Racing returned to northern Missouri for the first time in 2024 on Friday night, March 22nd as the Memphis Spring Nationals kicked off at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis. Five divisions were racing on this opening night with the big winner being Ethan Braaksma although, as I look at the purse structure, the Stock Cars and B Mods were paid the same as the Modifieds so John Oliver Jr. and Kris Jackson should then get equal billing. Other winners on this opening night would include Josh Barnes and Nathan Ballard.
While this event was billed as the Spring Nationals, it was anything but that. Temperatures that never budged out of the mid thirties and a brutally strong North wind made it one of the coldest nights I have ever spent at the race track. I awoke in Des Moines on Friday a.m. to find several inches of snow on my car and drove in the remnants of snow and rain nearly to Memphis where it stopped just miles North of the race track. While the track got just a very few sprinkles and ice balls, the awful conditions certainly did much to both hold down the crowd and limit the number of participants.
Quite frankly, after I got out into the weather and sampled just how miserable it was, I was a bit surprised that they actually opted to race. There was some discussion but the Scotland County Fair Race Committee opted to go ahead with the program and of course, driving such a distance, I was happy that they did so. Race Promoter Mike VanGenderen told me that he had no idea just how many racers would show up. "It could be fifty and then again, it could be one hundred and fifty", he said. The former was much closer as sixty nine drivers signed in to race for a program that was started by a practice session that lasted until 3 pm, at which point the track was again prepped for the evening program. The track, by the way, was in excellent shape for the opener and raced well, being smooth and dust free.
The track had a different look with large billboards rimming around turns one and two and I understand that more will be added as the track has received very fine support from a number of local and area businesses. This track has received a number of nice improvements in recent years including a new roof on the grandstand and nice improvements to the concessions, restrooms and ticketing area at the main entrance. It does not look nearly as rough as it did just a few years ago. The p.a system is a strong one and track announcer Tony Paris can be clearly heard all around the facility. I sure wish that something could be done though, to reposition the flagman so that the crowd could see what flag was being waved and know when the race is about to end as we can't even see him from the grandstands.
Blended rules were used for this event with the most crossover seen in the two Modified classes. I think all the Hobby Stocks, Stock Cars and Compacts were running IMCA but the B Mods and Modifieds are a blend of IMCA and USRA rules. The USRA classes must run the American Racer tires and the spoilers must come off, particularly the "big blades" that the Modifieds run.
An interesting experiment in track procedures was used on Friday with no explanation of whether this would be used again, and if so, where. But on restarts, instead of using the so called "Delaware Restart" where the leader is by himself, instead the first two cars were running side by side for the restart with the leader having lane choice. I'm not sure if MVG has been watching too many Sprint Car races where this is how they always do it, or what, but this was the format used on this night. We will see if it continues on Saturday for part two.
When we need him to do so on brutal nights like Friday, MVG always steps up to run off a very quick program and that was again the case. With an advertised start time of 7:30 pm, the first race took the green at 7:26 pm and it was none stop racing from that point. In fact, a couple of times, following heat races, the next event was already rolling on to the track even before the previous race was completed. There was no break after the heats before the first feature hit the track and the drivers cooperated by causing few yellows and with a one spin rule, they didn't want to do so anyway.
Barely an hour after the first race took the green, the Sport Compacts were on the track for their main event. This race would see three different leaders before the checkered flag would fly. Brandon Reu would move up from row two to take the initial lead but he could only hold the top spot for one lap before Barry Taft would make one of the very few outside passes of the night to take over the lead.
However, he soon was challenged by Josh Barnes who had started tenth but was third before one lap was done and then continued to charge. He blew by Taft on lap seven to take over the lead and then would lead the rest of the nonstop contest. Taft was able to stay fairly close to the leader but was not able to generate a serious challenge as he settled for second with Reu ending up third.
As well as having the biggest field of cars, I think the B Mod group was also the strongest. It is usually not the case that some of the strongest USRA B Mods run this event but with Kris Jackson and Shadren Turner on hand, they would constitute two of USRA's finest. And when Jackson redrew the outside pole, it was bad news for the rest of the field as he would pull away and lead from wire to wire to get the win.
Early on though, it was Turner that put on the show as he charged up from sixth to pull into the second spot with Tyler Inman having a good run in the #7v car as he pulled into third by the halfway point followed by Jake Smith and Brayton Carter. A yellow for debris just at the halfway point slowed the action and when Jackson took off again on the green, Turner blew the cushion and fell back a number of spots which caused him to have to fight his way back into contention.
"Speedy Bray" was on the move as he picked his way up to the front, getting past Inman in a good battle to take second as Turner was also clawing his way back into contention. A late yellow produced a two lap dash to the finish but it didn't matter to Jackson who pulled away from Carter to take the win with Turner racing back up to third.
The Stock Car feature produced the closest finish and as we expect from the Stock Cars, much battling within the pack for position. There were three different leaders in this twenty lap race with Cayden Carter, driving the #1x car, taking the lead from the pole. Wisconsin visitor Presley Harrington started right behind Carter and dogged him, taking the lead on lap three. One lap later Carter returned the favor but then Harrington again did the same as the leaders swapped the front spot back and forth.
And while all this was happening, Michael Jaennette and Todd Reitzler were also racing with the leaders. Reitzler looked like he might be the fastest until he jumped the cushion and lost a number of spots and was no longer a challenger. Harrington continued to lead but Jaennette was inside him in each corner, trying to get past. Suddenly, John Oliver Jr, who started ninth, became a player as he moved to Jaennette's rear bumper and pushed for position.
Things went South on lap fourteen when Jaennette slowed with a flat tire and was done but this gave Oliver Jr the opening he desired. From then on, in each corner he would dive under Harrington but Presley was doing a nice job of racing one lane up the track and getting good bite.
However, with just two laps to go, Oliver Jr dove very hard into turn one and the leaders were side by side down the back chute and through turn four. They were rubbing just a bit but Oliver Jr was able to edge in front as the white flag waved and on the final lap he was able to extend slightly as he would take the close win over Harrington and Rowdie VanGenderen who moved back up through the field near the finish.
The Hobby Stock field was a small one and no match for Nathan Ballard. He would start in row two but would have the lead before one lap was completed and in this nonstop race, he would extend his lead to a full straightaway as he would drive on uncontested for the win. Corey VanDerwilt would finish second and Tom Killen third.
A dozen Modifieds would wrap up the show with a twenty lap main event. Preston Dawson would start on the pole and take the early lead through the first three laps. The biggest wreck of the evening would occur in turn one on that lap as second place runner Jadin Fuller would spin in heavy traffic, Austen Becerra, with no where to go would slam into Fuller and then Jon Melloway, with again no room to maneuver, would climb the guard rail trying to escape and would then flip over on his roof. There were no injuries but all three would be eliminated from the race.
Following the red, Ethan Braaksma would waste no time as he would blow past Dawson on the high side to take the lead and once in front, with the green staying out, he would pull away. Chris Spaulding, who has shown good speed early on, would try to catch Braaksma but the difference would stay pretty much the same through the rest of the contest with Braaksma in control as he drove on for the win. Ken Schrader would come from ninth to finish in the third spot with Chase Rudolf and Dawson completing the top five.
The final checkered would wave and a check on the watch would show that yes, the whole program would be completed in just under a shade of two hours! This is just what the doctor ordered on so bitter a night. Thanks to MVG for cranking off a quick show and the Scotland County Race Committee for going ahead and running the program. Saturday's show has seen the times moved up with a 4 pm start which should get the whole show done before the sun sets in the western Missouri sky.
No comments:
Post a Comment