Pierce Tops WoO Late Models at Mason City

 As the Mason City Motor Speedway continues to change on a nearly daily basis, the racing schedule continues to offer bigger, better and new events for the racing fans of North Iowa. On Tuesday night, June 28th, the World of Outlaws Late Model series made their first visit to the track in a number of years and just as the fans have witnessed lots of changes, for the WoO teams they got their first look and the newly redesigned and truly completely changed over track. 

Work was feverously going on throughout the day at the track as construction crews were working on a new tower at the top of the grandstands for the announcers and tv crew. A new flag stand had been erected this week, giving the starter a new stand with better visibility and more safe. It was so new that he had to use a ladder to clamber up to the tower as the steps had yet to be completed. 

New light poles and lights have been added recently with more on the way. And being a special event that would attract a different crowd than the normal Sunday night crowd, there were a huge number of spectators seeing the new track for the first time. 

This track truly does not look at all like the old half mile and while there are people that likely still long for the big old half mile, I am not one of them and for me, all these changes are positive ones to make racing better for the fans of Mason City. There are still things to be done and tinkering yet to be completed but what monumental changes have already taken place!

It was another of those smoky, hazy days that we have seen so much of already this year but the temperature was nice an a good breeze was blowing in just the correct direction, making for an almost perfect night for racing. Spectators would respond and a huge crowd of fans was on hand to see big time Late Model racing for the first time here in quite some time. No doubt the many positive things that happened on this night will firmly plant Mason City on WoO schedules for years to come now. 

Track promotors Ryne and Todd Staley were very busy folks all day and it was good to see that Todd is out of his sling and apparently healthy enough that he was able to rejoin the ranks of racer, running his Stock Car at Webster City. They knew that this was a big night for them and they wanted the new track to look its best for the many new fans and tv viewers watching. 

When the WoO gets to this part of the country, their resources start to get stretched. By that I mean it was always a struggle for them to produce a full field of Late Model race cars. Not a lot of open motor cars exist in this area and it always seems that some disappear just when you might expect them to show up to collect a check. Racers can be a tough crew to figure out and I would think that Late Model racers would rank right up there with the most puzzling. 

On this night, twenty four would sign up to race which made for three perfect heat races, no B Feature and just a main. I didn't hear any complaints as there are lots of folks that were enjoying their rare chance to see up close some of the biggest names in the sport.  USRA B Mods and Hobby Stocks would be the support classes on Tuesday with just the right number of each on hand. 

Falling under the "Wouldn't You Just Know It" category on this night was the unexpected power outage that saw some of the track lights go black along with lights for the rest rooms and some other areas. There was a delay while track officials scrambled to address the problem, even wheeling in some portable lights but eventually the problem was solved and while that threw the race schedule out of whack, it didn't ruin the night. 

Nick Hoffman set a new track record in time trials, blistering the old record by almost a half second. The track was blinding fast early and then began to change as the evening progressed. Heat races woudl produce a lot of speed but not much passing as the drivers tried to learn the track also. 

Probably one of the biggest challenges with a new track(which essentially this is) is the racing surface itself. Trying to prep it correctly, make sure that multiple grooves exist and also making it dust free are all challenges. Veteran track owners struggle with these same issues and Late Models are among the worst when it comes to being finicky about what will work and what won't. 

The bottom line on this night was that the track took rubber early in the feature and it produced a high speed, follow the leader type of race. It was not the best of races, but lots of other track have struggled with the same issue when it comes to Late Models and their wide tires. Strangely, after the Late Models were done, the other two classes came out and produced tow good races as the rubber didn't both them at all. 

The Late Model feature would be first as their race was moved up on the card after the power outage delay, a very good call on the part of management. Tanner English would be the early leader with Bobby Pierce right behind him. They would exchange the top spot once before settling in with English, Pierce, Shane Clanton, Brian Shirley and Mike Marlar in the top five. 

While there weren't many lapped cars, on a one lane track they can be a problem and one was dancin' instead of getting out of the way with English making heavy contact. Just a few laps earlier, Shirley was run up into a lapped car by Clanton which also triggered a yellow flag. 

Just a few laps after the English contact and while still leading, he blew a tire on the front chute, eliminating him as a contender and giving the lead to Pierce. Bobby would then go on to lead the rest of the way and win over Clanton and Sheppard. Only two cars would not finish with Jason Strand taking a wild ride over the turn three wall early on. While I suspect that management was pleased with their first effort with that Outlaws and the Outlaws were happy with the crowd, moving forward they will work hard on trying to figure out the best way to prep the track for these cars, just as they are still learning how to best prep the track for their weekly shows as it remains an evolving project. 

Gage Motl would lead the first thirteen laps of the B Mod feature with Noah Grinstead putting heavy heat on him as they raced side by side on several occasions. However, the driver on the move was Joe Chisholm who came pounding forward after starting eighth on the grid. He was able to catch both the contenders and make passes on both, something neither of them had been able to do. 

He would then drive away for the win with Motl holdoing off Grinstead for the win. 

Brian Lund  would start on the outside pole and lead  the first seven laps of the Hobby Stock feature, holding off several challenges by different drivers to that point. Finally, Weston Koop, who would start tenth, would drive by him on the outside and take over the lead and that would seem to open the floodgates. 

Coop would drive on for the win with Kolby Goepel and  Luke Schluetter completing the top five. After a first lap yellow, the Hobby Stocks would then race nonstop to their eighteen lap conclusion. 

After their power delay, the officials really made a point of pushing the show along, passing on victory lane for the B Mods so they could get the Hobby Stocks going right away. I'm not sure if they have a curfew but with the hospital being right across the street and the town now surrounding them on many sides, moving things along on a week night was a good move. The final checkered flew right around 10:30 pm.

Thanks to the officials from the WoO for their help, along with the track officials and the officials from USRA, many of whom also work at this track. I saw a lot of familiar faces as many Late Model fans from a wide area were on hand for this event. 

Nordquist and Rupp Among Spencer "Madness" Winners

 Traveling issues have caused this report to be delayed but a brief summary is nevertheless required. The second leg of the Midwest Madness Tour was held on Monday night, June 28th at the Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer Iowa. Organized by the Western Iowa Race Results face book page and sponsored by Hickenbottom Trucking, this series is presented on five straight nights at three tracks in northwestern  Iowa, one in extreme southern Minnesota and a fifth just across the border by mere miles into South Dakota. 

Five of the IMCA classes would be racing in five straight programs including the Sport Compacts, Sport Mods, Hobby Stocks, Stock Cars and Modifieds. All five nights would be IMCA santioned and all five nights would offer extra pay with a point fund also being offered. 

This series has grown to be quite a popular series with many travelers on hand from vast parts of the country. It is interesting to see drivers from California and Arizona haul their race cars all the way to the Midwest after seeing these same drivers and cars racing in January in Arizona. Of course, it helps that many of the Arizona and California tracks take some time off this part of the year because of excess heat in those regions, thus allowing them to be a part of Midwestern racing without any punishment for missing their local shows. 

To say this series is popular with the drivers would be an understatement as one hundred and sixty four drivers signed in to race at Spencer and including other drivers that raced at Worthington on Sunday night, a total of one hundred and ninety six different drivers race in the series just the first two nights. On Monday, all classes except the Sport Compacts had over thirty entries and B Features were required to cut the field down to feature racing levels. 

There were some different winners on Monday night from what I am used to seeing on my trips to Iowa so far this year and it was good to have some variety in victory lane. Two drivers that I know run well but I have yet to see win until Monday were Keegan Nordquist and Tim Rupp. 

Nordquist would make a lap seventeen pass on Lance Borgman to win the Sport Mod feature after starting in the fourth row. Rusty Montague would be the early leader with Borgman and Jackson Harpole trailing. Montague would continue as the leader with things getting shuffled early on when big favorite Matthew Looft would roll to a halt with a flat tire. 

Calamity would befall Montague to as he would come to a halt while leading the race which would turn over the lead to Borgman. However, a late yellow with just two laps to go would pack the field and lead to the late race change as Nordquist would get a great restart and drive around Borgman to take the lead and the win. Colby Fett would make a great drive on his own as he would come from seventeenth to pass Borgman on the last lap for second. 

Former Sport Mod racer Tim Rupp, in what I believe is his second year of Stock Car racing, would dominate that main event as he would lead from start to finish. Early on he would lead over Donavon Smith and Justin Luinenburg . Rupp would set a hot pace as he raced off the cushion and he was able to build up a nice sized lead. Two yellows would pack the field back up but each time Rupp would again pull away when the race resumed. A late collision set up a two lap race to the finish and once again Rupp would pull away for an impressive win. Smith would hang on for second while Damon Murty would make a late charge coming from fourteenth to third. 

Mike Smith is one of those dominant drivers that reaches victory lane often and he did so again on Monday with a powerful run to win the Hobby Stock main. He would start sixth but move into third by the halfway point of the race as Brandon Nielsen and Drew Barglof would take turns leading during that first half of the race. Smith would continue to charge and on lap ten he would take the lead and then pull away. 

Late race shuffling saw Nielsen eliminated with a flat tire as Kevin Bruck would move up into second with Barglof taking third. 

Another driver who always does well here, Tom Berry Jr, would come from the sixth row to win the Modified feature. For a long time during the race, it looked like Cody Thompson would win for the second straight night, having topped the racers in Worthington  on Sunday night. However, Berry Jr was working the low side of the track successfully and we was able to drive under Thompson just past the halfway point of the race and then pull away. Thompson would hold on for second but the biggest story of the race and perhaps the night, was Jacob Hobscheidt. After not finishing his heat race, he came from eleventh to qualify through a B Feature and then drove from twentieth to third in the feature race. 

A nonstop Sport Compact feature would see Riley Paysen lead from start to finish to win his first ever Sport Compact feature race. He had Levi Volkert chasing him the whole race with Kolby Sabin right there also as the top three ran in a swarm for virtually the whole race. And for the second straight night, the Sport Compacts might have produced the best feature race. 

Despite a warm day and bright sunshine, the track was in excellent shape on Monday night, thanks to the efforts of MVG and Trent Chinn and those others unnamed that did a great job of track prep. I think the track was at its raciest of the year so far with a number of drivers making big advances as there were two solid lines to race on. 

One down side of such a big field of racers is that one should expect it to be a rather long night of racing. Despite all efforts to move things along quickly and run as tight a race as possible, it would be nearly 11:30 pm before the final checkered would wave. It should also be pointed out that a total of twenty nine races were held including five feature races with victory lane celebrations led by announcer J VAN. 

A very nice crowd was on hand on this Monday night with the crowd size seemingly making a nice jump from the last couple of shows here. Thanks to Trent Chinn Promotions and all the other workers involved with the "Madness Tour." 

Aikey A Come From Behind Winner at Cresco

 Another "Full Circle" trip was completed on Thursday night, June 22nd to the north Iowa town of Cresco. On the schedule for this night was a visit to what is now called the Cresco Speedway at the Mighty Howard County Fairgrounds here at Cresco's West side. The 129th Mighty Howard County Fair was in full swing on Thursday and the special grandstand attraction was the Hoker Trucking SLMR Late Models in a three thousand dollar to win East point race. Along with the Late Models, the Winged Sprints of the UMSS would be racing with USRA Modifieds being the third division to take to the track on Thursday. 

It has been a number of years since I was last at a race at Cresco but I couldn't help but think as I drove the street that runs parallel to the track to enter by the pit gate back to those days of long past when Howard Mellinger put on some very big races in the day here and how that old wooden covered grandstand used to be packed to the bursting point. It kind of brought me back full circle with the Late Models racing here and lots of people looking to watch the show on Thursday. I find myself more often reflecting back to the days of the past as the years lengthen and while the experiences broaden, some actually return to a time and place from long ago.

This would be an interesting mix of classes on this night as the Hoker Trucking series would deliver twenty one cars for racing on Thursday, a number sufficient to put on a good show at this four tenth mile oval that used to be a full half mile back in the day. The UMSS is a new series for this area but I am very familiar with them as they race at many tracks in my home area and I have followed the development of this series for many years since Ron Bernhagen started it. In fact, I saw many of the drivers racing here on this night just a few days previously when they raced at my home track in Wisconsin last Saturday night. They have both a winged and what they call traditional (non winged) divisions and both raced with us in Wisconsin last Saturday and they put on a nice show. 

Ron has been on a mission the last couple of years to develop a new Sprint Car that is more affordable for beginner drivers and for those veterans that don't want to spend their way to the poor house. He continues to work on development of a motor package that is affordable while still giving the "kick" that Sprint Cars need. His Traditional Sprints are powered by B Mod motors and they are also entertaining to watch. They were down here in Iowa to put on a demonstration and see if they can generate some interest here to help the division grow. They called their program on this night an "exhibition" race with no points awarded but they were running for money and the drivers treated it as a race. 

The third division on the card was the USRA Modifieds, which seemed to me to be an odd pick for a class to be racing since there are virtually zero USRA Mods in this general area with the closest point of them being across the border North in Minnesota near Deer Creek. Unfortunately, with both MTS and Deer Creek having specials for this same class this weekend, it appeared that no one dared to race on Thursday for fear of not having a car to race this weekend. Thus, they were left with a painfully short field of just five cars for their part of the program but I  heard not a word from the grandstand in complaint and most of the crowd stuck around to watch their race, which was last on the program. 

This was a small town and small county activity that clearly was a highlight for folks here for perhaps the whole Summer and the Fairgrounds was packed with people on this very steamy Thursday night. The midway was jammed, the grandstands were jammed and this was clearly a very big deal for the folks from this county and part of the state. They were receptive, positive and also were eating and drinking at perhaps a record rate. The Mighty Howard County Fair was lots better than I expected, quite frankly, and might have had one of the better food item choices of any Fair I have been to in quite some time. I was more than impressed with the whole Fair in general and fortunately for me, the racing also met and exceeded my expectations. 

When I looked at the track before the action began, I didn't have a whole lot of "warm fuzzy" expectations but once again I am pleased to announce that I was wrong and the track raced very well and the Late Model drivers in particular put on a very good show. The track looked loose to me, like it would be rough and also that it would be dirty. Those observations were mostly wrong and with a nice berm that built up, there was solid two groove racing throughout the Late Model feature. 

The usual Malvern Bank, Hoker Trucking rules would be in effect as the drivers would qualify, they would then invert six in each of the three heats and passing points would determine the feature lineup. I have heard rumblings that the time trial points weigh too much in the lineups and it was apparent Thursday that this might be the case as Charlie McKenna would be quick qualifier, then start sixth and only pass two cars but that would earn him the outside pole for the feature. However, Joe Kosiski, just like MVG, is big enough to break me in half so I won't protest too loudly. 

The Late Model feature, at thirty laps, was both entertaining and smoothly run. McKenna would use the outside line to drive past pole starter Jeff Aikey and take the early lead. There was quite the battle for second with Aikey fighting with Chad Halliday, Derrick Stewart , Andy Eckrich and Jason Hahne among others for position. They were really going at it and using much of the track as they tried to pass each other. 

The only yellow was a significant one as third running Eckrich would get high in turn one and then slow as he had mechanical issues and headed for the pits. And as more and more often seems to be happening in racing these days, the passes for position happen more and more on the restarts as passing under speed seems to be a tougher thing each year. 

 Until the yellow, it seemed that McKenna would be home free but that slowdown changed everything for the leaders. Aikey would get a great run on the restart and drive past McKenna for the lead. After that, Jeff would gradually pull away but the battle for second would be a dandy one. McKenna was running up on the cushion and really getting his car sideways and it seemed inevitable that someone would pass him. However, there would be a four car wad that would jockey back and forth the rest of the race but "Chargin' Charlie" would hold on for second with Stewart, Hahne and Halliday all right there with him. 

There would be just the one yellow and only two cars that weren't on the lead lap with five that failed to finish. And I must say, the track raced well throughout the contest. There was some dust in the air, but it wasn't bad, didn't seem to affect the racing and I wasn't wearing it in the grandstand either so all was well. 

Among those that failed to finish was Carson Brown, the only driver that raced at Davenport and then hauled up to Cresco when their Summer National date on Thursday was cancelled. They really must have wanted to get laps for Brown to haul three and a half hours North just to race for three grand to win. And interestingly, Mike Marlar, who had been attending with Brown in Davenport was still with the team so he must be very serious about this new venture of their to forfeit a race of his own to help out this rookie driver. 

The crowd seemed to be entertained by the Sprints who raced well and had just one yellow flag in their main. Chase Viebrock, who won last Saturday up in Wisconsin, would win the feature once again on this night. A bold and risky last lap pass on the high side saw Luke Nellis edge out Mark Chevalier for the second spot as seven of the ten starters were still running at the end. 

Alex Williamson managed to hold off Rodney Sanders for two laps in the Modified feature until Rodney drove past exiting turn four and once he was in front, the crowd started to head for the exits, knowing that unless something weird happened, the Rodney would bank the grand for the winner. And that's the way things turned out. Yet the five car field didn't seem to do anything to discourage the fans who seemed to lap up and enjoy the entire show from start to finish. Their enthusiasm was refreshing for this jaded old race fan, who has perhaps seen one too many small field programs over the years. 

It was also nice to complete the whole show by 10 pm and man, did the folks then head for the midway and the beer tent! This turned out to be a very big deal and I'm glad I returned to see it. Thanks to Executive Secretary of the Fair Ag Society, Tom Barnes for his help. This was a fun night and kind of a blast from the past sort of thing. This night felt like big time racing with importance for the drivers while at the same time providing some of the pleasant innocence that has slipped away from our sport. I was glad to be here and enjoy. 

 

 

Winger Won't Settle For Second; Tops Simpson Bros. at Davenport S/N Stop

 Kay Promotions, along with Sixteen Race Promotions, presented the DIRTcar Summer Nationals at the Davenport Speedway in Davenport Iowa on Wednesday night, June 21st. It was the second race in week number two for the Summer National travelers and with the series having a new format this year where a weekly point fund is paid, there is a lot more moving of drivers in and out of the series, depending on the racing location and other events and series that may attract drivers. With this new "wild card", the competitors list will likely be a revolving door from week to week which makes it both interesting and sometimes perhaps a disappointing, depending on your point of view as to who you want to see race. 

On this Wednesday night, thirty one drivers were part of a very eclectic field of racers on hand which included drivers from both Australia and New Zealand as well as fourteen states which is quite remarkable. And while it was a very nice opportunity to see a number of drivers race for probably the first time ever, I still had this nagging feeling that somehow the Summer Nationals tour had lost a bit of its "star power."  That, however, is a point of conjecture and does not really factor in the racing itself, which proved to be good on a night when producing a good racing surface must have been a very difficult task. 

Kay Promotions along with Sixteen Race Promotions probably offer as much variety in different racing series to come to their track as certainly any track in the Midwest as the number of special events and series races that they offer to the race fans of the Quad Cities area is quite remarkable. It seems like they have something special going on most of the Summer and along with their solid weekly Friday night show, certainly have made the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds track one of the action places for racing in the central part of the county. 

Along with a full program of UMP Late Models racing on this night, the IMCA Late Models that race weekly here would also be in action plus the IMCA Sport Mods who would also have  a full program. 

Plenty of national media attention is always focused on the "Hell Tour" and I had the fortune of running into Dirt On Dirt's Managing Editor Todd Turner who is following the series for this week. And it was great to see Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Ed Sanger in the stands watching tonight's action also. It would be interesting to know just what percentage of the fans on hand even know who Ed Sanger is in this changing world of ours. 

The DIRTcar Late Models would qualify for their starting positions for the evening's action with the two IMCA classes using the draw/redraw method. Because they fell just one car show of thirty two car threshold that splits the field into four heats, there would be three qualifying groups plus three heats, a B Feature and the forty lap main for the DIRTcar Late Models. Drake Troutman, along with the Simpson brothers, would be the three group quick timers and with the field assembled on this night, The Simpsons to me were the odds on favorites to be the winners this night. That would not quite hold up later due to one other persistent driver that refused to settle for second. 

The heat races for the DIRTcar Late Models would produce some excellent racing with several three wide battles for position as even with the difficult weather conditions, the track was holding up well in the early going. With the DIRTcar feature scheduled second of the three mains, a complete redoing of the track was called for and while it did take some time, it probably was the difference between a racy track and one that would rubber up so it was probably worth the wait. 

The Simpsons were strong in the early going as after starting side by side to take the green for the forty lapper, it would be Chad that took the early lead. Ashton Winger would be the wild card as after starting sixth he was able to pass Chris Simpson and move into second place by lap ten and he would closely follow Chad Simpson for the next ten laps. Frankie Heckenast and Tyler Clem would hang with the top three during those opening laps. 

A spin just at the halfway point of the race slowed the action and set the stage for a lead change as Winger would get a great restart and power under Chad Simpson to take over the lead. Both Simpson's would continue to closely follow Winger with Bob Gardner cracking the top five just at the halfway point. 

As is often the case now in dirt track racing, much of the passing takes place directly following yellow flag slowdowns and such was the case again on Wednesday when on lap twenty eight, a Billy Moyer spin slowed the field. On the green, Chris Simpson got a great restart and he powered under Winger to take over the lead. That could have been the end of the story but Winger is not one to settle for second. He searched around on the track for a faster line than Chris Simpson was running and he found one up on the top side, a lane that was largely unused until that point. He found some great speed off turn two with perhaps the hint of rubber being laid down and he got great acceleration. Down the front chute he somehow managed to squeeze between Chris and the outside edge of the track and was able to retake the lead on lap thirty five, with just five to go. 

He would then pull away from the pack and drive on to a deserving win over Chris Simpson. The last corner of the race found a charging Jason Feger, who started ninth, squeezing under Chad Simpson with a not so pretty slider to take third ahead of Chad and Heckenast at the line. The race had four yellows, saw fifteen cars finish the race with all on the lead lap out of the rather small feature field of twenty two that the Summer Nationals always starts. Drake Troutman, who figured to be a strong contender until he blew a tire on lap eleven, was able to fight his way back up to eighth at the finish. Troutman, to be kind, has not had a lot of luck with his Hoosier tires so far this week with a blown one on Tuesday night costing him a Summer Nationals win. 

The IMCA Late Models produced a good field of twenty four drivers for this special Wednesday night show with twenty two of them starting their twenty five lap main event. This would be a very competitive race also with four lead changes among three different drivers. The IMCA feature would be the first one up and the  track for this race saw two grooves develop, right on the inside tires and another lane right around the rim. For the drivers to be successful, it was either pick one or the other and then stay there. This would produce a lot of side by side racing that was entertaining. 

Evan Miller would be the early leader after starting on the pole as he battled with Chuck Hanna, Joe Beal and Joel Callahan. A lap six yellow would again produce a lead change as Miller got a bad restart and Hanna would take over the lead as he ran the outside line. 

But Beal was on the move and on lap seven Joe would work the inside line and shoot into the lead with Hanna still running the rim as they very nearly ran side by side all the way around the quarter mile. At the halfway point, Callahan was back up to third ahead of Miller and Andy Nezworski would showed in the top five for the first time. 

But the second half of the race would produce two more lead changes as the top two jockeyed back and forth. Hanna got another strong run on the cushion and took the lead back with ten to go, but "The Real Deal," Beal would fight back into the top spot with only seven laps to go. Joe would then pull away slightly from the pack as Callahan overhauled Hanna for second but couldn't make a charge at the leader as Beal would drive on for the win. Hanna would settle for third with Justin Kay charging from eleventh to fourth but running out of time to advance any farther with Miller completing the top five. Nineteen of the twenty two starters would still be on the track at the finish. 

The Sport Mods would complete the night's entertainment with eighteen of them signing in to race. They would run last in the running order and by the time they saw the track for their main, the racing surface was pretty much used up on this hot and sunny day. But as much as the surface was worn out, what killed this race was that point leader Ben Chapman drew the pole for this race and the point leader was the odds on favorite for the win, a theory that he lived up to. 

He took and immediate lead and built it up to nearly a half straightaway advantage as Logan Veloz worked from fourth into second. The lone yellow waved with eight laps complete for a spin and after that Chapman had to be on his guard as Veloz was challenging him hard. 

Logan got his nose under Chapman in the corners a couple times but couldn't quite pull off a pass and after that Chapman made sure that he had the bottom lane covered as most of the field was hugging the low side. And while Veloz remained close, Chapman would drive on for a wire to wire win. David Engelkins was one of the few to try the outside and he made it work for a third place finish over Trey Grimm and Rayce Mullen. 

The DIRTcar feature was completed just a couple of minutes after 10 pm with the whole show wrapping up perhaps fifteen minutes later. It was a typical quick show that Davenport is well known for and despite the weather conditions, which would have sent most tracks into either a rubbered up mess or a dust bowl, the Davenport Speedway remained racy for most of the evening, thanks to expert track prep. 

As always, thanks to all the folks at Davenport for another strong night of racing. I haven't checked the schedule  but I assure that I will be back at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds for some more big time racing yet this year, for whatever series is next to appear here. 

King Crowned at Independence "Monday Night Madness"

 Another one  of those rare but generally successful and enjoyable Monday night races was held on June 19th at the Independence Motor Speedway in Independence Iowa. Mike VanGenderen, who brought this novel idea to the Stuart International Speedway when he bought that track, made it a successful staple of their racing schedule there to many people's surprise has moved on with the idea to Independence which he now co-promotes with Dana Benning. 

They actually opened up their season in early May with a Monday night show when they suffered a number of early season rainouts. This would be the second of the four Monday night shows scheduled and for the second straight time, they would exceed one hundred cars racing on this night.

Dubbed "Monday Night Madness", this show would feature five of the six classes that routinely race at Inde, with the Late Models missing on this night. I started out the evening being just a bit disappointed as through my own oversite, I was under the impression that the Late Models would be racing but when I arrived and saw that Curt Martin's pit spot was open, a spot he has had reserved for himself as long as I have been attending races at Inde, I was immediately led to believe that there would be no Late Models, am assumption that proved to be correct. 

However, that problem was quickly surpassed when a fine field of cars showed up in the other five classes and put on a good show so realistically they would not have been able to probably run off a reasonable length six class show and getting done early is critical on a weekend. One hundred and twenty two cars did sign in to race with a high of thirty three in the Modified class, a very fine turnout indeed. 

It was a hot and somewhat humid June day and MVG was busy trying to keep moisture in the racing surface. I was told that they had a big downpour on Sunday but that it came so quickly and so hard that it likely didn't help get any moisture into the ground as it likely all just ran off. I was told the infield was a lake on Sunday and remnants of that were still visible on Monday night. 

Despite having hot laps for all classes, racing would begin by 7:15 pm and then it would be high speed racing to follow immediately. I have to say that MVG's programs are just about the most difficult for me to keep up with as the races come marching on and off the track with such speed, I barely have time to write the lineups and finishes down before he funnels the next event on to the track. His shows are almost as intense for me as they must be for the competitors. And Jeff Broeg would love the size of the heats as all featured between eight and ten cars apiece, again likely to keep the show moving along faster with the one spin rule also helping out here. Fourteen qualifying heats were buzzed through in fifty two minutes and there were a grand total of two yellows in all those qualifiers as spinning cars knew they better get moving or risk being sent to the pits. 

B Features were needed for both the Stock Cars and Mods because of the size of their fields and that was followed by a rather extensive refreshing of the racing surface. This did get a bit long but later we would see why they attempted to do such a thorough job of redoing the track. 

The Sport Mods would get the fresh track as their feature event would be first with twenty cars taking the green flag. This would be a draw/redraw program and that event would play a big part in racing success on this night as we would see three drivers win mains off the first row with two more coming from row two as big charges from back in the pack were limited on Monday. 

Taylor Kuehl would start on the pole for the Sport Mod feature and she would be recorded the leader for all twenty laps on the main. While there was quite a battle for second, she would remain comfortably in front by herself as she got a good jump early and then would pull away again on each of the two restarts that occurred. Tony Olson, Shane Paris and Matthew Mayo had a good battle for second with Olson passing Paris late in the race to secure second over Paris, Mayo and Jarett Franzen. 

The Sport Compacts would go green for fifteen laps and would see a late race battle for the lead. Stephen Randall would grab the initial lead but it took only three laps for Kukas Rick to pass him and take over the top spot. Rick would build up quite a nice sized lead before Jake Benischek would work his way into second and set off after the leader. 

Benischek had bobbled right off the bat and lost several positions but when he finally got going, he was able to knock off car after car on the top side after starting tenth. The race remained under the green but lap after lap, Benischek would cut into the advantage that Rick had, aided by a slow car that seemed to be wobbling around on the track and made Rick unsure just where to go. 

On the last lap, Benischek got close in the final corner and Rick had to bounce off the slower car to make the corner but he held on by a couple car lengths to take the win over Benischek in a race that fortunately wasn't any more laps for Rick. Randall, Noah Beenken and Jace Tuttle would complete the top five. 

A full field of twenty Stock Cars would take the green for their main event with Brett Vanous starting on the pole and taking the initial lead. A great advance on the opening lap by Kaden Reynolds would see him move from seventh to second and one lap later he would pass Vanous for the lead. 

However, also on the move was Damon Murty and he made the top side of the track work for him. Not too many drivers were up on the tall side of the track but he made it a fast lane for himself and he blew past Reynolds to take over the lead. A series of three yellows on lap eight would slow things down but after that they raced to the checkers. 

Murty would continue to lead but Reynolds also moved to the cushion and he started to make time on Murty. He appeared ready to make a big challenge when he overshot a corner and got over the banking on this track that has no outside walls. He was able to save it but lost valuable time and spent the rest of the race trying to chase Murty back down. 

He wasn't able to do so though, as seldom are people able to do that to Murty who would drive on for another win. Tom Schmitt made a fine drive from ninth to finish a strong third, ahead of Cole Mather and Jarod Weepie. This race was red flagged on lap eight when Json Hocken flew off turn four and rolled up on to the pit wall. He was OK but out of the race. 

Tyler Ball made a great move on the opening lap as he ducked under front row starters Chad Clubine and Eric Knutson to lead the opening lap and after that, the remaining sixteen laps would also be his as he led from start to finish to claim the win. Jacob Floyd would be the story of the race though, as he started eleventh and was able to drive up to a strong second place finish. Benji Irvine would start fifth and end up third with Knutson and Chubine trailing at the finish. Only two yellows would slow the action and all but three starters would be on the track at the finish. 

Twenty four Modifieds would go twenty laps in their main, racing for a grand to the winner. Jerry King would start on the pole but it would be Ryan Duhme that would use the cushion to take the early lead. King would slip into second but then lose that spot to Brennen Chipp. Duhme would continue to hold the lead, riding the cushion as most of the racers were. However, the track would suddenly and dramatically change and those drivers that spotted the change or perhaps were lucky enough to be in the correct lane, would benefit greatly. 

Joel Rust was the first to spot the change as the low line suddenly started to take rubber and he was able to gain three spots very quickly as he moved up to third. King had been about the only driver to be racing the low line and as his speed picked up in the rubber, so too did Duhme start to lose speed and suddenly King found himself in the lead, taking the point just at the halfway signal of the race. 

King would then pull away from the field until a late yellow slowed the action. It appeared that all cars had taken the white flag before Kyle Bentley stalled on the front chute but the ruling was to go back to a two lap sprint to the finish. The double file restart found drivers on the outside trying to hang on by a toe nail but several slipped back including Rust. 

King would drive on for the win with Jed Freiberger making a late march from seventh to finish second with Jeff Aikey, Dallon Murty and Duhme completing the top five. Rust would fall all the way back to eighth at the line. 

I was told that King had won the previous event here after not winning a feature for twenty one years before that. If so, he definitely deserves the two race winning streak. 

I rarely disagree with MVG in the operation of his program (largely because he's big enough to break me in half!) but the decision to double file the cars for the two lap dash seemed like the wrong move as the rubber was so strong on the inside line that the drivers on the outside line were really put at an unfair disadvantage(Rust and others). 

An icon of the Independence Motor Speedway, Jim Roper, was making the call of the races on this night. In a surprise move, Chris Stepan, visiting with a day break in his UMP Summer Nationals schedule, helped out doing the Modified events. I am hopeful that with the successful promotion of MVG and Dana Benning that a scoreboard can be secured for the track as it is badly needed. 

A nice sized crowd was on hand on a sizzling Monday night for the show and all racing was done before 10:30 pm as this Monday night variation appears to be building steam among both the fans and  drivers. Thanks to everyone at the track for their help. A return trip is planned at some point later this Summer. 

Frederick Squibb Winner at Alta

 The Buena Vista Raceway in Alta Iowa hosted the annual Jimmy Squibb Memoria on Wednesday night, June 14th. This event, to honor the memory of one of the sports greatest Hobby Stock fans, would pay the winner of the Hobby Stock main a grand for their efforts on this spectacularly beautiful Wednesday night. The other five classes would be racing in their regularly scheduled events. This would include five IMCA sanctioned divisions along with the local Bomber class. 

Has anyone else noticed that the bugs are tremendously bad this year? Not that it has anything at all to do with racing but it sure makes walking around at the track miserable when little flying things are getting in your face and biting your ankles constantly. 

And now back to our previously scheduled race. The Squibb Memorial comes right during a very busy time for race tracks in this part of the state and likely for that reason the car count in all classes was down almost to concerning levels. On Wednesday night, there were fifty five cars in six divisions that signed in to race with four of the six divisions having less than double figure numbers. They made a couple of heats out of the Sport Compacts and Sport Mods when they shouldn't have, even though they had nine of each and the Modified count at only four was concerning in that it is only mid June with lots of racing still to be done at lots of tracks yet and it appears that we are almost out of race cars already. 

I had a nice talk before the show started with promoter Trent Chinn, who runs things here along with Hancock County in Britt and Spencer at the Clay County Fairgrounds. We agreed that as much as both of us love racing and would attend every race we could, there are realistically too many races and too many tracks racing for everyone to survive. Especially so here in northern and western Iowa where it is possible to race almost every night of the week for three months and there is a track every thirty miles or so along the highway. 

The big question though is, if there are too many tracks, which one(s) are going to fall on their own knives and call it quits. And if a track happened to shut down, my sense is that someone would immediately step up to give it another shot, thus negated any possible benefit. Race tracks are like restaurants; there is always someone that has a dream to run one and if one should fail, there is always someone else ready to give it a shot. However, until the herd is thinned, just about everyone struggles with low car counts, half full grandstands and mediocre shows.

On this night, the Hobby Stocks saved the show as eight or nine car races and four or five car heats on this big track just don't cut it, but the Hobby Stocks, as the last event of the night, produces a rousing finish that had everyone talking as they headed to their cars in the parking lots. Perfect!

While Justin Frederick would be scored the leader of all laps, it was much better an event than that would indicate. He did take the early lead on a track where everyone chose to run right on the hub and strategy as to when and where to make a pass proved to be important. Jim Johnson would tuck in behind him in second but the show was watching Cory Probst and Mike Smith as they worked their way to the front after starting in the third and fourth rows respectively. After a first lap spin slowed the action, this race would go green for fourteen laps and eventually it was Probst and Smith that crept up into second and third and they put heavy pressure on Frederick. 

A late race spin bunched the field and on the green Smith elected to try the top side of the track, an area that no one was running but was an open lane. It didn't work though, and he lost several positions but was bailed out by another yellow that set up a two lap sprint to the finish. This time Smith got another good run on the outside but he stayed just to the right of leader Frederick while Probst rode his bumper. They came out of the last corner three wide and it was a dash to the line with Frederick holding on by a bumper over Smith with Probst just inches behind in third. This was by far the most exciting race of the night and a good way to wrap up things. 

Earlier, Cody Gorden led the opening lap of the Sport Compact feature before Caine Mahlberg drove past him and then drove away for an easy win in a nonstop main for "The Bandit." 

The Bombers produced more yellow than almost the rest of the night combined before Wyatt Johnson took the win there. 

A four car Modified feature just isn't too exciting no matter how you cut it, but they made things interesting as Dyllan Ricks would lead the first ten laps with Chris Abelsen stalking him before Abelsen would get a nose under Ricks to take the lead and then pull away. 

The Sport Mod feature came unglued early when a spin in turn four early in the event collected about half the field with several contenders including point leader Rusty Montague done for the night. With only four cars left running, Jake Simpson would lead the rest of the way for the win. 

Stefan Sybesma would take the early lead in the Stock Car feature as he would run a great opening lap, coming from seventh to take the lead before the first lap was completed. However, he was soon challenged by Tim Rupp who also had moved up from that same fourth row. After several attempts to pass didn't work, Sybesma finally slipped off the bottom just enough that Rupp was able to get under him and take over the lead. He would hold that spot for the rest of the race with Sybesma holding off Mike Vandrak for second. 

It was a remarkably smooth night of racing. We didn't see the first yellow of the night until the twelfth race of the evening and all heat race action was completed in forty one minutes. The features took a bit longer with driver interviews etc. but all racing was still completed well before 10 pm. 

Thanks to Trent Chinn and the rest of his hard working staff for their efforts. It has been a stressful week already for his crew but in the next couple of weeks, things start to slow down some before "The Madness Tour" kicks in toward the end of the month and things really start to get wild. 

Jordan Rogotzke Tops Jackson IMCA Special

 The first of the season's IMCA five division special events at the Jackson Motorplex was held on Tuesday night, June 13th and Jordan Rogotzke would highlight the evening's action with his first ever Modified feature win. Other winners would include Luke Sathoff, Jared Boumeester, Cory Probst and Oliver Monson. 

This event was the first of the season's series of IMCA races sponsored by Bank Midwest which gives many of the local and regional racers a chance to race at the spectacular Jackson Motorplex which otherwise pretty much hosts Sprint Car racing. The drivers that participate in this event are totally different than those that race at the other highlighted races here and so also, for the vast majority, are the fans also. 

It was another spectacular weather night in early June here in southern Minnesota and an almost perfect night to be outdoors. This Jackson event falls right during a busy time for racers in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa with races for most classes being held every night this week and then on into next week also. As a gung ho fan who could go to the races seven nights a week and twice on Sunday, I'm not complaining that there are races virtually every night for the next two weeks in this area, but for the racers and the typical fans, it might be a bit much. What ends up happening is that both fans and drivers have to pick and choose and what we've seen so far this week is Luke warm car counts and spectator turnouts as most people have to make some choices. 

On Tuesday, Jackson management offered to boost the purse to a grand to win if there were twenty fou ror more cars on hand in any classes but that offer wasn't even pushed as the biggest turnout was fourteen in the Stock Cars. Its still just pushing mid June but both fans and drivers are getting burned out already with the high number of races going on. I wish I had a good answer to this but every track wants to make money but right now none are making what they could with half full (or less) grandstands and vacant pit parking spaces. 

As an example, there was some good racing on this night as at least three of the five feature races contested saw nose to tail finishes with another providing a late race pass for the win but with only sixty cars in the pits in five classes and not enough Modifieds for two heats, this is not the image that you want to offer your fans and the tv audience watching from Nome or some such far away place. Again, it's easier to identify the problem and much tougher to solve it, but I'm thinking something must be done soon. And where do all these midweek races leave the weekly shows? In most cases, even worst off than they were before and I still believe that damaging weekly racing leaves the whole sport in a tenuous place. 

Track management at Jackson learned from their mistake last month with the Stock Car and Hobby Stock special when they soaked the track so badly that racing was delayed nearly an hour and the quality of the racing suffered greatly. On Tuesday the track was in excellent shape and was ready to hot lap on as soon as the race cars hit the track. It was still tacky and didn't have dust but there was no mud and the racing was good so congrats to them for taking care of their previous miscue. 

Two heats were the order of the night in all but the Modifieds and they quickly tore through that part of the program with this show being a draw/redraw program. It took only thirty one minutes to run off the heat races and then after a very  brief intermission, it was time to go feature racing as it appeared the management was set on showing everyone that they could indeed run off a very quick midweek show and do it the right way. 

And while the fields of cars were quite small in all classes, there were certainly enough strong running cars in each class to provide a good show. It was interesting to note that while we are only about twenty minutes from the Iowa border here, the vast majority of the racers on this night were from Minnesota, even though there is a huge number of available cars from Hawkeye land. 

The Hobby Stock feature would be first and would also be one of two mains to go nonstop, green to checkers. Chad Volk would start on the pole and lead the opening lap but he was moved out of the groove on lap two by his front row partner Blake Luinenberg who would take over the lead. Moving quickly up from his sixth starting spot was Cory Probst and he would drive into second by the halfwap point of the race. 

It then became an interesting two car battle for the lead with Probst trying both high and low to make a pass but Luinenberg intercepting each move with a counter move of his own. It was fascinating watching each work the track and try to out guess the other. 

Finally, with the low side successfully blocked by Luinenberg, Probst made an attempt to drive around on the high side. With the track tacky, this was quite the chore but inch by inch, Probst managed to gain on the leader while still holding his line and not sliding back on the high side. Finally, late in the race, Probst was able to clear his car and take the lead and he then would drive away from Luinenberg on the final couple of laps. It was an entertaining race with Volk holding off D.J. Clinton for third. 

The Sport Compact feature would play out much the same way in a chase and hunt manner. This race would see Kevin Bolte take the lead on lap one but Oliver Monson would drive under him and take over the top spot one lap later. Coming on fast was Nate Coopman who would move into second and set off after Monson. He was catching the leader but a blown motor by Bubba Brown brought out the yellow and set the stage for a two car war.

Monson would lead and Coopman would follow and they would pull away from the field while involved in their own war. It didn't get physical but Coopman did his best to nose under Monson and take over the lead. They remained glued to each other right up to the finish but Monson refused to slip up and Coopman would finish up second, his bumper nailed to that of the winner. 

Monson still apparently has a chip on his shoulder, thanking all his "haters" in victory lane. Does he not realize that the booing is a backwards complement to the fact that he wins so often? By the way, his win was his ninth of the season so far. However, he is still far behind Brayton Carter, who has fifteen at last count and does an interview with much more style and class.  

The Sport Mod feature was like an instant replay but this time the characters involved were Jared Boumeester and Matthew Looft. I suspect that these two were so close in performance that the result would have been just the opposite if their starting positions had been changed. As it was, Boumeester drew the lucky pill and started on the pole with Looft quickly moving into second and trying several moves to get past for the point. 

However, Boumeester is a veteran racer with a ton of feature wins to his credit too and he knows how to wheel a race car and he was not about to surrender the lead. A late race yellow for a stalled car bunched up the field, leading to a wild last two laps. Looft tried the high side on that last restart but the inside lane was just too fast on this night with Boumeester going on for the win while Looft barely held off Zach Davis for second with his gamble move at the end. It was Boumeester's third win of 2023. 

The Stock Car feature was shaping up as a good one early with  four cars battling for the top spot. Jake Bruns had taken the early lead but he had Roger Verdoorm inside him on every turn and trying to slip under him. Jeffrey Larson and Levi Feltman were also right in the mix while also moving forward after starting eleventh was Luke Sathoff. 

Larson was aggressively going for the lead but on lap six he and Verdoorm got together with both drivers suffering flat tires on their cars. Both pitted for changes and this would see Bruns facing new challenges. Sathoff was clearly on the move and one lap later he would duck under the higher running Bruns but he would take over the lead where others just weren't able to pass Jake. 

However, Sathoff was not out of the woods as suddenly he had Curt Lund all over him in a challenge for the lead. Lund tried several times to cut turn two and get under Sathoff but Luke was up to the pressure and he maintained his lead. Late in the race Lund started to fade and Sathoff was home free for the win. Bruns would hold on for third. 

The Modified feature would have only eight cars in it and be the second main of the night to go nonstop and it would provide a surprise finish with Jordan Rogotzke earning what I believe to be his first ever feature win. Rogotzke, one of three brothers racing cars with variations of the "X" on them, would start on the pole and lead from start to finish. 

His lead was big early but after Kelly Shryock broke into second, Shryock would gradually cut that lead down. Jordan got to a lapped car that slowed him too, and with five laps to go, Kelly was on his rear bumper. Shryock tried several times to nose under Rogotzke but Jordan didn't get flustered or make a big mistake which is what Shryock was looking for. And as you might expect from a driver of Shryock's stature, he didn't try to "dirty" the leader, preferring to either make a clean pass or settle for second. 

Rogotzke would hold on for the win while Shryock actually had to fight off a late challenge from Clint Hattlestad to hold on for second with only one car not finishing the event. 

So even though the car count was small, the races were entertaining and certainly worth attending. The show ran off remarkably smoothly with a total of only four yellow flags waved in fourteen races as the flagman got off easy on this night. So along with the smooth racing, the track management also pushed the show along and the entire program was completed in one hour and fifty minutes! There was still time to race to Spirit Lake and take a plunge before the beach closed but I opted out on this night. 

Thanks to Doug Olson, the staff and workers at the Jackson Motorplex for a nice night of racing as they prepare for a huge Sprint Car show this coming weekend, one you might want to attend at this beautiful facility if you are a winged fan. 

Logan Anderson Repeats at the Landus Sport Mod Nationals

 One of the longer running special events for the IMCA Northern Sport Mods is the annual Nationals, sponsored by Landus and held annually at the Hancock County Speedway in Britt Iowa. On Monday night, June 12th, this event would again be held along with a higher purse payoff for the other classes that routinely race at Britt, including Modifieds, Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts, all under IMCA sanctioning. 

And for the second straight year, Eddyville's Logan Anderson would ease into town and top some of the state's best who reside in this area to earn the $2,500 top prize after a heated battle in the thirty lap main event. Other winners would include Izac Mallicoat, Kelly Shryock, Mike Smith and Brooke Osler on what was a fast paced Monday night of racing. 

This event is typically held on a Monday night to avoid any other conflicts and to make their best attemp at allowing the best in the Sport Mod division to be on hand. While the number of cars that signed in was nothing to crow about(25), the field itself was full of many of the top Sport Mod drivers from across the state and they would put on a barn burner of a main event. 

Hancock County Speedway is a Trent Chinn promoted track and helping him in the race night effort is Mike VanGenderen, who tells me he has been coming up on Friday nights and helping Trent out with what ever he needs. They have settled on a plan that has both watering before the show throughout the grounds with Trent staying in the infield to do upgrades on the track as the evening progresses while Mike heads up to the tower to function at Race Director for the night. And as you might expect, with MVG running the show the action was quick paced, but more on that later. 

The track was ready to race on when the drivers were called to the line and after a quick hot lap session, racing was underway before 7:15 pm. Other than the Sport Mods, where quality topped quantity, the other four classes racing had quite small numbers on this Monday night and no B Features were needed for any division. After a fast paced set of heat races that were completed in just fifty one minutes, we were ready to go feature racing by 8:15 p.m. on this Monday night. 

There would be three different leaders in the Sport Compact feature which is pretty good considering there were only six of them in the race and they would only go eight laps. First it was Charles Prime who led a lap and then was passed by Logan Kelly. He would lead only one lap before being passed by Osler who would then go on to lead the rest of the way for the win. Osler took the gamble of passing the person who flags much of her racing action as when Kelly isn't racing he is flagging at several northern Iowa tracks but she roared by him nevertheless. He would then settle for second with Noah Bencken finishing third. 

The Stock Car feature would be a good one and while Kelly Shryock would lead the majority of the laps, things got tight for him at the end. Health Tulp would take the initial lead but it would only take Shryock one more lap to come up from the fifth starting spot to duck under Tulp and take over the point. We would then have a long period of green flag racing that would see Shryock pull away but the battle for second was good as Tulp fought to hold off Kevin Opheim, Chanse Hollatz, McCain Jennings and others who would take turns throwing sliders at each other as they exchanged positions. 

Bad luck hit second running Tulp with only four laps to go when when he blew a motor down the front chute and went flying off the first turn, triggering a yellow. There would be one more stoppage in the race when a red flag was triggered when Zayn Feaster went flying off turn four and began a violent series of barrel rolls, perhaps going over five or more times. It was a bad one but he would be OK. It was a tough night for the Stock Cars as Clint Wendel also took a violent flip during a heat race in the same corner, barrel rolling a number of times and ending up with a trip to the hospital. No word on his condition would be available after the races. 

Anyway, Shryock  would hold off Hollatz in the following two lap sprint to the finish and Jennings slipped into third on the final corner. 

Then it would be time for the thirty lap Sport Mod feature. Stats would show that Anderson led all but one of the thirty laps but that would vastly understate the intensity of the race itself. Anderson would start on the outside pole and take the early lead. While he would pull out to an early race cushion, the action was back in the pack as some of the other very fast cars jockeyed their way toward the front. By the halfway point, Anderson would have Colby Fett, Matthew Looft, Taylor Kuehl and Alec Fett chasing him. 

The first half of the race was rather tranquil, but then things started getting intense as the race moved on. Colby Fett and Looft were putting the heat on each other and Anderson with Fett sneaking by to hold the lead for one lap when Anderson got a bit high in the turns. Anderson returned the favor with a slider in turn three that wasn't textbook with Looft also getting a piece of the action as all three threatened to wreck each other. The yellow flew for another incident and all three were "dive bombing" each other as all were annoyed at each other. Perfect!

The last six laps would be a mad scramble with all three slicing and dicing for an opening and while Anderson would be scored the official leader of all six laps, it was never easy. Both Fett and Looft threw wild moves at him off the final corner but he held on for the win. Behind the front three, there were cars flying off the track in all directions as they raced to the finish and scoring had to unsort that mess with Cam Reimers and Kuehl officially rounding out the top five. For Anderson, it would be the second straight year he would roll into town and sneak back to southern Iowa with the victory, no mean feat. 

The Hobby Stocks had a small field of drivers  but they still managed to produce an exciting feature race that saw a late race pass for the win. Drew Barglof would start on the outside pole and take the early lead. As Mike Smith moved up from the third row to challenge, suddenly Brandon Nielsen would pass both of them on the low side of the track to take over the lead.

Eventually Smith would get to second and then the battle would commence with Smith trying everything in his bang of tricks to get by Nielsen but it just wasn't going to happen. Both changed lanes repeatedly as the race almost became a match of checkers with each searching for the right place to be at the correct time. 

Finally Smith found a groove where he raced down across the banking and that would give him the momentum he needed to ease past Nielsen just as they saw the white flag. Brandon tried to fight back on the final lap but it wasn't to be as Smith would add another victory to his early season resume with Barglof settling for third. 

Rookie Modified driver Izac Mallicoat would lead from start to finish to earn his second feature win of the season already as he topped Jeremy Mills and a late arriving Shryock for the win. This race would go nonstop and while Mallicoat would build up an early lead, Mills would be persistent and eventually cut into it to the point that a couple more laps might have seen Mallicoat in trouble, but the checkered waved before that happened and Mills had to settle for second. 

As would be expected, with MVG calling the shots in the tower, things moved at a fast pace and the final checkered flag would wave well before 10 pm. I enjoyed hearing Chad Meyer on the call and he did the features from the infield, a different perspective for him. California Super Fan Ron Rodda was on hand as he makes his annual trek to the Hawkeye State, taking in many of the tracks here before he sets his course back West. It was a good night of racing with a couple of very interesting mains. I wish however, that there would have been a few more cars in the pits and a few more bodies in the grandstand. However, we are in that time of the year when there is so much racing going on that both drivers and fans have to make some tough choices. Thanks again to Trent and Chinn Promotions. 

Zdroik Big Winner at Eagle River

 For those that read this blog, could I get a show of hands on how many of you have ever been to the Eagle River Speedway in Eagle River Wisconsin?

(Pause), that's what I thought, not many. And I'm not talking about the Eagle River Snowmobile track where the World's Championships are held each January, but the Eagle River Speedway about three miles West of town and just down the street from the Wisconsin River. 

Well, here is my report from the Tuesday night show on June 6th at the Eagle River Speedway. Certainly one of the most unique dirt short tracks in the Midwest, the Eagle River Speedway was started way back in 1975 by land owner Ken Glembin. Ken owned a bar and cabins just down the road from the Wisconsin River in the deep woods county of northern Wisconsin. At some point his sons wanted to rip around with karts and small type vehicles so he built them a small track behind the bar. It was oddly shaped to fit in the openings between the trees in the woods behind their business. As time passes, more and more people wanted to race on their little track and soon they got organized and started to host a regular race program. The facility grew over the years, became more professional and hosted weekly races in several classes. One of Ken's sons, Mark, went on to become a proficient Midget racer with Badger and USAC.

The track, known at KG Raceway,  always raced on Tuesday nights because that made for a good midweek break for the local drivers and fans that supported it with weekends reserved for racing at perhaps some other tracks in the area or just doing other things. With his kids grown up and moved away, at some point Ken sold the track and bar and several other owners ran things for awhile, even moving the racing to Friday nights that just didn't work. 

Five years ago the track was in dire straits and was about to not open again. Stepping forward to buy the place at this time were Pat and Patty Zdriok, part of a large extended family, some from the Eagle River area and others that live in other parts of the state and race at other tracks, that have been at Eagle River almost since the beginning. They spent a considerable amount of money to upgrade the entire facility and one of their first moves was to go back to Tuesday night racing. In the last five years much has been upgraded about the track and facility while still retaining the charm the place has long hand. Their most recent change occurred since the end of the last racing season when then built a whole new and enlarged pit area and swapped the spectator and racer parking areas. They also made a new entrance to the track and built a catwalk that towers over that entrance, providing a spectacular viewing area for the pit personnel 

While at one time both the track lights and p.a. system speakers were mounted in trees that surrounded the race track, things are much more modern here now with nice bleachers and rest rooms, but the bar is still just a short stroll behind the grandstand where a mixed drink can be obtained to take back into the grandstands. The track, while having been widened and surrounded by a concrete wall, still retains the odd shape that it has always held. It is sort of a "D" shaped track but is a one of a kind, and while they claim it to be a third mile, that likely is if you rode the wall all the way around the track with the real racing surface more likely under a quarter mile. It is tight racing but interesting and due to its very rural nature, the track generally hosts fields of forty to fifty drivers in their four core classes. We are so far North here that about half the drivers are from the U.P. of Michigan

Some wonder how a Tuesday night track can survive but actually that night plays to its best interests. For the locals that attend and race, it provides a nice midweek break and since many of the racers here race no where else, they can plan easily for the midweek racing. This is a low population area that survives off of tourism and during the Summer months, this quiet and sleepy area comes alive and becomes a bee hive of activity. This track survives on the tourist's dollars and Tuesday night, when they grow tired of fishing and other touristy things, provides the perfect venue to do something different. I have seen many families that come here from other parts of the country and know nothing about racing. They get a few hours of entertainment, the adults down a few cold ones and when they have seen enough or grow tired, they simply up and leave but management doesn't care, since they've already paid for their night in spades. . 

That's the way it has worked here for years and I see nothing that will cause that to change. For the racers, they take it seriously but with a pinch of realism. Some come with high priced rigs and the latest in chassis while other pull the same cars out of the weeds in the Spring and have at it for another year. Joe Verdegan, a veteran journalist, author and publicist, is in charge of the media here. Joe retired several years ago from his weekday job and moved his family up to the Northwoods cabin that became their new home in this area, so he continues to call the action and write the press releases for the track as his last assignment in the racing world. Joe was in the middle of the busy Green Bay area racing scene for years and has many connections in the racing world and as such, is highly over qualified for this assignment but for him this is a retirement relaxing job. 

The Eagle River Speedway now runs four classes of race cars along with 300 Junior Sprints and 600 Micro Sprints. They have a Street Stock class, an open Stock Car class, A B Mod class and they recently started a Limited late Model class based on USRA rules. They are sanctioned by no one as they are on the fringes of all the sanctioning bodies and basically now just let everyone run together under their own rules. It works for them on this small track and while they always like to have more and new cars, they can survive comfortably on their fields of present as they always have enough cars for a couple heats and a feature and that's all they need. 

On the night I was there, the bleachers were mostly full and it is still the time when school is in session, both here and from the tourist areas. The first tourists are just starting to arrive as I sat with a group from North Dakota on vacation here but in the coming weeks this whole area with be crawling with vacationers from across the Midwest and this Tuesday night area will be packed with spectators to the point that seats are hard to find. All this to watch around forty cars and race. 

On this night, the B Mods would provide a thrilling conclusion to their event when Jason Zdroik, one of three racing Zdroik's related to the track owners, would lead nineteen laps of the feature before being passed on a rare outside maneuver by U.P. driver Dave Dishaw to take the win. 

Defending track champion David Blackberg would lead all the way to win the Stock Car feature. Blackberg is actually running a WISSOTA Street Stock but on this short track driving skill and set up is more important than raw horsepower. 

Jason Zdroik would come back to get a win as he would lead from start to finish to win the Limited Late Model feature over a small field of six drivers, a number that the track is perfectly comfortable with. 

The Street Stock class, which would be labeled probably as Pure Stocks or Bombers at most other tracks would see Json Eisel make a pass on lap three and then pull away for an easy win. 

All racing was completed by around 10:30 pm, perhaps just a bit late given the number of events that they ran. That there was not a sense of urgency to both get the show started (the first race hit the track at 7:43 pm and the intermission where they gave away a multitude of prized that seemed to drone on forever(, would be the only criticism of a show that the vast majority of fans there were enjoyed thoroughly. 

Thanks to Joe Verdegan for his help. By the way, he gave me a hot scoop in that 141 Speedway will have new owners. Toby Kruse still retains 51% ownership but Tim Czarneski has purchased the other 49% of the track. 

Smith Takes A Hobby Stock Dandy at Spencer; Shryock Gives And Receives

 Monday night, June 5th, the Clay County Fair Speedway was back in action as they presented the Cole Millard Memorial Race, with  a thousand dollar to win Hobby Stock main event the special attraction. Along with the Hobby Stocks, the Modifieds would also be racing for a grand to win and the other three classes would be in action as they raced for their normal amount. 

It was a smokin' hot night here in northwestern Iowa and while a couple of pop up thunder showers did come quite close to the Fairgrounds during the afternoon, all was good at the track for racing. 

The Hobby Stocks did not disappoint as they raced for the extra money and their feature was a very good race, won with a late charge by Mike Smith. Kelly Shryock had an interesting night as he got caught by the changing track conditions and saw a late pass by Brandon Beckendorf take an apparent win away from him in the Modifieds but interestingly, he did the same thing late in the Stock Car feature to add another victory to his large collection. John Klynsma pulled off the win in the Sport Mods and celebrated with one of the most awkward roof victory dances ever seen and Tyler Thompson dominated the Sport Compacts. 

Once again it was a hazy night in northwestern Iowa as the smoke from the wild fires in Quebec mixed in with the humidity of June in Iowa to provide a spectacular sun set and one that Ben Shelton would have loved. On the track, the car count was surprisingly low although a late rush by competitors through the pit gate kept things at a reason level. My guess is that without many rainouts of late, a lot of teams are getting tired and just need a night off and while Monday night racing is great for some, it doesn't just work out so great for everyone. And let's be clear, if you want to race a lot and don't want to pull too far, northwestern Iowa is the place to be with weekly racing from Wednesday right through Sunday after single week and then throw in specials on the other nights at Spencer, Park Jeff, Britt and across the border in Minnesota, there are more races available than a stick can be thrown at and sometimes teams and families just need to take a night off. 

One up side of having perhaps just a smaller field of cars on hand and a night that doesn't need a whole lot of B Features is that there are fewer races to run and an early finish, which is what Spencer had been able to accomplish before this year, would return once again. With only two yellow flags in the heats, all preliminaries were completed in just forty two minutes and with not much track prep needed following that, other than just a mist to the cushion, we were into feature racing well before sunset. 

This would be a night that watching the track change lanes was very interesting. It started out to be a one lane track, quickly widened out with a distinct fast line right on both the top and bottom and then it was up to the drivers to figure out where they ran best and watch them change lanes more often than navigating the "Can of Worms" in Des Moines at rush hour. 

Sport Mods would be up first and for this race the groove was still just a bit narrow. John Klynsma took the lead on lap one as he made a nice move to slip under Cory Hoogland for the front. Klynsma would pull out to a good lead as he took advantage of the battle behind him to lead those drivers in his wake. 

Eventually it would be Alec Fett who would motor into second after starting sixth and he would set out after Klynsma who was running the very inside line. Fett would start to cut into that advantage as Klynsma slipped up the track a couple of times, opening the door for Fett. However, to John's credit, near the end of the race he put together some very solid laps without mistakes and as Fett pushed hard, he would be the one to slip up and lose ground and Klynsma would drive on for the win, nonstop from green to checkered with Matthew Looft coming from tenth to finish third. 

Things got dicey in victory lane though for the veteran Klynsma, who's attempt to clamber up on the roof for a victory celebration broke bad when he lost his balance, slipped and came stomping down on the rear deck of his car, bending it in badly and then angling to the ground, where a nice save kept him from doing a nasty "digger." As was well though and he celebrated in one piece. 

Tyler Thompson would take the lead on the opening lap of the Sport Compact feature and go just fast enough to keep the competition behind him but still make it look like a race as he would lead from start to finish in the nonstop race. Riley Paysen and Levi Volkert would trail. 

Twenty cars would start the Hobby Stock feature for the extra bucks and this would be the race of the night. There would be five official lead changes among four drivers in what was a highly competitive event with eventual winner Mike Smith coming from tenth for the win. 

Brandon Nielsen would lead the opening lap, slipping under Chris Krug to grab the point. Colby Christensen would move from the fourth starting spot to slip past Nielsen for the top spot on lap three but one lap later, Nielsen would return the favor to move back in front. Nielsen would continue to show the way to the halfway point with Christensen all over him while Cory Probst, Krug and Smith would move into the top five. 

Then it really got hectic and both Probst and Smith move in on the leader and in the course of three laps, the lead was exchanged three times as Probst dived into the lead, then Nielsen took it back and finally, on lap fifteen, Smith showed as the leader for the first time as the three drivers thrilled the crowd with their clean give and take. 

But once Smith finally got that top spot, he would pull away in the final five laps and there would be no catching him as he would drive on for the win over Probst and Nielsen in a race that saw only two yellow flags. 

The Modified feature would be a seven yellow marathon with that last yellow probably costing Shryock a feature win. Jordan Rogotzke took the early lead as Shryock patiently moved up to challenge him. The yellow flew three times before a lap could be completed and each time, Shryock, who would not move off the bottom, would gain ground and eventually by lap eleven, was ready to take the lead. 

Once in front, it appeared that Kelly would be home free until Rogotzke and Chris Abelsen got toghet and went for a wild slide off the back chute, triggering a last yellow with just five laps to go. This moved Brandon Beckendorf into second and he threw caution to the wind as he pounded the cushion and nearly knocked down the wall in turn three. But he made it work as he powered past Shryock, who was stuck on the bottom and not willing to move up, and Brandon would make the pass and then drive away for the win over Kelly and Cody Knecht. 

However, the Stock Car feature would wrap up the night and in this race, the scenario would be the same, however the roles were reversed. David Smith had moved into the lead on lap two with a pass on Devin Tripp and then he would lead much of the contest. Shryock would start ninth and following his pattern, he would quietly and smoothly work his way to the front, slipping into second by the halfway point of the race ahead of Tripp and Jeffrey Larson. 

However, just past the halfway point of the race, a yellow for a spin would bunch up the field, only the second slowdown of the race. Shryock went for broke, roaring to the cushion on the green and powering past Smith to take over the lead, after which he dove back to his lane of comfort on the inside. But he has good speed and Smith was not able to overtake him again for the point. Smith then tried the cushion himself and that was not beneficial as he started to get shuffled back into the pack, eventually finishing well back in the field. 

Shryock continued his line of choice and he would drive on for the win with Larson coming on for second and with much shuffling in the final few laps, the son and father team of Austin and Randy Brands next in line, Austin from seventh and Randy from fifteenth. 

The crowd was decent, especially for such a hot and steamy night and all racing was complete before 10 pm, a pattern that I hope can be continued here and one that the neighbors would likely vote for also. Thanks to Trent Chinn, a busy man as always here and everyone from Trent Chinn Promotions for their help.