After early morning weather forecasts misled me, I came out of a restaurant in Waterloo Iowa just after the Noon hour to find it raining with a few ice balls mixed in for fun. Suddenly my plans, that previously were etched in stone, or so I thought, suddenly turned into the consistency of "silly putty" and I was in scrambling mode to check the weather radar and forecasts and try to figure out just which way I should be heading if I wanted to see racing on Sunday night, April 25th.
Based on my largely unscientific method and a gut feeling, my decision was to head to the East Moline Speedway for their opening night program for the 2021 racing season. As it turned out, one of my other options did indeed race and I was happy for them but I was also happy for my decision as I saw a good show at a track that I haven't been to for awhile while getting to visit briefly with a Hall of Famer and a few other drivers and workers at this track.
This would be the sixty second opener for East Moline that has raced under several different names over the years as the promoters have changed. My first recollections of this track are in the days when Bobby Toland was running the show here and this was a wild, brawling, packed house, Sunday night beer fest that always made me wonder how do all these hungover people get to work on Monday morning?
Now for 2021, Jeff Peterson, part of the former promotional team here, is the promoter of record with Bret Sievertson the Track Manager. They are running seven classes of cars if you count the Mod Lites but for my purposes It was a six class show. IMCA sanctioned Late Models, Modifieds, Sport Mods and Hobby Stocks race weekly long with Sport Compacts that I believe to not be sanctioned and a Street Stock class which is a combination of the local Street class that has raced in the Quad Cities for years and UMP Street Stocks as there were a couple of them racing with the Streets along with a couple cars that appeared to be IMCA Stock Cars. I am every happy they went back to the old name for the track, East Moline Speedway.
And if Benton County Speedway is called "The Bullring", which I think is a fair description of that track, then East Moline should be called "the place where fighter planes come to race inside a gymnasium" as everything is tight and action packed with walls all the way around the track that are frequently used as bank boards, the big grandstand dwarfing over the track and everything up close and personal. It's a fun track to attend and a challenge for the drivers.
This would be a chance for me to visit briefly with Gary Webb, who has been frequenting this track for most of the fifty years that he has been in racing. He would be debuting a new Kryptonite Late Model on this night and would later lead some laps of the feature and finish a strong second. He is very pleased with the video tribute that is circulating the internet that was done for him by his son William and daughter-in-law and proud of the job they did on it.
I also talked briefly with Andy Nezworski who is originally from my part of the world and will be racing in both the Late Model and Modified class here at East Moline.
I've gotten to know Daniel Wauters over the years by visiting with him at various tracks after we first spoke a number of years ago at Maquoketa after I asked him some questions on his Hobby Stock. That was when he was just getting started in the sport and now he has grown into one of the best around in that class. In fact, he told me he was going for a weekend sweep at East Moline, having won features on both Friday and Saturday night at other tracks. Later he would get that clean sweep. Kevin Feller from Maquoketa and Peterson have instituted some bonuses for drivers if they do well back to back at neighboring tracks Maquoketa and East Moline and Wauters would be one that would dip into the extra cash later.
Eighty six cars would be in competition in the six classes on this night and to help move things along, greatly important on a Sunday, the one spin rule would be in effect and with few slowdowns in the heats, all fourteen of them would be done by 7:30 and then shortly after, the feature events would roll out. They also did a fine job getting the show started on time which is always a trick on opening night but they were within a scant few minutes of matching their advertised time.
It was interesting to watch the track on Sunday as it changed several times. Early on it seemed to be fastest right up on the cushion but then after some water was applied post heats, the inside line appeared to be the way to go. It would be up to Bone Larson, who hammers the cushion whether there is one or not, to find the high side for the second time and then the drivers were working the whole track after that.
Street Stocks ran their feature first and it would be Indiana visitor Michael Clark who would lead from start to finish in this race, he apparently running his UMP Street. He was hugging the inside line and would hold off Zach Zuberbier to take the win. One time, Zuberbier got by but a yellow nullified the pass and after that, Clark hugged the bottom and made no mistakes. Zuberbier deserves credit for racing the leader clean as he has several opportunities to put the NASCAR "horn" on Clark but he chose not to do so. Kyle Anderson, another UMP car, finished third.
The Hobby Stock field, a relatively new class to this track, was small on opening night which disappointed Wauters but not so much so that he didn't still want the win. Andrew Burk would lead lap one but Wauters blew past him on the outside one lap later and would lead the rest of the race which went green to checkered after an opening lap spin. Wauters would get the win and give him three for the weekend which was the first time he has ever accomplished such a feat.
The Sport Mods had a nice field of cars and visitor Cam Reimers, who I have seen race many times in central Iowa, would lead from start to finish to get the win. This race would only be stopped twice for the yellow and Reimers had his hands full with about four other drivers that were swarming around him. The most persistent challengers were Trey Grimm and C.J. Durbin however Ben Chapman, on hand after Benton County rained out, moved into the top five and was still moving forward when he and Durbin got together with Chapman the loser with a flat tire.
Reimers would go on to hold off the challenges with Cody Calam, who loved racing up against the wall, making a late run for second while the big charger was young Logan Veloz who came from twelfth to finish third.
The biggest field of car was in the Modified class but it was all Bone Larson for this win. The Mods were tending to hug the bottom lane early but Larson would have none of that as he went to the cushion, just like he had done in the heat race and despite showering the place with sparks off his right rear from time to time, he quickly marched to the front. Brandt Cole took the early lead off the pole with Tim Hamburg chasing him while Larson started his march to the front after starting eighth. Four laps of working the high side and the lead would be his.
The biggest grinder of the night saw Hamburg get turned in turn one and several other cars piled into him ending the evening for Hamburg, Doug Lenth and Chris Lawrence. Meanwhile, following every yellow Larson would head for the cushion once again and there would be no challenging him as he drove on for the win. It was also his third win of the weekend with victories secured in Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois by Larson. A late charge saw Eric Barnes edge Durbin for second at the line.
Gary Webb would use the high side to take the early lead in the Late Model feature race but Matt Ryan quickly moved up after starting in the third row. Webb couldn't hold off Ryan who was working the low side of the track. Eventually Webb gave up on the top and joined Ryan racing the low side and while he could stay with Matt, he couldn't challenge him. Ryan wrapped up a nice weekend too as he won at 34 Raceway on Saturday night. Chuck Hanna would finish third.
The Sport Compacts really get around this banked track and with a large field, they put on an entertaining main event. Norm Marcov would lead the first two laps before Cyle Hawkins would come flying up from the third row to take the lead. Hawkins had plenty of company as Nick Johnson and then Dustin Begyn challenged him. Begyn was particularly quick and he got to the rear bumper of Hawkins but just couldn't quite get by.
Begyn tried both high and low but he just couldn't make the pass. He also played it clean as with a well placed bump he easily could have displaced the front runner but he , while looking for an opening, was satisfied to settle for second when he couldn't find a hole to make a pass. Tommy Skaggs would come from tenth to finish third.
All racing was finished before 10 pm and it was a good opening night for the track. The crowd was decent on a night that still was plenty cold as the darn wind just won't settle down. The track, perhaps benefiting from the practice sessions they have been able to have, stayed good throughout the night with no big bumps or ruts and little dust too. Thanks to everyone at East Moline for providing an entertaining night of racing and keeping the rain away too!
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