Sunday, September 21, 2014

LaCrosse takes $10,000 back to Wisconsin

Saturday was night #2 of the World Nationals at the Marshalltown Speedway.  Mother Nature opted to do some watering of the track before the noon hour.  When the rain stopped, it wasn't long until the equipment was on the track, and the track prep began for the $10,000 to win show for the non-crate Modifieds, plus $1,000 for the Stock Cars and SportMods, and $500 for the Hobby Stocks.  A full house of fans filled the grandstands for a great night of racing.  The weather turned out to be beautiful......until late in the evening, when Iowa's unpredictable weather threw in a little kink!

The IMCA Northern SportMods ran their $1,000 to win feature first.  The 24-car starting field required two B mains, taking two cars from each, to fill in the field.  Track regular Travis Peterson won consy #1, and the second went to Brett Lowry from Montezuma.  The early portion of the 20-lap feature was a fight between the front row starters, Logan Scott from Odebolt, Iowa and track champion, Clint Luellen.  Luellen, who has been having a phenomenal season, held down the point spot as lap one was scored, Scott settling into second for the chase.  The two opted for the low road in turns one and two, and the high line of three and four, but Scott's attempts of a pass never paid off.  Luellen drove the distance to the flying checkers and the win.  Tracy Wassenburg got past Scott late in the race as they went second and third, and Austin Kaplan was a close fourth.  Rounding out the top five was Doug Smith who had started back in twentieth spot.  Luellen, the "Minburn Missile", worked through lap traffic methodically in the final laps of the feature, taking the win by a comfortable margin.  In a post-race interview with announcer Jerry VanSickel, they discussed Luellen now leading the National points race for the IMCA Northern SportMods by 2 points.  He stated that he had not even considered running for that championship until late in the season, but found himself sitting in a good position to give it a shot when the season wound up at his regular tracks of Marshalltown and Stuart. Good luck to the young hot shoe in his quest for bringing home that title.  

The Hobby Stocks had extra money thrown into the pot, and instead of running for the $500 win, it turned into $700.  They also had to have a B main to complete their starting line up for the feature.  That B main went to Garrett Eilander.  When the race went green, it was the front row sitters Dustin Elliott and Kyle Parizek leading the troops.  It didn't take long for Eric Stanton to join in the fun, running in third when a yellow flew at lap three.  Just a couple of laps after the ensuing restart, Stanton dipped under leader Parizek, and took command of the race.  Stanton withstood three more yellow flags and the restarts, motoring home to the checkers and the win.  Following in second place, was track regular Austin Luellen.  A distance behind in third, was track champion John Watson who had won the previous night.  Dustin Elliott held fourth place and rounding out the top five was thirteenth place starter, Benji Irvine.  

The IMCA Stock Cars tagged four cars to the tail of their A $1,000 to win feature.  Damon Murty, who had suffered issues in his heat race, had to attempt to qualify through the consy.  He started dead last in the consy, and won it.  By the time the 25-lap feature came to the track, the weather had taken a turn.  A cold front moved in, the wind turned, coming from the north/northwest and about blew us away!  The flags and signs were whipping and it was not an easy task to keep my always present notebook safe!  

The Stock Cars raced a 25-lap feature, for $1,000 to win for the second night in a row.  The previous night's winner, Kyle Vanover from Beatrice, Nebraska, wasted no time in taking the lead from starting fourth, snatching it up by the time the first lap was scored!  He didn't have an easy go of it in holding that lead in the early going though!  David Brandies, the hotshoe from Atalissa, Iowa and the track champion at the West Liberty track, had started eighth and was hot on Vanover's tail by lap two!  It was a good battle between those two talented drivers, Brandies taking over the lead at lap eight, and keeping a tight hold on it through lap sixteen.....withstanding at least two caution restarts.  Vanover, however, was not done yet, giving constant attempts to regain the lead.  That paid off at lap seventeen, as he took over the coveted spot again.  At the 25th and final lap, Vanover took the comfortable win for the second night in a row.  Brandies had to be content with a second place finish.  Third place went to Churdan's Jason Minnehan, and local racer Dave Atcher was fourth.  Damon Murty flew through the pack from his 21st starting spot, and salvaged his night with an impressive fifth place finish.  Vanover said in his victory lane interview, that he wished the Marshalltown track was about five hours closer to home, as he would run it every week.  He was happy with his two wins and $2,000 over the past two night's run.  He also won the second night of last year's World Nationals after having a good fourth place run the night before.  No wonder he likes the high banks!  

The IMCA Modifieds.....all running non-crate, open motors, ran five last chance heat races, taking the top two finishers to the feature. Winning those five last chance heats were Ryan Gustin, Chris Abelson, Adam Larson, Jon Snyder and track champion, Ronn Lauritzen.  Those cars finishing third through fifth place in those last chance heats, were the ONLY drivers that earned a chance to run a "Final 4" race, later.  The top four finishers of that final gasp race, tagged the field for the big A main for $10,000 to win.  Cayden Carter, Justin O'Brien, Scott Olson (who was a new car on the night) and Darren Duffy earned those rights.  

It was 50 non-stop laps scheduled for the big finale.  By this time, the track had slicked off, a couple of lines coming in, and it was shiny and reflecting in the corners.  Earlier, the top ten drivers who had locked in the night before, drew for their starting positions.  Lucky winner of the pole position, was Green Bay, Wisconsin's Benji LaCrosse.  LaCrosse, a former IMCA National Champion sat along side young and upcoming Hunter Marriott from Brookfield, Missouri.  

Marriott beat LaCrosse to the corner as the green fell, taking the point position and the lead as lap one was scored.  LaCrosse tucked in right behind.  Two early yellows, one at lap 3 and the other at lap 5, still found Marriott with the lead on the restarts.  However, by lap ten, it was LaCrosse in the lead, and then, off he drove.  LaCrosse was cruising along a good length ahead of what was brewing behind him!  Marriott held on to the runner up spot, but was soon to be pressured by Mike Jergens and, who was that in third?  It was the #5 of Arkansas racer, Jeff Taylor!  Taylor had started back in sixteenth, and was digging hard for a top finish.  Several more yellows would fly before the race was completed---LaCrosse pulling off from the field each time on the restarts.  

With the strong north winds coming at the grandstands, you could feel the heat of the pack of Modifieds as they passed the frontstretch, all of them going for all their worth.  After the halfway mark of the 50-lapper, Marriott and Taylor were battling for second and third, LaCrosse driving off in the lead.  But now, all eyes turned to the black #56, piloted by Ryan Gustin.  Gustin had hopped into the IROC house car for the weekend races, a product of Chris Spieker, long time racer from Massena, Iowa down in the southwestern part of the state.  What a show Gustin put on in the closing portion of the race!  Gustin, who calls Marshalltown, Iowa his home, and is one of the talented Gustin racing family, took time off from his late model ride, and showed his talent on the high banks.  It was quite the show between Marriott and Gustin, Gustin throwing sliders out of turn four, but Marriott fending them off at the flagstand......for a while.  At lap 41, Gustin made it work, sliding into the runner up spot, and setting his sights on far ahead leader LaCrosse.

The final few circuits went caution free, LaCrosse happy and content a distance in front of the pack.  He took the win and the $10,000 back to Wisconsin.  Ryan Gustin finished in second place, running out of time for an attempt at the leader.  Third went to last year's winner, Jacob Murray.  Murray made a lot of headway from his seventeenth starting spot, to send his Murray chassis to a third place finish.  Hunter Marriott kept his ride to the front all night, taking fourth place and Jeff Taylor fell back a bit in the waning laps, but still salvaged a top five.

It was a great night of racing, watching a lot of talent circle the Marshalltown track.  We thoroughly enjoyed our two night's of racing there, and adding to the enjoyment was getting to take it in with some great racing friends.  This just may have been our final race of the 2014 season, as my other half is getting a new knee this coming week.  Time will tell on that.  But for all you fans out there, check out some of the great year-end specials coming up.  The calendar at www.positivelyracing.com can lead you to some of them.  Happy racing!  

Saturday, September 20, 2014

World Nationals Night #1 wins to Vanover, Gustin and Watson

It was a beautiful September night for racing at the Marshalltown Speedway on Friday.  The winds were very strong, and we were thankful they were coming from the south!  Night one of the World Nationals saw complete shows for the Stock Cars, SportMods and Hobby Stocks and the Modifieds locked some drivers into the big main event coming up tonight---with $10,000 to win.

The Hobby Stock feature paid $500 and it went to no stranger at the High Banks.  John Watson was the track champion at Marshalltown this year and showed his expertise on the oval again.  Dustin Elliott took the lead as the green fell on the 20-lap event, but Watson was immediately on his rear bumper.  Elliott established himself on the high side of the track, and Watson went to work on the lower side.  Watson made it payoff after his relentless hounding, taking the lead at lap thirteen.  By this time, eighth place starter Eric Stanton had worked his way around Elliott and taken over the runner up spot and was now pursuing the leader.  It was to no avail though, as Watson kept his lead and took the flying checkers.  Stanton finished second, Elliott held on to third, fourth went to Austin Luellen who had started twelfth, and Andy Hick completed the top five.

The SportMod 20-lap feature did not start well when pole sitter Johnathon Logue appeared to have his car die as the race went green.  This of course, caused some piling into and the race had to be completely restarted.  It also ended the night for Logue.  When things did get going, the #0P car of Hunter Parsons from Green Bay, Wisconsin snapped up the lead, but it was but one lap later that a familiar #12 of Doug Smith snatched it away.  When just a handful of laps had been scored, all eyes were now turning to the flashy #19J that was making waves.  Jenae Gustin had started fifteenth and was now flying and up to third!  A yellow came out at lap eleven, and no doubt, this was just what "the Mighty Miss Gustin" was wanting!  A couple of laps after that restart, Gustin flew around Smith and into the lead.  Smith faltered in turn one, sending him back in the field, Clint Luellen, the track champion at Marshalltown in 2014, now took over the runner up spot.  Gustin had no trouble in maintaining her lead however, and took the win by a comfortable margin.  Luellen held the runner up spot, and Carter VanDenBerg raced his machine from twelfth starting spot up to third.  His cousin, "Speedy Bray", Brayton Carter had a great run, starting nineteenth and finishing fourth, and Sam Wieben came from eighth to finish fifth.  Gustin was a happy camper in victory lane, and the crowd acknowledged the popular win. The win earned Gustin $1,000.

The IMCA Stock Cars went 25-laps in their $1,000 to win feature.  Last year's winner, Kyle Vanover from Beatrice, Nebraska, took up where he left off.  He shot to the lead from his outside front row starting spot, looking dominate.  He would get a great run out of turn two, hiking the left front up and speeding away down the backstretch.  With a handful of laps in the books, the #81 of Super Nationals winner Devin Smith had now worked his way from eighth into second place, and right behind was the Chelsea Charger, Damon Murty.  Smith slipped by Vanover for a brief moment as lap eight was scored, but Vanover was having none of that, and snatched the lead back.  A yellow flew at lap twelve, setting up a restart.  There had been quite the battle brewing behind the leader as now it was two Smith's going at it for position, Devin in second place, and now Donovan Smith was in third after slipping by Murty.  When things restarted, Vanover sped off to the lead again, keeping it the remaining laps to the finish and the win.  Behind him, the jousting continued as several cars were trying everything to establish position.  Damon Murty won the battle of those cars, just getting by Donavon Smith for second at the finish.  Right behind Smith in third, was brother Devin Smith taking fourth place and Trent Murphy was a close fifth.

The open motored Modifieds ran eight heat races via draw, and then ran a second set of eight, lining up in reverse starting order of their first heat. These heats earned them points.....1.66 points for each car passed.  By the end of the evening....the top point getters were announced:  54 Benji LaCrosse and 19G Richie Gustin were tied for first.  Then it was 62 Hunter Marriott, K1 Kyle Krampe, 37 Mike Jergens, 85 Dustin Smith, 02 Andrew Schroeder, 72 Brian Mullen, 99 Mike Mullen,  and77 Kurt Kile.  These drivers are locked in to tonight $10,000 to win feature.  All remaining drivers, will run last chance heats with the top two going to the A main, and I believe a last chance, last chance, or "final 4" race, tagging four cars to the tail to complete the starting field of 24 cars.

It was great to see the drivers that showed for this event.  I counted thirteen different states,(Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Michigan, and Arizona)  and drivers we seldom see.  Among those drivers was Jeff Taylor from Cave City, Arkansas.  He is the 2012 IMCA Super National Champion.  Also making a long haul was Dean Abbey from Waco, Texas.  Tonight, racing is to start at 6 p.m. and it should be a great show.  Make plans to attend.  For more information, check www.marshalltownspeedway.com.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Track champions crowned at Southern Iowa Speedway

It was good to get back to Osky on Wednesday night where it was season championship night.  There were new drivers, new winners, and track champions were crowned.  It was a heavy track and it was fast!  A bit of track prep was needed between most of the races to keep the track in good racing condition and with that extra effort, there was some fantastic racing.

All division were brought to the front stretch for introductions prior to their feature race, allowing fans a chance to see the drivers and show their appreciation.

The Sport Compact 10-lap feature went flag-to-flag.  It was led the entire way by Matt Girdley, who won for the first time at Osky.  He won easily over Bill "Happy Feet" Whalen, Jr. who was second.  Third went to John Whalen, fourth was Matt Moore and Nicholas VanHemert was fifth.  Bill Whalen, Jr. is the track champion of 2014.

The Modified feature had a couple of new drivers.  Some of those were trying to get in an extra race and nab some IMCA points before the season is done.  One of those, Troy Cordes is sitting in sixth place in the National point chase.

Veteran driver Jerry Pilcher, was driving the 7W car of Mark Widmar last night.  He sat on the pole of the 16-lap feature and took the lead as the green flew.  Meanwhile, there was a good battle brewing behind him as AJ Johnson, Tyler Groendyk and Andrew Schroeder were going at it.  Schroeder won that duel, taking over second place at lap eleven and then began pressuring leader Pilcher.  Schroeder made it payoff, taking the lead just before lap twelve was scored.  From there on he stretched it out, avoiding lap traffic, and swept to the feature win.  Pilcher held on to score the runner up spot, ahead of Johnson, Groendyk and Brandon Banks, third through fifth.  This was Schroeder's seventh win at the track in 2014 and it earned him the track championship.

The 15-lap Hobby Stock A main was up next.  Mike Kincaid led the charge early on in this one, but was soon harassed by Craig Brown.  Brown finally established the lead at lap nine and was content to let a pack of cars fight it out behind him.  Among those cars was Mike Hughes.  Hughes had been involved in an incident in the opening laps of the race, had to go to the work area, and tagged the field.  As the laps wound down, he had worked his way into that pack of battling cars, and as Brown went under the flying checkers and the win, Hughes stuck it into the runner up spot, just ahead of veteran racer Brad Stephens.  Mike Kincaid was third, fourth went to Dustin Griffiths, and Danny Thrasher was fifth.  This made the third win for Brown in 2014.  The track champion was Dustin Griffiths.

The always entertaining Stock Cars were next.  They had a great field of 21 cars show for the final night of regular racing.  Packwood, Iowa racer Todd Phillips had his #7 on the point position for the start of the 18-lapper and Louis Lynch, "the Hurryin', Scurryin' Missourian", was along side.  The two duked it out through lap nine, when the yellow flew. Lynch then had to start from square one after suffering a flat, and tagging the restart field.  Phillips still maintained his lead but now it was Corey Stout and newcomer of the night, Gary Harward, setting their sites on the leader.  The last eight laps turned into quite the race.  Harward got to second and was trying everything to get around Phillips.  He would peek under him as they raced down the backstretch, appearing to make the pass, only to have Phillips pull back to the lead as they came out of turn four. This happened again, and again, but Phillips never lost that momentum out of turn four, and scored the victory.  Harward took the runner up spot, third was Nathan Wood, who had started in ninth spot, fourth was the #20dub of Shane Weller who had started tenth, and Corey "from just across the street" Stout, was fifth. The Stock Car track championship for 2014 went to Cayden Carter.

The IMCA Northern SportMods closed out the racing and the season at the Southern Iowa Speedway. Colton Livezey took the lead when the race went green but by lap five, he was being pestered by Curtis Van Der Wal, who had started back in row four.  Van Der Wal pressured down the backstretch and then made the pass in corner three, nabbing the lead when lap six was in the books.  The only yellow of the race came at lap eight for Logan Anderson sitting dead in the water in turn four after spinning.  Van Der Wal had no trouble in pulling away when the race went back to green and scored the win by a comfortable margin.  Second place went to Cory VanZante.  VanZante has had his most successful season to date in the SportMod division after jumping into a new ride this year.  Third went to Tony Johnson, fourth was Charlie Weber, Colton Livezey was fifth, sixth went to Brayton Carter and Brett Lowry was seventh.  Lowry, who was really sticking it on the bottom of the track on Wednesday night, was crowned the 2014 track champion.

Another season of racing has come and gone at the Southern Iowa Speedway.  But there is still some racing coming up on the Monster Half Mile.  The 28th Annual Fall Challenge is scheduled for October 3-4.  Friday's show has hot laps at 6:45 with racing to follow.  Modifieds, Stock Cars, SportMods, Hobby Stocks, Sport Compacts and the Iowa Sportsman Series will be competing on that night.  Saturday's show, which has hot laps at 6:00 with racing to follow, will not include the Sportsman Series but all other classes will be on the docket.  For more information, check www.oskyspeedway.com.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Osky Season Championship - 9-17-14

Unofficial results:

Modified

1. 02 Andrew Schroeder - Track Champion
2. 7W Jerry Pilcher
3. 8J AJ Johnson
4. 9G Tyler Groenendyk
5. 22 Brandon Banks
6. 71C Troy Cordes
7. 40 Scott Dickey
8. 71W Jeff Waterman
9. 10C Cayden Carter
10. 4 Ryan Maitland
DNF:  64 Casey Greubel

Stock Car

1. 7 Todd Phillips
2. 23 Gary Harward
3. 52 Nathan Wood
4. 20dub Shane Weller
5. 94 Corey Stout
6. 62 Brad Pinkerton
7. 22R Todd Reitzler
8. 72 Jerry Pilcher
9. 10CC Cayden Carter - Track Champion
10. 1X Michael Petersen
11. 87 Les Blakely
12. 77T Trent Jeanes
13. 19 Donnie Pearson
DNF:  7K Kelsie Spilman
           4M Mike McClure
           27K Tim Kraber
           31 Jason See
           18 Kris Walker
           85 Doug Sylvester
           71 Louis Lynch
           17 Brock Welch

SportMod

1. 1V Curtis VanDerWal
2. 34Z Cory VanZante
3. 8T Tony Johnson
4. 352 Charlie Weber
5. 29 Colton Livezey
6. 01 Brayton Carter
7. 72 Brett Lowry - Track Champion
8. 40 Dakota Simmons
9. 85 Jason McDaniel
10. 7 Carter VanDenBerg
11. 82 Jake McBirnie
12. 9A Logan Anderson
13. 53 Greg Strohman
14. 20 Danny Brau
DNF:  03 Mike Mundell

Hobby Stock

1. 69 Craig Brown
2. 11 Mike Hughes
3. 55 Brad Stephens
4. 12 Mike Kincaid
5. 10G Dustin Griffiths - Track Champion
6. 84 Danny Thrasher
7. 6S Shannon Sherwood
8. 66 Brandon Cox
9. 31 Adam Bonnett
10. 73 Aaron Martin
11.  32T Bobby Greene
12. 3s Steve Allen
13. 19D Daniel Dyer
14. 224 Gina Greubel
DNF: 3 Travis Bunnell
          21 Nick Ulin

Sport Compact

1. 33 Matt Girdley
2. 00W Bill Whalen, Jr. - Track Champion
3. 77 John Whalen
4. 2M Matt Moore
5. 33X Nicholas VanHemert
6. 118 Trent Orwig
7. 22K Tyler Harring




Tuesday, September 16, 2014

2014 Super National notes and tidbits

We made it through another Super Nationals.....our 27th straight year and all at the Boone Speedway.  The 32nd Speedway Motors Super Nationals had it all....from 865 plus cars, to torrential rains the night before, flooding parts of the pits, the infield of the track and areas of the camping area.  Then the heat and humidity moved in and later in the week, it got down right chilly at night.  It also had some of the earliest nights we can remember in recent times.  The latest being 12:45 a.m.  There were fans and drivers from far and wide, some drivers repeated their prestigious wins from previous years, and a rookie to his class claimed a Super Nationals title. 

Monday, Labor Day, Day 1

The first day of the 2014 Super Nationals was really sounding iffy the night before and all through the night when we heard the rain coming down.  When we arrived at the track, some areas of the pits, the camping areas and the drives were a mess!  We heard that they began working the track at 8:30 a.m. and when we arrived shortly after noon, the infield that had been flooded, was now drained.....all on it's own without pumps, and the track was looking good.  Racing was scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. (as it was each of the six days) but was about 45 minutes late.  The track was even WATERED, before the racing began. What could have been a really ugly day of racing, turned into a night of good racing, and one that was completed at 10:41 p.m.

That first day of racing was a full show for the 41 IMCA Deery Brothers Late Models, plus qualifying for the 145 Hobby Stocks and 167 SportMods.  The 50 lap Deery Brothers feature saw a familiar face back on the podium as Jeff Aikey led all 50 laps on his way to capturing his fourth Super Nationals Championship.

In the Hobby Stock division, it was Shannon Anderson capturing the first qualifying feature and securing his pole starting spot for Saturday's A feature.  The second Hobby Stock feature was won by Nebraska racer Jesse VanLaningham, earning him a front row starting spot from the middle row on Saturday night.

The IMCA Northern SportMods also had a qualifying feature on the first night of racing.  Ben Kates, the Tonganoxie, Kansas driver who has called Boone, Iowa home this racing season, won that A qualifier, putting him on the pole for the Saturday show.

Tuesday, Day 2

The Super Nationals, had the second Champion crowned, this time in the IMCA Sport Compact class.  Adam Gates was a surprised winner of this Super National's Championship, as he was not aware he was leading at the checkers---thinking instead that Nate Coopman was a runaway.  Coopman had his engine expire with a handful of laps remaining, but Gates did not notice him sitting in the infield.

In the Hobby Stock class on Day 2, Atlantic, Iowa driver, Dusty VanHorn won the A qualifier, putting himself on the front of the outside row come Saturday night.

Two more drivers earned front row starting spots in the SportMod division.  Jerry Hoffman was awarded the front row of the middle row for Saturday night's big show.  This was after finishing second to Bobby Anders, Jr. who had crossed the finish line in first.....but was later found to have an illegal shock.  The second A qualifier, putting the winner on the outside front row, was a popular win.  Hometown boy, Jake McBirnie put his bright metallic blue ride on that coveted position by winning that race.

Wednesday, Day 3

Wednesday was "Ground Pounder" day, the IMCA Modifieds making their first time racing and qualifying as did the Stock Cars.  By my count, 277 Modifieds ran heats and there were 167 Stock Cars.  Things were also beginning to get busier and the crowd was growing.  The Hobby Stocks and SportMods qualified their final six cars to tag the end of their Big Dance, the Stock Cars qualified four cars for the inside row and four cars for the middle row as did the Modifieds.

Taking the win for the final shot in the Hobby Stocks was Andrew Burg, who had been a strong runner weekly at the Boone Speedway all year long.  In the last gasp for the SportMods, it was Chad Ryerson from Wellsburg, happy with his win and a chance to race in the Saturday night feature.

Two Stock Car A qualifiers ran on Wednesday night, and the first one went to a familiar name around the oval.  Jerry Gifford, from right there in Boone, won #1.  The second one, went to Jay Schmidt, another weekly racer at the track who had a successful season at "Iowa's Action Track".

Two qualifiers were run in the Modifieds.  Though Adam Larson took the checkers in the first feature, he was later disqualified for an infraction on the chassis.  This gave the win to Californian, Paul Stone.  Qualifier #2 went to "the Flying Banana", Mike Jergens.  Jergens drove his #37X machine from row seven, to take the checkers.

Thursday, Day 4

Day #4 was a hot one and a humid one! Qualifying for the Stock Cars and Modifieds continued....each running two qualifying features with four drivers from each advancing.  The first of the Stock Car events went to rookie to the class, Devin Smith.  Smith, who moved up from Hobby Stocks this year, looked to be on a mission in taking his solid win.  The second of the qualifiers saw Marcus Fagan make it to the checkers first.  However, he was later disqualified for an infraction, giving the win to Belmond, Iowa driver, Heath Tulp.

The Modified's were qualifying for the middle row on Thursday.  The first A feature went to Earlham, Iowa's Josh Gilman.  It took a while to get through the second A qualifier with at least five yellows flying plus a red flag when a car took a flip.  When it was finally scored complete, Chris Mills from Sioux City took the win.

Friday, Day 5

Mother Nature decided to throw a little curve into the Super Nationals again with rain, rain and more rain in the early morning hours on Friday.  Despite all that "liquid sunshine", racing began just 16 minutes late, at 2:16 p.m.  A few sprinkles returned just about starting time and tried to interrupt the festivities and right before heat #9, it halted the racing as the sprinkles became heavier.  Wheels were kept on the track though, both the hard working "green" farming machines, and the race cars, and after about an hour delay, things picked back up where they had let off, and the roar of the engines resumed.  That rain had also moved in a cold front, and the temperatures began to fall.  The evening turned into a jacket night for sure!

Friday featured the Modified All Star Invitational Race----30 cars for 30 laps.  Kyle Strickler, known as the "high side tickler" pretty much dominated this one after getting to the lead by lap seven and leading the rest of the race to the flying checkers.

There were also two more Stock Car qualifying A's as well as two for the Modifieds.  In the first Stock Car A main, a brand new car and driver showed up and took all the marbles.  Casey Werkmeister from North Platte, Nebraska won his heat as well as the qualifying A, putting his #24W on the outside row of the "Big Dance".  An interesting fact about Werkmeister is that he is a Junior Varsity football coach back home and was not about to let his team down by being absent at their game the previous night!  An Iowa driver won the second Stock Car qualifier.  Justin Temeyer started in row five, and took over the lead before the halfway mark of the 25-lap race and held it to the finish.

Feature one of the Modifieds found De Pere, Wisconsin racer, Johnny Whitman snaring the win and the right to start in the outside row come Saturday night.  Race #2 went to Kyle Strickler, taking the checkers for the second time of the night, after his earlier prestigious All Star Invitational win.  That second qualifying feature had a scary incident on the backstretch, when Billy Davis, Jr. was slowing on the track, when the cars approaching him tried to take evasive action, and the situation did not end well.  Davis took a real hit and rolled just before turn four, his car sitting demolished on the track in the outcome.  It was a big relief to see him emerge from the car and okay.

Saturday, Day 6, - The Big Dance

Saturday was finally here.  There were still some last chance races for the Modifieds and Stock Cars before their "Big Dance" was set as well as Race of Champions features for the Modifieds, Stock Cars, SportMods and the Hobby Stocks.  Making it into the main event by winning the Stock Car qualifying A was Derek Green from Granada, Minnesota, and winning each of three final qualifiers for the the Modifieds, were Mike VanGenderen, Ryan Ruter and Joel Rust.

The Race of Champions winners were:
                                                                Hobby Stock - Austin Luellen, Iowa
                                                                SportMod      - Clint Luellen, Iowa
                                                                Stock Car      -  Devin Smith, Iowa
                                                                Modified       -  Keith White, Texas

The Big Dance for the IMCA Hobby Stocks found pole sitter Shannon Anderson lead the entire 30-lap race from start to finish, on his way to his third Super Nationals Hobby Stock Championship.  Anderson motored home to the victory by a comfortable distance.  Second went to Mike Pruitt, who had to fend off third place finisher Jesse VanLaningham.  Fourth was regular Saturday night racer at Boone, Eric Stanton, and Austin Luellen rounded out the top five.

Johnathon Logue made history by winning the IMCA Northern SportMod Big Dance.  Logue, who's father is John Logue, five-time Super National winner in the Modified division, drove his #69jr hot rod from starting inside row four, to snare the coveted win.  Logue passed second place finisher Randy Roberts by lap eighteen, and then held the lead to the finish. Third place went to Algona's Jake Simpson, fourth was Bakersfield, California racer Ethan Dotson, and Jared VanDeest from Holland, Iowa was fifth.

Devin Smith, rookie in the Stock Car class, was dominate most of the week.  After his Race of Champions win earlier in the evening, he didn't let up when it came Big Dance time.  Smith took the lead by lap eight and never looked back.  Smith won comfortably over second place finisher Damon Murty.  Murty started in the middle of row four to take the runner up spot.  Third was Boone track champion Jerry Gifford, fourth went to Hortonville, Wisconsin's Travis VanStraten and Justin Temeyer from Independence, Iowa, completed the top five.

The grand finale of the six-day Super Nationals was the 30-lapper for the Modifieds.  Starting across the 3-wide front row were Mike Jergens, Josh Gilman and Kyle Strickler.  When the race went green, Strickler took immediate command of the lead,  pulling away from all the remaining 32 cars.  Strickler was still leading easily at lap seventeen, when a horrific crash on the frontstretch, right at the flagstand occurred. A car was limping toward the pit exit out of turn four, right up against the wall, when all of a sudden the cars approaching him that were racing for position, were swerving to avoid him, as they had committed to the top line of the track.  It was mayhem as cars piled into each other. Todd Shute rolled and Mike VanGenderen took a late hit to the drivers door, Jimmy Gustin was in the middle of the mess, but quickly emerged from his destroyed car.  Also involved were Adam Johnson, Nick Roberts and Chris Mills.  VanGenderen commented that he was knocked out for a moment.  From the looks of the resulting carnage, we'd say probably at least three race cars were destroyed.  Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt that we heard about.

When racing got back underway after a lengthy clean up procedure, Strickler took up where he left off, distancing himself from the field.  Strickler took the win easily, putting his name in the record books as a Super Nationals winner.  Richie Gustin made a late race pass to take the runner up spot.  Gustin started on the inside of row five to finish in second.  Third went to last year's winner Dylan Smith who started in the middle of row four.  Fourth was Canada racer Aaron Turnbull from Estevan, Saskatchewan, and Mike Jergens finished in the top five after starting on the inside pole.

We mentioned earlier that racing was completed much earlier each night than in recent years.  Monday was done at 10:41 p.m., Tuesday was 12:02 a.m., Wednesday it was 12:45 a.m, Thursday, 12:09 a.m., Friday, 12:32 a.m. and Saturday it was done by 10:21 p.m.  We did stick around for the motor auctioning after the celebrating was done.  Both the Hobby Stock and SportMod motors went for $2,400 and both the Modified and Stock Car, which was a Mopar, went for $6,000.

The 32nd IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals has come and gone.  We are already looking forward to the 33rd!  Where else can you see cars in six divisions from across the whole United States and Canada, come together for America's Racin' Vacation and run in such an efficient and orderly manner?  We love it and by the size of the crowds and the car count, so do a lot of others!

I know this is late in getting completed.  Thanks in part to an issue with the lap top that put it out of commission for a while.  We are hoping to get just a couple more races in this year before we call it a season.  We usually go racing into October, but my other half is soon to be getting a new knee and then down for some recuperation.  We plan for the Southern Iowa Speedway's season championship tomorrow night, Wednesday, September 17 and we have our fingers crossed for the Marshalltown Speedway's World Nationals on Friday and Saturday. Please Mother Nature, don't rain on our last races of the year!