It may have been called a "Frostbuster", but it didn't much feel like it at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa on Wednesday night. The temperature was in the 70's and if it hadn't been for the strong southerly wind, it would have been a near perfect night to be sitting at the Monster half-mile to watch a race. The IMCA Modifieds, Stock Cars, SportMods and Hobby Stocks were all in competition and all looking for the $1,000 to win in each of those classes. The Modifieds drew the biggest field with 38 cars. Not far behind with 36 entries was the SportMod division, followed by 24 Stock Cars and 17 Hobby Stocks.
The Hobby Stocks kicked off the feature racing with a 16-lap A. Dustin Griffiths who has had his fair share of checkers at the Monster Half-Mile, jumped to the immediate lead as the green flew and Danny Thrasher tucked in on his bumper. Griffiths drifted just a tad too high in turn four and handed the lead over to Thrasher on lap three. Thrasher threw off Griffiths many tries to regain the lead, but it was in vain as Thrasher took the checkers. Jamie Songer started in the eighth position, and finished third, Austin Luellen was fourth and Adam Bonnett, piloting his Uncle Rex Bonnett's car, took fifth after starting eleventh. The race went flag to flag.
The IMCA Northern SportMod feature didn't get off to a good start when pole sitter Kegan Scott got crossed up as they approached the starter's stand, causing a melee of scattering cars. About fourteen cars were involved, calling for a restart, and Scott having to tag the field. Brayton Carter was then moved to the pole spot, sitting beside the 0 of Clintonville, Wisconsin's Lucas Lamberies. Lamberies grabbed the lead but Carter nabbed the lead by lap five. From there on, Carter pulled the field and took the checkers with ease. Lamberies finished second, followed by tenth place starter Jenae Gustin in third. Fourth was Curtis Van Der Wal, and fifth went to Cedar Fall's Kip Siems. After the initial "no go", this race also went caution free. It was announced later that Carter was disqualified for "an illegal distributor", thus handing the win over to Lamberies.
The Class too Tough to Tame, the IMCA Stock Cars, are indeed just that. They always put on a great show and they did not disappoint last night. Their 20-lap feature was a dandy! Tama's Jay Schmidt was the leader at lap one and Chelsea's Damon Murty was hot on his tail. Cayden Carter was again piloting the orange machine, and quickly joined them for the tussle. Schmidt held fast to his lead, but Murty was peeking under him at every opportunity and then Carter tried his hand for the pass. The three cars passed the finish line several times in a tight, tight fight. On lap twelve, Murty's persistence finally paid off, as he made the pass for the lead. Just a couple of laps later, Carter made an outside move to get by Schmidt and take over second place. A yellow flew at lap fifteen, but on the restart, Murty tossed off Carter's attempts to get by him, and motored home to the checkers first. Carter held the runner up spot, and Schmidt held third. Fourth was Independence racer Justin Temeyer in his bright green machine, and rounding out the top five was Shane Weller from Agency.
There was a fine field of IMCA Modifieds in attendance. The front row saw Jammin' Jimmy Gustin on the pole spot, and Jason Wolla from Ray, North Dakota sat along side him. Wolla got the jump as the 22-lap feature began, and stretched out a good lead. At around the half-way mark, Wolla was still enjoying his lengthy lead, Gustin rode in second and Todd Shute was riding in third. The car on the move however, was the #62 of Brookfield, Missouri's Hunter Marriott! Marriott had started tenth and was continuing his move methodically toward the front. At lap fourteen, Marriott had taken over third and had his eye set on Gustin in second. Lap seventeen saw Marriott and Gustin battle hard, and evidently that battle led to a tire being cut, sending Gustin out of the game, and Marriott taking over second. The reeling in continued but time ran out to catch Wolla, who took the win. Marriott had to settle for second, followed by Shute in third, fourth was Scott Dickey and Cole Ferguson had a good run to complete the top five. This race also was caution free.
Former NASCAR driver, Ken Schrader, the Missouri native who now calls North Carolina home, was on hand last night, but did not have a good start to his 4-race Frostbuster series run. Other states represented by drivers were Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, Kansas, Minnesota, Wyoming, Missouri and Montana. The #57 Stock Car driven by Brendon LaBatte came all the way from Canada. I believe he is or was, a player in the Canadian Football League.
When we arrived at the track, it was great to see the backstretch pits on the other side of the track lined with haulers. Not only in anticipation of the great competition we were about to see, but thankful that fans could see all around the track!! The track stayed in great shape all night long as well. Just one yellow flag flew in feature racing. Thanks to promoter Mike VanGenderen for giving the fans a great kick off to the racing season. The weekly racing at the Southern Iowa Speedway will begin next Wednesday night, April 11.
There are three more nights of Frostbuster racing this week. Tonight, the Benton County Speedway in Vinton, Iowa will hold night #2 with racing at 7 pm. Friday night, Marshalltown Speedway will host night #3 with the racing to begin at 7 pm. Then Frostbuster #4 will be on Saturday at the Boone Speedway. Hot laps are 4 p.m. and racing will begin at 5.
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