Changing weather conditions and racing updates found me eventually heading South where I was pleased to find the 2026 season opener for the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway to be "a go." While they did lose their planned opener last Sunday, fine weather graced them this Sunday and it was a very pleasant night to enjoy some dirt track racing, even as conditions were twenty degrees warmer from whence I had come.
Opening night at Dubuque would feature five divisions of IMCA racing plus the Crown Vics which are now a weekly addition at the track. The highlights of the evening racing were three of the five feature races decided in the late going with both the Hobby Stock and Stock Car mains settled on the last lap and one was so close that the wrong driver actually went to victory lane!
Sixty nine drivers signed in to race in the six divisions, a number that surprised me in that it was smaller than I expected. Both the Sport Mods and Stock Cars had only enough drivers on hand to provide for a single heat race but I must assume that as the season progresses, more drivers will be on hand as race cars are completed and the inevitable early season shuffling between tracks shakes out.
A lot of the folks that I always have seen at Dubuque have moved on as the times have changed but it was comforting to see that Kelly Welter is still running things at the back gate, "Big Boy" is still calling the action and Doug Haack, who has been here I think since the first green flag has flown here, is still in charge of traffic control. Making a return also was the Union 76 glow ball in the infield, something that has been here forever it would seen from back in the NASCAR days, but this is the first time I remember it actually working in decades.
The track was an opening night track. By that I mean that with so much rain of late, the track prep crew's focus was on providing a smooth racing surface and for that reason they ran it dry. It did stay smooth and it got slick and fortunately the breeze was in the correct direction so that the dust blew away from the stands.
The bad part was that the track remained "dirty" and never cleaned off so a second lane for passing was not found much all night. Actually, the Late Models in their last race of the night finally cleaned it off a bit and if they could have started the night that way instead of wrapping it up with those conditions, there probably would have been a lot more passing and drivers getting off the hub.
However, with that being said, there still were several thrilling finishes to feature races that weren't decided until the last lap. Let's talk about those first.
The Stock Car feature ended up being so close that many in the stands and apparently the pits also, didn't know who actually won! Jerry Miles took the lead at the start and then actually led for fourteen and nine tenth laps, only being nipped at the line for the win. While Jerry maintained the lead, Kodey Miles and Presley Harrington raced close behind him. The three were running in tight formation and trading second as they looked for an opening to take the top spot.
When Kodey spun while going for the lead, it set up a four lap sprint to the finish and Harrington decided to go for broke. Instead of hugging in behind Jerry Miles, he stepped out on lane and tried to edge past the leader as Jerry was intent on protecting the low line.
Harrington got up beside Jerry during those last four laps and they jockeyed back and forth, with Harrington trying to get a little run off the second lane to edge past. They entered the final lap side by side and stayed so through the final corners, They raced to the line still side by side and while I thought Harrington had nipped Jerry, my angle was bad and I was just guessing. Actually, no one has a decent angle for the finish line the way the seating is except for Haack and the folks in the tower.
Initially, Miles went to victory lane but then Harrington was called from the infield and he replaced Jerry as the winner is what was one of the closest races of the season to date. Jordan Miles would finish third.
Nearly as close was the Hobby Stock feature where a last lap pass saw Karter Miles take the win as the Miles family was prominent all night. In this race, Matt Bennett started on the pole and his job was to block the inside line and not let anyone get past him there. Several drivers tried getting up on the banking but there was simply no traction up there as it was like racing on beach sand so after losing spots, they dropped back in line.
Karter Miles nearly ran up the back end of Bennett's car several times but Bennett closely guarded the inside line and with no one willing or able to move up the track, the line kept getting longer and longer on the inside.
Bennett kept getting slower and slower, entering the corners and braking earlier each lap and finally, as the white flag waved, Miles went for broke and pulled to the second lane. He was able to find enough speed that he could get past Bennett down the back chute and then drove home for the win.
Kyle Hefty, who had experimented with the second lane a couple times but failed, tried one more time on the final lap and he too was able to pass Bennett, shuffling him back to third at the finish.
The third feature that played out much the same way was the Late Model feature, the final event on the card. Veteran Steve Johnson took the early lead in the race, which after a first lap spin that slowed the action, ran green to checkers for twenty five laps. T.J. Fortmann moved into position behind Johnson and followed him closely. A few other drivers tried the outside early, but most gave up on that line when then went into reverse and lost spots.
Johnson guarded the inside line religiously and never got off the bottom. Fortmann couldn't get him to move out and instead nearly ran up his rear bumper several times but every time he tried to jump to the second lane, he simply spun his tires and lost ground.
Ultimately, what cost Johnson the win was that that he kept getting slower and slower, entering the corners at reduced speed to hold the bottom. Finally, with just a pair of laps left, Fortmann tried again in the second lane and he had enough speed that he was able to clear Johnson and then duck back to the bottom down the back chute.
He won by a comfortable margin then, gaining quite a bit of distance over those last two laps. Johnson did hang on for second over Joel Callahan though with Eric Pollard the only driver able to make the top work to some degree.
The Modified feature was a runaway for Jed Freiburger, the defending track champion. Grant Manthe started on the pole and was the leader for the first three laps but there was no holding back Freiburger and once he made the pass for the lead, he was gone.
A mid race yellow for a spin didn't bother him and once racing resumed, he again pulled away, leading by a considerable margin over Bone Larson to take the win. Spencer Diercks charged up at the end to finish third.
Ian Hurst dominated the short field in the Sport Mods, taking the lead on lap three from Nick Shrope and then pulling away from the pack. Fifteen nonstop laps were completed after the first attempt to go racing was halted by a yellow and Hurst built a gigantic lead over the field to take the win.
Shrope settled for second with Jarett Franzen rounding out the top three.
A dominating driver so far in the Crown Vics, Derrick Dean won for the second time I saw him this week as he grabbed the lead on lap three and pulled away from the field for the win. Ross Christ claimed the initial lead but that only lasted for two laps before Dean drove past him and that was the end for the rest of the field.
Even a lap ten red flag when Travis Nesteby flopped his car over after he rolled a tire off the rim didn't slow down Dean as once the green reappeared, he disappeared into the Iowa sunset. Rob Culbertson ended up second with Will Schmitt third.
A nice sized crowd was on hand for opening night on what was a most comfortable night in April to watch racing. An opening night glitch found the scoreboard not operating but "Big Boy" did a nice job of appraising us on the lap situation of each race.
Track officials did not fall into that mistake of because the car count was a bit down they would drag things out so that spectators would feel they got their monies worth. Instead they moved things along with the first green flag flying at 6:03 pm and the final checkered at 8:32 pm! And believe it or not, I didn't hear a single fan complain that the races got done too early!
Thanks to everyone at Dubuque for their help on opening night which from all appearances, went very smoothly.
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