"Old Guy" Rules; Hejna Tops Mods at Mason City

 Rain was an issue again for many tracks on Sunday, August 28th. I, however, found one track that was racing on Sunday night and within driving distance for me and that was the Mason City Motor Speedway in Mason City Iowa. They had their share of rain overnight on Saturday with a reported inch of the wet stuff, but a lot of hard work and many laps around the new track made it more than raceable for action on Sunday night. The final go-no go decision was made around Noon on Sunday, after which I was in the car and off down the road toward Mason City. I was warmer and sunnier where I was headed and turned out to be a very nice night for racing with a nice breeze from the South moving the air around and also likely helping the drying efforts. 

Sunday night would be the last regular season race for Mason City with several special upcoming that should be checked out on their website. Track champions would be determined on this night and it was also designated the Ted Zieman Memorial Race with extra money in the purse and the Stock Cars racing for a grand to the winner. Zieman was one of the most successful racers to ever come out of Mason City and a difficult driver to beat at area tracks. Carrying on his legacy is Josh Zieman who races Stock Car #24, the same number that Zieman raced for many years. 

Over eighty cars signed in to race in the five classes offered at Mason City which included Modifieds, Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks and B Mods along with the Tuner class. Good fields were on hand in all but the Tuners and it doesn't seem to matter whether you call them Tuners or Sport Compacts, there just don't seem to be many of them at any track as this class, designed to be the beginner class for dirt track racing in the Midwest, seems to be struggling mightily every where with the big question remaining that if this four cylinder class is not doing the job in producing new drivers, what is the alternative that will work? A sixty four thousand dollar question. 

A surprise to me among the entries was that of Modified driver Kelly Shryock. Still a legend in Modified racing in this area, a check showed that this to be his first time racing at Mason City this year and certainly one of the first times he has raced a USRA sanctioned event in quite some time. Down played by the announcers with no special mention made, to me it was a big deal to see Shryock running a USRA race after being one of the biggest winners ever in USMTS racing before it got too expensive and he abandoned that form of racing to carve out a very successful career racing the IMCA brand of cars. Interestingly, he was racing a car with no spoiler and just a flat deck and looking fully like an IMCA Mod. However, he still had it when it counted as he would later finish second in the Modified feature to another driver he raced with a lot back in those USMTS days, Al Hejna. 

Even though this was not my first visit to the "new" Mason City track, it still is quite astonishing the changes made to the track since it was a big old half mile. And in my mind, it races so much better than the old track did. Even on a night like this when the weather made track prep a big challenge, the surface was smooth and while it was probably not quite as wide a racing surface as on some nights, drivers were still able to move around on the track and also produce some close and exciting finishes. 

There is still work to be done, granted, including a scoreboard that I am anxious for and some additional  protection around some of the track light poles that right now seem like good targets for a disastrous hit. And I definitely don't like to see pit persons leaning against the retaining wall in turn four with not even a wheel fence to protect them. That needs to be fixed ASAP. A blown power transformer threw a monkey wrench into things briefly, creating some dark spots on the track but fortunately they had some portable lights available that helped remedy the situation so racing could be concluded. 

Heat races would set the running order for the main events with USRA always using the draw/redraw format and no B Features would be needed. Points were also being updated and tallied so that champions could be announced following each classes' mains. 

Without a doubt, the story of the night would be the Modified feature win by Al Hejna, a resident of Clear Lake just down the road, a former partner in the remodeling of this track and a local business owner as well as being a long time driver with a short break away from the wheel before returning again a few years ago.

Hejna would start fourth in the Mod main and would be batting Shryock and Jim Chisholm for second as they all chased Josh Angst. Angst would lead the first eleven laps of the feature but when the track started to change, going from a dominate top side to being better down low, Angst was just a bit slow realizing the change and he got hung on the outside. Meanwhile, Hejna had moved to the low groove and when Angst started to get slower, he was right there to drive into the lead. 

Chisholm triggered a yellow when in fighting for second, he got too low and clipped one of the dreaded "infield tractor tires" and spun. The starter wanted to keep the race going as Chisholm was well off the track but then Jim fired up the motor, pulled to the edge of the track and stopped, forcing the starter to throw the yellow. This should have been grounds for a black flag, but they did nothing and in allowing him to use such tactics, they are teaching the young and very talented driver some very bad ideas. Black flags should have been awarded to both the driver and the starter in this case. 

Hejna would fight off challenges from both Shryock and Jason Cummins over the last five laps to score the win. Victory lane was crazy with hugs all around, even from promoter Ryne Staley, who just happens to be Hejna's son-in-law! Shryock was right there to offer congratulations and when those two met that would a huge amount of accumulated feature wins together on one spot. Interestingly, Hejna revealed that he is running a 525 crate engine in his Modified, not a big USRA power plant.  He would also mention that his first win at Mason City was in 1984 and his last until Sunday night was in the 2006 racing season.  Chisholm would fight his way back up to fourth and would win the track title. 

The closest point battle would be in the Stock Cars and it would prove to be a great night for another Clear Lake driver as Chanse Hollatz would start on the pole for the feature race and lead all laps to earn the Zieman honors and the grand top prize. Blake Adams would follow him closely for eighteen laps but never find a route to get past him. and with point leader Travis Shipman having a tough night and ending up eighth in the feature, Hollatz would also win the track title by the narrow margin of just a single point. 

While Jim Chisholm had a bit of a tough night, younger brother Joe had a great night in the B Mods. He started twelfth in the B Mod feature but showed passing ability that no one else did on this night as he dove low and passed car after car as he moved to the front of the pack. Just past the halfway point of the race, following a yellow flag, he got past Boyer McCoy to get the lead and after that he would check out on the field. 

One more late yellow would set up a two lap sprint to the finish with Chisholm pulling away to take the win. Brandon Hare would get by McCoy for second following that late yellow but would have nothing for Chisholm. Joe would also  be track champion. 

Leading from start to finish, Kolby Goepel would top the Hobby Stock feature race. Weston Koop, who would be the track champion, worked his way up from the second row to finish a close second with Dylan Clinton, the lone driver to use the low side of the track, able to advance to third. 

The Tuner feature would have only six cars and Max Heimbuch would lead from start to finish with Oliver Monson nailed to his rear bumper the entire time. Monson would try several different moves, but Heimbuch would cover each attempt and they would cross the line tight together. Monson would be the champion though. 

One thing that seems a constant for Mason City and that is the fans always come out here in big numbers. Even on this night, with questionable weather and school in the morning, a very nice crowd was on hand for the action. Racing got going at 6:25 pm, nearly an hour late due to the track prep and being not a Bat Wing fan with their feature last for extra money, I was out the gate before they dropped the green for that one and it was just 9:15 pm so we saw plenty of racing in less than three hours. 

Thanks to Ryne, Todd and all the folks at Mason City for a good night of racing and check their schedule for some late season specials as they will soon be one of the very few Sunday night tracks running as we slip into Autumn. 

 

Feger Gets The Job Done at Davenport WoO Late Model Show

 Ricky Kay keeps booking in the  big shows at the Davenport Speedway for the fans and on the weekend of August 25-27 he presented his biggest race at the quarter mile yet. It was the Quad Cities 150, a World of Outlaws Late Model three night show that would feature Thursday and Friday night shows paying ten grand to win, followed up on Saturday night by a thirty grand to win main event. Along with the Late Models, the IMCA Modifieds would be racing on Thursday night with the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets racing on both Friday night and Saturday night. 

The Thursday night show would proceed, despite the fact that a rather soaking rain would hit the Davenport area in the early hours of Friday morning. There were plenty of puddles to be  found and the race track was initially quite wet, but it was opened up to allow drying and by race time, the rain had become a non issue in terms of its affect on the racing program. 

A fine field of thirty eight Late Models would sign in to race on Friday night with the top ten in WoO points among those entered. Dennis Erb Jr continues to lead the WoO points with consistency marking his season, just as it has marked his career where he has never been flashy but has consistently produced results that allow him to remain on the road with Heather after all these years. 

A fine field of thirty one IMCA Mods would also be on hand to race on Thursday with many of these drivers rushing in at the last minute, as you might expect for working class people on a Thursday night.

While the format for the Late Models on Thursday night to establish the race order would be business as usual, the points would be calculated just a bit differently. Points would be awarded for qualifying, heats, Last Chance races and the feature race for both Thursday and Friday and these points accumulated would set the running order for Saturday night's heat races with the big money on the line. 

Things turned into a scramble early for several of the teams with Mike Guldenpfennig breaking after only one lap of rolling in the track prior to hot laps. He would miss his qualifying run plus his heat so he would be behind the eight ball early. Brent Larson would go to a backup car after breaking in time trials and while it wasn't reported, at the last minute before qualifying, Devin Moran would roll out his back up car to race on this night with strong results only quashed by a flat tire. And then to conclude things, Jake Timm would be leading a Last Chance race until the final lap when he would lose a motor with his participation the rest of the weekend in doubt. 

The track was very fast during qualifying and Bobby Pierce, as the thirty seventh driver out to make runs, would break the track record with a screaming fast lap of 13.207 seconds. We would later see the track "farmed" twice on this night, once after the heat races and again just before the Late Model feature. This surprised me just a bit as they usually don't do that much with the track once the races start and perhaps the rain was the cause of that. I was worried that for the feature the track would be so "bad fast" that passing would be hard and to a certain extent that did hold, as the low line of the track, which typically comes in as the night progresses, wasn't much of a factor on this night and the high line seemed to be the preferred groove most of the evening. 

The normal drill, with four heats and a pair of B Features would set the grid for the Late Model forty lapper with provisional starters going to Josh Richards and Larson. 

I think most folks would agree that they were happy to see Jason Feger win the feature race. Feger is one determined Midwesterner, racing with just about every sanctioning body and often getting a good finish but recently, not visiting victory lane very often in major races. However, he was strong on this night and with a little help from his friends at Hoosier tire, he was able to claim the ten grand winnings. 

Feger had plenty of company early after starting on the outside pole as Ashton Winger and Devin Moran applied plenty of pressure. Ryan Gustin was on a charge early and was also a player in the contest. Pierce also moved in to challenge and it seemed that the short track stars of Moran and Pierce would ultimately provide the stiffest challenge. 

Feger would move around the track, trying to find the best line as Moran was all over him by the halfway point of the race. On lap twenty nine, as the leaders worked through lapped traffic, Moran found an opening and shot into the lead. He would immediately open up a working margin on Feger and this race looked like it might be over. 

But predicting an outcome for a dirt track race can be dangerous. Just as it looked like Moran was home free, the yellow flew with twenty nine laps complete when third running Gustin blew a right rear tire and stalled. And even more shocking, during that same yellow, Moran also had to stop when his right rear gave up too. Feger would report later that this track is tough on tires, something I would not have guessed at all with the rich black dirt, but they do work the tires hard here too. 

In any event, Feger would inherit the lead with only six laps to go and his task was to keep Pierce behind him. Jason got off to a good start, opening some space over Pierce but Bobby had one last slider in his bag of tricks. He threw it in turn one but Feger was able to fight him off and despite the fact that Jason got a bit high as they left turn four on the final lap, he was able to edge out Pierce by about a car length to get the win, a victory for the semi underdogs in the field. Tanner English ran a consistent race to get third ahead of Winger. Billy Moyer showed that he can still compete with the best and that his skills haven't diminished too much, as he completed the top five and ran very competitively all night. 

A red flag after five laps was the result of a scary flip by Chad Simpson who slipped off the fourth turn, dug into the track and cart wheeled into the wheel fence in front of the grandstand. It was the awkward kind of wreck that often hurts people but fortunately not in this case. Whether he returns this week is questionable as I would assume having a car to race next weekend with the MLRA is an important consideration at this point as his points for this weekend have been much wrecked. 

It was a quick race with not a single car lapped at the end and only two that didn't complete the forty laps . Moran was able to work his way back up to tenth after his pit stop with Gustin two more cars behind. 

It was bad news for the Modified field when Matt Werner drew the outside pole for the main event. The Modifieds used passing points on this night as opposed to the normal draw/redraw format but for Werner, who has been having a great year here, the outside pole was a great spot for him. 

Ryan Duhme got the jump on him at the start and would lead lap one, but that was the extent of his lead as one lap later Werner would drive past him and then lead the rest of the race. Travis Denning was a factor for awhile until he broke and then Cody Laney applied the most pressure. 

Laney gave Werner all he could handle but Matt would hold serve, not leaving that to side and as Laney tried to slide under him lap after lap, he just couldn't quite get the job completed. Werner would be solid to the finish and earn yet another feature win at Davenport. Laney would finish a strong second with a fine run by Charlie Mohr netting him a third place outcome. 

The two class program was perfect for a Thursday night with hopes that more promoters would understand that they don't have to pack the pits with multiple classes for their special events to make the numbers work. You just have to get the folks in and out in a reasonable time fashion on a weekend so they can either go to the pits if they are on vacation, head to the music stand to listen to the music provided, or jump in the car and head home to prepare for work on Friday become they come back out for round two on Friday night. 

Thanks as always to Ricky and Brenda, the staff and crew at Davenport and the WoO officials for all their help. 

Vondrak, Abelsen Top Winners List at Buena Vista Finale

 Tracks are winding down their seasons at a rapid pace as August comes to an abrupt end with Labor Day soon to be upon us and school restarting for many kids. That for me, for decades, was my sign that Summer was over, and I still fall back on that as a sure sign that Summer is quickly exiting stage right. 

On Wednesday night, August 24th, I caught one of those wrap up events out in western Iowa as the Buena Vista Speedway, more affectionately known as "The Beaver", completed their season by crowning season champions in six divisions. They almost didn't get this accomplished as the weather had other ideas. Rain early in the day made the infield quite a sea of mud in spots with the track prep crew dragging the whole facility when the rain stopped so the air could get to it. When I arrived at the track, promoter Trent Chinn was a whirling dervish, going in several directions at once as he worked on the track to get it race ready. Trent must have been operating on fumes as he had quite a day on Tuesday as he and his wife welcomed an addition to their family but somehow he found the time to get back to BVR and get the track ready. 

As I wandered the pits, the atmosphere felt explosive with thunderheads blossoming and drifting over the track but the big rain stayed just to the East of the Fairgrounds, although just as the National Anthem was playing, it was about as close as it could get without cutting loose on us. 

It was Tyson Turkey night at the track as well as being championship night but fortunately there weren't too many birds during the racing. To be honest, there were a couple of turkeys during the feature race action but we'll get to them shortly. 

BVR does like many tracks in this part of the world do and that is they don't crown "Season Champions" as such, they just add up the track points for the season and whoever is leading when the final night is done is crowned the champion. So, while it is claimed as Season Championship night, it is just a regular purse night using the regular lineup formula. 

Six IMCA classes would be racing on this night as the IMCA Racesaver Sprints would also be running  along with the track's Bomber division that was restarted this year. Unfortunately, there were not a lot of race cars in any class on this night. The core five classes showed fifty one entrants and then add in eight Bombers and nine Sprints and you have sixty eight cars, but that is in a whopping seven divisions. My question is this, other than Spencer that always has nice car counts, is there a track in western Iowa that has solid car counts on a weekly basis? And what is the problem? Too many tracks or too much racing? It seems like racing is available eight nights a week and every track struggles to have enough Modifieds for two heats. Tonight's turnout of five, with one scratching out of the main, was down right embarrassing. And yet, there were some good feature races to be talked about. The presence of some tight point races also added to the drama. 

The Hobby Stock and Stock Car features were perhaps the best of the night. The Hobby Stock feature saw three different drivers lead for a time before Craig Brotherton assumed control at the halfway point and would then go on to lead the rest of the way. However, his lead was very small with  Dayton Ullrich, Nick Schilling, James Johnson and Cory Probst all racing him hard at various times for the lead. Also, Johnson and Probst were battling for the point title with them only being a single point apart. 

The final lap saw them go four wide in turn four with Brotherton holding on for the lead while Probst used the outside line to go from fourth to second at the line, tying him with Johnson in the points. Having to go all the way to the second tie breaker, Probst was crowned the champion. 

The Stock Car feature would see Justin Nehring lead the first half of the race in a three car battle before Vondrak would edge past him and Brian Blessington and take over the lead. Late in the race David Smith would come charging to the front and it turned into a three car battle at the finish in a race that finished up way to quick for me as it was just getting real good when the checkered flew. 

The Bomber class still hasn't produced very many cars with the high water mark of eight being achieved on this night. However, for the fever level the crowd reached, there might as well have been a hundred cars on the track. Crowd favorite Wyatt Johnson started on the pole, led for one lap and then got passed during a strange deal where just about all the racers assumed the yellow came out and it didn't and nearly everyone came to a near halt. Doyle Logan used the opportunity to take the lead but Johnson soon took it back and received a huge ovation when he crossed the line and held off champion Will Smith to get the win. 

Johnson entertained the crowd with a back flip in victory lane, after which half the grandstand came down on the track to get into the winning picture. 

To be truthful, Tyson did serve up a few turkeys along the way too. The Sport Compact feature would see Caine Mahlberg shoot up from the third row and take the lead before the first turn of the feature race and then disappear into the Iowa night with no one near him. Apparently he's so far that the announcers can't even see the number as they kept referring to him at the #24M even though it was pretty clear on the car that he was driving the #22. 

It took Jake Sachau only one lap to grab the lead in the Sport Mod feature and he then was also gone with no one even close to him.

Chris Abelsen would win the Modified feature by a country mile with only four cars on the track. It only took him two laps to get the lead but he did use up Doug Smith pretty good in turn four to take over the top spot. He forgot to mention that part in his victory lane speech. 

Only nine Racesaver Sprints were on hand but they ran a smooth race that went green to checkered. Matt Friedrichsen would lead the first half of the race and it took Brandon Halverson a few laps to figure out how to pass him but once he got that done near the halfway mark, it was easy sailing after that . 

Despite the early day weather issues, the track proved to be in great shape and promoted some fine racing. Trent and all his guys did a great job getting the track ready and racing would start just as it was supposed to. With the program sailing along nicely, the final checkered waved about 10:15 pm. The most impressive part of the whole night to me though, was both the crowd size, especially with weather being a factor, and the high energy level of the crowd. This might have been as enthusiastic and energizeda crowd as I have seen all year. And all that for what basically was just a regular season finale. But good for them. They were having fun and that doesn't happen near enough at the races anymore.

Thanks to Trent and his staff for all their help this year that the various tracks he works. 

Chris Simpson Invades MARS, Red Planet Pays Five Thousand in Green

 Thursday night, August 18th, the MARS Racing Series, under the direction of Tony Izzo Jr, made a stop at the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway in Dubuque Iowa for the first of three nights of a swing that will see them race in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin but never getting very far from the roots of this organization. Along with the Super Late Models, the IMCA sanctioned Modifieds and Hobby Stocks would be running a special higher paying program. 

It was a beautiful late Summer night for dirt track racing with it being warm but not too hot, humid but not unbearably so and the thunder storms stayed away until well after the racing program was done. A very late arriving but decent sized crowd would eventually show up including Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Ed Sanger who is frequently seen at this track. 

The MARS series is always just a bit hard to predict as some of their races are feast and other famine as except for few loyalists, you just never know who is going to show up to race on that night. Thursday night the top four in points(Feger,Unzicker, Wenger and Gardner) were all on hand but then you had to drop all the way to thirty fourth to find the next driver in points to be on hand. Twenty three drivers in all signed in to race with many of the open motor drivers from the Iowa area on hand with the field being rounded out by the local, spec engined drivers, many who race with SLMR and IMCA. 

Qualifying, three good sized heats and a forty lap main event would be the MARS portion of the program. McKay Wenger, the twelfth driver out for time trials, was quick qualifier with a lap of 14,492 as the track had plenty of bite for the time trials. The hackneyed old formula of straight up heats and straight up for the feature from the heat finishes cut down on any drama but the lineup would be slightly unusual when both Ryan Unzicker and Bob Gardner had trouble in their heats and would have to start deep in the feature lineup. 

The forty lap main would see Chris Simpson lead all forty laps to get the win but the race was much better than that brief summary would indicate. There was plenty of hard racing, starting when Simpson and Spencer Diercks fought and rubbed on the opening lap before Simpson would claim the spot. Diercks, Tyler Breuning and Jason Feger all raced very hard in the early going with plenty of different lines used on the track. 

An early surprise was the charge of Australian driver Kye Blight up to second before he faded back in he later going, perhaps having overworked his tires early. I must admit I had never heard of him but he was not shy about mixing it up with the front runners. Bruening hammered the wall several times which ultimately resulted in a flat tire, triggering a lap fifteen yellow. 

The restart was exciting as Chad Simpson went to the top side of the track, went three wide down the back chute and raced up to second where he then chased his brother. Meanwhile, Diercks and Feger still hung around when suddenly it was Unzicker that was on the move. He found the low groove to work for him and he drove up into  the top five and just kept right on charging with second place his ultimate place. 

Through all this battling and through three yellow flags, Chris Simpson had always been able to distance himself from the action but the leaders started to get into traffic and things were looking very interesting when a late yellow with only six laps to go changed all that. 

The final laps would see Chris pull away again by a few car lengths and the final tally would see Unzicker settle for second over Diercks who nipped Chad for third after Chad tried to go top side at the end and steal away the win with Feger rounding out the top five. 

However, while unreported at the track and also on the Dirt On Dirt story, My Race Pass shows Diercks as being disqualified and finishing last so some clarification is needed there. Chris Simpson is getting good results out of that new car that he debuted last week at CJ. Unzicker came from seventeenth to second and Breuning from the tail to fifth following his flat tire. 

Eighteen Modifieds would take the green flag for their main event, scheduled for twenty laps. The first few laps were wild indeed with four different official leaders in four laps! Jamie Pfeiffer would lead the opening lap before he was passed by Mike Burbridge for the lead. A hard charging Cody Laney would come storming up then and pass Burbridge on lap three but then Laney jumped the healthy sized cushion in turn four and Ryan Duhme would take the lead over from him.

After that, everyone would be chasing Duhme for the lead. Laney would fight his way into second at the halfway point of the race but the driver on the move was Jason Schueller. He started eighth and by the halfway point was up to third and he kept charging. He got to second but that was where he got stuck and Duhme was quick on the bottom lane and Schueller just couldn't quite get to him to make a challenge. 

Duhme would maintain a slim but steady lead and would drive on for the win over Schueller, Laney, Jed Freiburger and Ryan DeShaw. Talk about confusing trying to keep everyone straight. There were two #21T's and two #12T's in the field and while they didn't look the same, it was hard to keep them straight. A little duct tape to help out wouldn't have been too much to ask for, would it?

The Hobby Stock field numbered seventeen and that number would likely have been higher except that many of the same drivers that race at Dubuque also raced at Lancaster the previous night and they certainly wrecked a few of them in that wild first lap crash. 

Things didn't start too smoothly on Thursday either, as pole sitter Mark Neis got together with another car barely twenty feet past the flag after the green flag, eventually spun in turn one and was slammed into by Caden Helle who would go off on the hook. 

The next attempt saw Scott Wetter stall and then the third trial saw Randy LaMar, challenging for the lead, hammer the wall, then blow a tire and spin where Jimmy Doescher would run into him as many of the top drivers would have their share of difficulties. 

After that they raced fourteen green flag laps with Nick Schliem leading. Just at the halfway point, David Crimmins, who started eighth, would drive past Schliem and take over the lead and he would go on from there, leading all laps and taking the win. Schliem would hold on for second but could never mount a charge to take his top spot back again while Wetter, who went to the tail after stalling on the track, would work his way back up to third ahead of Andrew Burk and Kyle Jared at the finish. 

This was a smoothly run program as most at Dubuque generally are, especially being a Thursday night show. With the help of the MARS officials when the only glitch was in the heat race running order that was quickly rectified, it was nearly nonstop racing from start to finish. The whole show was done in two hours and fifteen minutes with the final checkers waving by 9:30 pm, great for all those that had to be to work early on Friday morning. 

Series announcer and publicist Tyson Graves and "Big Boy" made a very good announcing combination, giving us the information we needed as well as being entertaining without being overbearing. They will apparently be working together later this same weekend, if the weather cooperates. 

Thanks to everyone at the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway and the MARS Racing Series for a good smooth night of racing. I almost made it home before bar closing time and that doesn't happen too often! 

Berry Jr Nips Gustin at 10,000*

 The third time proved to be the charm as the Hancock County Speedway in Britt was finally able to get the Night of 10,000* special completed on Tuesday night, August 16th. Their initial attempt to run this event back on August 6th as a part of a two night extravaganza was nixed by rain. Their second attempt was made on Monday night, August 15th but a very unfavorable forecast caused them to make a decision to postpone by twenty four hours even before race day  but the third attempt, on Tuesday the 16th, proved to be fine as nice weather and a nice crowd both helped to make it a successful race night. 

And for Tom Berry Jr, it proved to be a most successful night as after leading forty eight laps of the feature race, Berry Jr was able to pass Richie Gustin coming to the white flag and then pull away on the last lap to win the event and the five thousand dollar top prize. This race was originally supposed to only pay two thousand to win but some extra money was located, perhaps from sponsor contributions but not made clear to me, that raised the ante for this event. 

A full show was also held in the four other classes that routinely race at Britt, all under the umbrella of the IMCA. These winners included Heath Tulp in the Stock Cars, Jared Boumeester in the Sport Mods, Drew Barglof in the Hobby Stocks and Max Heimbuch in the Sport Compacts. 

This would be the last race of the year at Britt and due to circumstances it was a bit odd for a track to wrap up their season on a Tuesday night but to all to the color of the night, they also had bus races with ten buses on hand to rub fenders and pollute the air with their black smoke. We're lucky the EPA didn't come in and shut the whole event down at intermission!(Note: you will not find a report on the bus feature race. Sorry!)

I had an interesting conversation with a young Modified driver on the rise in Drew Janssen. While his hometown is listed as Pella, he actually has an apartment in West Union where he keeps his race car as he is an employee of Rage Chassis. He occasionally gets home to visit family and friends but most of his time is spent either working or racing these days. He works shorthanded at the track as he has only one pit crew member who lives two hundred miles away from him and isn't always able to get to the track. He thought this was his thirty seventh night of racing in 2022 and he hopes to be in the fifties before the season is over. On this night he would start ninth and crack the top five at the finish. 

Mike McKinney was on hand to drive Timmy Current's Modified once again. It seems that McKinney is spending more time in Iowa racing IMCA type Modifieds rather than he is in his home state of Illinois racing UMP Modifieds which is where he built up his name. He would end up right behind Janssen in the feature. 

Mike VanGenderen was on hand to help his buddy Trent Chinn, who is the promoter here, with track prep. He also functioned as the Race Director on this night plus judged the bowling contest among the top ten in passing points to determine who would start on the pole for the fifty lapper. Passing points were used to set the field for the Modifieds while the other classes used the tried and true draw/redraw format. 

This race had an interesting purse structure to it. The support classes, other than the Sport Compacts, were all racing for the same top dollar, that of one thousand dollars to win. This setup has been very popular with all the Chinn promoted tracks(Britt, Alta and Spencer) and MVG has even adopted it for some of his shows at Stuart and perhaps also Memphis. 

But even more unusual was the purse structure for the Modifieds. The top spot paid five grand to win but positions two through ten all paid the same, a thousand dollars! I can't remember ever seeing that before and my initial reaction was to question how hard drivers in the middle of that group would race, knowing that whether they gained or lost a spot, it didn't make any difference at the pay window. But I have to say that I didn't see an "sand bagging" as the feature progressed and everyone seemed to be taking it like normal. 

A couple of weeks ago at Spencer I complimented Andrew Claus on how nice his car still looked at this time of the year. Bad move on my part. Tonight during a heat race he took an ill placed boot in the shorts that led to two quick snap barrel rolls. Surprisingly, he was able to get the car back out for the feature although it was making bad sounds and he did pull to the infield early. We also saw part of a wild flip by Loren Pesicka Jr when he went flying off turn three and barrel rolled. Actually, about all we saw was dust in the air and the occasional flash of tires toward the sky as he went over yet again. Fortunately, no injuries were reported by ace announcer Chad Meyer. 

There were some interesting and odd rules used for the Modified feature that struck me. I remembered why I stopped coming to the Night of 10,000 Stars years back because it is a fifty lap race, which is fine, but they split it into twin 25's, taking a ten minute break at the halfway point and rebuilding the race cars on the front stretch. I have never been a fan of interrupted races and if these cars can't go fifty laps with out servicing, then the race should be shortened. What was really strange was after the three wide initial start, which was fine, they then restarted for the second twenty five by going three wide again! That was a new one for me and seemed to totally negate twenty five laps of racing, apparently for nothing. 

And I guess the surface at Britt must really need some new dirt as during the ten minute break, they misted the race track and "tickled" the corners with the equipment as I was told that this track couldn't go fifty laps without rubbering up bad. And I guess that must be correct as Chinn and MVG know dirt as well as anyone and if they felt the surface would have been OK, they wouldn't have taken the time and effort to do it. But it seemed unfair to the drivers who then basically ran on a hammer down track for the whole race and this didn't give the track the chance to change and for drivers to adjust and find the new fast line, which I always like to see. But whatever. 

Gustin would lead the first twenty five laps of the race from the pole after he bowled the best. There would be three yellows during that first twenty five laps. Jeremy Mills would challenge early and then it would be Cody Thompson and Berry Jr that would provide the most consistent challenges in the first half of the race. 

Mills would bow out at the break with a broken brake rotor and it would be Berry Jr who would take over second and chase Gustin the later half of the race. Berry Jr was putting on plenty of pressure in the last ten laps, diving under Gustin in each corner as Richie tried to find a line that would allow him to keep Berry Jr behind him. In both halves of the race, Gustin had taken off strong, built up a lead but then saw Berry Jr reel him in. j

Tom gave it his best efforts but it seemed that Gustin would be able to hold him off, as Richie seemed to just be able to pull away enough to keep Tom behind him. But then an enormous yellow flew with only two laps to go when, the only yellow of the second half of the race, when a car flew off the end. 

The two lap sprint to the finish saw Berry Jr find some extra traction on the inside line. He pulled next to Gustin down the back chute and was able to take the lead as they  raced to the white flag. Gustin tried to come back on the final corner by using the tall side of the track but it was no use as Berry Jr accelerated away from him to drive home for the win. What a great comeback it was for Berry Jr and it must have been a crushing blow to Gustin to lead all that way and then be felled because a back marker triggered a late yellow that killed him. Cody Thompson ran third most of the event with Branden Beckendorf and Janssen rounding out the top five. 

The Sport Compact feature would go to Max Heimbuch who led from start to finish over a small field of competitors. Logan Kelly, the flagman/racer, would run close behind but when he tried a last lap slider to take the win, he almost gave up second but managed to hold off Brooke Osler for the spot. 

A nice field of Stock Cars was on hand and this race would be dominated by Heath Tulp. He took the lead on lap two and then would drive away from the field. There would be only one yellow flag early in the event, and while there was a good battle for second, no one was able to stay with Tulp. Kelly Shryock used the inside line to race past Troy Swearingen to take second while Swearingen, the early leader of the race, would settle for third. 

The Sport Mod feature would see a familiar face in victory lane as Jared Boumeester has won a lot of races over the years at this track. The race was a two car shootou with Jake Sachau making a great move on the opening lap as he came from fourth to take the lead by the completion of lap one. Boumeester moved up from sixth and the battle was on. Jared tried several passing attempts as they raced hard for the lead with Boumeester finally able to get to the inside of Sachau in turn one just at the halfway point of the race to take over second. 

One lap later Sachau tried to get a big run by diamonding off the turn one banking and shockingly, he spun around on his own, triggering a yellow and ending his charge. After that, it was easy sledding as Boumeester would lead the rest of the way for the win. Nate Whitehurst would run second for quite some time until he broke and Stacey Mills would eventually grab second and hold that spot to the finish. Kip Siems would make a nice run from eighth to get third. 

After a first lap spin, the Hobby Stocks would go green to checkered to round out the program. Brandon Nielsen would take the early lead and my thought was that he might run away with things. However, his car seemed to push up the track in the corners and he left the bottom open and Drew Barglof, who started fifth, drove under him for the lead and then pulled away. Chris Krug would race into second and the top three would then run the rest of the race pretty evenly spaced out on the track to the finish. 

With the roar of buses in the back round, I left that cultural event to those that remained as I headed out about 10:40 pm. It was a good show overall and I was impressed with the size of the crowd, given the night of the week and the fact that this event had been rescheduled so many times. It seemed to me that Hancock County Speedway made a nice comeback in 2022 after a tough period of time and while I never attended any weekly shows, it seemed like the special events I was at always had nice crowds. Thanks to Chinn and the Hancock County Fair Board for their help on this night.

Late Race Pass Nets Jackson Jr MLRA Win at CJ

 Thursday night, August 11th, the Midwest Late Model Racing Association began a three night swing through eastern Iowa with a visit to the C J. Raceway in Columbus Junction. This entire swing had been scheduled earlier this Summer but the entire swing fell victim to the weather and the whole shebang was rescheduled to this week with visits to both Davenport and Maquoketa upcoming. Along with the MLRA Late Models, there would be racing for three IMCA divisions including Modifieds, Stock Cars and Sport Mods. All three divisions would be racing for extra money and this would attract visitors in all classes to make for an interesting show. As things would turn out, a late race pass would net Tony Jackson Jr the MLRA victory while all three of the support classes would see some late race drama that would have the fans talking well past the final checkered flag. 

There were storms threatening the area early with a couple of separate batches of rain skirting the Columbus Junction area but no more than just a few sprinkles fell at the track so on this night they would be the lucky ones and racing would proceed. 

MLRA would be running their first races in almost a month and the car count was a concern, even for the group's officials. Point leader Johnny Scott was MIA from the night's action with his status going forward in the series very much up in the air. Group officials hadn't been able to reach him and it would be left to the night's activities to see whether he would show up or not. Four other drivers in the top ten in points also failed to be on hand and the group that MLRA presented to the local promoter was not that strong for sure. Fortunately, some local and area drivers decided to race on this night or it could have been really bad but sixteen cars for eight thousand dollars to win is not a good turnout. 

MLRA has seen their influence wane in this area with SLMR taking over some of their Iowa and Nebraska dates and Comp Cams and the Cash Money Series also taking some of their dates in  Missouri and elsewhere and it would seem that a real makeover for this series is due if it is to continue. However, on this night the crowd seemed more than happy to have sixteen Late Models on hand at at place that routinely doesn't even run Late Models. 

Being a time trial show, it didn't get started on time and it was nearly 8 pm before the first green flag flew but the heat races clicked off very smoothly and all qualifying was completed in about an hour. The three support classes had just the right number of cars to provide full heats but not need a B Feature so when the last heat race was done, we were ready to move right into the main events and the Late Models would be up first, pleasing to those in the crowd that came to see the Late Models run on this week night. 

The track had been heavily watered on this night and with it clouding over and high humidity, the track was in no hurry to dry out. Numerous packing sessions before each heat helped but we really didn't get to see the "levee racing" that is so unique to this track. The track just wasn't wide enough for the Late Models to climb up on the levee and race but later we would see some of that action. 

All sixteen of the Late Models on hand would take the green for their thirty lapper and it would be Spencer Diercks that would lead for all but the last six laps. After starting on the pole, he would fight off challenges from Tony Jackson Jr and take the top spot and while Jackson Jr would be knocking on his back door most of the race, Diercks would manage to keep him behind him. 

That is until there was a late yellow with just six laps to go. Jackson Jr picked up the pace and was able to swing past Diercks coming off turn four and take over the top spot and once in front, he was able to pull away in the remaining laps. It would be nice $8,000 win for Jackson Jr, buoyed by extra contributions from sponsors that raised it up Difrom the original five grand to win. It would be Jackson Jr's first win on the tour this year after being a former champion of this series who has struggled quite a bit so far this year. Diercks was able to hold off Chris Simpson for second with Simpson moving into third late and making a charge. Interestingly, this was only the second time out for Jackson Jr with a new Capital chassis while Diercks was racing a new Longhorn for the second time and Simpson was making his first run in a new Longhorn also. Apparently August is the time for drivers in this class to get fresh equipment as these open Late Models don't even last a year anymore. Only one driver failed to finish the race and only two minor yellows slowed the contest, although Diercks would probably argue that the last yellow was a huge one. 

The three support class features all saw interesting races with surprising outcomes, many twists and turns along the way in each with just a bit of controversy thrown in for fun. They also were plagued by yellow flags so while they had much in the way of action, they all tended to get just a bit tedious with their length. 

The Stock Cars would go first and Nathan Ballard would lead for nineteen of the twenty laps before a crazy finish saw him lose his apparent victory. Ballard started up front and was ahead of most of the action as he just quietly led the race while all the action was behind him. Scotty Pratt, Johnny Spaw, Damon Murty and Jason Cook were all part of a big group of drivers battling for position for nearly the entire contest which was slowed several times for spins. 

Kirk Kinsley, who started ninth, was slowly  working his way to the front also and near the end had moved into second spot. A last late yellow set up a three lap sprint to the finish and on the final lap, as the field headed into turn one, Ballard got sideways after a smooth run to that point and Kinsley had to take evasive action to avoid him. Spaw, who had gone to the tail with a flat tire and worked his way back to the front using all the yellows, spot past both the cars in front of him and in a shocking development, drove across the finish line as the winner with Ballard and Kinsley settling for positions behind Spaw. It was a surprising and stunning finish. 

Another local track point leader, Jarrett Brown would inherit the win after some wild late race action in the Modified feature. Mitch Way would be the early leader until he was overtaken by Austin Becerra who drove a good race to overtake Way and become the new leader. Brown was working his way forward after starting seventh while Drew Janssen was also having an outstanding run as he moved into second late in the race. 

Once again, a late race yellow or yellows in this case, hugely changed the outcome of the contest. There was a yellow with only four laps to go which bunched up the pack. Becerra continued to lead but Janssen would make an all out push to try and pass him, using the levee to get a run off turn one. The leaders and in fact, the entire pack took the white flag and raced into turn one where Janssen lost control up on the levee and spun. With most of the pack having already passed the accident scene and everyone having taken the white flag, I thought this race should have been checkered at this point .

It, however, was not, and everyone lined back up and they tried to run off the last two laps once again. This time the bump in turn one caught leader Becerra and he went up the levee, racing most of the way down the back chute trying to get back on the track. His chance at victory was done and because another car also spun way up on the levee, we had another yellow and another two lap try to get this race done. 

With Becerra and Janssen now both gone, the lead was inherited by Brown but he had to fight off a last lap slider by Mike McKinney who had gradually moved up in the pack as everyone else shuffled their way to the back. Brown would cross back over on McKinney's attempted slider and go on for the win in this scrambled affair. 

Another late race yellow would dramatically change the finish in the Sport Mod feature which was the last race of the night. Levi Heath would lead lap one with the yellows raining out twice early. Shane Paris would come roaring up from the third row and drive past Heath to take over the lead with pressure from Jason Roth and Brayton Carter. Logan Anderson would also move his way forward and by the halfway point become the main challenger to Paris. 

Paris would continue to hold off Anderson and it looked like he would take the win when another in the frustrating series of very late race yellows was triggered by a car that spun as the white was coming out. 

The restart worked well for Anderson and not so good for Paris as Anderson was able to get past and Paris must have felt like he got a race stolen from him with the late yellow. He would hang on for second however. 

The support class action was indeed wild on this night and I was almost hoping that we would go to single file restarts in an effort to keep things moving as the old adage of yellows breeding more yellows couldn't have been more true than on this night. The action was good but it did get a bit tedious with the four feature races taking over two hours to complete and our early evening turned into a rather late night for a midweek show. With some of the repeat spinners in each class, perhaps in the long run it would have been good to have few B Features and perhaps eliminate a little of the chaff that was bogging things down. 

It was like old home week with Doug Haack waving the sticks, Kevin Feller recording the numbers and Jerry Mackey calling the action at CJ. Thanks to Larry Richardson and all the folks at CJ for an entertaining evening as a very nice crowd turned out for this Thursday night make up race. 

Gettler and Reimers Top Stuart Speedway Finale Thrillers

 It is hard to believe, but it is now the time to start talking speedway point champions and season finale races, as painful as that thought even is. The first one that I have encountered was Wednesday night, August 10th at the Stuart International Speedway in Stuart Iowa. Along with it being the Jake Durbin Memorial Race with an extra $4700 or more donated to the purse, it was also the final race of the 2022 season at Stuart and they were crowning Season Champions as well. 

It seems like only yesterday when Stuart opened up their season with brutally cold conditions and now, just a few short months later, the season would wrap up with a hot and sticky August night full of racing. A nice crowd was on hand for the season finale and eighty seven cars signed in to race in the five IMCA sanctioned classes along with the Bat Wings. There would also be Powderpuff and Mechanic's races to wrap up the night. Those used to be common place but you don't see them very often any more but they still have them at Stuart. 

Point championships had already pretty much been wrapped up in four of the classes as long as the leading drivers showed up for the finale and didn't break before the main events started. Tyler Fiebelkorn in the Sport Compacts, Brandon Cox in the Hobby Stocks, Miciah Hildebaugh in the Stock Cars and Happy Gilman in the Modifieds were all pretty much home free but the situation was entirely different in the Sport Mods where Brayton Carter had a one point lead over Izac Mallicoat going into the finale and only two points on Tyler Inman so basically, whoever of those three finished ahead of the other two would win the title. 

Lineups would be done the normal way with the point invert in affect and new cars, of which there were quite a few, would start in the back. Lots of out of state cars on hand on this night as the number of travelers in advance of the Boone Super Nationals starts to build up and what a nice opportunity to see drivers from California, Arizona and other western states in action. 

As usual, racing would begin within a few scant minutes of the advertised time, even though they ran hot laps before they started, which many tracks have eliminated now. Then we began with what I call the "rush hour." This is the time when all the qualifying events take place and what an intense time it is. Generally speaking, the heat races here are great with some close and highly competitive action and this track never seems to have a period when the racing suffers while the track whips into shape as it seems to be ready for racing as soon as the drivers take to the track. On this night, thirteen qualifying heat races took place, all completed within one hour's time period, and there was not a single yellow flag slowdown during the heats!. That is pretty impressive. 

This would allow time to introduce the high point drivers, present three new members of the speedway Hall of Fame and still get the races done, minus specialty races, before 10 pm. What more could one ask for?

The Sport Mod feature would be saved for last and it turned out to be a dandy with a bit of a surprise outcome to boot. Hunter Poston would grab the early lead as he battled with David Schwartz and Garrett Nelson in a tight, three car pack. Brayton Carter would start ninth with Inman right beside hime and Mallicoat right behind him as all three looked for an opening to get to the front ahead of their rivals. 

Carter would dazzle as he made the move of the night on lap six. The bottom allowed him to get up to fifth but he had a gaggle of four cars, all battling for the lead, in front of him. Somehow he found a hole right in the middle of them as they drove into turn one and with a move seldom seen, was able to part the waters and when they came out of turn two, he was the leader. It was a spectacular move and certainly would guarantee him the track title as both Mallicoat and Inman were several cars behind. 

However, while that move would seem to have guaranteed him a feature win also, that proved to not be the case. Cam Reimers would have something to say about that as he moved up from the fourth row and pulled to the rear bumper of Carter. He made several slide job attempts to take over the lead that failed but on lap sixteen he made the move work with a beautifully executed move that Carter couldn't counter. 

Brayton tried to get back around Cam at the end but Reimers was simply a bit quicker on this night and he would drive on to victory. Carter lost the battle but won the war as the point title would be his with Mallicoat fifth and Inman seventh. Schwartz would have a strong run too in finishing third. 

The other top notch battle for the win was, not surprisingly, in the Stock Cars where twenty one drivers would go nonstop for twenty laps with the outcome settled in the last corner. Jeremy Gettler started in the second row but he would waste no time getting to the front as he was the leader on the opening lap. Tom Berry Jr and Buck Schafroth would quickly move to second and third and the battle was on. 

The rest of the race would see those three entertain in a highly competitive race that saw Gettler scored the leader on every lap but Berry Jr probably in front just as much but never at the line. The slide jobs they threw at each other were classic but never of a dirty variety and the fans were dazzled by the action. 

Th last few laps would see Berry Jr right up beside Gettler but Tom played it clean and never tried to move Jeremy up the track and allowed him racing room. That's twice this year when I've been at Stuart that I have seen Berry Jr take the "high road" when it comes to racing and I applaud him for running a clean race. It also made for spectacular action with the two coming side by side out of the last corner and Gettler edged ahead for the win. Almost missed by the great charge he made was Austin Kaplan who ended up fourth. My only complaint on this race was that it was too short! The twenty laps flew by and left all of us in the crowd hungering for more. 

Dallon Murty won his first Modified feature of the year at Stuart after being an almost impossible to beat driver in the Stock Car class. He would start fourth in the main and slide by Randy Foote on lap five after Murty executed a great slider that Foote couldn't counteract fast enough. After that, Murty moved away from the field as the last eighteen laps of this race would go nonstop. A nice drive was put on by Austin Kuehl, who started deep in the field as this was his first visit to Stuart but he would race up to third from tenth as he starts to get his new Rage working. This would be the last time we would see Kuehl who is working his way back to Arizona this weekend as he gets ready to go back to school to finish up his degree in Mechanical Engineering. 

The Hobby Stock feature would have a little more contact that some of the others with three yellows during its sixteen lap run. We would also see four different leaders as there was plenty going on up front in the pack. Travis Cavin would lead lap one before he was passed by Rusty Bates for the lead. 

John Watson would be on the move and by lap six, he was beating on the rear bumper of Bates for the lead. Following a yellow flag, the two got together which triggered a multi car spin that involved much of the field so they restarted the event to bring some measure of control back to the racing. 

Bates couldn't hold off Watson on his second chance either and John took over the lead. But Cox, who started eleventh, didn't let that bother him and after gradually working his way forward, took to the cushion with most of the field racing around the inside and he blew past Watson to take over the lead. And once he was in front, he pulled away to put an exclamation point on his title. Watson would hold on to second over a charging Luke Ramsey. 

The Sport Compact feature was a good one too with "The Beard", Mitchell Bunch, holding off a field of chargers to get the win. He would lead the opening lap but Blake McCann would overtake him two laps later to grab the lead. Bunch would fall back some but then gather himself and make a second charge and he would drive around McCann on lap nine to take over the lead. 

Along with those two, Dustin Grout and Kolby Sabin were also in the lead group and the four of them battled for the lead the rest of the way. At the finish, Bunch would hold off Grout and Sabin as it seemed that McCann slowed off the final corner and lost two spots quickly before they crossed the finish line. 

A word on the race track. It was great! It was slick from top to bottom but had a healthy cushion too and there were multiple grooves to race on. It provided some spectacular slide jobs but also allowed those that like to ride the bottom plenty of bite too so they could race that line too. And not a whisper of dust, even though this track has the fans sitting quite close to the action compared to other tracks. 

I thought it was a great way to wrap up their racing season. My only complaint was that with this kind of action I would like to see a lot more weeks of such entertainment. But all good things must come to an end I guess. It is a six hour drive for me to come down to Stuart but I have done it on quite a few occasions this year because the trip is worth it as this track provides action that can't be topped anywhere in the state. Now if I lived in Diagonal or Gravity it wouldn't be such a long trip. (I only throw in those city names because they are so unique). 

As always, thanks to Mike VanGenderen and his whole staff for a great year of racing and for all their help this year. I always enjoy hearing Tony Paris on the mic and I will miss his unique call of the races plus his  whit and wisdom. I will even miss Rev. Wambat's high pitched scream to start the night. It will be interesting to see what Mike has in the plans for Stuart in 2023. 

Madden Motors To XR Super Series Finale Win at Superior Showcase

 On Tuesday night, August 9th, the XR Super Series Superior Showcase at the Gondik Law Speedway in Superior Wisconsin concluded. On tap for Tuesday was another forty lap main event for the Super Late Models, paying twenty thousand dollars to win, just as Monday night's event did. 

Thirty four Late Models would sign in to race with just about all the travelers but Cade Dillard returning while several of the local teams, deciding that they were facing just too big a hurdle to overcome, chose not to return. However, of the seven spec engine cars that did race on Tuesday night, four of them made the main event which guaranteed them two thousand dollars, possibly the biggest paycheck they will earn all year. 

The track raced very similar to what it did on Monday night and while the qualifying times were just a hair slower, the track slicked up and the drivers racing it very much like they did on Monday. It was a spectacular weather night in northern Wisconsin and the XR Series was fortunate indeed to have hit two straight nights of such spectacular weather at a place known for its quirky weather conditions at any time of the year. 

Four heat races and a pair of B Features would set the twenty four car starting field for the Late Model main event with Boom Briggs probably the biggest name not to make the show. 

It would be Brandon Overton and Chris Madden on the front row and they would go wheel to wheel in the early going, swapping the lead back and forth before Madden would finally secure the top spot on lap six. After that he would motor away from the field and never be seriously challenged for the rest of the forty lap distance. Shane Clanton would move past Overton to take second and he tried his hardest to close the gap on Madden and while he was somewhat successful a couple of times, when ever he seemed to be ready to make challenge, Madden would then pick up the pace and pull away again. 

This race would go nonstop green to checkered and at the end there would be only twelve cars on the lead lap as Madden expertly navigated his way through the slower cars without incident. 

A good battle near the end saw Kyle Strickler hold off Jonathan Davenport for many laps until Davenport was finally able to get past him for the position. 

The support classes on this night would be three WISSOTA sanctioned classes that race at the track weekly. The Midwest Modifieds sported a field of thirty four drivers from two states and Canada but Zach Benson would lead from start to finish to take the win over Andrew Inman and Brady Uotinen in what was a one yellow only event. 

The Pure Stock feature would go nonstop and Dylan Shelton would win a close race over Aaron Bernick and Tom Trevaranus.  The Hornets would wrap up the night and Mac Johnston would score an easy win. However, apparently it was too easy as he failed tech inspection and the win went to DeeJay Jarecki over Carson Gotelaere and Justin Barsness. 

Another big crowd was on hand for Tuesday night's show and XR announced at the end of the night that the event would return again in 2023. 

My thanks to Barry Braun, Bucky Doren and all the hard working folks from both XR and the Gondik Law Speedway for their help. 

Clanton Tops XR Super Late Model Series Superior Showcase at Gondik Law Speedway

 Who would have ever thought that there would be a day when many of the biggest names in dirt Late Model racing would be traveling North all the way up to Lake Superior to battle it out for a win worth $20,000 for a forty lap feature event in an area where many of these drivers probably swore they'd never go that far North in their entire lives? Such is the world we live in right now, and particularly the dirt Late Model world where one situation after another leaves us just shaking our heads. 

Such was the case, however, on Monday night, August 9th when the XR Super Series held their first event ever at the Gondik Law Speedway, hard on the South shore of Lake Superior in Superior Wisconsin. And contrary to popular belief amongst the southern traveling teams, they didn't have to put on stocking caps, long underwear or their parkas on this beautiful early August night. 

The sole reason that a race of this magnitude would come to such a small market area was that this is the home area of Barry Braun, head of the XR Super Series. Barry lives only about an hour up the road on the North shore of Lake Superior in Silver Bay Minnesota and he got his career in racing started many years ago at this very speedway, filming the races which he then marketed and much later led to all this plus events at Bristol, Vegas and so many others. 

Barry was looking for midweek events to add to his "play list" for XR and this track was an obvious fit, coming just after the big events last weekend at another track in Wisconsin close by. This XR production was originally proposed as a one night event but I'm told that the traveling team balked at the idea of coming up here for just one night before they head South to Kentucky or perhaps back to their homes so this race was made into a two day show with an identical purse for each day. Support classes include the WISSOTA sanctioned classes that race at Gondik Law Speedway on a weekly basis. 

Seeing many of the traveling stars at their home track is a novelty for many of the fans from this area and a large crowd was attracted to attending this event, with long lines as folks waited to buy tickets after they got off work and one of the biggest crowds seen here in quite some time. It will be interesting to see though, just how many people return for night number two, having had their taste perhaps of seeing the big names once and at forty bucks a pop, it is a pricey show for folks from this area where cash is not always just floating down from the heavens. 

So XR brought in some of their big names including Overton, Davenport, Clanton, Marlar, Babb, Madden , Pierce, Stickler etc. and then filled out the field by adding the local drivers to the mix. Although XR had more "names" on hand here than the Outlaws did when they raced here earlier this month, it was still up to the local WISSOTA drivers to help fill out the field and make the numbers look better. Braun wisely let the WISSOTA drivers run their cars just as they would using their own rules and utilizing spec engines, they wouldn't be a threat to steal any of the many from the travelers but would add to the car count and also bring some of the fans of these drivers to the track, anxious to see if their favorites could keep up. Braun's move was a wise one as their were a number of area drivers that decided to give the race a chance and the forty two car count number looked much better that way. I counted fourteen drivers that were running their cars using the WISSOTA package, of which three made the main event. My guess was that they had their taste of it on Monday night and we will see many of them decide to save their tires and stay home on Tuesday night, but I have been wrong plenty of times before. 

Late Model fans will probably remember Terry Casey from New London Wisconsin from his days when he raced open motor cars across the country and was known as "Mr. Excitement." Well, Casey plans a return to racing and was part of a swap going on in the pits that had nothing to do with Monday night's racing. Casey recently bought Late Models from the estate of the late Ed Gressel and he was delivering one of those on this night to Matt Aukland who plans to move up from the Modifieds into the Late Model class running with WISSOTA.  Yes, it is the same Aukland family as Matt is the son of Rick and lives in western Minnesota. Casey wanted the motor out of that car and he is in the process of buying yet another Late Model with plans to hit some of the biggest shows in the country. For sure on his bucket list is a return to East Bay  where officials should be fore warned to reinforce the infamous gate that Casey nearly brought down years ago. 

While Boom Briggs was in the house, Josh Richards was no where to be seen and Andy Bouzel was driving a back up car for Briggs. Don Shaw was making his first start in the Longhorn chassis that he bought recently and that Billy Moyer drove when the Outlaws visited this area recently. Shaw has been suffered from the effects of a concussion that he received in a wreck months ago that caused him to miss last weekend's races as he wasn't fit enough to get behind the wheel. 

Gondik Law Speedway was in form on Monday night as the Lake Superior red clay, that runs many feet deep in the old lake bed, tends to get very slick but seldom takes rubber and that is just how it was on Monday night. The track will shine from top to bottom and the trick is getting the race cars to turn in the corners. 

Shane Clanton, who knows about red clay from his living in Georgia, was the driver to beat all night. He set fast time at 15.423 seconds, won the first heat and that gave him the pole for the forty lap main event. Four heats and a pair of B Features would set the running order for the main with the fastest qualifier not in the show and highest in XR points not in also rounding out the field. The B Features would have some tough cars in them with both Strickler and Marlar having to win B's to get in the show. The biggest names left on the sidelines would probably be Jimmy Mars and Ryan Gustin, neither of which were even close to qualifying. 

Clanton would lead all forty laps to win the twenty grand. He would start up front and stay there and never was seriously challenged for the lead. A couple of times Overton would gain ground on him but was never able to get to where he could provide a serious challenge. Overton once jumped the cushion in turn four and lost a lot of ground, some of which he made back up later. 

Interestingly, the only yellow of the main event was triggered when leader Clanton ran over Strickler as he was trying to lap him and spun him in turn three. Clanton was trying to get between two cars and just simply went too hot into the corner, clipped the rear end of Strickler's car and turned him around. 

In the local world of racing, Clanton might have to worry that he might be tagged for over driving but in the world  of big time racing, the leader has free reign to do whatever it takes to get through traffic and Clanton was restored to the lead, no questions asked. 

Chris Madden had done as moving as anyone, coming from eighth to third and it seemed like he might be able to provide a challenge but with the green back out with thirteen laps to go, that was not the case as Clanton drove away from the field without much problem and would drive home for a pretty easy win. I felt like forty laps for twenty grand on a four tenth mile oval was just a tad short, but that was the distance and Clanton would lead Overton and Madden to the win. Ricky Weiss and Joseph Joiner, with a strong performance, would round out the top five. Only four cars would drop out during the race. 

The WISSOTA Super Stocks and Modifieds would provide strong support classes, doing just what hey were supposed to do, which was to provide some good racing but not take up too much time. 

The Super Stock feature started twenty five cars and had just two minor yellows so they gave the Late Models just the right amount of time to get ready for their main which was second. Dexton Koch, the current national point leader in the Super Stocks would lead all twenty laps to get the win but would be challenged hard by Kyle Copp while Scott Lawrence and Shane Sabraski had a great battle for third that wasn't resolved until the final lap. 

The Modified feature would start twenty two cars and would see Cole Spacek lead the first couple of laps until Brandon Copp swept past him and then would lead the rest of the way. Jody Bellefeuille would move up from the third row and provide a stiff challenge to Copp at the end. The end of the race got hung up just a bit with late yellows coming back to back but each time, Copp would hold off the strong challenges of Bellefeuille to get the win. Darrell Nelson would finish third. 

This was a smoothly run program and a quick one on a Monday night. XR has an interesting way of doing things in that they play the National Anthem to start the show and then run time trials as a part of the program rather than a preliminary. They do crack off the qualifying quick and racing was going on by 7:30 pm. The Late Models ran second and for those fans just there for the Late Models, they could leave by 10 pm with the Modifieds wrapping up the show. 

Tuesday night the Late Model program will be identical while the support classes are, in my opinion, not quite as attractive as they were on Monday so we will see if this has any effect on the crowd. The weather promises to be spectacular again but perhaps it's somewhat of a shame that the visitors can't experience a breeze off the lake that lowers the temperature by fifteen or twenty degrees to those close to the water. Then they would get the full northland experience. 

Neal's Great Weekend Continues With Osborn Memorial Race Win at Inde

 As promised, the SLMR Hoker Trucking Super Late Model Series moved on Saturday about an hour and a half Northeast in Iowa to the Independence Motor Speedway, located at the Buchanan County Fairgrounds. When this race was first scheduled, it was a part of the annual entertainment during that Fair but two tries later and under the gun once again, the series would try and get the show completed on this Saturday night. It was another blast furnace kind of day in central Iowa with heat and humidity to match and the teams struggled to stay hydrated as they worked under a boiling sun to get their cars ready for the Saturday night show. 

There would be a full night of racing planned with six other divisions also in racing action including what seems to be the standard five IMCA classes that race at most facilities along with what they call the Inde Cars which look like outlaw Mini Mods to me. 

The Late Models provided a fine field of cars with thirty two signing in to race, just down slightly from Friday night's total even though the top prize on Saturday was actually larger. There were however, a few other options for the Late Model racers while the Friday night show at Marshalltown was about the only action going in eastern Iowa on that night. Car counts in the other classes were all pretty marginal but truthfully many people were plenty happy that there would be only a couple heats and main in each class, particularly when the weather became a threat and every minute counted. 

Charlie McKenna was the twenty sixth driver out for Late Model qualifying but he still managed to set  the quick time of the night at 14.751 seconds. Series point leader had his miserable night start early when he had troubles in qualifying and could only turn one slow lap that would ultimately give him a last place start for a heat race. Even worse was Billy Leighton Jr's luck that would see him load up and head back to Nebraska before the racing even began. 

As race time approached, it became clear that weather was going to be an issue. The storm were on the way earlier than had been predicted and it looked like the program would be hard pressed to be completed. The Late Model heats were third in the running order and they produced some hard racing and some surprises. The Modifieds were last on the running order but even before they got to run their heats, the running order was really tossed up and the Late Models came out for their two B Features, shortened to six laps apiece. And the stunning outcome of this would see both Kay and second place points driver Luke Goedert both miss the main event! However, both would join the field as provisionals and have to start at the back of the pack. 

The Modifieds ran their two heat races and then it was time for the Late Model feature right away as lightning flickered off in the distance. The twenty three car field was quickly assembled and away they went for thirty six laps, have the number of the #72 that Osborn drove. 

Neal would start on the outside pole and he would lead all laps and never really be seriously challenged. A couple of early yellows kept the field bunched but then they  ran over twenty straight green flag laps and Neal found a line that served him well as he pulled away from the field. Tad Pospisil challenged early but then he fell back but continued to maintain second. Putting on a show was "chargin" Charlie McKenna would used the top side of the track to race up from sixth to challenge Pospisil for second. 

When Luke Pestka went off the track and triggered a yellow flag, there were eleven laps left in the race. Neal would again pull away but the battle for second was tough and McKenna would drive around Pospisil to take over that second spot. Neal had built up a big lead and timing was everything as the race ended just as he reached the back of the pack and would have had to deal with lapped cars. As it was, he could keep his foot planted on the floorboards and not have to worry about that and he drove home with a comfortable margin for the win. McKenna finished a nice drive in second while Jeff Aikey made up a lot of ground, coming from thirteenth to finish right behind Pospisil and ahead of Todd Cooney. Neal collected $7,200 hundred dollars for his win, making his trip to Iowa a very lucrative one. 

With the Late Model part of the show completed and the rain not yet falling, track officials went back to their original running order to finish off the rest of the show and that found Sport Mods up next for their main. This was a draw/redraw show and this allowed Olson to start on the outside pole as opposed to eighth or so, given the fact that he had won six straight Sport Mod features here in a row. Well, number seven was pretty easy as he led all the way and generally maintained a full straightaway lead over the field. Even a late yellow didn't give the competition a chance to get close to him as he won by a wide margin over Cole Suckow and Kip Siems. 

The Hobby Stock feature was a nice one with it going nonstop and three drivers in the lead pack fighting for the win. Justin Hanson led for the first half of the race until Benji Irvine made the low groove work and he was able to race under Hanson for the lead. The rest of the race would see Hanson and Joren Fisher trying to get back around Irvine for the lead. They finished in a close pack but no one was able to gain a position in the late race fight. 

The Stock Car feature saw three different leaders in the first six laps with Chris Luloff leading the opening lap before being passed by Jason Doyle. Doyle would run in front for five more laps before Cole Mather, who started way back in eleventh, would drive by him to take over the lead. Those three remained close together as they battled and Caden Reynolds was moving up fast too. Unfortunately, Reynolds and Luloff would get together and both would end up going to the tail with Reynolds calling it  night. 

Mather would go on for the win over a hard charging Jarod Weepie who made a late move up to second ahead of Doyle. 

The Sport Compacts once again reminded me in no uncertain terms why this is not my favorite class. While they would run their main event off nonstop, the results were less than pleasing, at least from my stand point. Justin Hempstead would start on the pole and would lead for eleven and three quarters of a lap. However, the race was twelve laps and it you think this sounds exciting that there was a last lap pass, you didn't see the circumstances. 

Andrew Bieber had started seventh and despite one trip through the infield, he really started to move forward in the field in the last half of the race. He passed Spencer Roggentier in the late going and then charged after the leader. Down the back chute on the final lap, Bieber had a big run and dove low in the corner, slamming into the side of Hempstead's car and knocking him up the track and out of the groove. Bieber then drove on to victory in his best NASCAR last lap smash and run impression. Unfortunately, Independence Motor Speedway officials wear the same set of blinders that NASCAR does and they awarded the win to Bieber, therefore not only encouraging him but everyone else that races in the class to do the same thing. However, there is just one problem. That is not racing and flat out shouldn't be allowed but it happens so often and at so many different tracks in this class. Hempstead hung on for second and Roggentier was third. No word on any post race activities. 

The Modifieds finished off the night as the lightning got more intense but still no rain falling. Joel Rust made a great move on the opening lap, going from third to first as he passed both Mike Burbridge and Jerry King for the lead. And once in front and with no yellow flags to slow things down, he ran away from the field, leading by a full straightaway. Jeff Aikey made a strong drive as he raced his way up to second. Arizona visitor Austin Kuehl also made a strong run, coming from seventh to third and he was catching Aikey for second when he ran out of laps. 

With not a lot  of yellows and everyone pushing to move things along, the final checkered flag waved at 9:45 pm which meant that they ran twenty one races in under three hours, very impressive indeed. Both series and track officials deserve much credit for moving things along and allowing all the drivers to get their feature races in and for the spectators to see a full show. Thanks to both Justin Temeyer and Mick Trier for their help and all the other officials from both the track and the SLMR for a good night's work .

Neal Tops DeFrance Memorial Race at Marshalltown

 It's rare when I attack racing in Iowa on a weekend this time of year but this weekend was an odd one, with most tracks at home shutdown for the weekend, either in deference for a major event being done at a competing track or just that time of year when many tracks schedule an off week to give everyone the chance to rest and relax before the big push to Labor Day weekend and beyond for special events. 

So I found myself with not many options up North and with the rescheduling of SLMR events this weekend in both Marshalltown and Independence, it seemed like and excellent idea to head to the Hawkeye State for racing. And the timing may have been just perfect as a rainy weekend was forecast at home while the heat and humidity will help me sweat off those extra cheese curds and fries pounds that seem to be rolling on this Summer. 

The first stop was Friday, August 5th at the Marshalltown Speedway for the twice postponed Dale DeFrance Memorial race that would feature the Hoker Trucking SLMR East Division along with all five classes that routinely race at Marshalltown and just for fun the Dirt Trucks were also added to the program, giving us a gigantic six division program that strained the pits to overflowing with many of the rigs in all classes parking beyond the pit gate in the field South of the pits. It made for quite a bit of hiking for me but again, all part of the newly minted exercise program that combines fun and legwork. 

A large of field of race cars was on hand that numbered one hundred forty six. The weekly classes all had full fields but only the Hobby Stocks required a B Feature. As for the Late Models, their entry list was very impressive with thirty nine of them signing in to race including the top thirteen in points and twenty one of the top twenty five. There were also some visitors from Nebraska that primarily race the West Series, the Malvern Bank Series. This made for a very competitive field and the two B Features that were necessary eliminated some quality equipment from the main event. 

I had a couple of friends sitting with me and without my prompting, both happened to look at the parking lot and make mention of all the people that would be in trouble because they were triple parking the lot, something both mentioned happened to them a lot in the Hawkeye State and they branded it an "Iowa Problem." I won't comment further but will let the facts speak for themselves. 

One thing that held true, despite Marshalltown being such a quality operation and so well run, was that because there was group qualifying for the Late Models, the show would not start on time. And that turned out to be the case once again as it was nearly 8 pm before the first green flag flew. After that, it was pretty much nonstop racing with the only pauses to give the track a shot of water periodically. Still, with a twenty seven race program to run off that included extra distance races, it was almost Midnight before the final checkered flag flew. 

With all the feature races being of good quality, it was a bit tough to highlight one specifically but I thought the Late Model feature was probably the best. Twenty six cars started this forty four lapper, in honor of Mr. DeFrance and there were four different leaders during the race. Tad Pospisil was the early leader from the pole and he would hold the front spot until overtaken by Jake Neal on lap thirteen when Pospisil started to fade back into the pack. 

Neal was hammering the cushion and making it work as he gradually moved out to a nice sized lead.  However, as the races ground off, with them running the last thirty four nonstop, it seemed like the berm got a bit sneaky and the high side seemed to slow up just a bit. 

Luke Goedert was making the bottom work and he gradually closed in on the leader. As the top two started to get into lapped traffic, Goedert found a hole low and while Neal got hung up, Goedert was able to drive past him and take over the top spot. However, just a couple of laps later, the tables were turned. Goedert got blocked on the bottom by several cars while Neal had a free reign on the top and he was able to drive his way back into the lead. Goedert eventually got through the traffic but by then Neal was long gone and he drove on for the win which he celebrated mightily on the front chute with burnouts. Andy Eckrich would finish third. 

A couple of the feature races would see early leaders go all the way and while leading all laps, they would get the wins. Joren Fisher would lead all twenty laps to win the Hobby Stock main event. Despite plenty of pressure and a late yellow that would bunch the field, He was able to control things and take the win. Eric Knutson would make one trip through the infield but would still be able to hold on for the second spot ahead of Jacob Floyd who started tenth. 

The Modified feature would see Jake McBurnie start on the pole and have Joel Rust chase him for most of the contest but never get close enough to challenge him. Tim Ward would move into third early and the top three would stay pretty static through four yellow flags including a pair in the last few laps. 

The Dirt Truck feature would see Todd Cooney, who also ran sixteenth in the Late Model feature, start on the pole and cruise to victory. Shonn Mapes would finish second, even though he got put into the wall at one point during the feature event. 

The Stock Car feature would see one of the extended DeFrance family members crack victory lane when Damon Murty would move up from the third row to take the win in that class. Early on it was quite a battle with David Archer, Michael Jaennette and others all battling for the top spot. 

However, Murty went to the cushion and he was able to work his way past them all gradually with a number of yellow flags in the first half of the race helping him out. 

Eventually, Murty had to hold off repeated challenges was the yellow would fly five times during the  feature. Kaden Reynolds would eventually move up to second and finish in that spot ahead of Buck Schafroth. Several of the top runners ran into various bad luck difficulties and did not finish including Taylor Kuehl, Archer, Austin Kaplan and Steve Meyer. 

Starting seventh   but really demonstrating a lot of speedway was Logan Anderson as he took the Sport Mod main event. He starting picking off drivers one at a time early and soon was past Kyle Olson and then took on leader Brayton Carter. Carter fought hard for a couple laps but eventually Anderson was able to get to his inside line and after a mighty struggle, Anderson would gain the edge and gradually start to pull away. With the last twelve laps run under the green, he was able to extend his advantage and drive on for the win over Carter and Tony Olson. 

The crowd was a very good one on a muggy night in August and the concession stand ran out of items quickly with cold drinks being a hot commodity. 

For the DeFrance family and their extended relatives, it was a checkered night. Darrel finished fifteen in the Late Model feature while Jimmy came from twenty second to ninth in the Modified finale. Richie was a DNS in that same event after having big troubles in his heat. Jenae had troubles in both the Sport Mod heat and feature and was a DNF for the main event. Damon Murty moved from sixth to top the Stock Car feature race while Dallon got into a collision in the Modified feature and was a twenty first place DNF. 

The track stayed good all night with a minimum of extra fiddling with it and allowed the drivers to run all over the racing surface, with success being achieved running many different lines. 

Thanks to Toby Kruse and J Van for a good night of racing and they had to have been very happy for the big crowd, particularly with how miserable the conditions were. It would be interesting to find out just how many folks stayed home and bought the pay per view too. 

Hobscheidt and Zevenbergen Dominate at Spencer

 The last regular season event was held on Monday night, August 1st at the Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer Iowa. Left to be run on their 2022 schedule are only the two Fair races that will be run in September . This night would be the Clay County Clash presented by Farmers Trust & Savings Bank and Abel Drainage & Excavating and would use their typical format which seems to be so popular in that the four top IMCA classes racing on this night all race for a thousand dollars to win while the Sport Compacts race for two hundred dollars for first. 

Perhaps because there has been so much racing going on recently or perhaps because this was the first night of a whole week of racing scheduled for North Iowa with most of the shows paying even more than this event or perhaps a combination of factors but the car count for this show was down considerably from what it was for just about all the other shows run here this season. No B Features would  be necessary in any of the five classes but two or in some cases three heat races were still run for all except the Sport Compacts which continue to turn out lousy car counts, almost to the point of being a joke. 

Racing got started just a little bit late once again as the track needed a few extra minutes of packing and the hot laps for all took their jolly old time. However, after that, between the fact that few less races were needed on this night and the fact that the racing was so smooth, the show moved on at a very fast pace and ultimately, the final checkered flag of the night flew before 10 pm., making it the quickest show of the year here. 

The second race of the night to hit the track saw Connor VandeWeerd stand his car on its nose in turn three, triggering a red flag. However, after that the sixteen race program saw only a total of five yellow flags all night, including three green to checkered feature races as some smooth racing prevailed which helped to create a quick night of racing for the good sized crowd by most tracks standards, but smaller than the other crowds here this year. 

Green to checkered dominating performances by Jacob Hobscheidt and Elijah Zevenbergen highlighted the racing action but there were also some races with battles for the lead, including the Hobby Stock feature that saw a remarkable five different leaders during their eighteen lap finale. 

Heat race went smoothly and with all making the main, it was a matter of racing one's way into a redraw position and then hoping for the best come feature time as seven of the eleven heat race winners came right off the pole as it took a while for the track to slick up and help to make the racing groove wider. 

Sport Compacts, or what there were of them, would run their main event first. Only six were on hand and one failed to make the grid for the main. Despite having the top two Sport Compacts in current IMCA national points on hand, the race itself was farcical.  Camden Nehring led the opening lap before being overtaken by Kaytee Devries who would then pull away and lead the rest of the race without much drama. National point leader Nate Coopman would pull off the track early and that took care of any competition. Only two cars would actually finish after apparent runner up Brooke Osler was DQ'd for some transgression of the rules so Nehring would be scored second with Jerry Coopman and Nate Coopman finishing next, even though they were loaded up and out the gate before the checkered had hardly waved. They will probably find out how they did on My Race Pass later. 

However, the Hobby Stock feature was everything that the Sport Compact wasn't and more. There was a large swarm of drivers in the lead pack and then seemed to swap the lead on just about every lap. One would take the lead, slide up the track and then someone would replace them by cutting to the bottom and taking the top spot. This happened on just about every turn for the first half of the race until Cory Probst would finally take over command. 

First it was Josh Sidles, who was replaced in front by Evan Schettler. He was passed for the lead by Brandon Nielsen but Dylan Nelson would get by him and there were four different leaders in the first four laps. Probst started ninth but moved forward quickly into the lead swarm and they he navigated the opening, taking spots when he could until he eventually was up to second and pressuring Nelson for the lead. Just past the halfway point, Schettler spun while trying to stay with the leaders which triggered the only yellow of the race. 

It was Nelson, Nielsen, Sidles and Jim Johnson trailing at this point. The last part of the race would see Probst sneak away from the pack while they continued to battle. Johnson got hot toward the end of the race, picking off a car a lap until he passed Nelson to take over second at the end. Nielsen and Chris Krug would round out the top five. It was a good win for Probst, currently second in national points. 

The Sport Mod feature would go nonstop, green to checkered and John Klynsma would lead the opening lap. In fact, Klynsma would lead the first six laps until Matt Looft would blow by him on the outside to take over the lead. Looft started eighth on the grid but quickly moved to the front as he found the high side to his liking as he drove past car after car on his way to the front. 

Once Looft blew past Klynsma, he was gone and with no yellow flags to give the rest of the field a chance, he drove on to an easy win. Alec Fett also used the high groove successfully and he drove around Klynsma late in the race to get second. Colby Fett and Zech Norgaard would complete the top five. It was a good win for Looft, given that he is leading the national points at this juncture. 

Hobscheidt would start on the outside pole and he would lead from start to finish to take the bucks in the Modified feature. He would pull out to a comfortable lead while Chris Abelsen would work his way to second by the halfway point of the race. However, Abelsen was not able to cut into the leader's advantage as Jacob would ride to a relatively easy victory. Tripp Gaylord would start six and finish third, ahead of Tim Ward and Nick Meyer. 

Twenty cars would start the Stock Car feature after Texan Dan Day scratched out of the main. Zevenbergen started on  the pole, took the immediate lead and then would drive on for the win. He was never severely challenged for the lead but there was an excellent battle for the second spot with a group of about six drivers in a pack and swapping positions. 

Tim Rupp would hold on to second for many laps as he fought off Justin Nehring, Cody Nielsen and Chanse Hollatz. Finally, Hollatz would make the low side work and he would drive past Rupp and take over second. 

One late yellow when Nehring got turned bunched the pack but Zevenbergen was able to pull away and strengthen his lead as he drove on for the win. Hollatz would hold on for second while Randy Brands would come from twelfth to finish third with Nielsen and Rupp next in line. 

Late Models, 360 Sprints and the regular weekly clases will all be featured during the Fair races and with this being the biggest county fair in the state, it would be an excellent time to see some racing and enjoy a great fair at the same time. 

Thanks to promoter Trent Chinn and his staff for their help throughout this season and also to the Clay County Fair Board. The regular season has been most successful for this track and I would guess that that crowds will be massive for the Fair events.