It was finally time to get back to some regular racing at the big old Monster Half Mile. After being silent on Wednesday nights since back on July 31, due to Sprint week at nearby Knoxville the first week of August and the State Fair being on the following week, things sprung back into action at the Southern Iowa Speedway last night. The IMCA Late Models joined the other classes on the program.
There were some surprising drivers in attendance, one of them making a long haul from his home state of Oklahoma and his first time ever at the track. Three drivers would add to their wins at the track this year, while there were first time winners in the Modified, SportMod and Late Model divisions.
There were only three Sport Compacts in attendance last night. Bill Whalen, Jr. led the entire eight laps, finishing ahead of veteran Merv Chandler....sporting a rent a ride #57...and Trent Orwig finished third. This was Whalen's third feature win at the track in 2013.
The Hobby Stock winner had a hot car last night....really...as an oil fire sprung up under the hood as he sat in victory lane. That driver would be Mike Hughes, who has made a habit of taking the checkers at Osky this year. Hughes took the lead from Aaron Osweiler at lap eight with a power move down the backstretch. A lap later, a red flag came out when Travis Bunnell took a hard shot into the frontstretch wall. He was not injured. When things got back underway, the race would go the rest of the distance caution free, Hughes in command to the checkers. Danny Thrasher followed the leader to take second, third went to track point leader Bill Bonnett, Osweiler hung around the front and scored fourth and Justin Hook rounded out the top five. Hughes, who had started in row five, captured his sixth win of the year.
The IMCA Northern SportMods went 16-laps in their A feature. AJ Johnson was the guy in command from the drop of the green. It didn't take Carter VanDenBerg long to come calling though, getting to the leaders rear bumper by lap seven after winning the battle for position with Logan Anderson and Brett Lowry. VanDenBerg made the pass to the lead by lap eight and another driver coming on strong was Curtis VanDerWal who had started tenth and by lap ten was getting in the hunt. An incident in turn one would end VanDerWal's run. VanDerWal gathered his machine under him, continuing on and keeping the race green, but lost many positions. VanDenBerg would then pull away from his competitors and take the comfortable win. AJ Johnson finished as the runner up, third was Brett Lowry. Logan Anderson took the fourth place and Eric Flander rounded out the top five. This was VanDenBerg's first win at the track this year. He has been having a good run as of late, taking the win at the Bloomfield Speedway last Friday night, and a top 5 finish at the Boone Speedway on Saturday.
The IMCA Stock Cars always get after it and last night's 18-lap feature continued to follow the theme. Brad Pinkerton leaped to the lead when the green flag dropped and pulled out to a good lead. However, there was action galore behind him, the cars racing in clumps and going three and four wide. When things got sorted out a bit---Pinkerton still with a commanding lead---it was the unmistakable orange car of Zack VanderBeek and the Chelsea Charger's 99D that had broken away from the rest of the field. There was still a great battle going on for fourth place, among Rich Vogt, Todd Reitzler, Kris Walker and visitor from the western part of the state, Bill Osbahr from Avoca. With the laps winding down, VanderBeek reeled in the leader and was able to make the pass into the lead with a lap to go. VanderBeek took the checkers, his fifth of the year, and Pinkerton had to be content with second. Third place was Damon Murty, by a bumper over Todd Reitzler in fourth and Bill Osbahr, who had won the Iowa State Fair race recently, took fifth.
The IMCA Late Models made their fifth appearance at Osky this year. With just one lap in the books, the 33G of Mt. Ayr's Paul Glendenning was on the spin cycle on the frontstretch, bringing out the yellow. Glendenning, though suffering damage and rear end issues, tagged the field when the racing resumed. The Ironman, Darrel DeFrance from Marshalltown, Iowa had led from the start, Nick Marolf running in second. A yellow at lap thirteen of the 20-lapper, still had DeFrance in command, but Marolf was now being challenged by Todd Cooney. On the restart, Cooney made the pass into second. The race would end with DeFrance taking the checkers, Cooney was the runner up, Marolf was third, and Spencer Diercks and Paul Glendenning completed the top five. DeFrance won for the first time at Osky this year, the wins previously shared by Diercks and Marolf.
The night ended with the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature. A familiar name, Colt Mather, but in an unfamiliar car #4+4 (but scored as his usual #8) started back in row four but was in the lead at lap four, and sailed off into the sunset with an easy win. Mather, who took the checkers by a good margin, was followed by Tyler Groenendyk and Jesse Sobbing in second and third. Fourth place went to Cayden Carter, and another visiting driver, Nick Deal from Walnut, Iowa, finished fifth. Mather won for the first time this year at the Southern Iowa Speedway.
A few notes on the night. Not only did Jesse Sobbing make a return visit to the track last night, but a real surprise was seeing the #60 of William Gould! Gould, who hails from Calera, Oklahoma and does much of his racing in the state of Texas, is going neck and neck for the IMCA Modified National Championship with Jesse Sobbing. We are not quite sure WHY Gould was out of his region racing, but heard him tell announcer Tony Paris in a pre-race interview, that he was going to be in the area until Monday. We expect to see his name at other tracks over the weekend.
It was another enjoyable night of sitting in the stands with racing friends. The Positively Racing posse was in full force last night. Head honcho Jeff Broeg joined us "bench sitting" as did Ryan Clark who made his way over from Vinton, Iowa for the first time this year. Check and see if there aren't some of their thoughts about last night at www.backstretch32.blogspot.com and www.instaging.blogspot.com. Also enjoying the night's racing were Eric Arnold (www.hawkeyeovals.blogspot.com) who we often see on his way to his usual watching spot in the stands toward our east. In the infield, fellow blogger Brian Neal made his first visit to the Southern Iowa Speedway (www.midwestracingnews.blogspot.com), snapping pictures along with Barry Johnson, who captures photos most every Wednesday night at Osky.
The Southern Iowa Speedway will fall silent again until September 11 when the Iowa Sportsman Series joins the regular classes. Season Championship will be the following week, September 18. The 27th Annual Fall Challenge will close out action for the year on October 4 and 5.
Racing programs are still out there. Find one to enjoy and support our great sport. Happy racing!
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