Monday, November 18, 2024

McCowan Tops List of Saturday Night Winners at Springfield

 Turkey Bowl eighteen concluded on Saturday night, October 16th at the Springfield Raceway. It was another Sunny day but windy and that wind was blowing right into the main grandstands. This made for a quite miserable night and folks were bundled up against the cold like it was a Winter event. And unlike the first two nights were the crowds were on the light side, there was a full house of folks on hand for the last night of feature racing along with a full show of Late Models that were there on a one night shot. 

Only the Late Models would get hot laps on this night to expedite things, but the track also opted to move back the starting time by an hour(no explanation given) so the first green flag would fly right at 6 pm. Thankfully the Late Models didn't qualify and they went on to prove that they can put on a fine night of racing without qualifying and starting the fast cars right on the pin while for the other class racing on Saturday, the Midwest Modz A, the B Mods and the Mods (Legend Cars also ran), it would be last chance qualifying for them and then feature race action. 

Lots of track prep was done on this night at it was interesting to note that the prime equipment used was the Heavy Hitch made by Dustin Sorensen in Rochester Minnesota. This is the same Dustin Sorensen that raced to World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year in 2024. A number of tracks in my home area also use this same piece of equipment successfully. 

The Late Model field was a good one with forty nine cars signing in to race from several different states. They ran heats, B features plus their main event and it was another night of many, many races. In fact, twenty three races(many more than most tracks run as a full show) were completed before the first feature races hit the track. If you sense another long night than you would be correct. 

The MIdwest Modz A feature would start off the evening's main events. This race dominated by Missouri veteran driver Mike Striegel who would take the Scott Campbell owner car to victory lane after starting on the pole and he would lead all twenty laps. 

Striegel took the early lead with Ben Newell and Mark Simon chasing him. Striegel was running right on the tight inside of the track and with their being plenty of traction, he didn't need to move up the banking as he pulled away from the field. Pete Richardson was making as much progress and anyone as after starting ninth, he was up to fourth by the halfway point. 

One lap past halfway, the only yellow of the race would occur when Simon rolled to a halt and was done. Back on green, Stiegel again pulled away but there was plenty of shuffling behind him as Richardson moved to second and Daniel Anders, not in the top five at halfway, roared all the way up to third. There were no more serious challenges for position after that and Stiegel drove home for the win. 

Over his career, Striegel has raced in just about every class available and even put in a tour of duty as flagman at Lucas Oil Speedway. Ben Newell would finish fourth and after a disqualification, J.C. Newell rounded out the top five. 

No one would bet against Terry Phillips when it comes to racing Modifieds at Springfield but I did on this night and I lost. I saw Kyle Steffens as the winner and in truth, he did the first twenty three laps of the Modified main but Phillips eventually got past him and then pulled away at the end. 

Steffens battled with Zack VanderBeek in the opening laps but then it was Zack and Phillips going at it as they exchanged the second position three times in the first half of the race. Only two minor yellows slowed things in the early going and by the halfway point, Steffens had Phillips and VanderBeek pushing him hard. 

Phillips is a master of this track with probably as many laps around it as anyone and once he got situated on where he wanted to run, he was able to work under Steffens and then drive into the lead, after which there would be no challenging him. 

Steffens held off VanderBeek for second, but perhaps the drive of the race was carried on by Darin Duffy. Duffy took off fast and was challenging for a top five spot early, until he spun on lap six and went to the trail. However, he didn't quit and drove his way  back to the front, getting past Trevor Fitz and Kenny Wallace for finish fourth. All this was accomplished using his IMCA crate motor with just a big spoiler attached. 

Twenty cars started the Late Model feature and only two drivers would hold down the top spot. Daniel Hilsabeck took the early lead from the pole with Dillon McCowan and Tony Jackson Jr doing the early chasing. Two quick yellows slowed the action with the second being the end for Ryan Gustin. He had worked his way up to fourth and looked to be a challenger until he suffered a flat tire and opted to call it a night. 

Hilsabeck continued to lead as Logan Martin moved into third and put heat on McCowan for the second spot. Justin Zeitner and Sawyer Crigler moved into the top five by the halfway point. 

Lap twenty proved to be the downfall for Hilsabeck as he slowed with a flat tire and turned over the lead to McCowan. Dillon was immediately challenged by Martin who very nearly got past him for the lead, only to have the yellow flag wave. 

However, McCowan altered his line following that lap twenty three yellow and he then managed to pull away on the last seven laps and scored a pretty comfortable win over Martin. Clay Stuckey, the short track specialist from Louisiana, really came on strong at the end of the race and he moved up to third as he got past Zeitner with Dustin Hodges completing the top five. McCowan scored the win in a car he had not driven for some time, pulling it out from the back of the shop to race on this November Saturday. 

The biggest passing performance to get the win was executed by Brayton Carter who came from the fourth row to win the B Mod feature. This was also saw the most different leaders as four different drivers would hold the point at some time during the race. 

Ryan Gillmore, the local favorite, took the early lead for the first two laps but Gillmore was just a bit off on this night and he was quickly overtaken by Canadian driver Glenn Styres for the top spot. Meanwhile, the two Iowa drivers, Carter and Logan Anderson, were both hustling toward the front with Carter up to fifth by the first yellow with Anderson close behind. 

Styres could only hold the lead for a single lap before Colson Kirk, who started fourth, passed for the lead.  Talin Willis was also in the mix of the top five with much dicing continuing. Anderson would find his way up to third and then second following a yellow but he then blew the cushion with Carter getting past him and moving into second by the halfway point of the race as Gillmore and Styres trailed them. 

However, just as he did in his heat race on Friday night, Carter would find a line right through the middle of the track that served him well and he was able to stay hard on the gas without sliding up the track and on lap seventeen, he drove under Kirk to take over the lead. 

The last eight laps of the race would go nonstop and Carter just extended his advantage with no one able to provide any challenges. Kirk would hold on for second with Anderson, Gillmore and Logan Hickerson completing the top five. 

Carter has been one of the dominating drivers in the Hawkeye state this year and this open competition win would provide the icing on a great year for him. Some were skeptical whether the IMCA type cars would keep up with the USRA B Mods but the southern Iowa drivers proved that they had what it took to do so. 

A lot of work by the track prep crew kept the racing surface good basically through three nights of racing, despite the huge number of laps put on it by all the various classes. It was another long night of racing with the final checkered once again waving after 1 am. That would be the only down side to the weekend but providing ample opportunities for all the drivers to race just takes time, no matter how fast you try to move the show along. Anyone planning on coming to this event should understand that you will see a large amount of racing but that it will take some time. You will also probably see nearly every open wheel class known to man. 

Thanks to promoter Jerry Hoffman and his staff or workers who are probably the real heroes of this weekend, working some very long hours in a variety of tasks to keep the program rolling and everyone satisfied. As Jerry would say, " Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!" 

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