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.
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