under him as the Nebraska driver drove on for the win
The Hobby Stocks wrapped up the evening in fine fashion too. Chuck Madden Jr started on the pole and led the early laps of the race while being pressured by several cars. Jeff Ware had moved up the banking and seemed to be ready to pounce as he had built momentum up but then he clobbered the wall in turn one and was done and Madden was free to drive home for the win over Jason Kohl and Brandon Cox.
The final checkered flag waved just before 10:30 pm so we saw a full sized, action packed racing program executed in just a sliver over three hours and there were a couple of longer delays when a couple of big wrecks had to be cleared too. It was a racing event of its finest order, one that you could take a casual fan and know that they would have been entertained while not ending the night either "flat bottomed" from sitting too long or covered in dust. Hopefully we will be able to take those folks to the races before too long.
MVG gave himself and his workers an "A" grade on the evening and he is normally a tougher grader than Mrs. Twinning, my third grade teacher. However, I would have given out the same grade and would have rewarded him with an apple if I had one!
You get two more opportunities this weekend to see Stuart in action as they are racing Late Models on Sunday night and they have the Bill Davis Memorial for Modifieds on Memorial Day. Do yourself a treat and watch it on TV or buy a pit pass and check out the new cat walk.
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