The features kicked off with the IMCA Sport Compacts---eight cars strong last night. Ron McClish was a no start for the feature after experiencing heavy smoke in his heat. John and Bill Whalen battled the first couple of laps but by lap three, the familiar number 2 car of Merv Chandler was the leader. Chandler took the win, chased across the line by Bill Whalen, Jr. in second place. Third went to John Whalen, and fourth and fifth went to two drivers making their first appearance at Osky, Jimmy Garrett, and brother Kevin Garrett. Trent Orwig finished sixth and Matt Beal did not finish. This was Merv Chandler's ninth win at the Osky track this year.
In the IMCA Hobby Stock feature, Craig Brown and Dustin Griffiths challenged each other for the lead, Griffiths establishing the lead for good about lap eight. Griffiths pulled away from the pesky Brown, taking the solid win. Brown had to settle for the runner up spot, third was Danny Thrasher over point leader Shannon Anderson in fourth, and Kevin Fee rounded out the top five. This was Griffiths third win in a row.
The Northern SportMods started off with Ryan Fullencamp dominantly in charge. After his strong win in his heat race earlier, it was looking to be a good bet on him for taking the win, as he pulled away from competition easily. Eric Flander was running in second spot, a distance behind the leader, when who should come into the picture but the familiar #99 of Jesse Sobbing. Sobbing made the pass on Flander to take over second and was soon pestering the leader, Fullencamp. Sobbing wasn't done yet, and by the white flag lap, had taken over the top spot, and motored home to yet another of his numerous wins. Fullencamp took the runner up place, third was Flander, Curtis VanDerWal finished fourth and Brett Lowry was fifth. If I understood correctly from his post race interview, this was Sobbing's 29th IMCA feature win this season, his 40th over all, and his 70th night of racing. It was his eighth win at the Osky track this year.
Up next, the IMCA Stock Cars. Todd Reitzler led the charge through the first few laps, but the "Chelsea Charger", Damon Murty didn't let that last long. Murty was leading by lap four and despite Nathan Wood closing in the final lap or two of the 16-lap event, Murty nabbed the win. This was Murty's third win at the Southern Iowa Speedway in 2012. Wood took the runner up spot, Reitzler held on to take third, fourth went to Corey "from just across the street" Stout, and Alan VanGorp finished fifth.
The closer for the night was the 15-lap IMCA Modified feature. Billy Davis, Jr. led lap one from his pole starting position, but Todd Shute took over by the second lap. The final five laps saw Jacob Murray tight on the tail of Shute, providing the crowd with some great close, clean and exciting racing the final laps. Shute took the win, his first ever at the Monster Half-Mile. Murray had to settle for second, third was Andrew Schroeder, Cayden Carter was fourth and Brandon Banks finished in fifth.
The racing action concluded just shy of the 9:30 p.m. mark, making for an early night for drivers and fans alike. As a note, there will be two weeks off for weekly racing at Osky. However, there WILL be racing next week at the speedway. Monday will be the Front Row Challenge and Tuesday the Ultimate Challenge for sprint fans, in conjunction with the Knoxville Nationals just down the road. For more info on these two races, check www.oskychallenges.com. The following week, August 15 was an "off" week on the schedule but we understand it could have been used to make up the race lost to the "heat out". The drivers vote was not to race from what we gathered. So...next up for regular point racing at the Southern Iowa Speedway will be August 22nd. Since the Iowa State Fair will be going on the week of the 15th, perhaps that was a wise decision.
Lots of racing action around our parts! Seek out a race and support our great sport of dirt track racing. Happy racing!
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