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!
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