Ebert Tops King of America at "The Hummer"; Jackson Repeats In B Mods

After a frustrating day on Friday when it never really rained enough to help the farmers but continued to drizzle just enough to make the track too slick to race on and miserable for fans to sit out in and eventually led to a cancellation, the sun came back out on Saturday for the big money show at the Humboldt Speedway. The finale of the scheduled three night series for USMTS Modifieds and open B Mods would pay twelve thousand dollars to the Modified winner and five grand for the B Mod top driver. 

It was by far the nicest of the three days(at least early in the going) and the biggest field of drivers was on hand for Saturday's show. With each show being a totally separate event, unlike most years, it allowed drivers who had been scared off perhaps by the weather earlier in the weekend to show up Saturday and race and the biggest field of drivers of the weekend, sixty six Modifieds and sixty four B Mods, would sign in to race. 

An indication of the improved weather conditions would see our head flagman start off the program wearing shorts but before the night was over, he had changed into long pants as the wind picked up. 

The format for the finale would be the same as on Thursday with six heats and three B Features setting the feature fields following group qualifying for the Modifieds. The six car invert for the Modifieds following qualifying for the heats continues to draw much discussion and fire in some cases, with many believing that the six car invert is too many, given that passing points are used to determine who makes the show and with just eight lap heats, a quick qualifier must pass at least three cars in a heat to make the show and many feel that is just really hard and a penalty for being too quick. The top two  qualifiers in each group do get additional points but some are saying that just isn't enough. I guess we will see as the season continues if there are any adjustments. My preference is to just draw for position and then use passing points as that old format seemed to produce some of he best heat racing ever but is you are going to time trial, you might as well reward those that are fastest by starting the heats straight up.

Time trials always take longer than planned and scheduled starting times should always be taken with a grain of salt when time trials are involved. On Saturday, the first heat race took the green at 5:50 pm, quite a bit later than advertised. And as it turned out, we could have used those extra minutes later when the weather turned threatening. 

The twelve heat races clicked off pretty smoothly with a track prep session then called for. It was an extensive one with the track tickled and watered but after that, the track was not touched further. Whether this was by plan or because of the changing weather conditions I do not know, but once the B Features were started, it was non stop racing without a break It was announced that weather was moving in, and indeed it was, and the scramble was on to beat the incoming rain. It was too bad in a way that they couldn't have had a little more in the way of ceremonies but in the end, the last checkered  flew only scant minutes before the skies opened up. In fact, the B Mod Non Qualifier race even got rained out following the Modifeid feature as that's how close it was. 

Twenty four drivers would qualify for the B Mod main event and when Thursday night winner Kris Jackson drew the pole, there was a collective groan from both the B Mod pits and the grandstand. Suddenly it looked like the B Mod feature was going to be a runaway and quite frankly, while Jackson didn't totally dominate the race, he was never really threatened either. 

Jackson would take the lead immediately with Randy Zimmerman and seventeen year old Canadian driver Garrett Paull following him. The worst crash of the weekend would take place with seven laps complete when Logan Anderson would blow a motor in turn three, Jon Sheets would slide in the liquid deposited on the track, climb up on the wall and then flip over on his roof. He was OK but the car sufferend heavy damage. 

Jackson would continue to lead on the restart over Zimmerman but Paull would start to slip back in the field as both Andy Bryant and Ryan Gillmore would get past him. Jackson would move out to a considerable advantage following a third yellow for another tangle with Bryant moving into second over Zimmerman. Gillmore would then pick up the pace as he would advance pas t both Zimmerman and Bryant and at the halfway point of the race, he was up to second behind Jackson. 

The final twenty laps of the race would click off nonstop and after Gillmore would come as close as a car length or two of the leader, it seemed that Jackson opened his car up just a bit more as perhaps he had been cruising to save his tires over the long forty lap distance. The distance between the top two drivers stabilized and Gillmore wasn't able to draw any closer and in fact, he gave up the low groove and tried the outside line to see if that might work, but when it didn't he dropped back low and just rode behind Jackson who was unstoppable . 

Kris would drive home with a comfortable lead and take a relatively easy win, especially given the quality of the competition. Gillmore would settle for second over Bryant, a charging Kyle Slader and Shadren Turner.  5t was a very productive weekend for Jackson with seven thousand dollars in earnings over  the two nights. 

With a lot of provisional starters, the King of America twelve would start thirty cars for their main event at a distance this year of sixty laps with no bathroom breaks built in this year. And for the second straight race, the Thursday night feature winner would redraw the pole position and with Terry Phillips' strong run on Thursday, everyone was wondering if we were going to see both drivers repeat. 

And Phillips gave it his best effort as after taking the opening lap lead, he would hold the top spot for the first thirty two laps and maintain a pretty good lead for most of that time. In the early going, he was challenged most by Zach VanderBeek, Tyler Wolff and Cayden Carter with Jake O'Neil and Jake Timm lurking close behind. 

Three early yellows would slow the action with one sending top runners Dereck Ramirez and Will Krup to the back after they tangled. Phillips, meanwhile was rolling through the middle of the corners and putting distance on the field. With the last yellow flying for a slowing Alex Williamson, Phillips held the lead over a charging Wolff, VanderBeek, O'Neil and Carter. 

However, when racing resumed, suddenly Dan Ebert, who started eighth and wasn't gaining much ground early, suddenly took off like a rocket ship using the very inside lane of the track. He was noticeably faster than the field and started to pick up car after car at a rapid pace. By the halfway point of the race, he was up to second with just Phillips in front of him. 

And Terry couldn't withstand the charge of Ebert as just three laps after the halfway point, Dan drove under Terry and took over the lead. Phillips tried to fight back and got close but he simply couldn't match the speed that Ebert had at this point. Dan began to pull away and there was nothing that Phillips could do about it. 

Ebert did get into some heavy traffic in the last twenty laps but he showed good patience as he waited for the holes to open  and then quickly dispatched the slower cars. His lead grew to over four seconds as there was no one with anything to offer in terms of a challenge.

At the checkers, he had two lapped cars and plenty of distance over Phillips, who settled for second. There was quite a bit of shuffling in the top five near the end though, with Carter hustling back up to get third. The drive of the race though, was provided by Rodney Sanders. Sanders, who had to take a provisional and start dead last on the field, would charge all the way up to fourth at the finish and would run out of laps in his efforts to gain even more positions. VanderBeek would complete the top five. 

No more than seconds after the checkered was waved over the Modifieds, it started to rain and hard enough that the B Mod Non Qualifier race couldn't be held. To say they cut it close would be a large understatement. My guess is that with his win, Ebert will probably take over the point lead in the USMTS series  with a season that has provided quite a few surprises so far in the early part of the season. 

Track and series officials deserve a round of thanks, along with the cooperating drivers, for moving along the proceedings at such a prompt pace once they got going. I'm sure it was tough to ash can much of the "pomp" of the event but they realized that the most important thing was to get the two features done, and to that end they succeeded. Thanks also to the track workers and those that prepared the track including Ryan Whitworth who heads that operation.

The USMTS is in the midst of a busy schedule right now as next week they head to Louisiana and then back to Kansas the following week. Meanwhile, both Humboldt and 81 Speedway will start their regular seasons next week. 

Phillips and Jackson Take Opening Night Wins at "The Hummer"

 The twelfth annual King of America for the USMTS Modifieds and the eighth annual Battle at the Bullring for the B Mods opened up on Thursday night, March 23rd at the Humboldt Speedway in Humboldt Kansas. On a very blustery and cold March night on the plains, it would be Terry Phillips and Kris Jackson that would find victory lane, with both exhibiting dominating runs against big fields of cars. 

As is the norm here for this event, big fields of cars were on hand in both classes although it must be pointed out that the B Mod portion of the show saw quite a drop in entries from last year and most year's show. It's not known just exactly what caused the drop, but a forecast not full of optimism might have had much to do with that. 

For those that don't like a lot of extraneous classes running with a big special(I would be one of those), this event is perfect for them. Just two classes of cars, big fields in both and the focus just on those two groups of racers. After qualifying for the Modifieds was complete, it was heats, B Features and the two main events. Slam, bam, thank you mam. Just the way it should be. And on a cold, cold night, the three hour program was much appreciated. 

Sixty three Modifieds signed in to race with twenty three of the top twenty five in the current point standings among those entered. The usual USMTS format would be used on this, the first of three full shows with increased pay offs each night. The full shows for both classes  also makes it more interesting for the fans while giving the drivers that have bad luck or mechanical issues more than just one chance to shine. 

Jake Timm, current point leader in USMTS, would be the quickest of the sixty three drivers on hand with a lap of 16.272 seconds. Apparently the track was heavy and fast for the Wednesday night practice session but would kindly be described as having lots of "character." However, plenty of work in the meantime was performed on the track by Ryan Whitworth and his crew and the track would be smooth and slick for Thursday night's show. The USMTS format of inverting the top six in each group of qualifiers for the heat races might just be too many these days, as only half of the quick qualifiers would move directly into the feature with half having to run B Features as the quality of the fields is so strong that starting sixth and trying to garner enough passing points to move directly into the main has often been challenging this year. 

Six heat races would determine the top twelve in passing points with everyone else moving to one of three B Features. Much like mini features, these seventeen car events would move up just four cars out of each, giving the field twenty four starters. Throw in five provisional starters and the field of twenty nine would be set for thirty five laps of racing. 

Things got off to a slow start when Timm, starting on the inside of row two, would lose his power steering a get a flat tire, all before a lap could be completed and he would be done for the night. Timm had to decide whether to race his Modified or his Late Model this weekend, as there were big attractive shows for both this weekend. That choice was eliminated when the Late Model event got cancelled on Thursday morning due to the weather. 

Phillips, who started on the pole, would grab the lead and he would then be scored the leader for all thirty five laps, although it wasn't an easy win. Jason Hughes quickly moved into second and would stalk Phillips the entire race. Early on, Johnny Scott, another refugee from the Late Model wars this weekend, and Dan Ebert would be fighting for position. Jim Chisholm, the promising rookie driver, would challenge for a top five spot until he got into the turn four wall and was done. 

Through the mid portion of the race, there would be a long period of green flag racing and Phillips would catch the back of the pack, crowded with so many cars on this tight quarter mile. Terry would have some real problems getting past the slower cars and Hughes pulled right up behind him with Ebert, Scott and Tanner Mullens not far behind. 

A two car collision solved Phillips' dilemma with the yellow waving and an open track awaiting Terry for the restart. Ebert and Scott continued to have a dynamic battle for third while Ryan Gustin creeped into the top five after starting twelfth. Gustin, another of those Late Model drivers caught without a race due to the weather, jumped into the Hughes chassis car of Chris Kratzer and you'd have thought he was racing it all his life, the way he made it perform. 

Phillips would continue to hold the lead on the open track with Hughes still looking for a route past him. Just when it appeared that the race would be completed, the yellow waved for a fifth time for a tangle and a two lap sprint to the finish was called for. The veteran Phillips would not get caught up in any late race surprises, and he pulled away from Hughes to get the win. Gustin continued to charge and he passed Ebert at the end to get third ahead of Dan and Darren Fuqua who came from fourteenth to get the top five finish. Only five cars didn't complete the distance and all were on the lead lap. 

In victory lane, I was disappointed to hear from Phillips that he had retired from Late Model racing, having sold off all his Late Model equipment while he will now focus on his Modified stuff. With the bad comes some good though, as this win was the first for the new Bloodline chassis that Terry is now building. Look for more drivers to spring up with this chassis now soon. 

The Battle at the Bullring is always one of the biggest races of the year for the B Mods/Midwest Mods/ Sport Mods as this race always attracts a lot of drivers. This year instead of qualifying on two nights for the big show on Saturday, they split up the purse money and will be running three full shows with the money getting progressively bigger by Saturday night. This seems fairer for the drivers but is this why the car count was down substantially this year? I can't say but it was significantly down. 

It is refreshing not to have any cars with ridiculously big spoilers and Modified motors masquerading as B Mods such as has to be tolerated with out in New Mexico as no big spoilers are allowed at this event except for those on the IMCA Sport Mods. The B Mods run their USRA rules and the Midwest Mods run their WISSOTA rules and all seem pretty competitive. The IMCA cars seem to shy away from this event and I'm not sure why but I only spotted one IMCA variety car on hand. Many drivers come all the way from Canada, North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin to race this race as it remains a big event on their schedule. 

Lots of people surprised their weren't more of the B Mods on hand but they still had enough for six heats and three B Features as their portion of the program mirrored the Mods, except for no time trials as they drew for position and qualified using passing points. After all the preliminaries were completed, there would be a twenty four car starting field for the main event. 

Michael Taylor III would take the early lead from the pole for the twenty five lap event with Brian Bolin, Terry Schultz, Kris Jackson and Lucas Rodin in the lead group. Jackson was working well and he moved to the low side of the track and quickly moved up from his sixth starting spot to challenge for the lead. 

With a strong move on the inside line, he drove into the lead and quickly began to pull away. However, the battle behind him was excellent with about five cars trading spots. Rodin moved to the outside and quickly began making time. Just as he was about to make a group pass and take over second, Tye Hollingsworth pulled up lame on the back chute. Rodin, blocked behind another car, couldn't see the slowing car and he couldn't get out of the way quick enough, peeling off the whole right side of his car and giving himself a flat tire and he was done. 

Jackson would pull away on the restart and he truly would never be challenged again for the lead. The best race would see Shadren Turner try to get past Bolin for second. Turner had started twelfth and was marching to the front and would perhaps have been the only driver to challenge Jackson, if only he could get past Bolin. 

However, Bolin, who managed to win a heat race by making his car as wide as the track and blocking any passing attempt, used the same technique on Turner and despite many attempts by Shadren, who would have a good run on Bolin, they all were halted by Bolin's wide car and the wall that was pinching on Turner. 

Jackson would drive on for the win, seeing the checkered flag wave from 81 Speedway starter Jake Schroeder, while  Bolin would hold off Turner for second. A big late race burst would see Jon Sheets move up to fourth with Any Bryant completing the top five. Only three yellows would slow the action in this race. 

Overall it was an incredibly smooth night of racing. The first yellow flag of the night didn't fly until the seventh race and when was the last time you saw six B Mod heats without a single yellow flag? There was not a single race all night that was yellow flag dominated and the smoothness of the program certainly played a part in the early evening which was welcomed by all due to the cold conditions. One day removed from a practice night with eighty degree temperatures, the opening night saw temps hover in the mid forties with a blistering wind out of the North. I would say that the crowd was the smallest ever seen for a KofA-BofB event but not surprising given the conditions. 

Friday night the same two classes will be in action as the ante is raised for both. 

Garrison Earns Two Grand at Tulsa Spring Chiller

 Saturday night, March 18th was night number two of the Spring Chiller at the Tulsa Speedway. Saturday night's program would see the Factory Stocks settle things with a two grand to win main event along with a second full show of the weekend for the Tuners and with a last minute schedule change during the week, also racing would be the OCRS Sprint Cars in a full show also. 

The event name was more than appropriate for this weekend's racing as conditions were very cold and I could only use the word brutal to describe Saturday night's weather conditions. After a Saturday where the actual temperatures struggled to get above forty degrees, as soon as the sun set so also did the temperatures plummet. By the time the final checkered waved for the night, the actual temperature was down to thirty two degrees and the "feels like" temperature was much lower indeed as a strong wind refuses to lay down and of course, that wind was blowing directly into the spectator grandstand. 

Not surprisingly, the spectator attendance was a bit on the sparse side. There did appear to be more people on hand Saturday than Friday although most seemed to be either Sprint fans or associated with the Sprint Cars as only when they appeared on the track did the grandstands start to fill up some. The Factory Stocks did seem to be too much of an attraction for the general fans and quite frankly, with the long and drawn out portion of their program both nights, they certainly didn't put their best foot forward if they were trying to attract new fans. 

Track management wisely moved up the starting time for Saturday's show with the cold temperatures predicted and the first green flag would fly at about a quarter to seven. With this being a special for the Factory Stocks, their field of cars, which numbered the largest of any for the weekend, would see a pair of B Features qualifying the rest of the starters for the thirty lap main event. Twenty five cars would start the finale. Approximately a dozen cars would start each B Feature with six moving on to the main. And these races would prove to be "time suckers" as in order to get two fifteen lap races completed, we would see the yellow waved thirteen times as repeated spins and crashes would mar both races. 

It was a shame that the same pattern would hold for the thirty lap main as there was the potential for some good racing to take place and indeed we would see a good battle for the lead that would continue for most of the race. However, the yellow would wave a mind boggling eleven times during that thirty laps and the longest stretch of green flag racing would be for six laps during the mid laps of the event. 

There would be three different leaders during the first six laps of the feature but there would also be four yellows. Donnie Wright was the initial leader of the race but would be passed just one lap later by Stephen Torrez. Early yellows really shuffled the running order but the driver to watch was Dalton Garrison who had started fourteenth. 

The track was quite different on Saturday than it had been for Friday night's action with it being smoother but more significantly, much drier with many of these slick tired Factory Stocks scratching for traction and hugging the tires on the corners.

However, Garrison was different as he drove his car high around the banking and found success as he passed a number of cars early. By lap four he was up to fifth and following yet another slow down, he jumped to the top side again and proceeded to drive around both of the front rows of cars and into the lead with a remarkable gain of positions. Moving into second place was Matt Norwood and these two would be the show the rest of the race. 

From the point that Garrison would take over the lead, he would have to withstand seven slowdowns for a variety of spins and crashes but always he had Norwood close behind. In the later stages of the race, Garrison would start to lose a little momentum running the top shelf and Norwood nearly slipped past him a couple times. However, Garrison wisely adjusted his line and went to the low groove, forcing Norwood to make an outside pass if he wanted the lead. 

The last five lap sprint to the finish would see Garrison protect the low line and Norwood not able to find a way past as they would finish in that order. Norwood had survived an early race incident when then leader Wright spun and hid car launched Norwood high into the air but he was lucky in that no damage resulted.  Robert Scott would finish third. According to Operations Manager Nathan Hager, this would be the largest purse the Factory Stocks had ever raced for in Northeast Oklahoma and his prediction that forty cars would be on hand would be very close to the number that actually raced. Eight cars didn't finish the race and all seventeen still running were on the lead lap, at least partially because they never strung enough laps together for anyone to fall back that far. 

This would be my first time to see the OCRS(Oil Capital Racing Series) Sprint Cars in person. I did find out that this series has rules where the cars are running 360 motors but are running two barrel carburetors and not fuel injection. They also allow the 305 RaceSaver Sprints to run with them but I don't think there were any 305's here on Saturday. They had a very nice turnout of cars with twenty nine of them signing in to race with drivers as far as from Forth Worth on hand. They would not qualify but instead draw and then use passing points to set the feature lineup. They would have four heats and a B Feature to set the feature field with twenty cars starting the main. 

Racing for fifteen hundred bucks to the victor, there would be plenty of enmity on display before this race was completed. Terry Easum would start on the pole and take the early lead. Fred Mattox would move into second and at the halfway point, Johnny Kent was third. 

Just past halfway and things would get wild. Easum was having trouble with a lapped car as they shared the same lane on the track and Easum couldn't get past him. He quickly lost his fairly comfortable lead with Mattox closing in rapidly. Just as Easum got beside the lapped car in an attempt to pass, Mattox would make a bold(and some might say foolhardy) move as he dove low into turn three, trying to squeeze under both the lapped car and leader Easum. As you might guess, it didn't go well with Mattox slamming the slower car up the track where that machine then slid into leader Easum, spinning him out. 

Since Mattox didn't stop, he would assume the lead for the restart with some boos from the crowd waffling in the breeze. The green would no more than come back out when a couple of other cars got together so hard that the top wing was torn off the car of Zach Chappell. Zach responded by giving a "double bird" to that driver as they idled around the track under yellow before Chappell's car was hauled off the track. 

The rest of the race would see Mattox continue to hold the lead and he wouldn't be challenged as he drove home for the win over Kent and Lane Goodman. Easum would "buzz" Mattox after the checkered waved and tap on his bumper but it didn't seem to bother Mattox, who didn't seem too sorry in his victory lane comments, even when the boo birds took flight once again. 

The Tuners were a bit "deTuned" on Saturday as only four of them would return for the show. They would run their feature nonstop with last night's flat tire victim Alex Scarlett leading from start to finish over Dylan Whitley and Friday night winner Nikk Sands. 

The Dwarf Cars were also racing and their ten car feature was topped by Paul York. Tulsa Speedway has a lot of big races on their schedule for the rest of the 2023 season and if you happen to be in the Tulsa area, check out what they have going on. Thanks to all the track workers for doing their jobs on what had to have been a rather uncomfortable weekend and special thanks to Operations Manager Hager for all his help.

Hansen Tops Night One of Spring Chiller at Tulsa

 Due to the unseasonal weather conditions that prevailed over much of the country this weekend, there were not a lot of race tracks and events that were held this weekend. One of the very few in the Midwest that was completed as scheduled was the Spring Chiller at the Tulsa Speedway. This race was scheduled for last weekend but was postponed one week by weather but they were determined to get this show in this weekend, come He** or high water. They did have more than their share of water in the parking lot but that didn't stop them as night number one of the Spring Chiller was held on Friday night, March 17th. 

Running on Friday night would be the USRA sanctioned Modifieds, B Mods and Tuners. But this race was a special event for the only non sanctioned class, the Factory Stocks. This is a class that is run at about a dozen tracks in this region of the country and after this track was built and USRA moved in as the sanctioning body here, it was a "no brainer" to leave the Factory Stocks as they were as it was a very successful class. On this weekend, the Factory Stocks would be running double heat races on Friday night and accumulating passing points. The top twelve would be locked in for Saturday night's finale with the rest of the field racing in a pair of B Features and hoping to join the big show. This race is paying $2,000 to win and $200 to start the thirty lap main on Saturday night and I was told the total purse for the Factory Stocks would be somewhere between $11 and $12 thousand dollars. 

Friday night would be my first visit to the "New" Tulsa Speedway as I visited the old track on 66th Street a number of times over the years before that track was shut down. The Tulsa Speedway saw ground broken for the new track in 2020 and tonight's show will mark the start of the third year of operation for the track. Keith Haney and Todd Martin are the owners of the track and Nathan Hagar is the Operations Manager. If that name sounds familiar, it should, as Nathan is a well known driver of his own USRA #55 Modified when he isn't running things here at Tulsa. When I met Nathan today he could tell I was from up "North" by my accent!!! I don't know where he gets that, I don't have an accent, he does!

The Tulsa Speedway is located just North across the parking lot from the Tulsa Raceway Park, the big time drag strip here in Tulsa. The track is listed as a quarter mile oval but it looks slightly bigger than that to me. It is a real paper clip shaped track with long chutes and very tight corners but it has high banking and wide corners that allow the drivers to race up the track. During this last off season they made some major improvements to the racing surface as they dug up around two feet of clay and underneath fill in the corners, improved the base material and then put new clay in the corners while widening and banking the corners more. So tonight's show would be the first test of the new surface and despite the wet conditions, I thought the track held up pretty well. The track is surrounded by a concrete wall all the way around and the drivers enter the track in turn two and exit off turn one. There is a nice five position scoreboard on the back chute and both the track lighting and sound system are excellent. 

Several large aluminum grandstand sections are available and a new concession/restroom building was completed last Summer. The track grandstand faces North and the track runs West to East so with a strong wind blowing, it was unfortunately right in the faces of the spectators. They did bring in some portable heaters for the fans that turned into a popular resting place. There are, however, to restrooms in the pits including portables, so everyone must hike to the concession building to to "their business." The track is sponsored by the Osage Casino and Hotel that is just down the road from the track and RacinDirt was on hand to broadcast the event. The track was also proud to announce that they were debuting a new weekly track program so I quickly nabbed Vol. 1, Issue 1 for safe keeping. 

There would be no qualifying on this night with everyone drawing a pill and then racing their way into the three mains. The car count for the three USRA classes was not big with a couple heats in each class and only one for the Tuners, who are transitioning over from Mini Stocks that raced here last year. I was very surprised how few of the track regulars, those high in the point standings from last year were in attendance. Only three of the top ten in B Mods, five in Factory Stocks and not a single driver in the top ten in Modified points from last year were on hand!

Mike Hansen shows up just about anywhere in the racing world it seems. If there is a track and they run Modifieds, he's either been there or is planning on going. That's why when we run into each other in the pits, usually it's like "What are you doing here!" Such was the case on Friday as Hansen rolled into the pits just before cut off and we were both surprised to see each other. Hansen, who races out of locations in both Arkansas and North Dakota, is one of the hardest guys to predict when and where he might be racing but if he is at a track, he usually is exciting. 

On Friday night he would lead all fifteen laps of he Modified main, a race that was shortened up by lots of yellows and the late hour. He would start in front and run their for the whole race. Early on he was challenged by Michael Ables who was diving low in the corners on him but when Ables nearly stuck his right front wheel into Hansen's window opening and then had to back off, this triggered a multi car collision that took out Aaron Halpain and Ryan Middaugh and forced William Gould to pit. 

After that it was mostly a matter of Hansen turning smooth laps and not making a mistake through the four more yellows that would slow the event. Hansen did just that as he drove to a comfortable win with Ables coming through to finish second. Gould, who seems to have a car for every class under every sanctioning body, would work his way back up to third over Wyatt Gaggero and Kaleb Gallaway. 

The B Mod feature had a shocking series of events take place midway in the race that totally changed the outcome of the event. Early on it was a two car race with Krew Walburn and Travis Johnson battling for the lead. Walburn had the top spot but Johnson was pressuring him as both pulled away from the rest of the field, making this a strictly two car race. 

Suddenly, just at the midpoint of the race, Walburn slowed suddenly down the back chute, powerless as the yellow flag flew. But just at the same time, Johnson pulled into the infield on the front chute and just like that, the top two cars in the race were down. 

This gave the lead to Hank Brown and he would fight off several challenges from Cason Harris to take the win with Tye Hollingsworth third. Brown was actually driving a USRA Limited Mod/IMCA Southern Sport Mod but was allowed to run with the B Mods on this night. He had never been to Tulsa before so his first visit was a pleasant one. His team mate Jeremy Hodges, another Limited Mod driver from Ok City, was scheduled to start on the pole but scratched out of the event. 

Nikk Sands would lead from start to finish to win the Tuner main event. He started on the pole and was challenged early by Alex Scarlett but when Scarlett was sidelined by a flat  right front tire, it would be easy going for Sands the rest of the way. Robert Tosh would finish second with David Wagner third. 

Thirty four Factory Stocks would sign in to race and the double heats would see eight, ten lap events for them with each driver running twice. It was a rough night mechanically for a number of the drivers with Shawn Brownlee blowing up on the first lap of hot laps and last year's point champion Chris Bales blowing up while leading a second round heat race. Nearly a half dozen drivers couldn't make their second heat after troubles during the first go round. 

The first four heats were marked by much carnage with engines blowing, wheels flying off and drive shafts lancing through the air as action was abundant with no less that eleven yellows flying in the first four heats. Things did smooth out some in the second go round with the diminished fields. Matt Norwood and Chris Wilson would each win a pair of heats and would top the first night point standings. 

It was a long night of racing to be sure. The scheduled start time of 8 pm, which seems rather late to begin with, was exceeded by twenty minutes due to the inevitable opening night issues and with all the races and all the yellows, it was Midnight when the last checkered flew. And for those hearty few still left in the grandstands, the surprise was that the car outside temperature gauge announced a toasty 35 degrees! Yikes. 

Saturday night action will see the big Factory Stock feature along with Tuners and Dwarf Cars and an appearance arranged at the last minute for the OCRS Sprint Cars. 

Alberson Nips Moyer Sr. to Win Adams Memorial at Boothill

 Saturday night, March 11th, Boothill Speedway in Greenwood Louisiana hosted round two of the Comp Cams Super Series featuring the Ronnie Adams Memorial. The Late Models would be racing forty laps on this night for ten grand to win with support from the USRA Limited Modifieds and the Factory Stocks. 

In a feature race that looked for all the world that Hall of Fame Late Model driver Billy Moyer Sr, was going to add to his glowing feature win totals, Garrett Alberson got up on the wheel after following Moyer Sr. for many laps, made an outside pass with five to go and then drove away for an exciting feature win. 

The Late Model count was down just a bit from Friday night as there was much carnage with all the wrecks and rough driving and a few drivers cut their losses by heading for home, most notably Jonathan Davenport. However, Moyer Sr, who perhaps wisely just watched on Friday night, and Brett Frazier joined the field with both being impactful through the night as thirty four drivers would take time. 

For the second straight night, Alberson was quick qualifier at 14.653 seconds as with one more day for the track to dry out an with a strong sun and wind blowing on it, the racing surface was considerably slicker and slower than on Friday while still retaining it's smooth racing surface. 

Four heats and a pair of B Features would set the starting field for the Late Model feature which was run first to accommodate the crowd. However, it was noted that not very many people left after the Late Models were done, even though it was after 10 pm as this crowd seemed just as interested in the Limited Mods and Factory Stocks as they were in the Late Models.   

Frazier earned the pole position for the forty lap main after soundly beating Alberson in the first heat race but Frazier discovered some serious mechanical issues and he opted to go to the back of the feature, take the green flag and then pull off. 

This moved up the inside line and gave Moyer Sr. the pole and he used that advantage to take the early lead over Kyle Beard and Alberson. Moyer Sr would lead in the early going as he hugged the low side of the track while Beard and Alberson traded back and forth the second spot. Three yellow flags in the first half of the race would see Moyer Sr continue to lead while Beard and Alberson traded the second spot back and forth three times. On each restart the outside lane driver would get the advantage and power into second and while taking a shot at Moyer Sr., neither could complete the pass to take over the top spot. 

Cade Dillard and Logan Martin would crack the top five as the race reached its halfway point. Disaster would strike Beard as while battling to get past Alberson and move back into second, he spun in turn four and triggered the final yellow with just nine laps to go. Speaking of go, it was then go time for Alberson who immediately jumped to the second lane on the green anc crept up beside Moyer Sr, looking for the lead. 

Billy tried to fight off Garrett but Alberson had a good line on the high side, using him momentum off the corners to drive past Moyer Sr who was spinning his tires coming off the corners in an effort to stay in front. Once Alberson cleared Moyer Sr for the lead with just five laps to go, he quickly showed that he was the fastest car on the track as he pulled away with Moyer Sr having no chance of catching back up. Continuing to stretch his lead, Alberson drove on for the win with Moyer Sr settling for second. 

After starting eighteenth on the grid, B. J. Robinson did a great job of working his way up through the field and would end up third as he passed Dillard late in the race to get that position  with Billy Moyer Jr. completing the top five driving the Henderson Motorsports entry this weekend. Only five cars didn't go the distance and all were on the lead lap as Saturday night's race was a complete reversal from the Friday night fireworks. 

Unlike Friday night, the two support classes, both popular classes in this area, brought big numbers to the track with thirty nine Limited Mods and forty Factory Stocks signing in to race. Each class would draw for starting positions and run four heats and a pair of B Features prior to their twenty lap main events. 

Twenty two cars would start the Limited Mod feature with Chase Hatton the early leader. His lead would be one that would be hard to beat as eventually he would go on to hold the top spot all the way to the checkers. Five yellows in the first half of the race would keep the field bunched but each time the yellow waved, Hatton would pull away. Early on he was chased by Stephen Guidry until the two car team of Colby and Connor Mewborn would take over the second and third spot. 

The last twelve laps of the race would go nonstop and while Colby would close up on the leader, Hatton would not make any late mistakes, would protect the low side of the track, and would drive on for the win i front of the Mewborn's. 

Twenty four cars would start the Factory Stock feature but the same scenario would play out. Kyle Cummings would start on the pole and would lead all twenty laps to get the win. He was chased early by Gary Harvin and C.J. Howell until Justin Whitehead came storming up from the seventh starting position to take over second. He then had the last  seventeen laps to try and get by leader Cummings and he tried his hardest, switching lines on the track and trying to run off the banking to gain momentum and make a pass. 

However, despite his best efforts, Cummings would run a strong and consistent race and not allow Whitehead any openings and he would drive on for the win. Harvin would settle for third at the line. 

It should be noted that after a good sized crowd on Friday night, a gigantic crowd was in attendance on Saturday with the cement slabs nearly full of fans. With much of the parking lot still a muddy mess and folks getting stuck more than once, finding a place to park was quite the challenge and lots of folks had to make an East Bay type hike to get to the track. It was also a challenge for the race cars to find spaces to park and every piece of high side land in the pits found race cars jammed together. It will certainly take some time and effort to repair all the ruts and puddles both in the pits and in the parking lots. The entire race track property sits on low ground and between the rain and the Spring runoff, it is quite the swamp. 

I must make special mention of the track announcer here at Boothill, Joshua Bell. He has to be one of the best local track announcers that I have heard as he was knowledgeable and had great diction and was so easy to understand. He, along with Comp Cams announcer Wesley Gaultney made a great pair to call the action. And also it should be mentioned what a great sound system they had. The announcers could be heard well and even the drivers that were introduced came through loud and clear which is often not the case. 

Thanks to all the track officials for their efforts this weekend. They had to fight the conditions which required lots of work but they produced a good race track both nights and did their best to pull all the stuck folks out of the mud. Also, thanks to the Comp Cam officials and especially Chris Sullivan for his help. 

Logan Martin Slams His Way to Comp Cams Win at Boothill

 The Comp Cams Super Dirt Car Series opened up its season on Friday night, March 10th at the Historic Boothill Speedway,  located in Greenwood Louisiana which is just West of Shreveport. On a night that saw more strange things happen than might  be expected with Late Model racing over a long period of time and marked by some of the worst and roughest driving seem by Late Model drivers in quite some time, Logan Martin slammed his way to victory in the thirty lap main event after he knocked race leader Neil Baggett out of the way and into the wall on the twenty ninth lap of the race. It was an inglorious end to a night of racing that saw many poor racing decisions made by drivers in the premier class here this weekend. 

Included in the Late Model antics on this night were several instances of drivers running over other drivers, leaders being taken out more than once in racing action and two flips by Late Model drivers with both Ross Farmer and Tanner Kellick both taking wild rides which fortunately produced no injuries. 

It was a big night for the Comp Cams Series as for the first time they ran their events sanctioned as a part of the DIRTcar sanctioning group and World of Outlaws Late Model Competition Director Steve Francis was on hand on Friday to help direct the show. 

It was a most challenging start to the weekend for the series officials and the officials and track workers of the Boothill Speedway as over night thunderstorms dropped over two inches of rain on the facility, turning much of the grounds into a muddy mess. When I arrived the track had just been opened up to let it air, and while they went about their business of opening the gates and parking the rigs I still had my doubts about whether or not there would be racing on this night. As it turned out, the track itself was the least of the problems officials faced. 

The tractors and scrapers got most of the early activity as numerous haulers got stuck trying to get into the pits which were mud covered and the scrapers were used to try and move some of that mud so that the pits would be usable. Some rigs were already in the pits, having arrived for practice on Thursday night and they proved to be the lucky ones. The track itself was blinding fast and never did really slow down much over the course of the night. However, it did stay smooth and with much effort made to widen out the groove, including moving the infamous infield tractor tires in and out to force the drivers to race different lines, the racing surface was not the problem as for some reason the drivers seemed to have buckled their helmets just a bit tight on Friday, cutting off flow of blood to their brains and producing some very poor decisions. 

An excellent field of forty one Late Models would sign in for the show and they were split into two qualifying groups and four heats. Garrett Alberson would be fastest overall at 13.495 seconds for the quarter mile while Dillon McCowan would top the other group. Before hot laps were completed the wildness started as both Jon Kirby and Jarret Stuckey would hammer the wall in hot laps with both able to make repairs. 

The four heat races were also very eventful with the yellow waving multiple times and one heat that saw six yellow flags in eight laps of racing! For whatever reason, wild driving was prevailing on this night and the track can't be blamed for the majority of the nonsense.

Eventually, twenty one cars would qualify for the Late Model main event but not before Farmer would vault over the third turn wall and Kellick would do a wild spinning flip down into the infield mud in the B Features. 

Alberson would sit on the pole for the Late Model feature but it was McCowan that would get the jump from the outside pole and lead the early laps. Kyle Beard would race up into second with Alberson and Jonathan Davenport right behind. The top four drivers would pull away from the pack but be running in fight formation on the high speed track. 

Bad things would happen, however, when they caught the back of the pack. Two cars were racing for position and one drove right up over the other and they sideways into turn one with the leaders right behind. The car that instigated this wreck was also guilty of slamming another car into the mud during a heat race as he somehow inherited a provisional to start the main. 

The four leaders came roaring into the corner and despite their efforts to avoid the mess, all four slammed into the stalled cars with quite the collision the result. All four were affected with McCowan, Beard and Alberson all having to pit to either change tires or fix nose pieces with Davenport was done with extensive damage. 

Suddenly the fifth place car of a lap before, Neil Baggett, found himself as the leader of the race. For the next few laps and at the halfway point, Baggett would continue to hold the lead with Morgan Bagley moving into second. Spencer Hughes benefitted when Tyler Stevens suddenly slowed as he vaulted up to second, working the high side of the track. While Baggett continued to lead, Hughes would challenge Bagley hard for second. However, another case of brain fade would take place as Hughes drove right over Bagley as he attempted to pass him going into turn one, wrecking Hughes' car and forcing Bagley into a tire change. 

This moved Logan Martin into second after he and Hunter Rasdon had fought hard for that spot. There would be ten laps left and Martin was all over Baggett, trying to find a way by the leader. Baggett adjusted his line on the track, moving up to block the charging Martin. They were very close as the laps ran down with them nose to tail as the white waved. Things would go South once again on the final lap as Martin would make a wild dive low into turn one, trying to get under Baggett with a move that never would have worked. As it turned out, he slammed into the side of Baggett who slid all the way up the track and slammed into the wall, with front end damage the result. 

The yellow waved and with apparently  no fault called no matter how rough the move, Martin was handed the lead for the one lap restart after he took out the leader. The one lap race to the checkered would see Martin get a good jump and hold off Rasdon to take the win. Those surviving behind them included Rick Rickman, Alberson, from the back and B.J. Robinson that would complete the top five. Only eleven of the starting field of twenty one were still around at the finish and most showed plenty of damage, even though they were still running. 

Martin was very restrained in victory lane, as well he should have been since his victory was not a deserved one and despite his remorse, he still collected the five grand check as the winner while Baggett put his front end back on his car. 

There were two support classes on this night and they were both weak in number and performance. The USRA Tuners and Sportster classes both ran full programs but there were less than two dozen of them between the two classes. The Tuners feature would see Jackson Gallagher start on the pole and lead from start to finish while not being challenged. Justin Converse would finish second with Brandon Harrod next in line. 

The Sportsters is a new class in this area, apparently being debuted at Boothill last year and now being run by some of the other area tracks. To me they looked like some strain of Pure Stocks but there was even one pick up truck running in the class. 

Alex Williams would start on the pole and run away for an easy victory. That is, until the tech folks could have a look at the car. While he got his victory lane photo taken with half the pit area joining him on the track for the shoot, the tech folks found something they didn't like and he was disqualified. This turned the win over to Chad Porter with John McCune and Dusty Dupont completing the top five. 

The wet track and heavy pit area, which caused much time to pass until they were ready to race, plus the time trials which never go smoothly, caused the show to be delayed by just over two hours as the first green of the night waved at 9:08 pm. And with all the wrecks in the premier class and all the time needed to pull the cars apart, make necessary pit stops etc., the final checkered of the night didn't wave until 1 am. Then we had the treat of slogging our way back to our vehicles and with the water again rising, it was one of the muddiest messes I have seen since the last time I was at Pennsboro. However, the events of the night would be the thing that most folks will remember as it was certainly a wild night at the races. 

Ho'T Is Wet; Smith Crowned Lone Star Champion

 The Sniper Speed Lone Star Stock Car tour again battled the weather in 2023. However, at least they did get some races completed unlike last year when the entire tour was iced out. Still, they did struggle, losing one show of the two scheduled at Kennedale, making that one up on what was supposed to be a practice night on Sunday at Devil's Bowl for an afternoon show. They raced on Monday night at Devil's Bowl before Tuesday night's show was cancelled in the early afternoon due to circumstances that haven't totally been clarified to me. 

Action moved to the Heart O' Texas Speedway in Elm Mott for an exciting show on Wednesday night with the hopes that the finale could be run on Thursday, March 9th. However, the weather would not cooperative with that plan. Rain and storms were certainly in the forecast with the likelihood high in the first forecasts and then being pushed back into the later evening. A meeting was held at the track at 2 pm and the decision was made to race unless it actually rained. 

Everything was in preparation and the driver's meeting was completed. Last minute track prep was undertaken with plans to hot lap at 6:30 pm with racing to follow and the plan was to run the Stock Cars first so that their portion of the show could be completed in case some rain moved into the area around the predicted time. 

However, the rain came in early as the line of precipitation filled in quickly and just around hot lap time it started to rain and once it began, it would not stop anytime soon. Thus, the final night of the series was cancelled and the celebration and passing out of the hardware was moved to a close by location in Elm Mott. Cody Smith, with dominating and consistent runs, was crowned the point champion while he also dominated the Sport Mod part of the program, going undefeated. 

Even though there was a lot of Stock Car carnage in Wednesday night's show, there were still thirty eight Stock Cars that got things cobbled back together and were ready to race before the rains set in. And G.W. Egbert IV did his best impersonation of Scott Bloomquist before the show as after he got his car repaired at a local show just down the road, he simply drove his Stock Car down the frontage road and right into the pit area!. 

Thanks to all the officials from the two tracks we visited and everyone from the Lone Star Stock Car Tour for their efforts at putting this series together. Some year they will hit things right and get beautiful weather for a solid week. Special thanks to J Van (Jerry Van Sickle) for making arrangements for us at each track. 

Cody Smith Doubles at Ho'T

 After a rainout on Tuesday night that was missing just one key ingredient, RAIN!, the Sniper Speed Lone Star Stock Car tour moved South to the Heart O' Texas Speedway located near Elm Mott, or just North of Waco, for the first of what is scheduled to be the final two rounds of this Stock Car series. 

Having lost one night and also having to readjust the schedule due to another rain out, this series has been struggling just a bit with the Spring weather here in Texas. However, that would not be a problem here on Wednesday night, March 8th as the sun broke out despite it being a somewhat cooler day than it has been so far this week. 

This night marked my first ever visit to the Heart O' Texas Speedway, reportedly one of the longest running track here in the state of Texas. Ho'T is a quarter mile black dirt oval with wide corners and a wall around all but the third and fourth turn. It has a series of large grandstands that could seat a very good sized crowd if needed. There is also a nice pit grandstand plus they have a catwalk in the pits that sits over the exit from the track and all the way down wrapping around the first turn. Although a bit shorter, it seemed to me like the track raced very much like Iowa's Marshalltown Speedway as the first laps of the Stock Car feature had that four and five wide look that Marshalltown produces. 

There is a nice, readable scoreboard in the infield that faces the main grandstand and the track lighting was adequate if not overwhelming. Later we would have a few minute delay when one of the lights popped off during a race but that can happen anywhere. The pit area is off the first and second corner and all seats have an unobstructed view of the entire track. The sound system was a good one with no problems hearing J Van in action. The track started out the night smooth but did start to roll up some ruts later, likely the product of early season racing and  still soft ground and while the conditions produced some "character" racing, I thought the track raced very well overall. 

Although the track has been at its present location for quite some time, it is located in probably the perfect area for a race track with I-35 just to the West of the track and a very busy railroad line just behind the East side of the track. Thus, noise issues should be nonexistent compared to the roar of the trains and the constant drone of the freeway. 

We were back to a regular home for IMCA Stock Car racing at Ho'T Speedway and the car count shot back up with forty seven drivers signing in to race on this night including  thirty seven of thirty eight that participated at the Devil's Bowl and that marks support of the series. The IMCA Southern Sport Mods and Factory Stocks would be the support classes on this night, a correct number of classes for a week night show. 

Five heats and two Jeff Broeg sized B Features would set the field for the thirty lap Stock Car main, paying three grand to win for those drivers that had pre entered this event. Twenty one cars would start the main after Shawn Graham from Louisiana would buy his way in as the provisional starter. The preliminary events, despite their importance with only two out of the heats and five out of the B Features, were highly contested races but with very few yellow flags. This pattern would continue also for most of the main event until a big grinding wreck would slow things down near the end. 

The field must be wondering what is Cody Smith's secret as he won for the second time on the tour, coming from the seventh position to lead the last eighteen laps and get the win. Paul White would take the early lead with heavy pressure being applied by Raymond McSpadden and Matt Boucher while Jesse Sobbing, Smith and Travis Hatcher moved forward. 

Smith and Sobbing found success running the low side of the track and staying out of the ruts and they moved up to second and third respectively. The first yellow flew with ten laps complete when Boucher had a flat tire and stalled. 

Disaster for White on the restart occurred when he hooked one of the ruts in the first turn and did his best impression of Joey Chitwood as he rode on two wheels all the way through the turn. How he didn't turn over, I do not know but he lost many positions before he returned the car to the earth. This gave Smith his chance and he forged into the lead. Smith then began to pull away slightly while the battle for the rest of the top five was even more intense if that is possible. 

Sobbing and William Gould were battling for that spot with Gould up from fifteenth as the halfway point of the race hit. Also in that mix were Hatcher, Benji Kirkpatrick and Jeffrey Abbey. They were fighting on each lap for spots as body panels, fenders and other car parts started to get ripped off and bend as the track roughness plus the physical racing took its toll. 

With Smith just far enough in front to avoid all the shenanigan's, things came to a head from all the slamming when Hatcher and Gould came together hard coming off turn four on lap twenty six. They both spun into the wall right under the flag stand and as the yellow flew, cars were still three wide racing off the corner. Whether he couldn't see the yellow or couldn't turn to avoid the wreck, Michael Dabney Jr came full speed down the front chute and never seemed to back off as he slammed nose to nose with Gould, who was pointing the wrong direction on the track. It was a most violent collision but fortunately all drivers were OK. Gould wanted a piece of Hatcher, and I couldn't disagree with his feelings but fortunately William was held off by enough folks that the former wrestler couldn't put Hatcher in a "sleeper" hold. 

The last three laps went off smoothly with Smith again pulling away to get the win with Sobbing holding off G.W. Egbert who's car body was mostly missing by the end of the race. Kirkpatrick got fourth and White, after his two wheeling and also changing a flat tire, somehow managed to get back up to fifth. Less than half the starting field was around for the checkered. 

As strong as Smith has been in the Stock Cars, he's been even that much better in the Sport Mods. Wednesday night marked his fourth straight win in the Sport Mod feature during this series and the two I saw him win were not even close. Wednesday night he started third and it took him six laps to drive under Jeff Hauser to take over the lead and once in front, he was gone. 

This race was stopped only once for a yellow flag and with the final half green to checkered, Smith would win by a full straightaway over Dean Abbey with Kyle Wilkins completing the podium. 

The Factory Stock feature was an entertaining event that would go green to checkered for twenty laps. Cameron Cook would start on the pole and would build up a nice sized early lead as there was much fighting for position behind him as he motored away from the field. Despite some wild activity going on behind him, the cars would always manage to move and the green remained out. 

By the halfway point of the race, Michael Bowles has worked his way up into second after starting seventh and had Michael Dabney trailing him. Leader Cook got into lapped traffic and this broke his momentum to a point with both Bowles and Dabney starting to reel him in. Bowles saw his chance and with just two laps to go he dove under Cook and took over the lead. 

Cook couldn't fight back as Bowles pulled away for the win and in fact, Dabney was able to duck under Cook, who's car started to push the last half of the race, and get second after starting thirteenth. 

My first visit to Heart O' Texas Speedway left me very impressed with the track, along with the track and series officials that ran off the show. The action started right at the advertised time and they really pushed the program along. Despite a few minute delay when the lights went out and the long clean up for the grinding Stock Car wreck, the final checkered waved at 9:35 pm. The  track raced very well and I'm sure that the ruts that eventually developed due to the soft Spring ground, are not something seem every week. The early race action when the track was still smooth was excellent with lots of side by side action and I would definitely give this track a strong recommendation.  

Egbert IV Stock Car Winner at Devil's Bowl

  Monday night, March 5th found the Sniper Speed Lone Star Stock Car Tour at race number three of their six night schedule as they were racing again for the second of three consecutive nights at the Devil's Bowl Speedway in Mesquite Texas. Along with the Stock Cars, the 305 Racesaver Sprints would be racing for the first of two straight nights with the Southern Sport Mods and Factory Stocks also running as support classes. 

However, the highlight event of this night was the Stock Car feature where G.W. Egbert IV would come from the ninth starting spot to win the twenty five lap feature in what was a rousing four car duel right to the finish. The Racesaver Sprint feature would see Robert Vetter fight off a series of challenges by Kevin Ramey to get the win while Cody Smith dominated the Sport Mod feature and Chris Lewis would survive the repeated rear end ramming by Brett Jensen to win the Factory Stock finale. 

Monday night would mark my first visit to the Devil's Bowl Speedway in many, many years. So many, in fact, that I could remember little of the track from my earlier visit. However, some of it came back to me once in was on the grounds of the speedway. 

Devil's Bowl is a big half mile oval with long chutes and sweeping corners. There are no outside walls around the track which instead as a large, flat run off area for errant race cars. There are guard rails protecting the inside of the track which has pitting on both the infield and behind the back chute. Both of these are used by race cars which then shuttle to the infield for lineups with both the outside and middle of the track providing a "hot pit" if needed. 

Devil's Bowl is famous for having the uphill back chute as the back straightaway is, I believe, forty feet higher than the front chute so fans in the large grandstands can see the racing on the back chute even though large haulers are pitted in the infield. From the entrance to turn one to all the way down the back chute, the track goes uphill so drivers have to race each half of the track totally different. Corner number three starts to go back downhill and then levels off down the front chute and it is apparent that the drivers can race harder into turn one as they are going uphill all the way. 

Devil's Bowl offers plenty of seating with a huge grandstand that runs the length of the front chute. the midway behind the grandstand is paved as is the parking lot with lines designating parking spots for fans which is very handy. Lighting is good for both the track and grandstands and while it is an old facility, it is still well maintained by the Edwards family. Of course Devil's Bowl is most famous as being the birthplace of the World of Outlaws Sprint Car series with their first ever race held there. 

However, this week it was Stock Cars that were the featured class. The Sniper Speed Stock Car Tour is a six night series, split over three tracks here in Texas. However, rain forced a change up in the series schedule with the first date at Kennedale Speedway Park rained out. In a last minute schedule change, however, Devil's Bowl picked up that race on what was originally scheduled to be a practice night here on Sunday. Instead they raced at "The Bowl" on Sunday and then would follow it up with races on both Monday and Tuesday before they head down to Heart O' Texas Speedway in Elm Mott to finish up on Wednesday and Thursday. Kevin Courchaine from Wisconsin is the Tour Director for this series. 

Thirty eight Stock Cars would sign in for the racing on Monday night, a number that I frankly figured would be somewhat higher than it was although I was told that over fifty cars raced at Kennedale, a track that does race Stock Cars on a weekly basis which is not the case here at Devil's Bowl. Four big heats and a pair of B Features and would set the field for the Stock Car feature. 

On Sunday, racing an afternoon show, I was told that the track got very dry and slick and dusty which, by the way, is understandable. However, the track prep crew apparently didn't want anything like that to happen on this night as they tiled the track up and then dumped the water on it right before race time. The result was a slippery track that no one could get around easily with much sliding around and very little passing as everyone hugged the inside line and about the only way to make a pass was to boot a car in front out of the way or hope they slipped up and out of the groove. 

By feature time for the Stock Cars, the track was finally just starting to get good, which unfortunately, was also the last race of the night. Twenty one cars, a surprisingly low number given the size of the track and the number of cars on hand,  took the green flag for the twenty five lap main event which would be worth two grand to those drivers that had pre entered. Cody Smith started on the pole as he looked for his second straight win, having topped the feature on Sunday. However, in his Sport Mod feature race victory lane interview, he indicated that he might have adjusted his car too tight for the Stock Car feature and that seemed to be the case as he led lap one but then pushed up the track as William Gould was able to duck under him and take over the lead. 

Gould, Smith, Angel Munoz and Trevor Egbert would battle in the early going, which saw the race slowed three times in the first eight laps for various reasons. By lap eight, E.W. Egbert IV had moved up into the fourth spot after starting ninth and he joined the battle for the lead. 

The last eighteen laps of this race would go nonstop and the best racing of the night would take place as Munoz would move into second and constantly challenge Gould for the lead. Gould had opened up a few car lengths but a tight condition in his car would see him slow and suddenly there was a four car battle back again for the lead. G.W. Egbert would really start to pick up speed as his car was handling smoothly on the inside while the other challengers seemed to want to push up the track. 

On lap nineteen, Egbert IV dove low in turn four and when both Munoz and Gould pushed up the track, he dove past both of them on the hub and took over the lead. He then showed that he was the fastest car on the track as he opened up a several car length over the pack and would drive on for the win. Gould continued to fight his car and in the last few laps he slipped back to fourth as both Munoz and Smith would gain a position on him. Lance Hanson Jr would complete the top five with just over half the field still on the track and all on the lead lap. 

The 305 Racesaver Sprints are a part of the program here for both Monday and then back again tomorrow while the other tracks in this series are just running the three classes. The Sprints are using both Monday and tomorrow as tune up races for the 305 Racesaver Sprint Nationals that will be held here on Friday and Saturday night of this week. Twenty one Sprints signed in for the race tonight but there were drivers on hand from Nebraska, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Indiana as well as Texas. 

All twenty one cars would take the green for their twenty five lap main event and it would be Robert Vetter who would lead all twenty five laps to get the win worth fifteen hundred dollars. However, it was not an easy victory for Vetter . He was chased in the early going by Cody Price for the first three laps until Price was passed for second by Kevin Ramey. The race was stopped for a red on lap nine when Trey Burke flipped in turn one. He was OK but out of the race. 

The race then turned into a two car battle with Vetter having Ramey all over him as he looked for a way past the leader. Ramey repeatedly tried to get by Vetter but Robert was strong in his line and failed to make any mistakes. One more yellow slowed the field and the last nine laps ran green to checkered. 

Vetter would continue to hold the lead and despite Ramey giving it his all, it would be Robert Vetter who would drive on for the win. Price would finish third with Colby Stubblefield and Wisconsin visitor Owen Carlson completing the top five. 

The two support classes would see a pair of repeat winners as both winners were also the winners on Sunday night. The Factory Stocks raced as the first feature and their track was still very narrow with passing at a bare minimum and everyone hugging the inside line. 

When Jason Hood pushed up the track on the first corner and took Rick Murray with him, Chris Lewis took advantage of this to slip into the lead and he would hold the top spot the rest of the way. However, Brett Jensen was moving up rapidly after starting seventh and he quickly moved into a challenging position. By the halfway point of the race, he had driven up to second as he got by Michael Dabney for that spot and closed on the leader. 

This set up a battle for the lead after Grant Wollam lost a driveshaft, triggering the lone yellow of the race with thirteen laps complete. After this, Lewis would continue to hold the lead but he was pressured lap after lap by Jensen. Jensen, using his best NASCAR like moves, would literally hammer the back of Lewis' car on every corner, sometimes hitting the back of Lewis' car quite violently. In fact, Jensen hammered the back of Lewis' car so hard that he actually folded in the nose of his car and perhaps slowed his run. 

The last few laps saw Lewis hold off every assault by Jensen and drive on for the win. third place went to Dabney with Murray and Hood trailing. 

A small field of Sport Mods was on hand and Cody Smith won in ridiculously easy fashion. He started right on the pole and seemed in a different zip code than the rest of the field. Following two yellows with four laps completed, the rest of the race ran green to checkers and Smith pulled away from the field. By the end of the race, he had three quarters of a lap lead on the rest of the pack and that is a lot on this big track. Steven Ashcraft would finish second but he couldn't even see the winner at the checkered!. Elliott Davis would complete the top three. 

A familiar voice was calling the action on Monday night as Marshalltown Speedway promoter and Boone announcer along with many other special events all over the country , Jerry VanSickle was behind the mic. I didn't catch the name of the flagman but he was also working at Rocket Raceway Park over the weekend and he does a fine job. All racing was completed before 11 pm after they got a half hour late start due to the wet track which just didn't seem to want to roll in. All four classes will return for series race number four on Tuesday night. 

Timm Tops Modifieds at Rocket Raceway Park

 Minnesota's Jake Timm recovered from a less than memorable night on Saturday to climb to the top of the ladder and win Sunday afternoon's Modified feature race at the Rocket Raceway Park near Petty Texas as the USMTS series wrapped up the Summit Spring Nationals. 

Timm debuted a brand new car for Saturday night's show but when he blew a motor in time trials the rest of the night was spent in scramble mode and while he did eventually make the feature race and finish just outside the top ten, the team never really got settled in. 

On Sunday he was quick qualifier for the seventy six car field at 16.133 seconds and then redrew the pole position for the main event and while it was a battle for the lead, he would eventually prevail to take home the five thousand dollar top prize. 

Conditions were much different for Sunday's matinee with a bright sun and strong winds baking out the black dirt track which required much watering as the afternoon stretched into the Texan evening. Before the feature races the entire track was "tickled" with more water applied and it held up well the rest of the night. It was also much smoother than it had been for the Saturday night show as much work was done on the track after the completion of the Saturday night racing action. 

Seventy six Modifieds would return for the Sunday show while the car counts in the four support classes drew fewer cars and led to a field of one hundred and forty three signing in to race in total. Still, a twenty five event program which also included five feature races was plenty of racing. No new Modifieds showed for the Sunday show but fourteen first timers signed in for the support classes. However, the only B Features needed on this day were for the Modifieds as the other classes didn't exceed the number required for a main event. 

An even bigger field of Modifieds would qualify for the main event on Sunday as twenty nine of them would take the green flag for the forty lap distance. Timm used the pole to take the early lead with Tyler Wolff and Dereck Ramirez his early stiffest challengers. Wolff put heavy heat on Timm in the early going as they raced hard between the three early race yellows. 

It was very surprising as the three yellows were triggered by spins by the likes of Rodney Sanders, Cade Dillard and Jake O'Neil, three drivers that would not be expected to have such troubles. Sanders, I believe, was helped by another driver that he appeared quite upset at. 

Meanwhile, up front it was still Timm in the lead but Wolff was putting the heavy pressure on him. Wolff tried a slider in turn one that didn't hold as Timm crossed him over but then in turn four Timm jumped the cushion with both Wolff and Ramirez getting by him for the top two positions. 

Wolff them pulled away slightly as as Timm set about getting second back and he was able to get by Ramirez to return to that spot. As the laps ran off unabated, Timm started to catch back up and began to pressure Wolff for the lead, trying several times coming off turn one but not quite able to complete the pass. 

Finally he had a big run at Wolff but he also slipped up the track in turn one with the leaders making contact. Wolff's car jumped up the track and Timm slipped past to regain the lead. Wolff lost second to Ramirez at the same time but was able to fight back into that spot. 

Lapped traffic came into play with Timm able to establish a blocker between himself and Wolff. Finally Wolff was able to clear into second and had a run at Timm near the end but just couldn't catch the leader as Timm drove on for the win. Ramirez would finish second while a great battle behind him would find Will Krup holding off Dan Ebert for fourth. Unlike the Saturday show, only the three early yellows would slow the event and only three cars would fail to go the distance with much different track conditions prevailing. 

It was a rough night for some of the drivers that did well on Saturday. Gary Christian Jr got wrecked during group qualifying when another car crashed into him. He had to roll out a back up car and was not able to qualify for the main. Saturday night's winner Tom Berry Jr blew a motor during his heat race and was only able to start the feature as a provisional and he finished well back in the field. Terry Phillips suffered a major problem with his car while leading a B Feature and he borrowed the ride of Justin McCoy to race the main, also finishing far back in the field but at least gaining some points. 

The same four support classes would again race on Sunday although the numbers in all four would be less. They were all again smooth races though, with few yellows as the pattern set on Saturday would continue. Justin Whitehead would sit on the pole for the Factory Stock twenty three car main but it would be outside starting Rodney White that would take the early lead. However, Whitehead would follow closely and would eventually make an outside pass for the lead. 

A late yellow would set up a four lap race to the checkers but Whitehead would not be caught as he would drive home for the win over Sonny Schoffen and Jeff Hammitt.

A reversal in fates would prevail in the Limited Modified class where last night's runner up Talan Willis would beat Tyler Johnson to the finish and take the win. Three different leaders would be the highlight in this race with Tyler Potter and then Travis Johnson holding the top spot before Willis would grab the lead. Tyler Johnson would move into second and chase Willis but he would fail on this night as Willis would hold a big lead to the checkers. Colby Mewhorn would finish third. 

Rodney Schweizer would make amends for Saturday night's gaffe when he spun while leading the Stock Car feature early as he would hold the top spot from start to finish on Sunday to take the win back to Kansas City. At the end, Brandon Rowland would close up on him but Rodney would hold on while Saturday night winner Cole Deming would settle for third. 

Trent Gibby would be the only double winner of the weekend as he would win another Eco Mod feature on Sunday. On this day it took him three laps to find the top spot as he had to pass Kylar Smith to take the lead but once in front he pulled away from the field to win easily. Colton Keel would finish second with Drew Pattat third. 

The program would last right at five hours again as the track prep needed for the feature events would take some time. The final checkered waved at 9 pm with a steady stream of big rigs then heading for the gate for the long ride home before the USMTS next gathers for the King of America in Humboldt Kansas. 

Thanks to all the USMTS officials for their help this weekend and to all the track workers and folks that helped work the pits and parking lots of the facility, without who's efforts this event would never have seen the light of day. They put in some long hours this weekend to ensure that the races would take place here at Rocket Raceway Park, a track definitely on the upswing for sure. 

Berry Jr. Surprises In USMTS Texas Opener

 The twenty fourth year in operation of the United States Modified Touring Series (USMTS) opened up with a weekend of racing in Texas but it was Tom Berry Jr., an Oregon racer transplanted to Des Moines Iowa, and racing in his first full USMTS season, that would be the surprising winner as he held off the late charge of Terry Phillips to secure the victory. 

Rocket Raceway Park near Petty Texas would be the site of the season opening events as the drivers of the USMTS rolled into Texas as a a part of the 13th annual Summit Spring Nationals. It would be a challenging weekend of racing for all as the Spring weather threw a monkey wrench into the racing plans of many for this weekend as all had to adapt to the rapidly evolving schedule changes the weather conditions required. 

Originally scheduled to  be a three night show, the heavy thunderstorms of mid week that hit North Texas quickly messed that up. Following a huddle between USMTS officials and Rocket Raceway Park owner Kevin Sustaire, a new plan was put into place. Racing would be held on Saturday and Sunday with Saturday night's highest paying show being run as scheduled with the Friday night program moved to Sunday afternoon and the Thursday night show scrapped. 

The track itself had already had a practice session on it, so it would be in the best of shape of any of the grounds with the pit area and parking areas being of the most concern. In fact, no one was allowed on the grounds before Saturday morning so they didn't get stuck in the soft parking areas. The racing rigs holed up at area big parking lots like the local casino, Wal Mart etc. and when the pits was finally opened up, USMTS President Todd Staley sent them texts and they arrived at the track in waves. When I arrived around Noon on Saturday, the track looked good but the pit area left me wondering if I had made a trip all the way to Texas in vain. However, the heavy equipment on hand did wonders with the mud and at 1:25 pm the Modified team of Scott Bryant became the first to be parked in the pits. The crisis had been averted and racing would indeed happen. 

Rocket Raceway Park was also showing some updates in the second year of operation by Sustaire. A new billboard sign heralded arrival to the RRP, but it is placed on the back wall of turn four and still can't be seen from the highway. It still remains a driveway very easy to miss and with traffic on highway 82 flying by at 75 mph, it still is a tricky place. They also have a new scoreboard but unfortunately that didn't work and was soon shut down for the weekend. However, they have a very large main grandstand for the spectators and a high rise pit grandstand, both of which were very full as a giant crowd was on hand for the USMTS, as well as track opener. 

And besides the spectators, clearly the racers were ready to start their season too as a pit area packed with race cars would be the result. Eighty six Modifieds(we can't count Al Hejna as even though he was on the entry list for points purposes, he was still in Iowa this weekend) and a total of one hundred and eighty two cars were jammed into the pits with racing in five divisions. Speaking of that and knowing that a large field of Modifieds would be on hand based on last year's entry list, they probably could have done with just a few less classes racing this weekend, or at the minimum, split them over the two nights of racing. With three classes of Modifieds and two of full bodied cars, it was just a bit much to expect track officials to run that many cars and races off in a prompt manner. To be fair, once they got going the entire show, which consisted of thirty one races,  was run off in five hours flat which was very good as they pushed things along well and expected the local classes to move when they spun which speeded things up greatly. Still, it was a long evening of racing and many of the folks on hand gave up and headed home before they saw the main events as a strong Texas wind made it quite a cool evening. 

There were about a dozen more Modifieds on hand than for last year's show but the car count in the other classes was all very close to last year's numbers so it should have been fairly easy to predict just what the weekend would bring in terms of entries. 

Twenty of the top twenty five in 2021 USMTS points returned to race with the series again but somewhat surprisingly, series points champion Dustin Sorensen was not among them. I was led to believe that he would still be racing a Modified for at least some shows while focusing on his Late Model ride as the hired driver for Jimmy Mars Racing but he was not on hand for this weekend. 

The USMTS format remains unchanged from last year with all cars group qualifying by heat with the top six in time trials in each group inverted for the heat races. Passing points are then used to determine who makes the feature with the top eight redrawing for the main. Everyone else goes B Feature racing with the number of B's and how many move up depending on the car count. They also have some provisional starters generally also. 

"Big Daddy" Joe Duvall was quick qualifier with a lap of 15.437 seconds which got him the third row for his heat race and he had to make the show as the third place finisher in one of four B Features.Eight heats and the four B's would set the field of twenty seven for the feature race so a lot of quality cars were left sitting in the pits when the racing began. 

The feature race would be cut from fifty to forty laps due to some ruts that started to develop around the track which was still soft from the recent rains. It would be a challenge for the drivers for sure as a great top prize of ten grand awaited the winner but in order to win it, the car must still be running in forty laps and a dozen didn't make it that far. 

As far as the Modified feature race itself would go, it was slowed multiple times by yellow flags as the yellow waved eight times for various spins but there were no major wrecks. Tom Berry Jr. would start on the outside pole and would lead all but one lap of the race, fighting off early challenges from Zack VanderBeek, Gary Christian Jr and Tyler Wolff. The many yellows kept the field bunched and Berry Jr had to be sharp on every restart as he chose a line halfway up the track that he was comfortable with but that left the inside lane open for who ever would like to try it. That lane, however, was also much bumpier with some troublesome ruts particularly in turn four. Those tripped up Wolff as he drove into second but caught one of them and spun and tore the nose off his car, ending his night. 

Veteran racer Terry Phillips managed to find a smooth line on the bottom as he worked his way up from the fourth row and he became the main challenger to Berry Jr at the end. The last ten laps of what was a stop and go kind of feature suddenly got much better as Phillips put the pressure on, with his slipping into the lead briefly for a lap with just ten to go. 

The last ten laps would see the two race side by side with Phillips on the bottom and Berry Jr racing off the top side. Terry would make a hard push at the end but somehow Berry Jr kept his car off the wall and still in the lead. The last corner of the race would see Tom zing his car off the concrete, setting off a shower of sparks that enveloped the flagman as he waved the checkered over Berry Jr who nipped Phillips at the line. Berry Jr. had shown in New Mexico in January that he would be tough in open motored racing and he proved that again to be the case on Saturday. 

Christian Jr, who also ran well in New Mexico, would be a constant challenger on this night and would finish in the third spot with Jason Hughes and Darren Fuqua completing the top five. Fifteen cars would complete the distance with all on the lead lap. 

Factory Stocks are a popular class in the South with just about every track running them. They look like Stock Cars or Street Stocks and run the wide Hoosier slick tires that are "pull offs" and I'm told come dirt cheap and equalize the competition. About two dozen of them were on hand with Brandon Brown coming home the winner. He started in the fifth row of what would be a feature slowed only once by the yellow flag. 

The flagman made it clear early on that for the support classes, if they spun they must move, something familiar with Iowa and Midwest fans but not often seen down here. It surely helped move the show along as witnessed in this class. Trey Stevens would lead the early part of the race but Brown would work his way forward and take the lead near the end. He would pull away from Rodney White and Jesse Freelen to take the win. 

USRA sanctioned Stock Cars are a fairly new class down here and it is taking some time for the numbers to build up. Last year saw only about a dozen car race this event and this year there were fifteen to take the green for their main event. They did, however, put on an excellent feature race that saw four different leaders at one point or another. Jeff Tennant was the early leader until he was passed for the top spot by Michael Riskey. 

However, Riskey couldn't hold off Brandon Rowland who took over the lead but Riskey still fought hard for that position. They were joined by Cole Deming at the end and the New Mexico driver would steal the win on the final corner with a bold pass for the top spot. Riskey would settle for second over Rowland. 

Limited Modifieds are another popular class in this area with just about every track running some version of this class. Over thirty of them were on hand, making for four heats and a B Feature to find a winner.For this event, the USRA B Mods were allowed to run with the Limited Mods and there would be drivers from South Dakota, Kansas and Oklahoma that would bring their B Mods to race. 

This feature would be a dandy, stopped just once when young Carson Bradley would turn his car over in turn three. He would drive away from the wreck despite flipping his car all the way over. 

Tyler Johnson would lead most of the race with challenges from Jimmy Day and Talan Willis.  Willis would prove to be the biggest hurdle to overcome and on the final lap Willis would drive under Johnson to take over the lead. However, Willis would catch the rut in turn four and his car would be turned sideways. Johnson would drive past before Willis could be straightened out and the South Dakota driver would take the win. Willis would have to settle for second with Day third. 

Lots of luck telling the Eco Mods from the Limited Mods but both were racing in action here, even though it looked like one class to me. In any event, the Eco Mods weren't very equal as Trent Gibby started on the pole and ran away from the field for an easy win. Bradley came back from his flip in his other car to finish second with Bryce Pritchett third. 

The support classes should be congratulated as under the gun from the flagman, when they spun they moved immediately and thus the number of yellows for the support classes was very small and helped keep their part of the program moving well. In fact, there were more yellows for the Modified feature than the other four support classes all together! For that we can thank both the drivers and the hard line rules that were enforced. Still, with so much racing it made for a long night and I hated to see so many people get up and leave early, either when they got tired or perhaps cold or maybe even, both. The final checkered waved at 1 am and it was a long inght of racing for everyone. Perhaps track management under estimated how many people were going to be on hand watching as they had only one ticket seller for the grandstand and at one time, the line to buy a ticket was longer than a football field in length! Also, there was only one line for concessions and before they ran out of just about everything, their line challenged the ticket line too. They do everything bigger in Texas and that would include the lines to wait.