Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Osky - 7-31-13

Unofficial Results:

Modified

1. 40 Scott Dickey
2. 5 Todd Shute
3. 10C Cayden Carter
4. 22 Brandon Banks
5. 1+ Bill Davis, Jr.
6. 77 Jeff Mueller
7. 38 Bill Gibson
8. 7W Jerry Pilcher (driving Mark Widmar's car)
9. 13 Matt Waugh
10. 17X Steve Pumphrey
DNF:  02 Andrew Schroeder
           48J Jacob Murray
           17 Tyler Groenendyk
           64 Casey Greubel
 DNS: 66 Gordy Head

Stock Car

1. 33Z Zack VanderBeek
2. 99D Damon Murty
3. 27J Jason Cook
4. 62 Brad Pinkerton
5. 94 Corey Stout
6. 52 Nathan Wood
7. 22R Todd Reitzler
8. 2N Donovan Nunnikhoven
9. 19A Alan VanGorp
10. 18 Kris Walker
11. 38 Rich Vogt
12. 19 Donnie Pearson
13. 3G Lonnie Greiner
14. 17 Brock Welch
DNF: 57 Keith Kuder

SportMod

1. 1V Curtis VanDerWal
2. 7 Carter VanDenBerg
3. 72 Brett Lowry
4. 12 Eric Flander
5. 42 Tyler Hackert
6. 8J AJ Johnson
7. 8T Tony Johnson
8. 49G LerRoy Groenendyk
9. 29 Bill Livezey
10. 1 Rodger Dresden
11. 9A Logan Anderson
12. 10 Brayton Carter

Hobby Stock

1. 11 Mike Hughes
2. 10G Dustin Griffiths
3. 19 Bill Bonnett
4. 3S Steve Allen
5. 7A Aaron Osweiler
6. 84 Danny Thrasher
7. 3 Travis Bunnell
8. 5B Dane Blozovich
9. 33 Justin Hook
10. 224 Gina Greubel
11. 55 Jared Stephens
12. 33J Justin Millhouse
DNF: 32T Bobby Greene
DNS: 10 Dale Porter

Sport Compact

1. 77 John Whalen
2. 30 Shawn Cooney
DNF: 2M Matt Moore
          04 Trent Orwig

King of the Hill

Modified - 1+ Bill Davis, Jr.
Stock Car - 33Z Zack VanderBeek








Sunday, July 28, 2013

Schmidt puts "Black Betty" back in Victory Lane

There was a definite chill in the air last night at Boone, and those not bringing along a sweatshirt or jacket, may have wished they had!  There was no lack of hot racing however, as all classes got after it.  According to my count, 134 cars came to play, some ending the night luckier than others.

They mixed the running order up a bit again last night.  The first feature was the IMCA Hobby Stocks.  A driver sealed his name in the Boone winner's book for the first time as Matthew Sorenson nabbed a victory.  In doing so, he out lasted Aaron Rudolph who took the runner up spot.  The only driver digging on the bottom was Eric Stanton and he made it work as he drove from starting eleventh, to capture third.  Fourth was Norwalk, Iowa's Michael Powell and visiting driver from Bethany, Missouri, Lee Farmer made his trip worth while and got a top five finish. It appears that Stanton has taken over the point lead from Shannon Anderson by about a handful of points.

Veteran Ed Zehm put his #41Z Mod Lite into victory lane in their 15-lap race.  Zehm, who started sixth, had the lead at lap seven when a red flag situation occurred.  The 4L of Larry Sorenson took a tumble between turns three and four....in front of the approaching pack and nearly taking out the leader.  Thankfully he was okay.  They rolled him back over and he drove off into the pits.  As the race got back underway, Zehm had company in the name of Josh May who sat directly behind him on the restart.  Then two others joined in the fun as Andy Hennigar and Dusty Masolini ganged up on the leader as well.  Zehm however was able to fend them all off and took the checkers first.  Hennigar got to second, challenged the leader, but fell short and had to settle for second.  Dusty Masolini was scored in third after getting around Josh May in fourth, in the closing moments.  Travis Stensland rounded out the top five. Zehm scored a victory for the second time this year.

Johnathon Logue, son of veteran racer John Logue, led the pack in the first two laps of the 18-lap SportMod feature.  Randy Roberts had other ideas though, as he took the top spot away at lap three.  He was soon to be chased by Tonganoxie, Kansas driver, Ben Kates when he swung around Logue to snatch second. The drivers would stay in that order to the checkers flying...Roberts taking the win, Kates scoring the runner up spot and Logue held on to take third.  Fourth was Rick Ringgenberg and Lynn Brockett was fifth.  Roberts took his third win at Boone this year.  Sixth place finisher, Eric Elliott continues to holds a nice lead in the points chase.

The Modifieds ran their usual 20-lap feature.  Matthew Meinecke led this one the first three laps until Shay Woods, Humeston, Iowa driver, took over the helm.  Kyle Brown took over second at lap five.  At lap twelve, Meinecke gained the lead, but only for a brief moment as he lost the handle or had some issue with the car....we didn't see what happened, but he fell back.  Wood got the lead back then, Brown in tow.  The only car now trying the high side of the track, was Kyle Strickler, "The High Side Tickler" , driver out of North Carolina who has been racing in the area as of late.  But as he tried his usual route up high, Jammin' Jimmy Gustin was putting excitement in the crowd as well, but he was choosing the lower path as he attempted to hold off Jon Snyder.  Woods would hold off his charging competitors and score the win, his first this year.  Kyle Brown held the runner up spot, Gustin who came from starting twelfth, took third, Snyder was fourth and Strickler took the fifth position.  Gustin continues to hold the points.  Second place in points going into the night was Scott Davis, who had trouble in hot laps, and did not run.  Russ Dickerson now holds down second place in points.

Don't EVER go home without seeing the Stock Car feature!  It is often one of, if not THE best feature of the night....in our humble opinion.  Eric Brown held the advantage in this 18-lap affair until loosing the lead to Mike Goldsberry with a handful of laps in the book.  Cory Bushnell got into the mix as well, as he held third spot.  And who was that in fourth place but Donavon Smith who had started tenth and was really on the move.  But then, my pen suddenly had the #19J in fifth jotted down as the cars passed the flagstand!  Where the heck had he suddenly appeared from?  A glance at the starting line up showed Jay Schmidt had started sixteenth, and he had "Black Betty", (as he affectionately calls his ride) on the move!  The closing laps of this one were a dandy!  Goldsberry continued to lead, but Smith had gotten to second and Schmidt into third.  A three-wide battle down the back stretch was only the beginning of a spectacular finish.  With two laps to go, Schmidt came off of corner four and swung to the lead around Smith who had briefly taken the point spot, but it was still going to be a shoot out to the checkers.  Schmidt held on to that coveted top spot and scored the win, his fourth of the season, Goldsberry scraped hard to make it to second just ahead of Smith in third.  Eric Brown hung around the front and scored fourth place as did Corey Bushnell in fifth.

Lots more racing to be found folks.  Check out the calendar at www.positivelyracing.com and find a race of your choice to attend.  Happy racing!




Saturday, July 27, 2013

Snyder, the Topside Terror, is on a tear!

What a change in the weather we had for racing on Friday night.  Not only was it windy, but by the time racing was completed, most people....who had thought to bring one...had a sweatshirt or coat on!  The racing action was anything but cool though, and one race was decided by less than a bumper, bringing the crowd to it's feet as the cars crossed the finish line.

The Sport Compact was won by a familiar face, just driving a different car.  Merv Chandler, who has been driving his son Nathan's (or is it Brad's?) car as of late...his old #2 finally giving up the ghost, led by the time they hit corner one as the green fell.  Last week's winner Dave Moorman hung close for several laps, but Chandler had no trouble in taking another of his numerous wins.  Moorman kept the runner up spot, third was Alec Gill...driving the car normally piloted by John Gill, fourth was Chad Larson and fifth went to Joe Alday. This was win #7 for Chandler at the track this year.

The Mod Lite 15-lap feature went caution free.  Dusty Masolini led the opening laps until "Busman" Mike Kennedy grabbed the lead by lap four.  Meanwhile, it was Josh May charging hard from the back of the pack and getting to third on lap five.  A couple of laps later, May made the pass for the lead and had no trouble in taking the win, his second in as many weeks at the speedway.  Andy Hennigar followed May through the pack and took the runner up spot.  Third went to Mike Kennedy, fourth was Mike Morrill and Dusty Masolini rounded out the top five.  This was May's sixth win this year, tying him with Andy Hennigar as the two remain the only drivers with wins in the class.

There was a good battle in the 12-lap Hobby Stock Feature.  Jacob Keiser held off Eric Stanton and Bill Bonnett in the opening laps.  Stanton took over at lap four but continued to be dogged by Keiser and Bonnett.  A yellow at lap eight, set up a shoot out to the finish.  Stanton continued to lead but veteran Bill Bonnett was digging on the bottom hoping to make up ground.  It wasn't to be on this night however, as Stanton took the win, and Bonnett had to settle for second.  Keiser finished a close third, fourth was Gary Pfantz, and Jennifer Hulin, who rolled her car last week, took a top five finish.  Stanton won for the second week in a row, his third over all.

The IMCA Northern SportMod feature was, as announcer Jerry VanSickle said, "action packed from the drop of the green, to the checkers".  Veteran racer, Bill Hildreth led the first few laps but by lap four, Eric "Little E" Elliott had taken over from his fifth row starting spot.  Elliott pulled away from the pack with Osky's Carter VanDenBerg now in second, giving chase.  Not to be out done, Jenae Gustin now had her ride into the third spot and was doing battle with VanDenBerg as the laps wound down.  The three cars crossed the finish line closely, but Elliott held his ground and took the win.  VanDenBerg held off Gustin as they went second and third in that order.  Fourth was Paul Nagle who came from starting fourteenth, and Ben Kates...who was listed on the line ups last night as "Kansas City Comb Over"...(there has to be a story behind that) hung around the front all night to finish in fifth.  Elliott kept the repeat wins going by taking his second victory in as many weeks.

What an exciting IMCA Stock Car feature....as it often is.  Tracy Gienger led the early laps but three others were on the hunt for that top spot...Derek Reimer, Jay Schmidt and Steve Meyer.  All four drivers were seeking high and low for their best line, and Reimer found just that after a restart at lap eight.  Reimer took the helm and now it was Gienger, Schmidt and Meyer jousting for second.  Meyer dropped to the bottom and dug his way to the lead by lap twelve of the 18-lapper, Schmidt staying on the topside and taking second over Reimer.  It wasn't over yet however, and as the two front runners came to the checkers, Schmidt made a last ditch effort, but fell just short by a bumper as Meyer took the win.  Third went to Derek Reimer, Norm Chesmore came from row six to capture a fourth place finish, and Tracy Gienger completed the top five.  Meyer got his second regular season win of the year, plus winning the Frostbuster.

The night's closer was the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature. The "Ground Pounders" per announcer Jerry V.   The "Angry Bird" car of Ronn Lauritzen took over the top spot from early leader David Brown at lap four.  Shortly after a restart at lap five, Jon "The Top Side Terror" Snyder had gotten to Lauritzen's tail, and the two crossed the flagstand in a virtual dead heat at lap eight.  Snyder took the advantage with his usual topside line and continued his run there.  Then Lauritzen had his hands full fending off Cayden "Gasman" Carter as the laps wound down.  It was all Snyder however, as he took the checkers for the third time in a row, adding another victory to the list after his recent debut of his 2014 Harris. Lauritzen took second, Carter finished a close third, Mike "The Flying Dutchman" VanGenderen came to play after his promoting duties at Donnellson were called off due to rain, and finished fourth, and David Brown hung around the front to score a fifth place finish.

There's still plenty of weekend racing to be found out there.  Try and get to a track of your choice and support our great sport.  Happy Racing!

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Last lap pass by Carter for the win!

What a beautiful evening it was to be sitting at a race last night!  Finally!  We heard comment after comment about it.  The track was in beautiful condition as well and it made for some great racing at the Osky Monster Half-Mile.

There were seven Sport Compacts racing last evening.  The winning driver was the usual outcome, but with a different car.  Kevin Kirkpatrick led the race the first two laps, but then "tail end Charlie" starter, Merv Chandler, who was driving his son's #22 car last night, flew to the lead.  It was all over then, as he motored off into the sunset from his nearest competitor.  Kassidy Kirkpatrick finished a distant second, and a distant third was John Whalen.  Fourth went to Kevin Kirkpatrick and Bill Whalen, Jr. finished fifth.

The IMCA Northern SportMod feature was a "no go" on the opening lap when Cory VanZante smacked the wall in corner one and Eric Flander and Jason McDaniel got caught up in it too.  Only Flander was able to continue.  When racing did get underway, young Brayton Carter led the troops through the first four laps until Curtis VanDerWal showed his usual prowess, and took over the lead.  This was soon to be another one of those "that's all she wrote" runs, as VanDerWal pulled away from the pack and easily cashed in on another win.  Carter VanDenBerg had a good run to capture second after he out distanced Brett Lowry in third.  Fourth went to Brad Iverson and Eric Flander made a good recovery from the opening lap incident, to finish fifth.  This was VanDerWal's seventh win of the season.

The Hobby Stock feature was also one of those "no goes" as the green flew initially.  Travis Bunnell and Dale Porter went to the pits with that incident.  Bobby Greene led the opening laps but veteran Bill Bonnett threw his hat into the mix, taking over the runner up spot at lap four.  When a yellow flew at lap twelve of the 15-lap race, Dustin Griffiths was knocking at the door of Bonnet after getting to third.  On the restart, it didn't take long for Griffiths to make his move around both cars, to take over the lead.  He would then motor home to the win, his second in as many weeks and fourth over all.  Bill Bonnett was the runner up.  Bobby Greene crossed the finish line in third, but was later disqualified in tech with an illegal carburetor. This handed  third over to Justin Hook.  Fourth then went to Jason See and Steve Allen was fifth.

The 16-lap Modified feature was a dandy.  Billy Davis, Jr. took over the helm from Brandon Banks at lap two, and was appearing to be on his way to victory #1 at Osky.  Newcomer on the night, Randy Havlik, former Super National's champion, then made it interesting when he got to the runner up position.  Hold on...then it was Cayden "The Gasman" Carter getting into the mix as well.  At lap fourteen, Carter made his move when Havlik slipped a bit too high, got to second and began the quest for even more. Davis led as he took the white flag, but it was Carter taking the lead on the backstretch, and took the checkers first for the win.  Davis had to settle for second, Havlik was third, fourth went to Brandon Banks, and Jacob Murray completed the top five. The race went flag to flag. This was Carter's second win at Osky this year, having won the weather-delayed opening race back on April 24.

The Stock Cars followed up with their own exciting race.  Last week's winner Brad Pinkerton led the early laps, but a yellow at lap five erased his comfortable lead.  There had been a battle for second place among Corey "from just across the street" Stout, Damon Murty, "The Chelsea Charger" and Todd Reitzler.  Murty got the advantage on the restart, took the lead, and Reitzler followed suit.  Pinkerton would be the one getting the bad end of the deal, as he appeared to have a flat, and excited the track, his race night done.  From there on, it was a two-man race, with Murty and Reitzler giving the crowd its money's worth!  Reitzler got to the topside and took the lead, but Murty would pull to the advantage going down the backstretch. This would continue for lap after lap, until Murty took final command of the top spot with a lap to go, securing his third win at the Southern Iowa Speedway this year.  Reitzler finished as the runner up, third went to Donovan Nunnikhoven, who was back after being absent last week with what we heard was a damaged race car, fourth was Corey Stout and Kris Walker rounded out the top five.

The Iowa Sportsman Series was also on hand last night. The first 15-lap event run early was won by Kris Walker with Gene Tish taking second over Travis Dawson in third.  The final session of the night was being run as we left.

Next week, July 31 will be another regular night of racing at the speedway.  Then the track hands the reins over to the sprint cars as they come to town for the Front Row Challenge and the Ultimate Challenge on Monday August 5 and Tuesday August 6.  There will be no regular Wednesday night racing at the track then until August 21.  For info on the challenge races, check www.oskychallenges.com.

Find a race to enjoy somewhere.  There's plenty yet to be found!  Happy racing!


Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Osky - 7-24-13

Unofficial results:

Modified:

1. 10C Cayden Carter - last lap pass
2. 1+ Billy Davis, Jr.
3. 3Z Randy Havlik
4. 22 Brandon Banks
5. 48J Jacob Murray
6. 40 Scott Dickey
7. 38 Bill Gibson
8. 17 Tyler Groenendyk
9. 64 Casey Greubel
10. 17X Steve Pumphrey

Stock Car

1. 99D Damon Murty
2. 22R Todd Reitzler
3. 2N Donovan Nunnikhoven
4. 94 Corey Stout
5. 18 Kris Walker
6. 52 Nathan Wood
7. 19A Alan Van Gorp
8. 38 Rich Vogt
9. 19 Donnie Pearson
DNF: 7 Todd Phillips
         62 Brad Pinkerton
         27J Jason Cook

SportMod

1. 1V Curtis VanDerWal
2. 7 Carter VanDenBerg
3. 72 Brett Lowry
4. 8B Brad Iverson
5. 12 Eric Flander
6. 10 Brayton Carter
7. 8T Tony Johnson
8. 42 Tyler Heckart
9. 9A Logan Anderson
10. 29 Bill Livezey
11. 49G Leroy Groenendyk
DNF: 85 Jason McDaniel
         34Z Corey VanZante

Hobby Stock

1. 10G Dustin Griffiths
2. 19 Bill Bonnett
3. 33 Justin Hook
4. 79S Jason See
5. 3S Steve Allen
6. 55 Jared Stephens
DNF: 7A Aaron Osweiler
          224 Gina Greubel
          84 Danny Thrasher
          3 Travis Bunnell
          10 Dale Porter
DQ'd - 32T finished 3rd but dq'd for illegal carburetor

Sport Compact

1. 22 Merv Chandler (driving his son's car)
2. 27 Kassidy Kirkpatrick
3. 77 John Whalen
4. 92 Kevin Kirkpatrick
5. 00W Bill Whalen, Jr.
6. 2M Matt Moore
DNF: 04 Trent Orwig


Blog to follow tomorrow



Sunday, July 21, 2013

Boone Speedway hears Lyons roar in the Modified feature

It was Christmas in July at the Boone Speedway last night and a nice crowd was on hand for the festivities.  Santa made an appearance and lots of gifts were handed out.  The youngsters had a grand time but I bet Santa lost about 10 pounds as he sat in the heat with the kiddos on his knee!

There were several new drivers in attendance last night, some still hanging around the area after running the Harris Clash last Thursday, but others coming to perhaps "test the waters" for the fast approaching Super Nationals.  At the end of the night, four drivers would go home with their first wins at Boone for 2013. We also noted the new dose of the famous---or as some would say, the infamous wood chips, in the track surface. Would this play a factor in the outcome of the racing?  More on that later.

They mixed the features up again last night, sending the Hobby Stocks to the track to run their feature first on the freshly farmed track.  Shaun Wirtz led the opening laps of the 12-lapper, Matt Hudspeth settling in behind in second.  Tyler Pickett made his way into the runner up spot by lap eight and shortly after, took over the lead.  With just a couple of laps remaining, it was Shannon Anderson, who had started in tenth place, was up for the final run to the checkers.  Anderson's looks to the inside and outside didn't work on this night, as Pickett kept the lead and took the checkers first---Anderson having to be content with second.  Shaun Wirtz had a good run and held third, fourth was Eric Stanton who charged through the pack from starting in row six, and Matt Hudspeth held on to round out the top five. This was Pickett's first win this season.

The Mod Lite feature was the only class that had a driver repeat an earlier win.  Not surprisingly, that driver was Josh May.  May, who started twelfth, had the lead by lap five of the 15-lapper, and never looked back.
Terry Brown chased the leader to earn himself a second place finish.  Third went to Travis Stensland, Bryan Zehm, last week's winner, was fourth and the winner's dad Jimmy May finished fifth.

The 18-lap IMCA Northern SportMod feature didn't start off well.  Before the first lap had been completed, pole sitter Michael Murphy appeared to get sideways coming out of corner three, which caused some grief behind him.  The one getting the brunt of the situation was Cody Hennings, who rolled his #66 ride a couple of times. After a few anxious moments, Hennings emerged from the race car, unhurt.  When action finally got started, Murphy, who has recently changed from Stock Car to the SportMod class, took off to the lead and had little trouble in keeping it to the finish and the win.  Daniel Tasler chased Murphy nearly the whole race, but had to settle for second.  Third was Paul Nagle who had a good run after starting fourteenth, fourth went to veteran racer Rick Ringgenberg and Cory Rose came from tenth to finish fifth.

Earlier in the Stock Car heats, the #9 of Jerry Gifford found himself tipped over in corner two.  He lived to fight another day however, making repairs and and able to start the feature.  The 18-lap A main was mostly a two-man show.  Cory Bushnell got to the lead by lap three and Jay Schmidt got his car "Black Betty" up to second in just another lap or two.  Then the chase was on!  The two cars circled the track for many laps....Schmidt glued to the rear bumper of leader Bushnell.  Schmidt peeked low, then high, and at only a brief moment of taking the lead going down the backstretch, he was right back to second.  Most people were thinking this was going to be the entire show just between the two, but enter none other than the familiar #35 of Donavon Smith at lap twelve.  Smith, who had damaged his car in the heat race had started at the rear of the feature, had flown through the pack and was in third.  Smith was waiting for the moment to make his move and that came with two to go.  He snatched second from Schmidt and the final couple of laps was a doozie!  The three crossed closely at the checkers, Bushnell fending off Smith and Schmidt for the win. Fourth went to pole sitter Toby Smith and Trent Murphy came from mid pack to round out the top five.
This was Bushnell's first win at Boone since August 4 of last year.

Kelly Lyons had the field covered in the 20-lap Modified feature, and led the entire way, after getting the jump from his outside front row starting spot. Kyle Strickler, "The High Side Tickler" from Mooresville, North Carolina chased Lyons the whole way but was only able to watch the leader from a distance and finished second.  Jammin' Jimmy Gustin showed his usual prowess, driving from starting twelfth to take third.  Jake Durbin raced from tenth starting spot to capture a fourth place finish and Russ Dickerson rounded out the top five.  Lyons took his first win at the track this year and my unofficial records showing for the first time since August of 2011.

I mentioned earlier that wood chips had been added to the track, as they always are about this time each year.  It appeared that it made a difference in the drivers running non-crate motors.  The highest finishing cars running those non-crate motors were as follows: Shaun Wirtz finished third in the Hobby Stocks, Daniel Tasler was second in the SportMod feature, and Kelly Lyons won in the Modified class.

We are taking a couple of days off after our five-night racing run, for a little R & R.  We know many racing friends who are still going strong with their consecutive races---some having traveled long distances to take in their passion!  There is still plenty of racing ahead before the season draws to a close.  Find a race to attend and enjoy!  Happy racing!

Saturday, July 20, 2013

It's "The Top Side Terror" and "Black Betty at Marshalltown

The Marshalltown Speedway welcomed Racers Against ALS  last night.  The organization is not only raising funds and bringing awareness to the disease, but is also supporting fellow racer Keith Miner who is fighting ALS, known more commonly as Lou Gehrig's disease.  Brad Banks, former Iowa Hawkeye football standout was on hand to sign autographs, chat with fans and to help raise funds for the event.

The Sport Compacts kicked the features off.  Dave Moorman led the entire ten laps in taking the feature win. Merv Chandler wasn't able to overtake Moorman on this night, settling for the runner up spot.  Third was John Gill, fourth Joe Alday and Chad Larson was fifth, but did not finish.

The MADCRA Mod Lite saw Jimmy May celebrating his birthday night by leading the feature in the opening laps.  His son, Josh May wasted no time in getting to second to chase his dad.  At the halfway mark, Josh May took over the top spot and sailed away.  Mike Morrill got around Jimmy May and was on the hunt, but to no avail.  Josh May won, his fifth of the year at Marshalltown, Morrill took the runner up spot, Jimmy May held on to third.  Fourth place was Andy Hennigar and Randy Bryan rounded out the top five.  Josh May and Andy Hennigar still remain as the only two Mod Lite drivers that have won at Marshalltown this year.

Johnathan Logue led the first lap of the SportMod A main before Jayme Duinink put his #777 into the lead.  Brad Iverson made his way into second by lap four.  The car on the move now was the 9E of Eric Elliott who had started eleventh and sat in third place at lap eight.  Elliott wasn't content with that though.  A yellow flew at lap eight and the restart was what Elliott was looking for.  He swung to the lead by the following lap and kept it to the checkers, taking his second win at the track this year.  Second went to Grinnell's Brad Iverson, Travis Peterson came from starting along side the winner in row six, to take third place.  Fourth was Jenae Gustin who started in row five and Joel Rust, who started dead last, put his continuing "rental ride" in fifth.

The 12-lap Hobby Stock feature had Eric Larson holding off Eric Stanton for most of the first half of the race.  Stanton made the pass to the lead in the latter portion, and held it to the checkers, scoring his second win at the speedway this year.  Veteran Bill Bonnett got past Eric Larson as they finished second and third in that order.  Brice Udelhoven crossed in fourth, but rumor has it that he was later disqualified for some infraction, handing fourth over to Austin Luellen. Scott Durlin rounded out the top five.

Eighteen laps were ahead for the Stock Cars as they rolled onto the track.  The fans got their money's worth in this one as the two front runners went after it lap after lap. Jay Schmidt and his "Black Betty" ride, and Damon "The Chelsea Charger" Murty were going at it at lap one and it never ended.  The two circled the track at the topside, Schmidt in the lead, and Murty planted firmly on his rear.  Murty tried a peek to the low side now and then, and when it didn't work, went right back to chase Schmidt on the top.  Schmidt took the win---his third in a row, and fifth of the year at the speedway---Murty had to be content with the runner up spot.  Eric Knutson chased the leaders much of the race to take third.  Fourth went to Chris Wiltse and Jeff Wollam, "The Dean" finished in fifth.

The night ending 20-lap Modified feature was a good one too.  Kellogg's Zach Rawlins took charge at the drop of the green and was looking strong.  Rawlins rode the rim of the track and had a stacked field of cars behind him doing the same thing.  Cayden Carter got to second early from starting in seventh but was soon to be bothered by "The Topside Terror" Jon Snyder who had started in row five. Racer Hulin was making headway and in the top five as was visitor Darin Duffy riding in fourth after starting sixteenth.  After a restart at lap thirteen, with Rawlin's still in command, Snyder took advantage and got the lead by the following lap.  Another yellow flew at lap fifteen, setting up another shoot out scenario on the restart.  Carter gave it a good shot in those final laps, but wasn't able to pull it off, Snyder getting the win, Carter taking the runner up spot.  Third went to Zach Rawlins with one of his best runs of the season, Duffy scored the fourth spot, and the Angry Bird car of Ronn Laurtizen who started ninth, completed the top five.  Snyder scored a win for the second week in a row.

It was another hot night at the races, our fourth in a row sitting in our typical July Iowa heat and humidity. Earlier, we were thankful for the northwesterly breeze helping us to cool off, even with eating a bit of dust.  The Iowa weather changed during the night as the humidity lowered and things got a lot more comfortable.
We will head to Boone Speedway tonight, ending our five night run of racing, and then us seniors will be taking a couple of nights off for a little R & R.  We will be right back to catching some racing action before long though, and we hope you too will be checking the racing calendar and taking in the action somewhere.
Happy racing!

Friday, July 19, 2013

Strickler does it again at the Harris Clash

The Harris Clash is no doubt on Kyle Strickler's annual appearance lists from now on, after taking the prestigious race for the second time in as many years---the first to ever do so.  He had the field covered last night at the famed Knoxville track.  Anytime you can get a win there, it is a big check off on any driver's agenda.

There were 45 IMCA SportMods on hand last night.  They ran six heats, and three B mains to complete their starting field of 24 cars for their 20-lap feature event.  Matt Lettow, 2009 and 2012 winner, was the lucky recipient of pill #1 to sit on the pole, and the hot shoe from Lake City, Doug Smith sat on his outside.  Smith got the jump as the green flag flew, and Lettow took chase.  Jared Timmerman  came from row five to be in the hunt in third when the yellow flew at lap twelve. When the race restarted, Timmerman made the pass to get the runner up spot.  In the closing laps of the race, Paul Nagle, who brought out his SportMod ride a few weeks back, put the pressure on Timmerman with a couple of laps remaining.  No one could touch Smith however, as he motored to his first SportMod Harris Clash win at Knoxville.  Nagle made it work for him as he took over second with a lap remaining, Timmerman falling to third.  Fourth went to Austin Kaplan, and Roland, Iowa's Matt Lettow finished in fifth.

By our count, there were 69 IMCA Modifieds in competition last night.  Sioux City, Iowa's Chris Abelson had his night end in hot laps, when he took a wild end-for-end ride at top of turns three and four.  It took a while before he emerged from the car, apparently unscathed, thankfully.  His ride however, was taken to the pits on the rollback.  It took eight heats and four B Mains to complete the starting 24 cars, and a 25th provisional starter, previous winner Eric Dailey.

Jesse Sobbing, western Iowa driver who switched from SportMod to Modified this year and who is having a very successful transition, was the pole sitter for the 25-lap feature. Kyle Strickler, "The High Side Tickler" from Mooresville, North Carolina, who has been racing in the area the last couple of weeks, sat on the outside of row one.  Strickler took command at the drop of the green flag, liked that position and began motoring off, unchallenged.  Sobbing continued his run in the runner up position.  Meanwhile, there were several cars making headway from well back in the pack.  The yellow flew with six laps remaining when Jeremy Mills had to call it a night and the field was realigned.  Strickler and Sobbing were still 1-2, but one of the drivers that had been clicking off car after car was Gilman's Richie Gustin, who was now in third!  Gustin had qualified through a B main, starting back in seventeenth spot.  Was he done yet?  In fourth place at the restart, the #5 of Todd Shute was poised for a challenge, and Randy Havlik, who had started eleventh, was riding along in fifth.  As starter Doug Clark lit the green, Strickler had little trouble in maintaining his lead, but Sobbing was soon to be bothered by Gustin.  Gustin took over second place with a lap to go, but that would be where his amazing run would end.  Strickler secured his back-to-back victory, putting his name in the record books as the first ever winner of two in a row.  Gustin's run ended with his runner up finish, and Sobbing took third.  Randy Havlik finished in fourth and Todd Shute was fifth.  Sixth place finisher, Mike VanGenderen moved up the most positions, having started back in 22nd spot.

We appreciated the namesake of the race, Bob Harris taking the time to chat with us before the race, and getting to thank him for putting on this annual "must see" race.  We also enjoyed sharing the evening in the grandstand with friends and family.  We were thankful for our perch on the back row and the breeze that kept us comfortable.  It was also great to meet some drivers in our area, and getting to put faces with car numbers!  Had a nice visit with Stock Car driver John Watson and Hobby Stocker Andrew Burg.  They were joined by Jamie Songer, another Hobby Stock racer as well as another racer who us "racing deaf people" name we did not catch.  But thanks to them for helping us pass the time during the down times.  Enjoyed meeting you all.

A few notes on the night.  The track really came around in the feature.  The track prep crew had bladed it throughout the night.  Positively Racing's Jeff Broeg spent the night "upstairs" working, but got to see him for a few moments as he passed behind us.  Thanks for the cookies, Jeff! Check out his take of the night under the "Back Stretch" at Positively Racing.  It appeared that a lot of non preregistered drivers showed up, making for some last moment hustling in getting the line ups set.

We are still going on our streak of racing as we head to Marshalltown Speedway tonight.  Lots of racing to be found.  Get out and attend the race of your choice to support our sport.  Happy racing!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Nebraskan Dylan Smith wins at Osky

It was another sweltering night at the Southern Iowa Speedway, but back we went for the weekly show.
There were a couple of twists to the program however, as it was a draw/redraw in all classes, there were added laps in all features, plus the Modifieds were racing for $1,000 to win IF they had participated the previous night.  Would someone take home that $1,000?

The Sport Compacts were eight cars strong last night.  That didn't bother the veteran Merv Chandler though, as he led the entire 10-laps on the way to another win.  Bill Whalen, Jr. was second, followed by Kevin Kirkpatrick, John Whalen and Matt Moore.  Chandler told announcer Tony Paris in the post race interview that he had just claimed win 17 on the year.

Dustin Griffiths jumped to the lead as the green flag flew in the 16-lap A feature.  Mike Hughes pressured the leader the entire way, but to no avail with Griffiths taking the win and Hughes taking second.  The two leaders finished well ahead of third place Danny Thrasher who held off Bill "on it" Bonnett in fourth and Dale Porter took the fifth spot. The race was caution free.  Griffiths, who had recently had a chainsaw accident that nearly cost him some digits, claimed his third feature win at Osky this year.

The IMCA Northern SportMods went 18-laps and this one too had the winner lead start to finish.  Montezuma racer Brett Lowry took command and never looked back in claiming his third victory at the track this season.  He finished a comfortable distance ahead of second place Curtis VanDerWal.  Third went to the previous night's winner, Eric Flander, fourth was Carter VanDenBerg and Jason McDaniel took fifth.

There was an emotional win in the IMCA Stock Car class.  The feature went 20-laps and Todd Reitzler looked poised to repeat his win from June, taking command from the start.  Corey Stout was doing battle with Damon Murty and Brad Pinkerton as they jousted for the runner up position.  Pinkerton took over second at lap fourteen and was soon up to pressure leader Reitzler.  Pinkerton was finally able to make it work with a lap to go and would make it to the checkers first, taking the victory.  Reitzler had to settle for the runner up spot on this night, third place went to Jason Cook who worked his way up from near the tail of the starting field of eleven, fourth was Nathan Wood and Corey Stout finished fifth...with a flat tire as he crossed the finish line. Luckily, a hit to the rear by sixth place finisher Kris Walker, didn't appear to do too much damage to either car.  Murty, who had been running in the top five, retired to the pits with a flat tire with a lap to go.  This was a special win for Pinkerton, his second at the speedway this year.  His father Rick had suffered a scary heart attack on Sunday, had been hospitalized, had a "repair job", and had just been released from the hospital in the late afternoon.  He was at the track to witness his son's win and was in victory lane for the celebration.

There was a great field of 25 cars in the Modified class last night....several of the visiting drivers returning to try for the $1,000 payday for the win.  The top four finishers in the three heats were brought to the front of the grandstand for a game of unusual "circle" poker to determine their starting position. The front row went to Nebraska's Dylan Smith and Kellogg's Kyle Brown.  Kevin Larkins and Brandon Banks were no poker players and drew positions eleven and twelve.

The feature for the Modifieds went 22-laps and pole sitter Dylan Smith immediately took charge and distanced himself from the rest of the field.  Newcomer, Luke Wanninger took ownership of second and a good distance behind him, Scott Dickey had established himself in third place.  Jacob Murray, however, was on the move from starting thirteenth and making it into the top five.  He wasn't done yet.  Smith was firmly up front as the leader as the white flag flew, but things behind him would change.  Smith took the checkers, but Murray was able to nip out Luke Wanninger at the flag as they finished second and third.  Fourth place went to North Carolina's Kyle "The High Side Tickler" Strickler and Scott Dickey stayed up front all night to finish fifth.  The race went the entire 22-laps without a yellow flag.  In the victory lane interview, Dylan Smith, who is a former IMCA National Champion who calls Osceola, Nebraska home, said he had never been on the Monster Half-Mile until the previous night.  His previous night's appearance made him eligible for the $1,000 winner's payoff.

A few notes on the night's happenings.  Racer Mark Widmar, who had suffered some pretty significant injuries in an accident at the track in May, was on hand for a presentation.  He was given not only a signed helmet by all the competitors and the fire and rescue team, but was given a check for $3,194 that was raised through items auctioned at the track and donations, to go toward his medical costs.  Widmar expressed his thanks to all and was moved by the racing communities actions.  Racing family is amazing.  We wish Mark a quick and full recovery.

Promoter Mike VanGenderen had a busy and HOT night trying to keep the cushion knocked down, especially in turns one and two.  He spent a lot of time on the tractor in an attempt to keep the racing surface in good condition.  Xsan broadcasting was again on hand last night. They set up in a more stable location in the western portion of the covered grandstand from their  "boom" location the previous night....which we heard had a bit of a "sway"!  The FREE night of viewing offered by Xsan may have kept a few fans away, choosing not to fight the heat.

Be sure and check out fellow blogger Jeff Broeg's take on the night's action on the "Back Stretch" at Positively Racing.  Got a chance to say hello to Barry Johnson who visited us in the grandstand during hot laps before retiring to his usual in field position, camera in hand.  I believe Eric Arnold, who has "Hawkeye Ovals" was also in attendance last night.

We are off to the Knoxville Raceway tonight for the Harris Clash----our third night straight of racing.  It's going to be another hot one.  We always look forward to the Harris Clash and watching racers we don't often see.  Who is going to tame the famed Knoxville oval tonight?  Take this race in if you get the chance.
Happy racing!  

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Osky - 7-17-13

Unofficial results:

Modified - 22 laps - green to checkered

1. 95 Dylan Smith - Osceola, NE - got the $1,000 payday since he had raced last night.
2. 48J Jacob Murray
3. 20 Luke Wanninger - close at line for 2nd and 3rd
4. 8K Kyle Strickler
5. 40 Scott Dickey
6. 5 Todd Shute
7. 10C Cayden Carter
8. 149 Kyle Wahlert
9. 15 Mark Elliott
10. 38 Bill Gibson
11. 22 Brandon Banks
12. 33D Scott Hogan
13. 1+ Billy Davis, Jr.
14. 62 Greg Cox
15. 62X Hunter Marriott
16. 81 Mike Dunsberger, Lincoln, NE
Then it was something like this:
4X Kevin Larkins - Nebraska
20W Shay Woods
51 Tyler VandeKamp
1BC Tony Cox
17 Tyler Groenendyke
46 Toby VandeKamp
21K Kyle Brown
64 Casey Greubel
8C Nate Caruth

Stock Car

1. 62 Brad Pinkerton -
2. 22R Todd Reitzler
3. 27J Jason Cook
4. 52 Nathan Wood
5. 94 Corey Stout
6. 18 Kris Walker
7. 38 Rich Vogt
8. 19 Donnie Pearson
DNF: 99D Damon Murty
19A Alan VanGorp
DNS: 66 Jeff Joldersma - blew up in heat

SportMod

1. 72 Brett Lowry
2. 1V Curtis VanDerWal
3. 12 Eric Flander
4. 7 Carter VanDenBerg
5. 85 Jason McDaniel
6. 32L Ty Luellen
7. 8T Tony Johnson
8. 9A Logan Anderson
9. 29 Bill Livezey
10. 10 Brayton Carter
11. 8B Brad Iverson
12, 34Z Cory VanZante
DNF: 8J AJ Johnson

Hobby Stock

1. 10G Dustin Griffiths
2. 11 Mike Hughes
3. 84 Danny Thrasher
4. 19 Bill Bonnett
5. 7B Eric Stanton
6. 32T Bobby Greene
7. 33 Justin Hook
8. 224 Gina Greubel
9. 23G Dustin Tapp
10. 55 Jared Stephens
DNF: 77 Derek Hodges
          7A Aaron Osweiler
          05 Jason Cox
DNS: 3S Steve Allen

Sport Compact

1. 2 Merv Chandler
2. 00W Bill Whalen, Jr.
3. 92 Kevin Kirkpatrick
4. 77 John Whalen
5. 2M Matt Moore
6. 66R Richie Arnold
DNF: 27 Kassidy Kirkpatrick
         04 Trent Orwig



Shute shoots to victory in HDT at Osky

It was typical Iowa fair weather for the Southern Iowa Fair in Oskaloosa on Tuesday night.  The Hawkeye Dirt Tour was in town, along with the IMCA Late Models and the MADCRA Mod Lites joining the regular SportMods, Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks.  They shared the grounds with the livestock, carnival rides and of course, the food!  The HDT race found another driver winning for the first time in the series and that was even after doing double duty in another class.  The SportMod class had a driver find his way to victory lane for the first time this year as well.

The IMCA Northern SportMods saw the winner lead from start to finish in their refreshingly caution free race.  Eric Flander put his #12 ride into victory lane for the first time in recent memory, making him one happy camper.  Carter VanDenBerg, however, didn't make it a comfortable win in the closing lap.  VanDenBerg had chased Flander the entire distance and when lap traffic came into play in the closing moments, VanDenBerg did his darnedest to make the outcome different. It wasn't to be though, as Flander kept his composure and took the checkers.  VanDenBerg had to settle for second ahead of Curtis VanDerWal in third.  Fourth place was Brett Lowry who came from starting mid-pack and Tony Johnson rounded out the top five.

The MADCRA Mod Lites visited the track last night, their second time ever at the Monster half-mile, having run there initially last August.  The outcome was the same however, as Josh May motored his #99 around the huge track. May got around early leader Mike Morrill and was never challenged. May took the win, repeating his 2012 feat, and doing it easily.  Andy Hennigar finished a distant second, followed by Mike Morrill in third, Todd Shute hopped in the DC5 car to score fourth, and Dusty Masolini completed the top five.  For more on this class, check out www.madcra.org.

The Stock Car feature also went flag-to-flag.  Damon Murty fended off the challenges of his co-front row starter Jason Cook.  The two drivers would break away from the pack, leaving the rest to sort it out behind them.  The last lap got a bit interesting as Cook dove to the low side of Murty as they came out of turn four, but it was a bit too short, Murty taking the win.  Following second place Cook a good distance behind was Corey "from just across the street" Stout in third.  Brad Pinkerton was a close fourth, and Kris Walker was fifth.  Murty told announcer Tony Paris in victory lane, that this was win number seventeen on the year. It was his second checkers at Osky this year.

The Hobby Stock feature found Dustin Griffiths and veteran Bill Bonnett duking it out in the opening laps, Griffiths holding the upper hand.  A restart situation at lap eight was the downfall of Griffiths as Bonnett took advantage and made the pass for first.  Eric Stanton caught the leaders in the late laps, and the three ran nose to tail.  Wiley veteran Bonnett however, held his ground, and scored the win, his second at the track within a week.  Griffiths held second, Stanton was third, Nick Murty took fourth and Justin Hook was fifth.

The Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds was now up for their headlining feature.  Not only was this a $1,000 to win race, but it was also a qualifier to be on the ballot for the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational at the Super Nationals.  Lucky front row starters were Casey Greubel and Scott Hogan.  Hogan captured the lead at the drop of the green but the yellow came out before lap two was scored when Jacob Murray and Zach Less got caught up in turn one. They were both retired to the pits.   When racing resumed, it was immediately later when mayhem happened again in turn one.  This one looked like a parking lot of mangled cars and would send many cars to the pits and on the trailer.  Both Jimmy and Richie Gustin had damage too extensive to continue, as did Casey Greubel and Tyler Groenendyk.  At this point, the 24-car starting field was cut to fifteen cars, and had hardly begun! When racing got back under way, Hogan continued his lead but Todd Shute was on the hunt and promoter/racer Mike VanGenderen was challenging as well.  Shute swung to the topside and made the pass, taking the lead by the halfway mark of the twenty lapper.  From there on, Shute drove off from any challenge and took the win by a comfortable distance.  Hogan kept second place and VanGenderen, third.  Fourth was visiting Nebraskan Dylan Smith in his #95 who is no doubt in the area in preparation for Thursday's Harris Clash in Knoxville, and Steve Stewart, drove from starting eighteenth, to finish fifth. Sixth place was Cayden Carter who got together with Mark Elliott as they came to the finish line...sending Elliott in a spin move as he crossed under the checkers. Shute was the seventh different winner in the series this year.  Point leader of the HDT series Ronn Lauritzen,  finished in eleventh after suffering a toe out problem when he got caught up in some of the chaos in corner one, but still holds a  nine point advantage over Mike VanGenderen in second place.  Next up for the series will be at Independence on August 5.

The night ended with the IMCA Late Model feature.  After the start was called back, the 20-lap race went caution free.  Nick Marolf, Moscow, Iowa racer was the only leader in this one.  Marolf was chased to the finish line by Keokuk's Tommy Elston in this uneventful race.  Following in third was Justin Kay, fourth went to Todd Cooney and regular at the West Liberty track, Chad Holladay, was fifth.

It was a hot night at the races last night---both on and off the track.  Thankfully, it was not the sweltering 104 degrees that we endured a year ago, but still a plenty hot July night in Iowa.  We welcomed any bit of breeze we caught. Xsan was on hand last night, broadcasting the action.  We are always thankful for being able to catch some live action through their great broadcasting when we are unable to attend a race.  Check out www.Xsan.tv for information on how you can subscribe.  We enjoyed our evening with racing friends, and look forward to doing it all over again tonight! Tonight, Osky will be holding their weekly racing show.  There will be another $1,000 winning prize on the line in the Modified class if the winner participated in Tuesday's HDT race.  Hope you can attend.  Happy racing!



Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Osky - HDT 7-16-13

Unofficial results:

HDT Modifieds

1. 5 Todd Shute
2. 33D Scott Hogan
3. 57V Mike VanGenderen
4. 95 Dylan Smith
5. 17S Steve Stewart
6. 10C Cayden Carter
7. 15 Mark Elliott - spun across finish line
8. 27M Mark Schulte
9. 8C Nate Caruth - in a Kyle Strickler car
10. 21K Kyle Brown
11. 10K Ronn Laurtizen
12. 62X Hunter Marriott
13. 62 Greg Cox
DNF: 02 Andrew Schroeder
          4X Kevin Larkins
         40 Scott Dickey
          64 Casey Greubel
         8M Colt Mather
         19G Richie Gustin
         19 Jimmy Gustin
          17 Tyler Groenendyk
          22 Brandon Banks
          20L Zach Less
          48J Jacob Murray

IMCA Late Models

1. Nick Marolf
2. Tommy Elston
3. 15K Justin Kay
4. 30 Todd Cooney
5. 32C Chad Holladay
6. 33G Paul Glendenning
7. 5X Jeremy Grady
8. B00K Dylan Book
9. 62 Greg Cox
10. 30 Chad Cooney

Stock Car

1. 99D Damon Murty
2. 27 Jason Cook
3. 94 Corey Stout
4. 62 Brad Pinkerton
5. 18 Kris Walker
6. 19A Alan VanGorp
7. 52 Nathan Wood
8. 66 Jeff Joldersma
9. 22R Todd Reitzler
10. 38 Rich Vogt
11. 19 Donnie Pearson

SportMods

1. 12 Eric Flander
2. 7 Carter VanDenBerg
3. 1V Curtis VanDerWal
4. 72 Brett Lowry
5. 8T Tony Johnson
6. 8A AJ Johnson
7. 30X Josh Modde
8. 85 Jason McDaniel
9. 9A Logan Anderson
10. 10 Brayton Carter
11. 13T Tyler Musselman
12. 29 Bill Livezey
DNF: 77 Jack Meyer
DNS: 95J Jason Hall
          99 Damon Murty

Hobby Stock

1. 19 Bill Bonnett
2. 10G Dustin Griffith
3. 7B Eric Stanton
4. 99JR Nick Murty
5. 33 Justin Hook
6. 84 Danny Thrasher
7. 32T Bobby Greene
8. 21 Nick Ulin
9. 3 Travis Bunnell
10. 7A Aaron Osweiler
11. 224 Gina Greubel
12. 77 Derek Hodges
13. 57 Brandon Potts
DNF: 10 Dale Porter
          3S Steve Allen
          05 Jason Cox

MADCRA Mod Lites

1. 99 Josh May
2. 15 Andy Hennigar
3. 6 Mike Morrill
4. DC5 Todd Shute
5. 8 Dusty Masolini
6. 5J Jimmy May
7. 4 Travis Brandt
DNF: 27D Daniel Keltner


     

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Repeat winners at Boone in Mod, Stocks, SportMods, and Hobbies----Zehm new winner in the Mod Lite class

There were no new winners in the IMCA classes last night at the Boone Speedway, though some had a dry spell before their return to the winner's circle.  The MADCRA Mod Lite class however, did see a driver take the checkers for the first time this year.

Things were moved around a bit last night in the running order of the features, so the first feature to come to the track was the usual tail-end of the night  Hobby Stocks. Chris Hupp looked to be on his way to his first feature win of the year after his recent return to action.  However, by lap six of the 12-lap race, Eric Stanton had worked his way up into the runner up position after starting eleventh.  Stanton pressured Hupp for a couple of laps before finally taking over the lead with just two laps remaining.  Stanton kept his lead to the checkers, scoring his second win at Boone this year.  Hupp held on to second over Matt McDonald in third, Aaron Rudolph in fourth and Shaun Wirtz who started twelfth, nabbed fifth place.

The Mod Lites came next and their 15-lap feature had barely taken the initial green when it was red flagged.  Veteran Mike Morrill found himself tipped over low in corner four, but was rolled over, seemed none the less for wear, and tagged the field.  Another veteran to the class, Ed Zehm took the lead from the get go of this one, looked comfortable in that spot, and sent his #41Z to victory lane.  Dusty Masolini tried to catch Zehm for most of the race to no avail, and settled for second.  Third went to Josh May, who came from row six, fourth was Andy Hennigar who started back in seventeenth place, and rounding out the top five was Terry Brown.  Ed Zehm scored a win for the first time since last June.

The IMCA Northern SportMod feature was led early on by Brandon Brinton.  His night would end shortly after Brandon Williams, made the pass for the lead, when Brinton's machine lost power and he had to exit to the pits.  Williams then had clear sailing ahead, and motored home to his second win of the season.  Tim Love came from row five to take the runner up spot and Cody Hennings finished third.  Eric Elliott regrouped after an incident in his heat race damaged his ride, had to tag the field of the feature, and flew to a fourth place finish.  Lynn Brockett completed the top five positions.

The always entertaining IMCA Stock Cars were up next for their 18-lapper.  This one would go the entire way caution free.  This was refreshing, as it seems there has been an abundance of the yellow rag waving everywhere lately!  Jerry Gifford got by veteran Larry Crocheck early on and was looking strong and on his way to a victory.  Donavon Smith had other ideas!  Smith, who started thirteenth, worked his way methodically through the pack and was running in second by the halfway mark.  Smith annoyed the leader for several laps before getting the lead at lap fourteen and took a comfortable win at the checkers---his second of the year. Jerry Gifford held second place and third went to Trent Murphy who had started twelfth, and Jay Schmidt was fourth. Schmidt left "Black Betty" (his newest car) home for the night and brought out his previous car for a night of action. That nearly ended in the heat race when he ended up in the backstretch wall, had to start in twentieth starting position, but sent the older car through the field in fine fashion. Early leader Larry Crocheck hung around the front of the pack and secured a fifth place finish.

The IMCA Modifieds got their turn on the "end of the night track".  Matthew Meinecke led the opening circuits but it was Jake "The Snake" Durbin taking over by lap five.  Durbin still led at lap eleven when a caution flew for an incident in turn four.  Jimmy Gustin was dead in the water, having had a car drive over his ride, sending him out of contention for a win on this night.  Durbin held his point spot after a final restart situation at lap fourteen, holding off Meinecke...who continues his "oh so close to a win" finish, as he took second.  Jon Snyder was scored in third, fourth was Cale Sponsler and Kyle Brown, who was docked for jumping twice, still finished with a top five.  This was Durbin's second win at the track this year after winning back on May 11.

Fun activities are on the docket for next week at the Boone Speedway when it will be "Christmas in July".  Who knows what will take place...hopefully not SNOW, but rumor has it that Santa will make an appearance...perhaps wearing shorts!

We have a busy week ahead on our racing schedule.  Hopefully we get our string of night's in without Mother Nature coming into the picture and ruining it at some point.  Tuesday will be the Hawkeye Dirt Tour in Osky and they will follow up with their second night of racing during the Southern Iowa Fair with their regular Wednesday night of racing.  Both night's will be a draw/redraw format for all classes.  For more details check out www.oskyspeedway.com.  Then on Thursday night we will head to the historic half-mile at the Knoxville Raceway for the annual Harris Clash.  This is always a "must see" on our calendar.  Then the weekend will hold our regular night's at Marshalltown and Boone.  Do check out the calendar of events at www.positivelyracing.com for a wide choice of races you might like to attend at this busy season.  Happy racing!

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Schmidt, Rust, Hennigar and Chandler score back-to-back wins

The Marshalltown Speedway shared it's Friday night with the Central Iowa Fair on the fairgrounds.  A mixture of livestock, cotton candy, kiddie rides and music was all in the air.....a typical Iowa summer time occurrence.  A nice crowd was on hand in the stands to watch the racing action.  One driver was more than a little excited when he saw the checkers for the first time since 2009.  Other classes saw repeat winners from last week, plus another won for the first time this season at the track.

The IMCA Sport Compacts had six cars strong.  Their 10-lapper had the usual outcome however, as Merv Chandler took the checkers.  Chandler got around Dave Moorman at lap six and held it to the finish line.  Moorman, in a last ditch effort as the cars approached the flagstand, went a bit high and hit the wall in turn four, allowing John Gill to make the pass and score second ahead of Moorman in third.  Fourth was Duayne Herb, fifth was Chad Larson and sixth was Joe Alday.

In the MADCRA Mod Lite 15-lap feature, Randy Bryan fended off  Andy Hennigar in the first handful of laps. Hennigar took over at lap six and was putting distance between himself and the competition.  Josh May was flying on the topside behind him however, and picking off car after car. May made it interesting in the closing laps, but had to settle for the runner up spot on this night, as Hennigar scored the win. Bryan took third over Dusty Masolini and Jimmy May who were fourth and fifth.  Hennigar has won the last four weekly shows, and has a total of six wins. The only two drivers with wins this year at Marshalltown are Hennigar and Josh May.  

The Hobby Stocks ran next for their 12-lap A main.  The initial start was called back for an incident low in turn one and would send the 7B of Eric Stanton to the tail.  When the race did get underway, it was "Mean" Gene Nicklas taking command at lap two after passing Dustin Tapp.  Gary Pfantz chased Nicklas in the runner up spot and Eric Stanton was on a mission and making up ground fast as he took over third. The race went caution free the rest of the way to the checkers, Nicklas taking the win.  Pfantz held second over Eric Stanton in third, and Garrett Eilander nipped out Bill Bonnett as they were scored fourth and fifth.  Nicklas was one excited guy as he turned a doughnut or two on the frontstretch before heading to victory lane.  Nicklas said in the post-race interview, that this was the first time since 2009 he had won.  

The IMCA Northern SportMods were not so fortunate in completing their 18-lap feature without numerous yellow flags flying.  Several of the incidents that halted the action were what friend Bucky Doran calls a "slobber knocker"....which is five or more cars involved!  When things got calmed down a bit and a bit of racing rhythm was finally achieved, it was last week's winner Joel Rust at the front of the pack.  He would pull away from the pack in the closing laps and score the win---his second in as many weeks.  Travis Peterson was the runner up after starting near the tail of the starting line up, Paul Nagle also started deep in the pack to score third place.  Fourth was Geoff Olson and Jenae Gustin survived an incident that pushed her up the track, to take fifth.  Rust was still piloting the borrowed machine he had won with the previous week.

Jay Schmidt wasted no time in getting to the front in the 18-lap Stock Car feature. Schmidt had the lead by lap one, put "Black Betty" (as he fondly calls his newest ride) to the topside, and let the kite string out.  Meanwhile, his competition was jockeying for positions behind him.  Damon Murty dug his way to the second position after he made the pass on Eric Knutson with about a handful of laps remaining.  Then throw veteran Jeff Wollam and Steve Meyer into the mix as they went at it.  But this night was all Schmidt again, as he continues his successful season after bringing out the new Harris Terminator, and scored his back-to-back checkers at Marshalltown.  Murty took the runner up spot ahead of Meyer in third, fourth was Jeff Wollam, and rookie to the class, Scott Pippert, came from starting in row five to take home a fifth place finish.

The finale was the IMCA Modifieds and they showed how it was to be done as the race went caution free.
This made for great action on the track.  Scott Simatovich led the early laps but "The Topside Terror", Jon Snyder lived up to his name tonight, and flew around the top, getting to the lead at lap five.  Ronn Lauritzen was digging on the bottom and made it to second, and then moved to the top in turns three and four.  By this time, it was getting to be a mighty thin line up top in three and four, but luckily those trying it, did not slip off.  In the closing laps, Snyder continued his topside run, and scored the win----his first of the season at Marshalltown. Kyle Krampe was able to get around Lauritzen as they went second and third in that order. Kyle Brown came from starting seventh to finish fourth and Scott Simatovich kept his #43S machine up front all night, to score fifth.

There was some added action on the track last night after the last race was completed.  The always popular "Spectator Eliminator" competition.  Those competing had to DRIVE their vehicle to the track to be eligible for the head-to-head eliminating rounds.  Eighteen various vehicles...from an old Mercury Grand Marquis to suvs, pickups, foreign cars, and a corvette.  Who would have thought that a little Mitsibushi would take the mighty Corvette in the final round----but it did.  Just a little added fun and entertainment to end the night.
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It was announced that next week will be Racers Against ALS night at the races in support of those fighting the dreadful disease often referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease.  Brad Banks, former Iowa Hawkeye football standout will be on hand signing autographs.

A busy week ahead with lots of racing to be found.  Find a race---or preferably several---to attend and support the sport.  Happy racing!


Thursday, July 11, 2013

Dickey takes Modified win, Pinkerton scores in Stock Car on Dave Lowry Memorial night.

It was another pleasant night sitting at the Southern Iowa Speedway last night and enjoying the racing action. An added attraction was a King of the Hill for the SportMods, with any driver wishing to participate taking their turn.  There was a return to victory lane for one driver that has been surprisingly absent yet this year, and a local driver just keeps piling up the wins.  It was also the 2nd Annual Dave Lowry Memorial race, Lowry being a big supporter of racing in the area for many years, loosing his life in a traffic accident.

Since only three Sport Compacts were on hand last night, they only ran a 10-lap feature and no heat race. It was the Chandler/Whalen show.  John Whalen led through the halfway mark but just when he was really getting the pressure from veteran Merv Chandler, he pulled into the infield, out of the race.  Chandler then motored home to another of his numerous wins.  Bill Whalen, Jr. was the runner up.

The IMCA Hobby Stock feature came next.  Bobby Greene led the charge of the troops at the drop of the green.  Dale Porter was soon on his tail and making a challenge.  A second yellow at only lap five for Danny Thrasher loosing a wheel, would bunch the field for the restart, Greene holding the control when the green flew.  A few laps later who was that in third but veteran Bill Bonnett.  Bonnett had tagged the field after suffering a flat early and was flying through the pack.  Bonnett took the helm at lap nine, and now had Mike Hughes hot on his tail after he made the pass for second around Greene.  Bonnett kept his lead to the checkers flying, and scored the win, his second at the track this year.  Hughes had to settle for the runner up spot ahead of Bobby Greene in third.  Fourth was Justin Hook and Dustin Griffiths completed the top five.

The IMCA Northern SportMod feature saw Curtis VanDerWal score his sixth feature win of the season and doing it in easy fashion.  Rookie to the division, Logan Anderson lead through lap nine when he slipped a bit too high in turn two, loosing several positions, and VanDerWal taking the lead.  From there on, it was a "chase Curtis" as he pulled away from the field, and scored a comfortable win. Eric Flander, had a nice run to finish as the runner up, third went to Carter VanDenBerg who had started in the row behind Flander, Brett Lowry, was fourth on his father's memorial race night, and youngster and rookie Logan Anderson hung around the front of the pack for a fifth place finish.

Earlier, a King of the Hill contest was held for the SportMods.  Several of us in the stands were commenting that this race was done a bit different than we had ever seen it done before.  All drivers who wanted to compete were allowed to run after drawing a starting spot.  The car stayed on the track as long as he continued to win.  The final round found Jason McDaniel with three wins, going up against Curtis VanDerWal with four wins.  McDaniel would outlast VanDerWal to be crowned King of the Hill and pocketing an extra $150.

The IMCA Stock Car feature was dominated by Brad Pinkerton, who returned to the winner's circle after an absence dating back to July of last year.  Pinkerton, who started on the pole, just drove off from all of his competition, winning the 18-lap race by a large margin.  What a battle behind him though, which continued through lap eleven.  There was a huge cluster of cars all volleying for position!  This "glob" included Rich Vogt, Alan VanGorp, Jason Cook, David Murty, Zack VanderBeek, Nathan Wood, rookie to the class, Donovan Nunnikhoven and Corey "from just across the street" Stout.  Things got thinned out as the laps wound down but no one was going to touch Pinkerton as he scored the win easily.  Zack VanderBeek took second a good distance behind the leader, and Jason Cook, a good distance behind the runner up, took third.  Fourth went to Rich Vogt and Alan VanGorp rounded out the top five.

The night ended with the 18-lap IMCA Modified feature.  Scott Dickey jumped to the immediate lead when the green fell.  Behind him, Todd Shute was on a mission, taking over second at lap three with a pass on Jacob Murray.  Shute's night would soon end when he clipped a tractor tire in turn four, breaking a tie rod, and retiring him to the pits.  Dickey scored the decisive win, his second of the year at Osky, Murray took the runner up spot.  Colt Mather finished third ahead of "The Kool Aid Kid" Andrew Schroeder in fourth (Schroeder was making his return appearance after an early season accident) and fifth was visiting racer from northern Iowa, Jeremy Mills.

We spotted a couple of "celebrities" in attendance at the track last night.  Announcer Tony Paris introduced Tyler Sash, former standout Iowa Hawkeye football player and current NFL player, who's hometown is Oskaloosa, enjoying the races.  Sash was watching the action from the grandstand side.  Earlier, as we entered the grandstand gates, I heard someone directly behind me say something about, "is Tony Stewart really going to be here for the Front Row Challenge?", I replied, "that's what I hear", only to turn around and find it was sprint car racer and promoter of the event, Terry McCarl to be the one making the comment! That event is scheduled for Monday, August 5 at the Southern Iowa Speedway, followed up the next night by the Ultimate Challenge on Tuesday, August 6.  This will all be leading up to the Knoxville Nationals that start on Wednesday August 7 and culminating on Saturday August 10 right down the road at the historic Knoxville Raceway.  

Next week at the speedway there will be racing on two nights during the Southern Iowa Fair run.  Tuesday night, July 16 will be the Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds.  Also on the program will be IMCA Late Models, as well as the Stock Cars, SportMods and Hobby Stocks.....all with a draw/redraw format.  $1,000 to win for the IMCA Modifieds.  Then on Wednesday night, it will once again be a regular night of racing but with another draw/redraw format in all classes and the Modifieds once again are shown to be racing for another $1,000 to win.  Remember, it will be a busy night on the fairgrounds with the fair going on and admittance to the grandstand should be at the west end as it has been during the fair run.

A busy week ahead with five straight nights of racing on our agenda.  Tuesday and Wednesday we will make the trip to Osky, Thursday it will be the Harris Clash, a must see on our list, at the Knoxville Raceway, and then our regular weekend nights at Marshalltown and Boone.  No lack of racing so find one that you might wish to attend.  Happy racing!


Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Osky - 7-10-13

Unofficial results:

Modified

1. 40 Scott Dickey
2. 48J Jacob Murray
3. 8 Colt Mather
4. 02 Andrew Schroeder
5.10M Jeremy Mills
6. 10C Cayden Carter
7. 64 Casey Greubel
8. 17 Tyler Groenendyk
9. 38 Bill Gibson
10. 2L Adam Larson
11. 1+ Billy Davis, Jr.
12. 17X Steve Pumphrey
DNF:  505 Racer Hulin
           22 Brandon Banks
           5 Todd Shute - hit tire/broke tie rod while in second
DNS: 66 Gordy Head

Stock Car

1. 62 Brad Pinkerton
2. 33Z Zack VanderBeek
3, 27J Jason Cook
4. 38 Rich Vogt
5. 19A Alan VanGorp
6. 99D Damon Murty
7. 22R Todd Reitzler
8. 18 Kris Walker
9. 52 Nathan Wood
10. 19 Donnie Pearson
11. 17 Brock Welch
12. 87 Les Blakley
DNF: 2N Donovan Nunnikhoven
         94 Corey Stout
         73C Carl Yaw
         46B Michael Bilyeu

SportMod

1. 1V Curtis Van Der Wal
2. 12 Eric Flander
3. 7 Carter VanDenBerg
4. 72 Brett Lowry
5. 9A Logan Anderson
6. 7+ Jared Timmerman
7. 85 Jason McDaniel
8. 2 Bill Wears
9. 30X Josh Modde
10. 29 Bill Livezey
11. 34Z Corey VanZante
12. 1 Rodger Dresden
13. 10 Brayton Carter
DNF: 8J AJ Johnson
         8T Tony Johnson

SportMod King of the Hill was won by Jason McDaniel

Hobby Stock

1. 19 Bill Bonnett
2. 11. Mike Hughes
3. 32T Bobby Greene
4. 33 Justin Hook
5. 10G Dustin Griffiths
6. 3S Steve Allen
7. 3 Travis Bunnell
8. 55 Jared Stephens
9. 57 Brandon Potts
DNF: 10 Dale Porter
          84 Danny Thrasher
          7A Aaron Osweiler
   

Sport Compact

1. 2 Merv Chandler
2. 00W Bill Whalen, Jr.
3. 77 John Whalen

Blog to follow tomorrow

Monday, July 8, 2013

Brown, Dvorak, Chesmore,Happel and Whalen take feature wins at Benton County Speedway

We ventured east last night for a night of racing at the Benton County Speedway.  It was a typical warm Iowa July night and you could almost hear the corn growing as we took our journey through the countryside among the waving green fields. This made it five out of six nights of racing for the week for us.

The IMCA Sport Compacts raced for 12-laps.  Bill Whalen, Jr. took the lead by lap one, drove off from his competition and took the win by a sizable margin.  Second went to Jeremy Lerch followed by Merv Chandler in third, fourth was Travis Losenicky and the 36DD of Gary Peiffer was fifth.

It took surviving at least a half a dozen yellow flags before Danny Dvorak saw the checkers flying in the 15-lap IMCA Northern SportMod feature.  Dvorak took over the lead from Mike McDonald with just a few laps remaining, securing himself another victory at Vinton.  Joel Rust, still in his borrowed ride, withstood some hard knocks that left the car with less than straight sheet metal, to take the runner up spot.  McDonald was scored in third, fourth was Mike Hogencamp and Nick Roberts took fifth.

We were rather surprised to see only seven Stock Cars on hand last night.  They put on a good show none the less. Rookie to the class this year, Scott Pippert took the lead at the drop of the green, but lap two found veteran Norm Chesmore at the helm. Chesmore then continued his driver to the checkers, chased by Pippert in second, the entire way.  Third was John Emerson, who we noted had a big following in the stands, Mike Galli took fourth and Scott Beauregard was fifth.

The IMCA Hobby Stock division had Jacob Keiser leading the troops from the get go of the feature.  Justin Wacha was soon in the runner up position and pressuring the leader.  Wacha would then inherit the lead after Keiser ended up dead in the water in turn four, bringing out the yellow.  As the field restarted, it was Stander  in the second spot, but the 46 of Brian Happel was lurking in third.  Shortly after the restart, Stander would make contact with one of the tractor tires in turn four, sending him several positions back before regaining control of his ride.  Happel took advantage of the bunched field on the restart as well, and made the pass around Wacha for the lead with a handful of laps remaining.  Happel then put his car to the topside, as those close behind him were trying to make up distance on the bottom.  Their efforts came up short, as Happel took the checkers, Wacha kept the runner up spot, and Chris Lulloff came from starting mid-pack to take third.  Fourth was Stander and Matt Brown rounded out the top five.

The IMCA Modifieds ran a 20-lap feature. Racer Hulin and Kyle Brown began on the front row.  Hulin led lap one but Brown secured the top spot on lap two.  Joe Docekal began his task of running down the top two and opted for the topside on his quest.  With a lap to go, Docekal made it stick for the pass around Hulin but would run out of time to advance any further.  Brown nabbed the win, his third at the track this season, Docekal took the runner up spot and Hulin went home with a third place finish.  Fourth was Jerry Lulloff and Ronn Lauritzen got by Scott Hogan as they went fifth and sixth.

Racing was completed at 8:26 p.m., making for an early exit for those needing an early Monday morning work call.  We enjoyed our night of racing at the Benton County Speedway and it was made more enjoyable by sharing it with racing friends in the stands.  Fellow Positively Racing writer, Ryan Clark will have his take of racing and full results at www.instaging.blogspot.com as he observed from the infield announcer's stand last night.  Be sure and check it out.  Happy racing!











Sunday, July 7, 2013

Boone packs the house on free grandstand night

It was just like a night at the Super Nationals on the grandstand side at the Boone Speedway Saturday night.
A fan appreciation night and free admission drew the crowd, there were some fun activities, and the weather was beautiful.  The enthusiastic crowd cheered on the drivers as they witnessed three first time winners this year, and a race decided in the final moments that had them on their feet.

The Mod Lites came out in full force last evening, with 30 cars strong.  This required a B Main which was won by Terry Sorenson.  The feature's opening laps were led by Travis Stensland as he outraced Dusty Masolini.  Stensland bobbled slightly, allowing Masolini to take over the helm as the two continued their run at the front of the pack.  Randy Bryan mounted the charge to the front as well, running down Stensland and taking over second.  No one was catching Masolini though, as he took the checkers and stamped his name in the record book for the first time this year.  Bryan held second place, third was point leader Josh May, who had started eleventh, Stensland kept it at the front to score fourth, and fifth went to veteran Mike Morrill.

The IMCA Northern SportMods saw a driver win for the second time in just a few days.  Eric Elliott had won the Eve of Destruction race on July 4th, and showed his power again, winning the feature in easy fashion.  Elliott outdistanced Taylor Musselman who had a nice run to score a second place finish, third was Ben Kates, the Tonganoxie, Kansas driver who is spending his summer in Iowa, Paul Nagle the opening laps leader came home in fourth and Randy Roberts finished in fifth.  This was Elliott's fourth win at the track this year.

The Modifieds ran their usual 20-lap feature and this one would "wow" the crowd with a final lap pass determining the winner.  Matthew Meinecke leaped to the lead from his pole starting position when a yellow at lap two halted the action.  The guy on the move at that point had been the 69X of Jon Snyder, as he had gotten to third.  He then lost the handle going into turn one, but was able to keep it going,  At the same time, a car had came to a halt in turn four, which was the cause for the yellow.  This allowed Snyder to regain his position, tucked back in behind Robert Avery who was running second.  As the field restarted, it was but a lap or two later that Snyder made the pass into second and he began reeling in leader Meinecke.
Meinecke was doing a great job in holding Snyder off and was looking to taking the checkers with just three laps remaining.  Then....enter a caution at lap 17 when 81D Scott Davis came to a halt in turn four.  On the restart, Meinecke maintained his lead but Snyder was not done yet.  As the field took the white flag, Snyder saw his opportunity on the backstretch of that final lap, snatched the lead, and got to the checkers flying first.
Following in third behind winner Snyder and second place Meinecke was Joel Bushore, and visiting driver from Mooresville, North Carolina, "The Highside Tickler", Kyle Strickler finished in fourth.  Kyle Brown took fifth place.  This was Snyder's first victory at the Boone Speedway this year.

Earlier, immediately after the Modified heat races were run, there was a King of the Hill contest.  It pitted the top two finishers of the heats.  Round 1 saw Kyle Strickler besting Russ Dickerson, Cale Sponsler out ran Jon Snyder and Kyle Brown beat Randy Havlik.  Round 2 pitted Strickler and Sponsler.  Those two would get together as they got to turn one after taking the green.  Since the green was still out, Strickler got going again, but Sponsler opted for the infield, giving Round 2 to Strickler.  Brown had drawn the bye, so the final round was Strickler versus Brown.  Strickler would take home the Harris Racing sponsored event and the $500 top prize.

The IMCA Stock Cars saw the winner lead from start to finish.  Ty Hill captured his first win at the track in a couple of years, as he held off Marcus Fagan at the checkers.  Fagan made a late race pass around brothers Wayne and Jerry Gifford who took third and fourth.  Fifth went to Jay Schmidt who searched the bottom of the track for a while, while all the rest of the field was freight training along the top.  He later put his ride up top as well and got a top five finish.

The final of the evening was the 12-lap IMCA Hobby Car A main.  The familiar #78 of Shannon Anderson took the lead by lap three from his eleventh starting position, and had no trouble in taking another win.  Early racing was 4-wide on the backstretch as they searched for second through fifth spots.  Tyler Pickett won the war in that, getting to second and keeping it to the finish.  Curt Reed, who had started in row five beside Pickett, took the third spot, followed by Dustin Tapp in fourth and Matthew Sorenson in fifth.

It was great to see so many people at the track last night, enjoying the races.  Hopefully some of those first timers saw what a great sport we enjoy and will come back again and again.  Thanks to Boone Speedway for the fan appreciation night and the free admission to the grandstand.  Happy racing!

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Lauritzen, Schmidt and Hennigar continue their winning ways at Marshalltown

A warm July night greeted us at the Marshalltown Speedway high banks last night. A visiting driver from North Carolina returned for his annual visit to Iowa and two new winners went into the books, while other drivers just keep rolling along chalking up the "W's".

Six Sport Compacts were on hand last night.  Merv Chandler had no trouble in securing another of his numerous wins.  He led from start to finish in the 10-lapper.  Second went to David Moormann, third was John Gill, fourth went to the #7C of Chad Larson from Brooklyn, fifth was Danny Sassman from Ft. Dodge and sixth was Joe Alday

The MADCRA Mod Lites saw a dominate win as Andy Hennigar got to the lead by lap five and motored home to his fifth win of the season and third in a row.  Josh May chased Hennigar across the stripe for second, third went to Eric Hendrickson who had led briefly in the early laps, fourth was Dusty Masolini and "Busman" Mike Kennedy took fifth.  Hennigar thanked his car builder Josh May as well as his father Jimmy May (who "came out of retirement" last night to pilot the #5J) for giving him such a great ride. 

The 12-lap Hobby Stock feature was also dominated by the winner as he lead flag-to-flag.  Eric Larson led the charge to the checkers and secured his first win at the track this season.  Jennifer Hulin had a great run last night as she held the runner up spot all the way to the checkers.  Hulin held off Scott Durlin in third, fourth was Eric Stanton and Gary Pfantz completed the top five.  This was Larson's first win of the 2013 season at the track.  

In the Northern SportMod A main, it was Joel Rust getting by early leaders Bill Hildreth and Jonathan Logue   to take over the point with just a few laps in the books.  Rust pulled off from his opponents, letting them battle for position behind him, as he sailed to the win.  Second went to Ben Kates as he held off Eric Elliott, in third, at the flagstand.  Jenae Gustin came from starting eighth to take fourth over Jared VanDeest who was scored in fifth.  Rust was a happy camper in Victory Lane as he exclaimed, "I won Marshalltown!" and explained it was also with a borrowed car.  We had noted last week he was in a "plain black wrapper" car and understood him to say it was due to getting his own ride back together.

Jay Schmidt put his foot into it at the drop of the green in the 18-lap IMCA Stock Car feature.  The only caution in this one would fly at lap one and after that restart, they kept the rhythm going.  Schmidt pulled away from his competition as Steve Meyer and Damon Murty were fighting behind him for second. Schmidt took the comfortable win ahead of Meyer and Murty as they went second and third.  Fourth was "The Dean" Jeff Wollam in his 20th year of racing, and Eric Knutson was fifth.  This was Schmidt's third win of the season at Marshalltown, but has that many if not more at other tracks just after bringing out his new ride last month. He  is known to refer to his hot rod as "Black Betty".  "Betty" is on a roll!

Another guy on a roll lately is Ronn Laurtizen, having wins recently at Vinton and Independence.  He kept it up last night.  Lauritzen had the lead by lap three from his seventh place starting spot and drove on a mission on his way to another victory.  Jon Snyder fought past Luke Wanninger as they went second and third at the finish.  Fourth place was Joel Bushore and Adam Larson just beat out Racer Hulin as they went fifth and sixth.   It was an emotional win for Lauritzen as he took the win for the second week in a row; his third over all.  Lauritzen had gotten word in the late afternoon that he had lost a sister in a work accident.  It has been just a little over a year ago that he lost his father.  Perhaps he had two co-pilots with him last night.  Our thoughts are with the Lauritzen family at this time.  

Kyle Strickler "The Highside Tickler" was back for his annual visit and racing in the IMCA Modified division last night.  He had trouble in the feature and did not finish. Strickler calls Mooresville, North Carolina home.  Another note of last night, veteran Stock Car driver Jeff Wollam was seen sporting a spoiler on the trunk of his race car in hot laps! Nope....it wasn't their during his heat or feature.  

As this holiday week winds down, the specials still continue.  Lots of racing to be found far and wide in our area.  Find a race and support our sport!  Happy racing!


Thursday, July 4, 2013

VanderBeek wins Stock Car Shoot Out, VanDerWal takes SportMod victory

It was a packed house at the Southern Iowa Speedway last night for the running of the 18th Annual Original All American Stock Car Shoot Out.  This was also a regular points night for all classes, the Modifieds, Stock Cars, SportMods, Hobby Stocks and the Sport Compacts.  It would be familiar faces back in Victory Lane in the Stocks and the SportMods, while new winners would appear in the Modified and Hobby Stock classes.

The IMCA Sport Compacts had nine cars on hand.  This one was led start to finish by Bill Whalen, Jr. Brother John Whalen chased him through lap eight of the ten lap feature, but veteran racer Merv Chandler took over the runner up spot with two laps to go.  Whalen took his second win at the track this year, Chandler was second, third went to John Whalen, Trent Orwig took fourth and Richie Arnold completed the top five.

The IMCA Northern SportMods went 16-laps.  Brayton Carter led the charge when the green flag dropped.  Lap four brought out a yellow and by then sitting in third behind leader Carter and Bill Livezey, Jr. in second, was Curtis VanDerWal who was flying through the pack from starting in tenth.  It didn't take VanDeWal long to take over the lead after that restart and then he cruised unhampered the rest of the way to the checkers.  Josh Modde finished in second, Carter VanDenBerg started ninth and took third place, fourth went to Bill Livezey and Eric Flander rounded out the top five. VanDerWal claimed his fifth win of the season at the track.

The Hobby Stocks ran 15-laps for their main event.  Danny Thrasher took the lead away from Justin Hook at lap two, and held it the rest of the way to the checkers.  Mike Hughes tried his best to reel in the leader, but had to settle for second.  Dustin Griffiths, who was back behind the wheel after a chainsaw accident and injuries to a hand, finished in third.  Fourth was Justin Hook and Blake Miller in the 2013 car was fifth. This was Thrasher's first win of the 2013 season at Osky.

Thirty-six Stock Cars came to compete for title of Stock Car Shoot Out champion.  It took two B mains to complete the 24-car starting line up for the 25-lap race.  A fun draw in front of the grandstand among the top three finishers of the heat races, determined the top 12 starting spots.  Lucky front row starters were Jason Cook and John Oliver, Jr.  Cook took the point at the start, Oliver in second and then a yellow would fly at lap four when an incident in turn one stopped the action.  That incident resulted in two cars being placed on rollbacks---Shane Paris and Abe Huls, as well as taking Jim Mitchell out of the race.  After the lengthy caution to clean up the carnage, John Oliver was able to grab the lead at lap five, only to have Damon Murty snatch it away a lap later.  Murty pulled to a comfortable lead, not knowing that Zack VanderBeek, who had started eleventh, was reeling him in.  Murty and VanderBeek went at it for a couple of laps, but then when VanderBeek made the pass on lap eighteen, he would drive off to a comfortable lead, never to be challenged again.  VanderBeek won, Murty finished second a comfortable distance in front of third place Donovan Nunnikhoven.  Yes, Nunnikhoven in a Stock Car.  He debuted (as far as we know) in the Stock Car class last night, and looked very comfortable with his third place finish.  Todd Reitzler started sixteenth and roared through the field to take fourth and David Brandies came from starting near the tail of the starting field, to take fifth place.  VanderBeek claimed win # three at Osky last night.

The feature racing concluded with the 18-lap IMCA Modified A main event.  Todd Shute dominated on his way to the win, grabbing the lead by lap two, and never being challenged from there on.  Jacob Murray took a rough ride when he clipped the turn three wall, ending up behind it while he had been running second.  When racing got back underway after that lap four incident, Bill Gibson tucked in behind leader Shute for the restart.  At the halfway mark, Steve Stewart, a driver who has been absent at the track for a couple of years,  made the pass into second letting the field behind him duke it out.  Shute went on to the easy win, Stewart was second, and Gibson finished third.  Fourth place was Kyle Wahlert and fifth was Jimmy Gustin, making his first appearance at the track in a while.

A few notes from the evening.  The Murray built Modifieds had a bit of trouble last night in the heat race, when the 64 of Casey Greubel shot down off the track after getting into the marbles high in turn four, hitting race builder Jacob Murray's car hard on the right side. Also involved was the 149 car of Jason Murray, but being piloted by Kyle Wahlert last night.  All three cars were able to start the feature, but only the 149 car was able to finish.  Clay Mercer made a first time appearance in the Stock Car class, making his way here from Corning, Iowa.  Tom Bowling was also a first timer in the Stock Cars, listing his hometown as Danville, Iowa and Doug Adamy made the trip from Columbus, Nebraska to race his Stock Car.

The races concluded at 9:48 p.m., just in time for the city's huge fireworks display that started not long afterwards.  The pits were cleared, the grandstand remained full and we noticed more people making their way onto the grounds for the colors in the sky show.  It was a great night of fun at the Southern Iowa Speedway. Thanks to promoter Mike VanGenderen and crew for the night of fun!  Check out some video of the night's action on YouTube@freedomleft.  Happy racing and Happy 4th of July.  Be safe.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Osky - Stock Car Shoot Out - 7-3-13

Unofficial results:

Modified

1. 5 Todd Shute
2. 17T Steve Stewart
3. 38 Bill Gibson
4. 149 Kyle Wahlert
5. 19 Jimmy Gustin
6. 77 Todd Foster
7. 17 Tyler Groenendyk
8. 1+ Billy Daivs, Jr.
9. 13 Matt Waugh
10. 71W Jeff Waterman
11. 47 Josh Truman
12. 00 Shawn Slaughter,  Iowa City
DNF: 64 Casey Greubel
48J Jacob Murray
DNS:
22 Brandon Banks
40 Scott Dickey

18th Annual "Original" Great American Stock Car Shoot Out - $1,500 to win

1. 33Z Zach VanderBeek
2. 99D Damon Murty
3. 2N Donovan Nunnikhoven - debut in a Stock Car
4. 22R Todd Reitzler
5. 71 David Brandies
6. 27J Jason Cook
7. 05 John Oliver, Jr.
8. 19A Alan VanGorp
9. 93 Brandon Jay
10 3W Jeff Wollam
11. Doug Adamy, Columbus, NE - 9-11 were very close
12. 14 Tom Bowling - Danville, IA
13. 94 Corey Stout
14. 36 Clay Mercer - Corning
15. 52P Jeremy Pundt
DNF: 18 Kris Walker
          7S Jason Minnehan
          19J Jay Schmidt
          62 Brad Pinkerton
         17C Shane Paris
         30C Abe Huls
         m5 Jim Mitchell
         52 Nathan Wood
DNS: 47 Scott Pippert

DNQ: 44 Todd Fisher
          77T Trent Jeanes
          00 Adam Hagen
          49G Leroy Groenendyk
          48 Michael Larson
          9W Ryan Walker
         566 Jim Lynch
         4W John Watson
         73C Carl Yaw
         87 Les Blakley
         19 Donnie Pearson
         38 Rich Vogt

SportMod

1. 1V Curtis Van De Wal
2. 30X Josh Modde
3. 7 Carter VanDenBerg
4. 29 Bill Livezey, Jr.
5. 12 Eric Flander
6. 72 Brett Lowry
7. 8T Tony Johnson
8. 3L Clint Luellen
9. 42 Tyler Heckart
10. 10 Brayton Carter
11. 13T Taylor Musselman
12. 64 Brandon Leeman
DNF: 8A AJ Johnson
          85 Jason McDaniel
          9A Logan Anderson
          2 Bill Wear

Hobby Stock

1. 84 Danny Thrasher
2. 11 Mike Hughes
3. 10G Dustin Griffiths
4. 33 Justin Hook
5. 2013 Blake Miller
6. 19 Bill Bonnett
7. 69 Craig Brown
8. 96R Jamie Songer
9. 32T Bobby Greene
10. 77 Derek Hodges
11. 10 Dale Porter (in a #77 orange car)
12. 21 Nick Ulin
13. 224 Gina Greubel
14. 79S Jason See
DNF: 3S Steve Allen
          7A Aaron Osweiler
          3 Travis Bunnell

Sport Compact

1. 00W Bill Whalen
2. 2 Merv Chandler
3. 77 John Whalen
4. 04 Trent Orwig
5. 66R Richie Arnold
6. 33V VanHemert
DNF: 22T Michael Belger
         92 Kevin Kirkpatrick
         2M Matt Moore