"Cheese Head" Schmitt Surprises Modified Drivers at Reinhart Memorial

 The 30th annual Gary Reinhart Memorial race was held on Wednesday night, September 27th at the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton Iowa. Under the direction of Darkside Prmotions(Ryan Duhme and Timmy Current), this race was tagged on as the prelude to the annual Fall Bash at this track, also put on by Darkside. 

Originally scheduled for July, the race was postponed by searing hot Iowa weather at that time and in a very clever bit of promotional skill, tacked on to this week's racing, thus giving the drivers a great four night run to satisfy their racing cravings. There's nothing better that racers like than to be able to park their rigs, not have to move for multiple days once parked and then race for some mighty fine purses. That is exactly what happened here and as for all the Fall Bashes, there were no shortage of race cars on hand, even for this Wednesday night add on event. 

One hundred and fifty two race cars signed in to race for this five division show on Wednesday with solid numbers across the board in all five classes. Racing would be IMCA Late Models and Modifieds along with Sport Mods, plus the Four Stocks and on this night, the Outlaw Stock Cars would get their chance to race as they were mixed with the IMCA Stock Cars in a combination show. 

The Sport Mods would have the highest count at thirty eight while the other classes all had a minimum of two dozen or more. Double B Features were run for both the open wheel classes while the other three race big feature races with all drivers qualifying for the main event. 

As you might expect, on a Wednesday for those drivers not staying at the track all weekend, it was a mad rush as late arriving drivers lined up after barreling to the track after work was done. Race cars filled the pit area at Tipton which is not a huge area to begin with and with that area filled, parked in the parking lots East of the pits where ever they could find room. This generally is the case for this event but track officials have learned how to cope over the years and despite all the late chaos , hot laps would start at 6:30 pm and racing would begin at 7:04 p.m. 

Familiar faces would be on hand once again to man the key positions, with Jerry Mackey calling the action along with "Big Boy" while Doug Haack would wave the sticks. By the way, Jerry, I am in Tipton despite the snub. 

Darkside officials really had things cranking on this night with the program off to a flying start as soon as one race was off the track, the next one was ready to take the green. Running a full show for five full divisions four straight nights is a challenge, as the full shows instead of split shows are more appealing to both the drivers and fans but it is also a challenge to get the program done at a reasonable hour to allow those folks that have to go to work or school the next day the ability to do so. But they were doing good, at least through the heat races while actually the four B Features did also get done promptly. 

With a one spin rule certainly helping, twenty one qualifying races were completed with a total of only eight yellow flags and only one race that had more than one yellow. Then the feature races hit the track and during the five mains, the yellow waved eighteen times!

Certainly part of this was the obviously the mains are the most important and drivers race their hardest them but part I think was that in three of the mains, all drivers got to start and some just couldn't handle the fast and wide track. 

"Dr. Al" had the track in great shape as it was tacky, wide and smooth and there was a remarkable amount of three and four wide racing in the corners and some drivers just weren't up to the task, thus causing a lot of one car spins and while a one spin rule unaided in the features might be a bit drastic, perhaps it is time to consider such a plan. 

The Modifieds were the featured class of the night along with the rest of the weekend also, racing for the most money in their feature events. However, even though they were the last race of the night, their feature was by far also the best of the night with lots of passing and they also managed to race twenty five laps nonstop with twenty four cars taking the green. 

Troy Cordes would lead the first fourteen laps of this race, racing off the cushion right at the start and continuing to use that line. Brad Dierks would go to the bottom and those two would put a little distance on the field. 

However, there were several drivers making strong runs to the front including Brandon Schmitt, Chris Simpson, Ethan Braaksma and Tom Berry Jr. It was tough to move forward with the race continuing under green, but those drivers, along with a few others, were making big leaps to the front. 

Gradually Dierks would catch Cordes with the bottom line starting to come in for several drivers and on lap fifteen, after a side by side battle for several laps, Dierks would take over the lead. But he had trouble right behind him as Schmitt was finding great traction very low on the track and really pulling off the corners. 

I'm sure that Dierks didn't expect someone to be fast even lower on the track than he, but Schmitt was that driver and two laps later he would take over the lead. But once again, the top spot was not a comfortable place to be as suddenly Simpson came into focus. 

He put heavy heat on Schmitt for the lead and when Brandon got hung up in traffic, Chris almost got by before Schmitt made a strong move to the cushion to get by the slower cars. Simpson was right on his tail as they took the white flag and Chris went back up top on the final tour and got close, but Schmitt was able to hold him off for the win. 

Schmitt his the track champion at Beaver Dam Wisconsin this year and I have gotten the chsne to see the fellow Wisconsin driver race several times this year and believe me, he is quick. Braaksma would come from tenth to finish third, Dierks slipped to fourth and Berry Jr would come from sixteenth to complete the top five. 

Logan Veloz would lead from start to finish to win the Sport Mod feature, a twenty four car event that would see the yellow wave only twice. While Veloz would be scored the leader of all laps, it wasn't an easy win as he had pressure for most of the race from Tony Olson. Attesting to the wide track, Veloz would hug the tires while Olson was pounding the cushion with both lanes again providing plenty of traction and seemingly being very equal..

A late yellow would bunch the field  with Jarret Franzen taking over second. He would be on the rear bumper of Veloz on the final lap but Logan would hold his line, not slip up and take home the win. There was a made scramble for finishing positions after that late yellow though with Olson slipping back to third while Brayton Carter would advance from fourteenth to finish fourth ahead of Kyle Bentley. 

The Late Model feature was an excellent race too, at least when they could keep it moving under the green. However, so many yellows flew that the crowd was getting a bit vocal and they did seem to have a bit of a gripe as many of the yellows seemed to be triggered by the same few cars. The yellow would fly seven times in twenty five laps and officials would start to pare off laps due to the extreme amount of yellows. 

The race itself was a dandy for the lead with Ron Klein taking the lead from the outside pole and holding it for fifteen laps. Jaden Fryer would give him plenty of pressure until he dropped out iwth mechanical issues and then Evan Miller would take over second and put the heat on Klein, who continued to ride the cushion. 

Justin Kay, from tenth, would eventually move into second and provide the biggest challenge to Klein, actually taking the lead once but Klein was saved by the yellow. Kay went back to work and would fight his way back to make the pass, using the low side of the track. Kay would then hold oon over the last few laps to take the win with Klein settling for second ahead of a charging Joel Callahan, from twelfth, Matt Ryan, from eleventh, and Miller. 

The Stock Car feature would seem to have to not be a fair fight. The Outlaw Stocks from Davenport and East Moline won all three heat races and Jeff Struck would lead from start to finish to win the main event, not the kind of run that the Stock Cars generally produce. 

Struck would seem to have the superior car as he pulled away from Justin Kay at the start and would build a full straightaway lead over the pack, that is when racing would stay under the green as this event was plagued by yellows, with five in just fifteen laps. 

Joel Rust would eventually move up from his tenth starting spot to duel with and then overtake Kay for second. A late race yellow would give him a shot at Struck but Jeff would pull away once again to take the win. Kay would fade at the end with Outlaw cars of Joe Bonney, Zach Zuberbier and Jake Lund completing the top five. 

A big field of Four Stocks(Four Cylinder) cars would take the green flag for their twelve lap main. With twenty eight cars taking the green, there would be plenty of slower traffic to deal with. This race would see three different leaders with Trent Lebarge taking the early lead through the first yellow when Cyle Hawkins would lose a wheel. 

Lebarge was overcome following that yellow as several drivers would get past him him and Josh Starr would take over the lead. However, Jake Benischek, Joe Zrostlik and Travis Hawkins would all put heavy pressure on the leader as the top group was tightly packed. 

The final of three yellows, on lap six, would prove to be Starrr' downfall as Benischek would get around him with a daring outside pass on the banking in turn two and then would lead the rest of the race. 

Starr would push hard and fniish close but he just couldn't get the lead back from Jake. Hawkins would finish third with Zrastlik and Lebarge completing the top five. 

It was a good show with plenty of good racing on a good surface. The show got just a bit long due to all the yellows but it still was completed before 11 pm, not bad at all considering the number of races and laps we saw. Thanks to Darkside and all the track employees for delivering a good program. Not their challenge is to do this another three nights in a row. 

Stewart, McCarl and Masters Top Battle of Blue Ribbon at Spencer

 Tuesday night, September 12th would be the first of two nights of dirt track racing during the annual Clay County Fair is Spencer Iowa. The first night of racing would feature some traveling divisions including the Malvern Bank Super Late Model Series West and the ASCS 360 national traveling Sprint Car series with the IMCA Stock Cars also being a part of the action. On Wednesday, the five local divisions that race at the track regularly would be putting on their own show. 

It was an excellent early Fall night for racing and my fist visit to the Clay County Fair. I, of course, have been to the races at Spencer a number of times but this would be the first time I was there for a race when the Fair was actively in session. I had heard much about what a big Fair this is and the grounds alone would indicate just how big this Fair is. I was not, however, too impressed with the food offerings that were available, based on what I was led to believe would be a spectacular variety. That, however, is subject material for another blog on perhaps the Food Channel website. 

As far as the racing was concerned, there would be a nice variety of classes entered with the Malvern Bank Late Models making their first visit to the Fair here. The ASCS would satisfy the winged Sprint fans, of which there are apparently quite a number given Spencer's proximity to both South Dakota and Nebraska where Sprints are big along with a place called Knoxville. For the local fans, the Stock Cars are always a treat. 

The Sprint Cars, running for the largest purse, would also bring the biggest field of cars. The top seven in ASCS points would be on hand but were fortified by a number of Iowa, South Dakota and southern Minnesota winged 360 teams. 

The Late Models were a tad light on cars I thought, with only eighteen and several of that number were cross over cars from the Malvern Bank East Hoker Trucking series. 

Twenty six Stock Cars were able to make it to Spencer on this Tuesday night as they raced for a grand as the top prize. 

We were lucky? enough to be favored with two sets of time trials on this night as both the Sprints and Late Models would qualify, Interestingly enough, the quick qualifier in each class would later also be the feature winner. The Sprints were about two and a half second quicker in times as the track quickly went away during qualifying. With double time trials, the scheduled start time was shot to pieces with the first race not seeing the track until just after 8 pm. However, after that they moved things right along in all three divisions. 

The only class that needed a B Feature was the Sprints so after that event was completed, it was time for the first feature race of the night which would be for the Stock Cars. Unfortunately, when you watch any class enough times, they occasionally have a clunker, and that would be the case for the Stock Cars on this night. Yellow flag fever would strike quickly and never take leave from the competitors once inflicted. 

When they were able to keep the green unfurled, things were pretty interesting but the racing was in short bursts. Mike Albertsen  would take the early lead and hold off challenges from Brock Badger and Cory Bosma but the race was slowedfour times in the first four laps for spins and such. This, plus a fast race car, would allow Jake Masters to advance from the eleventh starting spot to up to second by lap five. This worked well for Masters and following yellow number four, the restart order would be single file the rest of the way. 

Masters would take advantage of this, driving under Albertsen on the green to move into the lead and even though the yellow would wave three more times, he would never be challenged after that. Things even got so bad that the race was shortened from twenty to fifteen laps to try and get it over. 

Masters would drive home for the win over Albertsen and David Smith who started eighth. It seemed that fifth place finisher Jim Horejci would express his frustration after the white and then checkered came out surprisingly early as he revved his car after the completion of the race. 

The Sprints would have no such problems as they would run off a nonstop twenty five lap main that would be done seemingly before it was hardly started. Terry McCarl would use the preferred high side to take the early lead and he would cruise from there, leading all laps on his way to a nice five grand payday. Matt Covington and Blake Hahn would battle for second before Covington took over the spot and he would close some on McCarl but never be able to provide a stiff challenge. 

Just as McCarl took the checkered flag, the red was waved when Lance Moss' car caught fire in turn four and Moss was rolling around on the track in flames. Since McCarl had taken the checkered, the race was called complete with Covington second and Zane DeVault charging up to third. 

After a scary few moments, Moss appeared to be OK but no further word was given on him although it was a good sign when the ambulance did not leave the track. 

The Late Models would put on the best show, even though they got on the track last. And they would provide a great two car battle between Derrick Stewart and Andrew Kosiski that went right down to the wire. Stewart would lead the opening lap before Kosiski would drive under him to take over the lead. Stewart would not give up though, and would stay within striking distance of the leader. 

A single yellow on lap sixteen for debris would bunch the field and Stwart would battle Kosiski for the lead from that point on. Finally, Derrick would get a good run on the outside and drive by Kosiski to retake the lead with only six laps to go. Andrew would try to fight back but he suddenly had to deal with Tad Pospisil who was marching forward. 

Pospisil would take over second from Kosiski and charge toward Stewart but Derrick would hold on for the win in an entertaining race. Bill Leighton and Corey Zeitner would complete the top five in a race that saw only two drivers not complete the run. 

It seemed to be about a 50/50 crowd tonight with some leaving after the Sprints were done but most still stayed to watch the Late Models. There was a very nice crowd on hand for a Tuesday night. All racing was complete just after 11 pm so they ran off a quick show but just like several tmes here this year, they just get started a little too late. 

As always, thanks to Trent Chinn and his staff for all their help this year. They have been most helpful whether it was here at Spencer, Alta or Britt where Trent is in charge at all three. He was a busy guy tonight and I didn't get to talk to him so I have no updates on his plans for 2024. But I certainly do plan to visit all three tracks again next year.