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!
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