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
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