Larson Dominates FLO TV Late Model Opener at Eldora

 On Tuesday night, April 26th, I was in Rossburg Ohio at the Eldora Speedway for the opening night of the FLO Racing in America tour for Late Models on the high banked speed palace that is the Eldora Speedway. This race had been postponed from a previous date scheduled a couple of weeks earlier due to wet grounds, miserable weather conditions and questions arising over the new racing surface put down at Eldora. 

The race needed to be run this week but unfortunately, most of the questions came up again as conditions didn't change much over the past couple of weeks. The track suffered through a steady but light rain all day on Monday, the new surface still hadn't seen a racing event on it as the scheduled practice session had to be canceled due to wet weather and race day conditions weren't any better than earlier with it being cloudy(up until just before race time), windy and cold. All of this helped to make it a tv event. However, there were some people on hand to watch it live and really, more than I thought would show up on such a miserable night. Still, the crowd was more like a few peas rattling around in a full size can but to their credit, the track had all their services up and running just like they were expecting a World 100 size crowd. 

To say it has been quite a while since I have been to Eldora would be an understatement as it was before the Tony Stewart era when I last saw a race here and that was one of my motivating reasons for coming as I thought I should see the place at least once more. Obviously, much has changed about the place and there are more new and different things about the facility than there are reminders of the old days. The most prominent hold over is the main grandstand with the weird, home built bleachers that likely are most enjoyed by Rico Abreu. However, the new scoreboard, VIP building, all the additional bleachers, great track and spectator lighting and many other things  upgrading far overwhelm any concerns about the main grandstand and many people prefer to sit in lawn chairs on cement slabs around the track anyway. 

With this being one of the last tests before the huge races upcoming at Eldora are held, along with the prestige of running at Eldora and not overlooking an excellent purse that would feature over twenty two thousand dollars to the winner, the field of Late Models entered was a power house one indeed. Perhaps not all but certainly most of the top drivers in the county in Late Models were in the house and forty nine of them signed in to race. Interestingly, there were a couple that took a look at the heavy track with two hundred and fifty loads of fresh clay not raced on yet and decided that discursion  was the better part of valor as both Johnny Scott and Scott James opted not to race.

The track turned out to be blazing fast and choppy and several drivers had fenders and noIt se pieces ripped loose as the cars bottomed out and hit big clods of dirt. Kyle Bronson lost a motor in time trials and then broke his second car in his heat race while Austin Kirkpatrick, all alone with no crew, had a flat tire during hot laps, nearly missed his qualifying effort and shortly after called it a night. Frankie Heckenast even had a hood fold up in his face, costing him a chance to make the main. 

The Late Models would qualify and start heats straight up and with big twelve car heats, just making the top four was a struggle for many. The challenging conditions made it even harder and nearly half the B Feature scheduled fields opted out and loaded up. And surprisingly, with such a large field, only twenty two cars would start the main, originally scheduled for fifty laps but mercifully cut to thirty. As it was, only half the starting field was around at the checkered and only six on the lead lap. 

However, that was largely due to the efforts of Kyle Larson who literally destroyed the talented field on this night. It was too bad that with such a great group of drivers on hand, they really couldn't race the way they would have liked but the conditions didn't seem to bother Larson who raced high and low on the track, as needed, to pass cars and pull away from the field. 

He didn't get the greatest of starts as he fell back to third in the early going with Jonathan Davenport grabbing the early lead and Brandon Overton passing Larson for second. However, once Kyle got down to work, he drove past Overton and caught Davenport within a few laps. On lap six, just a lapped traffic was upon them, Larson blew past on the outside and disappeared into the Ohio sunset. He built up a lead of nearly a full straightaway as no one could stay with him and cars started to drop out. It was telling when Mike Marlar and Tim McCreadie, with starting spots in the third and fourth rows respectively, opted to start in the back, take the green and then park. 

A late yellow with just two laps to go could have been problematic for Larson, but he just mashed the throttle on the green and pulled away one more time from Davenport as he made the track work for him. Overton would settle for third with Brandon Sheppard and Ricky Thornton Jr completing the top five. Interestingly, while most of the teams quickly unload and then cover up their cars from preying eyes, the Rumley team unloaded their car from a simple box trailer and it sat unguarded and uncovered for a considerable time in the pits  before they pushed it too their stall. Whatever their secret is, they apparently have nothing to hide from the public. 

Along with the Late Models, the UMP Modifieds and local Super Stocks would also be racing on this night. Interestingly, while the Late Models ran their portion of the program straight up, the Modifieds and Super Stocks inverted four for their heats. Of course, they did also have to qualify but they did it group style during hot laps so that went quicker. 

A strong field of twenty nine Modifieds was on hand but through attrition there were only twenty three to run the feature race and no B Feature was needed. Austin Holcombe, who pulled all the way from North Carolina to race for grand top prize, would start on the outside pole for the twenty lap main and lead all the way to get the win. He was dogged all the way by David Stremme who just couldn't find an opening to make the winning pass. 

The Mods raced after the Late Models were done and by that time, the low line was the smoothest way around the track with everyone pretty much migrating to that line to save their cars. Venturing any farther up the track just didn't seem to work for the open wheel cars. 

So Holcombe held his line, Stremme waited for an opening but when it didn't happen, Holcombe was the pleased winner of the event. Rick Eckert would drive a conservative race and let others take themselves out and he would move up to third at the finish. 

The heavier Super Stocks actually managed the track the best of any of the classes as they were able to move around the track more and not seemingly bounce around near as much. They had sixteen cars start their main event with Gabe Mueller taking the early lead. Craig Dippman would run second briefly before Nick Bowers would take the spot and then close on the leader. 

The lone yellow of the race flew just at the halfway point of the fifteen lapper and on the green for the restart, Bowers would drive right by Mueller with an impressive move and then drive away from the pack. With the rest of the race staying green, He had no challenges as he drove on for the win over Mueller and Dippman. 

The show got done about 11:30 EST and by that time the temperatures were dipping into the 30's so it was a frosty night in western Ohio. It was good to get back to Eldora once again and to see what a palace that Tony Stewart and his people have turned this farmland in Ohio into. Thanks to new G.M. Jerry Gappens and the whole crew at Eldora who are a top notch crew and very professional. 

Long Tries Shortcut; Adams County Says "DQ"

 After two years of sitting idle the Adams County Speedway, formerly known as the Quincy Raceway for ,many years, reopened on Sunday night, April 24th after their first attempt to open one week earlier was rained out. Weather would again be a factor on this night but while some thought they might cancel once again, they decided that for a variety of reasons they needed to get the season started so they proceeded onward and were rewarded with a successful and interesting opening night of racing. 

Adjustments had to be made for the opener. The starting time was set back one hour from the original plan which gave them more time to get track drying and prep done was well as do some packing in the parking lots and pit areas. As far as I know, only the wreckers in the infield managed to get stuck during the night but some racers parked out in the spectator parking lots to be on the same side. The regular pit gate was a sea of mud and couldn't be used with that area due to get more fill and reworking this coming week so for the opener they opened up a new gate on the East end of the facility and the sign in and draw was done using temporary facilities. In the end it all worked out and racing would commence with the first green flag at just about 6 pm. 

Jimmy Lieurance is the new promoter at Adams County, having previously run things at Moberly last year. He has a one year lease on the track from owner Paul Holtschlaug with the option to purchase said track. He has Blake Dotson as his Race Director. Interestingly, Dotson told me that his real job is managing the farm owned by Late Model driver Todd Frank. On this night, Dotson was doing just about every job under the sun under his broad work description. 

Getting a track ready for opening night is a tough enough preposition, much less a track that hasn't been raced on for an extended period of time. Throw in the uncertainty of some rain in the morning on top of already wet conditions and it just magnifies the problems. The track started out extremely dusty during practice but some water cured much of that and for most of the night the track stayed pretty smooth too. It did slick up from top to bottom, making it tricky and probably leading to the biggest controversy of the night during the Modified feature, but we'll get to that later. The track has been widened out just a little bit, the banking cut down some and the flat spots partway out in the corners filled in so that the banking is more progressive. 

Five classes were in racing action on Sunday night including three under UMP sanctioning which would include Mods, Crate Late Models and Sport Compacts. The Sport Mods were under IMCA sanction and the Street Stock class was a combination class of area Streets plus Stock Cars from various sanctions too. 

Normally the Mods would qualify but on this night, for whatever reason, they did not. However, all classes except for the Sport Mods under IMCA rules where they redraw, started the features straight up how they finished their heats.  

Once they got racing, the heat races moved through smoothly and after a pause for the cause, it was time for the five main events. We would see some dominating runs, a late race pass for a win and the Modified controversy plus one wild crash that was a scary one. 

Street Stocks would be first and eight of the ten on hand would run the main. Robert Cottom would start on the pole and he would lead all fifteen laps for the win. Two yellows would slow the action but following each one he would pull away, eventually getting the win over Jake Powers and Leremy Jackson. 

Twenty five Four Cylinder cars would take the green in the class that had the most entrants. With some extra sponsorship they would be racing for $275 to win, big money for them. They took off into the first corner and with the top cars in this class all set up to carry their left rear tire in the turns, the leaders looked like a bunch of dogs lifting their legs when they found a fire hydrant!

Michael Grossman was very fast and he took the early lead. Unfortunately for him however, the motor didn't last too long and he blew up in a big way while in the top spot and was done.Jeffery Delonjay would inherit the lead and he would lead the last nine laps of the race to take the win. It was quite wild as the front runners weaved through the heavy traffic. Jimmy Dutlinger and Cyle Hawkins got into a hammering battle for second with they laying the bumper on each other rather briskly as Dutlinger held on for second. 

There seems to be one race every night that proves to be a "stinker" and on this night it was the Sport Mod feature. Eighteen cars managed to produce ten yellow flags that included more spins that the County Fair Tilt-A-Whirl. 

Shane Paris would lead all laps and had to have been wondering just what was going on behind him as the yellow kept flying and flying and flying. Dakota Girard would eventually move into second and he would make a race of it, sticking his nose under Paris on several occasions but not able to make the winning move. 

The last yellow was by far the most violent and scary as Josh Holtman rode the guard rail down the back chute before flipping and pivoting so that in the air the roof of the car was facing traffic. Lots of cars and no where to go and he got hailed in what appeared to be either the driver's door or the roof while he was in the air. Thankfully he was uninjured but it was the kind of freaky looking accident where bad things happen from time to time. 

Paris would lead the last two laps over Girard and Tanner Klingele to take the win in perhaps his longest race of the year. 

There were only four Crate Late Models but they produced a crowd pleasing effort. Denny Woodworth was expected to run away with things but for whatever reason, on the extremely slick track he opted to run the middle line instead of hugging the tires as most had done. It worked for awhile but eventually Sam Halstead caught him in the low groove and the last few laps saw them run side by side. Sam made a good corner on the last lap and was able to edge in front to score the surprising win over the racing attorney. 

The Modifieds wrapped things up with their eight car feature but as any good promoter will tell you, the last race you're hoping that something will happen that will cause the crowd to be talking on their way out and anxious to get back the following Sunday. And boy, did that happen on this night!

With the track super slick, everyone was hugging the extreme low groove as Dave Wietholder took the early lead. Austen Becerra, running his IMCA car, proved to be very competitive. He closed in on Wietholder and made a move for the lead. Just as he got the top spot,  suddenly Michael Long showed up out of no where to challenge and he was using a previously undiscovered line. The reason being was that no one was running that low as Long had all four tires well below the inside barriers in turns one and two especially and he was making great time racing below the slick track in the loose dirt. 

He blew past Becerra by making the quarter mile oval about a sixth mile and as he flew by and drove away, there were howls of protest from some in the crowd while the Long backers were in heaven. Long continued to use that line as he drove away and you could sense that there would be some blow back on this. 

Long would pull away to take the checkered but just after he crossed the line, the announcer reported that Long was being disqualified for "cutting the pie", as they say. In the meantime, Becerra reported his displeasure by playing some bump and run with Long as there were clearly some unhappy campers on the grounds. 

In my judgement, there was no doubt that the DQ was justified but it would have been nice if Long could have seen a black flag as soon as he did his deed, rather than wait until the race was over. The official rundown would see Wietholder get the win over Becerra and Michael Vanderiet Jr. Long would be in line for the "Infield Tractor Tire" award if nothing else. But the crowd was stirred up and you can bet they will want to be back next week to see what happens. 

The crowd was a great one for the opener and despite a few hiccups during the night, the racing was still done by around 9 pm. Yes the track was too dusty early and yes the intermission went way too long and there will be few other things that need to be fine tuned. More cars are needed in several of the classes but hopefully those will build in the coming weeks. But those are all correctable things and as they say, "Rome wasn't built in a day." Sometimes a little patience is needed by all. 

Thanks to Jimmy and his staff, all very pleasant people to work with. They can all now take a deep breath with the opener under their belts and congratulate themselves on a successful first night as they overcame the odds. 

Looney Wins One For the Missouri Racers at Lucas Oil Speedway

 The Spring Nationals presented by Pitts Homes wrapped up on Saturday night, April 23rd at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland Missouri and despite the best attempts of Mother Nature to mess up the night, track and MLRA series officials won this round with the whole program able to be completed before the Witching Hour and for local and area fans, they got their wish when one of their own drove to victory lane after Payton Looney led all forty laps of the MLRA Late Model feature to take home seven thousand dollars. 

It proved to be a difficult night with the weather interruption but strong efforts on the part of the track prep crew and cooperation by the racers allowed the show to be completed at a fairly reasonable time to top things off. 

Weather was supported to hit the Wheatland area but the storms had been promised much later in the evening and after the track made the move to start everything an hour earlier, it seemed like they were in the clear, so to speak. However, a line of showers formed up ahead of the main event and by the time it was qualifying time for the Late Models, the skies were looking grim and the MAV TV cameramen were called down off the roof of this massive facility for their own safety. 

As it turned out, if rain was going to intervene, it picked a good time to do so as the first flight of time trials had just been completed with only three cars from round two having taken time when the track quickly got too wet as the rain started to fall with some intensity. Fortunately, it did not last that long and did not come down that hard or we would probably have been done. As it was, within several minutes, the tractors were back on the track and the process of getting the surface primed again didn't take too long at all. In fact, after the second flight of time trials was held, the first green flag flew at 8 pm, not any later than a lot of tracks would start their regular Saturday night show!

And for those fans that came to see just the Late Models, they actually caught a break as they could be on the road home even earlier than they probably had planned on. With more rain certainly a possibility, the track officials got together with MLRA are did a "redo" on the schedule for the night. The Late Models ran off their portion of the program first and virtually non stop with only a three race break for B Mods heats after the second of the Late Model B Features. Before you knew it, it was time for the Late Model feature. 

Looney would start on the outside pole for the Late Model main and he got the jump on Jason Papich to lead the early laps. However, Looney started to lose the advantage he had worked for early and Papich was then making some hard moves for the lead. And just as Papich passed for the lead in turn four on lap ten, the first yellow flew when Kylan Garner blew up. 

On the restart, Papich slipped back as Chad Simpson drove into the second spot and would be the primary chases of Looney. Papich, after looking so strong early, then made a gradual slip back in the field, eventually ending up eighth at the end. 

Looney would continue to lead with Chad and then Chris Simpson joining the battle for second. By the time Shannon Babb spun on lap twenty seven, the top three were well established up front. However, two more yellows would bunch the field but on each occasion, Looney would move away as the Simpson's battled for second. 

The last slowdown led to a five lap dash but Looney pulled away once again and drove under the finish line uncontested for the big win. Chad held off Chris for second while Logan Martin and Garrett Alberson both made nice runs through the pack to complete the top five. Only five cars didn't complete the race including Billy Moyer, Babb and Tony Jackson, all three of which had miserable weekends here in the Ozarks. 

The Late Models were done, loaded and on their way home early and then we went back to regularly scheduled programming which included three other classes. The USRA Mods were back at it along with the B Mods and Stock Cars. They ran their heats and then moved into feature racing mode. 

No B Features were held for any of the other three classes so when the B Mods hit the track for their main event, a large field of twenty seven of them, including two drivers all the way from Minnesota,  would take the green flag. This produced some trouble early with four yellows in the first eight laps but then they would settle down and run off the rest of the race nonstop. 

Kris Jackson , recently back with #65 after starting the season as #J2, would grab the lead from the outside pole despite challenges from Matt Dotson. Ryan Gillmore would later move into second after quite a battle with Dotson and then the race would be on. Jackson would continue to lead but Gillmore was following closely.

In fact, using the higher line on the track, Gillmore would catch and then briefly drive by for the lead on lap thirteen. This seemed however, to fire up Jackson who then seemed to drive harder into the corners and he would quickly then retake Gillmore for the lead and go on to lead the rest of the laps. 

Gillmore would stay close but never again provided a solid challenge for the lead and would have to settle for second. Tyler Kidwell, the winner on Friday at Humboldt, would drive up from the fourth row to get third ahead of Jon Sheets and Dotson. 

Another surprisingly small field of Modifieds, eighteen to be exact, would take the green flag for their feature Dillon McCowan would start in front but Friday night's winner couldn't match his pace from the previous night. Matt Johnson, a close runner up on Friday, would drive up from the third row and just at the halfway point of the race would drive past McCowan down the front chute to take over the lead and he would then pull away. 

This race went nonstop for twenty laps and Johnson kept the pressure on as he gradually pulled away from the field. McCowan simply couldn't keep up with him and had to settle for second ahead of Andy Bryant, Cody Brill and Jason Pursley. 

The Stock Cars wrapped up the evening and this second year class to Lucas Oil Speedway produced eighteen cars on this night. Ed Griggs was the early leader with Burl Woods and Zeb Keepper chasing him after a first lap grinding collision that was the worst of the weekend took out a couple cars. 

Griggs continued to lead but Keepper found something in the second lane and drove up to the second spot and then began to challenge the leader. Unfortunately, he got into turn four too hot and turned leader Griggs, triggering the yellow flag. Griggs was able to keep going however and retained the lead for the restart while Keepper, who stalled, had to go to the tail for the restart. 

Griggs would continue to lead until lap eleven when Bryan White, who had lurked just behind the lead duo, made a strong move to the outside of the leader and drove past him for the top spot. Griggs then faded back in the pack with William Garner making a strong late charge that saw him get up to second ahead of Rodney Schweizer at the finish. 

All racing was done around 11:30 pm, very good considering the weather delay. I would imagine the Late Model only fans were especially pleased to see the adjusted running order and truly, it made perfect sense to get the premier and advertised class done early so as to ensure that the weather didn't wreck that part of the show. Cudos to MLRA and track officials for making that strong call. 

Thanks to Danny Lorton and his staff at Lucas Oil Speedway, the "Diamond of Dirt Tracks" and called that for a good reason. One of the Minnesota teams was making their first visit to Lucas and came away suitably impressed. Thanks also to the MLRA officials for their help and all the teams. 

Johnny Scott; McCowan Top Lucas Oil Speedway Opener

 While most of the Midwest is cool and very wet, I was lucky enough to find a haven, at least for one night, at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland Missouri on Friday night, April 22nd. As a bonus for me, it was also a doubleheader weekend for the MLRA Late Model group at the same speedway so I would be in for an additional treat. 

I left Wisconsin which was enduring more wet and cool weather, and boy, did I go from one extreme to the other in less than one day. Conditions were at mid-Summer peak in Southern Missouri with temperatures in the eighties  but as has been the case seemingly everywhere in the Midwest this Spring, a hurricane force wind came along for the ride, this time blowing straight out of the South and reinforcing the very warm temps. 

Friday night's show would include a thirty lap, five thousand dollar to win main for the Late Models along with a full show of USRA Modifieds and the Show Me vintage cars. 

Thirty six Late Models would sign in to race, a goodly number but one I would have expected to be just a bit larger given where we were racing along with the fact that many tracks to the North of us had rained out for the weekend. 

There were a couple surprises in the Late Model field. Rusty Schlenk from Ohio made a rare appearance at Lucas Oil Speedway, ostensibly on hand on his way to Peoria on Saturday night. He would also drive a Modified on this night, one that he built for Jeff Cutshaw and was invited to drive on Friday night. 

"Big Daddy" Joe Duvall would make a very rare appearance in a Late Model, driving a second car for the Mason Oberkramer team. He would have trouble immediately upon hitting the track with volumes of smoke rolling from the car when he took his first green. He was black flagged from the track by starter Mike Striegel, "The Missouri Outlaw", but that might have saved his evening as whatever the problem, they got it fixed and Joe was able to race the rest of the night although driving like it was a borrowed car that had to be returned in one piece at the end of the night. 

There were plenty of issues early for the Late Model crew as Steve Stultz hammered the wall in hot laps and Dustin Walker did the same during qualifying. Walker would skip the rest of the night's racing except to take a provisional and return for the feature , minus spoiler. Dustin was also making a rare appearance in a Modified on this night and promised to have his B Mod to race on Saturday night too. 

Dustin Bolster, making a run for Rookie of the Year, needed a push to get his car started for qualifying and then surprised by laying down a very good lap. However, whatever the problems, they must have gotten worse as he didn't race anymore on Friday, scratching out of  very good starting position in his heat race. 

One of the biggest stories so far this year with the MLRA is the miserable start to the year for defending champion Tony Jackson Jr. and things just got even worse for his on this night.  He was battling for position in his heat race when he was the victim of a "dirty slider" by Logan Martin and Jackson Jr. ended up spinning. He and Martin then went at it under the yellow flag and after Jackson Jr didn't qualify for the feature, again at the finish line on the cool off lap. 

Later, Jackson Jr would spin on his own in a B Feature, pull off the track and apparently he didn't even have enough MLRA points to take a provisional or emergency provisional as he didn't appear for the feature. shockingly the first feature he has probably missed with this group in years. He has had a lot of bad luck so far this year and now he appears to be pressing, which hasn't helped his driving either. 

And on the other end of the success story, it appears that the Scott brothers have finally found a series that they can have success with driving their Late Models. Another very good night for them would see Johnny, currently the MLRA point leader, win another feature race while Johnny would finish a strong third. 

Johnny would have a perfect night, qualifying quickest as the first car to hit the track, then winning his heat race and leading all thirty laps of the feature race after starting on the pole. And while that may sound like it was the product of a very boring Late Model feature, it was actually much better than it sounds. 

Yes, Scott was way in front and not until the end of the race when he hit heavy lapped traffic did things get a big exciting but the battle for second and on back was a classic. Kolby Vandenbergh as also apparently found a series that he likes and has success with and he had a terrific race going for most of the contest. He was running second, racing the cushion, but eventually got caught by Jason Papich, Stormy Scott, Chris Simpson and Justin Wells and they had a battle for second that was dazzling. For several laps they were three, four and nearly five wide as they raced for that position, all the while threading their way through lapped traffic. It was spectacular when Papich made a banzai slide job in turn one and finally secured the second spot and then pulled away. 

Papich was making a little time on the leader but to be fair, Johnny Scott was tiptoeing very carefully through traffic at this point. Papich closed to within a few car lengths on the last lap but Johnny would take the win. Stormy would drive through for the third spot ahead of Simpson and Wells. As for Vandenbergh, once the dike opened, he fell like a brick and ended up way back in ninth. 

This thirty lap race would go nonstop and only one car out of the twenty six starters would not finish the race, that being Shannon Babb who appeared to pull off when he just wasn't making any ground up on the leaders. 

A very surprisingly low count of seventeen Modified were on hand on this night, perhaps lower because some other tracks in the area were running their normal Friday night show while Lucas runs their weekly shows on Saturday and other drivers were committed to other tracks. 

Unlike the Late Models, the Modifieds would draw for their heat race starting positions and then use passing points to line up the feature. It seemed like Matt Johnson, who had a strong run in his heat and would start the feature on the pole, would be the prohibitive favorite. However, McCowan , who started on the outside, would just drive away from Johnson and lead from start to finish. This race had only a single yellow so there ended up being just one slow down in the features altogether on a track that was smooth and slicked up from top to bottom. The track crew did a great job under such adverse conditions with I think the wind being the biggest enemy but there was very little dust all night. 

While McCowan disappeared into the Missouri dusk, there was a good battle for second and after going back and forth, Johnson would hold off Principal Jason Pursley for second. Dustin Hodges and Kevin Blackburn would complete the top five. 

It was a time trial show so it didn't get started anywhere near the advertised time with the first heat not hitting the track until nearly 8 pm but once they got going, it went smooth and fast with little in the way of delays and the final checkered waved just after 10 pm. It will need to be perhaps even more efficient on Saturday night as storms are in the forecast for the evening and in fact, track and MLRA officials have moved up the starting time by one hour to try and beat the weather. They also announced that it they have to run the full Late Model program before anything else races if the weather threatens, they will. USRA Stock Cars and B Mods are being added also on Saturday.  

Thornton Doubles at Marshalltown at Frosty Season Opener

 So here's the way things currently are in my world. Yes, I wanted to attend a race on Good Friday, April 15th. However, when I got up early on that morning, here's what my world looks like. Nineteen degrees, Two inches of fresh snow on the ground and winds gusting to thirty miles an hour. Forty miles of slick and treacherous highways and I had to bust through a couple of three foot snow drifts. Clearly, I wouldn't be racing anywhere in my home area this weekend. 

Fortunately, there were some bold and adventuresome promoters and track organizations wanted to race on this weekend and I found one of them on Friday in the person of the Marshalltown Speedway and promoter Toby Kruse and Track Manager Jerry Van Sickel. I probably drove JVS mad as I kept checking with him on both Thursday night and Friday morning, just to ascertain that they hadn't regained their sanity and chose to spend a quiet weekend indoors  instead of working in that would be a very cool April evening in central Iowa. But when I found that they were determined to get a show in on this Friday, I was all in and made the drive down. 

They had been battling their own weather issues on this weekend too as their King of the Highbanks Stock Car special, scheduled for Thursday and Friday of this week, had to be postponed because the conditions were just too difficult on Thursday. But being the aggressive and determined promoters that they are, they quickly put together an alternative program, a one night show aptly names the 2022 Season Preview and featuring extra money for their IMCA classes of Modifieds, Stock Cars, Sport Mods, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts with the Mod Lites also racing. And clearly, the drivers wanted to race too as nearly one hundred and thirty of them signed in to race including drivers from Wisconsin, Minnesnowta, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska plus those from California residing and racing in Iowa. 

Marshalltown Speedway is looking sharp for the 2022 racing season. The bleachers have finally been finished up with the last of the new aluminum bleachers down East of the scoring tower and crews were rushing to complete the assembly of the hand rails and marking off the aisles, which of course were ignored by the first folks in to plop down in their seats. The old bathrooms are long gone and what an eye sore they were, to be replaced for the time being by portables. The new lights are spectacular and now Marshalltown is one of the best lit tracks around.  The only "downer" was that the scoreboard wasn't working and I really like that to keep up on the laps. 

JVS has taken on an expanded role at Marshalltown as he is now the Race Director and basically running the show on race night. He conducts the driver's meeting and runs the raceceivers while Toby is still around but stepping back from many of the things he was responsible for previously. JVS couldn't handle his new duties and still announce so a new father and son team of announcers has come on board. I am drawing a blank and apologize as I can't remember their names( I should have written it down but it was so cold I didn't write down a lot of things I normally do) and while they had their expected gaffs with mispronounced names etc, I think they will be fine in the long run. However, there is only one JVS and I will also miss his voice in the tower. Upon further review I found out that the new announcing duo is Rodney and Cade Tomlinson. 

The biggest field of cars was in the Modified class but all classes had solid fields of cars with both of the open wheel classes needed B Features on this night to cut them down to a twenty four car starting field for the mains. Racing would start very close to the advertised start time of 7:30 pm and then it would be about three and a half hours of nonstop racing. On this cold and blustery night, there would be no driver interviews or other pomp as the plan was to get through the program as quickly as possible, a sentiment shared by the huddled mass of tough and faithful spectators gathered. 

When I say there was a double winner on this night, names like Logue Jr, Berry Jr, Brown, Murty and Kuehl might quickly pop into your head and perhaps not quite as quickly for Dylan Thornton, one of the invaders who lives in California but spends the Summer living and racing with Shawn Ritter. But on this night he was supreme, taking a wild Stock Car main and then dominating the Modified finale. 

There was a bit of controversy in the Stock Car feature as a new tough policy on drivers taking out other drivers was in force on Friday. Minnesnowta driver Jeff Larson took the early lead but contact from behind spent him spinning in turn four early in the race. Michael Jaennette was judged to be at fault and sent to the pits while Larson reluctantly went to the tail of the field. This gave the lead to Buck Schafroth but he had Dusty Vis all over him. 

Meanwhile, Thornton, from thirteenth, and the Murty's were charging to the front and they exchanged positions on the track nearly every lap. Thornton got his car working on the low side and he was able to dive under both Vis and Schafroth and take over the lead late in the race. At the end, he held off a furious charge by Vis with the Murty's very close behind, with Dallon getting by Dad late for third. It was a typically exciting Stock Car feature. Only two yellow flags and while Thornton came from thirteenth, Dallon came from seventeenth, Damon from tenth and Jay Schmidt from twenty third to round out the top five!

The Modified feature would find Thornton dominating as he started on the pole and simply drove away from the field. Jacob Hobscheidt looked like he might challenge but he broke early and that gave Thornton some racing room. With only one yellow and that early on lap two, there was a lot of green flag racing and the only thing that slowed Thornton was lapped traffic, which gave runner up Austen Becerra a chance to catch him. However, once Dylan cleared that traffic, he would again pull away and not be threatened the rest of the race. 

Becerra would finish a strong second with Tim Ward charging up to third ahead of Drew Janssen and Tom Berry Jr. 

The Sport Mod feature would be another tight one altered by an early race incident. Jessiah Taylor would be the early leader with a pack of cars close behind him when he would spin in turn two, collecting Colton Livesey who was challenging and would go off on the hook. 

This gave the lead to Tyler Soppe and one would expect that would be the end of the story but not on this night as Dylan Van Wyk would charge up from the fourteenth starting spot to drive under Soppe in the late laps and take the lead and the win. Soppe tried his best to fight off the challenge but Van Wyk was just too strong for him and would pull away on the last lap for the win. They were followed by the Olson team with Kyle, who quickly charged all the way up from row ten, taking third ahead of Tony while Janae Gustin would round out the top five. 

Young Minnesnowta visitor  Blake Luinenburg would lead from start to finish to take the Hobby Stock main event. He would receive plenty of pressure from veteran John Watson but Luinenburg would not make any mistakes nor give Watson any openings. 

After each yellow, of which there were three, Watson would attempt to get under Blake but Luinenburg would pull away each time and drive on for the win. Luke Schluetter would finish third, ahead of Solomon Bennett and Joren Fisher. 

It looked like another Minnesnowta driver would take the Sport Compact feature with R. J. Esqueda taking the early lead and looking strong up front. An early grinding collision on the front chute badly damaged the car of challenger Kolby Sabin and eliminated his chances. 

However, following that restart, Christian Grady would move to the outside and with a show of power, drive past both Bake Driscol and and Esqueda to take over the lead and once in front, he would not be caught. One late yellow would pack the field but Grady would drive away from the other two for the win. Ashton Blain and Tyler Fiebelkorn would complete the top five. 

The track was very smooth for opening night and while it started out a little top side dominant and slimy on the low groove, it eventually slicked off top to bottom and the cars were racing all over the track come feature time. 

I want to thank Kruse Motorsports for toughing it out and having the determination to put this show on, even though it was less that a perfect night. They knew coming into the event that there would not be an overwhelming crowd in the grandstands but they chose to race anyway. Thankfully, the racers supported them big time with lots of people in the pits so they probably didn't lose their arse too bad but hopefully for all, next Friday night will be eighty degrees, sunny and with no wind! 

Murty's Put On A Show To Open Stuart Speedway Season

 Stuart International Speedway closed out the weather shortened IMCA Frostbuster Series in Iowa on Sunday afternoon, April 10th. With only two shows of the five scheduled able to be run due to rain, cold and wet grounds, Boone and Stuart turned out to be the lucky ones with the weekend improving just enough that races could be held both days. Five IMCA classes would be racing on Sunday, a day that would turn out to be memorable in several ways and certainly one filled with variety, changing events and some damn good feature racing. 

The biggest problem promoter Mike VanGenderen faces is that he just doesn't have enough room at his facility and most of the area he has is more fit for billygoats than anything else. I'm actually surprised that when this track was built they were able to find enough room to put in a flat quarter mile oval as the track itself is about the only level piece of land on the property. For the racers their first memory that they form is the unusual pit parking that finds many of the visitors parked up and down the hills bordering the track on the South. Later the actual racing on the track is a much more positive and memorable experience than trying to park a big rig on a side hill. 

On this day I was quickly whisked away from my normal parking spot to a spot by the employee lot, a mvre that had me wondering early what was going on. Later I would see that where I normally park would be reserved for racers with the spectators parking on an adjacent field where I hadn't seen them park before. Pit space gets swallowed up  quickly now as the haulers get bigger and bigger and with nearly one hundred forty racers on hand, every inch is needed. I'm waiting for MVG to get a variance so he can close the dirt road next to the track and turn that into temporary pits on race nights. It's actually not a bad idea. 

While the water was froze up and the bathrooms at the track nonfunctional, fortunately the pond on the property was pumping water and MVG had multiple water trucks working the grounds, constantly watering either the track, driveways or pits as once again, the Midwestern winds were a'howling and keeping water in the soil was a very tough job. This wind would later get really sneaky as it would change direction just at race time, and then things would really get miserable for the spectators. 

Stick around the sport long enough and eventually you will see just about everything take place at the track. Today the early entertainment was provided by Dallon Murty, who along with his lady, were having  prom pictures taken in the pits after he missed that with his racing on Saturday at Boone. They took pictures by the race car, out on the dirt road and even in the adjoining corn field. It is Iowa after all. However, Dallon saved something for later too, as he and his father Damon were involved in another Stock Car war later in the evening. 

While roaming the pits, I ran into a driver from my area as Aaron Johnson from the Lakes country of Brainerd MN was on hand with his Modified. He told me they were sporting their first ever brand new car which had debuted the night previous at Boone. They were smart about it though, saving their new body for the home opener and instead putting on their "used" body from Arizona on their new Lethal chassis. 

It was a very rare late start for an MVG promotion as problems with the transponders and getting all the cars registered drove the first green flag for the Sport Mods back to 5:37 pm. After that however, it was just about nonstop racing to its conclusion about four and a half hours later. 

Clearly the sunny skies and strong winds had done their job on the dry soil of the racing surface and the dirt flew early and often, and unfortunately, because of the shifting wind, right into our faces in the grandstand. However, it was completely understandable and I bore no ill will as all the circumstances had aligned themselves against the track and I was just happy to be seeing racing, even if it was dirty and the track was pretty one grooved down on the inside. 

However, MVG was not happy and he stormed out of the tower on a couple of occasions, bringing out all the farming equipment and ripping the stuffings out of the track. Myself, I thought it a useless exercise as I felt what we had is what we were getting for the night. Fortunately, MVG is in charge and not I.

After a couple of farming sessions and a few races laid down on the track, the racing surface made one of the most remarkable change overs of any track that I can recall. Suddenly we went from a single file, hug the bottom type of track to a racy surface where drivers were racing all over the track and I kid you not. one time during the Stock Car feature the drivers were a legitimate five wide down the front chute! I schmidt you not. 

So with this makeover in place, instead of some pedestrian racing under which I would still have been happy to see racing, we were treating to some excellent feature races topped by a Murty show for the ages. 

Twenty five cars started the Stock Car feature with Johnathan Logue Jr taking the initial lead. However, he was no match for Damon Murty who quickly moved up from fifth and  passed him to take over the lead. However, son was close behind and despite the fact that he started ninth, by the halfway point he was up to second. Thus started the battle for family domination as they would battle back and forth, lap after lap. Dallon would blast up off the bottom but each lap Damon would run the cushion and hold him off. 

They kept this up for the second half of the feature but Dallon was making just a bit of time working the low groove. With two to go, he edged into the lead for the first time but Damon came right back strong and they started the last lap side by side. I thought Dallon had a strong run off the final corner and when they crossed the line(uncertain exactly where the official line is), I thought Dallon was the winner. Fortunately for all, the transponders were working and unlike me, they correctly indicated that Damon was the winner by .007 seconds. Wow! It was a dandy and worth every granule of dirt I ate or inhaled. Troy Jerovetz made a strong late run to get third. 

The Sport Mod feature provided a real upset on a couple of levels. Quite frankly, I had never heard of Jace Whitt. However, the Missouri driver moved to the lead on the opening lap from the second row and he would lead all twenty laps to take the win. Despite the fact that he had strong runners like Logan Anderson, Brayton Carter and Jake Sachau chasing him, he never faltered and would drive on for a very impressive win. He was fortunate too in that just as he got to the back of the pack, which was extensive, the race was over and he didn't have to try and pass any of the slower cars. 

And to top it off, he revealed in victory lane that it was his first feature win ever in the Sport Mods! He picked a good time to break through for sure .Anderson finished second and Minnesota driver Tim Bergerson would finish a strong third, backing up some strong runs in Arizona. 

And who would have bet money that the Sport Mods would go twenty laps nonstop and that all twenty four starters would still be on the track at the finish with not a single one lapped! MVG would not have bit on those odds. 

The Sport Compact feature would also go nonstop and after Michael Hotze took the early lead, Kaden Murray would drive past him and then lead the rest of the way for the win. Track champion Kolby Sabin would charge up to second with "The Beard", Mitchell Bunch next in line. 

Arkansas visitor Brent Harkwick would start on the pole for the Modified feature and he would lead for the first half of the race. However, there was no holding off Tom Berry Jr who had started tenth but was noticeably faster than anyone in the field. He made some spectacular moves as he drove deep into the corners and just as the halfway sign came out, he blew past Hartwick to take over the lead. 

About the only driver who could provide a challenge was Cayden Carter who came from ninth to second. Berry had nearly a full straightaway lead over the field when a late yellow, one that I thought should not have been called, slowed the field and put the pressure on Berry. 

However, Berry Jr was up to the task as he pulled away on the last two laps to take the win over Carter and Tm Ward as the Modifieds were flying around the track on this night. 

Whitewall tires may be the newest speed secret in the Hobby Stock pits as Dylan Nelson sported them on his car as he drove away from the field for an impressive win in the Hobby Stocks. He started fourth but had the lead before one lap was completed and after that, he drove away from the field. Brandon Cox held second for many laps until he was passed by Luke Ramsey and they would finish in that order. 

So it ended up being quite a day and night of racing. Was it dirty? Yes, very much so. Was that an anomaly? Yes again. Normally you don't get a hurricane wind blowing in your face here and normally conditions make it easier to get moisture into the racing surface. But as I dug the layers of dirt out of my eyes and ears, I was grinning because I know that it won't be this dirty the next time I'm here and I saw a dandy racing program on a track that was as racy as any I will probably see all year. It was a tough day for the Stuart crew, but they pulled it together and made some very delicious chicken salad out of chicken schmidt. And that's all one can ask for. 

Scott Holds On For 81 Speedway MLRA Victory

 Saturday night, April 9th the 81 Speedway hosted night number two of the invasion by the MLRA Late Models as well as a full show by the Stock Cars and USRA Modifieds plus night two for the Mod Lites of IMCA. 

It was another hurricane type night in the state made famous by Dorothy and Toto and this would have been the kind of weather that they would find exhilarating while for me it is annoying and frustrating having the wind trying to rip your clothes off and steal anything you are trying to hold on to. However, on Saturday, the wind had made a 180 degree swing and instead of it being a cold win, it felt like someone had opened up a blast furnace with the hot dry winds moving the temperatures up near eighty degrees and low humidity to make the fire danger even worse. 

On the track, thirty six Late Models had returned with the biggest loss being that of Darrell Lanigan who had to pony up his ride to car owner Tony Jackson Jr who blew up the motor in his car on Friday night. Since Jackson is running for MLRA points, it made perfect sense but did eliminate one national driving star from the mix along with one more contender. Dusty Leonard and Steve Stultz both switched cars as they searched for more speed from their wheels. 

The Late Model format would be the same as on Friday night except that the feature race would be longer and would pay more money, at least on top. For the second straight night, Tad Pospisil was the quick qualifier and is rapidly gaining a reputation as a very good qualifying driver. And with the format that is used for these races, the time trials are key in producing a successful of not so much kind of night. Later, Pospisil would use that front row starting spot in his heat to eventually secure a top five finish in the feature. Word came that Saturday night's feature had been trimmed by five laps, ostensibly to again save the drivers some money on tires, if you are buying that five laps would make any difference. 

Talking about money, I had a chance to talk to Bob Timm, owner of Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Wisconsin and father of Late Model driver Jake. Bob also pays the bills and knows about the finances, having worked both side of the fences, so to speak, as a former driver, car owner and now owner of a race track that will be putting on a fifty thousand dollar to win Late Model race next month. 

Bob said they spent thirteen hundred dollars in fuel to get to Kansas from Minnesota. Throw in a few racing tires at nearly two hundred and fifty dollars a pop and you tell me just how many guys are making any money in racing!

Two four drivers were scheduled to start the thirty five lap main event but Todd Cooney pulled off before the green and they were down to twenty three. The official stats will show that Johnny Scott led all laps for the win but that would be somewhat  less than accurate in terms of excitement value. And it would also be a rather expensive and frustrating race for others. 

Scott would indeed be the leader for all laps but that doesn't take into account for all the lead changes that were going on around the track but not shown as they crossed the line on every lap. Scott and Ryan Gustin would entertain with a series of slide jobs and cross over maneuvers that would be thrilling and a bit risky. Especially when they got into lapped traffic, things were plenty wild and there may have been a little bit of rubbing as they raced down the chutes. Things went South for Gustin on lap twenty four when he rolled to a halt with a cut tire and he was done for the night. 

The restart was crazy as Terry Phillips, thinking this was his chance, went for the lead but instead found himself surrounded by Bobby Pierce and Gordy Gundaker. They all didn't fit through turn three and the resulting pileup was a damaging one as Phillips, Stormy Scott and several others were eliminated. Pierce looked to be the prime challenger then but he was forced to pit for a flat tire before the green would have, so that left it up to Gundaker to battle for the top spot. 

The track, which had been farmed several times during the evening in the face of  the wind, heat pounding by the cars, finally said "uncle" at this point and locked down in the low groove. From then on, it was just a matter of Scott hitting his marks and not getting out of the low groove rubber and he did so expertly as he drove on for the win over Gundaker and Chad Simpson. The race was a taxing one with only thirteen cars still running at the end. 

The Modifieds would run last on the night and by this time, as well as a used up race track, half the crowd was by now gone on what was a windy and despite the best efforts of management, a dusty night in the stands. They got off to a bad start, forty five minutes late with the first green flag due to, guess what?. And then the Stock Cars, had a tough go of it too which dragged things out some more. 

It was too bad as a really "All Star" field of Modifieds was on hand with several of the Late Model stars racing their Modifieds too as well as a few travelers plus a strong local delegation also. Tanner Mullins would lead from start to finish to win this event and with a bonus for exceeding a thirty car field plus some other generous contributors, he went home with just about twenty five hundred dollars for his efforts. Darren Fuqua was a prime challenger until he pulled off under yellow and that left it to Rodney Sanders to try and get by but Mullins would carefully guard the rubber and Rodney was left to settle for second. 

Terry Phillips may have been the fastest car on the track as he made some impressive passes to come up from the fourth row but once he got to second, that is where he settled for. 

Interestingly, a number of drivers that raced with the Rookie Mods on Friday night turned right around and raced on this night. This "double dipping" is allowed so I must assume that the Rookie Mod class runs under the same rules as the Modifieds do and entrance in that class is simply based on each driver rating themselves on how good they are. 

A couple dozen Stock Cars were on hand also for a full program. I thought this class was USRA sanctioned but apparently not as some cars were spotted running Hoosier tires, a couple had spoilers on the back and even a couple did not have enclosed backs on their cars so it was sort an amalgamation of rules. 

They gave an indication of what we should expect when one driver spun out before the green even flew and a couple tangled under another yellow. Oh boy! For the second time in two nights, track officials brought out the "gong" once again and cut this one short. In point of fact, they probably should have stuck a knife in this one even sooner than they did as it turned into a seven yellow in eleven laps teeth grinder for the fans.  

They finally did get thirteen laps in and defending track champion Clint Smith(no, not the Georgia Late Model driver) was the winner. Brandon Conkwright made things interesting with a hard changing style that saw him go to the front, fade back and then charge back up to second again at the end, holding off Joey Richmond for runner up honors. 

It was now after Midnight and I headed for the gate as for the second straight night the Mod Lites produced a mystery finish. To be fair, the conditions were brutal both nights and with the extreme wind, it made producing a good track a real challenge and with the wind blowing right into our faces at high speed on Saturday, it was one of those nights that promoters cringe at because there is only so much that they can do.

Again, thanks for F.O.E. Enterprises and John Allen for their hard work and bold move at scheduling in the first big Late Model race in quite some time here. Don't forget, in October the World of Outlaw Late Model series will also make their first appearance here. And based on the large crowd in attendance this night, there is clearly an appetite for Late Model racing here in what is well known as open wheel country. 

Pierce Tops MLRA Opener at Eighty One Speedway

 One of the very few races in the entire Midwest on Friday night, April 8th was held at the Eighty One Speedway in Park City(just North of Wichita) Kansas. The featured division for this weekend would be the MLRA Late Models, making their first appearance at Eighty One since the 2003 racing season. Along with them, the other classes racing would be two of the local classes, the Super Stocks and the Rookie Modiifeds. IMCA Mod Lites would also be racing both nights this weekend.  

While the rest of the Midwest is up to their eyeballs in water, it is very dry in Kansas with areas just to the North of Wichita critically needing rain as fire watches have been posted for several days with occasional wild fires breaking out and with the hurricane winds that most in the Midwest have been dealing with this week, that is not a good thing. 

The Eighty One Speedway continues to look better and better with more improvements all the time from new owners F.O.E. Motorsports and John Allen in charge. A new pit grandstand has been built for 2022 which would be the envy of many tracks for their regular grandstand for spectators! The parking lot, long a source of ball joint breaking pot holes, has been smoothed out but I am still waiting for the lights in the parking lot that is mighty dark to negotiate after the show is completed. Track lighting and the p.a. system are one of the best around as all the up grades have made what was a rather old looking veteran track much more appealling. 

The MLRA brought thirty nine Late Models for the first of two nights of racing. It was a nice mix of MLRA regulars, plus some regional and area drivers as it seems that Late Model racing is on the uptick in the Kansas area. A lot of turnover among drivers that raced this series last year showed as only nine of the top twenty in 2021 points were on hand but definitely some new faces among the racers. The only area that I thought under achieved was the SLMR crowd where I thought there would be a few more drivers from the Omaha area here is that really isn't that far away, especially for a nice doubleheader with good money on the line. 

The format for the MLRA would see qualifying to begin the program followed by heats, two B Features and a thirty lap main on this night. When I started to moan about time trials, the gentlemen siting next to me reminded me that if I wanted to see open Late Models, I must as well get used to time trials as everyone does it. He was correct and I do need to get used to it but MLRA is among the worst, running heats straight up from qualifying and then the feature straight up from the heat finish with no invert of any kind. To say that qualifying is important would be a major understatement, especially when the field is strong and the numbers big. Tad Pospisil would score one for the SLMR crowd when he was quick qualifier. 

Things got off to a shaky start when the first heat for the Super Stocks hit the track forty seven minutes after the advertised starting time. After factoring in the qualifying, they were perhaps ahead of schedule! Then, after only two Super Stock heats, they completely farmed the track for the Late Model heats. This came as quite a stunner but MLRA announcer Billy Rock made the point that with the tire shortage that they didn't want the track to take rubber and everyone was on a tire limit for this weekend. While all that is true, it also begs the question that if tires are in short supply, why did they have a three hour practice session on Thursday night where they certainly must have burned up a few Hoosiers.? But that is a question for another time. 

They did tinker with the track on several further occasions during the night but it did seem to help. After starting out fast but with a narrow groove, the track gradually widened out with a couple of good side by side extended battles during the heats and the feature was good with plenty of passing and some great slide job battles for position. 

Four Late Model heats, a pair of B Features and throw in three provisional starters and that would set the twenty five car field for the thirty lap Late Model go. And while the statistics will show that Bobby Pierce would lead all thirty laps for the win, it was a better race than that might make it sound. True, the battles weren't for the lead except following yellow flags, but there were some great battles for top five positions going on throughout the race. 

The first eleven laps went off smooth with pole starter Pospisil sliding up the track to block Rodney Sanders on the opening lap and Pierce driving by both to take the lead. Ryan Gustin was on the move as he raced into second before the yellow flew when shockingly, defending series champion Tony Jackson Jr rolled to a stop with an apparent serious engine issue. 

Sanders would make a great move on the restart , going from third to first but it was called back after TP (Terry Phillips) made a rare spin in turn one. Pierce didn't let that mistake happen again as he secured the lead and would go on to lead the rest of the way, building up a five second lead as he negotiated through lapped traffic. 

The battle for second though, was a dandy with Gustin and Pierce exchanging slide jobs numerous times as they battled for the spot  with Gustin finally prevailing. Chase Junghans made a determined charge, coming from thirteenth to slip past Rodney for third and Johnny Scott rounded out the field as you can see that there were plenty of strong drivers on hand. Only four drivers didn't finish the race and four were a lap behind with the last half of the race going nonstop. Saturday night they add on another ten laps and two grand to the winners and hopefully the non rubber, racy track conditions will continue. It was noted that Ryan Whitworth from Humboldt Speedway was on hand to help with track prep on this night. 

A dozen of the Super Stocks were on hand, a class with cars that look quite like the Super Stock class that I see at home and much like the Pro Stock classes that race across the Midwest. Beau Davis, a Stock Car winner at Humboldt recently, was on hand to race with the Super Stocks and his car looked unchanged except for the big spoiler bolted to the truck lid. And he ran quite competitively until mechanical issues took him out of the main. 

Mikey McIlvain would lead the opening lap until the first yellow flew and on the restart veteran driver David Blocher would get past him to take over the lead. Blocher would then lead the rest of the event, chased by Chris Purkey who had gone to the back early following a spin and then worked his way back to the front. James Weve would finish third in a fifteen lapper that would have three yellow flag slow downs. 

The third class to race were the Rookie Modifieds, of which there were two dozen of them. Just what constitutes a "Rookie Modified" driver? This is what their rule book says. "This class is for beginners. If you have won the Rookie Mod Championship you can not run in this class." That would seem to be a rather broad statement and likely open to various interpretation. But regardless of that, there were quite a variety of cars in this class. Some looked like top notch new Modifieds while there were  few on the track that looked like they might have been among the originals that raced with Keith Knaack and Dude Thompson for the Vinton opener forty some years ago. 

And sad to say, some of the drivers raced like it was their first time ever on a track as this race turned into a big cluster. Five yellows in the first four laps were more than enough to test the patience of track officials, who quickly made the move to "gong" this event. A fifteen lapper was quickly cut to six as the time grew late and the weather colder. 

Even with the green, white and checkered finish, it still took two more tries to get the last two laps complete and while there was a crash in turn one on the final lap, the flagman whipped out the checkered flag anyway to end our suffering, and his. Chevy Coleman(I kid you not) was the winner over K.C. Mullin and Wyatt Gaggero. 

The show picked up momentum after the late start and except for the self inflicted wounds produced by the final class, track officials did a good job of moving things along with the Mod Lites hitting the track about 11 pm, at the same time I hit the parking lot. A fairly nice crowd was on hand for a wind swept and cold night of racing with a much larger delegation expected on Saturday when its supposed to hit seventy degrees. Ah, this crazy Spring weather.  

Pospisil and McCarl Top I-80 Opener

 It was another week of scrambled racing plans but in the end, I was able to pull off a weekend doubleheader, visiting tracks in Missouri and Nebraska, one of which I had never been to before. However, that event on Friday night will have to remain a mystery as I have chosen to not include that event in this blog. 

However, I am more than happy to talk about my Saturday night show which turned out to be the opening event of the 2022 racing season at the Kosiski family I-80 Speedway near Greenwood. 

Originally this was scheduled to be a double header weekend of racing but due to cold weather that didn't allow management to turn on the water and make the necessary preparations early enough, the event was reduced to a one night show on Saturday. The whole weekend plans were upended with the classes participating changed and a couple of classes were moved from the Friday night show to the Saturday night show while the opener for a couple other classes was postponed to an upcoming event. 

The SLMR Malvern Bank West Super Late Models would make their season opening debut on Saturday along with the Malvern Bank 360 Sprint Cars. The other classes to race on Saturday would be the Bragging Rights Late Models(IMCA type crate cars), the Stock Cars and the Compacts. Good fields of cars in all five classes varying from twenty one BR Late Models to the twenty eight Super Late Models would bring a total of one hundred and twelve cars to the track. The pits was jammed full with Joe Kosiski tucking a few cars where it seemed impossible that they might fit but eventually they were forced to pit a number of cars out beyond the back chute which then made coordinating things as cars pulled on to the track for their race just a bit more challenging. 

Especially impressive was that seventeen of the top twenty in SLMR West points from 2021 were on hand to start the season as it looks like the SLMR is set for a strong season. A couple new rookie drivers have joined the class this year also, making for another positive in a class that often struggles to add new blood to the class as the veterans get a bit longer in the tooth each year. 

Speaking of longevity, it was announced that Kyle Berck, long time racer in the Late Model class and multi time track champion at tracks throughout Nebraska, is this year starting his fourth decade of racing.

The 2022 opener was significant at I-80 for a couple of reasons. Number one, it was the first event at the track since Joe Kosiski, representing the entire family, was named the national RPM Promoter of the Year back in February in Florida, a deserving award for Joe and the family. April 2nd was also the opener for what apparently will be the last year for the Kosiski family track, I-80 Speedway to exist. 

The events of Saturday night just go to show just what a difficult sport this can be from time to time. When the best in the business, which the Kosiski family clearly are, produce a rubbered up mess for a race track, which is exactly what they had on Saturday night, it just goes to show how tough promoting can be from time to time. I bring this up simply because when the Kosiski's struggle with track prep and track conditions which they did on this night, then perhaps we shouldn't be quite so quick to criticize the local track when opening night conditions aren't just what we as fans and drivers would hope for. If we put down the keyboard and be just a bit more forgiving when things aren't perfect, it would be beneficial for all of the sport because it is going through enough challenges of its own right now, with out those of us that go to races to also submarine things. This is not meant as a criticism of the Kosiski's but rather a nod to the realization of how tough this sport can be from time to time fighting the weather, early season soil conditions and a whole host of other considerations.    

The practice session on Friday night was run with real dry track conditions and plenty of dust I was told, likely with the idea of firming up the racing surface for Saturday. They did a nice smooth track on Saturday but it was very dry and quickly started to rubber up once the feature races started. Most evident during the Super Late Model and Sprint Car mains, it definitely altered the racing and caused a lot of tire problems late in the Sprint feature. 

Time trials for the Super Late Models started off the night and even though they invert six and then use passing points in the heats, they still chose to first qualify. The field of cars was big enough that B Features were necessary for the Super Late Models, Sprints and Stock Cars. 

Bragging Rights Late Models would run their feature event first and it was  a tough night for many of the teams. They started with nineteen cars and had only ten left running at the end in a race that dragged with seven yellow flags and some bent up equipment on opening night. 

Jarrett Getzschman would lead early with Jake Bridge and Zach Zeitner challenging. Zeitner would power into the lead but all the yellows would bite him as he started to struggle on restarts and when he got out of the rubber, he fell back all the way to third. Defending champion Bridge showed how he got those honors as he drove to the lead and would hold off all challenges from Kyle Prauner and Zeitner to take the win. 

The Compacts would run second with all able allowed to start the twelve lap main. They did a good job of running under the green with just two yellows slowing the action. Drake Bohlmeyer started on the pole and he destroyed the field, leading by nearly a full straightaway until a late yellow bunched the field. He took off again on the two lap sprint to the finish, winning easily over Denny Berghahn Jr. and Trent Reed. About half the field dropped out during the race with attrition very high. 

The 360 Sprints had a surprise finish after late race developments. Chris Martin started on the pole and led early but he was quickly overtaken by Jason Martin for the lead. Jason was flying as he pulled to nearly a full straightaway lead on the rubber track. Terry McCarl was second but was not going to challenge in any way. Jason Martin ran into trouble as he got up to a group of slower cars and he began to have trouble getting by them with the narrow, sticky groove. 

If he was have just slowed down a bit , rather than pushing the issue with his big lead he would have been fine. Of course he didn't know this and as he kept trying to get past the slower cars, they got all messed up coming off the tricky second corner and Martin hammered the wall on the back chute, ending his night and truly giving one away. 

McCarl was the pleased recipient of the lead and he made sure to drive carefully and stay in the groove as he won over Seth Brahmer and Jack Dover. The expensive Hoosiers that the drivers were running were not up to the task of lasting for twenty five laps as Chris Martin and Kaleb Johnson, both running in the top five, blew right rear tires on the last lap and while they limped across the line, they lost their spots and had to settle for back of the pack finishes. 

With this clearly being a split crowd, about half the crowd left on this cool and windy night after the Sprint Car feature as the Late Models pulled on to the track. This was a clear indication to me that just like River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks North Dakota, even if you are running a Late Model special, if you want a big crowd, which they did on this night, you better be running the Sprints also. 

The Late Model feature turned into twenty five laps of a high speed train as the track was fully rubbered at this point and there would be little passing. Corey Zeitner got the jump off the outside pole but when he made one mistake and got out of the rubber once, Tad Pospisil was right there to jump on the opening and he shot into the lead. After that he rode along comfortably as the race ran non stop, green to checkers. 

His only problem would be when he caught lapped traffic near the end of the race. The lapped cars were running the same line and nearly as fast on the rubber so Pospisi was held up. While he did have a comfortable lead, he didn't know that and made some bold and risky moves to pass the slower cars. His last move, coming to the white, was a scary outside pass on Andrew Kosiski but he managed to pull it off and drove home without a challenge. 

Zeitner would settle for second with Billy Leighton third. It was a good start to the season for the defending point champion in the Malvern Bank series. Only two cars failed to finish the race. 

The Stock Cars would finish up the proceedings with twenty cars going eighteen laps. The outside pole was the place to be at the start and Matt Boucher would take the early lead with pressure from Josh Foster and Brad Derry. Todd Reitzler, who had looked fast all night, came storming up from the third row and moved into second. 

Boucher might have been OK but when he got out of the rubber, Reitzler was right there to take advantage and he bolted into the lead. This race also went non stop and Reitzler would hold off some strong challenges from Kyle Prauner to take the win. Boucher would settle for third. 

There was not wasted time during this show as once time trials were completed, it was time to race and the whole show went off without an intermission or any delays of any kind. It was simply race after race, nonstop with the victory lane photos and interviews held after the last checkered flag. All racing was done right around 10 pm which was very good, considering the number of races held and the fact that the push starting needed Sprints were a part of the show. 

Thanks to the Kosiski family and all the other workers at the track, which has a big season of scheduled events right into the first part of October. The folks at the pit gate are always extra super here.