Wednesday night at the Southern Iowa Speedway, we saw all kinds of racing--modifieds, sportmods, stock cars, hobby stocks, sport compacts AND wheelbarrows. That last one was thrown in as one of manager Mike VanGenderen's little "extras". It was fun and entertaining for the crowd and the participants! One driver sat in the wheelbarrow, while another pushed him through a series of turns--around a barrel and around an official--and back to the checkered flag. After all was said and done, it was the team of Whalen and Whalen winning it all. John Whalen and Bill Whalen, Jr., Sport Compact racers, earned their way into the speedway free next week as their prize. Runners up were Danny Thrasher, hobby stock driver and Jason Hall, sportmod driver, who will get in for half price next week.
When it was feature time, the first on the track were the IMCA Sport Compacts. Veteran Merv Chandler once again showed the boys how it's done and came home with the win. John Whalen led through lap five of the eight-lapper, but Chandler had little trouble in making the pass for the lead. John Whalen kept second place. Newcomer to the track this season, Chuck Fullencamp from Ft. Madison, came home in third place, and Bill Whalen, Jr. and Larry Hopkins rounded out the five car field.
The IMCA Hobby Stocks saw Kevin Fee in the winner's circle for the first time this year. Fee, who started back in eighth spot, snatched the lead from early leader Bobby Greene and then pulled away from the competition. Greene held second position the rest of the way to take the runner up spot. Danny Thrasher finished third, point leader Shannon Anderson came from starting tenth, to finish fourth, and Dustin Griffiths took the fifth spot.
The IMCA SportMods ran their 15-lap main event next. Jason McDaniel took the lead on lap two, and sailed home to an easy win, his second of the season at Osky. Eric Flander finished a distant second, Carter VanDenBerg a distant third, and Curtis VanDerWal held off point leader Jesse Sobbing, as they finished fourth and fifth respectively. As a note, Brett Lowry had bad luck for the night when during his heat race, he dropped the transmission and the drive shaft on the frontstretch, right at the flagstand. His night was done early.
The IMCA Stock Cars once again provided the fans with an exciting race. There seemed to always be a pack of cars, going three-four wide somewhere on the track. However, it was Nathan Wood who cleared himself from that pack of cars, got to the lead by lap eight, and never looked back. Wood took the checkers for his second win of the season. Second place went to the "Chelsea Charger", Damon Murty, third was Matt Greiner. Jeff Joldersma made the haul over from McClelland, Iowa in southwestern Iowa, to finish fourth and Paul Shepherd was fifth. In the post-race interview, Wood profusely thanked Murty for his help recently in getting his race car where he wanted it to be. Guess it worked! It's always a great thing when racers help racers. That's racing family for you!
Eight IMCA Modifieds were on hand tonight. New cars show up, others don't return, it's been the norm this year and you can't predict who will show. This week, the newbie was Jeff Waterman from Quincy, Illinois. His long haul was not a happy one, as he trailed smoke across the finish line in his heat race. He loaded up and left the track early. However, a returning driver who was absent last week, had a good night. Jacob Murray, who had won the week before last, came back and took home another win. Murray took the win over Cayden Carter, Shane Weller, Mark Widmar and Brandon Banks.
Next Wednesday night, May 30 will be another weekly points race for all classes. It's also been deemed Ottumwa/Hedrick night. Show an ID with those towns, and you will be admitted for just $5. Hot laps at 7 and racing at 7:30. Happy racing!
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