Berry Jr. Seals The Deal Friday At Hamilton County USMTS Show

 Friday night, April 28th, the United States Modified Touring Series(USMTS) was at it again with night two of the annual Spring Classic at the Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City Iowa. Despite battling some Spring showers during the afternoon, track and USMTS officials prevailed and the program was held and Tom Berry Jr was one pleased driver that they did. 

He came back from last night's disappointing finish when a potential victory turned instead into a DNF on the final lap of the feature to take the lead on lap thirteen tonight and then pull away from the field for a convincing victory in tonight's USMTS feature race. And while he started on the pole, it took some hard driving early for him to finally get past Jason Hughes to take over the top spot but when he did, he claimed the point and never let anyone get close enough to make a series challenge, despite multiple yellow flags that allowed the field to bunch behind him. 

Showers at mid afternoon put the program in a questionable mode and while it didn't rain to any large degree, the amount of moisture that fell made the track slimy on top and turned the pits into a challenging mudhole that everyone would endure. However, USMTS head Todd Staley and the crew from Hamilton County were confident that they could whip the track back into shape and they were successful a doing so as one thing Hamilton County Speedway has is plenty of equipment and they made lap after lap, finally able to get cars on the track and to eventually get the qualifying completed. 

All the track packing put the program behind schedule wise but that was a small price to pay to get to see racing action with a five grand to win Modified feature slated to top off the evening agenda which would also feature USRA classes that would include Stock Cars, B Mods, Hobby Stocks and the Tuners were in full throat also on Friday night. 

The car count was down slightly in the Modified class on Friday but they still had forty one drivers ready to race on what turned out to be a lightning fast track and one that pushed the drivers and their equipment to the limit. In fact, the track was so tacky that USMTS photographer Tyler Renken had his shoe sucked right off his foot as he tried to cross the track during the preliminaries. 

Staley was at it again, making yet another change in the qualifying format for the Modifieds. On this night, they divided the field up into four heats, not five and only inverted four in each heat, not six like they had done earlier this season as Todd continues to experiment to find the method that satisfies him and the drivers and seems most fair. Lots of luck however on reaching any kind of consensus among the drivers who generally can't reach agreement on anything. They did qualify all ten or eleven drivers as one large group and while it seemed to work out OK on Friday, I see that as a problem area in the future, particularly on tracks smaller than the huge Hamilton County oval. It does, however, speed up the entire qualifying ordeal. Dan Ebert, by the way, last night's winner, would be quick qualifier at 19.418 seconds. 

Four heats and a pair of B Features would again set the order for the Modified feature with their event running as the finale for the night, unlike recent weeks when the Modified feature has been inserted earlier in the feature running order. There would be only twenty four drivers to take the green on Friday as apparently more drivers eligible for provisional starts actually earned their way into the green or perhaps some eligible opted out, as there was quite a bit of mechanical issues that arose during the heats. 

Friday night's feature was trimmed from thirty five to thirty laps, no doubt because of the track conditions which were so demanding on the equipment with the high speeds and mud that tended to plug up radiators with a number of cars running hot over the course of the night. Despite starting on the pole, Berry Jr. was beaten into the first turn by veteran Jason Hughes who took the early lead. Only three laps were completed before a hard collision eliminated Dylan Thornton and Tanner Mullens who is having a very forgettable weekend to this point. 

Hughes would continue to lead with Berry Jr. challenging him hard for the top spot as Ebert moved into third ahead of Dereck Ramirez and Rodney Sanders. Berry Jr. continued to pressure for the lead and on lap thirteen he swept past Hughes with an impressive move to take over the lead. 

Sanders was on the move as he closed in on Ebert for second and they had quite a battle for second as both got past Hughes while Berry Jr put some distance on the field. By the halfway point of the race, Sanders had gotten by Ebert to take over second. Hughes, who eventually slumped back out of the top five made an impressive charge back up into contention and when the last yellow flew with only two laps to go when Tyler Wolff got dumped out of a top five spot on the front chute, it would be a quick race to the checkers. 

Berry Jr. would be giving no one the opportunity they had Thursday night as he pulled away from the field on the green with ironically it being Ebert who was in second. However, no repeat of last night was forthcoming with Berry Jr maintaining a nice advantage and driving on for the win. Ebert would settle for second with Hughes working his way back up to third. Will Krup had a nice consistent race as he would march up to fourth with Sanders slipping back to fifth at the conclusion. Sixteen cars would complete the race with all on the lead lap and the yellow flew on six occasions. 

The support classes were again marked by small fields of cars but they still produced some interesting racing which included two drivers coming from the back to win their events and a thrilling last corner pass to take another checkered. 

Nine Tuners were available for their ten lap feature and on this big track and with the tacky surface, the Tuners were all singing in the pitch of "High C." Tyler Crimmins would lead the first lap before Oliver Monson blew past him for the lead. However, Monson would roll to a halt on lap five when he rolled a drive tire off the wheel and pitted for service. 

This gave Crimmins the lead back but with the small field and the speed of Monson, it took him only a couple laps to scream back up through the field and to Crimmins rear bumper. He blew past Tyler with two laps to go and then resumed his big lead, which this time he held to the checkers over Crimmins and Levi Volkert.

A strong run in the Hobby Stock feature would see Jeremy Crimmins lead from start to finish in their fifteen lap main. He would start on the outside pole, establish an early advantage and not relinquish it throughout the race. Only one yellow would slow this event with the  race running for a considerable length following the early stoppage. Chris Hovden would move into second after starting eighth but he simply couldn't close the distance on the leader and Crimmins would drive on unchallenged to take the win. Zack Smidt would settle for third. 

The Stock Car feature was probably the support class highlight of the night. We would see three different leaders, six exchanges of the lead and a final corner pass for the win. This was a lot going on, especially considering that there were only ten Stock Cars to take the green. 

Miles Michehl would take the early lead but he could only hold it for a single lap until last night's winner Derek Green would blow past him for the top spot. It seemed like that might be the end of the race right there but just one lap later Green would slow with a flat tire and this threw the race into a whole different light. 

Michehl would get the lead back but he could only hold off Bill Crimmins for a lap before Crimmins would take over the point. As Crimmins continued to lead, Green was tearing back up through the field after changing a tire and by lap ten he had moved into second place and then starting stalking Crimmins for the lead. 

With a power move down the chute, Green would blow past and take over the top spot once again and for a second time it appeared the race was over. But wait a minute! With only two laps to go, there was a spin that bunched the field and Green got a poor restart with both Crimmins and Michehl getting past him. Derek quickly repassed Miles for second but it looked like Crimmins would hold him off for the win. 

However, Green made a bold move on the last corner, going to the top side of the track, holding his accelerator to the floor and trying to squeeze by Crimmins on the outside. You wouldn't be reading this if he didn't succeed and he did, slipping past Crimmins right at the line and winning the race by .025 seconds of a chagrined Crimmins, making it a repeat win for the Granada MN driver. Michehl would settle for third. 

The B Mod feature would also see plenty of passing with four different leaders in sixteen laps and a late pass for the win. Just a dozen cars in the B Mod feature but they put on a good show with the top six running in tight formation for most of the contest. Bryer McCoy would lead the opening lap but two laps later Jerid Ratzke would get past him to take over the top spot. However, McCoy would have none of that and fought back to pass Ratzke and regain the lead. 

The lone yellow would fly with five laps complete and one lap later as they raced in a bunch, Brandon Hare would make a pass for the top spot. While Hare would continue to hold the lead, Joe Chisholm would suddenly start to charge forward as he languished back in sixth during the early going but suddenly found a line higher up the track that allowed him to charge to the front. 

He closed in on Hare and with a breathtaking move in turn one, powered past Hare on the top side of the track to take over the lead and once in front, he quickly pulled away. Joe appeared to be "flat footing" it through the turns and he simply left the field in his wake as he rattled the chip in his car's motor and flew away from the field. 

The seventeen year old would complete the impressive run with a comfortable margin at the line over Hare and Thursday night winner Ty Griffith. 

Thanks to all that worked like demons to get the track back in shape on a night when many promoters would have just bunched the program. It was cold and windy and certainly not the night to draw a big crowd, yet they persevered against the odds and out fought Mother Nature to deliver a racing program to the fans and for the drivers.  

Ebert "Walls" Berry Jr for USMTS Webster City Win

 Thursday  night April 27th was night number one of the 13th annual Spring Classic for the USMTS Modifieds at the Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City Iowa. For traveling drivers of this series, they are right in the middle of a very busy time having visited Kansas and then three days later being here in Iowa for three more nights of racing before wrapping things up with three nights next week back in Kansas at Lakeside Speedway before they get a break. And it is always a special event when the USMTS returns to its home base in Webster City where not only is this the series home, USMTS head Todd Staley is also the weekly promoter here. 

Thursday night would see the drivers running thirty laps on the half mile for $3.000 to win with the ante going up each of the following two nights. Along with the Modifieds, USRA Hobby Stocks, Stock Cars and B Mods would also be racing in full programs on Thursday. 

A solid field of forty eight Modified drivers would sign in for Thursday night racing, a good field where strangely, in the heart of Iowa, there are very few local drivers that support the series with most of the competitors having to tow in from some distance. But the top twenty one in current series points and twenty six of the top thirty helped to provide a field that would require five heats and a pair of Jeff Broeg sized B Features to set the running order for the main event. 

A procedure change was announced for this race that would change the number of drivers qualifying for the main event. Likely in response to the new procedure this year that sees the top six in each qualifying group inverted for the heats and many drivers that are quick qualifiers in their groups having to run B Features because they can't garner enough passing points, any driver that is quick qualifier in his group but fails to make the main would start either thirteenth or fourteenth in the main, thus effectively guaranteeing that all quick qualifiers will make the main. 

This might have been my first time to visit Webster City since the outside walls were removed from both ends, effectively returning to those days where there were no barriers to keep cars from flying off the banks. Obviously there was a reason why this was done but from a safety sand point it seems to me to be a giant step backward. I can't imagine it to be safer to go flying off the steep banking into the holes on both ends of the track. Just what can happen was quickly shown when Darwin Karau slipped over the edge of the banking, tried to fight his way back on to the track and instead dug in, sending him into a series of barrel rolls. Fortunately the Minnesota driver was OK. 

On the other hand, the new catwalk on the inside of the front chute pit area is a great addition. No more will the pit folkd have to guess what is happening on the track and with their driver as they can actually see the action. 

Jim Chisholm was the quickest of forty seven drivers to take time trials and remarkably was the last car out to qualify. He turned a lap at 19.478 seconds. The heat race action produced a stunning development when current point leader Jake O"Neil blew a motor in his heat. He rolled out a back up car, made the show as a provisional but struggled to a nineteenth place feature finish, thus throwing the points chase into turmoil. 

On this night, several of the top drivers would need to access the provisional portal and thirty drivers would take the green for what would prove to be a wild and unpredictable main event. Outside front row starter Dan Ebert would take the early lead over Zach VanderBeek with the field only making two laps before a Brandon Givens and Jason Hughes collision would slow the action. Rodney Sanders was quickly up to third with Jim Chisholm and Tom Berry Jr in their tire tracks. 

The drivers would then string together a twenty four laps stretch of green flag racing that would produce a lot of action. Berry Jr was on the move as he would work his way up to second and begin to put some heavy pressure on Ebert for the lead. Several times he pulled up along side the Minnesota driver but couldn't quite pull off the pass for the lead. At the halfway point of the race, Herry Jr was all over Ebert with Chisholm and Sanders in a battle for third with Alex Williamson moving up to fifth where he continued to fight with VanderBeek for that spot. 

Two laps past the halfway point, Berry Jr would make a hard drive down the back chute and dive inside Ebert for the lead. It was far from a clean pass as there was contact between the two and Ebert was run all the way up to the turn four wall. In fact, by the time he squared himself away, Sanders had taken second place away form him. Berry Jr would then have his hands full with Sanders, who was looking for his first win of the season. 

At this point, the top four drivers were running in close order as they weaved through lapped traffic while trying to maintain their positions. Just when it looked like the race would finish nonstop, three quick yellows for calamities  on the track would set up a two lap sprint to the finish with Berry Jr sitting in front of Sanders and Ebert. Sanders would get a good run on Berry Jr the first restart but that would be waved off by the final spin for a yellow. 

Then, things got even wilder. Ebert got a great run this time on the two lao sprint to the finish, getting past Sanders and getting a great run on the bottom down the front chute as they saw the white flag. You could tell that as Ebert dove to the inside of Berry Jr in turn one he wasn't going to let up for anything. His momentum caused him to wash up the track, all the way to the wall exiting turn two with Berry Jr hung to his outside and no where to go. Ebert didn't back off and eventually Berry Jr was forced into the wall where he stopped but as it was the final lap, they raced to the checkered with Ebert crossing the line first and Berry Jr not finishing. 

My take. Both passes were suspect and both drivers had a right to be annoyed at the other. I've seen Dan Ebert race right from when he first started racing cars after he gave up snowmobiles and if anything, he generally races too nice and far from a rough driver. But I believe he felt wronged by the earlier move and with a chance to reciprocate,, he wasn't going to cut Berry Jr, a very hard racer indeed, any slack. Hopefully both can move on and we won't be seeing any further paybacks in the future. 

Sanders would come on to finish second with Chisholm third. Williamson got a very fine fourth place run with Dereck Ramirez coming from deep in the field t o complete the top five.  VanderBeek was running in the top five until be blew up spectacularly with Tanner Mullens and Cayden Carter among others who blew up over the course of the night. I would hope that we don't see any more paybacks over the course of the weekend although the slick, top to bottom track was prime for some meaty slide jobs and they can cause tensions to rise.  

The three support classes were all light on cars on Thursday but they managed to produce one close exciting feature race while also producing dominant runs in the other two classes. 

The Hobby Stocks put on and excellent main event that saw the lead exchanged three times between two drivers. Jeremy Crimmins would lead the first couple of laps as most of the drivers were riding the low line. However, Daniel Ayers moved up to the top side and while it was a risky and narrow line, he made it work as he pulled up beside Crimmins and would take over the lead. Those two would then battle side by side for most of the race, with Ayers the leader at the halfway  point with Crimmins still beside him and Chris Hovden close behind. 

However, the outside line got trickier and trickier and as Ayers warmed up his right rear tire, Crimmins would ease by him with just two laps to go and take over the lead following the only yellow of the race. 

But Ayers would not give up and he pushed even harder on the top side and they crossed the line side by side as the white flag waved. Going through turn two, Crimmins got momentarily sideways and that was all that Ayers needed as he pulled away by a couple of car lengths, held on through the final corner and drove home for the win. Hovden would settle for third. \

Dominating performances would be put on by Ty Griffith in the B Mods and Derek Green in the Stock Cars. Griffith would take over the lead in the B Mod feature on lap three from Hunter Longnecker and after that he was gone, opening up a big lead over the field. Even a late race yellow caused him no problems as he would pull away again for the win.  The last lap would be a disaster for Ben Moudry  though, as the second place runner would fly off turn one and not get finish which would elevate Joe Chisholm to second over Brandon Hare. 

Green's win in the Stock Car feature would be even more dominant. Miles Michehl could only hold off Green for one lap before Green would blow past for the lead and once in front he was gone. Bill Crimmins,  would try to play catch up but he simply couldn't make up the necessary ground and would have to settle for second, nearly a full straightaway behind with Andrew Borchardt third. 

I would have to say that the track was the best for racing that I can remember in quite some time. It was neither hammer down or locked down rubbered up but instead seemed to be super slick from top to bottom and while most of the drivers were preferring the top side. those running lower on the track could pass if they were quick enough. 

The program was tightly run for the Thursday night racing fans and everything was done by 10:30 pm. It as a good effort all around and promises to provide more good racing the rest of the weekend. 

Ricks Wins First Modified Feature Win Ever at Interstate Opener

 Sunday, April 23rd dawned sunny but very cool and windy. Most race tracks opted not to run on this night for reasons such as wet grounds, cold weather etc. However, one track on the South Dakota and Iowa border did start off their season on Sunday and that was the newly named Interstate Speedway in Jefferson. While things are new at Interstate, the new ownership has opted to go back to their original name. This would be the fifty first season opener for Interstate Speedway, squeezed as it is between Interstate 29, the railroad tracks running just to the East of the property and Park Jefferson Speedway which is directly across the street from this track. 

And while it might have been the fifty first opener for the track, it was the first opening night ever for new owners Chase and Shelby Alves, former residents of Arizona that moved to this area and purchased this track while putting their own racing careers on the back burner for the time being. What a nervous night it must have been for them as not only did they have at least a million things to worry about as any promoter would on opening night, they had to battle the weather this week on top of it plus make a tough call whether or not to race on this night. 

Fortunately they had some extra help this week as the anachronism pair, MVG and J VAN were both on hand to offer assistance to the Alves'. Mike Van Genderen helped out with track prep this week up to and including on this night as he spent much time on the grader, even as he and son Rowdee both had their race cars on hand. MVG, who has his fingers in more pots this year than he has fingers, helped out when his own track in Stuart was unable to open on this same night. Ironically, later both he and son Rowdee would both be scored dead last in their feature races after a wall banging and first lap collision respectively. 

There have been too many rainouts early this year and J VAN(or Jerry Van Sickel as he sometimes goes by), has been chomping at the bit to see more racing and with an open night, he drove out and seemed to be helping in a wide variety of ways, doing everything from flagging a couple of early races to wearing a head set and scurrying around in the tower. Jim Stannand from the IMCA home office was also spotted in the pits. 

Interstate races five divisions, all under IMCA sanctioning and include the five most popular classes ranging from the Modifieds down to the Sport Compacts. Most of the drivers that race at Interstate are from the Sioux City area but there were drivers on hand on this night from even central Iowa, Nebraska and as far North as Fargo N.D., everyone anxious to get a race in. 

Apparently there was a special scheduled for the Sport Compacts and Hobby Stocks as a whopping twenty nine and thirty four respectively showed up in those two classes, forcing even a B Feature in the Hobby Stocks while running everyone still able in the Sport Compact feature. Interstate is a high banked quarter mile oval with a concrete wall all the way around, all pitting outside the track and a back straightaway so close to I-29 that drivers could monitor highway traffic if they weren't fully busy with their own racing. But this is a busy track with lots of action and races somewhat like Marshalltown except it is smaller. On this night, there was plenty of bite with Winter long soaked soil and the accompanying chop that went along with that which made for an exciting night of racing. 

One hundred and seven cars signed in to race in the five divisions with racing started right at the scheduled time of 5:30 pm. fifteen heat races were spun on in quick fashion, taking just sixty eight minutes to do that. A B Feature for the Hobby Stocks would be sandwiched in between feature races with all racing complete by 9:15 pm. 

A first time winner and a few expected winners were among the highlights of the feature racing action. The first time winner was Dyllan Ricks who after moving up from the Sport Mods, won his first ever IMCA Modified feature on this night. Ricks would have to pass seasoned veteran Ricky "The Racer" Stephan to get the win after starting sixth as seeing Stephan lead from the drop of the first green flag. Ricks would gradually work his way to the front and running the inside line, would motor under Stephan to take the lead and then pull away in the late going for the win. 

A wild scramble behind him would see Matt Bonine pass Chris Mills on the final corner for second with Stephan setting for fourth ahead of Justin Voeltz. 

While the Modified feature might have provided an upset, there was none of that in the Stock Cars with multi time national champion Mike Nichols leading the last fourteen laps to take an easy win. Nichols started seventh on the grid but he found the inside line to be working for him and he quickly moved to the front and caught early race leader Jonah Chinn and made an inside pass on lap six to take over the top spot. 

There was only one yellow after that and with the last ten laps going green, Nichols simply drove away from the field, winning by nearly a full straightaway over Chinn. Coming from tenth, Brian Seibold would finish third ahead of Travis Barker and Devin Tripp. 

The Sport Mod feature got off to a rocky start with Mike Kramer going over on his lid in turn three on the opening lap. Fortunately, he was fine but the car, not so much. The restart would see Tommy Tanner grab the early lead over Kirk Beatty and Willy Kirk. Kirk would move past Beatty into second and following a lap five yellow for a spin, Kirk would drive under Tanner and take over the lead. Tanner would fight back on the outside and while Kirk would be scored the leader for the rest of the way, Tanner kept things close right to the finish line. 

Joe Feyen made a nice charge up from seventh to finish third ahead of Connor VandeWeerd and Luke Jackson in a race stopped only once after the opening lap troubles. 

That would leave us the Sport Compact and Hobby Stock features, the two most congested with big fields in both for their main events. The Sport Compacts would start twenty six cars in their main, all that were still running for the feature. This would be a wild race with four lead changes and the winning pass made coming to the white flag. 

Jacob Walding would grab the lead on the opening lap after starting third on the grid. However he was soon challenged by a swarm of other drivers with the field running two, three and sometimes four wide behind him. Fifth starting Anthony Clark would pass Walding on lap ten for the lead but this would just trigger a series of lead changes as Walding would take back the lead on the following lap. 

However, following a lap twelve yellow, Walding would be slow on the green and Clark would repass him to take over the lead with just a pair of laps to go. Walding got up on the wheel, moved to high side and squeezed past Clark to retake the lead as they raced to the white flag. Walding would hold on for the win, while the scramble behind him continued with Tyler Thompson nipping Caine Mahlberg for second with Clark slumping to fifth behind Gilbert Aldape. Just over half the starters were on the track at the finish. 

The Hobby Stock feature was disappointing in that it had the potential to be an excellent one with twenty four fast cars slated to take the  green. However, instead the race was marked by very rough driving with two drivers getting black flagged for over zealous maneuvers, much banging and pushing and a lot of wrecked cars. 

The six yellows bogged down the action and a time limit finish was threatened at the end and only nine drivers were on the track at the end with the rest mostly sitting in the infield in various states of disrepair. I really think a driver's meeting to clear the air and settle the drivers down might be appropriate next week before they run out of racers due to everyone being wrecked. 

As for the race itself, there were three different leaders and a white flag pass for the win which made things interesting. Andy Hoffman would take the early lead but soon after grabbing the top spot, he would spin all by himself, triggering the first of a long series of yellows as it seemed like every time the field got bunched up, someone either got into another competitor or spun. 

Joel Magee would inherit the lead from Hoffman and he would lead the majority of the race with Craig Clift, Ryan Leedom and then Kevin Bruck chasing him. Bruck would actually pull into the lead at the halfway point, only to get a flat tire and turn the lead back over to Magee while Clift's chances were ended when he was dumped by another driver who saw the black flag for his actions. At this point they resorted to single file restarts to try and minimize the craziness. 

Meanwhile, almost unnoticed, Morgan Olmstead was advancing through the field after starting nineteenth and qualifying through the B. Near the end of the race, he had worked his way up to second by keeping his nose clean while everyone around him was tearing theirs off. He and John Cain would challenge Magee in the final few laps and coming for the white flag, Olmstead would drive past the leader to take over the top spot and he would hold on for the win in the wild race. Magee would settle for second ahead of Cain, , Magee's team car with Bo Lundquist driving and Parker Anderson. It was a a wild one but I really think they need to tone things down a bit or they will run out of cars or driver's patience, which ever comes first. 

With all race pitting done in the infield and drivers bringing tires, jacks etc. into the infield before their main event, the pit crews seemed just a bit rusty as the new season began. One Sport Mod was ready to start the feature race until flagged down by on track officials as he still had his spare tire and jack on the rear deck of the car, despite the imminent start of the race!

Another Sport Compact driver, eager to return to the track after a pit stop tire change, was in  a bit of a hurry and didn't wait for his crew to remove the jack and he dragged it most of the way down the infield before he ran over it, kept right on going while the crew retrieved the remnants of the jack. 

Alves' are in the process of making improvements to the facility despite a tough Winter in which to do so and they have erected a series of big billboards behind the back chute for advertisers and also as a sunblock as the setting sun here can be a real annoyance. Hopefully they will get the scoreboard up and working as that is missed for the lap board and a long range project to consider might be some more track lighting as after the sun goes down, it gets a bit sketchy seeing who is who on the track. 

However, it seemed like a nice opening night crowd, particularly with dropping temperatures as soon as the sun set and a biting wind right in our faces in the main grandstand. Things seemed to go good overall for the opener and can get only better as the season goes on . Good luck to Interstate Speedway and thanks to the Alves' for their help on this opening night.  

  

O'Neil Takes Biggest Prize in First Annual Gressel Memorial at 81

 The first annual Ed Gressel Memorial Race was completed on Saturday night, April 22nd with the running of the fifty lap finale that paid the winner ten grand. And after quite honestly, two nights of less than scintillating Modified feature racing, things fell into place perfectly on Saturday and the fans on hand as well as those watching on tv were treated to an excellent fifty lap feature race that saw winner Jake O'Neil start eighth, fall back out of the top ten early and then make a determined charge that would see him take the lead on lap thirty one and then drive on for the win. There wee three different leaders during the race and several drivers that made concerted charges up through the field as track conditions proved conducive to multi lane racing and much passing after the surface was less than ideal the first two nights of this event. 

A large field of Stock Cars would share the racing platform with the Modifieds on this night and a very late charge by Colorado driver Angel Munoz would see him make a daring high side pass that would result in victory for himself over  Aaron Esparza. 

The Modified dash was a part of the program and after much work by track and USMTS officials, they managed to raise $5,000 or more for the dash winner if he would agree to move back in the field for the feature. Thursday  night winner Tanner Mullens did win the dash and agreed to start twelfth instead of on the pole for the main with the provision that if he would win the feature from that spot, his win would be worth another five or six thousand dollars(I have seen various figures published so am not totally clear on just what was the final figure.) However, that number would prove inconsequential anyway, since Mullens never challenged ever for a top ten finish however his choice still made him the second overall high money winner of the feature and since he is not chasing USMTS points, the damage was minimal. 

Forty nine Modifieds would sign in for the third night of racing here at 81 with their part of the program being similar to the previous two nights. Five heats and a pair of B Features would set the field for the longest feature race of the weekend. A significant early development was the mechanical breakdown for Friday night winner Tyler Wolff while leading a heat race. This would significantly alter his night with him being forced to accept a provisional start after he failed to qualify  through a B Feature. He would, however, make a strong charge up through the field and wind up seventh at the end of the night. . 

Dereck Ramirez would be quick qualifier for the night at 17.846 seconds and with a more racy track this night, four of the five quick qualifiers in their groups would make the main without  having to run a Jeff Broeg B Feature. 

However, everyone wished to run the fifty lap main and the provisional starts were doled up in even larger numbers on Saturday with thirty two drivers starting the main event. Ramirez would start on the pole and would take the early lead over Will Krup after they battled side by side for the front position. An early bobble would see Jake Timm, who started third, flying through the infield and losing a great number of positions but he would shine before the event was over. Dan Ebert and Jason Hughes would battle for the third spot for a number of laps while Krup would keep Ramirez honest by occasionally challenging for the lead. 

Of note and on the move in the early going was Terry Phillips and Tom Berry Jr, both of whom wee heading for the front. The first twenty four laps of the race ran off nonstop until Hughes slowed after contact with the wall, just one lap short of halfway. Phillips was using a high line in the corners that was clearly working for him and one lap later, at the halfway point, he was up to second. Continuing his charge, on lap twenty eight he drove past Ramirez to take over the lead and looked to be the driver to beat. 

However, there was one driver that was even quicker than T.P. and that was O'Neil. After fading back in the pack early, he found a line that worked for him and he put on quite the charge, cracking the top five my the halfway point and then continuing to head to the front. 

A beneficial yellow on lap twenty eight for a spin allowed the pack to tighten up and when they resumed racing, Jake went flying by both Berry Jr and Ramirez and into second. Phillips had nothing for him either and on lap thirty one, O'Neil drove into the lead. Phillips had nothing for O'Neil as Jake pulled away and when Darren Fuqua slowed with a flat tire on lap thirty nine, Phillips dove into the infield with serious and terminal mechanical issues and he was done. 

O'Neil would pull away on the green but the battle for second heated up as Berry Jr. and Krup fought for the spot. with suddenly Timm, who had fought his way back up from the twentieth spot after his early gaff, passed Ramirez for fourth. Also on the charge was Cayden Carter who actually snuck past Timm for fourth before the final yellow flew with just four laps to go when Ramirez slowed with a flat tire. 

The four lap race to the finish found O'Neil pulling away from the field once again with Berry Jr slipping into second. Timm pulled off yet another charge as he went to the banking and slipped past Krup at the end to take the third spot. with Rodney Sanders another completing a big charge as he cracked the top five.

Besides the big charge through the field by the winner, there were several other noteworthy advances by other drivers including Berry Jr. form tenth to second, Sanders fourteenth to fifth, Carter from sixteenth to sixth and Wolff from twenty fifth to seventh. These wee all earned by hard racing and not due to the fact that many drivers dropped out of the contest as the track prep did hit it right on Saturday night. 

The thirty six car Stock Car field was reported to be the largest  ever at 81 Speedway for the class, which is just starting to get a foothold in this part of the Sunflower state. However, it is not a sanctioned class by anyone at this point so there are cars running both Hoosier and American Racer tires and a number of cars that are running  some healthy sized spoilers on the back and even a couple of Super Stockish looking cars. Nevertheless, at the end it was a legitimate Stock Car that would take home the top honors. 

Four heats and a B Feature were needed to set the twenty four car field for the fifteen lap main event. The Stock Car drivers were perhaps just a bit too anxious for their big race as the early laps were marked by some wild driving and quite a bit of contact between the various competitors. Four yellows marked the first five laps and yet there was some great battling for the lead through all this. 

In fact, after Scott Lehman took the early lead, there was a three wide battle for the top spot which resulted in Joey Richmond taking  a wild slide backwards down the front chute. Fortunately, the pack was able to avoid him and strangely, the restart would see no one penalized and all three still in the front spots. However, on lap four, Aaron Esparza would pass Lehman to take over the lead. 

The driver on the charge was Angel Munoz though, as after being as far back as ninth in the running order following the leaders' tangle, by the halfway point of the race he was up to second with only Esparza holding him back. 

The track was icy slick by this point and while on lap after lap Munoz would dive under Esparza, he couldn't fine the traction get get under the leader. One late yellow set up a four lap spring to the conclusion of the race. Munoz again tried the low line but still he had no success. Finally, perhaps out of desperation, the Colorado driver went to the top side of the track, a lane that the Stock Cars were not using. 

Immediately he found benefits as he closed in on Esparza and with a great run off turn four, he boldly squeezed between the concrete and Esparza and as the drivers saw the white flag, Angel blew by for the lead. Esparza had nothing for him and Angel pulled away on the final tour to take a thrilling win. Esparza settled for second with Landon Maddox third as despite a rockem sockem race, only five drivers failed to finish. Munoz started out the evening with a very nice looking race car but by the time he took the win a fender was ripped loose and his hood buckled when he took off too fast on a restart and tagged a car in front of him. Nevertheless, the win was his. 

A good sized crowd was on hand for third straight night of cool and windy Kansas weather. Thanks to the Sartain's as well as G.M. John Allen plus all the usual suspects from the USMTS for their help this week. We were certainly fortunate this weekend as while we might have done some shivering the past few days, at least we saw three nights of racing and that's something not many folks in the Midwest could claim this weekend. 

 

Wolff Howls To 81 USMTS Victory

 It was night number two of the Ed Gressel Memorial weekend of USMTS racing on Friday night, April 21st at the 81 Speedway in Park City Kansas. Another large field of Modifieds would convene at the three eighth mile oval for a hard night of racing and for the second straight night, one driver would dominate the main event, leading from green to checkers. 

On Friday night it was Arkansas' Tyler Wolff who would make the move of the night on the opening lap when he rode the tall side of the track and swept past both Jake O'Neil and Thursday night winner Tanner Mullens in one big move to lead the opening round of the thirty five lap main event and after that, he would lead the rest of the way to pick up the five grand winner's share of the pot. 

Sharing the stage with the USMTS drivers on Friday night were the 316 Modifieds and the Super Stocks and the winners in those events would be Kendall Kemp and Chris Purkey. 

The USMTS count would be exactly the same as it was on Thursday night with fifty three drivers signing in to race. Two dropped out and two were gained to keep the sheets balanced from Thursday night. Included in those that returned to race was Kyle Brown who had to replace the whole right side of his car after his grinding crash on Thursday night but he got that accomplished and was able to make tonight's main with a provisional start, something that with the big and tough field of drivers more are having to rely on to get to race the mains. 

The program format would be the same for the Modifieds as it was on Thursday with five Modified heats, two Jeff Broeg B features of twenty or more cars and the main event, five laps longer on this night and two thousand dollars richer.

There would again be a dash for the top eight in passing points to set the front four rows for the feature. The ante to move back to the sixth starting spot was upped on this night to $1,250 and Dereck Ramirez opted to try it after the first choice, Mullens, said no thanks. This did make it more fun when someone did say yes and after all, that is what the money is supposed to do.

USMTS announcer Erick Chesterman and RacinDirt's Trenton Berry then turned the "bidding wars" on as they tried to raise money for the Saturday night finale and they did succeed in getting it up to five grand to move back in the field but the specifics of their rule changes will be revealed come Saturday with I believe there also being an additional five grand for the winner if he comes from that invert. All this will be clarified tomorrow night. 

After Thursday night's "rubber fest", things were considerably different on Friday. For one, they left the Sprint Cars home and they also were able to get much more moisture into the racing surface. This made the track more tacky, a bit more tricky with a number of drivers finding the outside concrete over the course of the night and did allow the drivers to move around the track more but still by feature time there was a distinct fast line that most drivers followed. 

After all the shuffling and battling was done and the provisional starters' honors were passed out, a big field of thirty drivers would take the green flag for the Modified main event. Mullens wanted the pole with Jake O'Neal outside him but with Wolff's big move on the high side on lap one, he would be the early leader. Mullens settled into second but was soon challenged by Cayden Carter for that spot as Wolff eased away from that battle. By the time the first yellow was triggered by Carlos Ahumada Jr, who had a terrible night himself causing more yellows that a main street stop light, Carter had moved into second around Mullens. 

Wolff would again pull away from the field while Mullens' good restart would get him past Carter for second with Ramirez and for the first time, Rodney Sanders showing in the top three. When Dan Ebert would slow with a flat tire, this would allow Sanders to get a great restart, riding the top side around the whole row of cars in front of him and taking over second. 

Wolff would then get his most severe challenge as Sanders rode him close, sampling the low side but finding it not able to withstand his passing attempt. However, he rode right behind the leaders, waiting for a mistake. Just as it appeared he might make a move around Wolff with just laps remaining, another yellow slowed the field with just two laps to  go. 

Following a poor restart when Carter was punted with no penalty assessed, the final two laps were completed and while Sanders rode close, Wolff would make no mistakes and would drive home for the win. O'Neil would make a late surge and get by Carter for third with Ramirez completing the top five as Mullens slipped back to sixth. Only four cars didn't complete the distance and all were on the lead lap at the finish. 

One of the support divisions on Friday night was the 316 Modifieds, a somewhat puzzling division to figure out. This class was actually running the exact same rules as the USMTS cars and in fact, one of Thursday night's entered cars in the USMTS ran instead with this class on Friday. Several of the drivers in the 316 Mods said they might race on Saturday with the USMTS, depending on how they were running. 

In essence, the 316 Mods are the same as USRA Mods but designated for drivers that are either young, inexperienced or for whatever reason not feeling they can keep up with the USRA cars. Their equipment seems just as modern and good as the USMTS cars but they opt  not to race with them. But here's the kicker, there were two dozen of them and if they were racing with the USMTS on this night, we would have had nearly eighty Modifieds in the pits! Drivers, owners etc. in the USMTS field couldn't figure out why drivers who have just as good of stuff as them would want to race in a downsized class. However, when the yellows started to fly and with some of the stunts pulled by drivers in this class did, the USMTS drivers were as a whole happy they didn't have to share the track with anyone in this class! By the way, the 316 designation for the class refers to the zip code for Wichita!

Their fifteen lap feature would see Kendall Kemp come off the outside pole to lead all  the way for the win in a race peppered with yellow flags, including a grinding first lap crash that saw a couple of the cars apparently welded together and much effort needed to pry them apart. 

Dakota Dale would ride close to Kemp but could never attempt a passing attempt with Brett Davis moving up from tenth to complete the podium. 

Super Stocks, which looked very much like the Super Stocks that race in my home area, were the third class on the card for Friday. With only fourteen of them, they ran a couple of heats and a main event. Their main event would be cut a couple laps short due to repeated spins that caused yellows. Jerrod Reimer would start on the pole and he built a full straightaway lead over the field until suddenly, at the halfway point, he slowed as the left front suspension on his car had collapsed and he was done. 

Apparently Reimer wins too much in this class as he was soundly cheered when he broke down and pulled into the infield. This gave the lead to Chris Purkey and he would hold off Robert Lamb and James Weve for the win. Purkey's pass when Reimer broke down marked the only lead change of the five divisions over two nights in feature racing so far as the dominance by leaders has been pronounced. 

All the yellows in the support classes bogged the show down and it got much later than on Thursday night for all racing to be completed on what was yet another cool and windy evening here on the plains. The scoreboard was back up and working on Friday night and you really don't realize how much you rely on the lap counter until suddenly there isn't one available so it was good that it was lit up and spitting out numbers at us. 

Saturday night's finale for the USMTS Modifieds will pay out ten grand to the winner with Stock Cars as the support class. RacinDirt will have the broadcast for those not in attendance. 

Mullens Tops Gressel Opener at 81

 It was fitting that Tanner Mullens would top the opening night of the first annual Ed Gressel Memorial weekend of USMTS racing on Thursday night at J.R. Sartain's 81 Speedway in Park City Kansas. After all, both Gressel and Mullens come from the local area of Wichita and Mullens made a name for himself early as one of the driver's for the Gressel Modifieds and while Mullens had come up short early this season in a couple of races, this race would be controlled by him from green to checkered. This win would also be highly approved one by the local crowd in attendance on Thursday for the opening of three straight nights of USMTS racing. 

A strong field of fifty three Modifieds would sign in for night one of USMTS racing, with Thursday night's thirty lap main paying three grand to win. One thing that you must say about the drivers that follow the USMTS circuit, when they sign on to be point chasers in this series, they go all out. While the various Late Model series generally boast about a dozen or less drivers that chase every race, such is not the case with the USMTS Modifieds and something that series owner Todd Staley must relish. As an example, this weekend the top twenty four drivers in current series points and twenty seven of the top thirty are all here in Kansas and many made long drives to get here. Other series would kill to get that kind of support and it must be a comfort to Staley to know that when he opens the pit gate that he is guaranteed three of four heats of strong running cars no matter where or when he races. Staley, by the way, was sporting a rather awkward looking harness that he was wearing due to recent rotator cuff surgery. 

As an example of drivers pulling long distances, Jake Timm was racing his Late Model on Tuesday and Wednesday night in Ohio and Indiana respectively with the FLO Castrol series. However, they also had the Modified in the upper bay and as soon as they were done on Wednesday, they headed out for the 10-11  hour drive to Kansas. I know this since I made that same drive just a few hours behind them. While they were rewarded for their effort with a runner up finish in the Modified main later on Thursday, we as fans weren't quite so lucky as disappointing track conditions haunted us, following from Indiana here to the Sunflower state. 

Time trials for the fifty three Mods in attendance would see the first car out to qualify, Jim Chisholm, set fast time with a lap of 18.255 seconds. However, all this did was guarantee that he would start third row outside in a heat race with passing points used to set the remaining lineups for the B Features and Feature races. Drivers are still trying to figure out how to qualify just fast enough to make the heat race invert since a quick time doesn't at all guarantee a path into the feature as only two of the five groups' fastest qualifiers moved directly into the main with the rest having to run B Feature. The switch in the invert from four to six this year is still a hot topic of debate. In fact, the first heat race pulled out onto the track in a straight up formation this night and I thought they might have changed but it turns out that someone forgot to press the "invert" button on MyRacePass and they then made the correction on the track. 

There was one change in the qualifying order on this night as the top eight in passing points would run a dash as opposed to just redrawing for the top eight spots in the main. I have to say that I like this as I would rather see someone work to get the pole, rather than get it on a lucky redraw. There was also one other change for this weekend, as the dash winner was offered a nice cash reward to go back to sixth for the feature but neither the dash winner or runner up opted for it which based on track conditions was a good call. The amount of the bonus goes up the next two nights and perhaps for over two grand on Saturday, someone may take the bonus and go off sixth. Based on existing track conditions, the plan would then be to take the green, pull off and save a set of tires and take the dash money and run. 

Five big heats and two gigantic Jeff Broeg sized B Features of twenty one and twenty cars respectively would set the lineup for the thirty lap main event. And with so many cars and with such tough competition, it was no surprise that a number of provisional entries had to be doled out and the final starting field sat at twenty nine drivers. 

Sad to say, the Modified feature was not the top notch event we were all hoping for. The previous feature, for the 305 Sprints showed that the track was rubbering up bad and that no passing was taking place. Track Manager John Allen scrambled down from the press box midrace and hustled to the grader when they tried to scrap off the rubber and throw a little water on it. 

Sad to say, it didn't work and the Modified main quickly turned into a one lane high speed chase with the only drama being whether the drivers could keep right rear tires under their cars for thirty laps. For several, the answer was no. The key part of the race was the opening lap and when Mullens beat Will Krup to the groove, in essence the race was over except if Mullens screwed up, which he did not. 

There was a small battle for second though, as Krup lost second to Jeremy Nelson, later took it back on a restart but then Nelson would repass Will and secure the position. Kyle Brown pounded the wall hard in turn four with four laps complete but then the race would go nonstop for twenty four laps and probably would have stayed green to the checkered with drivers completely circling the oval in single file order. 

Except that this is when the tires started to give up. Nelson lost a great finish when he got a  flat while running second and pulled off the track. Cayden Carter got one too but he elected to park on the track, triggering the yellow under which Joe Duvall also got a flat. 

Mullens, who had done a great job earlier keeping distance between himself and the slower back of the pack cars while also keeping Nelson behind him. pulled away on the green and his right rear held up and he drove home for the win. In the last corner Krup got a flat too and Timm nipped him at the line for second. Tom Berry Jr and Zach VanderBeek would complete the top five with seven drivers not finishing and all on the lead lap. 

The companion division for racing on Thursday and thank God there was only one other class, was the United Rebel Series Sprint cars, which is apparently a 305 RaceSaver series. I had never heard of them before but apparently they race in Kansas and Oklahoma. I don't ever remember the USMTS having a Sprint Car companion class but perhaps in the long history of the series, they may have done this at least once before. 

There were thirteen drivers that signed in for this class with them running a quick pair of heats and a twenty lap main event. With the track rubbing up quickly, there was virtually no passing in their twenty lap feature. Jordan Knight would start on the pole and lead all twenty laps with Zach Blurton second and Ty Williams third, spots that they would hold for the whole race which did have three quick yellows for spins and a slowing car. Ten would finish. The Sprints main function on this night was to help rubber up the track but I think it would have happened either with or without them racing as it was just one of those nights. 

A mention should be made of the continuing upgrades that Sartain has made here at 81 which would include the spectacular new lighting system that they have in place. When here last Fall, they were working on the new lights which replaced some lost in a storm last year and they are great. What was especially impressive come feature time is that they can run then on and off rapidly, blinking then around the track during the four wide salute and having them change colors. I imagine these are similiar to what they have at Knoxville, as I haven't seen them but have been told about them. In any event, they are great and wouldn't it be fine if more race tracks had decent lighting for the drivers and also the fans so we wouldn't have to stumble around in the dark in the grandstands. 

On the down side, the nice scoreboard that they have wasn't working for some reason on this night after spitting out a few non decipherable numbers early and there was no lap board which is paramount for any track. 

A nice sized crowd given a Thursday night was on hand on a cool and typically windy Kansas April night. The ante goes up on Friday with the winner taking home five thousand dollars in the Modifieds while we welcome two different support classes and hope that track conditions take a decided turn for the better. It should also be noted too that this show was run off much quicker than the last two nights of Late Model racing with the final checkered waving tonight just after 10 pm. Tomorrow will likely be a quick show too as music is planned after the final checkered. Shake your booty!

Marlar Earns, Then Inherits Flo Victory at Eldora

  The third season of the Castrol FloRacing Night in America began on Tuesday night, April 18th at Tony Stewart's palace of speed, the famed Eldora Speedway near Rossburg Ohio. For Tennessee driver Mike Marlar, he would be the dominant driver for most of the race but it still took some bad racing luck by Hudson O'Neal to guarantee that Marlar would find victory lane and earn $23,023 for his fifty lap win. 

This would be the first night for the Castrol FloRacing Night in America and  the combination of it being the first Castrol race of the year, plus the healthy purse and point fund provided and it being Eldora all combined to produce a power packed field on Tuesday night. Fifty four drivers would sign in for the Late Model field which produced some highly competitive racing. With only twenty two spots available for the feature race and guaranteed starters, it was inevitable the a considerable number of top flight drivers would watch the feature race from the infield and as usual with this type of racing, time trial qualifying would set the lineup order so that would be a very important part of the program. 

Along with the Late Models, the UMP Modifieds and Stock Cars or Super Stocks, they were called both over the course of the evening, even by the track announcer so I don't know just what their official title is, were also in action. And a boosted purse for them would see big fields of both as everyone wants to race on tv with fifty Modifieds and twenty two Super Stock Cars racing. This would later lead to a longer than hoped for program as both classes qualified, much to the consternation of Flo officials and their lengthy qualifying session led to a starting time of the program at 8:30 pm, much too late for a Tuesday night in April.

However, while the other two classes struggled with their programs from time to time, the Late Models were "spot on" from start to finish and actually produced a program that saw them race in nine events with a total of only three yellow flags. 

Qualifying would preview what the night would produce when Marlar, as the last driver out for group one, would set fast time at 15.223 seconds. Group two would see Nick Hoffman quickest at 15.470 seconds. The Late Model program would consist of six heats, two gigantic Jeff Broeg sized B Features which took only a pair of drivers out of each and the finale which was a fifty lap main. 

Twenty two cars would start the main with Marlar, drawing the pole, shooting off into the early lead. Only four laps could be completed before the yellow waved as Earl Pearson Jr. slowed with motor problems. Back on green, Marlar would pull away as Hoffman fought to hold off Jonathan Davenport, Bobby Pierce and Tim McCreadie. 

There would be a considerable length of green flag racing with the drivers going forty six laps before the yellow would wave once again. Marlar caught a lot of lapped traffic but he was great as he moved both high and low to get past the slower cars as only twelve drivers remained on the lead lap by the end. 

Eventually, Davenport would drive into second with McCreadie third but neither could cut into Marlar's lead. Then it was Hudson O'Neal that caught fire as he started fifth and then languished back in the field for a number of laps. Suddenly he found  a groove high up on the track near the wall and he picked up speed considerably. He caught and passed both McCreadie and Davenport and drove by them like they were standing still. Marlar still had a big lead but O"Neal began to cut into that also and he was soon in a challenging position. 

On lap forty four he drove by Marlar for the lead, using that same high line and passing Mike easily. Then he pulled away and it looked like victory would be his. But you never know in racing and that high side line that had found him the lead then came back to bite him. O'Neal got into the wall hard that slowed his progress as Marlar closed in and then again, on the back chute, he hit even harder and this gave him a flat right front tire. He slowed, Marlar drove back past him for the lead and the yellow would wave. 

Marlar would then just have to hold on  for three laps which he did as he pulled away comfortably to take the win. However, Davenport faded at the end with McCreadie first getting past him and then Tanner English finding a good line right on the bottom of the track and he drove under Davenport also  to get third. Brandon Sheppard would complete the top five. There was considerable passing under the long green with English, Brandon Overton and Ricky Weiss all gaining a number of positions. The win was Marlar's first ever FloRacing victory. 

Race fans will likely remember that they watched the Modified feature on this night and the reason was that Kyle Larson established another memorable feat to add to his resume. On this night he made his first run in a UMP type Modified and lo and behold, he would also win his first ever. He started sixth and after a first lap yellow when Ethan Dotson hammered the wall, the race would go green to checkers, . 

Larson started slow as Drake Troutman took the initial lead but would only hold the lead for two laps before Trevor Neville would drive under him and take over the top spot. The Illinois driver was running good on the low side of the track by this time Larson was picking up speed as he went to the banking ans started to pick off driver after driver, quickly moving into a challenging position. 

After just a few laps, Larson had caught Neville and he blew past him on the outside to take over the lead, after which he quickly stretched his advantage. With the race staying under the green, Larson drove away from the field in a big way and lapped up to the ninth spot by the time the checkered flag flew. 

Making a late charge was Tyler Nicely who started sixteenth on the grid. In the closing laps he drove under Neville to take second but no one had anything for Larson, who now has won feature races at Eldora in seven different divisions!

The Super Stock Cars had a nice main event also. Ernie Woodard would lead from green to checkered but it wasn't quite as easy as that would sound. The early laps found the drivers racing three wide for the lead but each lap, Woodard would edge back in front. The only yellow came at the halfway point when third running Jeff Matheny would spin as he pushed for the lead just a bit too hard.

The late going would see Woodard challenged hard by Kyle Moore but Woodard would hold off the challenges to take the win. Jarrod Klay would make a late drive up to finish third. 

While the program moved along at a decent pace once we got qualifying out of the way, the long time it took to do that  made for a late start that made for a late finish. If only we could somehow convince the powers that be that it isn't necessary to qualify every class every night and focus on what the highlight class is and make sure that on a week night the show gets done early, it would be a major breakthrough. However, don't hold your  breath for that to happen. 

The jumbotron was gone from the track, having been sold reportedly to Kokomo Speedway. A new one is slated for construction starting on Wednesday but in the meantime, there wasn't even a lap board available for us on Tuesday. However, that will soon be changed. 

Thanks to all the track officials at Eldora and also the FloRacing officials for their help. To be in the infield is one of the awesome feelings in the world of short track racing for sure. 

This blog is dedicated in memory to Allan Brown. 

Babb: Fifty For $10.555 at 34

 The fifteenth annual Slocum 50 was held on Friday night, April 14th at the 34 Raceway near West Burlington Iowa. This annual race, which honors the memory of Brent Slocum, a Late Model champion killed in a freak accident in the pits at this very facility, was originally scheduled to be held on Saturday night with a five thousand dollar to win preliminary event slated for Friday night. 

However, the weather forecast for Saturday was not particularly favorable and this race, which has had a history of fighting weather issues over the years, was decided to be flip flopped with the Prelude event slated for Friday night. This was quite a bold move in my mind but one that the track owners Brad Stevens and Jessi Mynatt made in concert with the MLRA officials on duty with the series. Logistics such as pre sold tickets for the two nights with varying value and some other things that we as fans don't even consider but are truly of great importance were worked through and the move was made. 

Certainly a key thing and one that Brad and Jessi were willing to take was with the late move, they stood the possibility of not having the crowd that they hoped for, simply because many people were focused on making sure they attended on Saturday night for the big race with the larger payoff of the weekend. Making such a late change is risky but they opted to go ahead anyway, not knowing just how many people would hear of the change and make sure they attended on Friday night for sure. I would say this this change, first announced on Thursday, is another example of how much power social media has and its ability to reach people across the spectrum. I still don't like it, but for promoters, fans, sponsors and anyone else associated with the sport, I think it is a reality we must accept. I became a believer after a race in Pennsylvania earlier this Spring was changed to a Thursday night, simply because the weather looked better on Thursday than it did for the weekend and with only twenty hours of notice and the power of social media, they packed the race track!

And so it was that on Friday night the $10,555 to win Slocum 50 was held at 34 Raceway. Forty one Late Model drivers signed in to race but their numbers were shortened early by some unfortunate mechanical issues. Spencer Diercks lost a motor in hot laps and Chad Halladay has transmission issues and neither was able to  race further while series regular Kolby Vandenbergh unloaded, then discovered some serious issues of his own and loaded the car back up and watched the evening's events. 

It was another gorgeous day in southeastern Iowa, warm and sunny but this also put a strain on the track prep crew to keep moisture in the racing surface but they did very well. They actually produced a track that had a pretty healthy berm early on that needed to be knocked down and while the surface did eventually dry out, drivers were racing all over the track all night and that is all one can ask for. 

A predictor of the evening's results came early when Shannon Babb would be quickest overall at 15.090 of the thirty nine drivers that would take to the clock. The typical format for the MLRA would see four heats and a pair of B Features set the field for the fifty lap main event. 

Tensions seemed to be higher on Friday night as after most everyone played well on Thursday night, there were several instances of drivers dive bombing each other after the heats and they showed that not all were agreeing with each other's tactics. For Ryan Unzicker, the nightmare continued from Thursday as again he had trouble; this time a rubbing tire caused him a flat in his heat after starting out good. He did fight back through a B Feature but ended up the feature pointing the wrong direction and having Bob Gardner nose to nose with him. 

With provisional entries doled out, twenty six cars would start the fifty lap main event. Babb would get the jump on Jake Timm and lead the opening lap and after that, it would be a case of everyone chasing the Illinois driver. Two early yellows in the first seven laps would help to keep the field bunched and the early going would see Timm and Brandon Sheppard fighting it out for second. 

The next thirty one laps would go nonstop and Babb would drive away from the field. While Sheppard and Timm continued to battle for second, a good battle for fourth would see Garrett Alberson and Mason Oberkramer trade that spot back and forth. This long thirty one lap nonstop run would see Babb do his best work of the night. The lapped traffic was heavy but he was spot on, moving high and low as needed to get through the slower cars while not losing any ground to Sheppard, who was trying his best to make up time. 

When the yellow next waved with only a dozen laps to go, there were only eleven cars still running on the lead lap. During this yellow Oberkramer would pull off while still in the top five and for the first time Ryan Gustin, who had languished back in the pack, started to become a factor. 

The final laps would see Babb pull away once again and not be challenged by Sheppard as Shannon had the field covered on this night. Gustin, however, would continue to charge and while not being in the top five at the last yellow, he would continue to charge being very fast right on the bottom and with a late burst, he would edge out Timm to complete the top three. Chris Simpson's steady run would see him crack the top five at the checkers as seventeen cars would complete the distance. 

Support classes on this night would be the 305 Sprint Cars and the Stock Cars. Both fields were on the small side but honestly, provided just the right amount of a break for the Late Models who were the show on this night. The Sprints race a pair of heats while the Stock Cars were lumped together into one big heat. 

Their feature races were quite entertaining and didn't take a lot of time, both about equally important on this night. The 305 feature would see Jake Glasgow lead from start to finish but he did receive a challenge that made things interesting. At the midpoint of the race Cody Wehrke would pass Chase Richards for second and then close on Glasgow. Wehrke would try to squeeze by on the high side down the front chute and the leaders would bang wheels with Wehrke just about toppling over. 

He lost ground and was passed for second by Tanner Gebhardt who also closed on Glasgow. Jake would hold off the late charge that produced a close finish with Wehrke settling for third in a race stopped only once by the yellow. 

The Stock Car feature would see John Oliver Jr lead from start to finish but it was not an easy win either. Early on he was challenged by Gary Pesicka with Corey Strothman and Jason "Big Daddy" Cook moving in on him. Cook moved to second but then Strothman would regain the runner up spot and move in on the leader.

Strothman found a unique line around the track that gave him a good run on the leader but despite trying his hardest. Oliver Jr was not about to make any mistakes and he would cross the line with Strothman nailed to his rear bumper. Cook would complete the top three. 

For the second straight night it was another nicely done program. As usual, time trials took some time and the first race didn't see the green until 7:38 pm but after that, it was almost nonstop racing and even though the evening was completed with a fifty lap main, it was still just 10 pm when the final checkered waved so congratulations to all on a job well done. The voice of the track was a familiar one as even though the Stuart season has yet to begin, the distinctive voice reaching us was that of Tony Paris. 

  Special thanks to Brad and Jessi for taking the bold leap and I hope that the night balanced out well for them. I must say that while there was a good crowd on hand, I have seen bigger ones for the Slocum but my hope is that the numbers work out OK for all. 

Simpson's End Up First and Second in Scrambled Davenport MLRA Race, Remley Takes IMCA Lates

 The first big Late Model event in eastern Iowa unfolded on Thursday night, April 13th at the Davenport Speedway in Davenport Iowa. On the first night of three consecutive nights of open Late Model racing in the Hawkeye State, the MLRA Late Models would take on the quarter mile at the Davenport Speedway with IMCA Late Models and IMCA Sport Mods as the support classes. 

It was most appropriate that the first big race would be held at Davenport, as Ricky and Brenda Kay have scheduled a whole series of rich paying Late Model specials this year as their scheduling remains among the most aggressive of anyone in the Midwest. I believe that Tony Izzo Jr. is also involved in this event as he was trolling the pits on his four wheeler while Ricky as usual spent most of his time riding one of the monster tractors that was being used to help prep the track for racing. 

The spectacular weather of this week that has blessed most of the entire Midwest continued and it was almost unreal just how nice it was for mid April with shorts being fashioned by many and hardly a coat needed all night. 

A power packed field of MLRA Late Models would sign in for Thursday night's forty lap main event with the local Iowa area along with their neighbors across the river in Illinois supplying a number of regional entrants who along with the MLRA regulars, boosted the field to forty five open Late Models. Along with that, seventeen IMCA Late Models and nineteen Sport Mods would also be on hand to race. I would say that there were no huge surprises in the drivers entered but it was noted that Andy Eckrich would be taking his first ride in the Curless #99 car, replacing Bone Larson who was away for a wedding and there were several of the normally running IMCA drivers that opted to run with the MLRA on this night, mostly with second cars in their fleet. 

As usual with MLRA, the night would begin with qualifying and Shannon Babb and Brandon Sheppard would top their respective flights of drivers with Babb quickest overall at 13.852 seconds. Thus the Illinois drivers would win the first round in their rivalry with the Iowa drivers. Heads up heat races would see all four winners come from the front row but in a major development, Ryan Unzicker, who had looked like a prime candidate to challenge for the win later, would fail the "droop rule" and be disqualified and despite a valiant effort in a B Feature, would come up just short of making the main through that event and not holding a "free pass" from MLRA, would not race the main. 

The feature race for the MLRA cars would start twenty six cars going forty laps and the attrition rate would be very high as only nine drivers would be running to see the checkered flag. The stats would show that there were five different leaders during the forty laps and the lead was exchanged seven times, but it truly didn't seem that many and while those stats would indicate an outstanding race, to my mind it really wasn't that good and I would describe it most as odd than outstanding. 

The opening laps would however, produce some tight racing as Chad Simpson would take the early lead but only hold the top spot for two laps before Chad Halladay would drive under him for the lead. Simpson would get back up on the wheel however, and retake the top spot just two laps later. Babb, Sheppard, and Chris Simpson would all remain in the top five as the first half of he race was marked by three yellow flag slowdowns. 

Most of the drivers were hugging the inside line during the feature, odd since most of the racing was right around the rim during the heat races. Several would take a shot at the top but not seem to have much luck there and then migrate back to the bottom. Sheppard was starting to look racy and when the race was slowed at the halfway point he found himself on the top side for a double file restart. He took a shot running right through the middle of the track and it worked as he drove past Chad Simpson after a brief battle and then started to pull away. 

The race looked like it belonged to Sheppard and it probably would have except for his bad luck as when another yellow slowed the action with twenty nine laps done, he slowed with a flat right rear tire and would pit and call it a night. This gave Babb the lead as he had gotten past Chad Simpson just laps before but when racing resumed, Babb couldn't hold off Simpson who took the lead back for the third in this scrambled race. 

There would be one more charge yet however, as Ryan Gustin, who has started on the outside pole but had drifted back in the field, reasserted himself and took a shot on that uneven cushion but this time he made it work. He was running on the very edge but he moved up beside Chad Simpson and with a determined action, took over the lead with only five laps to go. Simpson fought back but Gustin held on, dancing with the cushion lap after lap. 

However, disaster would strike with only two laps to go when Gustin would jump the cushion in turn one, go flying over the banking and then call it a night as he headed back to the pits. Chad Simpson would once again inherit the lead but this time it was his younger brother Chris he would have to fight off and he succeeded in doing so, driving home for the win by several car lengths. Babb would get third and Jake Timm would shoulder Halladay out of the way on the final lap to get fourth. It was certainly and eventful feature race for many with most mentioning how the track was quite different than normal here and drivers struggled all night to find the fast line around it. 

The twenty five lap IMCA Late Model feature would see Nick Marolf start right on the pole and he threatened to run off and hide in the early going with only Brian Harris able to stay with him. However, Fred Remley, who started fourth would gradually get himself into contention and the track seemed to work in his favor as he was right right on the bottom and started to gain ground on Marolf after he passed Harris for second. 

Andy Nezworski started ninth and he too started to move up, racing up to third by the halfway point of the race. The last sixteen laps of the race would go nonstop and just after the halfway point, Marolf, who started sliding up off the bottom, opened the door and Remley drove under him to take over the lead and once in front, he pulled away comfortably as Marolf couldn't maintain contact with him. Nezworski continued to charge but he had started just too far back and ended up third with Harris and Jaden Fryer completing the top five. 

The Sport Mods would be the first class on board for their main event with all nineteen cars answering the bell for their event. Trey Grimm would start on the outside pole and take the early lead but it was Ben Chapman who was on the move, racing up from seventh starting spot to challenge for the lead in just a few laps. 

With the field running the bottom, getting off the corners low was key and Chapman was doing just that as he powered under Grimm to take over the lead. Ben would lead the rest of the contest to take the win. 

However, several times Todd Dykema would move in to challenge him, getting to within a couple car lengths of the leader but then, each time it seemed like Chapman would pull away again. There was a late yellow with just two laps to go but Chapman negotiated the final two circuits and would drive home for the win over Dykema, Jarrett Franzen, Kevin Goben and Mitch Strayer. Only two minor spins would slow this contest. 

With time trials as usual slowing down the actual start of racing and the first green flag not dropping until 7:37 pm, I feared that the curfew would be a problem. But a smooth show the rest of the way would see the final checkered flag wave just at 10 pm which should have satisfied the local authorities. There was a good crowd on hand but I've seen bigger ones at Davenport and quite frankly, with the beautiful weather I would have thought that perhaps just a bigger crowd would be on hand. However, it was a Thursday night and that can be a problem for some people with school still in session. 

As usual, thanks go out to the Kay's for their hospitality and without doubt, I will be returning later this year for some of the other events on their powerhouse schedule. 

Sobbing, Snyder and Most Top Shelby County Awakening

 Saturday, April 8th saw night two of the Awakening II take place at the Shelby County Speedway in Harlan Iowa. The Awakening was the name dubbed to the opening two weekends of racing here in Harlan with the weather claiming week number one. 

This week it would be the SLMA Malvern Bank Late Models, the Malvern Bank 360 Sprint Cars and the Sport Modifieds racing at the newly shortened Shelby County Speedway. 2023 will be the second year of racing at the new shorter track and as other improvements continue, including a new concession stand, the weekly IMCA programs will be starting in weeks upcoming here also. 

On tap on Saturday would be a full show for the 360 Sprints and Sport Mods, plus last chance B Features for the Late Models and their main event for the weekend. It was nice to see just the three classes in action but certainly tough luck for those classes that were scheduled to race last week but got their show rained out. 

It was a beautiful early Spring day to be outside but also a tough one for preparing a dirt track as the sun and especially the very strong winds made getting moisture into the racing surface very challenging. Much dust would be produced but here was where the wind did help out as it proved to be self cleaning as all the dust was swept off to the North and away from the grandstands which allowed us to be dust free and likely aided the visibility for the drivers also. 

Being the second straight night of racing, the car count would be altered somewhat with some new Sprints coming in for day two plus both different and more of the Sport Mods than had raced on Friday night. The lone change in the Late Models found Kyle Berck getting his car done to race on Saturday which forced him to start in the tail of a B Feature but a provisional in hand guaranteed him a starting spot in the main event. The Sport Mods ran three qualifying heats and the Sprints three heats and a B Feature while the Late Models started out with a pair of B Features to set the remainder of their starting field after Friday night racing determined the cars to start up front. The Sprints did utilize passing points which sped up their part of the program. 

With a scheduled starting time of 6:30 pm, hot laps ran off smoothly and rather than wait around, they moved directly into racing with the first Sport Mod heat starting a half hour ahead of schedule. Thus a lot of the crowd showed up after the racing had already begun but also made for an earlier completion time for the show. 

A twenty one car field would start the Sport Mod feature that ultimately would see three different leaders. Dylan Peterson shot into an immediate lead and looked like he might be hard to catch. Unfortunately for him, his car only lasted for two laps before it broke and he was done, turning over the lead to Kaylin Lopez. She would have Jake Sachau and Hayden Hillgartner challenging until Josh Most began to roll. He had started eighth but after a few laps he picked up the pace dramatically, charging to the front by being able to run lower on the track and faster than anyone. 

Most moved into second and after just a couple more laps, he was able to drive under Lopez and take over the lead on lap ten. After that, the race was for Most to lose and he built up a nice sized lead. A late yellow set up a two lap sprint to the checkered and Most was able to fight off a late challenge from Corey Madden to take the win. Lopez would settle for third. For Most, he just got the car done in time to race on Saturday and taped on numbers and a plain car were evidence that they just had gotten the car rolling. 

There would also be three different leaders in the Late Model feature as the Malvern Bank cars would run thirty laps for four grand to win. Jake Neal got the jump off the pole to edge ahead of Tad Pospisil on lap one. However, Neal couldn't hold his car down and Pospisil would drive under him to take over the lead one lap later. The inside line would be the way to go and Jesse Sobbing would slip under Neal for second. 

After two quick yellows for spin, the last twenty four laps of this race would go off nonstop with Sobbing pressuring Pospisil for the lead on a regular basis. Also on the move was Dylan Sillman who would drive up to third and occasionally pressure the top two. 

Lapped traffic would prove to be a problem as the leaders caught the slower cars who were fighting their own battle and not wanting to move off the bottom either. Pospisil was not interesting in trying to drive to the outside of the slower cars for fear of getting "hung out to dry" and his pace got slower and slower. Fourth running Justin Zeitner decided to try and pass the top three in one big move and he made a nice attempt but the outside just had no bite and after a few tentative laps, he dove back to the bottom and got in line as the freight train continued. 

Sobbing was getting a good run off the corners while Pospisil was drifting out just a bit and with just three laps to go, Jesse made a big run down the back chute and squeezed inside Tad to take over the lead. Proving he was the fastest car, Sobbing then pulled away from the pack to take the win. Just at the finish, Sillman was also back to slip past for second with Pospisil settling for third. Only five of the twenty five starters weren't on the track at the finish. 

Twenty two 360 Sprints would take the green for their main event to wrap up the program. Surprisingly, despite the fact that this race would pay three grand to the winner, the race distance was only twenty laps. However, as much trouble as they had keeping the race going, twenty laps turned out to be plenty. 

Among the drivers having the biggest issues was Cody Ledger who managed to flip on two separate occasions during the feature before he decided he had enough. Stu Snyder would start on the outside pole and would lead from green to checkered, surviving two red and two yellow flags to take home the win. Tim Estenson, who would be one of the new drivers after running with the Outlaws in Missouri on Friday night, would challenge early until he broke. After that it was Jason Martin who would chase Snyder.

While Snyder was the class of the field, Martin would continue to press him for the lead but despite the stop and go nature of the race, Snyder would make no mistakes and would drive home for the win over Martin and Brenden Mullen. This Malvern Bank sponsored series that used to be headquartered at I-80 Speedway, has become a traveling series for 2023 with the closure of I-80 and they have a busy schedule upcoming. 

All preliminary events motored by fast but between a very lengthy "tilling session" that unfortunately didn't do much to help the track and a Sprint feature that took its time to complete, it was close to 10 pm before the final checkered flag waved. The track was just not as good as the last time I was at Harlan but much of that was due to the strong wind that was just sucking the moisture out of the surface. 

Nevertheless, the changing of this track seems to have injected much racing enthusiasm to this area and a large enthusiastic crowd was on hand to watch the action.  Thanks to everyone at Shelby County for their help. 

(Note: These last two reports were delayed due to travel circumstances surrounding the Easter holiday.)

Ward Dominates Marshalltown Frostbuster, Surprise Winner in Stock Cars

 Racing finally commenced in the Hawkeye State of Iowa on Friday night, April 7th with the running of the annual Frostbuster Series which began at the Marshalltown Speedway in Marshalltown. This used to be quite the early season series with up to five consecutive nights of racing right around April Fool's Day every year that would draw cars from many states. Unfortunately, the series has shrunk in recent years, likely because of some nasty Spring weather recently that saw many of these races either postponed or cancelled due to the late arrival of Spring. 

This year, in fact, the series was scheduled for just Friday and Saturday with Boone being the other participating track until Jerry VanSickel and Toby Kruse added a Thursday night race on at Marshalltown. The was an exciting development but that fell by the way side too when cold weather didn't allow the fairgrounds to turn on the water soon enough for proper preparations to take place and the series fell back again to just two nights. 

However, my home state didn't disappoint as while there weren't too many out of state drivers that chose to race this weekend, the Badger state supplied a large number of drivers in multiple divisions that spent their Easter weekend racing in central Iowa. Toby's connections with the 141 Speedway in eastern Wisconsin always come up big when it comes to drawing cars into Iowa. 

With the event coming a week later on the calendar than it has in recent years, there were actually a couple of other competing events going on this same weekend. However, that didn't seem to affect Marshalltown as well over one hundred and sixty drivers from multiple states signed in to race on Friday night, providing a strong field in all divisions. And for the first time ever that I had seen them race here, the Sport Compacts were a part of the program, thus making five divisions racing on what would become a very cold April night. The strong winds, blowing from the South, are supposed to be warm winds but they definitely weren't on this night as it was a challenging night to be outside but no matter, a very large crowd was in attendance anyway, although it would be fair to say that not a lot of them stuck it out to the finish. 

Herding over one hundred and sixty drivers on an opening night is like herding cats but track officials managed to get hot laps completed, final track prep done and they waved off the first heat race of 2023 just five minutes after the advertised starting time. That is quite an accomplishment but something we are used to seeing here at Marshalltown., but still should be noted. 

Twenty six racing events would weed out the pretenders from the contenders and set up our five main events as all five classes had enough cars that B Features were required across the board. And full twenty four car fields would start all five of the main events. As usual, the one spin rule was a godsend as it helped  move the preliminaries along so much smoother. Folks in this area are used to that but for me, coming from an area where despite my best efforts I haven't had much success selling this area to tracks and promoters, this rule is like a breath of fresh air and turns the heats into exciting events and not so much like a trip to the dentist!

Sport Mods would be up first to their twenty lap main event and three different leaders would emerge before a familiar face would end up in victory lane. Zach Raab would grab the early lead as the Wisconsin driver, where I guarantee that there is still two feet of snow on the ground, held the early point. 

However, northern Iowa hotshoe Alec Fett would drive past Raab to take over the top spot. But his lead wasn't safe either as he was soon challenged by Brayton Carter. Carter was hard to spot as he is racing with all new sponsors and totally new colors this year, but his speed was just like previous years and he drove under Fett on lap eight and for all intents and purposes, the race was over. One more yellow would bunch the field but that would be no problem for Carter as he drove away from the field to record the win. Fett would hold on for second while Janae Gustin would have a solid run in third as brother Ryan gave here hand signals from the grandstands in turn one. 

The Stock Cars would give us a post race surprise but not a pleasant one for the two drivers involved as two of the top four finishers would be disqualified post race for technical issues and thus change who won the main. 

From all appearances it was Tom Berry Jr that led from start to finish as he made a big move on the first lap, riding the cushion from the outside of the third row to take over the lead after just one lap when the first yellow would wave. After that he just cruised, holding a comfortable lead for most of the race. However, he was pressured last by Troy Jerovetz who found the inside line worked well for his car. Still, it was Berry Jr comfortably at the finish for the win. 

Or so we thought. Post race, both Berry Jr and fourth place finisher Johnathan Logue failed inspection and the win would go to Jerovetz,  the Wisconsin native who now lives in Iowa. Dan Mackenthun would be elevated to a second place finish and Cole Czarneski third, with out of state drivers taking two of the top three spots and that doesn't happen much here in central Iowa. 

It was time for a whipping and that was provided to the Modified field by Tim Ward. He would start fourth but would only take him one lap to go flying by Jimmy Gustin to take over the top spot and once in front, he was gone. One late yellow would eliminate his large lead but he would make no mistakes back on green and again drive away for the win. Todd Shute would come on to finish second while Gustin would hold on for third as only four cars would not finish this race. 

It was a two car battle from start to finish in the Hobby Stock main with Eric Knutson taking the lead from the pole and giving evidence that he might lead from start to finish. However, Calvin Dhondt would move in to pressure Knutson for the lead in a race that would go green for an extended period of laps. Dhondt tried and tried and finally, on lap twelve he was able to drive past Knutson on the back chute and take over the lead. 

From that point on, he would hold the top spot the rest of the way with Knutson trying to get back around him but just not quite having the speed to do so. A late charge would see central Minnesota's Scott Herron drive home third. 

A windswept evening would conclude with the Sport Compacts racing for fifteen laps. This race would see Blake Driscol and Gilbert Aldape trade the lead back and forth with Driscol in front early, Aldape passing him on the second lap but Driscol returning the favor on lap nine and after that he would lead the rest of the event. 

Just after Driscol regained the lead, the race would go red as John Patterson would have a flat tire that caused him to lose control, go flying off turn two and do a quick flip. He was OK and the race would resume. 

Driscol would continue to lead to the checkered but Aldape was slowed and then dropped out after a flat tire of his own. Kolby Sabin, a constant winner in this division, would move up from the third row but come up short and settle for second with Adam Broehm finishing third. 

As usual, the program here as Marshalltown was pushed through as quickly as possible with victory lane ceremonies even delayed until the end to move things along. Still, with so many laps to run and races to complete, it was around 11:45 pm before the final checkered waved and I was thoroughly frozen by then! Special mention should be made of track conditions. Although the groove was a bit narrow to begin with, it widened out nicely and provided a good track to race on without a lot of upkeep during the night. With so many laps on it, it is a credit to those that prepped the track that it stayed smooth and racy all night. 

As always, thanks go out to J Van and Toby and all the workers here at Marshalltown for a great beginning to what is hoped to be a warm and dry season of racing here in the Hawkeye state. 

Davenport Cozy; Support Classes Lumpy as Wheatland MLRA Wraps Up

 The MLRA wrapped up their opening weekend of racing for the 2023 racing season on Saturday night, April 1st at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland Missouri. For Late Model winner Jonathan Davenport it was a walk in the part as he dominated the forty lap main event, leading from start to finish and never being seriously challenged from start to finish. The support classes on this night were the USRA B Mods and Stock Cars and both needed support as David Hendrix and Kris Jackson were winners in races that were less than memorable with both the drivers and track officials needing support after their display of unsportsmanlike racing and generally unstable officiating. 

After Friday night's power house field of forty eight Late Models, it would have been hard to expect even more but that's what we got as a few more drivers signed in and we had fifty Late Models on hand for Saturday night's show including one more power house entry in the form of Ryan Gustin. With fifty cars on hand, the format went from four huge heats to six but only the top three in each heat would make the feature. 

Part one of Davenport's goals was accomplished when he turned the quickest lap of the night at 15.680 seconds which gave him the pole for heat one on a quicker track for Saturday night's show as the track crew have more success getting moisture into the surface with the strong winds finally settling down. In fact, as the sun set the wind actually ended for the first time in a couple of breezy Spring days. Davenport would also win heat one in a walk, setting himself up on the pole for the main event as he knows as well as anyone how the time trial races are won, as no matter how fast you are, if you don't qualify well you night is much more difficult. Actually, as the night would play out, only one of the nine Late Model events on the program would be won from anywhere but the front row and that would be Jeff Herzog who would come from the second row to win a heat race. 

The forty lap Late Model feature would see Davenport almost shot out of a cannon at the start as he immediately rocketed away from Chad Simpson to grab the early lead over the twenty eight car starting field. In fact, it only took Davenport five laps to catch the back of the pack so most of his challenge throughout the race was working through the slower cars and he did a masterful job of that, never giving Simpson any hope and mostly maintaining a half straightway lead over the Iowa driver. 

The race for third was a good one however, with Spencer Hughes, Logan Martin and Brian Shirley racing hard and close together as they swapped the third spot back and forth. Two drivers were making determined charges up through the field as Garrett Alberson and Bobby Pierce motored up through the pack, Alberson from the fourth row and Pierce from the seventh row. By the halfway point of the race Alberson had worked his way up to  third while Pierce still lingered outside the top five but was ready to charge. 

Davenport, meanwhile, just kept methodically putting drivers a lap or two down as the race remained under green and his lead never wavered. Pierce's continued charge coincided with Shirley's fade as he slammed a lapped car being over aggressive in traffic and began to back slide, eventually getting lapped 

It was all Davenport who would motor on for the win as the Late Models would run their second straight nonstop main event of the weekend in a pleasant display of skillful driving. Alberson continued his charge and he very nearly caught Simpson for second but settled for third. Pierce really picked up the pace in the last ten laps and he would finish up fourth, making a late pass on Martin who would round out the top five. Thirteen cars would finish on the lead lap and only five would not be running at the finish. 

From the professionalism of the Late Models, we would then sink to the "clown show" put on by the Stock Cars and the B Mods and to some extent, also the race management team. Fifteen Stock Cars were on hand and they were scheduled to run a twenty five main event. By the end of the race, there would be only three cars officially scored and the race had been reduced by five laps. But even at the reduced lap level, there were still plenty of fireworks yet to develop and mostly of the negative kind. 

Rookie driver Darrin Schmidt would lead the opening lap until a spin would slow the field. Trying to restart the race, a car spun in turn four coming to the green which negated the start. Still, under yellow, the leader spun in turn one and several cars plowed into him hard, car after car Lemming like driving straight into the wreck. When they got everyone pulled apart, seven cars were eliminated from the race including the leader. 

David Hendrix would inherit the lead at this point and he would be in a three car battle with Rob and Bryan White. With only a handful of cars left running, the top three managed to stay close together. Hendrix' car was getting tighter and tighter in the turns and he was on the brakes to make it turn, thus allowing both White's to catch him. Rob was particularly close and stuck his nose inside Hendrix in an attempt to take over the point in the late going several times. However, with only two laps to go, he got too low in turn two and nailed one of the dreaded infield tractor tires, wrecking his front end and finishing off his night. 

However, this would set up a two lap dash to the finish with Bryan White now hammering on the back of Hendrix. On the final corner, White nailed Hendrix hard in the left rear, turning him sideways. However, White was not able to take advantage of his NASCAR like "move" as he, himself then lost control and slid into the infield. Hendrix would drive on for the win with White racing out of the infield and salvaging second. Then the nonsense began. 

On the cool down lap in turn one, Hendrix would run into the back of White's car, apparently delivering the message that he didn't like the last lap tactics of White, even though Hendrix did get the win. White's response was even worse though. First he nailed Hendrix hard in turn three himself and then followed up by hooking the rear end of Hendrix' car, turning him sideways and pushing him all the way to the flag stand in an out of control move. The bad thing was that the rescue crew had already pulled on to the track in response to what was going on and White very nearly pushed Hendrix into one of the four wheeler rescue units that was racing down the front chute. It was a very near miss and one that could have had dreadful implications. Frankly, it was drivers behaving at their worst and an embarrassment to both drivers, their crews and their sponsors. 

Hendrix tried to brush it off his victory lane speech, saying it had happened to him too many times last year and he was tired of drivers trying to "move him" on the last lap. Perhaps so, but the proper action should have been a discussion in the pits afterward, not using your winning car as a weapon. And White's action in totally unexplainable. White was disqualified according to My Race Pass but no announcement was made by a announcer, something that would have gone a long way in helping cool the situation. But with the potential very bad things that White could have caused, just a disqualification is not near enough penalty. And what of Hendrix. Where I come from, if you use your car as a battering ram, either during yellow or after a race, you are automatically disqualified. Both drivers should have been tossed because what kind of message are you sending otherwise? 

With White's disqualification, there were officially only three cars left on the track at the finish, not the message the Stock Cars want to send to the world as they look to rain the classes' awareness here in the Ozark region. 

The B Mods would wrap up the night with another head scratching performance but in this event it wasn't the drivers but the officials that seemed to have "stepped on it." 

It started out smoothly enough as a twenty six car field would take the green flag with Mitchell Franklin taking the early lead. He was getting good pressure from Jon Sheets and Brice Gotschall in the early going and he survived several hard challenges to maintain the top spot. Eventually Bobby Williams would move into the second spot and he would become the main challenger for the lead. By the halfway point of the race,  Franklin would continue to hold the lead over Williams and Gotschall but J. C. Morton was charging up and he was bringing Kris Jackson, who started ninth, with him. 

Soon Morton had moved up to third and he found the top side of the track to be fast as he continued to reel in the leaders and on lap eighteen, he would blow by Franklin to take over the lead. The race had gone nonstop to this point but on lap nineteen, the yellow would wave for a spin in turn two and this would change the face of the race. Morton would still be the leader but Jackson had now moved into third and with the outside for the restart, he was primed for a charge. And so he did. 

With a spectacular three wide move in turn four on the next lap, he would race around both Franklin and Morton and take over the lead.  However, he would slip high in turn one and suddenly there was a three wide battle down the back chute for the lead. The track got too narrow for the three of them, there was some rubbing that I would call nothing other than a "racing deal" and after banging wheels amongst the three, both Morton and Jackson would spin out. The yellow waved and then things fell apart. 

While  Franklin was able to keep going, it was an easy call to make on Morton as his car was damaged and would need the wrecker's assistance. However, Jackson was the issue. He clearly spun and the yellow did come out. However, he didn't stop but kept going as the field avoided the accident and the question apparently was where to place him in the restart order. 

I don't know the track rules so I don't know how they typically score such an incident, but apparently there was lots of confusion among the track officials. The cars circled the track for likely ten minutes under yellow and everyone waited to see how they would align the cars. There must have been some fast skimming of the rule book or perhaps some heated discussion in the tower but as we all waited, the time dragged on and nothing happened. 

Finally, and again of course there was no explanation by the announcers who suddenly seemed tongue tied, the lap board was set back one lap and Jackson was inserted into the second place position behind Franklin. We will probably never learn the rationale for this so it's hard to say if they made the correct call or not, but that's the way they lined up for the restart and it then took Jackson just one lap to pass Franklin and then motor on for the win. Jon Sheets would come up in the late going to also pass Franklin for second. 

I heard more than a few fans muttering on the way out that a million dollar facility like this shouldn't have to have two dollar and fifty cent behavior by the drivers and working officials. Make the call quickly and move on. Delays and hesitancy give the appearance of incompetency

Oh, and one other thing. Can't anyone read a watch around here? For the second straight night, racing started a full hour behind the advertised time. Even given a pass due to the high winds that made it tough to get moisture into the track on Friday and required extra track work, no such excuse existed on Saturday. Still, it was 8 pm before the first green flag waved. Of course, my old friend time trials always has something to do with that but a big time operation like this should be able to budget their starting time just a little better. 

However, in all other ways this place is first class and a pleasure to visit. They have an outstanding facility here as most people know and always draw the top drivers for their premier events. Check their track schedule for a plethora of big races upcoming in 2023. .