What a night at the big ole monster half-mile in Oskaloosa! It was fan appreciation night, with free grandstand admission and it was a packed house. For those that made their way to the races for the first time, I'm sure there will be some returning to enjoy the excitement they witnessed last night!
The Sport Compacts ran first, four of them in attendance. Bill Whalen, Jr. led the first lap until seasoned racer Merv Chandler took over by lap two. It was a case of chasing Chandler from there on as he took another win, his third at the track this year. Bill Whalen, Jr. took the runner up spot, while John Whalen came home in third, and Shawn Cooney finished fourth.
What a finish it was in the IMCA Hobby Stock feature! The early laps of the 15-lap event saw Bill Bonnett leading the pack, Dale Porter and Danny Thrasher chasing him. Meanwhile, the "tail-end Charlie" starter, Mike Hughes had been making headway steadily through the field, and was running in fourth at lap eleven. With just a couple of laps remaining, things got really interesting, as Bonnett continued his lead, Hughes had gotten to second and was pressuring the leader, and hot on their tails were Dustin Griffiths and Dale Porter. It was a real shoot out in the closing moments of this one and one that brought the huge crowd to it's feet! As the cars came to the checkered flag, Bonnett kept his line in the middle of the track, but two of his competitors chose the outside lane, another the inside. It was Dustin Griffiths swinging to the outside of leader Bonnett and Dale Porter followed suit. Mike Hughes opted for the inside line and as the cars crossed under the checkered flag it was Griffiths making the surge to the line first, taking the win. Porter "drafted" his way into second, Hughes was third, and the guy leading as they came out of turn four, Bill Bonnett, ended up in fourth! What a finish! Craig Brown rounded out the top five. This was Griffiths second win of the season, having won back on April 24th.
The 16-lap SportMod feature followed the Hobby Stockers. Curtis VanDerWal was dominate in this one, taking the lead at lap two, after starting in seventh, and pulling away. Only one yellow at lap three for debris, would slow the field. VanDerWal pulled away from his competitors by a near straight away at times, and won in easy fashion.....his third at the track this season. Jason McDaniel finished a distant second, third was Carter VandenBerg a good distance behind, Tony Johnson and Brett Lowry completed the top five. VanDerWal thanked Eric Flander in his Victory Lane interview as he ran a borrowed radiator from his fellow competitor. Love it when racer helps racer!
Next up was the 18-lap Stock Car feature. This one started out with a complete restart situation when Carl Yaw got crossed up just past the green flag, scattering cars. When things got underway, Rich Vogt led the field in the opening laps, but a herd of cars were behind him in quest for the top positions, sometimes going three, four and five wide. The cluster got sorted out a bit by lap eight, as Nathan Wood was now in command. Ninth place starter, Jason Minnehan made the haul down from Churdan again, and had made his way into second as the two were in a break away from the rest of the field. A caution flew at lap fourteen, bunching the field and on the restart, Wood pulled off to the lead again, Minnehan behind him and Jeff Joldersma close behind. As the field took the white flag, contact was made between Minnehan and Joldersma in turn two, Minnehan getting the worst of the deal and falling out, but Joldersma continuing on, but many positions behind. Wood took the checkers, Kris Walker avoided the confusion the previous lap and took the runner up spot, newcomer on the night, Derek Kirkland finished in third, Corey Stout, "from just across the street", came home in fourth and Jason Cook was fifth. This was Nathan Wood's first win in 2013, after a year or more's absence.
A great field of 18 IMCA Modifieds came to play last night. Scott Dickey took advantage of his pole position and had no trouble in leading the entire 18-laps to the checkers. The track, slick and black by now, provided plenty of passing back in the field. Cayden Carter ran in the second spot much of the race, but by lap fourteen, it was three wide as he was trying to fend off Jacob Murray and Casey Greubel. Greubel's undoing came shortly, when he clipped a tractor tire in turn four, and ended up in an easy roll. He was okay.When the action got back underway, with Dickey still in control, Murray was able to make the pass into second and brought Jesse Sobbing along with him. Todd Shute followed up and got into fourth. Little change occurred to the checkers in the closing laps, as Dickey took the win, his first at the track this year, Sobbing made the pass on Murray as they went second and third. Fourth went to Todd Shute and Carter held on to finish fifth.
A BIG thank you to promoter Mike VanGenderen for the fan appreciation night. It appeared to be a HUGE success, with an enthusiastic crowd we haven't seen in a while at the track. No doubt, a good many of them will be returning after seeing the action last night.
The warm temperatures of the day ended up being followed by a more than brisk westerly wind that buffeted the crowd. It also brought about a dip in temps, and those of us with a sweatshirt, were glad to have drug them along! We had nothing to complain about though, as our part of the state was avoiding the many tornadoes that reared their ugly heads in the northern part of the state last night.
June is a busy month for racing in our area. Week night specials are in abundance with many options to chose from. One of the dates on our list is next Thursday night at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson for the Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds. Ken Schrader will be attendance as an added bonus. Also on the program are the 360 Sprint Invaders along with the IMCA Northern SportMods and the IMCA Sport Compacts. Hot laps at 7 and racing at 7:30. Find a race to enjoy somewhere in your neck of the woods. Happy Racing!
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