Spring Nationals, part two, was held on Saturday, March 23rd at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis Missouri. Finally, Saturday would give all of us that attended both nights of racing some reprieve, as while it wasn't as nice as it has been throughout the Midwest for weeks of late, it was still much nicer than it had been on Friday night. Some of us were still trying to thaw out some of our extremities but by race time, we were ready to do it once again.
The Saturday show would be much nicer in many ways in that while the air temps were better, the wind didn't have quite the bite and strength that it had on Friday and that made a difference in several regards. The crowd attendance was much higher than it had been on Friday and thirty two additional drivers signed in to race on Saturday which gave us a better field of competitors, yet still not quite to that magic figure where time consuming B Features are necessary, all of which sap valuable time when a quick show is coveted.
Most everyone returned to race on Saturday that had raced on Friday night and there were new entries in all classes. The one bad crash in the Modified feature did come at a price though on Friday as all three cars involved were too damaged to return for the second half of the doubleheader.
Even the track officials up in the booth didn't get much reprieve from the conditions with "super scorer" Kevin Feller telling me that he couldn't remember any night colder when he was working. Announcer Tony Paris and starter Kevin Eggleston both reportedly had to be helped out of the booth afterward as both were frozen in place!
Feller still manages to remain busy as a scorer in this day of transponder scoring where much of the work has been removed from human action. Kevin will still be working three nights a week in 2024 and has more tracks wanting his services than he is willing to work. However, he tells me that he might move over the "dark side", so to speak, getting himself trained in the transponder systems where I'm sure his services would still be in much demand as he is just too knowledgeable about the sport to not be an asset to tracks.
The track seemed just a bit heavier for the Saturday show and that made for some interesting racing as some drivers always prefer the cushion while others like to "catfish" around the bottom and on Saturday, the groove seemed to be moving around quite a bit, particularly from class to class which made it even more interesting.
However, three drivers had the track figured out, no matter just what the racing conditions were. For the second straight night, Nathan Ballard, Kris Jackson and Ethan Braaksma would come home as the feature winners. And all three would lead their respective feature races from start to finish, although the margin of their victories and the difficulty factor in gaining victory lane would vary widely. And amazingly so, all three would not only be fast but lucky as all three would redraw the front rows for their feature races.
Ballard would start on the pole with the Hobby Stock only making two laps before the red flag was waved when Jeremy Dooley got off the back chute, dug in and went for a wild tumble that was out of the vision line of many in the grandstands, including yours truly who apparently had his blinders on at that moment. In any event, Dooley was OK and the restart would see Ballard again pull away.
His margin of victory would be nearly a full straightaway as he was went virtually unchallenged for a full weekend. Dustin Griffiths would come from eighth to finish second with Tom Killen Jr. next across the line.
Jackson would start on the outside pole for the B Mod feature and take the early lead with Brandon Dale and Chris Spaulding battling for second. However, the driver on the move was Brayton Carter who would start ninth in the race but would find his car working excellently on the inside line and despite a long stretch of green flag racing in the first half of the race, he was able to make hay, passing car after car by driving under them in the corners.
By the halfway point of the race, he was up to second, getting past Spaulding for that spot. Carter moved in on the leader and put a heavy challenge on Jackson, nearly getting past him on a couple occasions and was looking very much like it was just a matter of time until he made the pass. That was, however, until he cut turn one just a bit tight and clipped one of the substantial dreaded infield tractor tires every hard, breaking the left front on his car and turning it into a useless flopping appendage. He tried to keep racing in that state, but it started to dig in on the turns and he shut down and pulled into the infield.
After that, it was easy going for Jackson would drive on for his second win of the weekend. Shadren Turner and Jake Smith would make nice runs from seventh and fifth to round out the top three as for the second straight night, the B Mods would put a whipping on the Sport Mods.
A very easy win would be recorded by Braaksma in the Modified feature as he would start on the pole and leave the competition to battle for second. This nonstop race would see him pull out to a full straightaway lead over the field and the only thing that could have messed him up would be either a mechanical failure and a slower car. Fortunately, neither was a factor and he would drive on for an impressive win, sending out word that he will be a driver to be watched as the other early season specials come to fruition. However, the best driving performance of this race would be perhaps carried out by Chase Rudolf who would have to start in the third row and under green, pass driver after driver as he worked his way up to second at the finish. A late race battle for that spot with Jarrett Brown was a good one that he would win.
The biggest field of the night would take the green for the Sport Compact feature but this race would stop under the red almost before it got started when Rachel Kile would go head on into the guard rail in turn one at high speed in a frightening crash that would take out a couple of other cars as well. She would walk away from the incident but her car, yet to even get a paint scheme and lettering, might be toast.
Three different drivers would lead this fourteen lapper with Brad Mick holding sway for the first lap before he was overtaken one lap later by Brandon Reu. But Reu could only keep Barry Taft behind him for a short time before Taft would power right by and then drive away from the pack. At the finish, he would have a considerable advantage over Reu and Dyllan Bonk.
Michael Jaennette would lead from start to finish to score the win in the Stock Cars but it was a tough go for him as at the finish, the top five were running nose to tail. Jaennette would hold the lead early with David Brandies, Friday night winner John Oliver Jr and Presley Harrington running close behind.
As the battle for second would get intense, Jaennette would be able to put some distance on the field but as the laps started to wind down, Brandies was able to drive back up to Michael's rear bumper. Either the track changed for the Stock Cars and they weren't able to make the outside work or no one would try that line, but they leaders all lined up in nose to tail fashion and Jaennette was clearly blocking the low line as Brandies was nearly running up his rear bumper but still couldn't make a passing move. Near the end, positions three through five were so much faster that they too, caught the lead duo.
The top five were nose to tail on the last lap and credit to Brandies as he didn't try to "dirty" the leader with some kind of unethical move and instead rode Jaennette's rear bumper in the final corner, looking for a mistake. However, Michael would make none and would cross the finish line with Brandies tight behind him. Oliver Jr. would settle for third.
It was another good night of racing that even with some track work during the program, was somewhere in the two and a half hour time slot for completion. Thanks go out to MVG and his crew for a job well done as well as thanks to the folks from the Scotland County Fair Race Committee who were helpful and friendly and clearly have much enthusiasm to make racing succeed at this track. Check their face book page for a list of upcoming events during the rest of 2024.
Regrets for the slight lateness of this report but I headed home nonstop, trying to beat an incoming Winter storm with much snow in the forecast and unfortunately, it beat me to northern Iowa and southern Minnesota where I encountered a challenging drive. Many cars and trucks in the ditch and some slow and challenging road conditions made the trip one "for the books" and one I would just as soon avoid again. Thus it was a very late return which translated into a delayed report. Nevertheless, late is better than not at all, right?
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