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.
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