Stuart Racing Menu Provides Plenty of "Sliders"

 It was a spectacular night for racing on Wednesday night, May 26th at the Stuart International Speedway on the North side of Stuart Iowa. I don't know how the weather could have been much better as it was warm, but not hot and calm with no gusty breezes blowing right into our faces as has been the case for much of the racing season so far here. 

I don't know if it's because the next big racing event at Stuart is the "Whole Hog 50" upcoming this Sunday and Monday but me thoughts turned to food when I went to write this report and the thing that popped into my mind was the delicious "sliders" that were prominent on the menu Wednesday. Now I'm being just a little facetious with this comment as while the track menu has some fine food, I don't believe that they serve sliders but perhaps they should think about doing so. However, they might not be able to serve up as good a ones as we saw on the race track on Wednesday and for a true racing fan, it's the sliders on the track, not at the concession stand, that we came to see. And boy, were there some dandies served up on this night!

Stuart had some over night T-storms on Tuesday night and Mother Nature always does a fine job of watering a race track, even better perhaps than MVG can do himself! In any event, the track was in prime shape for racing, slick and smooth in the lower groove and with a nice berm to race off of up against the walls. Perfect for some real side by side, cross over kind of racing and while the pits was soft early on (the beer truck got stuck trying to make a delivery during the day),  the track was in dandy shape and not throwing any dust our way either. 

Eighty seven cars signed in to race in the six classes that were on the card on Wednesday night plus the Mini Mods that almost always race here too. Added to the program on this night were the Dirt Trucks and there were nine of them. They always seem to have the same number of trucks where ever they race and many of the same drivers. Racing with them were such drivers as former Stock Car star Jeff Johnson, veteran Bill Davis Jr and long time racer Del Enos, who is believed to have raced in the first Indianrockolis 500 against Goggles Pizano. Their main would see Johnson hold off Davis Jr in a close finish. They never seem to add any new trucks to their field but I suppose that is difficult also since they have no regular track any more to race at with the State Fairgrounds just a memory and their schedule just being a traveling one. 

MVG remains a busy guy with a track to run, a huge special coming up this weekend and weather to worry about and he will be flying out early next week to Texas to do track prep at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track for an upcoming huge Sprint Car show associated with NASCAR weekend in Texas. He is also leading in track Modified points at Boone, the only track he gets a chance to race at any more but he had a bigger distraction on this night as his fourteen year old son would be making his first official racing laps in the family Stock Car, now numbered #57VG. He would start on the back of both his events and was just looking to get laps of experience while running a true race, not just practice. He did fine although a cloud of smoke from the car cut short his feature endeavor. 

Also observed in the pits on this night was a welcome addition to the Modified ranks as former Sport Mod hotshoe from Nebraska, Brian Osantowski, have moved up to a Modified and this would be the first night that I would see him behind the wheel of that car. 

It was a typical Stuart production with the racing starting right on time and fifteen heat races (not counting the Mini Mods) being cranked off in fifty two minutes flat. A quick presentation and it would be on to feature racing with the whole show done well before 10 pm. 

But on to the two races that were really quite spectacular. The first was the Sport Mod feature race that provided some of the best racing action of the year so far. Colton Nelson would take the early lead after starting on the front row and he was setting  good pace while fighting off Tyler Heckart and Garrett Nelson. Cam Reimers looked to be a threat until he blew his motor quite spectacularly, triggering a yellow flag which was one of two that slowed this race. 

Brayton Carter did not show among the leaders until the second yellow when he had climbed up to fifth but following that slowdown, he really picked up the pace as he made some dazzling moves, cutting through the field and getting to the rear bumper of Colton Nelson who was still running a strong race. 

The last two laps of this race would be classic as the "slider" on the menu was broken out, with each driver doing the move to the other, not once but twice in the last two laps! First Carter made the move to get the lead but Nelson crossed him back over to take the lead at the white. Carter slid him in turn one to go back on top but Nelson came storming back down the back chute and slid Carter again for the lead. But Brayton saw him coming and made a great plan. He tapped the brakes and let Nelson slide by him, then cut under him and had the run off the final corner. Brayton would accelerate and beat Nelson to the line by one car length in a great race that had the crowd on their feet and showed that some great racing could take place on this bullring without a lot of banging going on. It was just a dandy. 

The other wild race was the Stock Car feature(no surprise there) with much on the line as Dallon Murty was undefeated here in racing action so far this year and a bounty was on his head as extra money would be provided as long as the feature winner's name didn't start with an "M" or end in a "Y". I guess that leaves Dad Damon Murty out of the mix too. 

In any event, Dallon would start eleventh in the main and twenty laps goes by very fast and with a solid group of cars to pass, it would get harder each and every week to come through the pack and continue winning. However, Dallon would be up to the challenge one more time.

After Anthony Goldsberry would lead early, Bob Daniels would pass him and take over the top spot. Daniels was a leader that got nipped by Murty earlier here this year in a feature race and he didn't want it to happen again as he set a strong pace. Also pushing hard was Buck Schafroth as they marched to the front. 

However, Daniels would continue to set a strong pace and while Schafroth and Dallon would get close, Daniels looked like he was going to finally get that win. However, a late spin would set up a two lap dash to the finish and without this yellow, I believe Daniels would have held on. However, the yellow did wave and on the double file restart, Dallon opted for the bottom and he got great acceleration on the green, threw a gigantic slider at Daniels and actually crossed over him in turn one and had so much momentum that he slammed the outside wall. Somehow he kept his car going and was back to beat Daniels down the back chute as Bob tried to get back under him and with a clear track in front of him, it was game over as Murty would then drive on for the win, leaving everyone in the crowd to just shake our heads as how he was able to accomplish that pass for the win. 

Scott Bash would lead a number of laps in the Modified feature with Happy Gilman, Todd Shute and Ethan Braaksma all challenging him. Shute would look strong but when he jumped the cushion, it was Tim Ward that took advantage of the situation to move into second and then pass Bash for the lead. Shute would gather himself and then storm back up to second where he would tail gate Ward the rest of the race but Tim would make no mistakes and with everyone riding the wall in the Modifieds and Ward just a little too quick for Shute to slide, they would finish in that order. 

David Kimmel would be the early leader of the Hobby Stock feature but Brandon Cox would do a nice job moving up from the third row to take over the lead. A great three car battle would then ensue with Cox holding off Eric Stanton and Luke Ramsey. It appeared that Stanton threw a slider on Ramsey that Luke did not take pleasure in seeing worked on him and it almost appeared that he took out Stanton intentionally in turn three, Triggering a yellow with only two laps to go. Ramsey damaged his own car and was done while Stanton got second place back.

This put the pressure on Cox with the short dash but he was up to it as he took the win with a late charge by Jeremy Purdy seeing him nip Stanton for second. with Solomon Bennett and Matt McAtee close behind. 

Owen Richards was the early leader of the Sport Compact feature until he has some severe mechanical issues and lost power at which time Kolby Sabin took over the lead after starting seventh. Despite the contact pressure from Mark Smith, who was tapping on the rear bumper of Sabin throughout the race, Kolby didn't get flustered and he held his ground and drove home for the win. Curtis Masterson would get the third place finish. 

There was a lot of racing action crammed into less than three hours time and a good investment was made by any race fan who got to the track on Wednesday. I'm sure the weekend action, with the Stock Cars as the featured attraction, will produce more of the same great action. A fine time was had and great midweek break for the true race fan enjoyed. 

Shryock Doubles Up at Jackson Motorplex

 It was a big night for Kelly Shryock as the honored veteran was a double winner, taking both the Stock Car and Modified main events in the Bank Midwest IMCA Series special held on Tuesday night, May 25 at the Jackson Motorplex in Jackson Minnesota. 

This was the first time since the 1980's (not sure of the exact year) that I had been to a race at the Jackson track so obviously, for me, it was like attended a new track all together. Since the complete makeup of the facility there is hardly anything on the grounds that even looks familiar to get some bearings off of to make a comparison to the beautiful facility that they have now. I did recognize the entrance to the Fairgrounds from the old days and the water tower across the street and I believe that the Fairgrounds building off of what used to be turn four that had the "bullseye" painted on the roof where a sprint car went through that roof is still there. The outline of the old three, four corner is still there and that's just about it from the old track. 

The track as it stands now seems to be an almost duplicate to a slightly smaller version of the Knoxville Raceway from the multi layered guardrail that surrounds the track to even the grandstand with the giant pillars underneath for support. The lighting is spectacular and every seat seemingly a good one with no obstructions in the infield and the scoreboard visible to everyone although I was just a little disappointed the the scoreboard wasn't both a little bit bigger and better. Simply put, a traditional old fairgrounds half mile track has been turned into one of the Midwest's finest facilities by owner Todd Quiring and one that I would want to visit much more often than the old half mile. 

Jon McCorkell, who soon will be opening up his own Fairmont Raceway, is promoting the three race series of IMCA events at this track which normally hosted a variety of types of Sprint Cars as their main classes. And he and his crew were busy on this night, as the race car turnout was spectacular. Given that this was a weeknight show, early on the number of cars entering the facility was slow and small in number and it began to look like it was going to be a small field of cars in attendance. But when they started to arrive, all at the same time after likely all getting off work, the line to get into the pits was long, extending all the way out to the county road for a great deal of time, even to that point when the driver's meeting was to have been held, which was forced to be delayed. 

In total, one hundred and thirty three cars signed in to race, with the Hobby Stocks, Sport Mods and Stock Cars all having over thirty entries while the Mods was slightly less and the Sport Compacts lagged at the back, only requiring two heat races. Twenty preliminary races were required to set the field for the main events including B Features in the three largest numbered classes of the night. 

While I don't pretend to know as many people around this part of the country as I would farther North, there were a few people in the pits to talk to before the show began. One of those was North Dakota's Zack Docktor who was racing in the Modified class. Zack tells me he will be spending the Summer racing in the southern Minnesota and Iowa area this year. He was laid off from his sales job in Minot in February and being young and in love with racing, he plans on spending his accumulated "down" time racing. He has been hanging out with his friends, the Rogotzke family, and will now be heading down to the Algona Iowa area to live with some friends there for the upcoming days. 

Speaking of the Rogotzke's, Josh just arrived home from a business trip just hours before he jumped in the hauler and they headed to the track from his home in Sanborn Minnesota. Josh travels the country for his job and just make it home in time to race on this night. I'm told he also has a Late Model to race again this year too. 

I was not aware, and was surprised, to see that Kossuth County Speedway head starter Logan Kelly is also a racer, having a Hobby Stock that he was racing on this night. I would think that it would be difficult to race with drivers one night and then be required to make decisions about those same drivers when they came to Algona but he must have found a way to make it all happen comfortably as I'm sure that conflict of interest could be screamed by some. 

The announcer on this night, not identified by himself but listed in the track program as Austin Lloyd, had a busy night's worth of talking and I thought he did a fine job. If indeed it was Austin working on Tuesday, I was surprised at his base of knowledge on the IMCA cars as he likely announces mostly Sprint Car shows at this track and sometimes, "winged folks" tend to look down on their noses and dismiss the "fendered" and "claimer" cars and not give them their due but that didn't seem to be the case on this night at all. 

As stated above, it was a great night for Shryock, winning back to back the last two feature races of the  night. Kelly came from fifth on the grid to win the Stock Car feature and it was a tough battle with many strong cars in contention. Justin Luinenberg led for several laps with McCain Jennings providing plenty of pressure as Shryock, Jeff Larson, Derek Green and Cody Nielsen all charged to the front. Shryock was smooth on the bottom of the track and was excellent at finding the openings to move through the pack and take the lead. 

Several of the front runners were eliminated by a late collision as they were battling off turn two. Larson was turned around and had to change a tire as Green was also involved in that incident and Jennings dropped out with a flat tire too. 

At the end, Shryock pulled away and with a last corner pass, Colton Arends passed Luinenberg for second with Curt Lund and Dan Mackenthun next in line. With three yellow flags, this feature race would have more slowdowns than any of the others, an indication of how smooth the whole program would be run off. 

It took Shryock only three laps to come from the fourth starting spot to take the lead in the Modified feature and after that he cruised to the victory. The last seventeen laps of the race ran off nonstop and Shryock just cruised around his preferred line on the bottom of the track and let the race come to him. Late in the going, Brandon Beckendorf, who started thirteenth, made a charge and he gave Shryock his stiffest competition, closing to his rear bumper once before Kelly then stretched the lead once again. Cody Thompson thrilled the crowd as he rode the cushion, one of the few to do so, and came up from eleventh to finish a close third with Dalton Magers and Bob Moore also in the top five. 

The Sport Mod feature provided the biggest surprise with a stunning change of events late in the race that saw the apparent race winner suddenly shuffled to second. Early on, Zach Davis was leading the event but a group that included Jared Boumeester, Jake Sachau and Matt Looft  were all storming to the front. Boumeester took over the top spot but he couldn't hold off Sachau who passed him and then started to pull away. 

The top three were running about the same distance apart and there seemed to be no change in the order and it looked like things had pretty much settled down to what would be the finishing order. However, a yellow flew with only four laps left when Dan Paplow slowed on the track and then things got interesting. 

Boumeester, stuck in third and with nothing to lose, went to the cushion for the restart and it worked immediately. While he was able to maintain in turns three and four, he gained ground in big chunks on the East end of the track and it took him only two laps to pull up and then drive by Sachau for the lead. There wasn't enough time for Sachau to recover and Boumeester had the top lane covered and he would drive on for a stunning victory and remarkable change of events, all triggered by a late yellow flag. Sachau would settle for second ahead of Looft with Davis and Justin Klynsma, making a last corner pass to round out the top five. 

The Hobby Stock feature Malik Sampson make a strong run for the win. He started sixth and took little time getting to the front, passing Blake Luinenberg and Brad Becker to take over the lead. Once in front, he stretched his advantage and drove away for a comfortable win. Only two yellows slowed this contest and only four of the original twenty four starters failed to finish. Becker would hold on for second while Cory Probst would charge up from seventh to finish a strong third. Luinenberg and Josh Sidles would complete the top five. 

The Sport Compact feature would quickly run off nonstop and would feature a two car battle from start to finish. Nate Coopman would start on the pole and that is usually bad news for the rest of the field but on this night he had his hands full as Marschall Robinson would give him plenty of heat. 

Robinson would literally beat on the rear bumper of Coopman for twelve laps, all in an effort to go by. In fact, a couple times it seemed like instead of trying to make an outside pass, which may have or have not worked, he was satisfied to just keep tapping on the rear of Coopman's car. In any event, Coopman would hold off Robinson to take a close win with Austin Fiedrich finishing third. 

It was an impressive performance as once they finally got started, twenty five races with over one hundred and thirty cars competing, most running on an unfamiliar track, was completed in less than three hours with is admirable. However, to be fair it must be noted that the first race didn't take the green flag until 8:31 pm which is unacceptable too and resulted in a completion time of nearly 11:30 pm on a Tuesday night in May which just isn't good. 

It appeared that the sign in portion of the effort was just overwhelmed with long lines seemingly never ending as drivers and crews had to get out of their rigs, line up and buy their pit passes and while more racers streaming to the facility, the lines just never got shorter. Probably due to the fact that they don't have to sign in near as many cars for their other shows, the procedure was just too slow and forced track officials to delay the start of the driver's meeting and hot laps until the line grew short and the rigs were in the pits. Now that they have seen what these Tuesday night shows will bring, hopefully they can make some adjustments, get more lines going etc and get the cars into the pits quicker because they have shown they can run off a quick program, they just need to get it started earlier and on time. 

Overall, I was very impressed with the quality and quantity of the field and the track and program overall and will certainly consider returning for one of their other Tuesday night shows. Thanks to program Jon McCorkell and the folks at Jackson for a full Tuesday night of racing.  

Knecht Connects at Algona; Shryock Frustrated Twice

 It was the second night of the 2021 racing season at the Kossuth County Speedway in Algona on Thursday night, May 13th. The opener, which I missed , was a success and with gradually warming temperatures, it would be a fine night for racing on Thursday of this week. 

Algona runs five classes that are IMCA sanctioned every Thursday night with the usual classes that run at most tracks in this area from the Sport Compacts on the low end of the totem pole to the Modifieds as the premier class. However, as is the case also with many of the tracks, the in between classes such as the Hobby Stocks and Stock Cars often put on the best show of the night. 

KCS is also one of the few bastions of racing that still also runs a Cruiser class. For those that haven't heard of the Cruisers, this is a class of full size cars, with two occupants, one of which does the steering and operates the brake while the other rider controls the gas. This makes for an interesting combination and perhaps one of the true "team" sports and coordination between the two is most critical. It used to be that many tracks ran this class but that number has dwindled considerably and Algona may be one of the very few that still has this class. And it doesn't seem to be growing as the same five cars race here it seems like every week, but as long as they don't cost the track either too much money or time, I suppose they will likely continue to run here as the crowd seems at least moderately interested in their races. On this night it was a lady team that took the top honors. 

For all the times that I have been to Algona over the years, it wasn't until tonight that it dawned on me that the whole story of life is played out on the South side of Algona, right in front of us. On one side of highway 169 lies the hospital and right next to the hospital is the cemetery and right across the street is the fairgrounds, with the school district bus garage right in front of that. 

The full scale of life, from birth, to growth, to fun and adventure and finally death is all played out in a  few blocks right in front of us on highway 169. 

At one point, the Kossuth County Speedway, which as also operated under several other names over the years, was in dire shape and facing the possibility of closing down permanently. There are so many tracks in this area and so few nights to race that they were getting squeezed out of race cars and fans. As almost a last resort, they opted to move their race program to Thursday nights and that seemed to make all the difference in the world. Now they appear to have a healthy program with plenty of race cars and a very solid fan count, if Thursday was an accurate representation. Their forumula for midweek success includes having the track ready to race on, running through a very quick program with few delays or down time and having their fans on the road home by 10 pm. It seems easy but so many tracks struggle to do exactly that. 

The "Thunder Dome", as they call it, is the ultimate "paper clip" shaped track with long chutes and very tight corners that don't really have a lot of banking. But it works well for them as the races always seem close and the crowd very much a part of the action. Most of the racers are from the immediate area and that helps as their fans flock to be a part of the action every week. 

Good people running the show always helps too and with Chad Meyer calling the action and Logan Kelly waving the sticks, things get done in short order and the fans get entertained too. On this night all qualifying was done within an hour and after a very short break of just a few minutes, they went directly into the main events. The winning drivers are interviewed in groups of three which speeds things up just a little also. 

The Cruises were first and after their short event was won by the duo of female racers, it was on to the Sport Compacts. This would turn out to be one of the closer Sport Compact features I have seen recently. Trading the lead back and forth, Kaytee DeVries and Jade Lange battled right down to the wire with DeVries winning with such a small margin, it took an official call from the tower to verify that she indeed was the winner with Tyler Fiebelkorn, who must race at every track in the state, finishing third. 

Hobby Stock came next and a three car battle would rage between Brandon Nielsen, Josh Sidles and Carter Koop for the top spot. Sidles led early until lap three when Nielsen used the top side of the track to take over the lead. After that, it was a close battle between the top three although Nielsen would lead the rest of the laps. 

This race got stuck in the mud as four straight times, yellows waved with just two laps to go as it seems they just couldn't finish off the event. Finally they went single file and Nielsen, using the top side of the track, withstood the final challenges of Sidles and Koop to get his first win of the year here. 

The largest field of the night was in the Stock Cars and no surprise, they responded with a tough battle for the win. There were three different leaders in the fifteen lap finale with first Troy Swearingen holding the point but he was quickly overtaken by Cody Nielsen as the Hobby Stock veteran has quickly learned the ropes in the Stock Car class. But he was passed one lap later by Granada Minnesota star Derek Green for the lead. Meanwhile, Kelly Shryock had moved up from the fifth row and pulled up behind Green. Shryock appeared to have the fastest car in the field and after tail gating Green, Shryock realized that he wasn't going to make a mistake on the preferred low side, so Shryock tried to pass him up high. Lap after lap we would pull up beside Green in turn one but not have quite enough momentum to make the pass down the back chute and would then have to tuck in behind Green, often almost running up his rear bumper as Shryock had the speed but just couldn't pull off the move.

This continued right to the finish with Kelly trying one last time but Green never bobbled and he drove home for the win with Nielsen a close third. 

Alec Fett was the early leader of the Sport Mod feature and often, once he is in front that would be end of story for the race. But not on this night as George Nordman moved up from the third row and made a lap five pass of Fett and took over the lead. Fett tried to fight back and was soon joined by Matt Looft in a three car battle. After a first lap wreck that eliminated two cars, the rest of the race would go off nonstop and those three drivers would battle it out right to the finish. 

However, Nordman would not make a mistake and after Looft got past Fett for second, he put the pressure on but George was up to the task as he drove home for the win. 

The Modifieds would wrap up the evening with a nonstop twenty lap main and for Shryock it was more of the same, frustration wise. After Jeff Feaster led the opening lap, Cody Knecht would pass him to take over the lead with Shryock coming up from the fourth row to move into second. And much like the Stock Car feature, Shryock would then spend the rest of the race trying to find a way to maneuver around Knecht. He tried the same strategy of getting beside Cody into turn one and trying to out run him down the back chute. 

On lap ten Kelly was able to get up beside Cody and would be scored the leader of that lap but he couldn't  hold on in turn one and Knecht, not to be denied , would take back the lead. Shryock would make numerous attempts over the later half of the race to make the winning pass, but Knecht would have none of it as he maintained his line and crossed the stripe with a narrow victory over Shryock and Feaster. And other than the Hobby Stocks, the rest of the main events would be run off with either only one or no yellow flag slowdowns in their mains. 

By 10 pm the fans were celebrating the night with many heading for the pits while I took advantage of the early night to head to the parking lot and then the pavement home. Thanks to everyone at Kossuth County Speedway for a nice show that was well run and entertaining. 

Matt Ryan Takes Bonus Bucks at 300 Opener

 Another Midwestern race track has now opened for the 2021 racing season as Wednesday night, May 12th, the 300 Raceway located at exit 300 off highway 20 in Farley Iowa opened their gates for the 2021 racing season. They had made one previous attempt to start their season, only to have it canceled by cold and crummy conditions but it was a beautiful Spring evening this Wednesday and they opened up the season with their four class program. 

In 2021, 300 Raceway will run a limited number of Wednesday night "Wide Open Wednesday"  programs along with a few other special events and wrap up their season with the traditional Yankee Dirt Track Classic. They will run IMCA sanctioned Late Models, Modifieds, Stock Cars and Sport Mods as their four class Wednesday night staple

I always get a kick out of a few folks comments when an event is announced for 300 as there will always be some stray voice in the wilderness still longing for the old half mile, at least for special events. But I am here to tell you that the new three eighth mile track has got the old track bit in all regards and provides much better racing for all divisions. Memories of that era are still fine to hold on to, but the reality is that this current track is far superior in all regards and the old three-four corner is much better served as a part of the new pit area. 

The whole facility was looking in immaculate condition for opening night. It seemed that everything on the grounds had been either painted, polished or trimmed with everything looking spotless. as this is certainly one of the finest facilities around now. When I was last here they were just in the process of moving the scale and now that resides in the pits off turn four and the old tower is also just a memory with track officials all up behind the spectators now. There is absolutely not a bad seat in the house with even those folks that don't want to hike up the steep bleachers finding great seats in the front row of the grandstand with an unimpeded view of the track with nothing in the infield to block them. 

As I was walking into the pits, it was my pleasure that the first person I ran into was IMCA's Kevin Yoder, one of IMCA's best people and someone I always enjoy talking to. He announced that this was his first race of the year with other planned visits earlier this year weathered out. He has not broken out the figure 8 car yet but will come Fair season with his main focus right now being his kids and their sports' competitions. As life moves on, priorities change and while he misses running the Deery Brothers Series, he has other things on his plate these days. He would later present the bonus bucks for the night from Sunoco to Late Model winner Matt Ryan. 

There were other familiar faces on board too Wednesday as Doug Haack was waving the sticks in the flag stand and running the show off in a quick and professional manner, just like always while "Big Boy" was calling the action from the  tower and wearing himself out making the run back and forth from way up above us all down to the field level to do the winner's interviews. As was done last year, the feature winners pull up in front of the crowd in the level between the track and the grandstands but it is quite a hike down there so "Big Boy" was using a golf cart to speed things up and allow him to have enough wind to actually do an interview. I noticed that as he raced back up above to announce the starting lineup for the next main that he was "sucking wind" just a little and who could blame him?

A couple of notes from the pits previous to the show was that this would be my first night of seeing Late Model hotshot Justin Kay behind the wheel of a Stock Car as just about all the top Modified and Late Model drivers now have Stock Car rides too. The reason? All the big money Stock Car shows that have blown up over the last couple of years and a desire of drivers in other divisions to get a piece of the big money being doled out in these races, the first of which I believed comes up Memorial Day weekend at Stuart. 

When I saw that Kay was on the pole for the Stock Car feature I figured it was game over but that proved not to be the case at all as a tight race car left him with some more work to be done on that machine. 

Brandon Schmitt was a late arrival, pulling down from Beaver Dam Wisconsin. He seems to have been everywhere in the Hawkeye State that I have been so far this year plus a bunch of other events too as he is spending as much time here as in the Badger state. Those are not simple, easy pulls for him and he is apparently "all in" as he goes for national points this year. 

The track was "bad fast" on Wednesday with not a whisper of dust to be found as the cars in all classes were really flying around the track at high speed. The track eventually developed a bit of a chop through the middle lane but it was certainly sit raceable and with drivers running the top and bottom lanes also, there was plenty of racing room. 

While some would probably like to see more than four classes racing, truly for a Wednesday program, one that to be successful must be run off quickly and allow the fans an early start home, four classes is just about right. While the Sport Mods could have used a few more entries, the numbers in the other classes were just about right and the Modified field of twenty two was excellent including local drivers plus some from the Quad Cities. 

Qualifying consisted of two heats for all classes plus one additional for the Modifieds with preliminary races going off very smoothly. In fact, there was only a single yellow flag in all the heat races although that one was a costly one. Jeff Aikey appeared to roll the nose of his Late Model under the front end leaving corner four and lost steering with Bryan Moreland and Ryan Hill slamming into each other trying to avoid him. Off the three, only Hill would be able to race the feature event. All qualifying was completed in forty nine minutes! The feature races did take a little longer as there was a few more yellows in the mains but all racing was completed before 10 pm. 

The draw/redraw procedure was more favorable to us as fans on  this night as the eventual feature winners would come from the second row once, the third row twice and the fourth row once as there would be no wire to wire winners on Wednesday. 

Johnny Spaw was impressive in the Stock Car feature as he come from the third row, making a couple of strong passes to get up front and then stepping away from the field in the nonstop Stock Car main to get the win. Kay started on the pole but it was Kyle Merkes that led the first five laps before Spaw got past him and then pulled away. Chase Zaruba ran a solid third. If I was to conjure up a criticism of anything, it would be that I thought the Stock Car feature was just a bit short at twelve laps and would have liked to see them race just a bit longer for their main. 

Another driver who has been strong so far this season and would be so again on Wednesday was Jeff "Bone" Larson who came from the second row to win the Modified feature. Tyler Madigan would lead the first seven laps of the main with Larson passing him once, only to see Madigan saved by the yellow flag. However, it was just a matter of time as one lap later, Larson would get to the bottom on Madigan and would drive by and then drive off for the win. Troy Cordes, also running good this year, would race up to second with Aikey third. Madigan would eventually break and be among the non finishers. 

The Sport Mod field was a short on this night but their main would still see three different leaders during the fifteen laps of racing. T.J. Fortmann would be the early leader but by lap four Tyler Soppe would come barreling up from the fourth row to take over the top spot. However, he was soon challenged by Troy Bauer for the lead after Bauer started beside Soppe in the lineup. At the halfway point of the contest Bauer would make a strong run down the front chute and pass Soppe for the lead and while Tyler tried to fight back, Bauer was just too strong on this night with California driver Kaylin Lopez third. The wall was a big winner in this race as Fortmann, Shaine Bennett and Jared Miles all made hard contract with the concrete and have set themselves up for a couple of busy nights as they put their cars back together for the weekend. 

The twenty five lap Late Model feature wrapped up the night and it was Joel Callahan squeezing off Logan Duffy to get the early lead. However, Ryan, who was doing double duty on this night also racing a Modified, came charging up from the third row and dove under Callahan to get the lead. Justin Kay was also moving up and he and Duffy had a great duel for third that lasted many laps, with Duffy thwarting all challenges from Kay. 

A late yellow set up a four lap sprint to the finish and while Ryan again pulled away, Duffy was able to get past Callahan for second with Kay and Chuck Hanna completing the top five as Ryan led the last twenty laps of the race. 

It was a good night of racing with some nice battles, a quickly run program and a top notch facility with the small ripples in the track soon to disappear by the next show, which by the way is a huge one as the Lucas Oil Late Model Series with their national driving stars will be at the track next Friday in a program that Late Model fans won't want to miss. Thanks to Joe Demmer and the rest of the crew at 300 Raceway for their help.   

 

Sheppard Finally Gets First WoO Late Model Win of 2021 at MTS Dairyland Showdown

 Among other things celebrated on Friday, May 7th, it was National "No Pants" day in America. However, as we were reminded, we should celebrate this day responsibly. Therefore, while I did wear pants, I wore then dangerously low in response to the importance of the day and only barely exposed my "plumber's crack" to the world. But I digress. 

It was also a very important day for Bob Timm and the folks at Mississippi Thunder Speedway just North of Fountain City Wisconsin. Since Timm purchased the track a dozen years ago and set on a course of completely remodeling the track and upgrading it, it was his goal to bring in the major dirt track series to the folks of the Coulee region of Wisconsin and on this night, it would be their first exposure to the World of Outlaws Late Model series. 

Timm has done some wonderful things to upgrade this track in recent years but the stunning improvements that he completed since the 2020 racing season were very impressive. For this year, he added around twenty five hundred high rise aluminum bleachers to the first turn side of the main tower and also added four sections of lower, temporary bleachers in turn four. Previous to this, there were no bleachers as all the seating at the track was on cement slabs that ran the length of the front chute with lawn chairs being the appropriate way to watch the racing here. While some people love to use the lawn chairs, I was never much a fan of them as at this track you sat so close to the action, you generally went home wearing a layer of the track with you. Now, with the high rise bleachers, spectators have their choice and with the vast amount of seating now available, there were never again be a problem finding a seat here and you can quote me that I'll never be bringing a lawn chair to this place again. The change in appearance of the track with the new bleachers is stunning and while they had a huge crowd on hand, there was no problem finding seats right up to race time. It was truly a dazzling improvement to the place. I believe that Timm is not done yet though, as he has plans to put in terraced parking in the third corner so spectators can park their vehicles to overlook the track and I also have heard that as time allows, he has land that will be used to develop a campground just to the South of the track which will be a good addition as the many campers forced track officials to remodel the pit entrance so as to leave more room for campers plus the campers also park right in the main parking lot, making it a challenge to find spectator parking for this weekend. 

Timm has also been able to "gold mine" a great number of sponsors to aid him in his promotions. For example, with the aid of some great businesses, it allowed him to raise the standard WoO purse so that this weekend's events paid $12,500 to win on this night and the drivers will be racing for $22,500 on Saturday night with other bonuses available. With some other events being scheduled for this same racing weekend, Timm was concerned about what his Late Model car count would be but as it turned out, with the support of some Wisconsin and area teams, he had a very acceptable thirty eight cars sign in for Late Model racing. And to his credit, rather than add a bunch of other classes to pad his pit gate, the only support class was the USRA Modifieds so this would allow for a quick, fast paced program on what turned out to be a rather cold evening for the first part of May. The WoO deserves credit for running their portion of the program off at a quick pace too and this was one of the smoother running special events that I have been to recently. 

Timm loves to work on his track constantly and he usually makes it very fast which it certainly was on this night at Brandon Sheppard set a new track record. For a track of its size, it is a blazing fast track that really requires the drivers to get their "elbows up" with the fast line often right up against the wall. It is tough on motors and you better bring your "big cannon" here if you're going to be competitive. 

For the WoO, it was their standard program with qualifying, four heats and a pair of B Features that set the field for the forty lap main event. A nice mix of drivers was on hand to perform before a crowd, of which, many had never seen these drivers in action before. It was a bit disappointing that Tim McCreadie, after hauling all the way here, wasn't able to race on Friday as the word in the pits was that he was suffering from a kidney stone attack and believe me from personal experience, if you are having trouble with kidney stones, the last place you want to be in lashed down in a rough riding vehicle. 

The WoO feature was a very entertaining event with Sheppard and Brent Larson being the story on this night. For Sheppard, he was finally able to get back on track and win his first feature win with the series so far this year. And Larson ran as I have never seen him run with this series before, nearly taking the win after a stirring drive. Tyler Bruening would lead the early laps but Larson was the story as he came tearing up from the fourth row, passing cars at will on the low side of the track. When he made a strong move low on lap seven and passed both Sheppard and Bruening to take the lead, I thought the roof was coming off the joint. Larson was blindingly fast and opened up quite a gap on the field. 

But perhaps his fast pace caught up with him later as he was really abusing his tired and his gate would start to slow a bit later. Sheppard kept hammering away on the high side and eventually that groove started to pick up and when it did, he was able to reel Larson back in. 

Just at the halfway point, Sheppard was able to drive around Larson and take over the lead, a lead he would not relinquish. Bruening had a top five run going until he lost a driveshaft with thirty two laps complete and on the restart Larson showed more pep again as perhaps his tires came back, and he gave Sheppard all he wanted in the closing laps, staying close but not able to provide a serious challenge. Ryan Gustin had another strong run going but again he was unable to finish as he hammered the turn one wall on lap thirty five, taking himself out of the action. Jimmy Mars drove a nice steady race, starting eleventh and using the last yellow to sneak past a couple of cars and he ended up third ahead of Cade Dillard and Chris Madden. There were only three yellows in the fast paced race, five cars that failed to finish and no one was lapped. 

And the "support class" did much more than that as they provided an exciting twenty five lap finale to complete the night. Cudos to everyone for running the Late Models first for those that wanted to leave early and also to provide the Late Models with the best surface to race on that they possibly could. However, the Modifieds also found plenty to race with and their main came right down to the end. 

I must mention that it was good to see local driver Josh Angst back at the track and surprisingly, with race car also. Last Saturday night at the Deer Creek Speedway he took a violent multi flip ride with his Modified. Surprisingly, the car didn't have any major structural damage and it was taking to the MB Custom shop in Menomonie Wisconsin on Sunday and they had it back by Tuesday night. A lot of late night "candle burning" sessions this week and the car was freshly lettered and ready to race and for the first time out, they were happy to get a top ten finish. 

The Modified feature started all twenty four cars on hand and with only two yellow flags and the last twenty one laps being green flag racing, it too was an entertaining event. With Rodney Sanders starting on the outside pole, it was however assumed that everyone else would be running for second but that's not the way it turned out. 

Sanders had to work hard to get past Cory Crapser for the lead and he no more than gained the top spot when he spun, unassisted and shockingly so, in turn four and collected Crapser. Cory got his spot back and Sanders headed for the pits and just like that, the complexion of the race changed dramatically. 

Jake Timm was a factor also and his hammer down, pound the cushion style of driving was most exciting as he battled with Crapser fore the lead with Cory Mahder lurking close behind. The cushion was fast but it was also choppy after the Late Models had pounded it and when Timm hit it right, he would gain and surge into the lead but just about as often he would jump the narrow sweet spot and get tied up and Crapser would drive back under him. 

Lap after lap, Timm would push harder and harder, making some fast laps but also hammering the wall harder on those laps when things went back while Mahder still lured close behind. Finally Timm walloped the wall a big blow and he lost some ground, making Crapser the leader but just then Cory started to have trouble holding the bottom where he was running and Mahder took a hard drive into turn one and passed him for the lead. Those two continued to battle but Crapser couldn't make up the distance and Mahder, who seemingly came from no where, drove on for the wind. Crapser finished a close second and one last venture with the wall cost Timm third to Alex Williamson. 

One of the best parts of the night was that we saw two good feature races but because there was only two classes and the whole show was run off at a crisp pace, all racing was done shortly after 10 pm, giving fans a lot of time to visit the pits, socialize or if so inclined, head home early. 

I'm not too much about passing out awards but both MTS and the Outlaws hit a home run on this race. I remain stunned at what a great advancement MTS has made with their new bleachers and the way the track has been racing, I must say it now must be rating as among the elite tracks in the Midwest without question. Now on to the next challenge for the track and that is running water and real restrooms, not the portable johns now in use. But one mountain at a time to climb, as they say. 

Thanks to the Oulaws and Bob Timm and both staffs for a top notch night of racing. 

Kay Dominates Dale DeFrance Memorial at Marshalltown

 A rare, Thursday night race was held at the Marshalltown Speedway  on May 6th. Being celebrated was the fourth annual Dale DeFrance Memorial Race with IMCA Late Models being added to the regular four class program plus IMCA Mod Lites that also race regularly here. This race has been held on Thursdays since its inception as it allows Late Models particularly that wouldn't be available to race on Friday nights to be a part of the show plus this is typically the week that the Iowa State High School Rodeo is held at the fairgrounds over the weekend, and thus avoids a Friday night conflict between the two events.  

One hundred and seven cars signed in to race plus the Mod Lites on another cool and windy race night in central Iowa, the type of weather that has plagued much of the Midwest for the last few weeks and has made attending racing only for the hearty while stimulating the pay per view sales as I find more and more people that I would consider to be die hard race fans now taking advantage of pay per view much more if the weather conditions are either extreme or questionable. We can thank the Pandemic for that , whether it be for the good or bad which is certainly debatable. 

Car counts were such that multiple heat races would set the running order for the main events in all classes with no B Features needed. The heat races spun off at a very quick rate, as do most programs here at Marshalltown. I should mention that this is the third time I've tried to get to a show this year at Marshalltown and been thwarted by the weather twice already this year so no matter how brisk the temperatures were, I was more than ready to see some racing at central Iowa's high banked gem. 

Driving were racing for extra money across the board on this night thanks to the collective efforts of the DeFrance, Murty, Gustin and friends group, the racing core of central Iowa dirt track racing for years and a group that just keeps getting stronger and stronger. 

I normally don't mention the Mod Lites in the race results but I had to make a special mention of Justin Kinderknecht who won both here and at Stuart on the previous night. He pulled all the way from Kansas by himself to race and what is notable is that he is the second generation of a famous racing family in the Sunflower state, having raced for many years side by side with his father Earl in the Late Models with Earl having the unforgettable number #T1T on his car. With IMCA now sanctioning the Mod Lites and a couple tracks in Kansas that race the class also, Justin is seeking a national title this year. By the way, he said that his father still has a Late Model but is just too busy with work to race while Justin gave up the Late Model when he became a family man as the Mod Lite more suits his life style these days. Justin would dominate both nights for the wins. 

The draw/redraw format used to align the races on Thursday didn't do much for the racing fans as some very successful drivers started right up front in the mains which led to several runaways, something not usually seen here. 

Luke Schluetter took the early lead in the Hobby Stock feature but Kaden Reynolds who has been perfect here this year so far, came roaring up to the front after starting sixth and it only took him three laps to find the lead as his line low in the corners could not be matched by anyone else on the track. Just after he took the lead, Schluetter spun ending his chances and triggering the first yellow of the race. Shortly after, the roughest wreck of the night saw Chad Rigby pole vault off the first turn, triggering a red flag condition as he car was retrieved from the "boonies."

The last twelve laps ran off nonstop and Reynolds drove away from the field, getting his third straight feature win here at Marshalltown. Eric Knutson made a nice drive up from tenth starting spot to finish second with Kyle Paritzek coming home third. Bradon Richards would actually cross the line for second but a post race DQ would eliminate him from the official finishing order. 

No better was the Sport Mod feature where Brayton Carter started on the outside pole and ran away from the field for the win. As hot as Carter has been, putting him on the front row was only asking for trouble and he proceeded to make a shambles of the competition, despite three yellows, one of which set up a three lap dash to the finish. Johnathan Logue would make a determined run up from tenth to finish in the runner up slot and Jenae Gustin would outduel Dylan VanWyk for third. 

The Stock Car feature would be next and in a repeat of the Sport Mod event, it was a wire to wire win by Damon Murty in this event who would prevail for the victory. Although he led all laps, he was pressured for much of the race by Chanse Hollatz and Jeff Mueller. Three early yellows kept the field bunched and while Murty opted for the high side, there were others that went to the bottom and pressured him off every corner during the race. Hollatz and Mueller traded second back and forth while still riding right on the tail of Murty. Mueller would make one last strong drive off the bottom in the final corner and make it close but Murty would hold on for the win. Damon's son Dallon, who has been red hot so far this year, had a bad heat race and was mired for the main but he did charge from nineteenth to complete the top five at the finish. 

It took some hard work but Cayden Carter fought off a tough field of Modified drivers to again make it a sweep for his family as he joined brother Brayton as open wheel winners during the night. These two have been just about as hot as the Murty family as they once again drove to double wins for the night. Richie Gustin was the early leader of the Modified main and it looked like another entwined member of the DeFrance family might get the win but when he had trouble holding his car in the corners and drifted high, Carter was right there to take over the lead. 

Cayden had smooth riding until just past halfway in the main when the yellow flew for a spin and when the green reappeared, Joel Rust was suddenly a strong factor. Rust had started ninth in the main and had gradually worked his way up to second and when he found the high side to be working, he was able to advance quickly. 

On the restart, he took that same approach and suddenly he was a major threat to the leader. In fact, if Carter hadn't played "defense" and moved to the top side just in the nick of time, Rust would have blown past him and taken over the lead. As it was, Carter got to the top just in time to squeeze off  Rust and then he made the top work for himself also as he regained his edge in the closing laps and drove on for the win with Tim Ward coming from sixteenth to third. 

A good field of twenty three Late Models was on hand to contest the DeFrance race and it was veteran driver Greg Kastli who took the early lead and flexed some muscle and held the lead for much of the first half of the race. Justin Kay started seventh and took his time moving up but gradually he managed to race his way into contention. Kastli appeared to be sliding a bit in the corners and Kay was able to close in on him and with a strong move off turn four, drive by in front of the fans to take over the lead. 

Once in front, he was able to stretch his margin and the race turned into a good battle for second as Kastli fought with a strong running Joe Zrostlik  for the runner up slot with Joe eventually pulling into second. 

In the later part of the race, the track started to take rubber and most of he field filtered to the bottom lane where Kay's biggest problem was working through lapped traffic that was moving about as fast as he was, making passing though while at the same time not wanting to give up the low line and get out of the rubber. Things got a little testy with one of the slower cars but Kay persisted and eventually made the pass which allowed him to cruise home comfortably for the win. Zrostlik had a fine run to finish second with Todd Cooney getting by Kastli at the end for third with Matt Ryan coming from fourteenth to complete the top five. The win was a big one for Kay as it marked his one hundredth IMCA Late Model feature win. 

As usual, it was a smooth running show at Marshalltown with the program hustled along as much as possible on a Thursday night. The strong winds all day made track prep a challenge and the crew has three water trucks working all afternoon fighting to get as much moisture as they could into  the racing surface. It was good to see Late Models racing back at Marshalltown again along with the other solid classes and the open Late Models will be in action at the track in the coming weeks. Thanks to Toby and his crew for another good night of racing and to the DeFrance family and their friends for their work making this a successful show for the competitors.  

Roberts Tops Bill Davis Sr Memorial; Dallon Murty Three for Three at the Track

 After a two week break in the action, one for bad weather and one week that was a planned break, the Stuart International Speedway was back in action on Wednesday night with another of their special races, this one being the Bill Davis Sr Memorial event in honor of the Hall of Fame driver. The night featured many contributions to the purse with all classes racing for extra money and lots of contingencies, all designed to make the night a very special one. 

It was another cool and windy evening in May as the weather in recent weeks has not been particularly forgiving and while the skies and radar seemed to indicate rain was likely, only a few sprinkles ever fell and nothing to the point of endangering the running of the show. It was , however, not a particularly pleasant night to be outside at the races and I'm guessing the pay per view sales were once again strong. 

My first question to Mike VanGenderen was about the mega event for Late Models to be held over the Fourth of July weekend in 2022 that highlighting the racing news for this week. While we didn't get into specifics, he did tell me that he is just providing the facility for the event and that Barry Braun is actually promoting the show. Big plans are under way to enlarge the seating capacity of Stuart, with plans currently taking shape for the enlargement of the catwalks in some form so that they will be behind the main grandstand and run the entire length of the front straightaway as well as adding some more bleachers in turn four. All these changes will take place as soon as the current racing season is over so that everything is in place to start 2022. It is a huge undertaking but it seems like Braun is more than up for it, having added Vegas, Bristol and Texas Speedways to his portfolio all just this year. The event should certainly attract many of the biggest racing teams in Late Model racing to central Iowa and continue to grow the reputation of the Stuart Speedway. 

Tonight's event would offer extra money for all classes and the Bat Wings and Mod Lites were also racing on this night so the puts was overfull with the hillside parking pretty much taken up also. Eighty six cars would be on hand to race plus another seventeen or so between the two added divisions. And if all this weren't enough, there would also be two make up feature races left to be run from the last show at the track on April  14th when a hard wreck stopped the action during the Sport Compact feature and that one along with the Hobby Stocks were saved to be run on this night. 

And the makeup races would be first out of the gate. On a heavier track than normal for feature event racing, Tyler Fiebelkorn would lead from start to finish to win the makeup Sport Compact feature after Owen Richards hammered the front stretch wall hard and ended his evening of racing almost before it began. Curtis Masterson and Kolby Sabin would trail. 

The Hobby Stocks would one up the Sport Compacts as their makeup feature would spin off nonstop and after a good battle, it was Matt McAtee who would find victory lane with Tom Killen Jr and Brandon Cox next in line. 

Then after the two makeup feature races, it would be qualifying for all seven divisions before the feature races for all would be held. The track was a bit different on Wednesday than it has been so far this season. It was heavier to begin the evening with quite a cushion that clearly made the top side the place to be. However, that changed very quickly and dramatically as the features started with the Sport Mods, first to run, all quickly migrating to the low side of the track. It got even more pronounced during the Modified feature which was next in line with the cars trying the outside going straight backward and everyone lining up in the low groove. 

MVG saw the same thing that I did and he quickly moved to "rip" the track at this point and then give it a shot of water. This moved the Stock Cars back to the top side but not as dominant as it was previously before the last two classes mostly moved back to the bottom so the drivers had to really pay attention to the track as it changed a lot over the course of the evening. 

Sport Mods ran their feature first and a dominating performance by Cam Reimers on this draw, redraw night saw him start on the pole and lead all the way for the win. Johnathan Logue, from row three, and Brayton Carter, from row five, gradually worked their way toward the front but both ran out of time to catch the fleet running Reimers for the win. 

Nick Roberts would put on a show in the Modified feature as he would start on the pole and run away from the field, building up nearly a full straightaway over the field except for Happy Gilman who was challenging quite strongly after he moved up from the third row. This race saw a locked down track as those few the tried the outside, namely Todd Shute, eventually gave up and in Shute's case, pulled off the track. However, Gilman was close enough to provide the only challenge but Roberts used late lapped traffic to gain an edge. This lapped traffic also proved to be Gilman's downfall as the got tangled up with the slower car, spun into the infield on the final lap and lost virtually everything he had gained during the race. Scott Bash would finish second is his best run of the year and Kyle Brown in third. 

The ripped and watered track would change things up for the Stock Cars but the redraw took the air out of the balloon for us in the stands as the Murty's would start side by side in the front row and that would make it tough on everyone else. And indeed, that is the way it would play out in a race that had a surprising number of yellow flags, all for minor spins. Dallon grabbed the lead right from the start and the only drama would be to see if he could out accelerate Dad on the restarts and maintain the top spot. The answer would be to the affirmative as he led from start to finish and wasn't seriously challenged. Damon would finish second with Todd Van Eaton racing up from the fourth row to finish third. I don't know if he has been running one for some time or not, but tonight was the first time I had seen Logue racing a Stock Car and he did mange to grab a top five finish. 

Even though only a dozen Sport Compacts were left for their main event, their actions led to a rare decision by track management early on in their main event. After starting off sluggish with two yellow flags in two laps, one of which saw Mitchell Bunch either hit a ute tire or be forced into one but either way he went for a vicious flip through the infield, fortunately without injury which led to promoter MVG issuing a "time out" for the class. They were all sent to the pits to settle down, and the Hobby Stocks were then brought to the track for their feature with the Sport Compacts to return when they promised to behave better. I know that I have seen this tactic used before somewhere but for the life of me, I just can't remember where. 

So, instantly it became Hobby Stock main time instead and while their main did run off nonstop, to say that it was totally clean and devoid of aggressive driving would not be exactly the truth. Many of the same players were involved in the second main as they were in the first with Killen, Cox and McAtee all battling for the lead along with Seth Butler, Riley Christensen and Eric Stanton. They were slicing and dicing with the front runners changing places nearly every lap. Cox made a move for the lead but contact gave him a flat tire and ended his night and two more of the challengers locked up and lost many places in the running order. Killen Jr found the front of the pack and was able to get away from the madness behind him and go on for the win with Stanton and Christensen next in line. Only two cars failed to finish but the shuffling through the pack was entertaining and a bit on the wild side.

The "bad boy" Sport Compacts then returned from their penance to finish up the last twelve laps of their main event. Kolby Sabin made some nice moves as he found some holes and drove up from ninth to claim the win with Craig Furstenau second and Brandon Hartmann third. Not all the drivers were yet willing to play nice as Furstenau had to be restored to his spot during the race when aggressive driving saw him taken out and another driver sent to the pits for "questionable driving" as announcer Tony Paris referred to it. 

Remarkably, even with seven divisions in action, two extra feature races, one break for track prep and post race interviews with all winners, the last checkered flag still flew only shortly after 10 pm as they always manage to provide a lot of racing in a short period of time here at Stuart. Thanks to MVG, Tony P, the rest of the staff and "Crazy Martin" for the windbreak which was much appreciated on this night.