Beckendorf and Wilson Top Thrilling Finales at Indee Summer Nationals

 One hundred and sixty eight drivers signed in for the Wednesday night finale for the third annual IMCA Summer Nationals at the Independence Motor Speedway in Independence Iowa. And like any good event or presentation, they wisely saved the best for last, leaving a good impression in the minds of fans and participants alike with some thrilling, closely fought feature races, just enough controversy to leave folks' tongues a'waggin' and good memories of the racing that will carry on. 

The final night of the three night presentation saw the purse again elevated and for previously successful drivers as well as those not faring so well so far this week, it was "go" time with everyone wanted a piece of the generous pie being handed out on Wednesday. 

At various times all week, we thought we had seen the most intense racing possible, but that proved to not quite be the case as everyone amped up their game on Wednesday with some blistering racing action and plenty of body contact to go along with that. New winners emerged in three of the five divisions offered while a couple of the drivers with previous wins earlier again found their way to victory lane. In order of the events run, feature winners included Brayton Carter in the Sport Mods, Brandon Beckendorf in the Modifieds, Tyler Wilson in the Stock Cars, Wayne Gifford in the Hobby Stocks and Brad Chandler in the Sport Compacts. Both Carter and Chandler has won earlier this week, Carter on opening night and Chandler just last night. 

Track prep and racing conditions were discussed to the max over the last three nights of racing with just about everyone having an opinion. I try to stay away from what other "authorities" are voicing and keyboarding as I believe I can use my own eyes and ears to form an opinion so most of the chatter never reached me. 

There is no doubt that this track is one of the tougher ones to prepare and it hasn't been the greatest for all races all week. But it certainly isn't because of lack of effort on the part of those constantly working the track who must be exhausted almost to the breaking point by today. 

By with all that aside, I can say for sure that the track was the best it has been all week for the feature races on Wednesday and the drivers responded by giving us some great side by side battles, close finishes and plenty for the pit folks to chew on afterward, based on some of the happenings we saw on the track. 

The car count was down just a bit for Wednesday night, just as one might expect with mechanical issues, wrecks and just a lack of success sending some home. I was a bit surprised, however, that there weren't more drivers that just showed up for the one night to take a shot at the big money being offered, perhaps someone that couldn't be here for all three nights but with a whole new show each night, stood as much chance as anyone else at having success. There were actually less than a dozen drivers that were added following the opening night show on Monday. 

The basic format for the program was unchanged. However, with the smaller car count, neither the Sport Mods nor the Sport Compacts required B Features, both helping the show move along quicker and cut down on laps on the track. The running order was changed up once again with the Sport Mods, first on the track for their main event, actually running before the second planned track prep session took place.

I'm guessing that went over like a lead balloon among the Sport Mod drivers but in fact, they were presented a great track for their main event. All twenty five drivers on hand started the main event but it was Brayton Carter that jumped into the early lead from the outside of row one and he then would lead from start to finish. 

Carter quickly found the fast lane around the track, running the cushion on the South end of the track and hugging the tires on the North end and that strategy served him well as he pulled away from the pack. 

However, behind him a great race for second broke out with Caleb Woodard, Kyle Olson, Cam Reimers and Devyn Peterson exchanged positions regularly on the track. Woodard held it first, then Reimers grabbed it and finally Peterson claimed the spot. Each time the yellow waved, which it did on four occasions, the spot seemed to change hands. 

Following the last yellow, Carter again pulled away to claim the three grand top prize and Woodard again boosted his way back into second as he got past Peterson to claim the runner up slot. 

The Modified feature saw more different leaders than I believe any feature race of the week as three different drivers held the top spot at one point. 

Twenty four drivers, three wide, also started this race and it was Kollin Hibdon from the middle of the front row that took the early lead. He was challenged by Ethan Braaksma and Cody Laney in the early going. 

Braaksma closed in on Hibdon and with a slider in turn two, squeezed past Hibdon to take over the top spot. It was not well received by Hibdon, and justifiably so as they discussed the move post race but it was a pass nevertheless that sent Hibdon dropping back a few spots before he collected himself. 

However, the driver on the move was Brandon Beckendorf, one of the very few drivers that didn't participate on Monday night. He started on the inside of row two and was making good speed early as he closed in on the leaders. He showed  himself by trying both high and low until he finally got a good run at Braaksma and then he drove past to take over the lead just past the halfway point. 

After that he pulled away and with no more slowdowns in the race, he motored on for the five grand reward at the end of the twenty two laps. Braaksma finished up second with Hibdon getting past Laney for third and if there had been a few more laps, the battle for second could have gotten real spicey. 

However, not surprisingly, the closest feature race of the week was reserved for the Stock Cars with an absolute thriller that was not decided until the final few feet on the front straight on the final lap. 

Brandon Schmitt led the majority of the race, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the front row was completely comprised of Wisconsin drivers as the Cheese Heads" made themselves known to the other drivers this week. 

Schmitt led by inches, lap after lap over Tyler Wilson but they were joined at the halfway point by Kelly Shryock who had started seventh but slowly moved into contention. His smooth inside line found openings and he passed other drivers quickly and soon it was  a three car battle for the lead. 

The top three jockeyed back and forth, occasionally getting three wide after an opening lap four wide race down the front chute stopped by a yellow flag. Late in the race, Wilson found speed on the top side and with just two laps to go edged back into the lead. However, Schmitt turned a great lap on the next lap and as they raced to the white flag, Schmitt edged back in front. 

It was a great battle on the final lap as all three raced hard but did not touch each other and they came to the line side by side. For me, it was too close to call although  I did write down Wilson as the winner but not knowing exactly where the finish line loop is, it was just a guess. 

Sure enough, it was Wilson that was scored the winner with Schmitt and Shryock so close behind as to be tough to tell. I did not hear what the winning margin was, but it had to have been very small indeed. There can be only one winner but it was a great race run by all three drivers. The third Wisconsin driver, Nick Buckarma(the man with many pronunciations), came home fourth ahead of Cayden Carter who started way back in eighteenth. 

The Hobby Stock feature saw another three driver battle for the win in a race that was marked by quite a few crashes, a number of yellows and found nearly half the field in the pits by the time the checkers flew. 

Braden Gifford took the initial lead but could only hold the top spot for a few laps before he was passed by his father Wayne. They continued to battle with Braden hammering on the rear bumper of his father, just to let him know he was there probably. Meanwhile, running the low line, Monday night winner Leah Wroten stayed with the top two but each time they tried to do much racing, the yellow would fly again. 

There were several grinding crashes on the back chute and a number of drivers ended up on the wrong end of the hook which was kept busy all night. 

Finally, a single file restart was called car to try and get some racing completed. Wayne Gifford continued to hold his line and on the final lap, Braden raced hard up behind him but when he saw he would have to execute some kind of nefarious move to get the lead, he instead tucked back in behind his father and settled for the runner up spot. Wroten was there the whole time and she would race home third. 

Twenty five Sport Compacts ended up the evening racing in their fifteen lap feature race. Things started off difficult as pole sitter Adam Gates twice in a row jumped the start so badly that the start was called back an he was docked a row for attempt number three which saw Lucas Rick take the early lead. 

While the track was congested with drivers racing three and four wide, Brad Chandler was somehow able to race from ninth to second in one lap's time. He showed great speed and seemed to be vastly superior to the other competitors. However, once he got up to second, he seemed to just be waited on leader Rick to make a mistake and on lap four, Brad drove by Rick and into the lead with ease. 

Continuing his superiority, he seemed after this to run just fast enough to stay in front of the field but not draw too much attention to himself, if you know what I mean. His car seemed so superior to everyone else, I'm guessing he didn't want to draw too much attention to himself. 

While he cruised up front, Gates was busy as he tried to get back into contention after his early spanking. He was battling with Mitch Bielenberg for third when they got together and sailed off turn two. Bielenberg was restored to his position while Gates headed for the pits. 

At this point, with the race long on wrecks and yellows and short on racing, a single file restart was also called for in this class. Chandler continued to cruise, clearly the class of the field as he drove on for the one thousand dollar win. Bielenberg made a late pass on Rick to take second with just over half the starting field still racing at the end. After a very smoothly run program the last two features were quite the contrary and pushed the final finishing time well past 11 pm. 

Thanks go out to MVG, Trent Chinn and Dana Benning for producing this event, one that I hope continues again next year whether it be here or perhaps back in Spencer. The amount of work involved in operating such an event is staggering and so many moving pieces must fall together to make it a success that it is mind blowing . I am just thankful that there are folks willing to attempt such events and race fans and participants must continue to support them for these kind of races to continue. Sure, not everything is perfect, but what is in life? A few positive thoughts and actions to all the working folks here would be a good start. 

 

Tony Olson and Rust Drive Forward For Summer Natonals Wins

 Tuesday night, June 2nd was night number two for the third annual IMCA Summer Nationals held this year at the Independence Motor Speedway in Independence Iowa. It was another beautiful early Summer day in Iowa and one hundred and seventy nine drivers signed in to race in the five IMCA divisions offered. 

There were five new winners on Tuesday night with no repeaters from Monday and in the two top paying events, both Stock Car winner Tony Olson and Modified victor Joel Rust drove from behind to make passes on the leaders and take home the biggest checks. Other Tuesday night winners included Cam Reimers, Karter Miles and Mitch Bielenberg. 

As in often the case for multi day shows such as this one, night number two goes much smoother than the opening night as drivers figure out the track, officials spot things that need to be changed and make the necessary improvements and things overall just flow better. 

Among the changes made for the Tuesday night show were less laps for some of the feature races, the running order for the races was changed and the track prep crew learned better when to freshen the track and when to leave it alone. The drivers meeting was moved up so that everyone was more prepared to start the show at its advertised time and while it seemed to me that the drivers raced even harder than they did on Monday night, there were many less yellow flags and not the serious incidents that occurred on Monday night. The snafu with the redraw for the feature races was ironed out thus eliminating the delays between main events which helped also while cutting down on some of the rising tempers in the pits. 

The vast majority of the drivers that raced on Monday returned with the crews for the teams doing their usual amazing job of fixing what looked to be unfixable equipment. Kyler Hefty, the roll over victim right in front of the crowd on Monday was back on the track after some extensive repairs over night and even raced to a top ten finish in the Hobby Stock feature.

The other roll over victim, Devin Coghlan, was taken in for treatment last night after he wasn't feeling well at his pit area and while the car was in the pits again on Tuesday, it was not entered in competition. 

Other than the running order being changed, the program used the same format as on Monday with heats using the draw/redraw format and B Features for all divisions except the Sport Compacts where all drivers that were running started the feature race. In a show such as this with so many competitors and so many fast teams, the draw is critical and many of the drivers that ran up front on Monday struggled to get through the heats on Tuesday. 

For the second straight night, all feature races were started three abreast and while that does pose some challenges, the drivers have done a good job navigating the heavy traffic early on in the main events. And impressively during the Tuesday night show, three of the five main events would go green to checkers with not a single yellow flag in them with the other two having just two and three slowdowns during them. However, as we have seen time and time again, one of the yellows during the Modified feature made the difference in who sat in victory lane. 

The Stock Cars started off the main events on Tuesday with this class starting twenty seven drivers in their twenty lap main, the largest field for the largest class assembled here this week. 

The track was a challenge to the drivers on this night with a big berm during the heat races that really caused some difficulty for many drivers. However, that berm was bladed off after the heats and after that, the issue was the changing fast lane which switched so many times it was hard to keep up based on track prep and some of the classes that seemed to run better on different parts of the track. It was a "heads up" time for the drivers and trying to pick the fast lane, either by planning or just "seat of the pants" racing was key. And sometimes that fast line changed during the race, leaving some potential winners high and dry by checkers time. 

Such was the case in the Stock Cars were Zach VanderBeek started on the pole and jumped into the immediate lead. he began to pull away from the pack quickly as the low line seemed to serve him well. However, Tony Olson, who started next to Zach, decided after losing some ground to the leader to move up to the cushion and that made him faster immediately. Lap after lap, Olson began to eat into the margin he was trailing by and with no yellows to slow the action, VanderBeek saw his lead get smaller and smaller. 

Finally, Olson blew past him to take over the top spot with VanderBeek defenseless to stop him. Olson then continued his charge as he drove away for the win. VanderBeek did hold off a late rush from Braden Richards to salvage the runner up slot however. Richards has been the most consistent driver in the field so far with two top three finishes. Kaden Reynolds and Kodey Miles completed the top five. 

Twenty four Modifieds were set to go for twenty two laps in their main event, racing as the Stock Cars had for three grand on Tuesday. Jed Freiburger blasted out from the middle of row one to take the early lead in the feature. Not many laps were completed before a wild scrum on the back chute saw several drivers turned in the wrong direction and last night's winner Cayden Carter slide off the track with several calling it a night at this point. 

Freiburger continued to lead back on green and began to extend his advantage while a good battle for second saw Brennan Chipp fighting to hold off Spencer Diercks and Joel Rust who had started fourth. 

They were battling for the runner up slot but Freiburger was motoring away from the pack and eventually would have the better part of a straightaway lead over the field as his lead seemed to be solid. However, this would all change with the blinking on of the yellow light when Ethan Braaksma slipped over the banking and stalled. 

When the green reappeared, the race had changed complexion considerably. How often have we seen the whole character of a race change caused by a yellow? Well, Rust, who was running the top side of the track suddenly found that he had speed to burn and he blew past Freiburger, who just a few laps earlier seemed to be untouchable, and took over the lead. That's how quickly things change sometimes following yellow flags. 

Tripp Gaylord, who started sixth, also drove by Freiburger in the last laps to finish second while Freiburger must have been asking himself why that yellow had to have happened while winner Rust certainly celebrated that late yellow, that saw him make the winning pass with just four laps remaining in the race. 

The Sport Mod feature went green to checkers with twenty quick laps spun off by the twenty four drivers that started this race. This race bore a similar look to the Modified feature with one big exception, that late yellow that might have changed things never appeared. It was a Cam Reimers show on Tuesday as he started on the pole and led all laps. He pulled away to a big lead and without any slowdowns, his only problem was lapped traffic that one the rubbered up track, made getting by some of the slower cars dicey. 

However, he had a big enough advantage that he was able to show patience and most of the slower drivers did a good job yielding so he was never in any danger. There was a good battle for second with Keegan Nordquist holding off a persistent Zach Davis to take that spot. Caleb Woodard and Dylan VanWyk completed the top five in this race. 

Carson Butt took the initial lead in the Hobby Stock feature but could only hold off Karter Miles for a single lap before Miles drove past him to take over the lead. And once in front, Miles would lead for the rest of the sixteen laps of the contest although Butt remained close enough to be a challenger. A couple collisions slowed this race and on every green Butt gave it a shot, but Miles was just a bit stronger and held off every challenge. 

Miles drove home with a few car lengths to spare over Butt while Brent Vanous recorded a second top five finish,  and on Tuesday he still had both doors on the car as managed to avoid any skirmishes on the track. Only two drivers failed to complete this race and everyone was still on the lead lap at the finish. 

Twenty five Sport Compact drivers took the green for their fifteen lap finale to the night and in a field of like looking cars, the three very different looking Fords would dominate, going one, two and three at the finish. 

Jay Orr started on the pole and led the opening laps but it wasn't long before he was challenged and then, shortly after passed for the lead by Mitch Bielenberg. Bielenberg, Orr and Monday night's winner Brad Chandler then engaged in their own little battle for position, far in front of the rest of the field. 

In the third and final nonstop feature of the night, these three continued to battle but while they raced close, they never did exchange positions and would finish in that same order. The second group was led by fourth place finisher Devin Jones and Michael Gardner but they were far back from the top three. 

The third annual IMCA Summer Nationals concludes on Wednesday night and the winnings jumping  back up to the Monday night levels with $1000, $2000, $3000 and $5000 and $5000 going to five lucky and skillful drivers. Race time is again at 6 pm. 

Carter Family Cashes In At IMCA Summer Nationals "Invitational" at Indee

 The third annual IMCA Summer Nationals kicked off on Monday night, June 1st at the Independence Motor Speedway in Independence Iowa and it could not have been a better night for the Carter family from Oskaloosa. Brayton Carter won the Sport Mod feature while his brother Cayden won both the Modified and Stock Car main events and they were able to return to that southern Iowa community having earned a nice thirteen thousand dollars between them on night one of this three night spectacular. 

Other winners on opening night included Leah Wroten and Brad Chandler on what turned out to be a beautiful night for dirt track racing in Northeastern Iowa. 

This was the third annual Summer Nationals special promoted by Mike VanGenderen and Trent Chinn and with Dana Benning also on board this year as the Indee contact person. The first two years of this race were held at the Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer but construction at the fairgrounds this year made that facility unavailable and since MVG promotes the shows here along with Benning, it was a natural place to transfer the event to. And while the entire facility is not of the size of Clay County, it worked out nicely with camping also available on the grounds and the pits organized so that there was room for all the racers. 

One hundred and eighty five drivers signed in to race on Monday night and given the great purse they were racing for, my only question was why weren't there even more racers on hand? I suppose that because these races are held during the week, it makes it tough for some people to get off work etc and Monday night's race is actually a non sanctioned event, perhaps some point chasers passed on this show. What I would think would be a huge drawing card is the fact that all three nights are stand alone events so that someone that perhaps couldn't make all three nights can still show up and race for a night or two and not be handicapped against those on hand for the full series. 

They actually started here with a regular race night on Saturday night, then followed on Sunday with practice and timed runs with the fastest four in each class being automatically elevated into the Monday night redraw and not having to race a heat race to get into the show. And with the full fields in all five divisions, that would be an excellent benefit. In fact, four of the five eventual feature winners went that route and didn't have to race heats. 

While national points were not available for Monday night's program, all IMCA rules were in effect and all three nights will feature three wide starts which have become a trademark of this event. At one point, the Monday night race was scheduled to be an "invitational" event only with certain criteria needed to be asked to be a part of the Monday night show but when the numbers were such that a full field wouldn't be racing, it was then opened up to anyone that wanted to enter so for some drivers it was an extra bonus to get one more night of racing in and to be racing for some excellent money too, by the way. 

B Features were needed in all five divisions with the Stock Car field being the largest with fifty four drivers signing in to race. All features started twenty four drivers with the exception of the Stock Cars where twenty eight took the green, likely because their numbers were the largest. 

Racing would start just a bit after the advertised time due to some extra track prep work needed on the sunny and warm June night with hot laps quickly run off just to "buzz" in the track just a bit before racing started. It was a draw/redraw show so drawing a good starting number was important but then again, when isn't it? A couple extra track prep sessions were built into the program over what is often seen at MVG shows but the surface at Indee does seem a bit more sandy than at most Iowa tracks and does tend to lock down if it isn't repeatedly worked on. 

Despite the large amount of money on the line, the feature races themselves weren't of an excessive distance with the Sport Mods, up first for their main, going twenty laps. Brayton Carter started on the pole after the redraw but just because he started in that position, it didn't guarantee victory for him. In fact, if not for a late race bold move, he may have had to settle for second. 

Caleb Woodard started on the outside of the three wide start and he jumped into the early lead and then showed the way for the majority of the race. Carter settled into second with Austin Kemp running third early. 

Woodard continued to lead and showed no indications of faltering as Carter continued to chase him with Jake Sachau moving into third by the halfway point of the race. Carter and Sachau may have been closing up some as the race went into his later half, but it seemed likely that Woodard would be the winner unless he faltered. And while the leaders were all running the inside line, Dylan VanWyk had driven into fourth using the cushion and did appear to be the fastest driver on the track at this point. 

Things all changed when the yellow flew with only five laps to go for a spinning driver. For the double file restart, Carter surprised many by picking the top side. Whether or not he saw that VanWyk was making time up there, or that he thought that would be the open lane in which to make a pass or perhaps he just threw caution to the wind, we won't know but the fact of the matter was that it turned out to be a brilliant decision as when the green flag waved, Carter moved as if shot out of a cannon and drove easily past Woodard to take over the lead. 

He extended that advantage in the final few laps and drove home for the uncontested win over Woodard and Sachau, earning three grand for the win. A smoothly run race, there were only three drivers that didn't finish but lapped traffic never became an issue with two yellows nicely interspersed. 

The Sport Compact feature was not nearly as smoothly a run event with several yellows, several grinding collisions, one flip and finally, the race finished up after being forced to go to a single file restart to get laps completed. 

Brad Chandler started in the middle of the front row but launched into the lead from the beginning and he would lead all laps, with the race being cut by five due to all the yellows. His lead early was over Lucas Rick with Ryan Bryant eventually passing Rick for that spot. 

A lap five red was called for when Devin Coghlan flipped off the back chute as a part of a scrum of cars going in all directions. He was OK and the race was restarted, only to see at least a half dozen cars again collide on the back chute, drawing a fourth yellow flag. 

The restart went single file at this point and the last five laps saw Chandler continue to control things, as he was never challenged as he drove on for the win in his first time of the year on the race track. Bryant finished second with Rick third as nearly half the field was gone by the time the checkered waved. 

The Stock Cars were impressive as twenty eight of them went nonstop for twenty five laps for their main event. Cayden Carter started on the pole and he led all twenty five laps with first Kodey Miles and then Braden Richards chasing him. Carter was untouchable as he raced right through the middle of the turns and no one able to even challenge him. 

Despite all the cars on the track and the race going nonstop, Carter didn't have to deal with a lot of lapped traffic, the one thing that might have thrown off his timing but he simply motored on at his own pace with no one able to keep up with him. Despite several other drivers trying to get into a challenging position, the top three continued to run in the same order and that's how they finished off the race. 

It was a rocky start for the Hobby Stocks with the front row starters tangling almost before the green flag was even waved with drivers going in all directions. Despite several having to go to the work area for repairs, all twenty four were on the track for the second attempt to go green. This one didn't go any smoother with Kyler Hefty ending up flipping right into the fence in front of the crowd in a very close up and personal wreck. 

Again, all drivers were OK  but the number of damaged machines was starting to mount. The third time was the charm with Karter Miles taking the early lead over Brandon Nielsen with Leah Wroten, who started in the middle of row two, quickly moving into third. 

While most of the drivers were trying the banking, Wroten planted her car right on the inside tires and it worked beautifully for her as she was able to slip under the other drivers and with great drive off the corners, move into the lead. There were three move yellows for assorted collisions but each time the green again waved, she was able to accelerate away from the pack with her low side runs. 

The last seven laps of the race went green and she just continued her smooth run as she drove on for the win. A late charge saw Brett Vanous, minus a right side door from an early collision, move up to third after starting thirteenth on the grid with Wayne Gifford, who ran second until the late pass by Vanous, settling for third. And despite all the crashing and bashing, there were only five drivers that didn't finish the race despite many looking the worse for wear. 

The Modifieds finished up the night with a thirty lap feature, the longest event of the night. But it might as well have been either three or three hundred laps because the distance didn't matter as no one would be catching Cayden Carter. 

For the second time of the night, he would again dominate a strong field of drivers, leading from start to finish to earn another five grand. In fact, the top two finishers, Carter and Konnor Wilinski, held those spots for the whole race and neither were really challenged at any point. 

There was only one yellow in the race and that was when Tripp Gaylord got tagged and spun but he got his spot back so that his heated battle with Spencer Diercks could continue. They went at it for the whole race, swapping the spot back and forth and at the line, it was Diercks who edged out Gaylord for third. Drew Janssen, running the Josh Fisher car on this night, was in the top five for the whole race and settled for that spot after running as high as third at the halfway point. 

I enjoyed the commentary provided by the announcers as Jeff Kroph, the regular track announcer, was joined by Positively Racing's Jeff Broeg and Stuart/Memphis announcer Tony Paris although their pa system was a bit edgy all night. 

Tuesday night all five divisions will be back in action for another full program. The purse drops slightly on Tuesday although it is still very good money before jumping back up on Wednesday to the Monday night level. I would assume just about all the racers will return and who knows, there might be some more with this night being sanctioned and points on the line for those chasing such things. Race time is 6 pm. 

All five classes will be back at in on