Sunday, April 29, 2012

Boone Gets Back to Racing

The Boone Speedway finally got back to racing on Saturday night--a night when many other tracks cancelled due to wet conditions. However, at Boone, the racing DID happen. They have a really good drainage system that helps tremendously and when we arrived, the track was ready to go. We heard by word of mouth, that two of their tractors were "out of commission", but with two still working, and the road grader to pull another set of packing equipment, the show went on! Dressing warm was a no brainer on this night as the winds were very brisk, and with the damp air, it was more than a bit chilly! The program began right after the hot laps were completed, starting about 15 minutes early.

The Mod Lites were up first for their feature event. We understand that they prefer to be strictly called Mod Lites now, what with nearly everyone now running that new body style. However, we noted at least two of the old "Dwarf" bodies still out there in the 27 car field. Randy Bryan took off to the lead from his pole starting position but it was Andy Hennigar who came from starting in row six, to tag his tail with just a handful of laps down. Those two battled it out the remainder of the way, Bryan keeping the lead. Hennigar wasn't going to be content with that runner up spot though, and as the two came to the checkered flag, he was able to snatch the win away. Third and fourth was a battle too, with Josh May keeping the upper hand over Mike Kennedy, as they scored in that order, and fifth went to Jason Whitehead.

The IMCA Northern SportMod class had their usual stellar field of cars--38 strong. They ran two B features, taking two cars each to tag the field of the main event. Tom Burke and Randy Roberts were those winning consy feature drivers. Mike Pruitt came from the second row to grab the point almost immediately. Scott Davis came from row four to put the pressure on him the rest of the way. They would finish first and second, in that order. Jason Mallicoat, driving the #36 machine that we often see piloted by Matt Pittman, came from row five, to nab third place. Fourth place was Marshall, Minnesota driver, Bruce Egeland, who makes the haul down nearly every week to race at Boone, and David Schlicht took fifth.

The 20-lap IMCA modified feature was led flag-to-flag by Grimes, Iowa driver, Luke Wanninger. He pulled to a sizable lead as three cars battled behind him for position, Jake Durbin, Jimmy Gustin, and Mike VanGenderen. VanGenderen's night would end, when he was broadsided in the middle of turns one and two, bringing out the yellow. On the restart, Wanninger was challenged briefly by Jimmy Gustin, but would then shake him off and take the win. Gustin finished as runner up, Durbin was third, fourth went to Joel Bushore and Kelly Lyons--who started in row seven--finished fifth.

The IMCA stock car 18-lap feature was highlighted upfront by Michael Jaennette and Alan VanGorp, as they did battle for the lead. Jaennette never relinquished the point after grabbing it at lap two, and took his first win since April 23rd of 2011 at the track. VanGorp was scored in second, with Gary Bass, Ryan Rose, and Donavon Smith taking third through fifth.

The night ended with the IMCA hobby stock feature. They had 37 entries on hand and they ran two B features, taking two from each, to tag the starting main line up. Shannon Anderson and Tim Barber won the B's. John Watson has enjoyed much success at the Boone Speedway over the last year or two, and it was no different last night, as he took another victory. Curt Reed chased him the entire twelve laps, but could only muster a second place finish. Third went to Storm Lake driver Justin Nehring, fourth was Carl Knight and fifth Aaron Rudolph.

The program moved right along last night, and had it not been for more than a few cautions, the program would have been completed earlier than the 10:40 tick of the clock. We will hope for nicer conditions weather wise next Saturday night as racing continues for the season. I see by their schedule, there will be free admission for those 17 and under as an added perk.

More complete results are listed below. Happy racing!





Saturday, April 28, 2012

Boone - 4-28-12

Unofficial results: 158 total cars

Modified - 26 cars

Heat 1 - 20 Luke Wanninger
Heat 2 - 28R Russ Dickerson
Heat 3 - 24 Robert Avery

Feature

1. 20 Luke Wanninger
2. 19 Jimmy Gustin
3. 18 Jake Durbin
4. 87 Joel Bushore
5. 27 Kelly Lyons
6. 10K Ronn Lauritzen
7. K1 Kyle Krampe
8. 24 Robert Avery
9. 5 Todd Shute
10. 20X Chad Louk
11. 75 Denny Rosenberg
12. 21K Kyle Brown
13. 28R Russ Dickerson
14. 3Z Randy Havlik
15. 58 Denny Pittman
16. 4 Tony Hilgenberg
17. 88L Mike Louis
18. 57V Mike VanGenderen
19. 4R Michael Reichart
20. 36 Jeff Conner
21. 93 Cale Sponsler
22. 12C Kent Croskey
23. 49T Tim Stevens
24. 69X Jon Snyder
25. 83G Josh Gilman
DNS: 92 Jeff Stephens

SportMod - 38 cars

Heat 1 - 19 David Schlicht
Heat 2 - 9E Eric Elliott
Heat 3 - 81D Scott Davis
Heat 4 - 6 Darren Huntley

B Main #1 - 2 advance

1. 5B Tom Burke
2. 72 Rick Ringgenberg
3. 28 James Reichart
4. 57 Lynn Brockett
5. 14 Jared Hansen
6. 13T Taylor Musselman
DNS: 26 Jason Carney
55R Rick Routh
36H David Hoover

B Main #2 - 2 advance

1. 1 Randy Roberts
2. 3L Clint Luellen
3. 22B Brian Eppert
4. 198 Sam Wieben
5. 66A Anthony Onstot
6. 3 Stacey Clark
7. 48 Blake Conant
8. 27L Lukas Onstot
DNS: 34J Jerry Hinton

Feature

1. 92P Mike Pruitt
2. 81D Scott Davis
3. 36S Jason Mallicoat
4. 35 Bruce Egeland
5. 19 David Schlicht
6. 63 Daniel Tasler
7. 86 Cory Rose
8. 9E Eric Elliott
9. 80J Jared VanDeest
10. 24 Brian Miller
11. 23JR Nick Roberts
12. 59 Tara Longnecker
13. 3L Clint Luellen
14. 12 Doug Smith
15. 72 Rick Ringgenberg
16. 77 Jack Myer
17. 91 Shawn Hunter
18. 6 Darren Huntley
19. 66 Cody Hennings
20. 3S Adam Shelman
21. 1 Randy Roberts
22. 27 Tim Love
23. 5B Tom Burke
24. 00 Brett Moffitt

Stock Car - 30 cars

Heat 1 - 19A Alan VanGorp
Heat 2 - 9 Jerry Gifford
Heat 3 - 56 Lonnie Hodges

B Main - 4 advance to A

1. 26K Butch Bass
2. 3H Ty Hill
3. 55 Cory Bushnell
4. 76 Norm Belew
5. 19J Jay Schmidt
6. 6 Adam Hilgenberg
7. 5 Keith Miner
8. 05 Seth Bowen
8.9. 1 Bradlee Clark

Feature

1. 93 Michael Jaennette
2. 19A Alan VanGorp
3. 27 Gary Bass
4. 12+ Ryan Rose
5. 35 Donavon Smith
6. 25 Trent Murphy
7. 22 Wayne Gifford
8. 24 Eric Brown
9. 25M Michael Murphy
10. 04 Don Vis
11. 25X Bob Daniels
12. 9 Jerry Gifford
13. 45 Larry Crocheck
14. 23HR Rod Richards
15. 50K Kevin Balmer
16. 3 Tim French
17. 26K Butch Bass
18. 98 Derrick Rohe
19. 3H Ty Hill
20. 50 Robert Stofer
21. 55 Cory Bushnell
22. 56 Lonnie Hodges
23. 556 Terry Cornelison
DNS: 64 Scott Bailey

Hobby Stock - 37 cars

Heat 1 - 4W John Watson
Heat 2 - 96R Jamie Songer
Heat 3 - 23C Carl Knight
Heat 4 - 24B Brandon Brinton

B main #1 - 2 advance

1. 78 Shannon Anderson
2. 67 Ed Mahlstedt
3. 77G Ryan Grochala
4. 16B Jay Arends
5. 77C Andy Coffman
6. 14 Matt Wahlert
7. 66 Andy Mahlstedt
DNS: T15 Jacob Thompson

B main #2 - 2 advance

1. T56 Tim Barber
2. 35G Phillip Castellano
3. 911 Darin Rothfus
4. 20B Ben Bruck
5. 26T Jeremy Tilley
6. F1 Blaine Frist
7. T71 Marcus Kyle
DNS: 11 David Castellano


Feature

1. 4W John Watson
2. 4C Curt Reed
3. 20N Justin Nehring
4. 38R Aaron Rudolph
5. 23C Carl Knight
6. 24B Brandon Brinton
7. 47W Shaun Wirtz
8. 3A Austin Luellen
9. 96R Jamie Songer
10. 27R Clint Rothfus
11. 9 Andrew Arends
12. 51D Dustin Filloon
13. 35G Phillip Castellano
14.96 Mark Hidlebaugh
15. 36S Mike Smith
16. 500 Garrett Eilander
17. 67 Ed Mahlstedt
18. 78 Shannon Anderson
19. 99 Jeff Knight
20. 12M Matt McDonald
21. 63 Cory Tasler
22. 5 Dustin Lynch
23. 5A Tyler Pickett
24. T56 Tim Barber

Mod Lite - 27 cars

Feature

1. 15 Andy Hennigar
2. 64 Randy Bryan
3. 99 Josh May
4. 95 Mike Kennedy
5. 11R Jason Whitehead
6. 16 Angelo Montgomery
7. 7 Johnny Mordock
8. 8 Dusty Masolini
9. 46 Kevin Grisham
10. 01 David Schmalzried, Jr.
11. 09 Joel Keenan
12. 19 Brad Melton
13. 4L Larry Sorenson
14. 76 Terry Sorenson
15. 19JR Danny Foster
16. 44J Justin Hopkins
17. 00 Phillip Reeves
18. 1JJJ John Gardner
19. 66F Eric Hendrickson
20. 9 Rick Taylor
21. 3C Duane Coffman
22. 93 Tim Milner
23. 20 Jeff Stensland
24. X50 Joel Huggins
25. 89 Travis Stensland
DNS: 46Z Bryan Zehm
41Z Ed Zehm






Thursday, April 26, 2012

Mother Nature Smiles on Osky Again!

The Southern Iowa Speedway seems to be the bright spot in racing in the state of Iowa this spring. For the fourth week in a row, racing happened at the Speedway. It was great to be watching the racing action without being bundled in layers of clothing, trying to keep warm, as the temps were in the low 80's at the beginning of the evening. There were some neat things thrown into the mix last night for both racers and fans, and the car count appears to be getting stronger each week.

The IMCA Sport Compacts had five drivers on hand. Larry Hopkins, last week's winner, repeated his win. He motored his ride ahead of Merv Chandler in second, third went to Bill Whalen, Jr., fourth to John Whalen, and new driver at the track, the #33 of Justin Millhouse was fifth. Hopkins, who drives a Dodge--a Neon I believe--is rather in the minority now a day. As fellow racing fan "FTF" said last night, "You can kick Dodge out of NASCAR, but you can't take them out of the IMCA Sport Compact class"!

The "Gasman", Cayden Carter, scored his second win at the track in the IMCA modified division. Veteran driver, Jim Lynch, led the pack for the first handful of laps, with Carter coming fast on the low side. After making the pass on Lynch about lap eight, Carter pulled away with the lead, never to be challenged again. Shane Weller came through the field to score a third place finish behind Lynch, the runner up, fourth went to Brandon Banks and Jeff Conner made the trip over from Panora, to round out the top five spots.

The IMCA Hobby Stock feature was another runaway for Shannon Anderson. Anderson, who calls Urbandale home now, has loved the big old half-mile track at the Southern Iowa Speedway as of late. He won the Frostbuster, as well as the season opener, and was second in last week's feature. Anderson, who started back in row six, charged through the pack, overtook Danny Thrasher at lap four, and from there on, never looked back. Eric Stanton made his way past Thrasher as well, as they were scored second and third in that order. Fourth went to John Watson and fifth to Dustin Griffiths. There were packs of cars vying for positions during the event, cars going four and five-wide. Looks like the reshaping of the track (a lot of dirt has been shaved off of the highside of the track....with more fence visible than we can recall for many a year) has certainly not hindered the racing, and the drivers are taking a liking to it.

Next up was the IMCA stock car class for their 18-lap feature. The start of the race could have been disaster, as cars got bumped just after the flagstand. Alan VanGorp was bumped, causing his car to get crossed up. He did a fantastic job of gathering it back under him, thus avoiding what could have been a real nasty situation as the field was bearing down. Todd Reitzler led the first couple of laps after the complete restart, but it didn't take long for Zack VanderBeek to come calling. VanderBeek, who started in row four, took the lead by lap five, and then sailed away to the win. Nathan Wood came from row five, to finish in second place, third went to last week's winner Kyle Harwood, fourth to Todd Reitzler, and Alan VanGorp finished in fifth.

The IMCA SportMod feature completed the night's scheduled racing. Lap two of the race found cars piling up in corner one, and cars having to be realigned for the restart. On lap three, none other than Jesse Sobbing, the successful driver from southwest Iowa who hauls 3 1/2 hours to race at Osky, flew into the lead and then pulled away to win his second race at the track this year. The real race on the track was for second. It was an exciting and entertaining battle between Josh Modde and Curtis VanDerWal, with those drivers swapping position back and forth. VanDerWal won the quest there and finished in second with Modde having to settle for third. Tony Johnson finished in fourth, with Race Hulin rounding out the top five.

A couple of things of note on the evening: The drivers made their way over into the grandstand to meet and greet the fans. That was a great idea from track manager Mike VanGenderen, and well received by the fans. So often, a driver is "just a number" to the fans, and getting to really see and meet the driver, is great. A fun little contest was also held, when some of the hobby stock drivers...down front in the grandstand...attempted to down five soda crackers in one minute's time. Three drivers were successful, those being new driver for the night, Rich Polka,(if I heard correctly) Bobby Greene, and Jarred Gann. Their reward was a free pit pass for next week. Maybe if veteran driver Bill Bonnett had attempted to complete the feat, instead of slyly slipping the crackers under his hat, he would have really given it a go had he known the reward! We also noted the track and it's new grading. You can now see so much more of the fence in the corners than in recent years. The track did get dusty during hot laps, but kudos to VanGenderen for watering the track--done quickly I might add--and bringing the track back. We also enjoyed a chance meeting in the parking lot prior to the races, with SportMod driver, Curtis VanDerWal. VanDerWal, a former asphalt driver at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids, made the switch to the dirt the last couple of years. He told us he gave it a whirl in ASA racing and just when he was about to attempt it full time, they folded up. If we recall correctly, he won his first feature at the monster half-mile on season championship night last year. Thanks Curtis, for stopping to take the time to meet us. We always appreciate any driver doing so.

Unofficial results are listed below, but be sure and check the website for the correct results. Happy racing!





Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Osky - 4-25-12


Unofficial Results

Modified

1. 10c Cayden Carter
2. 77 Jim Lynch
3. 20Dub Shane Weller
4. 22 Brandon Banks
5. 36 Jeff Conner
DNF: 70 Jesse Dennis
51 Tyler Vandekamp
12H Dakota Hayden
1X Steven Streeter
7W Mark Widmar
40 Scott Dickey
DNS: 13 Matt Waugh
1J Jeff Streeter

SportMod

1. 99 Jesse Sobbing
2. 1 Curtis VanDerWal
3. 30X Josh Modde
4. 8T Tony Johnson
5. 505 Racer Hulin
6. 95J Brad Iverson
7. 7 Carter VandenBerg
8. 3K John VandenBerg
9. 85 Jason McDaniel
10. 36 Matt Pittman
11. 10R Ryan Fullenkamp
12. 12 Eric Flander
13. 86 Corey Rose
14. 16 Mike Shelton
15. 03 Mark Mundell
16. 72 Brett Lowry
DNF: 57 Tyler Gross
10G Jim Gillenwater
8 Tom Lathrop
64 Casey Greubel
10H Jack Housley
01 Brayton Carter
38 Bill Gibson
27 Bryon Weyer

Stock Car

1. 33Z Zack VanderBeek
2. 52 Nathan Wood
3. 15K Kyle Harwood
4. 22R Todd Reitzler
5. 19A Alan VanGorp
6. 44 Todd Fisher
7. 2K Derrek Kirkland
8. 39 Clayton Garden
DNF: 88H Randy Hemsley
73C Carl Yaw
29 Matt Greiner
94 Cory Stout
60 Clay Deppe

Hobby Stock

1. 78 Shannon Anderson
2. 7B Eric Stanton
3. 84 Danny Thrasher
4. 4W John Watson
5. 10G Dustin Griffiths
6. 32T Bobby Greene
7. 52 Kevin Fee
8. 12A Rob Allison
9. 19 Bill Bonnett
10. 31 Dale Porter
11. 69 Craig Brown
12. 2N Donovan Nunnikhoven
13. 96R Jamie Songer
14. 33X Justin Hook
15. 20 Andrew Husted
16. 1 Blake Miller
17. 20B Ben Bruck
18. 76 Rich Polka ?
DNS: 181 Zack Hahn
6 Jarred Gann
224 Gina Greubel
25 Bobby VanBuskirk
31X ?

Sport Compact

1. 4 Larry Hopkins
2. 2 Merv Chandler
3. 00W Bill Whalen, Jr.
4. 77 John Whalen
5. 33 Justin Millhouse

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Boone Rains Out for Second Week in a Row!

The NO rainout record for the Boone Speedway is getting tarnished this season as for the second week in a row, Mother Nature put a big damper on the racing. After having a rainout on the final season championship night on September 3, 2011, the record held back to the 2009 season for having no cancellations. The second shower that came through just as hot laps were completed, proved to be the factor that determined the call for the cancellation.

Next Saturday night, April 28, will be yet another attempt to get the season opener for regular point’s racing in as scheduled.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Cold night, fast racing at Marshalltown

Marshalltown Speedway got it's first night of regular track points in on Friday night, after suffering a rain out last week for the scheduled opener. Plenty of race cars were on hand as SEVEN classes competed on a cold and blustery night. Action on the track was not lacking and the fans that braved the cold northerly wind, with the dirt flying, got their money's worth. Thanks to the track officials for moving the show along at such a quick pace!

The first main event was for the visiting Micro Sprints. The ten cars on hand, ran a 10-lap feature. The #76 racer of Brad Comegys led from the start and appeared to be securing a feature win. However, on the last corner as they came to the checkers, second place runner, #B4 of Kelly Buckellow, swung around the leader and beat him to the finish line, and the win.

IMCA Sport Compacts, a new regular weekly class at the Speedway, was up next. Veteran racer, Merv Chandler grabbed himself yet another of his numerous wins, as he led flag to flag. Dave Moorman finished second, third went to Jer Pedersen, fourth was Jordan Peters and Justin Tharp finished fifth.

Up next was the Mod Lite feature. Mike Morrill paced the field the entire feature event, taking the win in easy fashion. Josh May ran out of time to make a real challenge for the lead, and settled for second. Randy Bryan ran third, fourth was Andy Hennigar and Jason Whitehead rounded out the top five.

The IMCA Northern SportMods had to complete their starting 24-car feature line up by running a B main. That consy race went to Shawn Simotovich. Simotovich would have an unpleasant end to his night in the feature---more on that later. Clint Luellen took the win, as he led much of the event. Behind him is where the action was really brewing. It was constant position changes every lap among Jenae Gustin, Eric Elliott, Racer Hulin, Nick Roberts and Joel Rust. The checkered flag was out as the cars approached the finish, but suddenly, Shawn Simotovich, a lap car, was sideways right before the flagstand...cars boring down on him. Those cars that were battling so hard for position, were not all lucky to avoid him. Unfortuanely, those taking the brunt were Gustin and Elliott, as they came to a stand still, cars damaged from the impact. Racer Hulin, Nick Roberts and Joel Rust managed to avoid the melee, and they finished second through fourth in that order, with Jake Strayer making it to fifth. Thankfully, no one was injured.

The IMCA Hobby Stock feature was pretty much dominated by Brandon Brinton, as he took his first win of the season. Eric Stanton was making a challenge early, but a flat tire put him into the pits and out of the race. Another Brandon got in on the act, as it was Brandon Pruitt taking his #10B ride to the second place finish, Eric Knutson was third, fourth went to hard charging Scott Pippert who started eleventh, and fifth was Eric Larson who came from twelveth.

The always fun to watch, IMCA Stock Cars ran an 18-lap feature. Sean Johnson and Damon Murty sat on the front row, and you just knew it was going to be a good one! It was! Murty grabbed the lead but Johnson was right there. With about a handful of laps remaining, Johnson made his move and snatched the lead away from Murty and went on to take the win. Michael Murphy, in his first year in the stock car—making the jump from hobby stock—finished a close third. Steve Meyer and Matt Greiner were fourth and fifth making for an exciting, close finish for all five spots.
The 20-lap modified feature was no less exciting. Jimmy Gustin set sail early with Adam Larson and Jon Snyder giving chase. Any slight slip would have changed the outcome, but it didn’t happen. Gustin took the win, Larson finished a close second and Snyder right behind in third. Visitor from Wisconsin, Mike Wedelstadt took fourth over Tim Murty in fifth.
Check the www.marshalltownspeedway.com for the complete results. The track now has an app for your smartphone that will give you the weekly lineups as well as results. Who would have ever thought it! Happy racing!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Fast cars and fast show at Osky

It is great to be able to hit the road for home before 9:40 on a weeknight, and that is exactly how it was last night at Osky. New track manager, Mike VanGenderen is moving the show right along and from all we've been hearing, the fans appreciate it a great deal, as do we. It also helps when there is only one yellow caution flag for all of the feature events! This may be due in part to track conditions as it was well groomed and no dust flying last night! Had to laugh when VanGenderen pulled out a small plastic bucket to "water" a couple of dry spots that were appearing in turn one....but it worked!

A nice field of 27 IMCA SportMods were on hand last night. This is such a growing class, and they always have good numbers at the tracks we attend. Jason McDaniel rocketed off from his pole start at the drop of the green and was pulling away, when at lap two, the yellow came out for a car that smacked a guardrail. When the green flew again, McDaniel wasted no time in sailing off and away from the field. Brett Lowry held on to his second place spot, but there were battles brewing aplenty behind him. Among those fighting hard were Mike Shelton, Carter VanDenBerg, Eric Flander, Bill Gibson, and last week's winner, Jesse Sobbing. Sobbing had started in twelfth position and was quickly making his presence known to car after car on his move to the front. Sobbing caught second place Lowry by lap ten of the 16-lap feature and made the pass on him into second with just a few laps remaining. Time ran out for him to strongly challenge for the top spot, and the race ended with McDaniel taking the checkers, Sobbing having to settle for the runner up spot. Lowry finished in third, Bill Gibson was fourth and Carter VanDenBerg was fifth.

The IMCA stock cars ran an 18-lap feature with the outcome really over when the green fell. Kyle Harwood motored to the win with ease as the race ran flag to flag.
Nathan Wood raced past Matt Greiner as they took second and third in that order. Fourth went to "the guy from just over turn one", Corey Stout, and LeRoy Groendyke is enjoying a good early season from making the switch to the stock car class, from the B mod, with a fifth place finish.

Five IMCA Sport Compacts were on hand to run a 10-lap main event. Bill Whalen, Jr. led the early laps but it was Larry Hopkins (a name from the past who raced a stock car if memory serves me correctly) making the pass for the lead and then on to the win. Whalen, Jr. kept second, third was John Whalen, fourth, Merv Chandler--last week's winner, and Mark McColley (sp?) was fifth. They ran a caution free race.

The IMCA hobby stockers ran a 15-lap feature. Donovan Nunnikhoven dominated in this one, taking the win. Runner up, and last week's winner, as well as Frostbuster winner, Shannon Anderson was reeling in Nunnikhoven, but ran out of laps to score anything better than the second spot. It was a close finish for third and fourth between John Watson and Dustin Griffiths. I scored Watson a bit ahead of Griffiths, but check www.oskyspeedway.com for the official results. Eric Stanton and Kevin Fee were fourth and fifth. The racers kept this feature going caution free too.

It's a bit disappointing to only have eight modifieds show for the weekly show...11 were on hand last week. Hopefully, more cars will be coming out in this division as well as the others as the season progresses. The 15-lapper was entertaining however, with young Andrew Schroeder looking to make it to victory lane. Just after lap ten however, Gilman's Richie Gustin made the pass on the backstretch, taking over the lead. Schroeder would soon fall out of the race, and head to the pits after sheetmetal flapping on the left side of his car became a problem. Shane Weller, in his first season in the modified class, scored a second place finish, while last week's winner, Cayden Carter took his ride to third. Jeff Conner, the last car running, was credited with a fourth place finish.

The Iowa Sportsman Series ran tonight as well, and though we did see two of the three legs of their 20-30 lap features run, we opted to head toward home as they began their final race. The earlier two legs were won by the #54 car of Gene Tish. Tish we recall as a former hobby stock racer. Other names we were catching was the #18 of Kris Walker...no stranger to the big half-mile track. Ten of the cars were on hand to compete. Check the track website for the complete driver list and results. I believe this is a traveling series that competes at various tracks through out the season, but not regularly scheduled for any one track.

Next week, we plan to be back sitting in the grandstand at the Southern Iowa Speedway--been doing it for many, many years, for another night of racing. Hot laps are 7 p.m. and racing promptly at 7:30 p.m. It's Centerville, Iowa night", so bring proof that is your town, and you will be admitted for $5.00. I had earlier said admission was free, but sorry, that is incorrect. Some unofficial results are listed below. Happy racing!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Osky - 4-18-12

Unofficial results:

Modified Feature

1. 19G Richie Gustin
2. 20DUB Shane Weller
3. 10C Cayden Carter
4. 36 Jeff Conner
DNF: 02 Andrew Schroeder
40 Scott Dickey
13 Matt Waugh
22 Brandon Banks

Sport Mod - 27 cars

Feature

1. 85 Jason McDaniel
2. 99 Jesse Sobbing
3. 72 Brent Lowry
4. 38 Bill Gibson
5. 7 Carter VanDenBerg
6. 16 Mike Shelton
7. 1 Curtis VanDerWal
8. 12 Eric Flander
9. 27 Bryon Weyer
10. 19J Jenae Gustin
11. 505 Racer Hulin
12. 81D Scott Davis
13. 67 Chris Larson, Keokuk
14. 32L Ty Luellen
15. 8T Tony Johnson
16. 36 Matt Pittman
17. 01 Brayton Carter
18. 8 Tom Lathrop
19. 198 Sam Wieben
20. 30X Josh Modde
DNF: 777 Jayme Duinink
95J Jason Hall
64 Casey Greubel
3K John VanDenBerg
DNS: 10R Ryan Fullencamp
03 Mark Mundell
66R Richie Arnold

Stock Car Feature - 16 cars - Race went flag to flag

1. 15K Kyle Harwood
2. 52 Nathan Wood
3. 29 Matt Greiner
4. 94 Corey Stout
5. 49G Leroy Groenendyk
6. 33Z Zach VanderBeek
7. 19A Alan VanGorp
8. 22R Todd Reitzler
9. 81 Don Killen
10. 1X Tom Killen
11. 60 Clay Deppe
12. 88H Randy Hensley
13. 38 Rich Vogt
14. 39 Clayton Garden
DNF: 2K Derrick Kirkland
73C Carl Yaw

Hobby Stock - 18 cars

Feature

1. 2N Donovan Nunnikhoven
2. 78 Shannon Anderson
3. 4W John Watson
4. 10G Dustin Griffiths
5. 7B Eric Stanton
6. 52 Kevin Fee
7. 31 Dale Porter
8. 57 Scott Shull
9. 20 Andrew Hustead
10. 96R Jaimie Songer
11. 84 Danny Thrasher
12. 224 Gina Greubel
13. 53D Ron Downing, Jr.
DNF: 19 Bill Bonnett
181 Zach Hann
12 Mike Kincaid
33 Justin Hook
32T Bobby Greene

Sport Compact - 5 cars

Feature

1. 4 Larry Hopkins
2. 00W Bill Whalen, Jr.
3. 77 John Whalen
4. 2 Merv Chandler
5. 3X Mark McCulley

Also ran "Iowa Sportmen" No results at this time except
first leg (25 laps) won by #54 Gene Tish, second leg (20 laps) won by #54 Gene Tish, and final leg was being run when we left.

Blog will follow.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

The "Gas Man" takes Osky win

The Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa held it's season opener on Wednesday night. Though it was a chilly night, thankfully the calm winds saved us in the stands from being too uncomfortable. Five IMCA classes ran, one for the first time ever as the sport compacts joined the modifieds, stock cars sportmods, and hobby stocks. Another first was also witnessed when Cayden Carter got his first ever A modified victory.

For the very first time at the Southern Iowa Speedway, a new class of cars was introduced---the IMCA Sport Compacts. The six-lap feature event for the little front wheel drives went to a wiley veteran of racing, Merv Chandler. Chandler led the entire race in taking the win, followed by John Whalen in the runner up spot, Bill Whalen, Jr. was third, fourth to Steve Meidke, fifth to Larry Hopkins (a name from the past in racing) and Corey Hawk was sixth.

The hobby stock feature was over from the drop of the green as Shannon Anderson pulled away from any competition. Anderson led the entire race on his way to another of his numerous wins. Kevin Fee finished in second with a good battle going on for positions behind him. John Watson came out of that battle in third place over Dustin Griffiths in fourth and Donovan Nunnikhoven was fifth.

It was an exciting sportmod feature next. Jason McDaniel was in command with just a few laps remaining, when a caution flag flew. McDaniel appeared to have mechanical issues at that point, and had to retire to the pits. This handed the lead over to Carter VanDenBerg, who had been dogging the leader. Meanwhile, twelfth place starter, Jesse Sobbing from Glenwood, Iowa had made his way methodically through the pack to now be breathing down the tailpipes of VanDenBerg. You just knew the finale was going to be a good one! Sobbing saw his chance on the restart, and made the pass around VanDenBerg and grabbed the win. Cars behind the leaders were shuffled a bit as well, with Jenae Gustin getting the advantage over Bill Gibson and Racer Hulin as they were scored third through fifth, in that order. Sobbing is no stranger to taking the checkered flag, as last season, he had 55 wins. Yes...55!!

The IMCA modifieds were up next. Front row starters were Scott Dickey and Cayden Carter. Carter, in his first year in an A modified, lived up to his nickname, "Gas Man", as he gassed it at the drop of the green, and he was gone! Scott Dickey was a distant runner up, and Corey Dripps, (driving Duane Petersen's car) was scored a distant third. Fourth went Shane Weller, jumping up from the stock car class this year, and Cody Haden rounded out the top five.

The final for the evening was ther 16-lap IMCA stock car feature. We have always loved to watch the stock cars run on the big half-mile as they always prove to make it an exciting one for the fans. Tonight was no different. "Heavy Duty" Don Killen, Des Moines, and Rich Vogt sat on the front row but there were heavy hitters behind them in row two---Damon Murty and Nathan Wood. Wood overtook Killen before a handful of laps were completed but the race was certainly not over by any means! Damon Murty, Todd Reitzler and "guest" driver for the night, Zach VanderBeek (in an orange ride with "Kelderman" beneath the door)came to join in the fun. They put on a show for the crowd that's for sure. Murty was able to make the pass into the lead and VanderBeek slipped into second, only to have Reitzler nose ahead of him. As they came to the checkers, Murty was able to hold on, and take the win. VanderBeek took the runner up spot as Reitzler took a little spin and fell back, Don Killen was scored in third, Matt Greiner made his way to fourth and Nathan Wood was fifth.

Racing was completed shortly after 10 p.m. Always good to have a mid-week show done at a good hour. It was announced last night, that a new incentive will be in place to encourage drivers to make the show ever week. In the modified, stock car, sportmod and hobby stock class, any driver finishing in positions 5-10 in their respective features, will be awarded a free pit pass the following week.

Next Wednesday night, there is free popcorn for the fans and added to the program will be the Iowa Sportsman Series. I understand this to be Enduro type racing. Hot laps are scheduled for 7 p.m. with racing at 7:30.

Below are more complete results. Happy racing!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Osky - 4-11-12

Unofficial results for opening night at the Southern Iowa Speedway

Modified:

Feature

1. 10C Cayden Carter - his first win in an A mod
2. 40 Scott Dickey
3. 25 Corey Dripps - in Duane Petersen's car
4. 20W Shane Weller
5. 12H Dakota Haden
6. 20 Luke Wanninger
DNF: 02 Andrew Schroeder
13 Matt Waugh
19G Richie Gustin
DNS: 22 Brandon Banks
77 Jim Lynch

SportMod:

Feature

1. 99 Jesse Sobbing
2. 7 Carter VanDenBerg
3. 19J Jenae Gustin
4. 38 Bill Gibson
5. 505 Racer Hulin
6. 1 Curtis VanDerWal
7. 32L Ty Luellen
8. 12 Eric Flander
9. 8T Tony Johnson
10. 72 Brett Lowry
11. 16 Mike Shelton
12. 10R Ryan Fullencamp
DNF: 3K John VanDenBerg
85 Jason McDaniel - out leading
01 Brayton Carter
27 Bryon Weyer
66R Richie Arnold

Stock Car

Feature

1. 99D Damon Murty
2. 33Z Zach VanderBeek - driving orange car with "Kelderman" on door
3. 81X Don Killen
4. 29 Matt Greiner
5. 38 Rich Vogt
6. 52 Nathan Wood
7. 94 Corey Stout
8. 22R Todd Reitzler
9. 1K Tom Killen
10. 19A Alan VanGorp
11. 88H Randy Hensley
12. 73C Carl Yaw
DNF: 60 (Sixty) Clay Deppe
49G LeRoy Groenendyk
15K Kyle Harwood

Hobby Stock

Feature

1. 78 Shannon Anderson
2. 52 Kevin Fee
3. 4W John Watson
4. 10G Dustin Griffiths
5. 2N Donovan Nunnikhoven
6. 19 Bill Bonnett
7. 7B Eric Stanton
8. 20 Andrew Husted
9. 32T Bobby Greene
10. 84 Danny Thrasher
11. 181 Zach Hahn ?
12. 52M Mark Fee
13. 57 Scott Shull
14. 6 Hamm ?
15. 31 Dale Porter
DNF: 25 Bobby VanBuskirk
17 Andy Peck ?
DNS: 42T Tyler Overton - rolled in heat

Monday, April 9, 2012

Elliott takes thrilling finish at Boone

Boone Speedway was the site on Saturday night of the fourth leg of the five-night, five-track schedule of the Frostbuster series for 2012. Lady luck shone on the track AGAIN as many parts of the state were wet. We drove in rain until hitting Ames, and then three miles from the track, sunshine! It was an all Iowa driver's winning list for the series this time, though drivers from several states as well as Canada, were on hand to test their skills.

They ran the IMCA SportMod 20-lap feature first. Fifty-two cars ran the heats, with three B's being required to whittle the starting field to twenty-four cars. Winners of those consy races were Joey Kates out of Kansas, Tracy Wassenberg from Wisconsin, and Rocky Caudle, Iowa.

Nick Roberts shot to the lead from his pole position starting spot, and he never relinquised it. Roberts pulled away from the field, taking the victory. Joel Rust ran second, with Austin Luellen in third. Fourth went to Bryan LaRiviere out of Wichita, Kansas, who was the 2011 IMCA national champion in the division, and following in fifth spot was Wisconsin driver, Tracy Wassenberg, a former Super National's champion.

The IMCA A modified's were brought to the track next to run their 25-lap event. They also had 52 cars attempting to qualify tonight; running three consy races to complete their field. Those wins went to Nick Deal, Jeremy Christians, Wisconsin racer, and Mitch Morris from Elridge, Iowa. Mark Elliott and Denny Rosenberg started from the front row but it was a three-car battle for much of the race. Jay Noteboom, Jimmy Gustin, and Mark Elliott fought hard for positions, thrilling the fans with the close racing action. Noteboom established the point spot early and when he still held it at the white flag lap, it was looking like a victoy for the Hinton, Iowa driver in his #7N ride. However, Webster City's Mark Elliott thought different! Elliott gunned it going into turn three and went low, passing Noteboom by turn four, and snatching the win! Jimmy Gustin (who was running some ride along video equipment protruding from his car in two positions, which should prove to be some interesting footage...not sure where to find it) finished a close third. The fourth place finisher was veteran NASCAR personality, Ken Schrader, Missouri native, who now calls Concord, North Carolina home, came from well back in the starting lineup. Scott Hogan, Vinton, Iowa rounded out the top five spots.

The Class too Tough to Tame, the IMCA stock cars ran 20-laps for their feature. There were 45 of these tough competitors on hand, requiring three B mains as well.
Those winners were Robert Stofer, Damon Murty and Wisconsin driver Matt Junio. Donavon Smith showed his dominance early, grabbing the lead from Michael Jaennette at the drop of the green flag. From there on, it was pretty much clear sailing for Smith as he led the rest of the race, pulling away. Brandon Czarapata, Appleton, Wisconsin chased him to the finish line, though a ways between them. Micheal Jaennette, who has been having a good early season from our observations, took third place over Steve Meyer in fourth. Trent Murphy rounded out the top five.

It was John Watson taking home another of his many wins in the 15-lap hobby stock feature. Watson, who won the 2011 Frostbuster, as well as numerous weekly features, won by a comfortable margin over second place, Randy Embrey. Nevada, Iowa's Brandon Brinton finished third, and veteran racer Chris Jensen from Des Moines, was fourth. Beatrice, Nebraskan, Adam Armstrong finished fifth.

It was a windy, chilly night for racing with the race fans bundling up, but the racing was good and entertaining and we are just happy to be getting "back in the racing groove". Many of the weekly racing will be getting underway this coming week as does the Boone Speedway on Saturday night, April 14. You will be seeing the IMCA modifieds, IMCA stock cars, IMCA SportMods, and the IMCA hobby stocks, along with the Mod-Lites, all on a weekly basis. Hot laps are 6:45 and racing at 7:30. Happy racing!

Below are the unofficial results from Saturday's racing.

Modified:

Heat 1 - 08 Johnny Whitman, DePere, Wisconsin
Heat 2 - 18 Jake Durbin
Heat 3 - 12 Mark Elliott
Heat 4 - 9 Ken Schrader, Concord, NC
Heat 5 - 8 Kyle Strickler, Mooresville, NC
Heat 6 - 7N Jay Noteboom

B main #1 - 2 advance

1. 55D Nick Deal
2. 58 Denny Pittman
3. 66 Bob Heffer - Swift Current, Sask. CANADA
4. 12C Kent Croskey
5. 59 John Barber, Swift Current, Sask. CANADA
6. 00 Masen Big Eagle, Menor, Sask. CANADA
7. 4 Tony Hilgenberg
8. 8M Jay Matthias - DePere, Wisconsin
9. 88L Mike Lewis
10. 4R Michael Reichart
11. 32 Lloyd Henderson
12. 3M Josh Muller, Minot, ND

B main #2 - 2 advance

1. 99X Jeremy Christians - Hericon, Wisconsin
2. 66x Jared Seifert - Luxumberg, Wisconsin
3. 21K Kyle Brown
4. 19G Richie Gustin
5. 10K Ronn Laurtizen
6. 37 Sean Jerovitz - Green Bay, Wisconsin
7. 36 Jeff Conner
8. 5 Matt Rachek, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin
9. 27 Kelly Lyons
10. 87 Joel Bushore
DNS: 71 Derrick Big Eagle, Manor, Sask. CANADA

B main #3 - 2 advance

1. 70 Mitch Morris
2. 57V Mike VanGenderen
3. 28R Russ Dickerson
4. 2L Adam Larson
5. 8R Jesse Richter - Great Bend, KS
6. 3 Mike Albertson
7. 19R Todd Reed
8. 93 Cale Sponsler
9. X3 Shawn Reed - Casper, Wyoming
10. 4K Kyle Kudick - Mishicot, Wisconsin
DNS: 01 Joey Galloway - Manor, Sask. CANADA

Feature

1. 12 Mark Elliott
2. 7N Jay Noteboom
3. 19 Jimmy Gustin
4. 9 Ken Schrader
5. 33D Scott Hogan
6. 75 Denny Rosenberg
7. 73 Dan Ratajczak - Frog Station, Wisconsin
8. 66X Jared Seifert
9. 08 Johnny Whitman - DePere, Wisconsin
10. 5M Matt Mienecke
11. 69X Jon Snyder
12. K1 Kyle Krampe
13. 8 Kyle Strickler
14. 99X Jeremy Christians
15. 25 Ricky "Racer" Stephan, South Sioux City, Nebraska
16. 57V Mike VanGenderen
17. 8X Scott Olson
18. 70 Mitch Morris
19. 58 Denny Pittman
20. 71W Jeff Waterman - Quincy, Illinois
21. 25P Mike Petersille - Hosington, Kansas
22. 58X Marcus Yarie - Wausau, Wisconsin
23. 55D Nick Deal
24. 18 Jake Durbin

SportMod:

Heat 1 - 661 Tyler Hackett - Algoma, Wisconsin
Heat 2 - 23JR Nick Roberts
Heat 3 - 2 Bryan LaRiviere - Wichita, Kansas
Heat 4 - 00 Brett Moffitt
Heat 5 - 01 Troy Jerovetz - Green Bay, Wisconsin

B main #1 - 2 advance

1. 23K Ben Kates - Tonganoxie, Kansas
2. 5B Tom Burke
3. 1 Randy Roberts
4. 3s Adam Shelman
5. 41 Jeremy Embrey
6. 85T Brandon Toftee
7. 26 Jason Carney
8. 93 Mike Stark
9. 27L Lucas Onstat - Norwalk
10. 21L Brad Lautenbach - New Franklin, Wisconsin
11. 11X Jon Schultz - Wisconsin
DNS: 28 James Reichart

B main #2 - 2 advance

1. 30 Tracy Wassenberg - Shawano, Wisconsin
2. 9 Eric Mahlik - Green Bay, Wisconsin
3. 8c Rob Charapata - Oconto, Wisconsin
4. 64 Casey Gruebel - Lacona, Iowa
5. 94 JJ Anderson - Green Bay, Wisconsin
6. 34 Mickey Nusser - Phillips, Wisconsin
7. 36 Matt Pittman
8. 6 Darren Huntley
9. 75 Justin Medler - Minot, ND
10. 86 Corey Rose
11. 321 Andy Tiernan

B main #3 - 2 advance

1. 99 Rocky Caudel
2. 92P Mike Pruitt
3. 198 Sam Wieben - Dysart, Iowa
4. 66A Anthony Onstat - Norwalk
5. 14 Jay Hansen - Audubon
6. 22B Brian Eppert
7. 13T Taylor Musselman - Norwalk
8. 32L Ty Luellen
9. 57 Lynn Brockett
10. 19 David Schlicht
DNS: 24 Brian Miller

Feature

1. 23JR Nick Roberts
2. 26J Joel Rust
3. 9X Austin Lucas
4. 2 Bryan LaRiviere
5. 30 Tracy Wassenberg
6. 01 Troy Jerovetz - Green Bay, Wisconsin
7. 3L Clint Luellen
8. 20 Brad Theys - Luxemburg, Wisconsin
9. 81D Scott Davis
10. 92P Mike Pruitt
11. 9E Eric Elliott
12. 23 Jared Hansen - Audubon, Iowa
13. 66 Cody Henning
14. 3s Adam Shelman
15. 34J Jerry Hinton
16. 59 Tara Longnecker
17. 23K Ben Kates
18. 9 Eric Mahlik - Green Bay, Wisconsin
19. 661 Tyler Hackett - Algoma, Wisconsin
20. 00 Brett Moffitt
21. 99 Rocky Caudel
22. 505 Racer Hulin
23. 92 Tyler Droste
DNS: 5B Tom Burke

Stock Car

Heat 1 - 35 Donavon Smith
Heat 2 - 12+ Ryan Rose
Heat 3 - 25 Trent Murphy
Heat 4 - 3H Ty Hill
Heat 4 - 25M Michael Murphy
Heat 5 - 33C Brandon Czarapata - Appleton, Wisconsin

B main #1 - 2 advance

1. 50 Robert Stofer
2. 89B Dave Stricker
3. 83E Thomas Thompson
4. 5X Ross Marshall
5. 3 Tim French
6. 1X John Mahlberg - Wisconsin
7. 76 Norm Belew
8. 73 Rich Pederson, Sioux Falls, SD
9. 77T Trent Jeanes

B main #2 - 2 advance

1. 99D Damon Murty
2. 00 Luke Lemmens - Kewanee, Wisconsin
3. 19A Alan VanGorp
4. 23HR Rod Richards
5. 45 Larry Crocheck
6. 98 Derrick Rohe - Audubon
7. 1 Brad Clark - Grand Junction
DNS: 50K Kevin Balmer - Garwin
58 ?

B main #3 - 2 advance

1. 10 Matt Junio - Wisconsin
2. 81X Randy Killen
3. 11G Nyle Godwin
4. 22X Jamie Suchocki - Forestville, Wisconsin
5. 26K Butch Bass
6. 27 Gary Bass
7. 556 Terry Cornelison
8. 6 Adam Hilgenberg - Waukee
DNS: 55 Cory Bushnell

Feature

1. 35 Donavon Smith
2. 33C Brandon Czarapata
3. 93 Michael Jaennette
4. 94 Steve Meyer
5. 25 Trent Murphy
6. 25M Michael Murphy
7. 29 Matt Greiner
8. 99D Damon Murty
9. 19J Jay Schmidt
10. 103 JC Howell - Gun Barrel City, Texas
11. 22 Wayne Gifford
12. 15 Norm Chesmore
13. 9 Jerry Gifford
14. 12+ Ryan Rose
15. 3H Ty Hill
16. 27M Mike Munson
17. 89B Dave Stricker
18. 50 Robert Stofer
19. 5B Stefan Sybesma - Sanborn, Iowa
20. 00 Luke Lemmens - Kewanee, Wisconsin
21. 10 Matt Junio, Wisconsin
22. 56 Lonnie Hodges
23. 04 Don Vis
DNS: 81X Randy Killen

Hobby Stock

Heat 1 - 47W Shaun Wirtz
Heat 2 - 27 Jason Kohl - Missouri Valley, Iowa
Heat 3 - 40 Randy Embrey
Heat 4 - 27C Cory Adams

B main #1 - 5 advance

1. 13G Craig Graham - Webster City
2. 38R Aaron Rudolph
3. 20N Justin Hehring - Storm Lake
4. 96R Jamie Songer - Des Moines
5. 67 Ed Mahlstedt
6. 9 Andrew Arends
7. 26T Jeremy Tilley
8. 911 Darren Rothfus
9. 17J Josh Fredricksen - Des Moines
DNS: T71 Marcus Kyle

B main #2 - 5 advance

1. 5X Mike Johnson - Des Moines
2. 51D Dustin Filloon
3. T56 Tim Barber - Story City
4. 66 Andy Mahlstedt
5. 224 Gina Gruebel - Lacona, Iowa
6. 5 Dustin Lynch
7. 4D Jaimie Ayres - Webster City
8. F1 Blaine Frist - Boone
9. 500 Garrett Eilander - Newton
10. 14 Matt Wahlert

Feature

1. 4W John Watson
2. 40 Randy Embrey
3. 24B Brandon Brinton
4. 22 Chris Jensen
5. 6A Adam Armstrong - Beatrice, Nebraska
6. 12M Matt McDonald
7. 27C Corey Adams
8. 27 Jason Kohl - Missouri Valley
9. 13G Craig Graham
10. 55 Vince Buchholz - Waterloo
11. 10B Brandon Pruitt
12. 4C Curt Reed
13. 47W Shaun Wirtz
14. 5X Mike Johnson
15. 3A Austin Luellen
16. 03 Tony Harazin - Redwood Falls, Minnesota
17. 5A Tyler Pickett
18. 99 Carl Knight
19. 45B Craig Brotherson - Wall Lake
20. 38R Aaron Rudolph
21. 51D Dustin Filloon
22. 1 Blake Miller - Des Moines
23. 8B Robert Smith
24. 83S Scott Lograsso

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Central Iowa scores at Marshalltown Frostbuster

The pits were packed and over flowing last night at Marshalltown with over 210 race cars. The fans came out in full force as well. A freak accident involving the flagman could have been much worse than it turned out and a last lap incident in the modified feature changed the complexion of the finish. Winners were all from central Iowa with Sully, Laurel, Gilman and Chelsea taking home the trophies.

The IMCA hobby stock feature was a good show upfront with leader Donovan Nunnikhoven from Sully, and Lake City's Devon Smith putting on the show for the fans. Smith would end up by giving it just a bit too much effort at the very end, slip back several positions, and hand second spot over to Scott Pippert. Nunnikhoven took the win, with Pippert,(who had started mid-pack in the starting lineup after qualifying through a B feature) chasing him to the checkered flag and the runner up spot. Third was Vince Bucholz, Devin Smith recovered to capture fourth, and Nebraska's Adam Armstrong took fifth.

After getting the IMCA Northern SportMods whittled down through three B mains, from 50 plus cars to 24, their 18-lap feature was up next. Laurel's Racer Hulin drew the lucky #1 starting pill with Wisconsin's Rob Charapata along side. Hulin had little trouble in fending off any challengers throughout the race, and took the trophy home. Nick Roberts finished second, third was former Super National's champion Tracy Wassenberg from Wisconsin, fourth went to Andy Tiernan and defending IMCA national champion from Wichita, Kansas, Bryan LaRiviere, after recovering from an early race incident, finished in fifth. As a note, Hulin had been racing at Des Moine's Frostbuster the night before and was caught up in an on-track incident leaving his ride with a bent frame. Announcer Jeremy Fox, told the crowd that Hulin's crew worked all night on the car, stripping it down and with two tractors and probably log chains, got the car back to racing fitness. That's Iowa racer's ingenuity!

The IMCA stock cars ran a 20-lap feature with Brandon Czarapata, Wisconsin driver, and Sean Johnson, Independence, Iowa, starting 1 and 2. However, the Chelsea Charger, Damon Murty, threw his hat into the ring early, taking flight on the topside and into the lead, with Johnson and Czarapata in hot pursuit. Those three would remain the same with Murty taking the victory over Johnson in second, and Czarapata in third. Fourth went to Brian Irvine, who flew through the pack, and Jay Schmidt rounded out the top five.

With 70 plus modifieds on hand tonight, it took three B mains to get the starting field down to 24 cars. Richie Gustin and South Sioux City, Nebraska's Ricky "Racer" Stephan sat on the front row. Stephan took command from the drop of the green with Gustin and Darin Duffy trying to chase him down. Stephan was looking to take the victory, but on the last lap, Stephan and Duffy got together in turn two, sending Stephan spinning, but with Duffy continuing on. This would set up a green-white-checkered finish, with Duffy and Stephan going to the tail on the restart. Richie Gustin was the happy recipient of the lead now, and he would keep it to the checkers flying. Veteran NASCAR driver, Kenny Schrader from Concord, NC, and Kyle "The Highside Tickler" from Mooresville, NC scored second and third respectively. Jay Noteboom took fourth and Mark Elliott was fifth.

Racing was completed shortly after the midnight hour, and now it will be on to Boone Speedway tonight, for night four of the Frostbuster series. Sunday at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton, will complete the 5 race series. As a reminder, racing starts at 5 p.m. tonight in Boone, and Vinton has racing scheduled for 4 p.m.

A scary incident mentioned earlier happened during one of the modified heats, when flagman Albert "Pep" Wolfgram was hit by a deck lid. He was in obvious pain when he came out of the flagstand, and the EMTs rushed to his assistance. It was announced later that he had suffered a dislocated shoulder and a gash in the neck and was being treated at the hospital. I would say he was very, very lucky that it was nothing more serious. Jerry VanSickle jumped into the flagstand and continued with the flagging duties the remainder of the night, and Jeremy Fox, with assistance from Ryan Clark, took over the microphone. I also mentioned previously, that all of tonight's winners were from a central Iowa location and have now discovered they all came from under 40 miles of the Marshalltown Speedway. Good job, local guys!

The regular season at the Marshalltown Speedway gets underway next Friday night, April 13. The season is underway race fans, so get out and find a race in your area to attend. Happy racing!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Kickoff Frostbuster wins go to Gustin, LaRiviere, Heinz and Anderson

The Southern Iowa Speedway kicked off the five-night IMCA Frostbuster series for 2012 on Wednesday night. After a nine year absence of the IMCA sanction at the big half-mile track in Osky, it was great to see the pits full, a good and enthusiastic crowd on hand, and a smooth track for the drivers. There was more than just a few traveling drivers, many from Wisconsin and Canada, as well as Kansas, Illinois, Wyoming, Texas, North Carolina, California, and North Dakota; those being the ones I can recall. Wisconsin and Kansas took home two of the feature wins, with Iowa claiming two.

The features started with the 15-lap IMCA hobby stock feature. No stranger with taking a checkered flag, Shannon Anderson, son of veteran racer, Jeff Anderson, and who now shows Urbandale, Iowa as his home, out ran Eric Stanton and Bill Bonnett. Longtime driver, Bill Bonnett held the lead until just before halfway of the event, when Anderson sneaked past him to take over the helm. Eric Stanton made his way into second and closed in on Anderson, to no avail. Below is my unofficial results for the hobby stock feature:

1. 78 Shannon Anderson
2. 7B Eric Stanton
3. 19 Bill Bonnett
4. 84 Danny Thrasher
5. 33X Justin Hook
6. 2N Donovan Nunnikhoven
7. 69 Craig Brown
8. 24B Brandon Brinton
9. 31 Dale Porter
10. 4X Pete Hutzel (a former Gary Pfantz car)
11. 27C Cory Adams
12. 33 Jerry Kriegel
13. 20B Ben Bruck
DNF: 57 Shull
224 Gina Greubel (hit wall going into turn 4)
10G Dustin Griffiths
25 VanBuskirk ?
53D Downing
32T Bobby Greene

The IMCA Stock Car 18-lap feature came next. The visiting drivers were abundant in this race, taking home three of the top five positions. Veteran driver from Wisconsin, John Heinz, led the entire feature with fellow Wisconsin competitor, Justin Jacobson taking the runner up spot. Kyle Harwood shot past Texas driver JC Howell on the final circuit, as they finished third and fourth respectively. Iowan Jeff Mueller rounded out the top five. My unofficial finish is as follows:

1. 57 John Heinz - Wisconsin
2. 1330 Justin Jacobson - Wisconsin
3. 15K Kyle Harwood
4. 103 JC Howell - Gun Barrel, Tx (don't ya just love that name!)
5. 77M Jeff Mueller
6. 22R Todd Reitzler
7. 99D Damon Murty
8. 93 Michael Jaennette
9. 1K Tom Killen
10. 94 Corey Stout
11. 29 Matt Greiner
12. 81X Randy Killen
13. 38 Rich Vogt
14. 52X Nathan Wood
15. 27 Gary Bass
16. 10 Matt Junio - Wisconsin
17. 22 Jaimie Czechowski ? - Wisconsin
18. 49G Leroy Groenendyk (former B mod driver)
19. 3 Joe Zedana
20. 73C Carl Yaw
DNF: 14R Jim Redman
00 Lemmes ?

The IMCA Northern SportMod feature went to Wichita, Kansas driver--and defending IMCA National Champion--Bryan LaRiviere. LaRiviere dominated in the feature, leading from start to finish, and pulling away from his nearest challenger. Clint Luellen and brother Ty Luellen finished second and third, respectively. Racer Hulin in his bright #505 ride, finished in fourth while veteran racer John VanDenberg rounded out the top five spots. Below is my unofficial finish:

1. 2 Bryan LaRiviere - Kansas
2. 3L Clint Luellen
3. 32L Ty Luellen
4. 505 Racer Hulin
5. 3K John VanDenberg
6. 81D Scott Davis
7. 7+ Jared Timmerman
8. 27 Bryon Weyer
9. 23K Joey Kates - Kansas
10. 21L Brad Lautenbach - Wisconsin
11. 1 Curtis VanDerWal
12. 72 Brett Lowry
13, 19J Jenae Gustin
14. 38 Bill Gibson
15. 8C Rob Czarapata - Wisconsin
16. 30X Josh Modde
17. 64 Casey Greubel
18. 198 Sam Weubben/Wiven ?, Dysart, Iowa
19. 20 Brad Theys -Wisconsin
DNF: 10 Jack Housley
48 Blake Conant
00M Brett Moffitt
9X Austin Lucas
7 Carter VanDenberg

The finale of the evening was the IMCA modified 20-lap feature. By this time, the track was really not multi-grooved and the dust was rolling. After speaking with new manager of the track, Mike VanGenderen, he commented that he was between a rock and a hard spot on what to do. He had been checking radar all evening,(as had we) and knowing that rain was just to the south, opted to take the route of getting the show in without watering, instead of taking the time to water the track and then have it rain and not get the show in. The front row was young Andrew Schroeder on the pole with Gilman, Iowa's Richie Gustin to his outside. Behind them sat Kyle Strickler, "The Highside Tickler" out of Mooresville, NC and Mark Elliott. That would be the finishing order after 20 laps. However, we learned even before we got home, that Schroeder had been disqualified and the win then went to Richie Gustin. Lance Arneson from Wisconsin was scored in fourth and Ronn Laruitzen from Jesup, Iowa in his "Angry Bird" hotrod, rounded out the top five. Below are my unofficial results:

1. 19G Richie Gustin
2. 2 Kyle Strickler - NC
3. 12 Mark Elliott
4. 98 Lance Arneson - Wisconsin
5. 10K Ronn Lauritzen
6. 9 Ken Schrader - NC
7. 7N Jay Noteboom
8 7 Eric Dailey
9. 69X Jon Snyder
10. 58 Marcus Yarie - Wisconsin
11. 73 Dan Ratajczak - Frog Station, Wisconsin (gotta love that name too)
12. 8X Rich Smith
13. 13 Matt Waugh
14. 18 Jake Durbin
15. 62 Greg Cox
16. 21CZ Tim Czarnetski - Wisconsin

DNF: 99M Tim Murty
10 Tyson Turnbull - Canada
70 Jesse Dennis
O2 Kody Scholpp - Kansas
40 Scott Dickey
01 Joey Galloway - Canada
19V Eric VanIten - Wisconsin
02 Andrew Schroeder - dq'd for "stud girdles"

The show was completed shortly after 10:45 p.m. and with the 125 cars that competed, not bad at all. The program was run in a timely and efficient manner, and the comments we heard all around us, much appreciated by the fans in the stands.
The regular season for the Southern Iowa Speedway will start next Wednesday night, with hot laps at 7 and racing at 7:30.

Be sure and check out fellow PR's blogs under "Back Stretch" and "In Staging" for their views of the racing. Positively Racing was well represented at the Southern Iowa Speedway tonight.

There are four more early season Frostbusters on tap--tonight in Des Moines at the Iowa State Fair Speedway, Friday night at the Marshalltown Speedway, Saturday at Boone Speedway, and Benton Speedway in Vinton on Sunday. Hope to see you at some of those! Happy racing!