Brown Edges Thompson in Spencer Thriller

 Round number two of the Midwest Madness Tour presented by Western Iowa Raceing Results was held on Tuesday night, June 29th at the Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer Iowa. After a disappointing rainout on Monday night at Park Jefferson where they happened to be in just the wrong spot to get dumped on by the scattered down pours and turn their facility into a muddy mess, everyone returned on Tuesday to Spencer refreshed and ready to get after it. 

And when I say everyone, I mean that the pits was swelled to the breaking point as one hundred and sixty five cars in five classes signed in to race in what turned out to be a racing extravaganza of talent and competition. The highest car count was in the Modified class with forty entrants but the other classes racing, the Stock Cars, Sport Mods and Hobby Stocks, were all very close to that number. Even the Sport Compacts had enough cars to legitimately hold two heat races. All five classes were under IMCA sanction but on this night it was draw/redraw for all five divisions. 

This has been an incredibly busy time for many of the teams, most particularly those that race in the Mod, Stock Car and Sport Mod classes. Many raced a couple of weeks ago in eastern Wisconsin, then they just got done with a long weekend full of high dollar shows in central Minnesota with lots of them rushing straight here to western Iowa, there will be many holiday specials coming up in the next week and then many are also getting ready to head to North Dakota for a full week's worth of high dollar racing out there. This might be the busiest year yet for those racers seeking the big dollars and we are right in the middle of that time right now. Race cars and teams are being taxed to the limit right now and while this whole thing is supposed to be fun, right now it is becoming a job for lots of them. 

When the pits opened this afternoon, the race cars just started streaming in and the line never got shorter up until almost race time as the folks selling armbands and signing in the drivers were taxed to the limit to get everything ready on time. One great advantage that this track holds is that they have almost unlimited parking space for the big rigs out in the parking lots that are used for the Fair. Many like pitting out there on the cement but the only draw back is that the entrance to the pits is just single file wide so everyone must pay attention so that they don't miss their race. 

Clay County does one of the best jobs of anyone at running off a speedy program. Cars are staged on the concrete just outside the track and as one race is just finishing up, the next one is rolling through the gate and on to the track where they quickly get their starting spots and the race goes green on the following lap; no messing around here. And to make that point even stronger, Mike Van Genderen is on hand this week to function as Race Director and we all know his track record when it comes to moving along a race meet. and the thirty two race program we saw on Tuesday night was completed in under four hours. The one spin rule is insisted on here and it works so great that any track facing a big show that doesn't use the one spin rule deserves any criticism they receive for running an overly long program. There were only two races all night that had more than two yellow flags in them and they wre both feature events. Perhaps the only part of their entire race program that could use a little work is their hot lap sessions where they chose to hot lap all cars that desire to do so and this part of the evening does take quite some time to the point that they never do get started on time with tonight's first green flag at 7:37 pm, quite a bit behind the advertised time and this has been consistent for every show I have attended here. They do need to rethink this part of the evening and perhaps only hot lap first timers to the track, perhaps only some of the classes or as some tracks do, don't hot lap anyone and just start at 7 pm. All would work and it probably wouldn't hurt to cut down the number of pre race laps for the track, although it held up great tonight and provided multi groove racing from start to finish. 

The racing was great tonight with top notch battles for the lead, some epic slide jobs thrown in and also some amazing charges up through the field, despite the fact that none of the feature races were bogged down with yellow flags. It is impossible on a night like this to highlight everything so I'm just going to give a summary of each main event. 

The Modified feature was perhaps the best main of the night as forty cars were whittled down to twenty four for their thirty lap main event. Early on it was Chris Abelson that took the lead from the pole and he led for a number of green flag laps. However, Cody Thompson got up on the cushion and really started coming on fast and he caught the leader and blew past him on the outside. 

Abelson tried to fight back and they made an epic turn four corner where both were flat out, not lifting as they went side by side. Thompson made it and Abelson spun out, triggering the yellow flag. Abelson's spin was met by loud cheers as apparently he is not a fan favorite here. Thompson wasn't out of the woods yet though, as Kyle Brown had been moving up from seventh and he drove under Thompson to take over the lead. However, Cody got back up on the wheel and squeezed past Brown with two laps to go, a move that was so tight the sparks flew off Thompson's car as he zinged the concrete wall with his spoiler. 

Brown again fought back and they raced into the final corner for the win. Brown was able to squeeze past on the low side and Thompson's cross over down the main chute came up short as a great Modified feature was concluded. Jeremey Mills would finish third. 

The Stock Car feature wasn't much less lacking in excitement than the Mods were. This race saw Damon Richards and David Smith battle it out for the early lead before Smith prevailed. However, Smith soon had to deal with Derek Green as the Granada driver found a line on the cushion that was working well for him and after starting seventh, he and Smith went at it lap after lap. 

Green's race had started badly with a first corner jingle along with several other cars but he got his spot back and soon worked his way up to challenge Smith. They went back and forth before Green was able to edge into the lead. However, there was a swarm of about six cars just a few lengths behind that were swapping spots and threatening to challenge for the lead. Green also had more excitement when as the leader, the car of McCain Jennings slowed off turn two and Green ran up the back of him and spun him into the infield, triggering the second and last yellow of the race. 

The last half of the race ran off non stop and Green found a line where he hammered the cushion in turn three while hugging the low groove on the other end of the track and that allowed him to pull away for a fairly comfortable edge which he maintained to the finish. Justin Luinenberg made a nice run to second and Richards, who had slumped back, also made a late run forward to get third. 

The Sport Mod feature got off to a wild start as they were legitimately running five wide down the back chute and not  the invented five wide that some announcers try to foist on the crowd, but the real thing. This kind of crazy behavior also triggered three yellow flags in the first five laps after which they settled down a bit. 

Matt Looft used these early yellows to gain a bunch of spots and after they had continuous racing starting in lap six, he had worked his way up to fifth after starting eighteenth. After that, he had a magnificently handling car that was able to run right on the bottom of the track, maintain traction while others either spun their tires or slipped up the banking and he drove under car after car to take over the lead. Once in front, he was gone as he drove away from the field with no yellows to bunch the action. Cory Hoogland made his own strong drive up through the pack from seventh to finish runner up and Justin Svoboda, who was among the leaders throughout the race and did lead some laps, would finish third. 

The Hobby Stock feature would bring us the most dominating performance of the night as Josh Sidles would start on the outside pole and drive away from the field. This race would go green to checkered nonstop and Sidles was able to pull to nearly a full straightaway over the field and with the pack running strong, he didn't even have to lap a single car. Cory Probst would make another of his patented charges through the field, coming from ninth to finish second and he might have had something for Sidles but never got the yellow he needed. Luke Ramsey came from tenth to finish third. 

After a first lap yellow, the Sport Compacts ran green to checkered also and it was another run away win for Drake Bohlmeyer. He started on the pole and led from start to finish and never was challenged. Jaedon Erickson would finish second with Zach Bohlmeyer third. 

This is a strange division with half the cars sporting nice paint schemes and lettering and half the cars having taped on numbers, flapping in the breeze and unreadable from the stands. I was told once that Sport Compacts purposefully keep their cars looking ratty so that others don't consider claiming them and I don't know whether it's true or not, but the ratty part sure is. 

The track, as mentioned earlier, held up very well and they must have done a great job getting it ready. I suppose too, that we must give Mother Nature some credit as Spencer received some good rains on Monday night which always help a race track and in this case, made for a muddy East end of the pit area that was largely unused. 

It was a top notch show from start to finish and if you like nonstop racing with nary a break, this is the place to be. Thanks to everyone at Clay County for their efforts on this night. Their formula of running around a half dozen shows a year, all of them being week nights, seems to be working great for them and might perhaps be a formula that other struggling tracks might want to consider. 

Shirley Dominates Summer Nationals at LaSalle Speedway

 Continuing my week of bouncing around to see various series events and visiting various states, on Wednesday night, June 23rd I dropped into the LaSalle Speedway in LaSalle Illinois as the UMP Summer Nationals "Hell Tour" made a stop at Tony Izzo's quarter mile oval. 

This was the start of the second week of the "Hell Tour" and after having three days off following a Sunday night rainout in Indiana, everyone was fresh and ready to start a week of short track racing on Illinois bullrings. 

Along with the Late Models, the Summit Racing Equipment Modified series would also be racing on this night along with the UMP Street Stocks who would be running double feature races to make up for a feature race rained out at this track early in the Spring. 

A very strong field of Late Models would sign in to race on this night with thirty five of them on hand and several surprise entrants that makes this a fun series just to see who all is on the entry list each night. Cade Dillard and Garrett Alberson would be among the surprises on this night as both are veteran drivers that specialize running other series' races with both dropping in to LaSalle to get both track time and to test the tires that are being used now with this race tire shortage getting to be a series thing across all forms of motorsport and who would have ever guessed that this would even be an issue. It always used to be a question of if a team had the money to buy another tire and now it is whether you can find someone that even has tires to sell. Strange indeed. 

Both the support classes needed some support on this night as both produced rather sparse fields of cars with only sixteen Modifieds and eleven Street Stocks but I guess for those hard core Late Model fans it was probably good news as their parts of the program would be shorter in length if all you really wanted to see race was the Late Models. 

Rain hit the LaSalle area early on Wednesday morning and truly we were probably very lucky to even have a race to attend. But they got the track worked into shape and it was a smooth and fast track on this night. It built up a huge berm during qualifying that made it a track for the bravest of brave but repeated packing efforts over the course of the night produced a good track with good racing in the preliminaries but later we'll talk about the fact that they just might have "over engineered" themselves for the main event. 

The usual Summer Nationals format was used that is a tried and true UMP tradition and thankfully we didn't have to jump start our hearts from any shocking experience as all four pole sitters won their heats as expected. The large exception was Ashton Winger who led for sure the most unpredictable of nights of anyone on the grounds. He had a night to remember as she did a violent barrel roll in qualifying when he jumped the big berm and went summersaulting in turn one. It took him a bit to get out of his car but he was OK. 

Now most would have called it a night but Winger was here to race and he rolled out his back up car and started ninth in his heat and through some determined driving and finding the breaks when he needed them, he got all the way to third which allowed him to start tenth in the feature. 

And he put on a show in that race too, being the first to get off the bottom lane of the track and race the cushion and that allowed him to gain several spots in a race where there wasn't much passing. However, the good news story ended badly when he got too high on turn four on the final lap of the feature and hammered the wall, losing three positions as he limped to the finish line and worse yet, again badly damaging his back up car. His crew will be very busy on Thursday trying to cobble together something to race on that night. 

It seemed that by feature time for the Late Models(which they pleased the fans when they ran the Late Model main first), the track had been widened out nicely and appeared in prime shape for the forty lapper. However, here is where they might have "over engineered" themselves as instead of just leaving well enough alone or perhaps just rolling in the cushion a bit, they instead watered the whole surface and ripped the track, something that just didn't seem to be needed. So what they ended up with was a blinding fast track that was just too fast right around the bottom and that is where everyone ran, cutting the passing as everyone tore around the short way. It made for a quick feature that ran off nonstop but other than the leaders having to fight the back markers to get by when they didn't want to move off the bottom either, there was not  a lot of side by side racing, a shame since it appeared that they were primed for just that. 

Brian Shirley led from green to checkered and was not ever really challenged with his biggest "pucker" moments being when he tried to get around a few of the slower cars which forced him to go to the second lane which was just a bit sketchy compared to the low groove. However, he managed to pull off the passes and drove home for the five grand win over a good effort by Alberson who finished a strong second with Ryan Unzicker closing on him at the end. 

Point leader Bobby Pierce had a trying night as he blew a tire during his heat and was forced to use a provisional as he used the Last Chance race as a hot lap session. Starting nineteenth on the grid and with everyone racing fast and not a lot of room up top to pass, he settled for ninth which was quite an accomplishment to move up that many positions. Only four cars didn't finish the race and there were twelve on the lead lap at the end. 

While the Modified feature paid fifteen hundred bucks to win, apparently it doesn't pay back so well as only five of the top ten in current points in the Summit series were on hand as I guess there aren't many that race the series for points other than Nick Hoffman. Two heats would set their field for their twenty five lap main event and it was another walk in the park for Hoffman who has now won all six races in the series. He pulled away from Mike McKinney right away and there was no question who would win this race as there weren't enough cars in the main for the back markers to cause much of a problem and that would likely be the only thing that could mess up his run. 

The top five stayed in order throughout the race which had only one yellow flag with McKinney settling for second over A-Dog Weisser with Ray Bollinger making the only pass in the top five when he got past Tommy Sheppard Jr. 

The Street Stocks ran two feature races. The first was for those cars that returned from the Spring race that saw their main event get postponed. There were only five of them which left not much in the way of drama as Zach Zuberbier led from start to finish and wasn't challenged in that nonstop race. 

The second feature was for all in attendance on Wednesday and for most of the race it appeared that we were going to see the third straight pole sitter win the main. But then things got wild and crazy in the last few laps and those hearty fans that stuck things out to the end saw some drama. 

Megan Irwin had led from the start but she was receiving stiff challenges from Lance Evans who kept trying to poke his nose to the inside of her in the corners. However, he overdid it and clipped her car which gave him a flat tire and ended his chances of winning. 

This allowed Zuberbier to move up to second and challenge and with just a couple of laps to go, following a fifth yellow when Evans gave himself a flat tire, Irwin again jumped into the lead, only to suddenly lose power on the back chute as an ominous puff of smoke came from the back of her car. 

The field, such as it was, was tightly packed behind her and cars scrambled in all directions to avoid her with a couple launching themselves over each others hoods. However, they all flew into the infield and the starter kept the green flag flying and Zuberbier managed to find the clean route to the front and he held on the final couple of laps to take the win as track officials had to separate a couple of  the drivers not totally enamored with each others driving styles. 

Zuberbier was trailed by Terry Reed and Joe Hillman at the finish. 

All racing was complete before 10:30 pm and for those fans that were on hand to see the Late Models and Modifieds, the running order allowed them to leave early and the parking lot was pretty clear by the time the last checkered flew. 

LaSalle is only running a series of special events again this year with no weekly racing and I believe that this race is the last on their current schedule for 2021, pending any additions. The track is still in fine shape and racing nicely but the lack of use is starting to show up in various places as the scoreboard hasn't worked for quite some time and the pa system was not the best tonight as all around me couldn't hear Ruben at all. 

However, they ran off a crisp show once the qualifying was out of the way and the big crowd on hand shows that there is much appetite still in central Illinois for Late Model racing.  Thanks to Tyson Graves, Tony Izzo Jr and the Dirt Car Summer Nationals staff for their help as they presented a solid night of Late Model racing. 

Looft Tops Sport Mod Nationals at Hancock County Speedway

 Tuesday night, June 22nd, I made my first visit of 2021 to the Hancock County Speedway in Britt Iowa. The special event on this Tuesday night was the annual Sport Mod Nationals, this year at Brill sponsored by Seed MaxYield, the same firm, by the way, the employs long time track announcer Chad Meyer. 

The Sport Mods would be going for thirty laps with the winner taking home twenty five hundred dollars, very good money indeed for a Sport Mod while the other classes that regularly race at Britt, all sanctioned by IMCA, the Mods, Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts would all be running a program too for their regular weekly payoff. 

It was kind of a strange day weather wise with it being cool early on but then a definite increase in humidity that made it quite uncomfortable as the afternoon progressed. Some ominous clouds drifted by with most staying to the South and while we had a short "sun" shower that didn't even dampen the grounds, it produced a spectacular rainbow that arched to the East of Britt. That must be good luck, right?

The Fair Board has recently retaken the promoters reins here at Hancock County after the previous promoter opted out in the middle of the season with the track being shut down for a couple of weeks with car counts very low and enthusiasm at a low point. After taking some time to reorganize, the Fairboard restarted races last Friday with the report that somewhere in the neighborhood in twenty to twenty five more cars signed in to race and that there seems to be much more in the way of positive vibes for the race meet. 

They would hope to continue that trend on Tuesday night and from what I could see, they did just that in a big way. Meyer made a point of thanking the crowd repeatedly and seemed to indicate that the crowd was much bigger than any seen here for quite some time. It was a very late arriving crowd but I suppose on a week night that would likely be the case but when they all got to the track, there was a goodly number of them. 

Eighty eight cars signed in to race in the five IMCA classes that were on hand with almost half that count being in the Sport Mods. Pay the money and the cars will be on hand seems to be a simple explanation as forty three Sport Mods from as far away as eastern Wisconsin, the Red River Valley of Minnesota and the Arizona drivers making Iowa their Summer home were on hand. Car counts in the other classes were still kind of on the small side but at least they had enough cars for double heat races. 

Qualifying for the Sport Mods, however, was no easy task. Five heat races would take four cars apiece and one gigantic B Feature of twenty cars(Jeff Broeg would approve!) would qualify the last four with no provisional entries assigned. 

Remember that weather that we talked about earlier? Well, all the storms that were drenching central Iowa seemed to be backing up into our area. Lightning flashed in the southern skies and while the program had been moving along at a brisk clip even before the weather was discovered to be worsening, they really turned things up a notch at this point in order to get the show completed. While the folks around me in grandstands eyed their phones and seemed to wish that the rains would come our way(apparently this is also an area badly needing rain), the rest of us hoped for smooth main events so we could get the whole show in  and not have to sprint to our vehicles in a down pour. 

The driver cooperated also. As the crews raced to get the Sport Mods ready for their big show, some of the other feature races were ran off in the interim and they were about as smooth and quick of mains as possible with two running green to checkered and the other having only just one yellow. 

They weren't necessarily particularly compelling races but they did get done in short order. The Sport Compact main saw Jaedon Erickson start on the pole and he ran away for an easy victory. There was, however, a good three wide battle for second that finally saw Lucas Parsons take the position on the last lap with Cade Lehr trailing. 

The Hobby Stocks followed with another green to checkered run. Josh Sidles started on the pole(all classes were draw/redraw on this night) and he ran away for an easy win with no one challenging him. There was a good battle for second though and Chris Krug held off a pack of challengers to take second ahead of Tony Smidt, Carter Koop and Kolby Goepel. 

The Stock Car field was also a small one but their race got much more interesting. Troy Swearingen seemed dominant in his heat race and then redrew the pole which seemed to be a "no brainer" as to the winner. However, he had a terrible first lap and fell back to third as he was passed by both McCain Jennings and Andrew Borchardt. 

However, Swearingen then dug in and righted the ship, working his way back past the two cars that had previously passed him and by the halfway point of the feature, he was back in charge. He then pulled away to make things easier on himself the last half of the race with those two trailing him. 

Earlier, Kevin Opheim provided the entertainment as he went flying off turn three in his heat race and then came screaming back onto the track like a Scud missile taking air, flew down the back chute where he spun again with such speed he almost tipped over and then decided that the pits looked like a much safer place to be. His feature race was much more tame but didn't provide even a top five finish for the Mason City driver. 

It was then time for the Sport Mod thirty lapper as lightning flickered to the South and the Sport Mods provided any close racing action that the previous three features didn't provide. The statistics will show that Matt Looft would lead all thirty laps and that sounds pretty tame but I guarantee that it was no where as easy as that as he was repeatedly challenges by several different drivers for the lead but each time it looked like he was going to be passed, he dug down and held everyone off. 

Early on there was quite a scramble going on behind him and when the first yellow waved with seven laps complete, he was being chased by Jake Sachau, Vern Jackson, Shane Paris and Alec Fett. 

Jackson would spin one lap later and this would slow things down again but on the restart Sachau and Jared Boumeester, who had made up a considerable amount of ground, both battled for the lead. It looked like Boumeester was going to make the pass but as would play out several other times, every time it looked like Looft would get passed, somehow he managed to fight off the competition. 

At the halfway point Looft continued to hold off Sachau, Boumeester and Fett with young Jayden Schmidt suddenly becoming part of the lead group. The teenager from eastern Wisconsin has been tearing things up in the Green Bay area and I see why as he was very fast and worked his way into the top five after starting twelfth. Also starting to move up at this point was Colby Fett who had started in the sixth row and this race was one that saw much movement from deep in the pack toward the front, despite the fact that there were few yellows and there was just a lot of hard racing and passing going on. Sachau would later slip over the banking while trying for the lead and all back to the second five in the running order.

One late yellow set up a four lap dash to the finish and once again Looft was up to the task as he fought off the late charges of Colby Fett to take the win and cash the big check. Schmidt continued to charge as he  finished third and impressed everyone on hand. Paris, who had started up front and then faded as far back as ninth, made his own late charge and finished fourth ahead of Boumeester as the quality and depth of this field was outstanding.  

With trophy presentations saved for the end, the Modifieds were rushed onto the track to try and complete the program. Nick Meyer started on the outside pole and would go on to lead all twenty laps in this race. He built up a big lead but then Arizona invader Chaz Baca would start to move up after starting in the third row. Baca was working the low side of the track and closed on the leader and it looked like the top spot might change hands. 

However, while Baca got close, he could never just get past and after Meyer withstood his best attempt, Nick started to again pull away and would drive on for the win. Jeremy Mills would finish third. 

Wow, it was quite the whirlwind of activity once the race officials put everything in high gear with the weather approaching and it was almost impossible to take a breath, the races were coming that hot and heavy. The whole show was completed in about two and a half hours with their top notch efforts beating the rain. When I left, it still hadn't rained and I don't know if it ever did but certainly it's better to be safe than sorry and for that I give all the credit in the world to the track officials for their great job and to the drivers for running very clean feature races when their help was needed. 

I'm sure the crowd appreciated their efforts and I want to wish them good luck the rest of the year in their efforts to revive the program here in the Hobo capital of the world. The Night of 1000 * and 10000* races are still on the schedule for August so check out their website for more details. Thanks again to everyone at the Hancock Co. Speedway.

Gravel On The Rubber for Huset's Win

 Monday night, June 21st, I did something out of the ordinary for myself. Not being too much of a follower of Sprint Car racing other than to kind of keep an eye on who is doing the winning, an opportunity came up that I just couldn't pass up. 

A rare Monday night race was available and with nothing else on my schedule for that night, and also by coincidence finding myself in South Dakota after weather drove me out there on Sunday, I was in the neighborhood as Huset's Speedway welcomed the World of Outlaws Sprint cars for part one of the "Showdown" between themselves and Jackson Speedway across the border in Minnesota. Also, I had not been to Huset's in many years, certainly not since all the renovations were made that made the place almost unrecognizable so this was an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. 

It was a rare cool June day in the heartland as a cold front had blown threw the previous day and the temperatures were struggling to reach even seventy degrees and a sweatshirt would be needed before the night was over. 

I can't begin to even detail all the changes that have taken place at Huset's since its major renovation but while it still sits on the sidehill and the parking lot in down in the hole, just about everything else looks different. One major improvement was the moving of the pits to the outside of the track, thus improving the visibility of the fans without a lot of vehicles etc. cluttering up the infield. Being just a quarter mile oval, the size of the track also makes the action even more fierce. 

Huge money is on the line for the Sprint Cars this week courtesy of Todd Quiring who owns both Huset's and Jackson and since he recovered Huset's from the dormant state it was languishing in, he is almost a folk hero in these parts.  The "Shootout" will offer $30,000 to the winner of Tuesday night's fifty lap feature at Huset's and there is a one hundred grand bonus in play for a sweep of Huset's and Jackson and these are the kind of numbers that even get the attention of the WoO drivers. With that much money on the line this week and little travel required by the teams, this event was a big draw and there were forty three Sprint Cars signed in to race on this night. And for a Monday night race, there was also a gigantic crowd on hand too, many of which have taken Tuesday off based on the amount of "barley pop" that they were swigging down. 

This would be a one class program with only the Sprint Cars in action so a few breaks were necessary to give crews a chance to prep their cars between races and do some necessary track work too. Still, because they ran time trials as the Outlaws always do, the show didn't get started until around 8:20 pm (see previous blogs for my comments about time trials and how they totally destroy planned starting times), but they got the whole show done in about two hours time. 

Cars are blinding fast here on this banked black dirt oval with Kerry Madsen being the quickest at 10.706 seconds. It was the usual format for the Outlaws with heats, a C Feature that was necessary on Monday, a Last Chance race and dash that would set the first four rows for the feature and the main event, on this night being thirty five laps on this smaller oval. 

It was a block buster front row for the main event with David Gravel on the pole and Donny Schatz next to him. They would battle on the opening lap before Schatz would take the lead away. Gravel was closely following and within seven laps the leaders were battling lapped traffic which is a huge thing here. Getting through the traffic determines who gets the win or not as normally there is so much traffic that getting hung up kills momentum. 

On this night, it was Gravel that made the right moves. Schatz came up on a slower car quickly and got pinned to the low side of the track and Gravel tore past him for the lead. Shortly after, the only yellow flags of the race took place when Aaron Reutzel exploded a tire and then two cars tangled on the restart. Other than that, it was smooth sailing and the thirty five laps just flew by. 

Gravel had a decent lead until he caught the back of the pack and then he couldn't get past Brock Zearfoss as the track started to rubber up badly. There was one groove near the high side and to get out of that lane would be a disaster. With Gravel being slowed, Schatz was able to catch him and make one attempt to drive under him but it didn't work, he lost some ground and the race ended before he could attempt another pass while Gravel stayed in the rubber.  The margin of victory was .297 seconds.   Kerry Madsen, driving Tony Stewart's car, finished a strong third with Brad Sweet and Kyle Larson following. Larson didn't have much to show the crowd on this night as a strong field and track conditions kept him from standing out. It probably didn't hurt the feelings of management when the winning car had Huset's Speedway plastered all over it. 

To be honest, the track conditions proved to be a major disappointment for me. Let's face it, a rubbered up race track is no good, no matter what class of cars are racing on it and you know it was bad when the leader can't pass the last place car and was forced to just stay in line and try to protect his position. The cars were smoking their right rear tires coming off the corners and the leaders all commented afterward that they were all just about out of tires. This happened in thirty five laps. What will happen when they try to run fifty on Tuesday?

Even though they dumped water on the track all afternoon and took three breaks to till the track and add water after the heats, C and Last Chance race, they still ended up with a rubbered up mess. Since they run Sprint Cars here on a weekly basis, I would have thought they would have had a better handle on track prep than they showed on this night but perhaps it was just one of those nights. 

I guess folks that attend the WoO races come to expect what happened because they all seemed totally enthralled with the action but what I saw was eight races that were all won from the front row, only one change of the lead in the feature and lots of raw power and speed but not a lot of racing. This is not a condemnation of the Sprint Cars as much as it is of this form of racing that uses time trials to set the running order and then starts everything straight up and when the cars are so closely matched, it makes it hard to pass, particularly when the track doesn't allow much.  

Speaking of rock stars, the Governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem, was on hand to welcome everyone to the races and wave the opening green flag. Clearly she is highly thought of by the home state race fans in attendance as they treated her like a rock star and she acted the same way in return. My feelings on her, based on what her comments had been during the Pandemic made me think more of rockhead than rock star but that is a topic for another conversation. On this night, she had the spectators eating out of her hand.

Other stars on hand included Doug Clark, long the flagman at the Knoxville Raceway. While he doesn't flag here at Huset's, he still works at the track as he is the coordinator for the infield staging and action and his son Justin is the starter as waving flags and dodging debris seems to run in the family. 

I would imagine that another huge crowd will be on hand for Tuesday night's show and this track now seats in the thousands. Quite amazing to me was that even with the big crowd, the traffic egress from the track was smooth and it took no time at all to be on the way afterward. 

Thanks to the folks at the World of Outlaws for letting me in to witness this race which is more than just a race but an "event" and special thanks to "Crazy Martin" for snagging for me one of the best seats in the house while I was roaming the pits. 

Whitman "Hits" for Ten Grand at 141

Thursday night, June 17th, the thirteenth annual Clash at the Creek was concluded at the 141 Speedway near Francis Creek Wisconsin. After two nights of practice and qualifying efforts, the IMCA Modifieds would be racing for a top prize of $10,000 for their fifty lap main event scheduled on Thursday. Also racing would be the IMCA Stock Cars and Sport Mods who would be running full shows again for the second straight night. 

Two straight beautiful days would be followed on Thursday by one that offered plenty of questions. Thunderstorms were the prediction for Thursday and various prognosticating agencies were predicting from anywhere from 6 pm to 9 pm for the first bursts to hit the eastern Wisconsin area. Previous to that, it would be a challenging day to prepare a race track with high temperatures, plenty of sun and very strong winds out of the South, all making it a challenge to present a race track that would be one that actual racing could take place on. 

I must give much credit to the management at 141 for their awareness of the situation and their willingness to make changes in order to provide the best opportunity for the racing to take place. Aware that Friday night was not an option should they get rained out on Thursday and the likelihood of gathering all the drivers back together at some point in the season to conclude the show a remote possibility also, they took the next best step in that they moved up the starting time of the racing and also rearranged the running order for the evening so as to provide the best chance that the "big show", the Modified feature could take place. 

As time grew near to the new starting time, the clouds began to build in the western skies and the blue skies turned an ominous gray, signaling that weather was approaching. They started the show right at 6 pm and ran the Modified qualifiers first and then slipped in a few heats of Sport Mods so they could be ready for the Last Chance race for the Mods. Stock Car heats followed by the skies were starting to leak and sprinkles grew just a bit more intense and the action was called to a halt with two Stock Car heats yet to be run. 

We caught a break when the first line of rain proved to mostly miss the track and the sprinkles let up after a short break, track prep crews were able to whip the track back into shape very quickly and the Stock Car heats immediately continued. Following this, it was right into the big race for the Modifieds with pomp and circumstance cut to a minimum in order to ensure that the feature race could be completed. 

Most of the afternoon there was much talk about what kind of shape the track would be in for the Modified feature. The track had taken much rubber during the last two nights with most of the Wednesday night heat races being conducted on "rubbered up" tracks which is not always the best for racing. Most felt that the Modified feature at extra distance would be dealing with the same issue. 

Now whether it was the cloud cover that cooled things in the late afternoon or the sprinkles that wet  the surface just two races before the main event but for whatever reason the track did not lock down for the Modified feature like many had feared. I was also told that the track prep crew did some things differently on Thursday and whether it was their efforts or a combination of circumstances, who cares but the track was good for the big show event. 

The Modified drivers that made the fifty lapper did a remarkable job as there was only one yellow flag during the fifty lap contest and that was for a slowing Peyton Taylor nine laps into the race. Other than that, it was green flag racing the rest of the way. 

There were three different leaders during the race as Jeremy Thorton got the initial jump from the outside pole and took the early lead over high point car Josh Long who had also redrawn the pole position. Thornton would only lead until lap five when Long would take over the top spot. Right behind those two, it was Johnny Whitman and Mike Mullin that were putting on the pressure. 

The whole course of the race changed following the lone yellow as on the gren, Mullen got into the rear bumper of Long and slowed his progress which gave Whitman the chance to go flying by on the outside and take over the lead. Mullin would then move into second and the race was on. 

Those two would be the story as they would have their own private battle for the lead and while Whitman would be scored the leader of every lap after, he was under the gun constantly from Mullin. At one point they exchanged slide jobs with Mullin passing but then being repassed by Whitman as they roared around the track. Both found the high side to be best in turns three and four and both would dive low in turn one, scratch for traction and then take off down the back chute and that is where the sliders took place.

Behind them, Thornton, Long and Cody Laney kind of settled in as the rest of the top five but the lead was in challenge on nearly every lap. Mullin gave it his best shot around lap forty and closed again to the rear bumper of Whitman but "The Hitman" held him off and then started to stretch his lead through the final few laps. 

Thornton had back luck on lap forty when he got sideways and nearly spun and then pulled into the infield, the victim of some sort of mechanical failure which elevated those behind him by one spot. Despite the twenty four cars on this small track, there was only one lapped car at the finish and not much traffic for the leaders to deal with as drivers seemed to pull off at the point where they were about to be lapped with the only lapped car being Justin O'Brien that Whitman successfully got past and then widened his lead. 

There would be no late race charge as Whitman was in control and he would go on to take the win with Mullin several car lengths behind at the checkered. Long would be elevated to third with the Thornton failure and Laney and Terry Phillips would complete the top five. Thirteen cars would complete the race with only one a lap in arrears. It was one of the stronger performances by the eastern Wisconsin regulars with the top three spots grabbed by local drivers. 

Once the victory lane ceremonies and the traditional "dip in the pond" in the infield at 141 was completed, the rest of the program was run off. Two B Features for both the Sport Mods and Stock Cars were quickly run off but by the time the Sport Mods took to the track for their main, it started to rain again and this time with more force. It didn't take long for the track to get too slick to run on and after waiting for a few minutes and seeing that the storm seemed to be intensifying, the program was called at this point with the feature cars in each class splitting the money. 

In retrospect, that half hour earlier starting time plus moving along rapidly the rest of the show and changing the running order may have been the salvation that allowed the main event to be completed and folks to go home satisfied rather than disappointed. The main event was more than worth the three days invested in the program and it was especially good that it would be run on a good track for racing, rather than a follow the leader type of event that some feared. 

Thanks to everyone at 141 for three good days of racing. All the track employees and the management of the track should take a bow for a job well done and the concluding night crowd was a very good one, especially so with many that left for the track being cognizant of what kind of weather conditions they might be facing but still attending. 

Anyone considering a visit to 141 should check their website for special events upcoming which do include big money specials for both the Stock Cars(that do put on a spectacular show here) and the Sport Mods.  

Gabe Zellner and Mahlik Top Qualifying Night Features at "The Clash"

 Wednesday night, June 16th brought forth the key qualifying night for the IMCA Modifieds that would be fighting it out for the ten grand top prize at the Clash at the Creek XIII at the 141 Speedway near Francis Creek Wisconsin. Along with the qualifying heats for the Modifieds, the IMCA Stock Cars and Sport Mods would both be running a full program of heats, B Features and a main event with the Stock Cars racing for fifteen hundred dollars to win and the Sport Mods a grand to the winner. 

First an update on last night's Street Stock racing event which was held along with practice for the other three classes. Unlike for a normal weekly Saturday night show where the teching of the race cars is done in the middle of the track right after the event is completed, for this special the top three cars were run up to the garage on the property and a more thorough inspection of the cars was done. This was announced at the driver's meeting so it should not have been a surprise to anyone expect I suppose, to someone too busy to attend that meeting. 

In any event, they tore the cars apart pretty good and did a lot of measuring and inspecting that isn't done on a weekly basis. And they did find gold, so to speak as both the second place cars of Cody Potter and third place finisher Shanon Guelette were found to be illegal, one for suspension issues and the other for issues that have escaped me. Winner Jesse Krahn and new second and third place finishes Eddie Anschutz and David Hoerning all passed with flying colors. And the reaction of most competitors was positive to the more thorough inspections as they felt this would "clean things up" a bit in this class. 

Now on to Wednesday night's show. The program on this night would be full shows for two classes of cars that race weekly at "The Creek" and double heat races for the Modifieds. Passing points would be tallied for the two heats and the top ten in points would automatically move on to Thursday night's fifty lap main event with everyone else going into Last Chance events. The drivers would draw for their heat race assignments in the Modifieds and then the lineup for the heats would be flipped for the second go round with the drivers racing against exactly the same cars they raced against in the first heat. There are various ways of doing this, but I think running against the same cars is probably the most fair. A couple of luminaries were among the large crowd that showed up on Wednesday including Kevin Yoder from the IMCA home office in Vinton and Joe Verdegan of Joe Verdegan.com who is doing very well with his new enterprise which involves on line blogging about various aspects of racing in the north east Wisconsin area as well as also announcing at Eagle River and WIR plus Norway Michigan on a regular basis.  

Car counts were strong in all three classes with one hundred and fifty three cars signing in to race in just the three classes. Modifieds led the way with seventy five of them on hand as a number of additional drivers showed up after not practicing the previous night. Sport Mods had forty one entrants and there were also thirty seven Stock Cars on hand with both of the later two classes fighting to be in the top twenty four that would race the main. 

Qualifying for the two support classes would be first and would go smoothly. With the one spin rule in effect, drivers knew that no matter how badly things were going, to stop on the track would mean being sent to the pits so the races progressed mostly without the yellow flag being waved as twelve full events for these two classes were completed with only four yellow flags being waved and that was for cars that were either damaged to the point they couldn't run or just would not start after a spin or other incident. 

The two feature races for the support classes would be run between the two sets of Modified heats with the Sport Mods going first. Gabe Zellner would lead all twenty laps of the main for the Sport Mods in a race that was stopped just twice with both yellows falling between laps ten and fifteen. Zellner would battle with defending track champion Randy LeMieux Jr. before pulling away as LeMieux tried the high side of the track to make a pass and that lane went away on him and he fell back and eventually would finish fourth. Gabe Zellner would be challenged by Jacob Zellner in the second half of the race but would have more than enough to hold him off for the win. Matthew Radke moved up from the third row into third position but could never make a strong run on either of the Zellners and settled for third ahead of LeMieux and Justin Green. Twenty of the starters would still be on the track at the finish. 

The Stock Car feature would go nonstop for twenty laps and pole starter Eric Mahlik would lead from start to finish. However, it would not be quite that easy as things got wild in the last couple of laps. Mahlike built up a big lead in the early going while Benji LaCrosse, who did by far the best job of passing cars in the race, worked his way up into second which was a struggle on the rubbered up, single lane track. It took him a long time to get by into second but once he did, he began to reel in Mahlik at a rapid pace. 

Meanwhile, Eric Arneson also broke free of the traffic and once he got to third, he too began to move into contention. With the track being narrow, it was also hard for the leader who caught the back of the pack with just a couple laps to go. Trying to work around a lapped car was tough with that car also hugging the lower lane where all the passing and racing was going on. 

Arneson caught the top two who were being slowed up drastically but couldn't get by the slower car. Mahlik chose to try and squeeze by on the low side as the white flag waved while LaCrosse trying to go around both the leader and slower car on the high side but got shoved up to the wall with Arneson filling the hole left by LaCrosse. At the finish Mahlik hung on for the win with Arneson edging out LaCrosse for second. Hot Rod Snellenberger and Trent Nolan would complete the top five with only two starters not on the track at the finish. 

The Modifieds would compete in fourteen heat races(each driver ran twice) with combined passing points setting the lineups for the Thursday night finale. As a rule, the races went smoothly with few yellows and even fewer crashes as there were only two cars that had to scratch out of their second go around heat. The track was showing a lot of rubber despite the efforts of the prep crew to keep moisture in it as the heat and low humidity and lack of rain in this area is showing on a track that typically is very smooth and slick to begin with and not a track to have much of a berm no matter what the circumstances. 

Each position was hard to gain and fought very hard over with local driver Josh Long being the high point accumulator for the two heats. To give an example of how hard it was to move much, he garnered the highest point total with runs of fourth to second and seventh to third in his two heats. Normally they would not be outstanding enough to gain such a lofty award but on this night they were good enough. LaCrosse made up for his disappointment in the Stock Car run by garnering second in overall points with local drivers doing very well. Others from the area that made the top ten included Shawn Kilgore, Lucas Lamberies, Johnny Whitman and Mike Mullen. The "invaders" to make the top ten were Jeremy Thorton, Cody Laney, Ethan Dotson and Kyle Brown. Everyone else in the seventy five car field must fight their way into the show on Thursday night during a Last Chance race. 

The crowd was solid on this night and they saw almost nonstop racing from just before 6:30 pm to just before 10:30 pm as the racing beat the "hard curfew" that 141 has to contend with. 

One thing I applaud 141 for is for running their biggest races as midweek special events, rather than insisting as way too many tracks do no that specials must be run on weekends and that they can't draw a crowd for a midweek special. But real promoters prove that idea wrong time after time and this way it allows drivers from far and near to race if they please and still not have to give up their home tracks and either leave them in a lurch for a week or instead miss a special event by racing for track points and the local sponsors. More tracks need to get back to the way it used to be and that was for specials to be truly special and that was by running them on nights when no one else was racing, not on weekends where they either have to "pirate" drivers away from their home tracks or run a "special" that is not so special after all. 

Krahn Takes Opening Volley at "The Clash"

 Tuesday night, June 15th was the opening night for the Clash at the Creek XIII at the 141 Speedway near Maribel and Francis Creek Wisconsin. Tuesday night's action would feature a full show for the United Street Stocks along with practice for the IMCA Modifieds, Stock Cars and Sport Mods in preparation for their program which begins on Wednesday night. A surprisingly large crowd of spectators would be on hand for this opening night of three with many curious to see just who would be on hand to race for the $10,000 top prize that will be doled out to the fifty lap Modified winner on Thursday night. The Stock Cars and Sport Mods will run full programs on both Wednesday and Thursday night with the top prize raised to fifteen hundred bucks for the Stock Cars each night thanks to a local sponsor that just came on board early this week. 

This would be my first visit of the year to an eastern Wisconsin track, having spend most of the early racing season on the western side of the state along with my occasional adventures South and West to Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Louisiana, the Dakotas etc. I'm hearing that racing is off to a strong start on this side of the state with good crowds in the stands and good racing across the board on both dirt and tar tracks. However, there is some indication that this might start to change shortly though as many are worried about short fields of cars being a problem as soon as the end of this month.

Something that I was not totally aware of and was brought to my attention upon arriving here is an increasingly worrisome problem about their being a tire shortage of racing tires and wheels. I'm told it truly is a concern on this side of the state and not just some trumped up issue as teams are reporting that they are having trouble getting tires and wheels, dealers are either short or totally out of stock and that there is a genuine concern that some racers are going to have to cut back on the nights they race, simply because they haven't enough tires to go around. Who would have ever thought this would be an issue but apparently despite utterances by the tire companies that they are meeting demand, something else would be much closer to the reality according to the racers. 

However, the Clash at the Creek is a very big race for the eastern Wisconsin teams and apparently so for many other drivers as the number of out of state drivers is large for this race and certainly Toby Kruse, one of the partners in 141 Speedway and of course the promoter at Marshalltown Speedway, has much to do with that. Several of the hot laps sessions conducted on Tuesday looked more like a session at a central or eastern Iowa track, not in the heart of the Dairyland. 

Tuesday night's program would consist of practice sessions that were fit around a full show of the Street Stocks so there was practice, then heat races for the Street Stocks, then more practice, then Street Stock B Features, then practice, the Street feature and then, guess what, yes, more practice. Apparently the concern about burning up tires doesn't apply to this week!

The Unified Street Stocks race at about eight tracks on the eastern and southern side of the state of Wisconsin and would fall somewhere between the Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks in the speed spectrum. They are very hard to tell from the Stock Cars although most do run a spoiler which tips them off but all run on Hoosier racing tires so they look much like the Stock Cars. This is a very popular class on this side of the state with some younger drivers looking to get experience before they move up while others are veterans of the class, racing for many years and staying right in this class. This race would be the first of their "Red, White and Blue" series for the year and the winner would pocket a grand for a twenty five lap win. 

Qualifying for the Streets would be quite aggressive but with the hard, one spin rule employed at 141, while there was plenty of banging and pushing in the six qualifying races, the yellow flag waved only once. 

However, the twenty four car (make that twenty three cars when veteran Gary Kasperek blew his motor while securing a transfer spot in a B) would get even rougher with what I would call some rather ruthless driving for the cash.

The track was quite used up by the time the Street Stocks saw it for the main event and this uniquely shaped oval generally sees the lower horsepower cars pretty much hug the lower groove of the track so most passing is by either slipping inside someone's mistake or forcing the issue and making them get off the bottom. On this night there was plenty of the later as there was so much "rooting people off the bottom" that any dentist would have been thrilled!

And it started right up front soon after pole sitter Jesse Krahn took the early lead. He was soon pushed off the bottom by Cody Potter, driving a unique looking 57 Chevy with a substantially reinforced front bumper that he knew how to use. He forced the issue and took the lead with Krahn closely following. That means in layman's terms that he was beating the heck out of Potter's rear bumper in each corner. 

Behind these two, the same kind of thing was going on repeatedly as cars were being pushed into the infield, huge ute tires were forced onto the track and the race more resembled a roller derby contest than anything else. 

Mid race Krahn paid back Potter with a blast(literally) of his own down the back chute that allowed him to shoehorn his way back into the lead. Potter tried to return the favor but Krahn drove him into one of the ute tires which rolled on to the track and triggered yellow number four. The tire was blamed for the slow down and all kept their positions. 

The last few laps saw Krahn sprint away from the field and Potter couldn't catch up to tattoo the rear bumper of Krahn, so Jesse drove on for the win with Potter settling for second with both likely promising to strap on steel plate before their next encounter. Shanon Guelette would finish third and surprisingly, despite all the goings on during the race, the low speeds of the cars keep the big crashes from happening and only three cars out of the starting field didn't see the checkered. 

Approximately twenty two Sport Mods and a dozen Stock Cars also took practice laps on Tuesday with full fields expected in both classes for their double shows upcoming this week. 

As far as the Modifieds were concerned, at least sixty cars took practice laps so it appears that Wednesday nights double heat races, where the top ten in points will lock into the fifty lapper on Thursday night, will be highly competitive. 

A sampling of who was on hand would see Iowa drivers O'Brien, Rust, Snyder, Ward, Thume, McDonald, Current, Bonine, Demey, Brown, Berry Jr and Dotson all taking laps on this night with more expected to show up on Wednesday. Also working out were P. Taylor, K. Wallace, Phillips, Hobscheid, Grabouski, Bone Larson and Jeremy Thornton among drivers from out of state so it will be a real battle between the "Cheeseheads" and the invaders when they start counting points for real on Wednesday night.  

Renegade Rains "86" 300, 141 Next

 Drivers and fans were just getting settled in for a hot night of racing on Wednesday, June 9th at the 300 Raceway near Farley Iowa when the unthinkable happened. 

Even though there was no chance of rain for the evening, a renegade rain shower of considerable force settled right over the speedway just a hot laps were starting and cut loose with full strength. With individual rain drops the size of silver dollars, the rain pelted the speedway and quickly turned the race track into  a soupy mixture and sent the water running like a river through the parking lot. 

Needless to say, the race program was cancelled due to the condition of the track and the impossibility of being able to get it into racing shape again on this night. Sadly, less than a mile East of the track, highway 20 was bone dry and never received a drop of rain and by the time I reached Peosta the sun was back out and the temperature soared. 

It was very unfortunate for the speedway to be hit with such bad luck as the car count was up from the previous Wednesday and fans were still arriving to battle the 416 degree temperatures of the evening, as "Big Boy" described them. 

The next dirt track event at the speedway will be on June 30th while a show of considerable interest will be held this coming weekend at the track when the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling Series will be on hand both June 11th and 12th. See the speedway website for more details. 

Next up on my traveling schedule is a visit to eastern Wisconsin for the Clash at the Creek XIII at the 141 Speedway near Maribel Wisconsin. $10,000 will be on the line for the IMCA Modifieds in their main event on Thursday night, preceded on Tuesday night by practice and a Street Stock feature. Modified qualifying will be held on Wednesday and a full program for both IMCA Sport Mods and Stock Cars will be held on both Wednesday and Thursday. 

A large field of Modifieds is guaranteed for this event which always draws one of the biggest fields anywhere all year and for Iowa racing fans, a chance to see many of their best drivers take on the best from America's Dairyland and other states too. Also, many Iowa drivers in the Stock Cars and Sport Mods also attend this race to get tuned up for big money races at 141 later this Summer for those two classes. More information on this event is available on the 141 Speedway website. 

Larson Holds Off Stock Car Field at Jackson Motorplex

 Tuesday night, June 8th was round number two of the Bank Midwest IMCA Series at the Jackson Motorplex in Jackson Minnesota. This would be the second of three appearances in Jackson this year for the five division IMCA program and the way the schedules worked out, they would be running rounds one and two on back to back Tuesday nights. 

The heat still raged on with race time temperature at 90 degrees under a blazing hot June Southern Minnesota sky but the hearty racers and fans were on hand to catch the racing action in all five divisions. 

The race on this night would not be the huge endeavor that opening night was last Tuesday for a couple of reasons. There is always an extra "kick" for the first time for everything as there was last week for the first midweek show at a great facility that the IMCA cars don't get the opportunity to race at very often. There has been an awful lot of racing going on over the last couple of weeks with not many tracks getting rained out and thus able to get all their shows in and even this week, it is only Tuesday night and already the drivers have had one opportunity to race this week and it looks like there will be racing every night of the week this week for those that wish to partake. However, that does put a strain on the available racers to run on any one given night and eventually everyone needs to take a night off and getting to midweek races does make it difficult for some. 

And it can't be underestimated what factor the heat wave plays in both competitor and fan participation. It is tough to work all day, especially if your job involves being out in the heat and then going back out in it all night too. Sometimes folks, whether racers or fans, just need to take a night off. 

So, last week's large field of about one hundred and thirty race cars was just around ninety on this night and the large grandstand crowd was somewhat more modest on this night but racing would still take place, there were still plenty of good cars to put on a show and as the night played out, four of the five contested main events saw either late race passed for the wins or other lead changes right at the end. 

This week the special emphasis was put on the Stock Car class as the featured division. Above and beyond the basis purse, a number of businesses contributed money in a "Back Row" bonus fund for this class with anyone making the redraw, which on this night would be the top twelve in heat races, would be eligible for the "Back Row" bonus. No up to $2,100 , there were still no takers on this night as the fund continues to grow with hopefully someone to try it for the last Summer Series race to be held next month. 

Sport Compacts ran one heat race, Hobby Stocks three , Sport Mods and Mods two heats and the Stock Cars ran off four qualifying events. With one event taking the green almost before the previous one could leave the track and only four yellows in total, the sixteen qualifying races would be run off in sixty two minutes flat. After a very brief break to work on the track, the first feature race of the night would take to the oval.

One wonders why they even bother racing the Sport Compacts in this area. Just about every track that I go to in this general area, whether either North of South of the Minnesota Iowa border has just a hanful of cars and never it seems even enough for more than one heat race. The cars that do race seem like they run eight nights per week but there never seem to be any new additions or the number never seems to grow so whatever the basis for having this class seems to have gotten lost long ago. 

On this night there were seven of them with Kaytee DeVries taking the lead at the start and staying up front throughout the event. However, a lost wheel in turn four by Jaedon Erickson brought out the yellow and even though all the cars had taken the white flag and were coming around for the checkered, the race was restarted and two more laps would be run. Frankly, I think the checkered flag should have been waved and there are a number of tracks that would have done just that. 

The restart proved fatal for Kaytee as she got a very poor start and fell back to third as Marschall Robinson took over the lead and would take the win. DeVries fought her way back up to second but couldn't catch the leader and Nate Coopman made a last lap charge up to third. 

Eighteen Hobby Stocks would take the green for their main event with Keeran Sampson coming right off the pole to take the early lead. However, at least the top five and perhaps more were running in a wild clump of cars and going three or more wide as they battled for the lead. Blake Arends, running strongly for the second straight night, would take over the lead at this point but all eyes were on Cory Probst who had started tenth but was moving up quickly. 

A spin on lap four bunched up the field and when Josh Sidles jumped the start and triggered another yellow that saw him moved back a row for the restart, this moved Probst up to the second row where he would ride the rear bumper of Arends. Lap after lap he would make a passing attempt, only to see Arends fight him off.

Finally, coming off turn four on lap eleven, Probst would move to the outside of the leader and make a great power move as he passed on the high side and once out in front, pulled away the last couple of laps. Probst would drive on for the win with Arends finishing second and Sidles clawing his way back up to third at the finish. 

Seventeen Sport Mods would take the green flag for their feature with Jacob Tacheny taking the early lead. As he continued to show the way, there was some mad scrambling going on behind him with Matt Looft finding the openings to move up from the third row to second by lap five when the first yellow flew for a minor spin. Looft would then put the pressure on and two laps later he would drive into the lead. Once in front, he pulled away and this race seemed to be settled. 

However, things turn suddenly on a race track and on lap twelve, with a seemingly comfortable lead, suddenly Looft saw a bright red light on his dashboard, he lost all power and he was dead in the water coming down the front chute. There were several near misses but everyone was able to avoid the slowing leader as the yellow flew once again. 

Colby Fett, who had put on his own drive from seventh up to second, inherited the lead at this point as Looft was done and he would go on to take the win, leading the last four laps and holding off Christian Sylvester and Nick Johansen for the win. 

The only feature race to not either see a late race pass or exchange of the top spot was the Modified class. However, with Brandon Beckendorf on the outside pole, this race would end predictably with the Danube racer comfortably out in front and no surprise change of positions late. Beckendorf would pull away early as Don Gerritsen, Dan Menk and Dalton Magers would fight hard for positions behind him. Bob Moore was also on the move as he pulled in to battle Zack Dockter for a top five spot too. 

A late yellow for a Chris Abelsen spin bunched the field but the final three lap dash saw no great change of positions as Beckendorf would drive on for the win with Gerritsen, Moore, Magers and Dockter rounding out the top five. 

The Stock Car feature was billed as the main event and they would battle it out all the way for the win, although this race was riddled with twice the yellow flags as any of the other mains and even included a red flag when Kevin Luebben went for a flip in turn three on lap seventeen. Fortunately he was OK but three cars were pretty torn up in this incident. 

Jeff Larson would lead the opening lap and indeed, would also be leading when the checkered flag flew but a lot happened during those twenty laps that made the win much harder than it would appear. In the early going he was receiving heavy pressure from McCain Jennings, Ryan Bjerkset, Austin Jahnz and Kelly Shryock. Colton Arends slowed early with a flat tire and that bunched the field.

Larson would still lead as he guarded the low groove but coming up was Shryock until the crowd's interest was redirected to Derek Green as the Granada driver moved to the cushion and really started to gain ground. The one two corner was excellent for gaining speed while the other end of the track was just for maintaining but Green was making it work as he drove forward. 

He was particularly scintillating when he dove under Shryock, crossed him over and then went high into turn one to attack Larson. On lap eleven he completed his charge as he drove past Larson to take over the lead and got the biggest cheers of the night from the crowd after his hard work and daring was rewarded. 

However, the outside line was tenuous and between that groove starting to wear out and perhaps Green overheating his tires, his lead lasted only one lap before Larson made a strong push on the inside again and edged back into the lead. 

The Luebben flip set up a three lap sprint to the finish and surprisingly, Green opted to follow Larson on the inside of the track, trying to sneak under him but Larson had the lower line nailed. Finally, on the final lap Green would again shoot to the outside but the magic wouldn't be there a second time and Larson would continue to drive on for the win with Green settling for second and Shryock third. With a few less yellows to break the momentum this race would have been a classic but was very good nevertheless. 

With no dust and a raceable track, this was a good night of racing despite the very warm temperatures. They do not have a great sense of urgency to start the programs here, I have noticed. They take their time waiting to run in the track and then hot lap all classes which probably could be done without , particularly when keeping the track in shape is a challenge for sure. However, when they start racing there are few tracks that can say they run off a quicker program than here at Jackson. Tonight the final checkered flag flew before 10:30 pm and would have been even earlier if not for a rather lengthy Stock Car feature caused by the red flag. 

Thanks to event promoter Jon McCorkell, the Jackson Motorplex staff and all the officials and a special "shout out" to starter Nate Peterson who does an admirable job waving the flags and directing the show.   

Chris Abelson Tops Clay County Fair Speedway Opener

 Monday night, June 7th marked the opening race for the 2021 season for the Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer Iowa. Nestled on the  grounds of what is known as the biggest county fair in the state of Iowa(and I might say also much larger than many of the state fair grounds I have seen) Spencer will again in 2021 operate under a specials only format. With so many race tracks compressed in a relatively small area, the folks here have found that running a relatively short season that is filled with special events only works much better for them. And perhaps surprisingly so, they have found that Mondays work well for them although this year they will be running two Monday night shows, one Tuesday and one Wednesday and then on Tuesday and Wednesday during the Clay County Fair in September. The first four shows feature the five popular classes that run at virtually every track in this area while in September they bring in Sprint Cars and Late Models for one show before wrapping up the season with their basic five class show once again. 

Since they first experimented with Monday night shows several years ago amid a time of struggle when they were having trouble getting fans and racers on a regular basis, the Monday night approach has worked well for them and again on this night, despite us being in the middle of the year's first heat wave, a fine field of racers and a good crowd of spectators(albeit noticed that more were sitting under the roof and not in the open bleachers on this night), were on hand for the opener here. 

One hundred and nine race cars and fine group of fans were on hand for the opener. Racing on Mondays(or for that matter on any week night) does provide some extra challenges. Being a Monday, many of the spectators arrive at about the same time after they get off work and most arrive hungry so the concessions area has to be ready for them and they have to serve their customers in a quick fashion.

Much the same way, the vast majority of the racers all arrive at the same time so track officials must be ready to get them signed in and to their parking spots quickly to keep a long line from forming and allow them to start on time. Hot laps must be a little bit later than for a normal show to make sure everyone is allowed time to get to the track but the show must be run off at perhaps an even quicker pace than for most weekly programs because it is essential, perhaps the most important part of the whole evening, to get the show done early and quickly so everyone can get home and ready for work on Tuesday. This item, if it slips away from them, will be the one thing that will keep more racers and fans from attending than anything else. So, once they start, it is a race within a race to get the show moving, keep it moving and get it done at a reasonable time. 

And for the most part, they do a really good job of doing that here at Spencer. They do hot lap all classes which is something I might consider changing, if for no other reason than to allow the show to begin a bit sooner and in this heat to save the race track a bit. However, on this night the first heat took the green at 7:35 pm and all fifteen qualifying events were completed in just sixty one minutes. Race time temperature, by the way, was 91 degrees with a blazing sun beating down. 

Most significant of the events during the qualifying heats were the wild rides taken by Stock Car driver Elijah Zevenbergen and Sport Compact driver Dan Chinn. Chinn was directed off the first turn where he flew over the banking and hit the wall that borders the facility on the East end of the grounds. He would be done for the night. Elijah would be redirected off the other end of the track during his heat and he flew past the barns and into the pit area at high speed, fortunately not hitting anything(at least that is the assumption as the race wasn't stopped and we couldn't see where he ended up). He did return to start twenty seventh in the Stock Car feature but was a DNF in that event. 

Except for the Sport Compacts, all the other features pay exactly the same purse to each class, something that they started during here several years ago and has been highly popular and certainly has in part led to the large fields of cars they get for their midweek shows. This trick has been now used by other tracks and to come up with a new concept that others copy is always a strong form of flattery. 

A very brief break to do some track prep was taken but it was very short and soon the /Sport Mod feature was being lined up. With no B Features, some large fields of cars would take the green for their main events. The one down side to Spencer is that they have no scoreboard so it is impossible to know during races just how many laps are being run and just where they are in each event. I suppose that track announcer Chad Meyer does mention that but in another down side for Spencer, under the roof where I sit it is impossible to hear Mr. Meyer too so whatever nuggets of humor or wisdom he imparts are lost on most of us. 

Twenty eight Sport Mods would take the green for their main event with it being a two car race between Jared Boumeester and Alec Fett. Boumeester would lead from the pole and would be in front for most of the event. However, he had to pause when he came up on a couple of lapped cars and he lost his momentum and Fett blew past him to take over the lead. 

With momentum being such a big item on this big track and the two front runners being so equal, once in front it was impossible for Boumeester to return the favor and he had to settle for second behind Fett. Geoff Olson ran a strong third in a race that had only two yellows. 

The Modified feature was a "walk over" for Chris Abelson who started on the front row and led the entire distance. With this race going green to checkered, there would be no challenges against Abelson who would win by nearly a full straightaway over the field. Cody Thompson would get past Brandon Beckendorf late in the race for second and Kelly Shryock would come from eleventh to finish fourth. 

A huge field of twenty nine Stock Cars would take the green flag for their main event but this would be the one race that had its issues as the yellow flew six times during this race as they found it tough to make many consecutive laps in a row without the yellow being waved. Through this all, it would be veteran racer Randy Brands that would hold the point. He made a strong move up from the third to get past Justin Luinenburg and Colton Arends to take the lead and once in front, despite heavy pressure he refused to yield the lead. 

There was quite a battle for second with much swapping of positions before Jeff Larson secured second and he would be the one that would continually challenge Brands for the top spot but although he was right with Brands, he couldn't find a way by. 

Special notice should go out to Derek Green who triggered the first yellow of the race with a rare spin and went to the back of the field. On the final corner of the feature, he would go to the top side of the track and pass David Smith and Shryock to get the third place awards. 

As is usually the case here, the Sport Compacts always have a teeny field of cars and thus run a teeny length feature race. Monday night the seven on hand went six laps and it was Jaedon Erickson who held off the challenges of Jade Lange and Kaytee Devries. At least that's what is seemed as Erickson took the trophy and the winner's interview. 

However, as the show was completed, Lange would return to get an interview after the fact and My Race Pass would show that Erickson got disqualified for some sort of malfeasance that was not identified to us. 

Twenty four Hobby Stocks would wrap up the evening  and this would also prove to be a two car battle all the way for the win. Josh Sidles would take the lead right from the pole and lead the early laps. He was guarding the bottom lane of the track and after Cory Probst moved into second, he would do more of the same. 

The track was getting tired and the inside lane was the place to be so the leaders lined up single file, hoping for a mistake. And that would happen, although not the fault of the leader. A car near the back of the pack blew a radiator hose, watering down a lane on the track as it headed to the infield. The race stayed under the green but unfortunately, Sidles got his right side tires in the water and slid up the track, opening the door for Probst who said "thank you" as he drove by on the bottom to take the lead. 

Sidles then tucked in behind the leader but Probst was able to put some distance on him as he pulled away for the win. A sterling drive was made by Blake Arends who started nineteenth and drove past Drew Barglof in the late laps to take third with only two yellows to help him out. 

The final checkered flag waved before 10:30 pm and it would have been even earlier if the Stock Cars hadn't had such a tough time of it Monday. They very much succeeded in their efforts to run off a quick show and get everyone on their way home early. Thanks go out to race promoter Trent Chinn and all the workers at the track and employees of the Clay County Fair. It was another hot night and a tough one to keep moisture in the track but they worked hard and for the first race of the year under difficult conditions, I thought they did a fine job.   

Spaw and Bauer Post Late Race Passes for 300 Speedway Wins

 Exit 300 was the place to be on Wednesday night, June 2. Not just the exit but more specifically at the 300 Speedway located at exit 300 off highway 20 in Farley Iowa. It was the second of their Wide Open Wednesday series for the IMCA classes and featured once again on this night were the Late Models, Modifieds, Stock Cars and Sport Mods. The four class program is designed to knock off a quick program and get folks on their way home at an early hour and for the second straight time in this series, that's exactly what they did. 

On a spectacular night for racing, the first heat would start just a few minutes after 7 pm and the final checkered would wave well before 9 pm, making the whole show a less than two hour entertainment event. 

The race track was significantly different than when I was here for the opener a couple of weeks ago. At least three hard days worth of work were put into the track to fix things up after the weather fighting Lucas Oil race was held here recently. Instead of a heavy, "hammer down", high speed track, they had produced a smooth and slick, top to bottom track that put a premium on handling and driving skills and not so much on raw horsepower and nerve and reminded me much more of the tracks that I see back at home. 

The drivers seemed to like the change although we only heard from the winners on their views and after a victory the winning driver likely wouldn't care if the track surface was composed of 90% horse manure! However, to my untrained eyes, it seemed to race better Wednesday rather than the heavy track did and was probably not as hard on the racing equipment although those drivers that took a ride into the concrete may have begged to differ. After just a little dust during hot laps, they sprinkled the surface a couple of times and it was fine after that . 

The most obvious and startling development noted early was the disappointing turnout of race cars for Wide Open Wednesday, part two. Two of the classes needed only a single heat race while the other two two ran two heats. A total of thirty six race cars were on hand in the four classes. I must admit I don't remember the last time I was down to a race in the Hawkeye state and ran into a field of cars that was so small. As the time got closer to the scheduled starting time and just no more race cars were showing up, I got more and more nervous. When they called for the driver's meeting I was half expecting an announcement that they were going to call the show, given the fact that there weren't many more fans in the stands than there were cars in the pits. Fortunately, this did not happen thanks to management and the show proceeded on just as scheduled. And also to their credit they resisted the inclination to make the show feel bigger by dragging things out and instead ran off a very crisp program that saw the heats completed in thirty two minutes, followed by a very brief break before Big Boy was calling for the Stock Cars to line up for their feature event. 

My thought was that despite the fact that it was a beautiful night for racing, the fact that this was a Wednesday right after a long holiday weekend probably made it not the best of dates, something management will probably look at when they set next year's schedule. 

However, despite a short field of cars, the drivers went about their business just fine thank you, and put on four good feature races. Interestingly, three of the winners on this night were also winners on opening night with only the Modified class producing a new victor. That doesn't mean, however, that all the wins came easy. In fact, two of the mains were locked up with late race passes including one that saw the decision swayed on a daring last lap pass. 

The Stock Cars would run their main first. Scheduled for twelve laps, a decision was made at some point to up the laps to fifteen for their main event which I thought was a very good move. I thought their twelve lap main for Wide Open Wednesday number one was too short and it would have been tonight too, so the increase in laps was a good choice. 

Tom Schmitt was the early leader of the race while opening night winner Johnny Spaw was moving forward after starting fifth on the grid. He moved up behind Schmitt and looked for a way past the leader. A yellow at the halfway point set up the winning pass. Spaw dogged Schmitt following the restart and showing great speed, beat him down the front chute and pulled up past him into turn one. After that Spaw sped away and opened up his lead over the last few laps. Jason Doyle would finish third. 

It would be a tough night for Stock Car driver  Chase Zaruba. He would hammer the wall in the heat race but through some hard work they got the car ready for the main event. However, things went from bad to worse when he would contact the concrete even harder in the main and end his night. 

The Modified feature would find the first new winner of the night as Timmy Current would lead all twenty laps of the feature after starting on the outside pole. After Current took the early lead, a great three wide battle for second saw Eric Pollard, Bone Larson and Jeff Aikey fight for position with them exchanging lanes on the track as they fought it out. Eventually Larson would secure the spot and take off after Current with Aikey moving into third. 

A lap twelve yellow would bunch the field and on the green, Aikey would take over second and take off after Current. However, the co-promoter with Ryan Duhme of special events would be up to the challenge. I'm not sure if Current is "Dark" or "Side" but on this night he was definitely "gone" as Aikey couldn't close the gap at all and Current drove on for the win. 

The race of the night would be the Sport Modified feature where a last lap, very bold outside pass would secure the win for Troy Bauer. Justin Becker would lead the opening lap of the main before being passed by Jason Roth. However, one lap later and Becker was back in front. 

He continued to lead as Bauer moving into second and started to put the pressure on. Troy tried both high and low and while he was able to get close, he couldn't quite get past Becker for the lead. A lap ten yellow for a spin set up a five lap sprint to the finish. 

Again Bauer would try low and high but Becker was in the groove and not anxious to yield the lead. As they came off turn four to receive the white flag Bauer tried a very daring move as he went high up against the wall near "no man's land." The dust went flying but somehow Bauer kept his car off the wall and the momentum up and he squeezed past Becker up against the concrete and would extent his advantage on the last lap for the win. And in fact, Becker would try so hard to get the lead back that he would slip out of the groove and Roth would sneak past him for second. Bauer, who seems to have more fans here than anyone, as a rightfully so very happy winner. He became another of the back to back winners and in victory lane pointed out the fine shape the track was in and implored more drivers to join the field for the next event. 

The finale was the Late Model feature and the nonstop twenty five lapper would be all Matt Ryan. He starred on the outside pole as the Late Models were still using the draw/redraw for their starting positions on this week and he benefitted, despite the fact that he won the last  race here. Ryan built up a big lead and when Justin Kay got past Pollard for second, he was about twenty car lengths behind with less than five laps to go. However, the track was taking rubber at this point and while Ryan was struggling in the corners, Kay was bolted and he cut the lead to two car lengths when Ryan took the checkered. However, catching some one and passing them are two different things and Ryan remains unbeaten. 

The next Wide Open Wednesday event at 300 Raceway comes up quickly as they will again be racing next Wednesday night at 7 pm. Hopefully the word will get out this week and both the car count and folks in the stands will be increased over this night. 

Thanks to the folks at 300 for a good night of racing that was conducted in a very prompt manner, something appreciated by myself and all those others that sees Thursday morning come up quickly.