Crigler and Wells Big Winners at Springfield

 On Saturday afternoon, November 20th, the outdoor racing season in the state of Missouri was concluded with the running of day two of the Turkey Bowl at Springfield Raceway. 

It was a quick turnaround for the drivers and crews as after practice was concluded sometime around Midnight on Friday, the pits were open again by 10 am on Saturday as everyone got ready for the main events. With everyone still talking about the wrap up Pure Stock feature from night one, those cars headed to the parking lot to give room to the sixty nine Modifieds and thirty six Late Models that joined the field for their full programs on Saturday. Roughly speaking, that means that with the Legend Cars also running B Features and their main that around three hundred race cars were in the pits and ready to race. Parking spaces for the big haulers were becoming a premium to find and many of the rigs were far beyond even sight distance to the track itself but everyone made due and the show rolled off with the first race getting the green flag dropped over it at 3:50 pm after it took just a few extra minutes to roll in the track which had seen a healthy dose of water applied. 

Speaking of the track, it held up remarkably well over the course of the racing, especially considering the huge number of laps turned on it. And while Hoffman would take quick and frequent breaks to throw just a little water on the surface, not once did he fell the need to dig the track up  as has become almost the norm for most big events now. And it seemed to pay off nicely as there was good racing right to the end of the show. 

Jerry Van Sickle migrated down for Iowa to join the announcing team for Saturday and when Jerry is in the house, it doesn't take too long to notice that he is on hand. The numbers man calculated that there were racers on hand from sixteen different states for this event, quite remarkable. 

But if you thought there were a lot of races on Friday night, that was just the beginning as I calculated that there were forty races on the card for Saturday's show! That folks, is a little too many even for me.  The B Features for some of the classes seemed to drone on for what felt like forever. The Midwest Mod B division and the B Mods ran fourteen of the B Features between the two classes with no more than eight cars in a race. It seemed like the judicious thing to do here would have been to cut down the number of races and make the fields just a bit bigger as their heat races the night before had more cars in them than the B Features did but that is how they chose to do it. 

Finally, after all the B Features were done plus the heats and B Features for the two classes that joined us on Saturday, it was time for feature racing action. There were a few good races amongst the many B's,  but more that were follow the leader and were plagued by more of the yellow flag fever of Friday night. 

The Midwest Modified A division was up first and while I think this track could handle more cars than they choose to put on it, they never start more than twenty in any of the main events which means that a lot of drivers set the mains out in the pits. Jeff Douty led the first few laps of the race until he got "dumped" in turn four and had to go to the back of the pack along with the "dumper." This gave the lead to Anthony Ferrara and he carefully protected the low groove and drove on for the win over Casey Burnett and Pete Richardson. 

Track officials then ran off the two "premier" division main events, a nice move to get their events in before it got too late and the track had too many laps on it. The big field of Modifieds was divided between the IMCA type cars and the more open USRA cars. Springfield has switched over to running the IMCA Mods weekly while many tracks in this area run USRA rules so Hoffman devises a set of rules for this event that tries to equalize the competition and on this small but quick track, it seems to work out just fine. When the feature was completed, IMCA cars finished first and second while the USRA cars ran third through fifth. 

Payton Taylor of the Batesville area Taylors would lead the first few laps running the low side. However, Sawyer Crigler went to the cushion and blew past Taylor to take over the lead. Steven Bowers Jr was on the move after starting in the sixth row and he closed in on the leaders. 

He and Taylor made contact on the back chute as they came together while battling for second with Taylor spinning backwards off the track and Bowers Jr with a flat tire. Both were upset at the other with several "dive bombs" thrown. Bowers Jr retired from the event and Taylor returned but a lap in arrears. 

From this point on, Crigler would lead the rest of the way while Shane DeMey, who seemed to run better here against open competition that he often does running IMCA events, would finish a strong second followed by I-55 regular Steve Picou. 

The Late Model feature was also a good one that started out on a wild note. Matt Becker would start on the pole but Tony Jackson Jr, from row two, would make a wild and bold slide in turn three on the opening lap, apparently either expecting Becker to yield or use Becker as a bank board, but when Becker "pulled the chair" out from under Jackson Jr, around went Tony. He did a number of dive bombs on Becker that seemed totally inappropriate, but when in a mind boggling turn of events, somehow Jackson Jr was given his spot back, he had to be snickering. 

However, Becker continued to lead as Scott Crigler put the pressure on and eventually took the lead. Jackson, meanwhile, faded and eventually pulled into the infield, drawing some of the largest applause of the day as apparently others saw the same thing as I. 

Crigler couldn't hold off the charge of Cole Wells who started sixth though, and Cole would run the cushion with skill to take over the lead. There was much three wide racing among the Late Models as it appeared they thought the five grand to win race had extra zeros added. Will Vaught, who started eleventh, made a late charge but Wells was able to hold him off in a tense two lap shootout for the win with Justin Zeitner running a strong third. 

The B Mods had the smoothest of all the features Saturday with only two yellow flags in their twenty lapper. In a hard fought contest Cole Campbell managed to fight off all the low side attempts by Kris Jackson to drive home for the win with Cale Turner finishing third. The top four cars were very close throughout the race. 

The Midwest Mod B division wrapped up a long day and night of racing. Quite a few people stuck it out on what turned out to be a cool evening after a nice day and without so much wind. Coming up from the fifth starting position, Robert Bell(not the Sprint Car Robert Bell), would take home the win over Nick Ferrell and James Schrader. 

It was two long nights of racing, both of which started in the afternoons and rolled on into the late evening. If you like lots of cars and lots of racing, you certainly got your money's worth at this show. And most of the feature racing was very good and I'm still surprised at just how well the track held up with the huge number of laps that it had on it over the weekend with plenty of sun and wind also that makes it even tougher to prepare. A very good crowd was on hand for the feature races on Saturday and it would certainly have to be considered a very successful weekend of Hoffman and his crew. 

McCowan Tops Opening Night of Turkey Bowl

 The fifteenth annual edition of the Turkey Bowl at Jerry Hoffman's Springfield Raceway opened up on Friday night, November 19th. This year the format would see more racing on the opening night plus the addition of one more class of cars to the overall show. 

Friday night would consist of heat races for the B Mods, the Midwest Mods both A and B divisions the Legend Cars and this year also, the Pure Stocks who would run their complete program on Friday night. As it would turn out, a lot of people that chose to come only on Saturday would miss out on what in my opinion was the best race of the weekend and that was the Pure Stock feature. But more about that in a minute. 

This race continues to get bigger and bigger each with more cars coming and with the Midwest Modified class expanding to a number of tracks in southwestern Missouri and beyond, the opportunity for more drivers to wrap up their racing season with one last blast before preparations for the 2022 racing season begin. 

One hundred and ninety three cars signed in to race on Friday night plus more than thirty more of the Legend Cars also. All cars would race a heat race with passing points used to set the lineups for the main events and B Features on Saturday. The Pure Stocks would also runs their B Features and wrap up a long evening of racing  with their main event. 

To the credit of Hoffman, he has made a number of improvements since I was last at the Springfield Raceway. Gone is the Moto Cross jumps in the infield, replaced by a nice smooth infield that is graveled and level and certainly a scenic improvement. I believe the infield is now used when he presents concerts as he maximizes the use of his facility. This same type of gravel has been spread onto all the roads around the pits to cut down on the mud from this red clay soil in this area. The pit area has been expanded considerably and every inch of it would be used this weekend, including a field back behind the pit area on the back chute that I just happened to stumble upon and found cars pitting back near I-44, an area I didn't even knew existed. 

A scoreboard now sits off turn one for the edification of the fans who now can chart laps and double check on where the leaders stand. As usual, Hoffman has provided his very unique trophies that are much coveted for the winners of this event. 

One round of practice would be held on Friday for all cars in all classes the wished to participate, followed by the racing program and then more practice for everyone that wished once the program was completed. Twenty one heats would be followed by two B Features for the Pure Stocks and then their main event. 

Nearly eighty of the Midwest Modifieds were in the pits. The rules are identical for both the A and B divisions of the this class and in fact on Saturday one of the cars would be moved from the B's to the A's as a substitute driver would take over with more experience. I asked one of the drivers on hand who it was that made the call whether a car should be in the A or B division and he told me that the track doesn't get involved and that the drivers enter themselves based on their skills and experience. I was told everyone was on the honor system. When I asked if anyone "fudged", he just smiled. There were nine heats for those two divisions plus another four heats for the Pure Stocks and eight B Mod heats. 

It was a long night of heat race action with a ton of yellow flags. The one spin rule would have been most helpful on this night as drivers would continuously spin or slow on the track, begging for a yellow so they could resume racing and the flagman was very quick on the trigger to throw the yellow, making quite a few of the heats tedious on what was one of the coldest nights of racing for me this year. 

Finally it was time for the only feature race of the night and by this time most of the crowd, what there was of it, had seen their special car race and were heading for someplace warm. Too bad for them as they missed a dandy feature race and one that had all those who saw it raving. 

Now, these Pure Stocks don't exactly fall into what my normal definition of a Pure Stock is , as I could identify some IMCA Stock Cars that were racing with these "Pure Stocks" so don't let the name confuse you. 

Their feature was a dandy event. They started twenty cars with nineteen of them still racing at the end and all on the lead lap. The race went nonstop and I saw more three and four wide racing than perhaps at any race of the entire year. 

The leaders were going back and forth for the top spot and there was continuous action as they used the whole track, top to bottom which by the way, seems to have been widened out just a bit in turn one and banked more also. They kept jockeying back and forth and thank goodness for transponder scoring at the end as otherwise, I think there might have been a major controversy as the finish was that close. 

In fact, my call of who won was wrong as they were three wide crossing the line and I frankly couldn't tell just exactly who the winner was. By the smallest of margins, Modified and B Mod ace Dillon McCowan, who apparently picked up a ride in a very plain looking but fast #7m edged Tom Scroggins for the win. It was a great race and and a terrific way to end what otherwise was a long and somewhat dragging night of racing. 

The third place finisher in the Pure Stock feature was disqualified, one of six drivers that got Dairy Queened (DQ) in various divisions. as the tech folks were busy on this night. 

All racing was complete around 11:30 pm and let me tell you, it was darn cold by the end of the night with a nagging wind just never letting up. Fortunately that great Pure Stock feature allowed the night to wrap up on a high note. While more drivers were lined up to practice at that late hour, it was time for me to seek out shelter and heat. 

Sheppard Takes Mods in the Marsh to Conclude STSS Cajun Swing

 The final night of the Cajun Swing for the Short Track Super Series for Big Block/Small Block Modifieds was held on Saturday night, November 13th at the Super Bee Speedway near Chatham Louisiana. This race would be the "Mods In The Marsh 75" with seventy five laps of racing for the Modifieds on the quarter mile track with twenty thousand dollars going to the winner of the race. 

Along with the Modifieds, Crate Late Models, Limited Mods and Street Stocks would also be racing for the final event of the five night series. Amazingly, all five nights were able to run as track officials steered the ship through the weather threatened event at Ark-La-Tex with the rest of the nights not threatened by weather although the heavy rains of that night would make for somewhat challenging track conditions for a couple of days. And of the last night of the series, the temperatures would take a drastic change for the worse with it being every un Southern like. But the hearty fans prevailed and the northern drivers were more than used to snappy temperatures at this time of the season. 

For the last race of the series and the event that paid by far the most, everyone that had anything left to run was on hand and twenty seven Modifieds signed in to race. In fact, several were just holding on by a threat and hoping for the feature start money so they opted to scratch out of heat races and just start in the back of the main event. The support for the series this year was good with twenty three of the drivers making all five nights and thirty forty different race cars signing in to race over the course of the week. The difference between the northeast equipment and the La/Texas cars is still quite marked but hopefully as more drivers from the Cajun area get involved the quality of their equipment was ascend and they will become more competitive. 

I was proud of the STSS group as even on the final night with big money on the line, they continued to use their format of drawing for starting positions and then redrawing the top twelve for the feature. This made for some outstanding heat races with plenty on the line and the redraw for the feature allowing us the pleasure of seeing some real charges through the field instead of a time trial induced lineup that more often than not produces a high speed parade. 

We have seen a number of drivers make big charges through the fields and that happened once again on Saturday as Ryan Godown, who historically has redraw terribly, still managed to work himself into the lead at least briefly and he would also go on to be the series point champion. 

Tonight's feature race would be another very good race with three different leaders before the checkered flew. Jack Lehner would lead the opening few laps before he was passed by Matt Sheppard for the top spot. Hard runs were put on by Erick Rudolph, Godown and Stewart Friesen as they as they all moved into contention. 

The track was considerably different from Friday night as twenty hours allowed track officials to smooth out the racing surface and the track surprised just about everyone by the way it kept changing and moving the fast lane around. 

Sheppard led a number of laps with two long green flag periods but Rudolph and then Godown kept the heat on him. Lapped traffic was heavy once again and trying to weave through that traffic and still hit the fast marks on the track was a challenge, especially as the groove moved around. 

Godown, ever the challenger, would slip past Sheppard one time and lead a lap at about the three quarter mark, but then Sheppard got back up on the wheel and retook the top spot just one lap later. The track did appear to start taking rubber with about ten laps to go and this caught Godown out of the groove with Rudolph grabbing second back. 

Sheppard was very careful to protect the low line at the end and he would drive on for the twenty K win with only a dozen of the starters still on the track. The first nine finishers would be drivers from the Northeast. Sheppard would be the top money winner of the week while Godown would get a nice bonus for winning the point title. With four different winners in five nights of racing, the STSS put on a good show every night that was officiated well, was very quickly run off and the drivers provided very entertaining action with plenty of hard driving. 

Not to beat a dear horse here, but the support classes once again on this night didn't provide much in the way of support. While the top class, racing for twenty K, didn't feel the need to time trial, someone decided that the Crate Late Models should so they group qualified and that pretty much killed the racing in that class for the night. 

Shane Hebert was the quick qualifier, won the first heat and then led every lap of the feature race with no one even providing a hint of a challenge. The only reason there was any passing at all was because second fastest qualifier Raymond Taylor broke during the main and needed a push off the track. This allowed Kenneth Sims to take over the second spot. 

Thirteen Street Stocks were on hand as somehow that old Ford and the VW from last night were also allowed to run with the Street Stocks(I can't explain it either), but Bobby Chandler would go on to win that race. 

Limited Mods rounded out the card and C.J. Howell, who started on the pole, would lead the entire race for the win. At least the Limited Mods didn't qualify but they did the next best thing as started straight up from the heats which pretty much killed the passing in that race. The program ran just a bit later on Saturday with the longer feature race but STSS officials moved things along well with the cold setting in as they bypassed the on track redraw and any kind of driver introductions as they mission was clear in getting fans in and out of the track in a quick manner which was appreciated. 

So there are many good things to say about the STSS. They ran off well organized and professional programs. Their officials were pleasant and reachable. They paid their drivers well and appeared to treat them all equally and they worked their hardest to get all the shows in, even when the weather made things difficult. They raced hard and put on a good show. As I've said earlier, about the only letdown was the poor shows overall put on by the support classes and as I said, when they do this again next year and it sounds like that is already a plan, I would pick just one class, pay them well and go with that. 

Thanks again to all the folks from the STSS and the track officials from the various speedways that worked hard to prepare a good racing surface each and every night. 

My apologies for a slightly tardy report on this last race but it was a seventeen hour trip home plus work was calling early on Monday morning. 

Friesen Returns, Edges Sheppard in Super Bee Thriller

 The Short Track Super Series Cajun Swing made its fourth stop of its Louisiana visit and visited its third different track as the troop of Modified racers headed to the Super Bee Speedway somewhere near Chatham on Friday night, November 12th on what would be the first of two nights at Chatham to wrap up the tour for 2021. While tonight's show would be paying the standard four thousand dollars to win, everyone was also tuning up for the Saturday night show where the seventy five lap main will pay a whopping twenty grand to the winner. 

Along with the Modifieds on this Friday night, local support classes of the B Mods, Factory Stocks and Compacts(which is apparently what they are called the FWD's on this night) were also on the card. 

Of the four tracks that I visited on this tour, Super Bee would be the third that I was attending for the very first time with only Boothill being a return trip. Sharing a common trait with Ark-La-Tex, it appeared that Super Bee was a race track that was just hacked out of the woods as it ranks right up there with Ark-La-Tex with the tracks that are literally in the middle of no where. Towns are far and few between in this area of Louisiana and such things as gas stations, fast food joints and even any kind of towns are somewhat distant. But then again, the neighboring forest creatures are not likely to be calling the authorities with noise complaints either!

Super Bee looked to me to be about a quarter mile track with relatively long chutes for a quarter and very tight corners, by far the tightest track we have seen on the tour. The banking in moderate with the banking appearing to be considerably higher in turns one and two then in three and four as Matt Sheppard would find out during the Modified feature. A double guardrail surrounds then entire track which is also the most narrow of the four tracks visited this week. Red clay covers the surface and this clay down here does hold the moisture as even two days after storms came through and dumped some rain, the pits were quite muddy and the track soft and heavy which would be a factor in this night's racing. Track lighting was just so so but once they got the pa system tuned up, it was adequate however it was one of those systems where the pits could hear better than those of us in the main grandstand could. 

Pulling off the paved highway, the main entrance to the track is dirt and splits as one drives across a large field with the pits going to the right and the fans veering off to the left to park and then enter the grandstands. 

The set up here is a bit different than most tracks. The pit area is directly behind the main grandstand while the spectators enter in turn four and follow a narrow path around the corner and to the main grandstand on the front chute. The track has a huge numbers of seats with an imposing tall metal grandstand in turn three topped with VIP booths. Smaller bleacher line the turn four area and then a long, large metal series of grandstands sits the full length of the front chute with more VIP booths and the tower for the officials. There are a couple of large observation stands built in the pits for crews to watch the action over the top of the bleachers but they are strictly marked and "private" and not open to all the teams. There is seating for a lot of people for sure but the bleachers are in kind of a scattered pattern. The flagman's tower is fairly close to the exit of turn four and not centered in the middle of the straightaway like most tracks are. Once again I find a track that has no scoreboard as apparently no one down here cares how many laps the races are or how many laps have been completed. I did learn that the STSS officials are running their part of the show but a conglomeration of track officials are running the support class shows which is possibly why the scoreboard wasn't turned on at The Rev as no one has the keys to the car, so to speak. 

STSS has rented all four tracks that their Cajun Series has visited and they are paying the drivers in all divisions with local workers  taking care of track prep. 

I have  been confused all week about the proliferation of different classes of Modifieds as the support divisions so I took a few minutes to talk to B Mod driver Justin Cook who helped me sort out all the rules. It seems the B Mods(or as Ark-La-Tex calls the Pro Mods just to make things more confusing) are allowed more modifications than the Limited Mods can do. The motors are pretty much open on the B Mods and they can run a more open type of suspension although they must use the asphalt pull offs that the Factory Stocks also run. The Limited Mods are more restricted on suspensions and motors but they also run on the IMCA treaded Hoosier tire. 

When I asked about the B Mods that were running topless, Justin told me that with the small numbers of support class cars in this area, drivers were trying to run both of the Modified classes and track officials didn't want that so they made it a rule that the B Mods must run topless and that they had to pick either one class or the other. I believe this is just another example of why short track racing is so confusing to a neophyte fan who more than likely never makes that second trip out to the track. All these different classes racing that all look alike, heck it's confusing to me and I like to think I have at least a clue about what's going on. 

Joey Brown, who runs an area  plumbing business, purchased this track after the 2021 racing season had begun and has installed Modified driver Brandon Hightower as the promoter which is why the track changing names from Chatham Speedway to Super Bee Speedway midstream with Super Bee the original name for the track when it was built. They worked hard to make the track the best it could be on this night but the surface was wet underneath and it kept pulling up. What it truly needs is some sun and wind and probably another twenty four hours so I would expect it to be better on Saturday. And while the Mods did some bouncing around tonight, they still raced hard and put on a good show. 

There were twenty six of them that signed in to race Friday as the hard racing has taken a toll on a couple of the area teams but to their credit, the Mods have put on a good show all four nights with three of the feature races coming right down to the wire. 

For Stewart Friesen, it was a successful return to  the track after he destroyed a car in that wild flip at The Rev last night. As professional a team as there is in this form of racing, they simply tucked the wrecked car in the upper berth and rolled out another car to race on Friday which appeared just as good as the other. With a full assortment of paid mechanics for his Modified team, the Halmar group is at the top of the mountain in this kind of racing. 

The other "king" of this form of racing, Matt Sheppard, who does travel a bit more modestly than Friesen but seems to have all the resources he does, gave Friesen all he could handle in the feature race. Two constants from this week's racing are that Friesen and Sheppard are the drivers to beat and that lapped traffic is going to be a real challenge for the fast cars. A few of the local racers seem not to understand that the lay over flag means hold your line, not weave around like you're trying to heat your tires up and passing these cars is a "pucker moment" because you just don't know where they are going. 

Friesen started in the second row but when Willy Decker opened the door for him, Friesen was the leader before the first lap was completed. He would lead the rest of the race, except for one lap when Sheppard would storm past him briefly. 

Sheppard started ninth but used opportunity and several yellows to catch the leader and when Matt found a fast line that others weren't using, he really picked up the pace. It turned into a two car race and as Friesen guarded the low line in turn one below the ripples, he had to pinch his car off pretty tight and Sheppard was able to gain ground up the track. However, the other end is much flatter and Matt couldn't sustain his charge on that end so it took him a long time but gradually he caught up and they ran even as the laps ran down. 

Coming up on what else, lapped traffic, Sheppard cut down and got under Stewart off turn four and took the lead with only four laps remaining. However, he blew through turn one and bounced up the track and Friesen ducked back under him for the lead. Sheppard made one last attempt on the final lap when he drove very hard into turn three but another lapped car was in the way, and he had to settle for second, a scant car length behind the #44 of Friesen. The consistent Ryan Godown finished third and added to his point lead with just one race remaining. 

The Factory Stock feature was by far the best effort by the support classes of putting on a decent race. Despite the fact that this race had five yellows and only half the starters finished, the two leaders put on a dandy battle that saw them exchange the lead three times with the winning pass coming with only one lap remaining. 

David Cotten would be the early leader with Chris Howell stalking him lap after lap. They pulled away from the rest of the pack with their own private war. Every lap Howell would try and stick a nose under Cotten as the Factory Stocks struggling to hold the low line, with them handling like tug boats trying to turn on the choppy surface. 

Howell raced Cotten clean though and finally, on lap twelve, as Cotten slipped high, Howell drove under him for the lead. Howell would lead through lap seventeen when he too would slip up in turn four, the action point, and Cotten would drive back under him. One lap later and the rolls were reversed as racing to the white flag, Howell would make the move and take over. Cotten would get a nose under Howell on the last corner but would race him clean, a rarity in this class as seen this week, and would come up a half length short with Howell driving on for the win. Boothill winner Stoney Dubois would finish third. Apparently rules for the support classes were thrown out the window this weekend as along wit the rather stock looking cars, there was a  1956 Ford with the front fenders cut off and a VW that looked more like an off road racer racing in this class!

The other two feature races for the support classes were quite frankly, sad. Only three of the six B Mods on hand would take the green for their feature race and with two of them running and sounding like outboards, Chase Hatton would putt around the track at half speed but his margin of victory at the finish was a lap and a half! I kid you not!

Six Compacts took to the track for their feature and with most running like they had already been through  a compactor,  Billy Smith would win by about a half lap over the field. Why he was allowed to run oversize tires all the way around on his car while everyone else had stock appearing tires is a mystery I can not answer. 

Thank goodness the Modifieds have been running off a good program with tight finishes and plenty of hard racing. They have made the week while the support classes have been more of a eye rolling adventure. Next year, I would suggest that they run just Factory Stocks, the only class that seems to produce any numbers and has a number of rather clean looking racing machines and leave the rest of these shaky classes home in the garage. 

The STSS officials, who are in charge of running the program, run a very tight ship and have been putting on very crisp programs all week. Once again on Friday, the show was a quick one and I was back amongst civilization by 10 pm. 

Friesen Flips, Godown Repeats at The Rev

 Night number three of the Cajun Swing for the STSS Modifieds would sent everyone about ninety minutes East of Shreveport along Interstate 20 to the city of Monroe and the state of the art Revolution Park which was just off I-20 on the East side of the city. 

The Rev presented by Dylan Scott, would host the STSS series on Thursday night, November 11th which was of course also Veteran's Day. Along with the Modifieds, the local classes racing would be the Factory Stocks and the Limited Modifieds. 

While Monroe received about a third of an inch of rain in the overnight storms, fortunately it wasn't enough to hamper the show. While the pits were muddy in spots and the track was left to dry all day, it turned out to be a good racing surface although I suspect I have yet to see this track at its best. Track officials brought in some heavy equipment to help clean up he pits as the red clay of this area is heavy indeed and reminds me much of the Lake Superior red clay found in extreme northern Wisconsin along that great lake. It is miserable to handle when it gets wet and stains the race cars while being tough to get off. 

A crew member for one of the teams did the old "screwdriver test" on the track while I happened to be near by and he said the tool went all the way down to the concrete that is under the red clay and had to be at least six inches so we were dreading the worst but the track actually rolled in quite nicely and was not near as rough as I was concerned it might be although it continued to hold moisture throughout the night on what was an incredibly damp night. In fact, upon the completion of the show, the aluminum grandstand was just as wet as it might have been if it had rained, that's how humid it was. 

The Rev was just as nice as advertised with just about everyone that was seeing it for the first time having good things to say about it. The track has concrete under the red clay as it was a former tar track until bought by Scott and transformed into a dirt track. I believe this is just the finale of its second year of operation and already it has played host to most of the big national racing series and has a full  scheduled of special events already booked for 2022. 

It is about a three eighth mile track, wide and with high banking. It has great lights and a strong sound system and a large aluminum grandstand that is elevated so everyone has a good view. There is nothing in the infield to obstruct views and I would guess that somewhere around four thousand people could comfortably be seated. The restrooms are somewhat oddly placed on the grounds and it seemed like quite a long hike around to turn one and the concession stand but those are picky observations for what would be one of the nicer places I have visited. That same crewman that did the "screwdriver test" told me that the track reminded him of Fulton in New York but not having been there either, I'll have to take his word on that. I was told that they applied new clay on the surface at some point this Summer and since then, have had to do a little maintenance on the track from time to time as they did with a quick blading of the corners during the show on Thursday but with the rain that was totally understandable. 

For some reason they didn't even bother to turn the scoreboard on tonight which is frustrating for those of us that kind of like to know what lap the race is on etc, so we are oh for three on tracks with working scoreboards this week which is odd these days. 

I believe that STSS is renting these tracks to put on this Cajun Series so the support classes feel like they are getting the short end of the stick and while there were actually two announcers on hand to cover their part of the program on Thursday, no where could I find any official results for their racing or even a driver's list which is really maddening. I did see a funny thing in the pits on Thursday. The garbage can by the tech shed had a sign posted on it that said, "Suggestion Box", so you get the inference. 

Twenty nine STSS Modifieds signed in to race on Thursday night. Somewhat surprisingly, there were a couple of new entrants as two regional drivers showed for the first time this week.  The STSS Cajun Region points would show that twenty of the twenty eight that have raced with them this year have participated in at least one of this week's races which is outstanding support. Unfortunately, Tyler Siri headed back to New York after his bad wreck off the end at Ark-La-Tex with no back up car to replace his damaged equipment. 

Two heats and a feature would be the program for the support classes while the STSS cars would run three heats and a B Feature plus two Cajun provisionals. 

There was much talk in the pits about last night's dust up between Stewart Friesen and Ryan Godown and apparently much talk on social media in the Northeast where which is the main focus of everything that happens here this week with that being their home base. Pay per view is expected to soar for tonight as many want to see just what comes next. 

The two main combatants from last night would be racing close together for much of the earlier part of the feature race until things came unglued but not because of anything that either did. Twenty six cars would take the green for the forty lap Modified main with Godown, who redrew the outside pole, grabbing the early lead. Friesen started in row two and would quickly move into second. 

This race was a bit frustrating to watch as it seemed that time after time, just when they would get some kind of rhythm, the yellow would wave in what would prove to be a yellow bunting plagued event. In total, there would be six yellows plus one red before the checkered could be waved. 

Godown would lead through the first three yellows which encompassed the first sixteen laps with Friesen all over him. Just like the previous nights, lapped traffic would be hairy but at higher speeds tonight it would be even more breathtaking. Last night's winner Erick Rudolph would be an early out when he slammed into the back of a slower car in a pack of racers as there were a couple of the "rolling chicanes" that also couldn't seem to maintain a straight line on the track. 

Following a yellow for Steve Davis, things really heated up as Friesen got a great restart and stayed right with Godown. They exchanged slide jobs and Friesen took over the lead and then started to pull away as it appeared that he had plenty left for an open track. 

However, just when it looked like he was going to cruise, things when horribly bad for him. It appeared that something in the right rear broke as he slammed his car into turn one and the wheel came off, the car dug into the soft surface and off would Friesen go, soaring into the Louisiana night. He made two and a half somersaults before slamming back to earth upside down. 

Fortunately he was OK but the car was ruined. However, he has a back up car and promises to be back at Super Bee on Friday night as they prep for the biggest crown of the week on Saturday. 

After this wreck, Godown inherited the lead and as the second fastest car of the night, no one would touch him the rest of the way as he maintained a half straightaway lead for the duration of the race, slowed three more times by breaking cars. 

At the finish, Godown was comfortably ahead of Mike Mahaney and Matt Sheppard for the win, his second this week. This race was really tough on the equipment as only eleven cars were running at the end and there will be a lot of busy teams putting the pieces back together for Super Bee. 

It was another tough night for the Factory Stocks or should I say the mechanics that will have to fix them! Fourteen of them started the main and only half of them were left twenty laps later. There weren't as many crashes as there have been on previous nights but more that this fast and heavy track was just overstressing race cars that have already put on a long season of racing. 

One of the Bubba's, Jones  by name, was dominating the early going of this race after starting on the outside pole. He was sailing along with a nice sized lead until his motor went South and he rolled to a halt in a cloud of steam and smoke. Second place runner John Berry managed to clip the rear of Jones trying to avoid him and both were eliminated. 

Mike Hurst, who had run second early and then faded back, inherited the lead at this point and despite an ill handling car that wanted to climb the banking in each turn, managed to hold on and take the win over C.J. Howell and Caleb Smith. It would seem that the asphalt pull offs that this class is required to run don't work too well and wet and heavy tracks and the whole field seemed to be on roller skates as they raced through the turns. 

The Limited Modifieds brought a field of thirteen cars to the track and eight were left to see the checkered flag after their twenty lap finale. This race saw only one yellow and featured a dominating performance by Wyatt Wilkerson who started on the pole and led all the way and was never challenged. It didn't help that the two support classes used the "tried and true" method of lining up the features based on heat race finishes so after dominating his heat, Wilkerson did the same again in the feature. 

Brain Doles would finish a distant second with Mark Underwood Jr third. Underwood was racing in both support classes and what would be the odds that in a field of thirteen cars, there would be two numbered #V8 and two numbered #2R? But that is exactly what happened! Impressive was the fact that I was told that winner Wilkerson was just fourteen years old. 

The Rev is a mighty nice place and perhaps I can return again some time and see that three wide racing that I was told has happened more than once here for big series events. Tonight it was just too heavy and fast for that to happen but that was no one's fault except Ma Nature. As usual, STSS officials have been running off a crackerjack quick program and I was back at the hotel before 10 pm while there are going to be a lot of mechanics putting in an "all night" getting these racing machines back and up to go. 

Track announcer at Boothill, Joshua Bell was again on hand to perform a very nice rendition of the National Anthem, particularly important on this special occasion. 

Rudolph Tops STSS Cajun Round at Ark-La-Tex

 Round two of the Cajun Swing for the STSS Modifieds took place on Wednesday night, November 10th at the Ark-La-Tex Speedway near Vivian Louisiana. It would be the second year that the STSS Modifieds have raced as a part of the Cajun Swing having run a two night show here last year but it would mark the first time that I had laid eyeballs on the track located in the extreme Northwest corner of the state. 

Along with the Modifieds, the local classes of Factory Stocks, Crate Late Models, Pro Modifieds and Four Cylinders (or FWD or Hornets or whatever they are called on this night) would also be running full shows. 

To be kind, Ark-La-Tex Speedway is located right in the middle of nowhere, about forty minutes North of Shreveport in rural cattle country with no towns particularly close to it. While I did not get a chance to talk to speedway owner Gene Boyter who was busy watering and packing the track , I did get a chance to talk to his eighty five year old father who was riding the pits in his Gator and checking out the cars. 

He said that Gene had gotten interested in racing and as he got deeper and deeper into the sport, the family made the decision to build this race track on their own property with the track opening somewhere around 2000(he couldn't remember the exact year). They did their own work building the track and have raced on it since with the schedule these days just being special events with no weekly programs anymore. He said that 2021 was a bad year for them with most of their shows getting rained out.

The track itself is about a third mile covered with what appeared to be red dirt with medium banking. They built their own bleachers which consist of about three rows of fold back chairs with rows of cement slabs behind these seats that most spectators bring lawn chairs to sit on. Fortunately, I had mine along on this trip which has suited me for the last two nights after hardly ever using them in the home area. The bleachers sit quite close to the racing surface(to close for me actually) but the view is good and although I wore the track after the Modified feature, it wasn't so much that the track was dusty but more so that the bleachers sit so close that the turbulence raised by the Modified created a low level storm of dust. Track lighting is decent but the p.a. system was weak with the track announcers hard to hear and the driver's interviews a garbled mess.  For the second straight night I suffered through a no scoreboard night(can you here me Jeff!) which left laps running and left in events a mystery. There was a wall on the front chute and the back chute wall was recessed back from the track while the ends of the track had broad runoff areas which Tyler Siri would later test when he went flying off the end at high speed during his heat race. From first appearances to when the racing was completed, I'd say the track raced better than it looked like it would at first examination. 

Speaking of announcers, STSS announcer Jeff Ahlum, who I didn't know through my own ignorance last night, and I spoke for a few minutes before the show on Wednesday. We met  by accident and I must say it was a pleasure talking with him as I got more information about the series and Modified racing on the East Coast. Along with announcing races for the STSS, he is also the regular track announcer at Grandview Speedway in Pennsylvania and Bridgeport Speedway in New Jersey, two tracks that have always piqued my interest in attending perhaps some day. His talents were not fully utilized on this night because it was so hard to hear him. 

The Modifieds brought twenty nine cars to Ark-La-Tex for the show on this Wednesday. Not surprisingly, there were no new cars on hand as pretty much everyone that would be racing was already on hand and three drivers failed to show from last night's field, including Jimmy McCommas who had unloaded his car but it sat crushed after last night's flip, apparently unfixable for the rest of the week. 

The support classes saw a nice field of twenty Factory Stocks while the other three classes had a tough time mustering double digit fields as the local classes have not been overly impressive so far this week. 

For almost  a week, this Wednesday night show has been in doubt as every weather forecast has called for rain at some point during the evening on this date. I must give great credit to the STSS group as they were plainly locked in on getting this show in the books and they took great pains to make sure that the show beat the rain. Twice they moved up the starting time, once during the morning hours and again after I arrived at the track. 

With the driver's meeting pushed ahead and hot laps ran off quickly, they actually started nearly a full hour earlier than the original posted time, all in an effort to get the show in before the storms hit with the first green flag flying just after 6 pm. For the drivers in the support classes that had to work for a living, it made things tough with quite a number registering with My Race Pass for heats but not making it on to the track until feature time as there was a steady stream of trailers arriving long after the first green flag waved. 

To move things along, the Modifieds were divided into just three heats on this night and the B Feature was waved as promoter Brett Deyo opted to start all cars in the feature to save time and move things along. 

The Modified feature would be another wild one for the second straight night with lots happening on the track and plenty of action as the stars of this series don't seem to mind in the least at putting a wheel or donut on each other to gain a position. Twenty eight cars started the main and with the smaller track and disparity in speeds among some of the cars still evident, it made for some wild action as the leaders threaded their way through traffic. 

Last night's winner Ryan Godown was the early leader after redrawing the outside pole with Rocky Warner and Mike Mahaney chasing him early. The leaders were in lapped traffic quickly and this made things even more wild. Stewart Friesen was on the move after starting fifth and was soon battling Warner for second. 

He got that spot and then moved in to challenge Godown for the lead. Ryan was running the cushion while Friesen experimented with the low side of the track. Several times Stewart got a nose inside Godown, only to have Ryan hold him off.  Matt Sheppard, who started twenty sixth after breaking in his heat while leading, was like a hot knife through butter as he working his way up to just outside the top five. 

One lap past halfway, things came to a head for the leaders in heavy traffic. Godown and Friesen came up on slower traffic the was running three wide down the front chute. Godown dove low to try and find a hole while Friesen, who was working the low line, was already in that lane. They came together as they headed into turn one with them clattering into each other and Friesen, on the inside, was driven into a yuke tire marking the inside of the track. He broke his front end but before leaving the track took a dive bomb at Godown so things are now "juiced up" for the rest of the week. 

Godown would lead on the restart but Erick Rudolph, who restarted fourth after starting the race in the eleven hole, really came to life at this point. His car seemed to really get fast on the top side of the track and he blew past both Sheppard and Warner on the restart and then closed on Godown. 

They exchanged slide jobs twice before Rudolph gained control and in the last few laps he pulled away for the win. That makes two straight nights that the winner has started ninth or deeper in the field, proving that passing can take place and that both tracks so far could support such movement. 

Godown would settle for second at the finish with Warner third. Derick McGrew and Willy Decker would complete the top five while Sheppard had to settle for sixth after having to pit and change a tire after his lofty charge up through the field. The Modifieds had their part of the show done before 8 pm and many of them took advantage of the early out to head down the road toward Monroe for Thursday night's action. 

It's a good thing that the Factory Stocks have good numbers of cars as for the second straight night they participated in a wreck fest that saw less than half the starters still around at the finish of their twenty lapper. 

Daulton Faulkner led from the pole and being a historically strong runner, it seemed like this race might be a runaway. However, Michael Hudson surprised by blowing past Faulkner on the high side and pulling into the lead. Last night's winner Stoney Dubois also drove past Faulkner for second as the surprises continued. 

It also seemed as if losing two spots shocked Faulkner as he suddenly seemed to get up on the wheel harder and he then picked the pace back up, driving past Dubois for second once again and then closing on leader Hudson. 

They were battling for the lead when Hudson got too hot into turn four and spun, taking himself out of  the action as a couple of other cars plowed into him. This put Faulkner back in the lead but the restart was ugly with Dubois spinning across the track with at least six other cars crashing into him and triggering a red flag. Most left the race with big time damage but somehow Dubois escaped with minor damage and the irony was that he got his spot back while many didn't have a car left to race with. 

Faulkner would then drive on unchallenged for the win over Gary Harvin and Dubois as once again in racing as with life, things are not always fair. 

The Crate Late Models, though there were only ten, also had a wild feature race that saw the winner piggy backing another car across the finish line. Dalton Patrick was the early leader of the feature and it looked like he might run away with things. However, John Sliney found the top side of the track and drove past Patrick to take over the lead. 

While these two were racing, behind them the demo derby broke out with a three car wreck on the front chute that had drivers shaking fists at each other while the true instigator, who had earlier dumped the second place car, continued to race on like nothing was wrong. 

Following that restart, Sliney continued to lead when suddenly Jarret Stuckey, who was running fourth, really picked up the pace. He moved into second and then challenged for the lead as the final laps played out. 

The white flag saw slide jobs exchanged twice with Stuckey throwing a tough slider in the last corner to edge in front. Sliney tried to cross him over with his aim not the best and he planted the front of his car on the rear deck of Stuckey's and Jarret dragged him across the finish line in taking the win. Stuckey, son of famous Late Model builder Ronnie, was followed by Sliney and Patrick. 

The Pro Modifieds appeared to be just like the Limited Mods I saw last night except they were running without roofs and some had bigger blades on the back with one even running a quick change rear end so I don't know exactly what their rules were. 

However, Chase Hatton, who won Tuesday night's Limited Mod feature at Boothill and had that car in his trailer but instead opted to run another car so there must be some difference in rules, would dominate. Trent Humphrey would lead the first two laps of this feature but then Hatton would drive by him and then pull away to score an easy win. 

I believe it to be Hatton's tenth win in this class at Ark-La-Tex this year and he was trailed by Humphrey and  Doug Vick Jr. 

The FWD (Forward) class would complete the evening and for the second straight night only a handful of them were on hand. Luke Dupont would lead the first five laps of this feature before Jack Dupont, half of the FWD drama last night at Boothill, would take over the lead. 

His advantage would last for just one lap before Luke would regain the lead and he would then drive on for the win with Jack doing his best to make a repass but not taking out a family member like last night's race. Josh Worn would finish third while the other half of last night's dust up, Makayla Storm, couldn't keep up to return the favor on this night. 

All night, track officials along with the STSS crew, did a great job of pushing through the program with the final checkered flag waving at 8:30 pm and the fans on hand grateful for their efforts so they could see a full show. 

With the storms apparently slowing down, they didn't arrive until the over night hours so it was another lesson that one shouldn't always rely on the forecasts but instead, if it isn't raining, go to the track and support the show. 

However, a surprise came later when I was waken from a sound sleep at about 1:30 a.m. when the tornado warnings went off in Shreveport with my tablet and the tv about scaring me out of about ten years growth. While the Doppler showed rotation near by, fortunately all we saw was a brief gust of wind and then some hard rain but there is not more helpless feeling than being on the top floor of a hotel in your undies and no where to hide!

Wednesday was my anniversary so thanks to my wife Linda for allowing me to travel this week to some place where it was warm while the first snow flakes were falling at home. 

Godown Opens Cajun Series with Modified Victory at "The HIll"

 Anyone up for an eleven hundred mile ride South to see some Modified racing this week? The answer was a resounding NO, but I went anyway as I headed for Louisiana for five straight nights of racing, weather permitting of course. 

For a number of years, I have been seeing center steer Modifieds in action once or twice a year as circumstances would permit. Exclusively, I would see them race either in Florida at Volusia in February or at the World Finals in Charlotte in November. 

I always found the cars to be immaculately prepared and always very sharp looking, all chromed up and spotless. Granted, to me the center steer Modifieds are a  bit odd looking but once one gets over the fact that they look like a Sprint Car chassis with a Modified body hung over it and the driver sits right in the middle of the chassis, you appreciate how clean the cars are. 

Frankly, however, while they are very clean looking and certainly unique, especially for us from the center of the country where we never see them in person, I have never found them to race very well and the vast majority of races that I have seen them compete in have been less than stellar. However, they are hugely popular in the eastern region of the country and believing that those race fans must know what they are cheering for too, I have assumed that I just haven't caught their racing on their best days. Perhaps it was the tracks they were racing on , I thought, so I wanted to see them race on a couple of shorter tracks that were prepared somewhat differently on some different dirt and see if that made a difference. And by the end of the night on Tuesday, my answer would be a resounding YES. 

On Tuesday night, November 9th, I made what I hope will be the first of five straight nights of Modified racing in the Cajun state of Louisiana seeing the center steer Modifieds in action. This would be the Cajun Swing of the Short Track Super Series Cajun Region combined event at the historic Boothill Speedway, just West of Shreveport Louisiana which by the way is celebrating its fiftieth year of racing in 2021. Racing this week will be held from Tuesday night through Saturday night at four different tracks across northern Louisiana, ending up with a  $20.000 to win show on Saturday night at Super Bee Speedway. Along with the Modifieds, a variety of classes that race weekly at these five tracks will also be in action on a random basis at the various tracks. 

Racing in the Modifieds will be under the auspicious of the Short Track Super Series and its owner and promoter Brett Deyo. Deyo is one of the hottest young promoter in the entire country and his rise to racing prominence in the powerful East Coast racing scene has been a wonder. Starting out as the promoter of one special event not that many years ago, Deyo now runs a whole gauntlet of racing events including a STSS North and South division series on the East Coast that stands toe to toe with the powerful World Racing Group Super Dirt Car Series with his fifty thousand dollar to win events.  He also is the weekly promoter at three prominent tracks in the Northeast, runs a series for the Sportsman cars, administers the American Racer tire championships and has now started the Cajun Series to try and bring this brand of Modified racing to the southern region for a class that has been pretty much locked up in the Northeast. He may be involved in other things that I have omitted but the bottom line is that he is a promoter on the move and one of the biggest "movers and shakers" on the East Coast. 

This series of races is the second year for the Cajun Swing which is designed to bring some of the eastern stars to this part of the country so fans can see them in action and his eastern drivers can race at some new tracks. It is also designed as a reward of sorts for those southern drivers that have built cars and races his Cajun Series this year plus their chance to race for extra money, far more than they normally do plus rub shoulders with the biggest stars in center steer Modifieds. It also gives the fans of the South a chance to see Stewart Friesen, Matt Sheppard, Mike Mahaney, Erick Rudolph and others in action. 

The series was expanded this year to five nights and the amount they were racing for was also increased with the twenty thou pot at the end of the week. The Cajun Series drivers did support the series soundly with the top fourteen in their points standings on hand and around a dozen or so drivers from the Northeast made the pull down to Louisiana too. Some came directly from the World Finals at Charlotte last weekend while others just drove down this week. John Lutes told me he drove twenty six hours nonstop from northern New York to get to Boothill with only a short nap once he is the Cajun state. 

In all, thirty two Modified drivers signed in to race which was double the number that were on hand for last year's initial series as the number of cars in this area of Louisiana and Texas grows and more of the professional racers look for a nice week of racing in the warm temperatures before Winter sets in as these guys have to battle as harsh of Winters as I do. 

Boothill Speedway here in Greenwood La. proved to be a great track for these drivers to showcase their cars and prove to me that yes, they can put on a show that features passing, wild turns of fate and plenty of  "rubbing is racin." Boothill is a quarter mile oval with fairly tight corners but wide enough that passing can take place. Series officials requested a heavier than what his generally done surface here which required a little more wheel packing than normal. However, it produced a very fast track that was still able to be passed on plus a nice berm built up and even the support class drivers later would comment that they liked the change in the surface as apparently they normally run it pretty slick with not much to get a grip of.  The STSS also runs a format that is attractive to me as a fan as no time trials were held, double file restarts were used up to the last five laps of the main and they redrew the top twelve from the heat races which is a pretty deep redraw compared to most. All these things were attractive to my tastes as a fan and also, by the way, allowed them to start the program about ten minutes earlier than even the advertised start time! This would be the first race ever for this series at Boothill but the drivers quickly adapted to the track. 

Two excellent announcers covered all the action. I apologize that i missed the name of the STSS announcer but the local track announcer who did the support classes was Joshua Bell who also displayed a great singing voice as he did the National Anthem. 

Another appealing consideration for the evening was that the Modifieds would run first with both their heats and feature being up first on the card so that fans could leave early if necessary on a work and school night. Four heats and the only B Feature of the night set the running order for the main event for the STSS. They redrew the top twelve and their were two Cajun Series provisionals so twenty six cars started their main event. 

The Modified feature would see three different leaders during its forty laps and eventual winner Ryan Godown, the New Jersey driver, would start ninth on the grid. The cream would rise to the top during the feature race with the biggest names in this form of racing battling it out for the win. Young Jack Lehner would be the early leader before he was passed by Rocky Warner who would hold the top spot  after Lehner got a flat tire as he collided with a slower car while threading his way through traffic. 

There was quite a disparity between speeds in some of the cars and on this tight track, it made the action both wild and hairy as the fast cars, while battling for position, tried to steer through quite a number of much slower cars. This did result in some wild goings on as after Lehner lost the lead when he banged with a slower car, the same thing would happen to Warner. 

As he and Friesen battled for the lead, Warner banged wheels with a slower car, sending Jimmy McCommas up on his lid and into the night air. He would be OK but done for the night. 

Rare and freak mistakes would plague some of the biggest names with Sheppard stumbling on a restart and getting run over that would end his night and Friesen would "step on it" while battling for the lead and end up flying through the infield and losing two positions. Meanwhile, Godown gradually worked his way to the front, took over second from Friesen and using the healthy cushion, blast past Warner for the lead with about ten laps to go. He then would pull away for the four thousand dollar victory while Rudolph would charge up from eleventh to pass Friesen for second. Only twelve of the starters were still on the track at the conclusion of this rough and tumble race that was highly entertaining, never the less. 

The support classes were a little light on numbers but there were never the less drivers from four states in action in this area where there is a confluence of states packed closely together. It was reaffirmed that yes, I was witnessing racing in the South when two Bubba's were a part of the field for the first main event.  

The Factory Stocks had a nice field of cars with twenty of them taking the green flag for their main event. Three tries and three yellows and this race would restart single file for the main. Stoney Dubois would lead all twenty laps to win the main event in this class but it was a tight race as Neal Kemp would challenge him closely for the whole distance. Kemp would get a nose under Dubois in every corner and try to beat him back up the track but each lap Dubois would fight him off. 

A late yellow saw more of the same but to Kemp's credit, he ran the leader clean and Dubois would hold on for the win. In victory lane Dubois announced that it was his first feature win in eighteen years of trying so I guess he was more than due. He also announced that with some money in his pocket from the win, he planned on heading up to Ark-La-Tex to race on Wednesday night! Kemp and Ricky Ingalls, of the famous East Texas Ingalls racing family, would trail. 

Fourteen Limited Modifieds would take the green flag for their main event with Derick Grigsby leading the early laps. However, Grigsby suddenly lost power down the back chute and dived into the infield, turning over the lead to Coty Tupper. Tupper didn't wear the lead for more than a few seconds as just after he passed the slowing Grigsby, he dug into the turn three banking and launched himself into the Louisiana sky as he barrel rolled. He was OK but obviously done for the night. 

Chase Hatton would inherit the lead, lose it for one lap to Aaron Roy but then would fight back into the top spot and hold off Roy and Tyler Parker for the win. 

I don't know if fans in this area like to "rumble"  from time to time but a local law presence at this facility was very noticeable. A Caddo Parish Sheriff's vehicle was parked by the pit gate all night and when wrecks were cleaned up such as Tupper's flip, two of the Sheriff's vehicles were first to the scene along with the wreckers. 

The FWD Front Wheel Drive ( or Forward class as they now have been infamously named by Michael Rigsby) didn't get the e-mail that they were racing on this night and only five showed up. However, just that small number still managed to create their share of controversy when Makayla Storm was unceremoniously dumped by Jack Dupont while she was leading the five lap main event. While she went skittering up the banking and rolled a tire off the rim, Dupont drove on to the win, only to be met in victory lane by a chorus of boos and jeers from the fifteen people that stuck around to watch the last race of the night. 

All racing was completed by 10 pm but if you had come to watch the Modifieds alone, you could have left the track well before that time. The Modifieds showed themselves in a new and much more appealing light to me on this night plus the other support classes had a fun night as well. I wish a few more fans had been on hand to watch but this class is relatively new to the race fans of Boothill and indeed, it was a Tuesday night in November. Many likely watched on Flo from the Northeast and I;m sure the live body crowd will increase as we get nearer the weekend. 

Thanks to Brett Deyo and the entire crew along with the workers from Boothill who were putting on their fourth special event in the last six days, something that tracks farther North could only dream about at this time of the year.   

 

Kile Repeats at CJ Turkey Dash

 Racing in November in the Midwest is something that I never had the chance to do for many years. Heck, anything past Labor Day weekend was long considered to be a bold gamble to stage a race at a time when football ruled the roost. Now however, the limits have been pushed and there are many races that fill the Fall months of September and October and even some bold promoters that try to extend the season as long as possible. 

CJ Speedway in Columbus Junction Iowa on Saturday afternoon, November 6th put on the fifth annual Turkey Dash at the Louisa County Fairgrounds and while I had not been to any of the first four events in this series, I was more than happy to drive down for the fifth annual on what was a beautiful Saturday afternoon for racing in the Midwest. According to track announcer Jerry Mackey, while the weather didn't get quite as warm as it did for last year's race with temperatures that set a record for the date, It was still a very pleasant day for race and while the program stretched into the evening before the final checkered flag waved, it still was not uncomfortable by any means. 

Not having been to this event before, I really didn't know just what to expect in terms of number of cars racing, what the crowd would be like etc. and from all standpoints, I think it exceeded my expectations. We were also dealing with day time racing which can be sketchy at times too but from that standpoint everything worked out to be fine also. 

One hundred and twenty nine racers signed in for the show which featured the five IMCA classes that one would normally get to see at most shows in the Hawkeye State with the Sport Compacts topping the chart with thirty one entrants but enough cars in all classes for a good show and along with the Sport Compacts, there would be enough cars racing to require B Features in the Sport Mods also. 

In a move of bravery, I wore my Badger sweatshirt into the pits, not knowing what the response would be following last weekend's beat down of the Hawkeyes in Madison but except for a couple of unspoken but wary looks at the logo, I was good to go. However, if I would have needed backup, there were a few Wisconsin people on hand also, both as spectators and participants as this race drew drivers from a broad area including Minnesota and Illinois as there are still apparently a lot of people interested in stretching the season out one more week. One wonders if the folks at Davenport weren't kicking themselves in the backside just a bit after they cancelled so early and then Friday turned out to be a nice night. It would have made for an awesome doubleheader and certainly would have made the field of cars even bigger with likely more travelers on hand. 

It has been quite a few years since I was last at CJ as they run mostly regular events on their normal race night here and there are a lot of tracks between here and northern Wisconsin. However, the racing proved to be very good all day(and evening) and when considered that the show started somewhere after 2 pm in the blazing Fall sun, even better. A lot of afternoon shows can be pretty brutal but I thought that the racing was good from start to finish. 

CJ is really wide in the corners and despite the fact that it would get black and slick top to bottom, which was certainly expected, there was still plenty of passing and some dandy slide jobs also. 

CJ is a uniquely appearing track in one regard. With the Iowa River running right next door to the track and the whole fairgrounds really part of that river's flood plain, the fairgrounds has been badly flooded a number of times over the years. To protect the buildings and property on the grounds, a large dike has been built that forms a perimeter around the first and second turn and then down the back chute which gives the whole track an unusual perspective. 

And racers being racers, they have found a way to make that dike aid them as they raced. The first turn has been made so wide now that it comes right up to the base of the dike and now racers are using the dike to give them a "kick" off it and down the back chute. It provides a very unusual perspective to watch the drivers head straight into the first turn, run up the dike to give them momentum, then make a hard left turn off the bank and shoot down the back straightaway. With the track being exceptionally slick with the afternoon show, this blast of momentum was successfully used by a number of drivers and I loved their creativity. 

A topic of discussion was the qualifying format that was used on this day with dashes for the top finishers setting the starting lineups for the front rows of the features instead of doing a draw/redraw which is normally used in this area for special events. There is, I suppose, some merit to having the drivers earn through a race their starting positions as opposed to just being lucky on a draw and who could turn down some generous sponsors if they wanted to be involved in a program. And for a change of pace, why not indeed?

However, as some had predicted though, and this is something that frequently happens with dashes setting the starting order, the winners of four of the five feature races came off the front row and it would have been five for five if not for Dylan Thornton's blown engine while leading the Stock Car main. 

It was a big program with twenty eight races on the card and while the heats had full fields, they could have probably compacted things a bit by taking more cars out of the heats and then having smaller B Features which could have been reduced in number. Any way that laps for an afternoon show can be reduced on the track is always a good thing. However, that is nick picking and overall things ran smoothly with no down time except that required for some track prep before the mains began. 

There were plenty of people on hand to report the results of this race so I wouldn't belabor with a lap by lap account of what happened as that is available elsewhere. 

John Watson dominated the Hobby Stock feature, leading from start to finish. He was one of those running off the dike banking and on nearly every lap he had to skirt around the pack challenging on the inside but he was comfortable doing so and never changed his line throughout the race. A late yellow set up a two lap sprint to the finish and Dustin Griffiths put the heat on after he won an excellent battle for second. Solomon Bennett made quite a charge from the back of the pack after he was forced to start there after leading a heat until his car got too hot and he had to pull off with victory in sight. 

The Sport Mod feature had the fewest yellows of any of the five classes and this was a two car race with Logan Anderson holding off all charges from Tyler Soppe for the win. They put on a good battle from start to finish and Soppe tried every line on the track looking for a little edge but Anderson would have him covered. 

The most dominated performance was put on by Chuck Fullenkamp who would have no challengers in the fifteen lap Sport Compact feature. Leading from start to finish, no one would ever be able to get close enough to challenge. Cory Van Dusen would finish in the second spot as twenty three of the starters would finish the race with only flip victim Dustin Munn not taking the checkered. 

The Modified feature was probably the most exciting and at the same time frustrating as it seemed that just when things were going to get exciting, the yellow would fly for a spin or stall. Six times the yellow bunting would wave by starter Doug Haack and each time, it would interrupt the flow of the race. However, those yellows would always be followed by an exciting restart as Kurt Kile would run up the dike and several times have to split the cars that were battling to get past him for the lead. Whether it was Dylan Thornton or Jarrett Brown, he was splitting hairs very closely to squeeze by, but he did it time after time which was thrilling for the crowd. Thornton and Brown would try different strategy on their restart lines but each time it would be Kile that would slip between them and continue as the leader. At the end it was Brown that settled for second. 

Jason See would be the early leader of the Stock Car feature but Thornton was doing a good job working the track and he would find a way past See to take over the lead. Once in front, he was comfortably in the top spot while a good battle for second would take place. Disaster hit with only three laps to go when Thornton slowed and then lost power down the back chute with a motor failure the apparent problem. Johnny Spaw, who had done as good a job as anyone of working up through the pack after starting ninth, would take over the lead at this point and he would drive on for the win over See and Griffiths. 

It was a long day of racing and the main events weren't perhaps the most compelling ever presented but I enjoyed the show. I thought the track was exceptional especially  given the conditions and circumstances and it was good to see a big field of cars and nice crowd on what would be the last day of racing in the state of Iowa for 2021, except that now hopefully the Shiverfest will get those honors later this month. 

I never did get to say hello to Larry Richardson but would like to thank him and all his crew for a job well done. With Kevin Feller recording the numbers, Doug Haack waving the sticks and Jerry Mackey calling the action, it was good to see that all the veteran race people haven't been "farmed out" to retirement just yet.