We have turned the calendar to the month of April, even though in recent days it has felt nothing like April except for the wind. However, one of the traditional series and likely always the first one of the year in the Midwest is the annual Frostbuster series for IMCA divisions, typically held on five straight nights at Central Iowa race tracks. And like recent years, the series has been a victim of the weather. This year both the opener at Independence and the finale at Vinton have fallen victim to the elements but all are hopeful that we can get at least three races of the series completed.
So, with that being said, the opener was backed up one day to Thursday and we all assembled at Mike Van Genderen's Stuart International Speedway in Stuart for the lid lifter of the series.
IMCA drivers in five divisions would be in action with everything from the Sport Compacts to the Modifieds in racing action and despite the shortened series, there were drivers on hand from a number of states with even the "support classes" seeing some drivers tow many hundreds of miles to race this weekend.
At the end of the night, five drivers would find themselves in victory lane, highlighted by yet another win in this early season for Ethan Braaksma, who has been tearing things up this year where ever he has been racing and with his win on this night, he would be up to seven feature wins already this year. Other winners would include Kaden Murray, Tyler Inman, Austin Bouzek and Bradly Graham.
I had no idea just how many racers would show up for this event, given the fact that it is still very early in the Midwestern racing season and many drivers simply don't have their cars ready yet. So when the pits were slow to fill, I was not too surprised but they we had a late rush as the local drivers, who had to likely put in an eight hour work day before flying over here, pushed the car count up over one hundred. In fact, there were exactly one hundred and two drivers that signed in to race with another fourteen of the Outlaw Mini Mods that race here most weeks also on hand. The Stock Cars would see the biggest field with twenty seven of them on hand and they would require the only B Feature of the night.
MVG had the track in fine early season shape and despite the fact that it would show just a bit of character in the corners as the evening progressed, it was a fine track for opening night and as usual here, drivers were racing all over the track with the back straight dirt bank seeming to have quite a bit of magnetic force on this night as several tried to ride it without much success. There was a stiff North breeze blowing directly into the grand stands but even with that, there was little dust as is the usual case here.
As is the norm here, and I must say expected here, we would see a quick Thursday night racing program with the first heat hitting the track at 7:17 pm and virtually nonstop racing after that. One very quick break of just a few minutes to touch up the corners ensued and after that, it was right into the main events and by this time, mercifully, the wind had finally started to lay down, just as predicted by meteorologist and announcer Tony Paris.
The Sport Compacts were up first for their feature event and they pleased the crowd no end by going nonstop for fourteen laps to crown our first Frostbuster champion of the night. Kaden Murray would start on the outside pole and he would lead from start to finish to take the win. He would build up nearly a full straightaway lead at one point over Blain Peterson but the show was put on by Jake Paysen.
He would start tenth on the grid, be up to third by the halfway point and then take over the runner up slot and try to track down leader Murray. This would be the only part of his charge that would fail as Murray had too big a lead and while Paysen would narrow it up some, it would still be an easy win for Murray, who we were informed is the flagman at Beatrice Speedway in Nebraska as well as being a pretty good Sport Compact driver. Paysen would settle for second with Bryan Vannausdle third.
The Sport Mod feature would not come off quite as smoothly with four yellows to slow its run over twenty laps but again, we would see one driver lead all laps. Tyler Inman, again behind the wheel of the Vandenburg #7v, would start on the pole and after an early battle with Hunter Longnecker, would establish himself as the early leader with Alec Fett, Cam Reimers and Taylor Kuehl chasing. Two more yellows in the first half of the race would keep the field bunched and the battle for second and on back was very good, with drivers swapping positions readily.
Fett would move into second and try to track down Inman, but Tyler remained had to catch. Almost without note from the crowd, Brayton Carter was charging up through the field by this point after starting twelfth on the redraw. He was passing cars both high and low but had a very long way to go.
With just six laps to go, the final yellow waved for debris on the track and Carter had worked his way into the top five. But he would do much more in those final six laps. Inman was gone, but those behind him would see the #01 car slip past them with his final pass being on Reimers for second with just over a lap to go. But he would be too far removed to challenge the leader and Inman would drive home for the win.
The Stock Cars would go twenty laps and it would be Missouri's Austin Bouzek that would lead from start to finish and while that sounds kind of boring, it actually was a good race. Bouzek would separate himself from the pack early but Austin Meiners was the one driver that could stay with him while they gapped the rest of the field.
But there was a great battle for third with at least a half dozen cars battling and often running three wide on the track. But just as Meiners looked like he might be a challenger, he suddenly slowed on the back chute and was done. The restart was a bad one though, with a multi car tangle following the dropping of the green in turn one and several contenders were knocked out of the contest.
This would put Buck Schafroth into second and he tried to pressure Bouzek for the lead, working the inside line. Meanwhile, Bryan Snell was having a whale of a run as he pounded the cushion to stay with the leaders. Schafroth would try his best to get under Bouzek for the lead but Austin would maintain his line and score a narrow win with Snell driving an excellent race to finish third.
The sixteen lap Hobby Stock feature would see Bradly Graham lead the entire contest but he was pushed the entire distance by John Watson who would get close on several occasions. This race was restarted twice before a lap could be completed and then they ran green to checkers. Graham and Watson started on the front row and they would settle the contest themselves.
The only driver that would move up substantially was Kansas driver Cody Williams. He would start ninth and drive up to third by the halfway point of the race but with no yellows to assist him, he was simply too far back to catch up to the flying pair of leaders.
Watson tried hard but he just couldn't catch the leader and Graham would drive on for the win while "Meatloaf" would settle for third.
The Modified drivers would have a tough time of it in their main with many more yellows than any of the other classes. In fact, the yellow flew eight times during their twenty lapper, most often for minor one car spins. Through it all, Braaksma would hold court, leading all laps.
Lap six was an especially tough one with the yellow waving four times before another lap could be completed. And interestingly, two of the drivers that would be right in the hunt at the end both had to go tail back on this lap after separate spins. Both Dylan Thornton and Todd Shute were running well until they had to make a trip to the tail but both were able, no doubt in part aided by all the yellows, to work their way back up toward the front.
While Braaksma maintained his patience and made no mistakes with all the slow downs, he was able to drive on to victory lane as Thornton managed to get all the way back up to second with Dallon Murty finishing third.
As I look back on my notes, I see that all five feature winners started on the front row of their respective races and led all laps of their mains. And while that sounds like it might be the product of a boring night of racing, actually it seemed like anything but to me. And while there wasn't always a big battle for first, there seemed to be always plenty of battles for position and much close and side by side racing and pack style racing doesn't get much more exciting than that produced at Stuart.
The final checkered flag waved just at 10 pm, perfect for a weekend night event, especially with the cool conditions. However, if you dressed for the weather, it really wasn't too bad. And a surprisingly good crowd was on hand, giving the weekend night and the weather as it appears mid Iowa race fans are ready for some racing action. Stuart's next event is on April 17th when they present a Stock Car special as a part of their program.
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