As we headed west on Friday morning, we were hoping the forecast was going to be wrong for the Beatrice Octoberfest racing weekend. The farther we traveled west, the more the skies cleared and by the time we arrived in Beatrice, the sun was shining, it was 54 degrees and the winds were calm. That gave us hope of getting to see some racing that evening, which we did. However, Saturday was a different story!
Friday, four classes ran complete shows; IMCA Sport Compact, IMCA Hobby Stock, IMCA SportMods, and IMCA Modified. First up was the Sport Compact class which saw nineteen cars run their feature. The winner was the 94M of Brock Mcdougall. In the IMCA Hobby Stock division, local Beatrice driver, Jesse VanLaningham came from starting 15th to catch and pass Robby Marsh, who finished second. Third was Hans Houfek, fourth went to Lonnie Greuter, and fifth to Nick Beckman.
The IMCA SportMods had to narrow their field down to 24 cars by running two B mains. The feature did not get off to a good start, as on lap one, eleven cars were involved in a mess on the front stretch. One car, that of Shay Woods of Humeston, Iowa, knocked down one of the inside cement barriers, and then proceeded to end up on top of the next barrier. Early leader was local driver Gary Saathoff with Ankeny, Iowa's Kevin Sather hot on his tail, and Tyler Frye giving chase to the top two. Later, Sather would exit the race with what appeared to be a broken tie rod. Taking the checkers was Gary Saathoff, second went to Tyler Frye, third to Adam Armstrong, fourth to Kyle Olberding, and fifth to Daryl Dorn.
There were 55 IMCA modifieds in competition on Friday evening. Six heats and two b mains later, the field was narrowed to a 24 car starting field for the evening's final feature. The temperatures had dropped into the 30's by this time, but the saving grace was there had been very little wind all night long, which made it bearable for drivers and fans alike. The track had stayed quite racy all night, though there was a spongy area or two in turns one and two. Early battling on the track was between Will Brack, Chris Abelson and David Murray. Brack and Abelson got together resulting in Brack's early departure from the race. Murray was giving it his all later, when he spun in turn two and also retired just about the same time as Johnny Saathoff's car caught on fire and he went to the pits. Will Brack's brother, Matt in his 16M machine, came from seventh spot to overtake Abelson for the top position. Meanwhile, an impressive run behind the leaders by Jay Noteboom and Chase Junghans had ensued. When the final checkers of the night flew, it was Matt Brack from Mead, Colorado taking home the win by a good margin, followed by Chris Abelson. Third went to Jay Noteboom, fourth to Chase Junghans, and fifth to Bob Zoubek.
We knew it was not sounding good for racing on Saturday. When we peeked out of the motel room window, we saw a rain/snow mixture falling and temps were in the 20's. The Weather Channel was showing 17 inches of snow that had fallen to our northwest, in North Platte, Nebraska and snow was currently falling up in Omaha. Promoter Toby Kruse made the decision about 10 a.m. and "pulled the plug" on racing. It had already been decided that Sunday would not be used as a make-up day which had been originally scheduled. We loaded up and headed out, traveling in an alternate direction from our usual route home, in hopes of avoiding the snow that was said to be currently falling up in the Omaha area. We had a short distance of freezing rain on our windshield, but avoided any snow.
We counted ourselves lucky to have seen some good racing on Friday night and not have the whole weekend be lost. We had heard that some races back home in our area had also been scrapped and postponed, which will now leave us with more choices to finish out our racing season. The last we have heard, the Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City, Iowa will be running this coming Saturday, October 17 as a make-up date, the following Saturday, October 24th will be Shiverfest in Donnellson, Iowa at the Lee County Speedway, and the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa will attempt to finish the second night of their Fall Challenge, on Saturday, October 31st. Also check out the calendar of events on http://www.positivelyracing.com/ for even more possibilities. However, at this time of the year, it would always be a good idea to call the tracks to make sure the events are still on. Happy racing!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Bloomquist wins his second Knoxville Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals
A much drier day prevailed on Sunday, October 4th, when the Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals finally got to run. After three disappointing rain outs on consecutive nights, the final night was postponed until late Sunday afternoon at the famed Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa. The crowd was treated to great competition in the 100-lap feature, and in the end, it was Scott Bloomquist taking the win for the second time in the six year history of the event.
We had watched the weather forecast and kept an eye on radar ever since Thursday and had opted out of heading to Knoxville on any of the three previous nights that were scheduled. With the prospect of a much more pleasant night of racing on Sunday, we headed the vehicle toward Knoxville in hopes of watching the late models. By the time we arrived, the parking places were at a premium and people were tailgating and milling around everywhere. We were rather surprised to find the grandstands nearly empty when we made our way inside. When the motors started up however, the fans started pouring in and by the start of the first of five heats, there was a nice crowd on hand.
The heavy track did not produce anywhere near the record of 16.631 seconds around the 1/2-mile track during time trials. The five heat races also saw few cars advancing very far from their starting positions. The call was made to blade and repack the track before the C Main and B Main in hopes of a better racing surface. We were skeptical as were most of the fans around us, that this would make much improvement. However, we were proved wrong, as the rest of the racing was quite competitive and produced multi-line racing.
Twenty-eight cars started the 100-lap main event with NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart tagging the field. Those two drivers had to make the journey up from Kansas City after having competed there during the day, with Tony Stewart having won the Sprint Cup race. It was impressive to learn that both drivers, when interviewed from Kansas City, mentioned they were now on their way to Knoxville, Iowa to race. They were both allowed a hot lap session before the feature and although Stewart turned the fastest times of the day, the old saying of, "they run the best right before they blow" held true! His crew was able to get a new powerhouse inserted, and Stewart started the race in 27th position.
Shannon Babb took advantage of his pole starting position and led the race until about lap 65, when Scott Bloomquist put his familiar green and black #0 into the lead. Shortly after that, Babb entered the pits and a battle upfront between Bloomquist, Billy Moyer, Jimmy Mars and Brady Smith ensued. Mars would later retire to the pits and a new car was thrown into the mix when 20th starter Tim McCreadie made his way up to third position past Smith. Advancing well from 12th spot was Josh "Kid Rocket" Richards, previous winner Brian Birkhofer and fighting hard for position with Birkhofer was Tony Stewart. Scott Bloomquist took the $40,000 payday win, having repeated from 2005, Billy Moyer took second, third went to Tim McCreadie last year's winner, fourth to Brady Smith winner in 2007, fifth to Josh Richards, sixth to Brian Birkhofer, first winner from 2004, and Tony Stewart finished in seventh.
It was unfortunate that the full three day program was unable to be completed, but those fans who did see Sunday's show, saw a good one. Fifty-five drivers competed and we noted that perhaps only a handful of drivers did not return. It's very frustrating to drivers, fans, and promoters alike to have Mother Nature throw such a wrench into things, but there is no control over Her. Hopefully, the 7th annual running will have much nicer weather for the entire show.
There are a few more races within our area. We are going to try and make it to Beatrice, Nebraska this coming weekend for their annual Octoberfest show scheduled for October 9-10 and don't forget Shiverfest at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson on October 24th. Shiverfest is always a great way to end the season around here. Fun for the drivers and kids alike as they trick-or-treat the participating drivers on the frontstretch.
Happy racing!
We had watched the weather forecast and kept an eye on radar ever since Thursday and had opted out of heading to Knoxville on any of the three previous nights that were scheduled. With the prospect of a much more pleasant night of racing on Sunday, we headed the vehicle toward Knoxville in hopes of watching the late models. By the time we arrived, the parking places were at a premium and people were tailgating and milling around everywhere. We were rather surprised to find the grandstands nearly empty when we made our way inside. When the motors started up however, the fans started pouring in and by the start of the first of five heats, there was a nice crowd on hand.
The heavy track did not produce anywhere near the record of 16.631 seconds around the 1/2-mile track during time trials. The five heat races also saw few cars advancing very far from their starting positions. The call was made to blade and repack the track before the C Main and B Main in hopes of a better racing surface. We were skeptical as were most of the fans around us, that this would make much improvement. However, we were proved wrong, as the rest of the racing was quite competitive and produced multi-line racing.
Twenty-eight cars started the 100-lap main event with NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart tagging the field. Those two drivers had to make the journey up from Kansas City after having competed there during the day, with Tony Stewart having won the Sprint Cup race. It was impressive to learn that both drivers, when interviewed from Kansas City, mentioned they were now on their way to Knoxville, Iowa to race. They were both allowed a hot lap session before the feature and although Stewart turned the fastest times of the day, the old saying of, "they run the best right before they blow" held true! His crew was able to get a new powerhouse inserted, and Stewart started the race in 27th position.
Shannon Babb took advantage of his pole starting position and led the race until about lap 65, when Scott Bloomquist put his familiar green and black #0 into the lead. Shortly after that, Babb entered the pits and a battle upfront between Bloomquist, Billy Moyer, Jimmy Mars and Brady Smith ensued. Mars would later retire to the pits and a new car was thrown into the mix when 20th starter Tim McCreadie made his way up to third position past Smith. Advancing well from 12th spot was Josh "Kid Rocket" Richards, previous winner Brian Birkhofer and fighting hard for position with Birkhofer was Tony Stewart. Scott Bloomquist took the $40,000 payday win, having repeated from 2005, Billy Moyer took second, third went to Tim McCreadie last year's winner, fourth to Brady Smith winner in 2007, fifth to Josh Richards, sixth to Brian Birkhofer, first winner from 2004, and Tony Stewart finished in seventh.
It was unfortunate that the full three day program was unable to be completed, but those fans who did see Sunday's show, saw a good one. Fifty-five drivers competed and we noted that perhaps only a handful of drivers did not return. It's very frustrating to drivers, fans, and promoters alike to have Mother Nature throw such a wrench into things, but there is no control over Her. Hopefully, the 7th annual running will have much nicer weather for the entire show.
There are a few more races within our area. We are going to try and make it to Beatrice, Nebraska this coming weekend for their annual Octoberfest show scheduled for October 9-10 and don't forget Shiverfest at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson on October 24th. Shiverfest is always a great way to end the season around here. Fun for the drivers and kids alike as they trick-or-treat the participating drivers on the frontstretch.
Happy racing!
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