It's a wonder racing even happened last night at the Southern Iowa Speedway! But thanks to Mike VanGenderen and crew for getting the track raceable after a late afternoon downpour tried to ruin the night's fun. When we arrived, the race haulers were lined up awaiting the opening of the pits and we were concerned that they maybe wouldn't open after seeing the puddles on the grounds! A look at the track made for even more concern, but after the crew got the pits packed down to allow the haulers in, they went to work on the track. The first heat hit the track only about a half hour later than the normal starting time.
The 7 car field of Sport Compacts raced their feature first. Brandon Lambert, who had earlier won his heat by a straightaway, jumped to the immediate lead from starting on the pole. Bill Whalen took over the helm at lap four and was looking to pull the field and take a victory. Hold on....veteran Merv Chandler was creeping along in second and stalking the leader. Whalen took the white flag with Chandler still in stalking mode. Chandler waited until corner three to make the pass, beating Whalen to the checkers and taking the victory.
Following Whalen for third was Brandon Lambert, fourth was John Whalen and Duwayne Herb was fifth.
The Stock Cars ran their 18-lap feature next. The early laps saw cars going two-by-two in their quest to catch leader Brad Pinkerton. By lap nine, it was Rich Vogt taking over the point and looking strong. Meanwhile, moving up through the pack was Nathan Wood, who had started eighth and last week's winner Todd Reitzler, who started twelfth. The final few laps became a shoot out for the runner up spot with Wood and Reitzler locked in a tight battle. Vogt would hold them both off to score the win, Reitzler winning out for the runner up spot, Wood taking third. Corey Stout, "from just across the street", finished a strong fourth and Kris Walker placed fifth. It was a blast from the past seeing Rich Vogt in victory lane. After "retiring" for several years, Vogt has been back on the scene the last couple of years. We recall him going on the trail with the old Stock Car Winner's Series races back in the 90's and early 2000's.
The track was really racy by now, heavy but very fast. Some diligent regrading between races was knocking down the cushion and smoothing corners. Twenty-five IMCA Northern SportMods were on hand for their draw/redraw special run for a $750 payday with a possible $250 bonus if they had raced at least once at the track this year.
Tyler Gross took the lead at the drop of the green flag and was pulling away as Glenn Gladson and Brett Lowry (who had started tenth) were tussling for second. Lowry was able to make the pass around Gladson for second, and then suddenly, leader Gross pulled into the pits! This would hand the lead over to Lowry which would be the position he held at the halfway mark and the mandatory pit stop on the frontstretch. The pit stop was ten minutes and the crews could change a maximum of two tires but do any other maintenance they desired. We noted many did change tires...some not new, but at least taking on cooler tires, most fueled up and some shock changes were made. The last half of the race began in the finishing order at the halfway mark....Lowry in charge. Lowry had little trouble in going the distance and took the win. Jason McDaniel made it to second to take the runner up spot, third went to Roland, Iowa's Matt Lettow who had started fourteenth on the grid, followed by local favorite Curtis VanDerWal who came from 20th to finish fourth and Glenn Gladson rounded out the top five. Since Lowry is a regular at the track, he went home with the bonus $250, making it a $1,000 night for him.
Veteran racer Bill Bonnett put his #19 into victory lane last night in the IMCA Hobby Stock feature.
Danny Thrasher lead by lap three after making the pass on Aaron Osweiler but meanwhile, Bonnett was making his move. Bonnett, who started eighth, was on the leader's tail by lap four. A yellow at lap nine was not what Thrasher wanted to see, but Bonnett was chomping at the bit for the restart situation. The closing laps were a battle for the lead, Thrasher still maintaining it on the white flag lap. But wile veteran Bonnett was able to make the pass on the final lap and raced to the flying checkers first. Thrasher had to settle for the disappointing runner up spot on this night, Mike Hughes, last week's winner and multiple time winner at the track this year, came from starting in tenth, to capture a third place finish, fourth was Craig Brown and Jamie Songer completed the top five. This was Bonnett's first win at the track for the 2013 season. Absent from racing last night in the division was point leader Dustin Griffiths. According to announcer Tony Paris, Griffiths had a chain saw (eeewww, makes me shiver) accident, and had nearly lost three fingers!
The finale of the night was the IMCA Modifieds. Billy Davis, Jr. led this one through lap ten, but it was Colt Mather, who had started tenth, making it up to pester the leader. Mather managed to make the pass by searching inside and outside, took the lead on the backstretch of lap ten and would motor off to the easy win. Davis would finish a distance second, followed by Tyler Groenendyk, Tyler VandeKamp and Bill Gibson, third through fifth.
Racing concluded a bit before 11 p.m. but considering what was happening at 4 p.m., what the track and infield pit area looked like after the rain, it ended up being a good night of racing on a fast, heavy track. The wait time for the races to start was enjoyable as we got to reminisce about some racing from the past with a driver who was observing from the stands last night. Always fun to recall "the good old days".
Don't forget to mark Wednesday, July 2 on your calendar for the 18th annual ORIGINAL IMCA Budweiser Great American Stock Car Shoot Out. The Stock Cars will be running for $1,500 to win and $100 to start the feature. The IMCA Modifieds, SportMods, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts will also be running. Please note the early start time---hot laps at 6 and races at 6:30. The city's huge fireworks display will follow the races. Happy racing!
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