Holladay Tops SLMR In Osky Visit

 Wednesday night, June 26th, the Late Model racing action would continue in the Hawkeye State. On this night, the action would be at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa where the SLMR East region was running the first program of what was scheduled to be a very busy week for them. The SLMR made an appearance at Osky last year and would be returning to the Mahaska County "Monster Hall Mile" again, along with a full show of racing in four other divisions of open competition racing. 

A very busy night was planned as Wednesday was the Gary Wilson Memorial race with many great sponsors from the local area donating to the purse for all divisions, making this an important race for all drivers. 

The excitement in the air over this show was noticeable with the fans coming early and clearly, they were excited to see the Late Models again racing here. There was also much interest in the Hobby Stock class action, as Dustin Griffiths, who has won all six feature races he has finished here this year, has a bounty on his head and while the Hobby feature will pay seven hundred dollars to win, if somehone can beat him while Dustin is still running at the end of the race, the bounty will be seven hundred dollars on top of the race winnings, and will increase a hundred dollars if Dustin wins again. 

All this has gotten the fans stirred up and the crowd would be on the most energetic and tuned in of any seen all year to this point. Osky, which is run by a volunteer Race Committee who works with the Fair Board, has worked hard to keep racing alive in Oskaloosa, and it is a tough go without sanctioning and with the weather that all have had to deal with in 2024. However, they do receive great local support as there are many that recognize the entertainment value of the racing here as well as "owning" their local racing. 

This would be one of the biggest races at the track for the year and great racing weather would help. Heavy rains the night before did not materialize and the track would be fast for racing on Wednesday. 

Twenty three Late Models signed in to race on Wednesday and Dylan Thornton was blistering fast in time trials, turning a  lap at 19.024 seconds. Three heat races using qualifying points plus heat race finishing and passing points, would then set the lineup for the Late Model main. 

For defending series champion, Chad Holladay, it was a great night. He led all twenty five laps of the Late Model feature but it was not an easy win as he had extreme pressure on him from Tad Pospisil in the late going. Pospisil started fifth on the grid and was still in that position at the halfway point of the race but then he really got going, moving up to second and when Holladay got hung up in traffic, Tad made a move to get beside the leader nd they raced side by side before Holladay managed to hold off the charge. 

A late yellow set up a two lap sprint to the finish but things changed dramatically in those last two laps. Pospisil had a terrible restart and fell all the way back to fifth with a gritty performance by Jeff Tharp getting him to the second spot at the end. Kyle Berck moved forward, then dropped back and then once again climbed up to third at the finish. 

The  bounty race in the Hobby Stocks was spoiled by Griffiths who wasn't about to have anyone beat him without quite the battle. As Rick VanDusseldorp led the opening lap, Griffiths was on the charge from eighth and by lap five, he blew past both Eric Stanton and VanDusseldorp to take over the lead and then he was gone. 

No one would get close to him the rest of the race as he collected the top prize while the  bounty remained in tact with another hundred added for next week. 

The Sport Compact feature was a three car battle between Trent Fowler, Matt Moore and Nathan Moody until Moore lost  a wheel and  Fowler would take over the lead. He led the last six laps with Seth Meinders moving up to finish second. 

The Stock Car feature  saw Andrew Schroeder lead the first half of the race until Cayden Carter passed him for the point. Maguire DeJong roared up from seventh to put the heat on Carter and very nearly got by him, only to see Carter fight back and hold the  spot. A late yellow saw Carter continue to fend off Maguire and a late closing Nathan Wood. 

The other racing Carter, Brayton, had the lead in the Sport Mod feature but this time, Maguire would not settle for second as he drove past the Osky resident at the halfway point of the race and then pulled away to take the win with Logan Anderson's late charge getting him second. 

After they widened the track out with some grader work at intermission, the groove moved up the track but drivers were able to work multiple lines and the track raced well. The crowd was a very good one and they seemed to leave pleased with what they had seen. The track officials were pleased with the racing, the crowd and also the car count which has struggled this year at times. The hope is that the drivers will have enjoyed the experience and return on another Wednesday night. It was a "feel good" night for just about everyone and one that the track could use, given all the rainouts and shaky weather they have faced already this year. 

I also enjoyed the chance to talk to race announcer Jerry Mackey who was also very fired up and hopeful that this evening would be a good one when I spoke to him early and I'm sure he was happy with the way things went too 

Note: This blog was first produced on Thursday morning, June 27th but was somehow lost in "The Cloud" and never reached the website so this version of the story has been reproduced in a shorter fashion with the information, unfortunately, not nearly as timely. 

Pierce Continues To Roll With Webster City Win

 Another day, another new city and track for the nomads of the World of Outlaws Late Model tour. Tuesday night their band of wanderers moved about two hours West from Independence across central Iowa to the Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City for another night of racing on their tour of the Midwest. 

Webster City would provide another different kind of challenge to the drivers, many of whom had never either been at Webster City before and perhaps had last raced here years ago. The dirt at Webster City looks more of what you would expect in Iowa but recent changes to the track have seen the outside walls eliminated and the corners both shortened and widened and while those changes have been subtle, to me at least they have made racing this track quite different. And from the few times I have been here since those changes, the difference has been a positive one. 

Along with the Late Models, three support classes were also a part of the program as B Mods/Sport Mods, Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks were all putting on a full race program. Originally, only two classes were supposed to be racing and the first two classes that filled the entry list would be the classes to race. But apparently, none reached that twenty four car limit so it was decided that all three would race. Rules were opened up so anyone could race and didn't have to worry about tires etc. which probably helped them achieve what was probably their biggest car count of the year in those classes as twenty one Hobby Stocks, eighteen Stock Cars and fifteen B Mods signed in to race. Several drivers from distant parts raced at Indee on Monday night and then stopped here to race on Tuesday before heading home. 

The Late Model field was down to twenty four on this night. The top fifteen in WoO points will always be making the journey and then after that, it is a crap shoot just to see who might show up and help fill the field. With few open motor Late Models in central Iowa, they were probably lucky that they could muster up twenty four cars. However, in search of a quick show on a week night, twenty four cars is just about perfect as that allows everyone to start the feature while no B Feature would be needed. 

Another factor to consider on this night was the weather. All week the forecast has not been good for Tuesday night and even earlier today, there was a strong chance of T storms arriving by late afternoon or early evening. But here is another lesson to be learned. Never believe the forecast as they are wrong far more often than they are right. Someone traveling a distance could have looked at that forecast and said, screw it, I'm not driving a distance only to get caught in the rain. 

And they would have missed out on what turned out to be an interesting race. There was a two minute "sun shower" in the late afternoon from one lone cloud that actually felt good and helped to cool things down. The storms all stayed to our South and we had a light show of lightning in front of us for much of the night but no rain in our whereabouts. 

They were really dumping the water on the track before the show and it seemed to have helped much, as there was little to no dust and the racing stayed good throughout the night. And except for a bit of high side packing after the heats, we saw no more appearances from the water truck after the racing started. 

I found out that Chad Simpson's problem last night was a battery failure and what a time for something like that to happen. A very insignificant item cost him a chance to make some very good money and must be maddening to a crew that works so hard to get everything right and then have a goofy thing like that happen. 

Speaking of that, there were plenty of crews tearing their hair out on Tuesday after time trials and the heat races were completed. Cody Overton had to go to a back up car after their car wouldn't start of all things. Andrew Kosiski missed time trials and his heat when the rear end failed in hot laps. Cody Laney had to go to a back up after his car wouldn't start either. Both Ryan Gustin and Tristan Chamberlain had to go to back up cars when they blew motors in their heats. Gustin still finished in a redraw position and they went through that formality before sending him to the back after he had to go to that back up.

Kyle Bronson debuted a new Longhorn on Tuesday night and he turned the quickest lap of the night at 17.503 seconds. He then redrew the pole for the feature but didn't race as well as he did qualify. With drivers like Pierce, Shirley and others all bringing out new cars recently, it appears that Late Models are now like Sprint Cars as they have only a limited "shelf life" before they get flexed out from racing and must be replaced. I suppose that is an expected consequence of racing today as we know it, but just makes the sport even that much more expensive and difficult for the local racer to even be competitive  at.  

Other than some of the Late Model drama over mechanical issues, the heat races went off very smoothly although the first one didn't hit the track until 7:51 pm. Once the show got moving, they kept things flowing in a quick manner and recognizing that it was a week night, and with lightning flickering to the South, they continued that pattern with the feature races. 

The Hobby Stocks would be first and this race was a blow out with track point leader Bryce Sommerfeld dominating. After Riley Crimmins led the opening lap, Sommerfeld drove under him on lap two and then pulled away from the pack. He led the rest of the race, often by a considerable distance over the field. There was a good battle for second though, as Crimmins fought to hold off Dylan Nelson, Lincoln Miller and Parker Anderson. 

Anderson got turned late in the race and they lone yellow of the event was the result. Anderson did get his spot back and during the remaining six laps, Sommerfeld once again pulled away. The battle for second went to Nelson as he edged out Crimmins and Anderson with Scott Dobel making a late charge into the top five. 

The Outlaws have arranged to have their feature race run fairly early in the program and that, I think, is a good thing. In theory at least, the tracks should not be used up when they run second and this way, their part of the program is completed fairly early in the evening for those who must leave to get home or get ready for work the following day. The trade off is that with this time line, the Late Models are usually packed up and ready to roll as soon as they can get out of the pits so if you want to have contact with the drivers and see the cars close up, you better get to the track early and buy a pit pass as there will be nothing to find in their pits once the program is over as they will already be down the highway. 

Thirty five laps was the distance for the main event Tuesday night for the Late Models and the first lap was a wild one with Tyler Bruening coming from the second row to lead the opening lap. Brandon Sheppard quickly moved in though and passed Bruening just a lap later to take over the lead. 

Bobby Pierce was quickly on the move too, and by the third lap he was challenged Sheppard for the lead. They diced back and forth but on lap eight, it was Pierce that drove past for the lead, after which he would lead the remainder of the contest. 

However, it was not a runaway as Sheppard remained within a few car lengths of Pierce and several times, as they fought through lapped traffic, Sheppard was able to nose up behind the leader but never had quite enough to make a pass. Both the front runners were moving around the track, trying different lines and also moving as need be to avoid the slower cars. Laney was having a great run as he maintained third for many laps. Later Max McLaughlin would brutalize Laney, taking his whole left side off while making an awkward pass for position and then Laney faded badly in the late going. Brian Shirley also started to march back toward the front after losing several positions early. 

Cade Dillard was in a challenging position until he lost a driveshaft with just six laps to go and this would bunch up the field. Something I have noted, especially this year so far, is that following yellows the most passing and changing of positions takes place as it seems that how tires react under yellow changes wildly from driver to driver and is so unpredictable. 

This race would be a good example. When the green reappeared, there was a mad scramble of position changing as while Pierce was able to get away OK, Shirley would get past Sheppard for second and as they battled, Pierce then disappeared from them both and Bruening, who wasn't even in the top five at the yellow, came roaring through and passed McLaughlin to take over fourth. It is however, kind of a sad commentary on our times when we have to rely on tires to provide the biggest excitement. 

For Pierce, however, it seems that he is really in a groove right now and that one hundred point deficit that he currently faces in the points is still a reachable goal. And if he got there, wouldn't that be a story!

The B Mods hit the track next and their race would be just as big a walkover for the winner as the Hobby Stock had been. And again it was the track point leader, in this case Ty Griffith, that dominated the action. He started in the second row but with a hard charge to the very inside of the track, was able to drive under the field and claim the lead before one lap could be completed. A big smasharoo in turn three eliminated three cars and stacked the field once again. but Griffith just drove away with ease from everyone. 

Tyler Inman, driving a #37 car on this night, eventually worked his way up to second but he was a full straightaway behind the leader while third place driver Kaeden Bronner was a half lap back. This race seemed to drone on forever with everyone just getting in line and riding it out and at the end, only eight cars were on the track with Griffith miles in front. 

The Stock Cars completed the evening's entertainment but putting Derek Green on the pole was not to the advantage of those looking for a close Stock Car battle. Green grabbed the lead right from the start and was unchallenged for the event. Even though the race was stopped at the halfway point for a spinner on the front stretch, when the green reappeared, so too did Green disappear. 

He would pull away from the field as Johnathan Logue, running right against the inside wall, drove up to second after starting seventh but he had nothing for the leader and would settle for second with Bill Crimmins, who had trouble and dropped out of his heat, making a remarkable charge up from eighteenth to third at the finish. 

It was a well run program on Tuesday night and the final checkered waved at about 10:20 pm which was very acceptable. And I will have to say that the Hamilton County Speedway raced very well tonight. The changes in the track seem have done wonders for it as it races much better than it used to with drivers all over the track and much passing as well as side by side racing that we didn't use to see. The Hobby Stocks were running three and four wide and that was not something that we used to see here either. 

Kudos to the Outlaws too. There have been times in the past where it seemed like after the first few laps, the drivers would just line up and ride around the track, using the same line and not doing a whole lot. But so far this week, that seems to have changed. There has been good racing throughout the events and much passing and repassing and drivers trying different lines. Both nights have provided entertaining racing. 

The crowd was a very good one tonight, despite the threatening weather conditions, to see a well run and entertaining racing event. Perhaps this will help to ease the sting for Todd Staley and his crew here after the recent announcement that they had to suspend weekly racing operations here because they just couldn't get the car count and crowd count that they needed to justify continuing operation. This kind of night may help them put cars in the pits and butts in the stands for the races that they intend to complete this year.   

Pierce Edges Out Hoffman For Independence WoO Victory

 The World of Outlaw Late Model tour began their yearly visit to the Heartland with a stop on Monday night, June 24th at the Independence Motor Speedway in Independence Iowa. From here, they will make another stop in Iowa before venturing North to Minnesota, North Dakota and then back to southern Minnesota for a fifty grand to win, three night extravaganza over the fourth of July holiday. 

It has been a number of years since the WoO last visited Indee and they were welcomed by some real, Summer time heat and humidity when they arrived on Monday. With temperatures pushing ninety, a wind from the South blowing about ninety and the humidity also at about ninety, teams would be challenged to find the right set up for their cars on an unknown racing surface while track co-promoter Mike VanGenderen would be challenged to provide a racing surface that the drivers could use. 

Along with the Late Models, three other IMCA sanctioned divisions would be in action and apparently they all wanted to be on tv as very strong fields assembled in those other classes, including a very impressive field of thirty eight Modifieds.  Car counts would be such that B Features were needed for both the Modifieds and Stock Cars. 

Previous to this night, there was some confusion over what sections and seats were being sold as reserved in the grandstand and I had assumed that we'd likely be sitting in the lower part of the grandstand which, fortunately, is still a good seat at this facility. However, upon arriving, we found that only certain sections were reserved and we ended up in the exact same seats that we would have had If I was allowed to pick my seats from an empty grandstand. So the day started off on a very good note. 

I noted that since I was last here, the scale in the infield had been moved and is now behind the tower and about in the middle of the infield, going North to South. The track crew was exceedingly busy as they were dumping the water both on the track and also on the driveways in the pits. Driver's comments were interesting as for those that hadn't been here before, or perhaps for a number of years, they were surprised to see just how sandy the racing surface was, with most expecting to see the rich black dirt that most Iowa tracks are covered with. However, that is not the case here but the reason for that is one that I can't answer. 

The WoO crew is at the farthest reaches of where they race when they make this Midwestern Tour and car counts are always near the top of the list when it comes to concerns. On this night, they managed to gather twenty seven cars to race, with the basic field of the top fourteen in WoO points supplemented by local and regional talent, many of whom are either underpowered or under financed to keep up with the travelers but they always give it a shot and occasionally once of them might shine. 

Monday night would be heartbreak for one of that group as Chad Simpson managed to qualify well, win a heat race and then redraw the outside pole where he had a real chance to shine in the forty lapper. Unfortunately, he couldn't keep his car running as they rolled around the track, lining up for the main and he had to retire to the pits, a large blow to the many Simpson fans in attendance. 

I was told in the pits before the show that Bobby Pierce was debuting a new car, one that had not even be tested yet but he wasted little time flexing the muscle of the vehicle, setting a new track record in qualifying at 13.575 seconds. That would guarantee him a front row starting spot for a heat and likely be a problem for the rest of the field throughout the night. 

Heat races would start just before 7:30 pm once qualifying was over and these events ran off smoothly with just three yellows in thirteen preliminary heat races. Unfortunately for Late Model driver Lance Hofer from Wisconsin, one of the stoppages was for him and was actually a red flag when he dropped over the edge of the track in turn four and did a wild barrel roll followed by a tail balancing act that wowed the crowd and likely twisted his Rocket into a pretzel for the under funded team. But he was OK.

The track was completely redone for the feature races with a wise choice being that the Late Models would run first, giving them a fresh track and allowing those fans that had to scoot home early the chance to see "The Show" before they left. 

With Simpson dropping out, Nick Hoffman was moved up to the front row and he got the jump on Pierce and he then would show the way for the first seventeen laps, with Pierce all over him looking for a way by. At this point, Brandon Sheppard, Brian Shirley and Max McLaughlin trailed the top two. Just when it looked like Hoffman might be able to hold off Pierce, the leaders found themselves catching slower cars and with some racing each other very hard for position and the top side of the track dominant, the leaders would have themselves some problems. 

While jockeying through that traffic, Hoffman got himself trapped and Pierce was right on that, making a move to take over the lead and when Hoffman tried to cross him back over, he got tangled with a slower car, nearly went flying off the end in turn three and cemented the lead to Pierce. 

A late yellow set up a five lap sprint to the finish and any thoughts Hoffman had of making a late move to take the lead back went South when Sheppard got by him for second and while those two battled, Pierce checked out for the win. 

The fourth place also changed as Cade Dillard got past Shirley for that spot. Congratulations to Blair Nothdurft who finished sixth as I'm surprised he was even able to get out of flood ravaged South Dakota to race. On the final corner, McLaughlin and Tyler Bruening got together, pushing each other all the way through the corner as Bruening was nearly off the track while several other drivers took advantage of their issue to gain spots. Seven drivers in the twenty four car field failed to finish. 

Stock Cars took to the track next for their main event with most of the crowd still sticking around to watch their show. Cole Mather drew the outside pole and he would ride that lane for twenty laps to take the win. In my last couple of visits here I have noticed that as the evening progressed, the top side seemed to develop as the fast way around the track. It is a tricky line however, and one slip would find that driver over the edge as their is no wall or guardrail to lean on. 

Mather took that line and made it work as he led from start to finish. And while the battle for the lead wasn't spectacular, there was a fine race for position behind him with Tanner Allen, Vern Jackson, Tom Schmitt and eventually Damon Murty a part of that race. While the first part of the race went smoothly, there were several grinding accidents near the end that kept the field bunched and sent several cars to the pits on wreckers. 

Murty just slowly and smoothly progressed through the field after starting thirteenth and when Allen gave him the top on a double file restart, it was much appreciated by Damon who then took second. The last four laps, following the final yellow, saw Murty stalk Mather, riding his rear bumper but Cole did not make a slip and drove home for the win. And unlike a later event, Murty didn't try a ridiculous last lap slider that would have required him to knock the other driver right off the track. Instead, he settled for second with Schmitt third over Allen. 

Thirty eight Modifieds were whittled down to twenty four for their twenty lap main event but putting Tom Berry Jr on the pole was not a good thing for the rest of the field or for those in the crowd wanting a close feature race. 

Because once they dropped the green flag, Berry Jr was gone and there would be no stopping him. Even the yellow flag conspired to help him and it was only used once and that was for debris on the track with just five laps to go. Ethan Braaksma, once he got to second after starting fifth, was starting to cut into Berry's lead as Tom worked through lapped traffic but with an open track and only five laps to go, there was no stopping Berry Jr from bringing home the win. Behind Braaksma, Jeff Aikey, Tim Ward and Florida visitor Owen Barnhill completed the top five. 

Fireworks would finish off the night when the Hobby Stocks took to the track for their feature race. In my last report from here, I commented on it seemed that every time I saw Bradly Graham race, he won. Well, it looked like that was going to be the case again on Monday until the last lap when things happened. 

Graham started on the pole and got the jump on Joren Fisher to take the early lead. Balls, Jim and Tyler slipped in behind the top two with Solomon Bennett experimenting with the low side of the track as most were running right on the top up against the berm. By the halfway point of the race, Zach McNeese was up to fifth and charging. 

Lap after lap, the leaders ran nose to tail with Graham on top and Fisher inches behind him, occasionally giving him a bit of a tap but nothing too dramatic as it appeared that he was waiting to see if Graham would make a mistake. 

As the laps ran down, the same front two raced nose to tail, with Fisher inches behind but not making a move at this point. However, that would change as the white flag waved. Going into turn one, Fisher dropped lower on the track and tried to drive up under Graham to make a pass. He was no where near clearing the leader but just kept right on coming up the track, knocking Graham out of the groove and in fact even displacing him from second as McNeese was also able to drive past. 

Fisher then drove on for the win with Graham having to settle for third and some motor revving and finger pointing followed. In victory lane , Fisher said he didn't want to race that way, but he did anyway. These are the same kinds of limp excuses that are used on Saturday and Sunday by the tv racers when they run over someone and then claim they "had" to do it to win. No, you don't have to do it that way. You could either learn to pass cleanly or buck up and settle for second. Likely retaliation is in the future between the two, but you never know. 

The final checkered waved just before 11 pm with a surprising number of folks staying until the end and even for the Hobby Stocks. These were the race fans, not just Late Model fans. 

Thanks to all the folks from WoO for their help and as well as all the employees of Indee for their help and hard work. I enjoyed the conversations between Ruben and local track announcers Bucky Doren and Jim Roper who are both so well versed on Iowa racing history. 

Kosiski Has Enough Air To Top Dubuque Malvern Bank East Series Race

 Thursday night, June 20th was another steamy day in Northeast Iowa. However, potential rains and storms stayed away from the area and despite some rather wicked looking clouds that drifted through from time to time, things stayed dry and the rescheduled Malvern Bank East Series race, originally scheduled for Memorial Day weekend but whipped out by rain, was held as planned. Along with the Malvern Bank Late Models, the IMCA sanctioned Hobby Stocks, Stock Cars and Modifieds would be the support classes on Thursday. 

Thursday night's appearance would be the third ever visit for the Malvern Bank East Series to race at Dubuque and this evening's racing would also produce the third different winner at this track. Twenty seven Late Models signed in to race on Thursday night, which required four heats and a B Feature to set the racing order for the thirty lap main event which paid thirty five hundred dollars to win, which included a nice five hundred dollar bonus from a local sponsor, Affordable Furniture. 

The Malvern Bank Series uses a rather convoluted format to establish where everyone lines up for the the main event. The cars time trial but then the heats are inverted with the top six in each inverted. The combination of points earned through qualifying plus passing and finishing points earned in the heats are added together and the top sixteen then start the feature straight up. The rest of the starting field is established by the B Feature and some provisional starters. 

Qualifying proved to be the undoing of Charlie McKenna who appeared to blow up a motor and was done for the night. There were also a couple of interesting driver changes noted for Thursday night's show. Chris Simpson would be driving Jason Rauen's car and Tom Berry Jr was in the Dralle ride normally piloted by Jeff Aikey. Dralle even went so far as to turn the seventy seven into the #11x with some duct tape hiding parts of the sevens and adding an X following those numbers. Both drivers did well later with Simpson charging up to third in the late going and Berry's first ride in this Late Model producing a seventh place finish.

For the other three classes racing, the draw/redraw format was used and with rather small numbers in all three classes, there were a couple of instances where everyone that took the green for a heat made the redraw. However, while their heats were a little underwhelming, the main events for all four classes were good. The heats themselves did go very smoothly with all qualifying, except for the Late Model B Feature which was run after one of the heats, took only thirty seven minutes to complete. 

The track, I thought, was in excellent shape for the heats but the track prep must have thought otherwise, as they completely reworked it for the mains. However, they did add quite a bit of water and with the night being so humid, it just didn't want to dry back out and the poor Hobby Stocks, slated to run their feature first, got plenty of track time as they circled the track for what seemed like forever until it was suitable for racing to continue. 

Following their many laps of rolling in the track, the Hobby Stocks raced fifteen laps for their main event. The redraw suited Nathan Ballard well as he started on the outside pole and led the majority of the  fifteen laps in a race that went green to checkers. 

It was a bit of slip and slide for a few laps in that Hobby Stock main with Mark Neis leading the first three laps before Ballard would drive by him to take over the top spot and Nathan then would lead the rest of the race. It was tough making up ground with no yellows to help out but Jimmy Doescher worked his way up from the second row to close on the leader at the end. He gave it his best but came up short as Ballard drove on for the win. Doescher actually nipped Ballard at the line in the two to go signal, but then Nathan made a strong last lap, regained the lead and held off a last lap challenge for the win. Nathan reported that the Thursday night win was his fourteenth in sixteen nights of racing so far this year, so my feeling that he seems to have been seen a lot in victory lane pictures was not deceiving.

There were only nine Stock Cars on hand but they still produced an interesting race which amounted to Gage Neal chasing Jeff "Bone" Larson for fifteen laps. Larson started on the pole with Neal next to him and they  ran in that fashion for the remainder of the race. 

Scott Busch had worked his way up to third before he spun at the halfway point of the contest, triggering the only yellow of the event. Neal continued to put pressure on Larson and one mistake would have been costly but with both running the high side up against the wall, they continued at a fast pace and Larson drove on for the win driving Lee Kinsella's car. Mitchell Evens finished third. 

There was plenty going on when the Modifieds took to the track for their twenty lap main event. Despite the fact that there were only eleven of them, they managed to produce some controversy and plenty of action during their main. 

The front row of Scott Lemke and Timmy Current were jacking around on the pace lap, slowing and speeding up and trying to gain an advantage over the other. Twice starter Doug Haack waved off the start and following the second nonstart, there was enough contact within the pack that Current got a flat tire and had to retire to the work area for a replacement that put him on the back of the pack. He then managed to nail one of the ute tries on the next attempt, messed up his front end and was done for the event. 

Meanwhile, Lemke finally was able to take the lead when racing started, with Jason Schueller really pushing him hard, throwing side jobs at him while Jed Freiberger moved to third. However, Freiberger made only two laps before he slipped on a banana in turn one and spun and would have to go to the tail. Normally that would be the end of a driver's search for victory, but not on this night. 

Lemke continued to lead with Schueller all over him while Freiberger had success marching back up through the small field and when Matt Gansen spun on lap five, he was up to fifth. 

Then things got really crazy. The double file restart saw a mad scramble in turn one on the restart. Schueller nailed Lemke in the left rear, turning him sideways and at the same time giving him a flat tire. Freiberger had the waters part and he roared through the scrambled field, moving from fifth to the lead in just one lap. Lemke limped to the infield, done for the event but obviously removing Schueller from his Christmas list at the same time. 

Freiberger then drove away from the field with Schueller finishing second and Ryan DeShaw coming home third. No doubt there will be some interesting happenings when the Modifieds meet again here on Sunday night. 

The Late Models then wrapped up the night with their thirty lap main event and despite having to wait as the last class out, the track remained very good for their race. Andrew Kosiski would be the star of the show, leading all thirty laps to record the win but it was anything but easy as he had driving chasing him hard and running right on his rear bumper for much of the event. 

Derrick Stewart chased him early but then Andy Eckrich got past him to move into second and put the heat on the leader. Dave Eckrich then moved to third while Stewart and Spencer Diercks also ran in the lead pack. 

A slowing car triggered a yellow with eleven laps done and this proved to be trouble for point leader Chad Holladay as he had to change a flat tire and go to the tail of the field. It remained Kosiski being chased by the Eckrich brothers until Dave pulled up with rear end problems with nineteen laps scored and was done for the event. 

This moved Stewart back into third with Simpson and Diercks trailing. I noted that the right rear tire on Kosiski's car looked low at this point and sure enough, he was feeling it too but he hoped to have enough air in it to hold off Eckrich. The groove was getting dangerously close to the walls now, and both Kosiski and Eckrich made trips into the concrete off turn two in the closing laps but both pulled themselves off the concrete and continued. 

Kosiski seemed to be slowing some by this point, as his exit speed off the corners just wasn't there but while Eckrich could stay within a few car lengths, he wasn't able to muster a charge at the leader as by this point, he had his hands full with Simpson moving to third and still charging. 

Kosiski kept enough air in his right rear to finish the race, where it went flat in victory lane as he held on by a couple car lengths for the win. Ditto for Eckrich who managed to hold off Simpson for second with Stewart and Diercks completing the top five. Only five cars didn't finish the race and all four feature races on this night were smoothly run with few yellows. 

Calling the action on this night were the duo of "Big Boy", Jason Frommell who did the local classes plus SLMR Series announcer Anthony Ainslie with both doing a good job. I had to laugh though, as before Ainslie got settled in, he identified Eric Pollard as Bubba Pollard, who most know as a Super Late Model driver on asphalt tracks and likely not in the field on Thursday. 

It was a good night of racing on a good racing surface which allowed the drivers to do their thing. Racing started about a quarter after seven with the time trials taking a few extra minutes and the final checkered waved just before 10 pm with things likely done even a few minutes earlier if they hadn't had to spend a little extra time rolling in the track for the features. Still, that extra track prep time likely helped give us a good racing surface for the drivers while a bare minimum amount of dust for we the fans. 

Thanks to everyone at the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway for their help and welcome and for an enjoyable night of racing. 

 

"Mad Max" Tops Summer Nationals at Quincy

 Another steamy day in our current heat wave sent the drivers and crews to the Adams County Speedway just East of Quincy Illinois for another round of the "Hell Tour", UMP Summer Nationals on Wednesday night, June 19th. Along with the Late Models, the Summit Modified Nationals would be back in action after having taken the previous night off while the program would be rounded out with the IMCA Sport Mods and a new class for the track this year, the Crown Vics also in action. 

The Hell Tour has been pulling in nice numbers for their shows so far this year and in this prime UMP territory with lots of Late Models available, it was no surprise that thirty two would sign in to race which resulted in the four heat, B Feature format. Twenty two Modifieds also signed in including drivers that towed all the way from Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, seamingly for just fifteen hundred dollars to win. The other two classes had smaller numbers but on a week night,  in all honesty, their presence could have been excluded except other than to provide them the chance to participate in such a special event. 

Fifteen of the top twenty in current Hell Tour points were on hand with just a few of the Outlaw regulars, now transitioning back into their regular race schedule, not a part of the program on this night. The Modifieds, on the other hand, can throw out more of their shows and for that reason, the top two in current points were not on hand for the Adams County race with third place point runner Trevor Neville the top point driver on hand. 

He may be in his sixties and perhaps his best days are past, but Billy Moyer can still wheel a race car as he set the quick time of the evening with a lap of 13.264 seconds while Tyler Erb, as the thirty first driver to hit the track for qualifying, somehow still managed to set quick time for the second group, even though his lap was two tenth of a second slower than Moyer's had been. 

Both drivers would see their evening go downhill after the strong start they made in heat race action. Moyer would get swallowed up by a wild first heat where drivers were really pushing the issue and he ended up third in his heat. Erb was the victim of an ill conceived slider by Tyler Clem as they battled for the lead in heat race number three. Erb spun and had to go to the back of the pack and while he was able to recover and finish fourth, he then was buried in the feature and on the tight quarter mile here, going from fourteenth to get a win was not likely in the cards, particularly when the main would go non stop. 

On this warm night, the track prep crew was really working hard, doing their best to keep moisture in the racing surface and keep the dust from blowing into the grandstand because, unfortunately, we had a South wind blowing and that was right into the main grandstand. There would be no complaints about the racing surface and while it seemed to take rubber later in the Late Model feature, it did so in an entertaining way as drivers were still able to use different grooves and not all just file up on the inside of the track. 

The Modified main was first to the track and tv personality Kenny Wallace, who started on the outside pole, got the jump on Neville to take the early lead. Local driver Michael Long, who started fourth, was quickly on the move as he drove up to second and began to close on Wallace. The inside line seemed to be working best at this point and while Wallace started to slide up the track, Long was able to keep his car nailed to the inside line and on lap six, he drove into the lead. 

Once in front, he immediately was able to put distance on the pack as Wallace fought to retain the second spot. When the yellow flew, back to back with eleven laps completed for minor spins and stalled cars, Tyler Nicely had worked his way into second with Neville also getting past Wallace for the third spot. 

The final fourteen laps ran off without a stoppage and Long was the class of the field, pulling away and not really being challenged the rest of the way as he drove on for the win. A good battle for second saw Nicely hold off Neville for that position with Hunt Gossum coming home fourth ahead of Wallace. Twenty drivers took the green and all but one were still on the track at the finish with only two a lap behind. 

Late Models were then called to the track and twenty two of them took the green for their thirty lap main, paying five grand to the winner. Daryn Klein had redrawn the pole position and for the second straight night would start the main right up front. Battling back from last night at Davenport when he went right off the end of the track on the opening lap, this night at Adams County he grabbed the lead and was up front for the opening four rounds. Mas McLaughlin started fourth and was in a rush to the front, really pushing hard in the corners. He and Klein then jockeyed back and forth for the lead, each taking turns at holding down the front spot for about a four lap stretch until McLaughlin finally gained he edge on the outside lane and established his lead. 

Klein and Jason Feger then battled for quite a stretch for second until Feger would finally claim the spot and then try to track down the leader. Garrett Smith was running in the top five when he suddenly slowed and pulled off the track which then elevated Clay Stuckey and Will Roland. 

McLaughlin was running a risky high side line on the track and a couple times he almost jumped the cushion which allowed Feger to close in on him and as the track appeared to start to take some rubber, the high side line made it even more of a challenge for McLaughlin to fight off Feger. 

The laps continued to wind down though, as the race remained under the green and McLaughlin adjusted his line some, moving to the middle of the track and keeping his momentum up and Feger could not get under him to challenge, although he did come close several times. The last few laps saw Stuckey finally get past Klein for third and he appeared to be the fastest car on the track at that point as he started to close on both the leaders. 

Feger continued to hug the inside and try to close the gap but McLaughlin had figured out where to run and as he kept his momentum up, he again started to pull away slightly and he then drove on for the win, with not a yellow flag to slow the action. Feger, Stuckey, Klein and Roland completed the top five with only six drivers not finishing off the event. 

The local Sport Mods had enough drivers entered for a pair of heats and their main event. They also did a good job of running off their main with just a single yellow flag to slow the action. Nicholas Profeta drew the pole position and he then managed to stay out front for the first part of the race. In fact, at the halfway point of the race, he was still leading but his advantage was starting to be narrowed by Reed Wolfmeyer who had started on the outside of row two and was working the high side of the track. Gradually, after getting past Logan Cumby for second, Wolfmeyer started to close on the leader as he stuck with that high side and on lap twelve, he was able to drive past into the lead. 

Just two laps later, the lone yellow flew for a slowing car but on the green, Wolfmeyer would again pull away and then drive on for the win. Profeta managed to hold off Cumby for second with Dakota Girard and Tanner Klingele rounding out the top five. 

Wednesday night would mark my first chance to see the Crown Vics live and in person. This class I believe started in the Southeast and as tracks struggle with developing new drivers and finding economical ways for drivers to break into the sport, this class has picked up steam with more and more tracks adding the division. 

I believe that Adams County just added the class after they started the season and have only raced here a couple of times. There were six of them on hand on Wednesday with the winner making his first appearance of the season. 

It would not be surprising that a Delonjay would be racing in this class as that family has raced in just about every class running in this area and on Wednesday, Jeffrey made his first run and would blow away the field, winning by a full straightaway over the pack. It was not a spell binding race but I will remain objective and not make a decision until I see the class in action more than once. The one good thing about this class is that the cars are rear wheel drive and would certainly teach a young driver more about dirt track racing than the front wheel drive Hornets, Sport Compacts, Tuners or whatever else name you want to give that class. 

I want to thank promoter Jimmy Lieurance for a very friendly welcome and also to the rest of his staff for their help. They had a very nice crowd on hand for their Summer National event and did a good job of getting everyone in and out of the track in a prompt and orderly manner. They. along with the Summer Nationals officials ran off a nice quick show, something appreciated on a week night. Despite the tough conditions, they did a good job of keeping the track racy and after they blew off the initial crumbs, there was little dirt in the stands too. And after all, this is still a dirt track, right?

Auringer Tops PRO Late Models at Mason City

 With things very wet in the local area on Sunday, June 16th  from massive overnight rains that pretty much ended all motorsport activity in the area, on a whim I jumped in the car and headed the four hours South to the Mason City Motor Speedway in Mason City for their Father's Day special event. Substituting for the Modifieds on Sunday, the PRO Late Models would be on the card along with the USRA Hobby Stocks, Stock Cars and B Mods. 

In my rush, I didn't check out the weather too fully and when I arrived, I found myself to be far overdressed as perhaps the only person on the grounds not wearing shorts. With a temperature of ninety degrees and a wind blowing out of the South at a conservative speed of about one hundred miles an hour, if felt like a blast furnace and I was the one getting blasted. However, in the greater scheme of things, this was still better than forty degrees below zero, the polar opposite of a day like this. 

Along with all the normal track officials hired to run the show here at Mason City, with the weather being so contrary, the USMTS show in Minnesota was flooded out and Todd and the crew from there were also in attendance, helping run off the program as they prepared to make a trip to Nebraska and then on to Kansas next week. 

With the weather conditions as they were, track prep and maintenance were both a big concern and they did have to mist the track on several occasions but overall, I thought the track held up very well, provided good racing with lots of side by side action and certainly, such a big improvement from the old half mile that it goes without saying. I can think of a few other tracks where the biggest improvement they could ever make would be to make the same bold move they did here at Mason City by shortening up the track and banking the heck out of it. 

The PRO Late Model Series, under the direction of Brandon Davis, is still fighting to find their place among the Late Model series currently in place in Iowa but they are managing to book some dates and allow fans to see their cars at more tracks. Mason City and Webster City are among those were they have races scheduled this year beyond their home track of Independence. 

They had a dozen cars with them on this steamy Sunday night as they continue to learn how to walk before they can start to run. Car counts in the other three classes were also OK with the B Mods having the highest count of any of the four classes. 

The program would be a nice quick and smooth one on this Sunday, something very important to do on a regular basis for a Sunday night program to be successful. The first green flag dropped at 6:18 pm and thirty seven minutes later, all the qualifying was done and it was time for the four feature races. Interestingly, the yellow flag waved just one time during the heat races which were smoothly run and also included the one spin rule which kept everyone moving. 

Jesse Brown took the early lead as the Stock Car feature would be the first to run their main after the track was freshened. There was a good battle for second as Nate Whitehurst, Andrew Borchardt and Blake Adams all battled for position. Near the halfway point, Whitehurst ended up spinning and taking Adams with him. 

This moved Borchardt into the second spot and slowly but surely he began to close in on the leader and did eventually make the pass to take over the top spot. He then drove on to take the win with Brown close behind. Unfortunately, Brown would fail technical inspection and this elevated Chanse Hollatz to the runner up spot with Travis Shipman officially scored third.

The Late Model feature saw J.D. Auringer lead from start to finish to take the twenty five lap win. He battled with Jeff Aikey early and then pulled away from him to open up a big lead. the best battle was for second as Sean Johnson moved into that spot after starting fifth but then had to fight off challenges from Nick Marolf. 

Marolf put the pressure on for second and just after the halfway point was able to take over second. However, even a late race yellow that set up a four lap sprint finish would not allow Marolf to challenge as Auringer had the car to beat on this night and did drive on for the win. Late in the race, as Johnson fought to hold his car on the bottom lane, Zach Less drove past him to get third. 

There was one very scary moment during the race that didn't even draw a yellow but was nevertheless hearting stopping. Logan Duffy was racing down the back chute and got moved up the track by another car. Faced with creaming the opening at the end of the wall in turn three, he instead flew off the drive way at high speed but was able to get shut down as he roared into the pits. This potential safety hazard would flair up again later in the show. Stay tuned. 

The Hobby Stock feature saw Kolby Goepel take the lead from the outside pole and lead for most of the event. However, moving up after starting fifth, Josh Monson would put the pressure on Goepel and near  the end of the race, make a pass that would stick and give him the victory. Goepel had his hands full at the end but managed to hold off Scott Dobel for second. 

The B Mods wrapped up the night with a wild event that saw plenty of action and a number of cars test out the concrete walls for rigidity. It was also a race that saw really tough luck strike Taylor Ausrud, who led the majority of the contest, ended up going to the back of the pack before fighting his way back up to fifth with a wild ride through the pits thrown in for fun. 

Ausrud sat on the pole and was the early leader with Harley Dais, the track point leader, moving up from fourth to soon chase Ausrud for the lead. Dais put the pressure on Ausrud and they went side by side for the lead. 

Coming out of turn two, as they raced for the top spot, a car in front of them slowed and was trying to get off the track. Just as that car slowed and tried to get high on the track to exit in turn three, Ausrud was already committed to going around that car on the high side. Ausrud inadvertently got forced up the track and with little choice, took a wild ride off the track exit as opposed to creaming that same opening at the end of the wall that nearly took out Duffy in an earlier race. Ausrud slid to a half and his car was OK and he was allowed to return to the track and get his place back. 

Unfortunately, just a lap later Ausrud would have a right rear tire go flat and he spun on the front chute, triggering another yellow. I suspect that the wild ride down the driveway may have damaged the tire and then it went flat when he tried to race on it. 

Meanwhile, Dais moved into the lead and then would be the leader for the last half of the race. Despite four late yellows for spins and cars crashing into the walls, Dais held off a hard challenge from Dan Hovden to get the win. Ben Moudry finished a close third while Ausrud hustled to the pits, changed the tire and raced his way back up to fifth at the finish. 

It would seem that the blunt end of the wall in turn three is just an accident waiting to happen as we saw in two near misses on Sunday. Despite being protected by some big tires, running into those would hurt also. To ease the problem, the drivers might need to be instructed not to use that exit when the race in going on and instead, if they broke or slowed to instead pull into the infield and not try to get off the track by using that driveway. Still, a long term solution is needed too. 

It was a quick program from start to finish and they managed to run off the full show without having to turn on the track lights. And despite the heat, a nice sized crowd was on hand for the show as it seems that Mason City always has supported the events here well. Thanks to everyone at Mason City for their help and for cranking off a nice quick show on a Sunday night. 

LaCrosse, Mahlik and Vlies Top 141 Finales

 Night number two of the sixteenth annual "Clash at the Creek" was held under steamy conditions on Wednesday night, June 12th at the 141 Speedway between Francis Creek and Maribel Wisconsin. On this night, three dominating drivers drove to victory lane, two of them leading all laps in their main events. 

For Eric Mahlik and Coy Vlies, their Stock Car and Sport Mod wins came after they took the lead on lap one and proceeded to dominate things in their divisions as they drove on to victory. Benji LaCrosse had a tougher time of it, not leading the Modified feature until lap thirty two of the fifty lap "Clash" finale but once he did take the lead, he proceeded to disappear into the eastern Wisconsin sunset. 

The program for Wednesday night would be exactly that same one offered on Tuesday, right down to the number of heats and B Features that led up to the three feature races. The car counts were very similiar also to Tuesday night with thirty one Sport Mods and thirty eight Stock Cars signing in. There were fourteen additional drivers entered in these two classes with obviously some from the first night that did not return. The Modified field was set at seventy three with the only change seeing Jerry Flippo driving one of Tate Johnson's cars while Flippo tucked his  own car in the trailer for the night. Thirteen states were now represented on the track after Illinois Sport Mod driver Austin Stamm joined the action on Wednesday. 

The running order would see the Stock Cars go first on Wednesday as they swapped spots with the Sport Mods, Otherwise, everything was the same. 

Also the same was the unsettled weather the track was facing. While the temperatures jumped up about fifteen degrees on Wednesday, there was still a large blob of weather to the West of the track, even though there was no mention of rain in the forecast. They did slip to the South of the track but round two came charging in later from western Wisconsin and indeed, I was not too far away from the track upon the completion of the show when lightning became visible in the northern skies. But they got it in and that's what counted. However, these threats of bad weather couldn't have helped the crowds which didn't seem as big as they have historically been over the past few years. 

Toby Kruse was his usual positive and upbeat person when I talked to him before the show on Wednesday though, and he expressed happiness in how things were going so far so if the promoter is happy, then I feel much better about things. 

They were really slipping up on Wednesday as the program started a whole two minutes after the advertised starting time! They would get the twenty seven race show completed well before the curfew too with the final checkered flag waving before 10:30 pm. One hundred laps of feature racing action between the three classes would be run off with a total of only five yellow flags too, which certainly helps when you are constantly chasing the watch. 

The heat race action was intense in all three classes and usually the second night things tend to get a bit heated based on several factors in play from opening night. While there were not a lot of yellow flag slowdowns, there were several dust ups in the Modified heats and let's just say that Travis Hansen and Dylan Thornton should not be invited to the same cocktail party. Ditto for Brandon Schmitt and Marcus Yarie along with Cody Laney and Dallon Murty as things got heated on a few occasions with everyone trying to earn passing points badly and with the track unwilling to punish rough driving, they were asking for what they go. More on this later. 

One change that did take place that would have an effect on the feature racing was that the track "farming" would take place after the completion of all B Features and not just before the Modified feature. This would affect the condition of the track for all three classes and make the racing just a bit different because of that. 

The Stock Cars hit the track first for their twenty five lap main with plenty of grip in the racing surface. A first lap grinding crash eliminated contender Jordan Grabouski but after that, they would race nonstop to the finish. With Mahlik on the pole and plenty of bite, he pulled away from the field and was never challenged during the race. He was simply too fast for the competition on Wednesday and built a comfortable lead over the field. 

There was a good battle for second though, as Tim VanDeHei, Rick Dix, Cole Czarneski and Brandon Czarapata all fought for that spot. Later in the race, Luke Lemmens came charging up from the seventh starting spot to be a factor. At the finish, Mahlik was comfortably in front with Lemmens completing his charge up to second and Czarapata third. 

The Sport Mod main had a dominating player also as Coy Vlies started on the outside pole and led all laps as he raced his way to victory. His win was not as easy however, as he was challenged quite hard by Tuesday night winner Cory Kemkes. Kemkes came from the fourth row and moved into second after a tough battle with Craig Dorner and Vlies had to deal with two late race yellows that packed the field up against him. 

However, he pulled away on every restart and while the distance he led by was not large, he was able to keep the contenders at bay. Kemkes and Dorner swapped the second spot three times before a late race move by Cory got him second for good with Dorner settling for third. 

It was then time for the fifty lap finale for the Modifieds but unlike Tuesday night, there was no more additional track prep done and I think we would see the results of that later in the race. 

Twenty four cars took the green flag for the feature but on the opening lap, outside pole starter Jayden Schmidt would spin up to the wall in turn three, triggering the yellow flag. For some reason that I can't explain, he was given his spot back even though there was no contact with other cars and he clearly spun on his own and all week, no drivers have been given their spots back, contact or not. The call was bull**** and something you would only expect to see at a UMP track where anything goes. 

In any event, Schmidt then would lead the opening lap on the second attempt, but would be passed just a lap later by Josh Long for the lead. In some form of fairness, Schmidt then slowed soon after with mechanical issues and would be scored last in the race. 

Long couldn't hold the lead for much time either, as just two laps later Grabouski came storming up and drove quickly past Long to claim the top spot. Jordan then set a blistering pace as he put distance on the field. There was quite a gaggle of drivers battling behind the leader including Cory Schroeder, Johnny Whitman, Murty, Joel Rust and Kyle Strickler. But Grabo was pulling away from all of them. 

Slowly and smoothly moving up however, was Benji LaCrosse. He started twelfth on the grid and was advancing smoothly, not showy but steadily. All week, he had made this track into about an eighth mile oval, running on the extreme bottom lane, hugging the ute tires and keeping his car straight and smooth. And for the second straight night, he was making that line work. 

Grabo was up on the cushion and continued to lead but by the halfway point, LaCrosse was up to second, ahead of Long, Murty and Schroeder. Right at that halfway point, Grabouski started to realize he was in trouble. The top side was going away and it appeared that the lower groove was taking rubber. LaCrosse was catching him at a fast pace and Jordan tried to move to the middle groove and find something that worked but he was spinning and losing time rapidly. 

On lap thirty two, LaCrosse drove under him to take over the lead despite Grabo trying to block him but Jordan simply couldn't get his car to hold the bottom lane. As LaCrosse disappeared into the night, Grabouski gave up trying the low side and went back up on top but no matter where he ran, he was losing ground. 

After the first lap yellow, the race ran off fifty straight green flag laps and LaCrosse just kept building his lead. Most drivers were saving their equipment so when they came close to being lapped, they would just pull into the infield as the field shrunk. By the checkered, their were only fourteen cars on the track with five of them being a lap down. LaCrosse had nearly a full straightaway over the field and his familiarity with the track was telling at the end. Grabouski managed to manhandle his car home third and late in the race, the top side gave up on Murty which allowed Long to drive under him and complete the top three. 

During the course of the night, there were several instances of drivers retaliating on each other and hitting under the yellow or after the completion of races. Where I live, if you did that you would be automatically disqualified from the race and that is something that should be tightened up here. Also, I'd like to see the black flag used to, for instances when drivers clearly get "dumped" by other drivers, whether on purpose and accidentally. Even if you're not going to give drivers their spots back when this happens, which they should, they could at least send the offender off the track instead of rewarding him by allowing him to continue in his spot unchecked. 

But that being said, overall it was another entertaining and busy two nights of racing. I still marvel at how many races they can get completed in such a short period of time, and to look at the track, you wouldn't think they could run as hard as they do and as close as they do without their being constant crashes but that simply is not the case. 

Thanks to Toby Kruse, the Czarneski's and all the workers at 141 who put in a couple of grueling days in getting this show completed. 

Ward Ten Grand Richer After 141 "Clash" Win

Knowing that I have like a zero per cent chance of seeing racing at 141 Speedway near Maribel Wisconsin without running into some kind of rain issue, I still took the gamble and ventured there on Tuesday night, June 11th for round one of the Clash At The Creek XVI. It hardly seems possible that this could be the sixteenth year of this race, which was a very bold move when Toby Kruse first proposed this event for Modifieds years ago. 

The format has been changed from time to time and the purse has varied, but it was remained one of the biggest Modified races for the IMCA cars in the upper Midwest, year after year. This year they really went out on a limb, scheduling back to back, ten grand to win shows on Tuesday and Wednesday with full shows on each night including heats, B Features and a main event. Most tracks couldn't swallow that big a nugget and would run heats one night and the rest of the show on the second night. But not Toby. He believes in going big or not going. 

The other concern would be whether or not two full shows could be completed before the sun rose on the second day with this many races, but again, this is not a concern at 141 where they have an amazing record of running off huge fields of cars in record time setting programs that are leaving the rest of the country gapping in surprise. For example, they have been averaging nearly two hundred cars a show for this six division programs on Saturday but with a 10:30 pm curfew, they have also averaged getting their complete show done in four hours. I don't know any other track in the country that can say that. 

And not surprisingly, with the purse offered this week plus the double full programs, a monster field of seventy nine Modifieds, up by almost twenty over last year's field,  signed in to race on Tuesday night. And they also ran a full show of both Stock Cars and Sport Mods, something of which I was skeptical could be completed at a reasonable time. But again, Toby knows his track and his drivers and clearly, I don't. 

The full field of cars would be one hundred and forty eight in three classes with drivers from twelve states on hand and a field full of campers. Oh, and yes, it did rain. Twice, to be correct. At about 4 pm, a line of light showers would come through and last about an hour but never really threatened ending the show. Even with the weather issue and many drivers waiting until the last minute to arrive at the track, they started right at the advertised time of 6:15 pm. Amazing, In fact, they actually moved the starting time up by fifteen minutes, just so they made sure they would get done on time. 

A second surprise shower, this one not forecast, hit the track during the start of the second Stock Car heat and this one had everyone nervous. However, it didn't last long and the track prep crew was able to restore the track quickly and they just picked up right where they left off. The track crew here is most impressive and I  challenge anyone to find a quicker rescue crew than the one here. When cars crash or break down on the track, the wreckers and other rescue vehicles barrel to the scene of the accident and the workers literally sprint out of their vehicles, hook up the damaged cars and then sprint back to their vehicles and remove the accident victims. I kid you not, it is amazing to watch.  

The Modified program would be different this year. Drivers drew for starting positions in the heats and if they drew a number in the higher half of the order, on Wednesday they will be drawing out of the lower number bucket. The eight heat races were like mini features, at twelve laps and with passing points being used. Finishing points plus bonus points for cars passed and deductions for losing positions would be tallied and the top eight in points would redraw for the top four rows in the main. Everyone else ran one of four B Features with the top four moving to the main. What I liked was that there were no provisional starters and all twenty four that started the main earned their way their with fifty five others sitting in the pits watching. 

But despite the high intensity of the eight heats and four B Features, there were very few yellow flags as everyone just kept racing and for the most part, raced each other clean. The twenty four cars that started the main had fully earned their way into the fifty lap finale. Interestingly, seven of the top ten in the lineup were visitors to the track with another six among the field also being non regulars so the drivers that traveled to this event knew what they were doing and produced well. 

And for the first half of the race, it was a couple of Iowa drivers that fought it out for the lead. Jake McBurnie started on the pole and got the jump on Michigan Late Model driver Colin Thirlby to take the early lead. Tim Ward started fourth but was quickly on the move, taking second from Thirlby and then moving in on McBurnie. Behind them, Joel Rust, Benji LaCrosse and Dylan Thornton fought hard for position. Only one yellow slowed the fifty lap contest, that on lap ten when Tripp Gaylord rolled to a halt. 

Ward kept the pressure on McBurnie and he started to close up the gap between then. Ward looked to the inside of McBurnie and just at the halfway point of the race, was able to clear Jake and take over the lead. 

At the same time, LaCrosse was making his move running the extreme inside of the track. He quickly took second from McBurnie and then closed on Ward, getting to within a couple car lengths of the leader. With the race continuing under green, there was plenty of time for the two leaders to test each other out and after a period of laps with LaCrosse able to get close but not get by, Ward seemed to pick up strength and then slowly but surely started to pull away from Benji. There was very little lapped traffic to deal with as drivers seemed when seeing the lay over flag elected to drop into the infield and despite the long forty one lap stretch of green flag racing, Ward never did have to lap a single car!

Tim pulled away from LaCrosse near the end of the race and had a comfortable lead as he dominated the race in winning the ten grand top prize. LaCrosse finished second with Thornton, Jordan Grabouski and Rust rounding out the top five. Only three regulars finished in the top ten, no doubt causing them to chafe. 

Along with the Modifieds, the IMCA sanctioned Stock Cars and Sport Mods would also race a full show with the winner earning a thousand dollars. Both classes bring big fields of cars to this track on a normal basis and on this night there were thirty eight of the Stock Cars and thirty one Sport Mods. 

Each class ran four heats and a pair of B Features to set their order for the mains with them using a draw/redraw format. Twenty four Stock Cars took the green for twenty five laps and while LaCrosse had to settle for runner up honors in the Mods, he was top gun in the Stock Car field. Phil Mott led the opening lap but was quickly passed for the lead by Mike Carter. 

LaCrosse, meanwhile, started tenth but smoothly and quickly drove to the front. He was second by the halfway point of the race with Rick Dix, Mott and Eric Mahlik next in line. LaCrosse continued to press and on lap fourteen he was able to drive past Carter and take over the lead. 

This race was stopped only once by the yellow and set up a five lap sprint to the  finish. LaCrosse pulled away again with Mahlik on the charge as he moved up to second. LaCrosse was in control however, and he opened up a comfortable lead as he drove on for the win. 

Mahlik, a Rose Bowl playing lineman for the Wisconsin Badgers in his college years, settled for the second place with Dix third. 

The Sport Mod feature would also start twenty four cars and this race wasn't run off quite as smoothly. There were five yellows in this race, a roll over and a couple of the leaders that would clash and take each other out. 

Travis Schmidt lead the opening round but Alec Wery made a very nice move to sweep around Schmidt and take over the lead. Some of the top runners here, Coy Vlies, Zach Raab and Cory Kemkes were all on the move as they worked their way toward the front. 

Wery continued to lead but Vlies and Raab, while battling hard with each other, both closed on Wery. Following a yellow flag on lap nineteen, Vlies was taken out by Raab as they battled in turn one and both were eliminated from the race. This opened the door to Kemkes and despite Wery pushing as hard as he could, Kemkes drove past him on lap twenty two and then led the last three laps of the race for the win. 

Craig Dorner made a late rush and also got past Wery for second with Cory Rass and Colton See completing the top five. 

I was surprised that with all the things a promoter must worry about on race night, that there would be time to announce but that's what Toby does here, a job that was the starting point of his long and successful career in motorsports. On nights when there is a weather issue, the township gives the racetrack a "mulligan" and doesn't enforce the curfew but still, with all that had gone on during the evening, the final checkers still waved just about 11 pm. very good considering. 

On Wednesday night, they will do it again here with the same program and same purse being offered. The only change will see the Stock Cars go first in the running order ahead of the Sport Mods. There was a decent sized crowd on hand on Tuesday, no doubt hurt by the rain that hit just as folks would have been making a decision on whether to attend or not. It was also shown live on FLO, but don't ask me it that affected the attendance. I have my opinion but can't back it up with facts. 

Johnson and Murty Top Indee "Monday Night Madness"

 When the Stuart International Speedway reopened under the leadership of Mike VanGenderen, it immediately made a splash with the public, partly in part due to its innovative and bold schedule. Weeknight races on the most unlikely nights were a part of that plan, a plan that continues to work today with a varied and aggressive schedule of special events.

Now that MVG has joined with Dana Benning as co-promoter at the Independence Motor Speedway, the trend continues. While they work to restore the great racing that Indee featured at one point, MVG's fingers are all over the schedule, which shows races on various nights of the week with a healthy sprinkling of special events and even some national series shows coming to the Buchanan County Fairgrounds. 

Monday night madness was a huge hit at Stuart and Monday nigh June 10th, the first Monday Night Madness show would be held at Indee. The regular six classes that race at the track would be in attendance but with extra money on the line for all three. The Late Models were running under the PRO Series rules with all five classes using the draw/redraw format that the drivers seem to favor but not so much most sanctioning bodies with each having different philosophies on that subject. 

It was a beautiful night for racing and with over $25,000 on the line for the drivers, a good field of racers was in attendance. I'm sure that some were still adjusting to a Monday night race, particularly since most drivers and fans, for that matter, had just gotten done with a busy three nights of racing. However, those that want to race somehow always find a way to get to the track and fans, for that matter, also. I special event that appeals, such as this night, is often earmarked by both groups and special plans are made to not miss this kind of a show that brings just a bit of extra excitement to the proceedings. 

If my Math is correct, ninety nine drivers signed in to race with the largest number on hand racing in the Modifieds. A nice field of Late Models was also on hand with some drivers that normally are not seen at Indee in the group assembled. 

Action picked up at the last minute as not surprisingly, many of the racers arrived at the last minute with quite the scramble to get signed in and parked. However, in a tradition that we expect from MVG and his crews, the racing would begin exactly at 7 pm, just as we hoped for. Specifically, he advertises hot laps at 6:45 pm with racing to follow but a 7 pm start on a Monday is about as much as anyone could possibly expect. 

Before the show, I had the pleasure to share a few moments with Jim Roper, the long time voice of the Independence Motor Speedway. Indee was one of the very first tracks in the state of Iowa that I first visited those many years ago when the trip seemed like an adventure to a foreign county but I remember Jim on the mic way back in those days, with Jerry Blue, I believe, promoting the show and I always remember his convertible pace car. Jim told me that he has been announcing since 1986 here, now edging up on forty years, and he and Bucky Doren make a good pair sharing the mic this year. 

Once the first green flag drops, it is nonstop action and on this Monday night, the completed fifteen qualifying heat races in fifty seven minutes while waving the yellow flag only twice! That, in a perfect world, is the way it should be on every race night. 

Let's mention some of the outstanding performances turned in by drivers on Monday night. Sean Johnson has been the driver to beat in the Late Models here at Indee this year and he continued that run with another strong showing on Monday night. "Dancing" Bobby Hansen started on the pole but with a big opening lap move, Logan Duffy came from the second row to pull past Hansen and lead the opening lap. But it took Johnson just one more lap before he was able to get past Duffy and take over the lead. Everyone chased Johnson the next twenty three laps but without success as he drove on to the victory. 

Even a couple of late yellow flags didn't bother him as he pulled away to take the win, leading Duffy and Matt Ryan across the line for the win. Only one driver of the sixteen that took the green wasn't running at the finish. 

The twenty car Modified field was dominated by Dallon Murty after he received an early race gift. Bret  Ramsey had taken the initial lead with Murty close behind but when the yellow waved for a spinner, Ramsey developed a flat front tire and had to make a bee line to the pits for a replacement, turning the lead over to Murty. 

That was more than a big enough gift to Murty, who then drove away from the field and was not challenged the rest of the way as he drove to the victory. This race was on the tedious side, with several of the back markers having their troubles which resulted in seven yellow, all for one car spins that really bogged this race down. 

However, Murty was not about to be slickered by a competitor on a restart, as each time he pulled away and drove home for an unchallenged win. It was an adventurous race for Jeff Aikey but in the end he raced home second, topping Troy Cordes for that position. Following the race, both Murty and Cordes would head out down the highway, aiming for Wisconsin and a big two day show there for Toby Kruse.

MVG had to have been a proud parent after his son Rowdie drove a magnificent race to win the Stock Car feature. The first thee laps of this race saw the leaders go three wide, with each of them taking turns holding the top spot. It was Tom Schmitt who took lap one but on the second lap, Dusty Vis, driving an unfamiliar car to me, drove up beside Schmitt and grabbed the lead from Schmitt. 

However, the move of the night was to come next as Rowdee, who started in the second row, made a bold move as while the leaders were still racing side by side for the top spot, VanGenderen got a burst of speed, drove to the extreme high side of the track in turn three and made it first three wide, and then drove past both to take over the lead in a move that had the crowd cheering. 

From that point, the race was his to lose and he did nothing of that kind. In a feature that went green to checkers, he was constantly challenged by both Schmitt and Vis but he refused to yield or make a mistake and he crossed the finish line with those two in hot pursuit. RVG has come a long way as a driver in just a couple years. 

Jaice Tuttle had the lead for the opening laps of the Sport Compact feature but then Lucas Ricks gained some momentum on the high side and was able to squeeze past Tuttle to take over the lead. The rest of the race would see the top three running up under the cushion and with no mistakes from them, it was tough to get enough speed to pass them on the low side of the track. Ricks raced on for the win over Tuttle and Robert Rundle. 

I don't know how many feature races that Bradly Graham wins, but it seems like every time I see him race, he winds up in victory lane. He started on the pole for the Hobby Stock main and he then led from start to finish. Each time the yellow waved, he pulled away back under green and would have a convincing lead over Jim Ball Jr and Karter Miles at the finish. 

It was an adventurous night for Cole Suchow in the Sport Mod division. He was tagged three times for jumping starts and restarts and was eventually docked six spots in his heat, essentially placing him last in his heat race finish. 

However, despite this, and coming from thirteenth on the feature grid, he was able to use a late race yellow to overcome the lead of Matt Avila and drive on to victory in the feature race. 

Avila had dominated the feature, leading from start to finish over a rather small field of cars and putting most of a straightaway over the pack. Meanwhile, Suckow was on the march, passing car after car and getting by Austin Stamm for second. However, I don't think he could have caught Avila for the lead, but the yellow for a spinning car with just two laps to go, proved to be his salvation. 

Suckow took off strong on the green, throwing a slider on Avila and taking over the lead. Matt tried to respond but his slider was not as well executed. He clipped the front end of Avila's car, nearly sending his own car off the track. This gave Suckow more than enough advantage to drive on for the win over Avila and Stamm. 

In victory lane, Suckow seemed to indicate that he got the short end of the heat race calls by the officials, a belief that most in the crowd would disagree with, but whatever the case, he was the one hoisting the checkers in the air in victory lane.  

While the crowd was not spectacular, I would rate it equal with a weekly crowd at the track and this is something for MVG and Benning to build on. Their next special event here brings the World of Outlaws Late Model series to Buchanan County in what I assume will be a highly anticipated event.  

 

Ward Edges Out Berry Jr in Spencer Duel

 Another one of those highly unusual Monday night specials was held at the Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer Iowa on Monday night, June 3rd. Spencer and Stuart International in Stuart run the most varied and nontraditional schedules of perhaps any track in Iowa or even the Midwest and it is no coincidence that many events at Spencer are co-promoted by Trent Chinn and Mike VanGenderen, who runs things at those two tracks. 

Monday night would be round two of the IMCA Modified Summer Challenge Series, a new venture in 2024 put together by MVG and Chinn. Round one of this series was run last month At Independence and a spectacular field of over forty Modifieds was on hand on another Monday night. There would seem to be, however, more Modifieds in eastern Iowa than there are in the western side of the state so a field of twenty five was found acceptable by MVG  for this night of racing. I was unable to find the point standings for this series after the first race but with a healthy point fund available, most of the high point cars managed to find their way to Clay County for this race. 

Along with the Modifieds, the other four IMCA sanctioned classes that typically race at Spencer would be on the card, each racing for extra money for this event. 

It was a hot and humid early June night as the feel of Summer was in the air for at least the first time for me to experience in 2024. Even MVG was complaining that it was hot and he seems much more adapted for this weather than I. The sun was brutal as it got lower in the western sky and I have no idea how the drivers could even see where they were going during the early action. Why are so many tracks in the Midwest built facing West and East when that is the worst possible direction for a track to be facing?

Car counts in classes besides the Modifieds were a bit disappointing in a couple cases and while there never seem to be any Sport Compacts in this part of the world, someone forgot to tell the Sport Mods they had a show on Monday too. 

The last show held here in Spencer had really picked up the pace when it came to moving things along and avoiding delays between races and they kept that scenario going on Monday night. In fact, in the first couple of races, a couple of drivers almost got left at the gate as they didn't get to the track before their race started. A couple of heats were also sent onto the track for their pace lap before the previous race was completed and a couple of trail enders had to take evasive action to avoid the next heat that was already positioned to receive the green flag. 

With less cars in the pits, less heat races were needed but that still doesn't diminish a couple of interesting statistics that were generated on Monday. With the first green flag waving at 7:14 pm, nine heat races were completed in thirty five minutes with ZERO yellow flags waving during those heats. The Modifieds were running under the passing points system debuted at Inde which the drivers seem to favor as being the most fair while the other classes were doing draw/redraw. 

With just a little track prep, we were feature racing by 8 pm which did feel good on a week night. The feature races produced a mixed bag of action and entertainment value, for me at least. Fortunately, the two highest paying races produced the best racing in my opinion with both the Modifieds and Stock Cars having some good battles for the win while the other three classes saw breakaways and not much in the way of drama. 

There were only two different leaders in the Modified thirty lap feature but the lead was exchanged officially three times with numerous other passes during the race as the two leaders battled. It was a classic battle between Tom Berry Jr and Tim Ward and on this night, it was Ward that would emerge the winner. 

Berry Jr was the passing points leader and grabbed the lead on lap one. Just one lap later, Ward, who started right behind Berry Jr,. would duck under Berry Jr and take over the lead. The next lap saw Berry Jr again regain the lead and then these two would size each other up for many laps. 

It was interesting watching as they used different lines, especially on restarts of which there were three in the first eight laps. However, after that, it was green flag racing and with two distinct lines on the track available, it was a game of finding the fast line at the right time and then taking advantage. 

Berry Jr slipped high a couple times exiting turn two and this was where Ward eventually made his move, drawing up beside Berry Jr and then eventually edging in front. Berry Jr tried to fight back but would have to settle for second. Ethan Braaksma and Brandon Beckendorf were close the first half of the race but eventually slipped back just a bit. Joel Rust rounded out the top five driving a substitute car on this night as he had his number taped on the Luke Bird #88 car. 

The Stock Car feature was just as good as Jeffrey Larson, Kelly Shryock and Jake Masters battled right down to the wire for the win. Larson started on the pole and led for most of the contest but Shryock came from the third row and Masters much farther back, in row six. 

By the halfway point of the race, they had secured the top three spots and then did a shuffling of positions as they jockeyed with each other, trying to find a line that would best suit them. The winning pass by Shryock came after Masters got past Larson and then Kelly crossed them over and passed both to take the lead. Shryock has to be one of the top feature winners since they started to race regularly here several years ago and a bet on him is always a good choice. He drove home with the win by several car lengths overly a seemingly miffed Larson and Masters.

The other three feature races had much less drama. Levi Volkert led the first lap of the Sport Compact feature over a small field of drivers but it didn't take Oliver Monson long to gain speed and then pass him. And once in front, Monson was gone in the nonstop main. Anthony Clark missed the heat as he had not yet arrived at the track but started in the back and finished third in the main. 

The Hobby Stock feature was notable in that while it was the twelfth race of the night, a first lap spin would trigger the first yellow flag of the entire night! I had hopes that I would see a night without a single yellow but my hopes for a record breaking night were dashed when a couple of cars near the back failed to get through the first corner without getting turned in the wrong direction. 

The other takeaway from this race was just how dominant Mike Smith was over what I would consider a strong field of drivers. He started in row tow and split the front row cars and was in the lead before the first lap was done, only to have it cancelled by that yellow. 

No matter. He did the same dang thing on the second try to start the race. Wouldn't you think that someone would have tried to block him but it didn't happen. Once he was in front, he pulled away by a full straightaway as he showed speed that no one else could match. I began to wonder that maybe he was in the wrong class!

Cory Probst did some strong driving of his own, coming from the fifth row to race into second and then when there was a late yellow with just three laps to go, the crowd sensed that there might be another tight battle for the win. Wrong. Smith again pulled away and even Probst couldn't stay with him, although he would get a nice runner up finish. A last lap shuffle saw Jeremy Wagner race up to the third spot. 

There were only eight Sport Mods and when Matthew Looft drew the outside pole, it was lights out for the field. They couldn't even draw a caution that would have been needed to get Looft back in the same zip code with the pack. Matthew drove on in the nonstop race to win by a full chute over Justin Klynsma and Willy Kirk. 

All racing was complete by 9:15 pm and what looked to be a slightly smaller than normal Spencer crowd was happy to head to the gates early and perhaps go home to fire up that AC. The next race at Spencer is not until June 24th and that is probably a good thing. There has been a lot of racing in this area in the past few weeks and a chance to put a pause on might be good for everyone.