After a week long drought from racing....how odd to say that when it was actually a week of rain outs....we were glad to finally get back to racing on Saturday night. The Boone Speedway was primed and ready for their weekly races. All but one class found new winners stepping into Victory Lane; one for the first time ever at the track.
The Mod Lites hit the track first for their feature event. Charlie Brown got to the lead from his fifth place starting spot by lap five and held it the remaining distance to the checkers. He was challenged the entire way by Bryan Zehm. A yellow at lap thirteen was just what Zehm was looking for. This would set up a green-white-checkered finish and a shoot out to the finish. Brown threw off Zehm's attempts however, and motored home to the win. Zehm had to be content with second place. Third went to Travis Stensland, fourth was Randy Bryan and Joel Keenan rounded out the top five. Brown, who had numerous wins at the track last year, won for the first time in 2015.
A driver in the SportMod 18-lap A main got back to his winning ways, grabbing a win after a dry spell since back in May. Sam Wieben, the young gun out of Dysart, Iowa, started ninth and fought past Cory Rose with ten laps in the books, and held on the rest of the way in taking the win. Jonathan Logue started eighth and took the runner up spot after getting by third place finisher Jake McBirnie late in the race. Fourth went to Brandon Williams and Cory Rose was fifth. Wieben, who had won three in a row back in May, scored his fourth win at Boone this season.
A hometown Boone driver snatched up his first ever win at Boone in the IMCA 12-lap Hobby Stock feature. Dustin Graham led from start to finish, survived a yellow and subsequent restart at lap six, and took the comfortable win. Eighth place starter, Andrew Burg fought his way to a runner up placing, third was Bryan Keeney in one of his best performances of the year, fourth went to last week's winner Tyson Overton and Matt McDonald rounded out the top five.
A California driver, Ethan Dotson, has been racing in Iowa recently, and took a liking to his pole starting spot in the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature. He jumped to the lead and was scored the leader at lap one. Cole Ferguson had started alongside Dotson, and took over the following lap. By lap three, the exchanges kept going, as Eric Elliott took command of the ship. By lap eight, Richie Gustin had gotten to Elliott's bumper and then the battle between the two began. A yellow came out at lap eleven when Mike VanGenderen had a motor let go, spewing oil down the front shoot. A lengthy caution was required to spread dirt and pack the oil-slicked track in. When things got back underway, Elliott continued to hold the upper hand, but Gustin was peeking under him at every opportunity. Gustin got the advantage, being scored the leader on lap nineteen, but Elliott didn't give up. The two crossed the finish line nearly in unison coming to the checkers, but the transponders showed Elliott crossed the line first, scoring the win, Gustin scored in second. Third went to tenth place starter, veteran John Logue, Russ Dickerson was fourth and point leader and ninth place starter, Jimmy Gustin, was fifth. Elliott took his first win at Boone since June of last year.
The night ended with the 18-lap IMCA Stock Cars.....the Class too Tough to Tame. Pole sitter, Andrew Knode from Adel held the lead at lap three when a yellow flew. By that time, eighth place starter "Hot" Rod Richards had gotten to Knode's tail, and when the race restarted, he took over the lead when lap four was scored. He would then hold that top spot to the checkers and the win. Trent Murphy started tenth and took second place. Third was eleventh place starter Donavon Smith, fourth went to Butch Bass and Robert Stofer was fifth. This was Richard's first win at Boone this year.
It was Casey's night at the Speedway....doughnut eating contests and all. I grimaced when some of the young participants pulled their doughnut from the dangling string, and snarfed it up from the ground!
Next Saturday will be the 4th of July and the track is expanding it's regular racing program to include a "Duke's of Boone" night....roll over contests, etc. along with a fireworks display. Hot laps are 6:45 and racing is to begin at 7:30.
This is a busy racing week coming up. Hopefully Mother Nature cooperates. We hope to make the Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds at the the Hancock County Speedway up in Britt on Tuesday, then Wednesday and Thursday, we are looking forward to the 20th Annual IMCA Great American Stock Car Shootout at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa. Then we go right into our regular Friday night races at the Marshalltown Speedway and the Boone Speedway on Saturday night. Pray for a dry spell!
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Snyder and McBirnie grab late race wins at Boone
We headed off to the Boone Speedway on Saturday afternoon, but the sky in our area was not looking good! By the time we had reached LeGrand it was raining so hard you could barely see.....so we joined a couple of other cars waiting it out under an overpass! We soon continued on and though we drove through several other downpours, the closer we got to Boone, it was getting brighter and brighter. Out came the sun and upon arriving at the track, we discovered they had not had any rain....nor was there any all night long. Boone's bubble holds true again! It's was the ninth night in a row of regular season racing with just one early rain out back on April 18th. Throw in the Frostbuster special and the Deery Brothers Late Model Memorial Day race, and that makes twelve shows held at the track this year.
The Mod Lites kicked off the feature racing. It was led through lap seven by Cory Dennis. At lap eight, it was Joe Glick, who had been trailing Dennis the entire time, taking command. Glick would go on to take the win, his first at the track this year. Dennis had his motor let go coming out of corner four, belching forth a cloud of smoke, as he looked at the checkers in the distance. That incident found Randy Bryan the recipient of the runner up spot. Third went to Cory Sauerman, Bryan Zehm was fourth and Charlie Brown was fifth.
A regular driver in the Mod Lite class was absent last night. Unfortunately, Jimmy May ended up in the hospital after taking a wild ride at the Marshalltown Speedway the previous night. We understand that he has a broken neck....but not paralyzed, and rib injuries. We wish Jimmy all the best for a quick and complete recovery.
Two rookies sat on the front row for the 18-lap IMCA Northern SportMod feature.....Cory Pestotnik and Jeramy McNace. Pestotnik took the immediate lead but seventh place starter Brandon Williams was quickly on his tail. When a yellow flew at lap five, Williams had taken over the top spot, and by then tenth place starter Jake McBirnie had made it to the runner up spot, also getting around Pestotnik. The restart of the race was not good, as cars stacked up both on the backstretch and in corner four. This would eliminate or send cars to the rear when the race did get back underway. The remainder of the race was between leader Williams and McBirnie. The two would race side by side, lap after lap. McBirnie finally took the lead on the white flag lap, but Williams still had something left in his bag of tricks. However, his slide job out of corner four as the checkers were being displayed, did not work, and McBirnie beat him to the finish line and the win. Doug Smith came from starting fifteenth to finish third. Fourth went to veteran racer Rick Ringgenberg and Randy Roberts finished in fifth. This was McBirnie's third win at Boone this season.
Tyson Overton went home with the win in the 12-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature. Overton led all laps in securing his second win of the year. Tim Barber chased the leader the entire 12-laps to take the runner up spot. Third went to Curt Reed, Dustin Graham was fourth and Aaron Rudolph came from ninth starting spot, to finish fifth.
Tony Cox was captain of the ship through lap seventeen of the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature. but Jon Snyder ran him down. Snyder took the lead at lap eighteen and held it to the finish line and the win. Josh Truman took second place, getting past Cox out of corner four as they approached the checkers. Russ Dickerson was fourth and pole sitter Cole Ferguson rounded out the top five. Snyder won for the second time in 2015.
The finale of the night was the 18-lap IMCA Stock Car A main. It was appearing as if Todd Fisher, who was making just his second trip to Boone, was going to take home the win. Fisher started on the pole and jumped to the lead as the race went green. Don Vis tucked in behind him. A yellow flew at lap eleven, and for the restart it was still Fisher leading the pack, Vis ran second and veteran racer from Dexter, Terry Pruitt was now sitting in third place. Just a couple of laps later, the yellow flew again, and this time it was for Vis, who sat dead in the water at the top of turn four. Fisher still held the lead for the restart, Pruitt was now in second and waiting in the wings were Robert Stofer, Jay Schmidt and Donavon Smith. Pruitt tried a slide job the next lap, but was not able to pull it off, but was able to make the pass for the lead at lap fifteen. From there on he held down the top spot and motored home to the win. Donavon Smith got to the runner up spot with two laps remaining, tried to nose under Pruitt but fell short and had to be content with the runner up spot. Third was tenth place starter and point leader Jay Schmidt, fourth went earlier leader Todd Fisher and Robert Stofer was fifth.
Several tracks around the state were washed out on Saturday night. Independence got hit with heavy rain earlier in the day, and we saw pictures of West Liberty's track with their front stretch covered by water. Some places also had hail. We always count ourselves lucky when storms skirt around us when sitting at a track as they did last evening. We also did not have any rain here in Grinnell.
The busy race season continues with specials dotting the calendar. Check the schedule at Positively Racing and find a race you may wish to attend. Keep supporting dirt track racing!
The Mod Lites kicked off the feature racing. It was led through lap seven by Cory Dennis. At lap eight, it was Joe Glick, who had been trailing Dennis the entire time, taking command. Glick would go on to take the win, his first at the track this year. Dennis had his motor let go coming out of corner four, belching forth a cloud of smoke, as he looked at the checkers in the distance. That incident found Randy Bryan the recipient of the runner up spot. Third went to Cory Sauerman, Bryan Zehm was fourth and Charlie Brown was fifth.
A regular driver in the Mod Lite class was absent last night. Unfortunately, Jimmy May ended up in the hospital after taking a wild ride at the Marshalltown Speedway the previous night. We understand that he has a broken neck....but not paralyzed, and rib injuries. We wish Jimmy all the best for a quick and complete recovery.
Two rookies sat on the front row for the 18-lap IMCA Northern SportMod feature.....Cory Pestotnik and Jeramy McNace. Pestotnik took the immediate lead but seventh place starter Brandon Williams was quickly on his tail. When a yellow flew at lap five, Williams had taken over the top spot, and by then tenth place starter Jake McBirnie had made it to the runner up spot, also getting around Pestotnik. The restart of the race was not good, as cars stacked up both on the backstretch and in corner four. This would eliminate or send cars to the rear when the race did get back underway. The remainder of the race was between leader Williams and McBirnie. The two would race side by side, lap after lap. McBirnie finally took the lead on the white flag lap, but Williams still had something left in his bag of tricks. However, his slide job out of corner four as the checkers were being displayed, did not work, and McBirnie beat him to the finish line and the win. Doug Smith came from starting fifteenth to finish third. Fourth went to veteran racer Rick Ringgenberg and Randy Roberts finished in fifth. This was McBirnie's third win at Boone this season.
Tyson Overton went home with the win in the 12-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature. Overton led all laps in securing his second win of the year. Tim Barber chased the leader the entire 12-laps to take the runner up spot. Third went to Curt Reed, Dustin Graham was fourth and Aaron Rudolph came from ninth starting spot, to finish fifth.
Tony Cox was captain of the ship through lap seventeen of the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature. but Jon Snyder ran him down. Snyder took the lead at lap eighteen and held it to the finish line and the win. Josh Truman took second place, getting past Cox out of corner four as they approached the checkers. Russ Dickerson was fourth and pole sitter Cole Ferguson rounded out the top five. Snyder won for the second time in 2015.
The finale of the night was the 18-lap IMCA Stock Car A main. It was appearing as if Todd Fisher, who was making just his second trip to Boone, was going to take home the win. Fisher started on the pole and jumped to the lead as the race went green. Don Vis tucked in behind him. A yellow flew at lap eleven, and for the restart it was still Fisher leading the pack, Vis ran second and veteran racer from Dexter, Terry Pruitt was now sitting in third place. Just a couple of laps later, the yellow flew again, and this time it was for Vis, who sat dead in the water at the top of turn four. Fisher still held the lead for the restart, Pruitt was now in second and waiting in the wings were Robert Stofer, Jay Schmidt and Donavon Smith. Pruitt tried a slide job the next lap, but was not able to pull it off, but was able to make the pass for the lead at lap fifteen. From there on he held down the top spot and motored home to the win. Donavon Smith got to the runner up spot with two laps remaining, tried to nose under Pruitt but fell short and had to be content with the runner up spot. Third was tenth place starter and point leader Jay Schmidt, fourth went earlier leader Todd Fisher and Robert Stofer was fifth.
Several tracks around the state were washed out on Saturday night. Independence got hit with heavy rain earlier in the day, and we saw pictures of West Liberty's track with their front stretch covered by water. Some places also had hail. We always count ourselves lucky when storms skirt around us when sitting at a track as they did last evening. We also did not have any rain here in Grinnell.
The busy race season continues with specials dotting the calendar. Check the schedule at Positively Racing and find a race you may wish to attend. Keep supporting dirt track racing!
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Close finishes at Marshalltown!
The Marshalltown Speedway saw some exciting, close finishes in several classes last night. Three were determined as they crossed the finish line. Two new drivers went to Victory Lane and another just keeps chalking up the wins at the speedway.
In the Mod Lite class, it was Chargin' Charlie Brown leading the field in the early laps. Bryan Zehm quickly got to the runner up spot after starting in the fifth row, and was applying pressure to the leader. Brown let his ride slip up the track in turn four just after lap eight was scored, allowing Zehm to grab the lead, and sending Brown back many positions before he gathered it back in. Mike Morrill had gotten to second place and was hounding the leader. It took but one lap for Morrill to get the job done, flying around the outside of Zehm and taking over the helm. Morrill kept hold of that lead, taking his ride home to the flying checkers. Randy Bryan got by Zehm in the final laps, as they were scored second and third in that order. Fourth went to Cory Sauerman and Josh May was fifth. This was Morrill's first win of the season at Marshalltown, but the young fans had not forgotten about his tradition of giving away his trophy. The youngsters lined up at the fence immediately after the finish of the race, hoping they'd be the lucky one.
The first heat of the night was the Mod Lites and it was an unfortunate one for James May. May took a wild ride in turn three and had to be transported. He was talking and alert. No word as of yet on how he is, but we hope he is doing well.
The IMCA Northern SportMods came to the track following the Mod Lite feature. This one was marred by yellow flags. Ryan King held down the lead in the early going, Then Brandon Williams took the lead away, but only briefly. Jared VanDeest had begun his charge to the front by taking to his preferred line at the top of the track, and made it pay off by lap eight when he took command. Two more yellows would fly before the race ended, and by then, everyone's eyes were on the 19J of Jenae Gustin. She had started tenth and was picking off cars left and right. With three laps remaining, Gustin made it to the runner up spot, but ran out of time for more. VanDeest took the win, Gustin having to be satisfied with second. Third was Brandon Williams, Travis Peterson was fourth and Clint Luellen rounded out the top five. This was VanDeest's third win at Marshalltown this season.
The Hobby Stock feature kept the yellow flags flying. By the time the third lap was scored, they had used up their double file restarts, and when yet another yellow flew on lap three, they were realigned in single file. By then, who but Austin Luellen should be captain of the ship. Luellen had started eighth and had quickly moved to the front, avoiding the mayhem that had ensued on the track. He had company behind him for the restart, as Eric Stanton had moved from ninth starting spot, to be sitting in second place. Stanton peeked for a way around Luellen the rest of the race, and as the two came out of corner four for the run to the checkers, Stanton fell just short of making his charge pay off. This time it was Luellen making the dive low as they approached the finish line, just beating Stanton to the finish line for the win. Tyson Overton, Tim Barber and Garrett Eilander finished third through fifth. Luellen has become a fixture in Victory Lane this year, taking his seventh feature win at the speedway this season.
The IMCA Stock Cars, the Class too Tough to Tame, again lived up to their name. Week in and week out, they put on a great show at most any track we attend. This one also ended with a near photo finish at the checkers. Traveler David Brandies, from Wilton, Iowa in eastern Iowa and two plus hours away, went home the victor in the 18-lap feature. Brandies, who made his second appearance at the track this season, took command by lap two and appeared to have it all wrapped up. Then enter a yellow flag at lap 16, setting up a green-white-checkered finish and what announcer Jerry Vansickel called "shoot out time". By then, Donavon Smith had fought his way into second place after battling with Steve Meyer and Michael Jaennette. The final charge to the finish was an exciting one! Smith gave it his all as they approached the checkers, but Brandies nosed out the win, Smith having to settle for the runner up spot. Third went to Steve Meyer, Jay Schmidt finished fourth from his twelfth starting spot, and Michael Jaennette was fifth. Brandies stepped into Victory Lane at Marshalltown for the second time this year, having won on his first appearance back on May 29th.
The 20 lap IMCA Modified feature kept on with the close finishes! Richie Gustin, the Gilman, Iowa hot shoe, got to the lead by lap six, taking over from early leader, Joel Bushore. Gustin went to the topside, which he seems to prefer, and was riding along happily. However, he was soon to have rookie to the class, Brian Irvine to contend with! Irvine, who had started in row five, made his way to the second spot, and began looking for any way around the leader. The final laps were a constant challenge between the two top runners, but it was Gustin just holding off Irvine as they crossed the finish line. Gustin took his second checkers at Marshalltown this year. Irvine took the close second place, followed by Josh Gilman in third, Adam Larson in fourth and early leader Joel Bushore was fifth.
Several new cars made the scene at the track last night. Brent Vanous from Quasqueton, Iowa ran in the Hobby Stock class, started dead last in the feature and made it to sixth place. In the Northern SportMod class, the #77 of Frank Packer made it an international show. He is from Sydney, Australia, and though he just could not get his car to run last night, it was nice to see him in attendance. In the Modified division, a driver got back into a race car for the first time in several season, as Jason Toppenberg strapped back into the driver's seat. Also in the Modifieds, driver from Bakersfield, California, Ethan Dawson has joined the Iowa racing and plans to be around for the summer session. Patrick Flanigan, and Colt Mather also made their first trip to the Marshalltown Speedway. Switching classes from the SportMod class up to the Modified ranks, was the CH19 of Colby Heishman with a new look in his new ride.
Racing continues next Friday night, with hot laps at 6:50 and racing at 7:30.
In the Mod Lite class, it was Chargin' Charlie Brown leading the field in the early laps. Bryan Zehm quickly got to the runner up spot after starting in the fifth row, and was applying pressure to the leader. Brown let his ride slip up the track in turn four just after lap eight was scored, allowing Zehm to grab the lead, and sending Brown back many positions before he gathered it back in. Mike Morrill had gotten to second place and was hounding the leader. It took but one lap for Morrill to get the job done, flying around the outside of Zehm and taking over the helm. Morrill kept hold of that lead, taking his ride home to the flying checkers. Randy Bryan got by Zehm in the final laps, as they were scored second and third in that order. Fourth went to Cory Sauerman and Josh May was fifth. This was Morrill's first win of the season at Marshalltown, but the young fans had not forgotten about his tradition of giving away his trophy. The youngsters lined up at the fence immediately after the finish of the race, hoping they'd be the lucky one.
The first heat of the night was the Mod Lites and it was an unfortunate one for James May. May took a wild ride in turn three and had to be transported. He was talking and alert. No word as of yet on how he is, but we hope he is doing well.
The IMCA Northern SportMods came to the track following the Mod Lite feature. This one was marred by yellow flags. Ryan King held down the lead in the early going, Then Brandon Williams took the lead away, but only briefly. Jared VanDeest had begun his charge to the front by taking to his preferred line at the top of the track, and made it pay off by lap eight when he took command. Two more yellows would fly before the race ended, and by then, everyone's eyes were on the 19J of Jenae Gustin. She had started tenth and was picking off cars left and right. With three laps remaining, Gustin made it to the runner up spot, but ran out of time for more. VanDeest took the win, Gustin having to be satisfied with second. Third was Brandon Williams, Travis Peterson was fourth and Clint Luellen rounded out the top five. This was VanDeest's third win at Marshalltown this season.
The Hobby Stock feature kept the yellow flags flying. By the time the third lap was scored, they had used up their double file restarts, and when yet another yellow flew on lap three, they were realigned in single file. By then, who but Austin Luellen should be captain of the ship. Luellen had started eighth and had quickly moved to the front, avoiding the mayhem that had ensued on the track. He had company behind him for the restart, as Eric Stanton had moved from ninth starting spot, to be sitting in second place. Stanton peeked for a way around Luellen the rest of the race, and as the two came out of corner four for the run to the checkers, Stanton fell just short of making his charge pay off. This time it was Luellen making the dive low as they approached the finish line, just beating Stanton to the finish line for the win. Tyson Overton, Tim Barber and Garrett Eilander finished third through fifth. Luellen has become a fixture in Victory Lane this year, taking his seventh feature win at the speedway this season.
The IMCA Stock Cars, the Class too Tough to Tame, again lived up to their name. Week in and week out, they put on a great show at most any track we attend. This one also ended with a near photo finish at the checkers. Traveler David Brandies, from Wilton, Iowa in eastern Iowa and two plus hours away, went home the victor in the 18-lap feature. Brandies, who made his second appearance at the track this season, took command by lap two and appeared to have it all wrapped up. Then enter a yellow flag at lap 16, setting up a green-white-checkered finish and what announcer Jerry Vansickel called "shoot out time". By then, Donavon Smith had fought his way into second place after battling with Steve Meyer and Michael Jaennette. The final charge to the finish was an exciting one! Smith gave it his all as they approached the checkers, but Brandies nosed out the win, Smith having to settle for the runner up spot. Third went to Steve Meyer, Jay Schmidt finished fourth from his twelfth starting spot, and Michael Jaennette was fifth. Brandies stepped into Victory Lane at Marshalltown for the second time this year, having won on his first appearance back on May 29th.
The 20 lap IMCA Modified feature kept on with the close finishes! Richie Gustin, the Gilman, Iowa hot shoe, got to the lead by lap six, taking over from early leader, Joel Bushore. Gustin went to the topside, which he seems to prefer, and was riding along happily. However, he was soon to have rookie to the class, Brian Irvine to contend with! Irvine, who had started in row five, made his way to the second spot, and began looking for any way around the leader. The final laps were a constant challenge between the two top runners, but it was Gustin just holding off Irvine as they crossed the finish line. Gustin took his second checkers at Marshalltown this year. Irvine took the close second place, followed by Josh Gilman in third, Adam Larson in fourth and early leader Joel Bushore was fifth.
Several new cars made the scene at the track last night. Brent Vanous from Quasqueton, Iowa ran in the Hobby Stock class, started dead last in the feature and made it to sixth place. In the Northern SportMod class, the #77 of Frank Packer made it an international show. He is from Sydney, Australia, and though he just could not get his car to run last night, it was nice to see him in attendance. In the Modified division, a driver got back into a race car for the first time in several season, as Jason Toppenberg strapped back into the driver's seat. Also in the Modifieds, driver from Bakersfield, California, Ethan Dawson has joined the Iowa racing and plans to be around for the summer session. Patrick Flanigan, and Colt Mather also made their first trip to the Marshalltown Speedway. Switching classes from the SportMod class up to the Modified ranks, was the CH19 of Colby Heishman with a new look in his new ride.
Racing continues next Friday night, with hot laps at 6:50 and racing at 7:30.
Friday, June 19, 2015
"G Money" lives up to his name at Donnellson HDT race
We made the trip down to the Lee County Speedway on Thursday night, looking forward to the IMCA Hawkeye Dirt Tour. Thirty of the IMCA Modifieds were on hand looking for the $1,000 win, that included having their name on the ballot for the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational at the IMCA Super Nationals. The IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Northern SportMods and IMCA Sport Compacts also competed.
The IMCA Sport Compacts had 14 cars on hand.....more than we are accustomed to seeing at any other track. Josh Barnes reeled in Mike Reu at lap ten and then led the remaining distance to take the win. Mike Reu finished as the runner up, third was Michael Grossman, Brandon Lambert was fourth and Brandon Reu rounded out the top five. The race was caution free.
The IMCA Northern SportMods ran a 20-lap feature, vying for $500 to win. Track point leader, Joey Gower led this one from start to finish. In the final laps, he was strongly challenged by Tony Dunker as lap traffic came into play, but Gower held his ground and took the checkers first. Dunker was second, third went to Brandon Dale, Brandon Lennox (there are an abundance of "Brandon's" racing in that area!) was fourth and veteran racer Jim Gillenwater took fifth.
The IMCA Stock Cars were also running for a $500 payday. All classes were draw/redraw tonight and by the luck of the draw, "The Chelsea Charger", Damon Murty found himself sitting on the outside of the front row for the start of the 20-lap event. Murty immediately took the lead but by lap two, Nathan Wood had slipped by when Murty found it a tad bit slick at the top of turn four. He recovered quickly however, and regained the lead on the back stretch, and was scored the leader again at lap three. He held command the rest of the distance to the checkers and the win....his 13th of the season. Nathan Wood finished as the runner up. It was a close one for third and fourth, with Andrew Hustead just beating Jeremy Pundt, and Corey Strothman came home in fifth.
The night's racing ended with the 30-lap IMCA Modified Hawkeye Dirt Tour feature. Lucky recipients of the redraw, giving them front row starting spots were Bill Roberts and "G Money", Richie Gustin. Gustin found it to his liking, as he immediate snatched up the lead. Fourth place starter Kyle Brown, who now calls State Center home, moved quickly into second place. Brown challenged Gustin, momentarily getting past him, only to have Gustin take back the top spot. This race would be marred with yellows, as turn four in particular, found several cars involved in each of the cautions, and thus eliminating many of the top running cars. There was a fine line at the top of the track, and turn four proved to be the most tricky place. However, front runners Gustin and Brown avoided those disasters, completing the 30-laps unscathed. Gustin.....who has earned the nickname "G Money" as he often wins the top paying features,....showed again why that is, taking home the win and the $1,000. Kyle Brown finished in second place, Troy Cordes started tenth and finished in third, fourth went to ninth place starter, Todd Shute, and Andrew Schroeder qualified through a B main, started eighteenth and was fifth. Point leader of the HDT series Mike VanGenderen, also had to qualify through a B main, started nineteenth and took sixth place.
The Lee County Speedway will now fall silent for a couple of weeks, with their next regular Friday night event on July 10.
It turned out to be a beautiful night again to be sitting at the races. We had a bit of a concern as the closer we got to Donnellson, it was cloudy and it appeared on radar as if the remnants of Hurricane Bill were still swirling up to the area. However, that turned out to be an unfounded issue, as we all were treated to another beautiful Iowa sunset. What a backdrop when the cars are on the track! We enjoyed our time at the Lee County Speedway. It was made more enjoyable by sharing it with racing friends.
The IMCA Sport Compacts had 14 cars on hand.....more than we are accustomed to seeing at any other track. Josh Barnes reeled in Mike Reu at lap ten and then led the remaining distance to take the win. Mike Reu finished as the runner up, third was Michael Grossman, Brandon Lambert was fourth and Brandon Reu rounded out the top five. The race was caution free.
The IMCA Northern SportMods ran a 20-lap feature, vying for $500 to win. Track point leader, Joey Gower led this one from start to finish. In the final laps, he was strongly challenged by Tony Dunker as lap traffic came into play, but Gower held his ground and took the checkers first. Dunker was second, third went to Brandon Dale, Brandon Lennox (there are an abundance of "Brandon's" racing in that area!) was fourth and veteran racer Jim Gillenwater took fifth.
The IMCA Stock Cars were also running for a $500 payday. All classes were draw/redraw tonight and by the luck of the draw, "The Chelsea Charger", Damon Murty found himself sitting on the outside of the front row for the start of the 20-lap event. Murty immediately took the lead but by lap two, Nathan Wood had slipped by when Murty found it a tad bit slick at the top of turn four. He recovered quickly however, and regained the lead on the back stretch, and was scored the leader again at lap three. He held command the rest of the distance to the checkers and the win....his 13th of the season. Nathan Wood finished as the runner up. It was a close one for third and fourth, with Andrew Hustead just beating Jeremy Pundt, and Corey Strothman came home in fifth.
The night's racing ended with the 30-lap IMCA Modified Hawkeye Dirt Tour feature. Lucky recipients of the redraw, giving them front row starting spots were Bill Roberts and "G Money", Richie Gustin. Gustin found it to his liking, as he immediate snatched up the lead. Fourth place starter Kyle Brown, who now calls State Center home, moved quickly into second place. Brown challenged Gustin, momentarily getting past him, only to have Gustin take back the top spot. This race would be marred with yellows, as turn four in particular, found several cars involved in each of the cautions, and thus eliminating many of the top running cars. There was a fine line at the top of the track, and turn four proved to be the most tricky place. However, front runners Gustin and Brown avoided those disasters, completing the 30-laps unscathed. Gustin.....who has earned the nickname "G Money" as he often wins the top paying features,....showed again why that is, taking home the win and the $1,000. Kyle Brown finished in second place, Troy Cordes started tenth and finished in third, fourth went to ninth place starter, Todd Shute, and Andrew Schroeder qualified through a B main, started eighteenth and was fifth. Point leader of the HDT series Mike VanGenderen, also had to qualify through a B main, started nineteenth and took sixth place.
The Lee County Speedway will now fall silent for a couple of weeks, with their next regular Friday night event on July 10.
It turned out to be a beautiful night again to be sitting at the races. We had a bit of a concern as the closer we got to Donnellson, it was cloudy and it appeared on radar as if the remnants of Hurricane Bill were still swirling up to the area. However, that turned out to be an unfounded issue, as we all were treated to another beautiful Iowa sunset. What a backdrop when the cars are on the track! We enjoyed our time at the Lee County Speedway. It was made more enjoyable by sharing it with racing friends.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Banks banks a win at Osky - VanDerWal wins, but still loses
It was an absolutely beautiful night to be sitting at the races at the Southern Iowa Speedway last night. After suffering a rain out the previous week, it was a welcome contrast! An eighth different driver won in the Modified division, and if you add in the Frostbuster special, that make nine different faces gracing Victory Lane at Osky. All other classes saw returning winners, one winning for the fifth time this season, but his night still did not end on a good note. Extra racing action was also on tap as the Stock Cars ran a King of the Hill contest, and the SportMods ran an Australian Pursuit.
The Sport Compact division had eight cars on hand. On this night, Bill Whalen got back to his winning ways, capturing the feature win in dominating fashion. Whalen, still piloting his son's #07 car, finished comfortably ahead of his brother John Whalen who was second. Third went to Jon Girdley, fourth was William Michel and Trent Orwig did not finish, but was scored in fifth. Also not finishing were Curt Myers and new drivers Ryan Havel and Jordan Leeper. This was Whalen's second win at Osky this year.
The IMCA Northern SportMods ran their usual 16-lap feature. It was looking as if Cory VanZante was on his way to finally getting that very first win under his belt. VanZante took the lead just after lap four had been scored and was running his line perfectly as the laps began to wind down. Meanwhile, ninth place starter and point leader Curtis VanDerWal, was on the hunt and reeling in VanZante. The gap was really closed when in the waning laps, enter a lap car. This allowed VanDerWal to take advantage of the situation, and after taking the white flag, he was able to slip by VanZante on the back stretch and then continue his lead to the checkers and the win. VanZante finished what had to be a disappointing second. Third went to eighth place starter Brayton Carter, fourth was Logan Anderson and Brett Lowry was fifth. The race went caution free. This was VanDerWal's fifth win of the season. Shortly after the feature had been completed, it was announced that VanDerWal had been claimed by Brett Lowry, and he agreed to sell his motor. This is the first motor claim we can recall seeing in many years.
The always entertaining IMCA Stock Cars began their race with the usual clump of cars going multi-wide and deep, all vying for a top spot. By lap two, Cayden Carter had claimed the top spot after starting seventh on the grid, and then began to distance himself from the cluster of cars still battling behind him. The third and final caution of the 18-lap race came at lap twelve and by then, Nathan Wood had gotten to Carter's bumper and was eager for the restart. However, waiting in the wings and lurking behind him were Mike Hughes, Damon Murty and Brad Pinkerton. Things were about to get interesting! The final laps saw cars swapping back and forth behind leader Carter, and he was content to let it happen as he sailed home comfortably to the win. Brad Pinkerton finished as the runner up after starting tenth, Murty went from ninth to finish third, Nathan Wood got shuffled back in the final laps to finish fourth after he had started eighth, and Mike Hughes completed the top five. This was Carter's second win at the track this year in the Stock Car division.
The IMCA Hobby Stock main event was won by Dustin Griffths. Griffths, who is leading points, started twelfth, ran down then leader Bill Bonnett at lap ten, taking the lead and holding it to the finish and the win. Bill Bonnett's attempts at regaining the lead were not successful, and he had to settle for the runner up spot. Third went to Craig Brown, Nick Ulin started eleventh and finished fourth and Jamie Songer rounded out the top five. Griffiths claimed his third win this year and stretched his point lead.
Brandon Banks won the 18-lap IMCA Modified feature and did it in convincing fashion! Banks, who led all laps, won by a straight away. Colt Mather made his first appearance at the track this season, and went home with a second place finish. Third was Carter VanDenBerg who was looking to repeat his win from the last weekly race, fourth was Cayden Carter and Tyler Groenendyke was fifth. Banks won for the first time at the Monster half-mile this season. The race went flag to flag.
Earlier, a King of the Hill for the Stock Cars was held as well as an Australian Pursuit for the SportMods. Eleven cars participated in the Stock Car contest and it ended with the crowd enthused when the final winner was determined among THREE cars in the final go around. Those drivers were Nathan Wood, Damon Murty and Shane Weller. Nathan Wood came away with the win and $150 richer. The SportMod Australian Pursuit was quickly over when Curtis VanDerWal moved past car after car, and took the win.
Racing continues next Wednesday night, June 24 at the Southern Iowa Speedway when all regular classes will be in competition along with the IMCA Late Models. It's also a special night as fans and drivers can vote for the Hall of Fame nominees. Three new drivers will be inducted this year during the Southern Iowa Fair race.
We plan to head to the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson tonight. Top billing is the Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds. They will be racing for $1,000 and getting their name on the ballot for the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational race at the IMCA Super Nationals. Hot laps are 6:45 and racing at 7:15.
The Sport Compact division had eight cars on hand. On this night, Bill Whalen got back to his winning ways, capturing the feature win in dominating fashion. Whalen, still piloting his son's #07 car, finished comfortably ahead of his brother John Whalen who was second. Third went to Jon Girdley, fourth was William Michel and Trent Orwig did not finish, but was scored in fifth. Also not finishing were Curt Myers and new drivers Ryan Havel and Jordan Leeper. This was Whalen's second win at Osky this year.
The IMCA Northern SportMods ran their usual 16-lap feature. It was looking as if Cory VanZante was on his way to finally getting that very first win under his belt. VanZante took the lead just after lap four had been scored and was running his line perfectly as the laps began to wind down. Meanwhile, ninth place starter and point leader Curtis VanDerWal, was on the hunt and reeling in VanZante. The gap was really closed when in the waning laps, enter a lap car. This allowed VanDerWal to take advantage of the situation, and after taking the white flag, he was able to slip by VanZante on the back stretch and then continue his lead to the checkers and the win. VanZante finished what had to be a disappointing second. Third went to eighth place starter Brayton Carter, fourth was Logan Anderson and Brett Lowry was fifth. The race went caution free. This was VanDerWal's fifth win of the season. Shortly after the feature had been completed, it was announced that VanDerWal had been claimed by Brett Lowry, and he agreed to sell his motor. This is the first motor claim we can recall seeing in many years.
The always entertaining IMCA Stock Cars began their race with the usual clump of cars going multi-wide and deep, all vying for a top spot. By lap two, Cayden Carter had claimed the top spot after starting seventh on the grid, and then began to distance himself from the cluster of cars still battling behind him. The third and final caution of the 18-lap race came at lap twelve and by then, Nathan Wood had gotten to Carter's bumper and was eager for the restart. However, waiting in the wings and lurking behind him were Mike Hughes, Damon Murty and Brad Pinkerton. Things were about to get interesting! The final laps saw cars swapping back and forth behind leader Carter, and he was content to let it happen as he sailed home comfortably to the win. Brad Pinkerton finished as the runner up after starting tenth, Murty went from ninth to finish third, Nathan Wood got shuffled back in the final laps to finish fourth after he had started eighth, and Mike Hughes completed the top five. This was Carter's second win at the track this year in the Stock Car division.
The IMCA Hobby Stock main event was won by Dustin Griffths. Griffths, who is leading points, started twelfth, ran down then leader Bill Bonnett at lap ten, taking the lead and holding it to the finish and the win. Bill Bonnett's attempts at regaining the lead were not successful, and he had to settle for the runner up spot. Third went to Craig Brown, Nick Ulin started eleventh and finished fourth and Jamie Songer rounded out the top five. Griffiths claimed his third win this year and stretched his point lead.
Brandon Banks won the 18-lap IMCA Modified feature and did it in convincing fashion! Banks, who led all laps, won by a straight away. Colt Mather made his first appearance at the track this season, and went home with a second place finish. Third was Carter VanDenBerg who was looking to repeat his win from the last weekly race, fourth was Cayden Carter and Tyler Groenendyke was fifth. Banks won for the first time at the Monster half-mile this season. The race went flag to flag.
Earlier, a King of the Hill for the Stock Cars was held as well as an Australian Pursuit for the SportMods. Eleven cars participated in the Stock Car contest and it ended with the crowd enthused when the final winner was determined among THREE cars in the final go around. Those drivers were Nathan Wood, Damon Murty and Shane Weller. Nathan Wood came away with the win and $150 richer. The SportMod Australian Pursuit was quickly over when Curtis VanDerWal moved past car after car, and took the win.
Racing continues next Wednesday night, June 24 at the Southern Iowa Speedway when all regular classes will be in competition along with the IMCA Late Models. It's also a special night as fans and drivers can vote for the Hall of Fame nominees. Three new drivers will be inducted this year during the Southern Iowa Fair race.
We plan to head to the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson tonight. Top billing is the Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds. They will be racing for $1,000 and getting their name on the ballot for the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational race at the IMCA Super Nationals. Hot laps are 6:45 and racing at 7:15.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Osky - 6-17-15
Unofficial results:
Modified
1. 22 Brandon Banks - By a straight away
2. 8 Colt Mather
3. 7V Carter VandenBerg
4. 10c Cayden Carter
5. 9X Tyler Groenendyk
6. 02 Andrew Schroeder
7. 62 Greg Cox
8. 40 Scott Dickey
Stock Car
1. 10CC Cayden Carter
2. 17P Brad Pinkerton
3. 99D Damon Murty
4. 52 Nathan Wood
5. 11 Mike Hughes
6. 20dub Shane Weller
7. 22R Todd Reitzler
8. 12 Doug Sylvester
9. 7 Todd Phillips
10. 79S Jason See
11. 19 Donnie Pearson
12. 73c Carl Yaw
13. 87 Les Blakley
14. 5T Taylor Inman
DNF: 46B Michael Bilyeu
9 Terry Clayton
17 Brock Welch
54 Michael Brown
33Z Zack VanderBeek
3D Dan Gordon
SportMod
1. 1V Curtis VanDerWal - last lap pass for win....then is claimed by 72 Lowry
2. 34Z Cory VanZante
3. 01 Brayton Carter
4. 9A Logan Anderson
5. 72 Brett Lowry
6. 352 Charlie Weber
7. 16 Matthew VanGelder
8. 84B Trent Brink
9. 85 Jason McDaniel
10. 00 Shawn Slaughter
11. 49G LeRoy Groenendyk
12. 26 Scott Brau
13. 20 Danny Brau
DNF: 29 Colton Livezey
DNS: A5 Austin Paul
Hobby Stock
1. 10G Dustin Griffiths
2. 19 Bill Bonnett
3. 69 Craig Brown
4. 21 Nick Ulin
5. 96R Jamie Songer
6. 3 Travis Bunnell
7. 32T Bobby Greene
8. 10 Dale Porter
9. 3s Steve Allen
10. 14 Christian Huffman
DNF: 15W Clayton Webster
12 Mike Kincaid
2 Brandon Potts
73 Aaron Martin
84 Danny Thrasher
8 Robert Fite
9 Jared Stephens
57 Lee Fite
53D Ron Downing, Jr.
Sport Compact
1. 00W (07) Bill Whalen, Jr.
2. 77 John Whalen
3. 33 Jon Girdley
4. 69 William Michel
DNF: 04 Trent Orwig
22M Curt Myers
0 Ryan Havel
22L Jordan Leeper
Modified
1. 22 Brandon Banks - By a straight away
2. 8 Colt Mather
3. 7V Carter VandenBerg
4. 10c Cayden Carter
5. 9X Tyler Groenendyk
6. 02 Andrew Schroeder
7. 62 Greg Cox
8. 40 Scott Dickey
Stock Car
1. 10CC Cayden Carter
2. 17P Brad Pinkerton
3. 99D Damon Murty
4. 52 Nathan Wood
5. 11 Mike Hughes
6. 20dub Shane Weller
7. 22R Todd Reitzler
8. 12 Doug Sylvester
9. 7 Todd Phillips
10. 79S Jason See
11. 19 Donnie Pearson
12. 73c Carl Yaw
13. 87 Les Blakley
14. 5T Taylor Inman
DNF: 46B Michael Bilyeu
9 Terry Clayton
17 Brock Welch
54 Michael Brown
33Z Zack VanderBeek
3D Dan Gordon
SportMod
1. 1V Curtis VanDerWal - last lap pass for win....then is claimed by 72 Lowry
2. 34Z Cory VanZante
3. 01 Brayton Carter
4. 9A Logan Anderson
5. 72 Brett Lowry
6. 352 Charlie Weber
7. 16 Matthew VanGelder
8. 84B Trent Brink
9. 85 Jason McDaniel
10. 00 Shawn Slaughter
11. 49G LeRoy Groenendyk
12. 26 Scott Brau
13. 20 Danny Brau
DNF: 29 Colton Livezey
DNS: A5 Austin Paul
Hobby Stock
1. 10G Dustin Griffiths
2. 19 Bill Bonnett
3. 69 Craig Brown
4. 21 Nick Ulin
5. 96R Jamie Songer
6. 3 Travis Bunnell
7. 32T Bobby Greene
8. 10 Dale Porter
9. 3s Steve Allen
10. 14 Christian Huffman
DNF: 15W Clayton Webster
12 Mike Kincaid
2 Brandon Potts
73 Aaron Martin
84 Danny Thrasher
8 Robert Fite
9 Jared Stephens
57 Lee Fite
53D Ron Downing, Jr.
Sport Compact
1. 00W (07) Bill Whalen, Jr.
2. 77 John Whalen
3. 33 Jon Girdley
4. 69 William Michel
DNF: 04 Trent Orwig
22M Curt Myers
0 Ryan Havel
22L Jordan Leeper
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Boone Speedway outwits Mother Nature
The common thread for area racing programs during the past week was "Rain Out". Boone Speedway was among those hit with heavy rains---over four inches is what we heard. But, Mother Nature did not win this one! Thanks to the great drainage at the track, and a dedicated and hard working crew that hit the oval at 9 a.m. Saturday, the show went on. They finished up track prep at 6:45 last evening....just in time for hot laps.
A SportMod and Mod Lite driver visited victory lane for the first time this year, Modified and Hobby Stocks saw repeat winners, and it was a "three-peat" for the Stock Car class.
Mod Lites were up first for their 15-lap feature. Josh May snatched the lead from early leader Randy Bryan at lap eight and would never relinquish it on his way to the win. Bryan Zehm, who had won the two previous weeks finished in second place. Third went to Randy Bryan, David Schmalzried was fourth, and Jimmy May, was fifth. A check back at my records shows that this was May's first win at the speedway since 2013.
Brandon Williams emerged the winner of the IMCA Northern SportMod feature. He led every lap of the 18-lapper and found his way to victory lane for the first time this season. He was pestered the entire distance by Chad Ryerson who took the runner up spot, just ahead of Jonathan Logue in third. Not far behind in fourth was Doug Smith and Cory Rose was fifth. This was also Williams' first win since 2013. The race went flag to flag.
Things were changed up a bit in running order, so it was the IMCA Modifieds taking the track next. Veteran Robert Avery led the charge in the opening laps, only to have Joel Bushore snatch it away on lap four. Bushore looked to be on his way to his first win of the year, holding off first Jimmy Gustin, and then Richie Gustin in the latter portion of the 20-lap contest. Richie Gustin got to the runner up spot at lap twelve and was reeling in Bushore. With four laps to go, Gustin made his move around Bushore, taking the lead and keeping it to the checkers and the win. Bushore would finish in second place, Jimmy Gustin had to make a couple of recoveries from a "bucking ride" in rough corner two, to finish third. Fourth went to Russ Dickerson who had flown around the top of the track, his preferred line recently, and early leader Robert Avery was fifth. This was Richie Gustin's second win at Boone this season.
It was now time for the 18-lap IMCA Stock Car event. Brad Whitney from Trenton, Missouri, returned from his first visit last week, started on the pole and immediately flew to the lead. Whitney held his lead through three yellows before lap five, but by that time, Josh Pruitt was riding in the second spot. Pruitt, who was in a "rent a ride" car of Terry Pruitt, soon had his persistence pay off, and took over the point position when lap six went in the books. Meanwhile, Trent Murphy had also been a man on the move. Murphy had moved from starting tenth and was badgering Whitney for second by lap eight and then taking that runner up spot on the following lap. From there on out, it was a battle between Pruitt and Murphy. Murphy threw everything at Pruitt.....looking inside, then outside and everything in between. With three laps remaining, Murphy got the job done, taking over the helm. He held it the rest of the way to the finish and scored the win. Pruitt had to settle for second on this night, third went to Donavon Smith, who recovered nicely from an early race spin, fourth was point leader and twelfth place starter, Jay Schmidt and Whitney made his trip from Missouri pay off with a top five finish. This was Murphy's third win of the year and also three-in-a-row.
Eric Stanton would lead the entire 12-lap Hobby Stock A main. Stanton, who started ninth, somehow made it to the top spot by lap one, and never gave it up. Stanton scored his second win at Boone this season. He was chased by last week's winner, Solomon Bennett for most of the race, but that was all he had, having to be content with second this week. Third was thirteenth place starter, Chad Legere, fourth went to Dusty Lynch and veteran hometown racer Dean Hartwig took fifth place.
The track did suffer a bit from all of the rain, and developed a nasty rut in turn two, where several drivers nearly lost control of their rides, or had to ride a "bucking bronco" through it. This is something you never see at Boone, a rare occurrence for sure, but it was a miracle that racing even happened from what we were told the track looked like early Saturday morning.
It's a busy, busy race time now. Be sure and check the calendar of events at Positively Racing's main page. Find a race to attend and keep supporting the sport we all love......dirt track racing!
A SportMod and Mod Lite driver visited victory lane for the first time this year, Modified and Hobby Stocks saw repeat winners, and it was a "three-peat" for the Stock Car class.
Mod Lites were up first for their 15-lap feature. Josh May snatched the lead from early leader Randy Bryan at lap eight and would never relinquish it on his way to the win. Bryan Zehm, who had won the two previous weeks finished in second place. Third went to Randy Bryan, David Schmalzried was fourth, and Jimmy May, was fifth. A check back at my records shows that this was May's first win at the speedway since 2013.
Brandon Williams emerged the winner of the IMCA Northern SportMod feature. He led every lap of the 18-lapper and found his way to victory lane for the first time this season. He was pestered the entire distance by Chad Ryerson who took the runner up spot, just ahead of Jonathan Logue in third. Not far behind in fourth was Doug Smith and Cory Rose was fifth. This was also Williams' first win since 2013. The race went flag to flag.
Things were changed up a bit in running order, so it was the IMCA Modifieds taking the track next. Veteran Robert Avery led the charge in the opening laps, only to have Joel Bushore snatch it away on lap four. Bushore looked to be on his way to his first win of the year, holding off first Jimmy Gustin, and then Richie Gustin in the latter portion of the 20-lap contest. Richie Gustin got to the runner up spot at lap twelve and was reeling in Bushore. With four laps to go, Gustin made his move around Bushore, taking the lead and keeping it to the checkers and the win. Bushore would finish in second place, Jimmy Gustin had to make a couple of recoveries from a "bucking ride" in rough corner two, to finish third. Fourth went to Russ Dickerson who had flown around the top of the track, his preferred line recently, and early leader Robert Avery was fifth. This was Richie Gustin's second win at Boone this season.
It was now time for the 18-lap IMCA Stock Car event. Brad Whitney from Trenton, Missouri, returned from his first visit last week, started on the pole and immediately flew to the lead. Whitney held his lead through three yellows before lap five, but by that time, Josh Pruitt was riding in the second spot. Pruitt, who was in a "rent a ride" car of Terry Pruitt, soon had his persistence pay off, and took over the point position when lap six went in the books. Meanwhile, Trent Murphy had also been a man on the move. Murphy had moved from starting tenth and was badgering Whitney for second by lap eight and then taking that runner up spot on the following lap. From there on out, it was a battle between Pruitt and Murphy. Murphy threw everything at Pruitt.....looking inside, then outside and everything in between. With three laps remaining, Murphy got the job done, taking over the helm. He held it the rest of the way to the finish and scored the win. Pruitt had to settle for second on this night, third went to Donavon Smith, who recovered nicely from an early race spin, fourth was point leader and twelfth place starter, Jay Schmidt and Whitney made his trip from Missouri pay off with a top five finish. This was Murphy's third win of the year and also three-in-a-row.
Eric Stanton would lead the entire 12-lap Hobby Stock A main. Stanton, who started ninth, somehow made it to the top spot by lap one, and never gave it up. Stanton scored his second win at Boone this season. He was chased by last week's winner, Solomon Bennett for most of the race, but that was all he had, having to be content with second this week. Third was thirteenth place starter, Chad Legere, fourth went to Dusty Lynch and veteran hometown racer Dean Hartwig took fifth place.
The track did suffer a bit from all of the rain, and developed a nasty rut in turn two, where several drivers nearly lost control of their rides, or had to ride a "bucking bronco" through it. This is something you never see at Boone, a rare occurrence for sure, but it was a miracle that racing even happened from what we were told the track looked like early Saturday morning.
It's a busy, busy race time now. Be sure and check the calendar of events at Positively Racing's main page. Find a race to attend and keep supporting the sport we all love......dirt track racing!
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Deery goes to Kay, Hurst by inches for the HDT
We made our way to Maquoketa on Tuesday, for our first time ever visit to the Jackson County Speedway. On tap for the racing action were the IMCA Deery Brothers Late Model series, the IMCA Hawkeye Dirt Tour for Modifieds, and SportMods as a support class.
There were 29 IMCA Modifieds on hand for the running of the HDT. Twelve cars qualified through four heats, and it took two B mains to complete the 24-car starting grid. The lucky recipients of the redraw, found Ryan Maitland and Ben Chapman sitting on the front row for the start of the 25-lap feature.
Maitland and Chapman took advantage of their front row starting spot, leading the field past the halfway mark of the 25-lapper. Meanwhile, on the move was the #41 car of Jeremiah Hurst. Hurst had started in row four, and was up to third and challenging second place Chapman at lap fifteen. A couple of laps later, Hurst took over the runner up spot, and began reeling in leader Maitland. Maitland was doing a good job, holding his lead as the white flag flew, but Hurst, who is the point leader at the track, wasn't done yet. On the final run to the checkers, out of corner four, Hurst was able to get a run on Maitland, beating him to the finish line by inches! Maitland had to be content with the runner up spot on this night. Third place went to Justin Kay. Kay, most familiar to us handling his Late Model ride, had started deep in the field about row eight, and made a late race run to get his top finish. Ben Chapman finished fourth, and defending champion of the HDT series, Mike VanGenderen, held on to his machine with a damaged front left, to finish fifth. Hurst, who we are also most familiar with piloting a Late Model, took his first Hawkeye Dirt Tour win. The race went flag to flag.
The night ending 40-lap IMCA Deery Brothers Late Model feature had the top twelve qualifiers through the heats, have their starting spot determined by the usual "pick the pizza box" game. Wisconsin driver, Dan Shelliam and Justin Kay, who was doing double duty this night, ended up with the lucky front row starting spots. Thirty of the Late Models were on hand for the night, and two B mains were run, taking the top four finishers from each to the A, plus a hard charger, and three Deery provisionals tagged the field.
Shelliam got off to a good start, taking the lead and distancing himself from the rest of the competitors. Third place starter, Jon Merfeld tucked into the the runner up spot, and Kay rode his bumper in third. Kay opted to go to the outside line, and by lap seventeen, took the lead from Shelliam. Kay would then go on to withstand three caution flags, retaining his lead and taking the win by a comfortable margin. Shelliam took the runner up spot, holding off Tyler Droste in third. Fourth place went to Joe Zrostlik who had started eleventh, and veteran Jeff Aikey rounded out the top five.
We earlier said this was our first trip ever to the Jackson County Speedway. It was about a 2 1/2 hour trip for us. The small 1/4 mile track, facing the usual north and with a covered grandstand, flanked by two open bleacher sections, had a typical picturesque Iowa farm scene to it's north. We were surprised to see that the track was not packed in prior to the running of hot laps.....something that neither of us could recall at any other track we've attended. It was unfortunate for the 19 Sportmod drivers on hand, that they did not get to run their feature race, due to the 10 p.m. curfew.
Up next on our agenda of races, is the Thursday night long anticipated Lucas Oil MLRA Late Model and Hawkeye Dirt Tour Modified race at the Southern Iowa Speedway. The IMCA Late Models will also be racing, as well as the IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Sportmods, and the IMCA Hobby Stocks. The latter three classes will run features only for their mid-season championships. The Monster Half Mile will spring into action on Thursday with hot laps at 6:45 and racing at 7:15. It will also be the night for fans and drivers to vote for three new inductees into the track's Hall of Fame.
There were 29 IMCA Modifieds on hand for the running of the HDT. Twelve cars qualified through four heats, and it took two B mains to complete the 24-car starting grid. The lucky recipients of the redraw, found Ryan Maitland and Ben Chapman sitting on the front row for the start of the 25-lap feature.
Maitland and Chapman took advantage of their front row starting spot, leading the field past the halfway mark of the 25-lapper. Meanwhile, on the move was the #41 car of Jeremiah Hurst. Hurst had started in row four, and was up to third and challenging second place Chapman at lap fifteen. A couple of laps later, Hurst took over the runner up spot, and began reeling in leader Maitland. Maitland was doing a good job, holding his lead as the white flag flew, but Hurst, who is the point leader at the track, wasn't done yet. On the final run to the checkers, out of corner four, Hurst was able to get a run on Maitland, beating him to the finish line by inches! Maitland had to be content with the runner up spot on this night. Third place went to Justin Kay. Kay, most familiar to us handling his Late Model ride, had started deep in the field about row eight, and made a late race run to get his top finish. Ben Chapman finished fourth, and defending champion of the HDT series, Mike VanGenderen, held on to his machine with a damaged front left, to finish fifth. Hurst, who we are also most familiar with piloting a Late Model, took his first Hawkeye Dirt Tour win. The race went flag to flag.
The night ending 40-lap IMCA Deery Brothers Late Model feature had the top twelve qualifiers through the heats, have their starting spot determined by the usual "pick the pizza box" game. Wisconsin driver, Dan Shelliam and Justin Kay, who was doing double duty this night, ended up with the lucky front row starting spots. Thirty of the Late Models were on hand for the night, and two B mains were run, taking the top four finishers from each to the A, plus a hard charger, and three Deery provisionals tagged the field.
Shelliam got off to a good start, taking the lead and distancing himself from the rest of the competitors. Third place starter, Jon Merfeld tucked into the the runner up spot, and Kay rode his bumper in third. Kay opted to go to the outside line, and by lap seventeen, took the lead from Shelliam. Kay would then go on to withstand three caution flags, retaining his lead and taking the win by a comfortable margin. Shelliam took the runner up spot, holding off Tyler Droste in third. Fourth place went to Joe Zrostlik who had started eleventh, and veteran Jeff Aikey rounded out the top five.
We earlier said this was our first trip ever to the Jackson County Speedway. It was about a 2 1/2 hour trip for us. The small 1/4 mile track, facing the usual north and with a covered grandstand, flanked by two open bleacher sections, had a typical picturesque Iowa farm scene to it's north. We were surprised to see that the track was not packed in prior to the running of hot laps.....something that neither of us could recall at any other track we've attended. It was unfortunate for the 19 Sportmod drivers on hand, that they did not get to run their feature race, due to the 10 p.m. curfew.
Up next on our agenda of races, is the Thursday night long anticipated Lucas Oil MLRA Late Model and Hawkeye Dirt Tour Modified race at the Southern Iowa Speedway. The IMCA Late Models will also be racing, as well as the IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Sportmods, and the IMCA Hobby Stocks. The latter three classes will run features only for their mid-season championships. The Monster Half Mile will spring into action on Thursday with hot laps at 6:45 and racing at 7:15. It will also be the night for fans and drivers to vote for three new inductees into the track's Hall of Fame.
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Brown and Logue, Jr. score first wins at Boone, Murphy, Bennett and Zehm repeat
It was off to the Boone Speedway last night, and once again, we were watching the sky. Seems many times this season as we've headed out to a race, it is the same old thing....wondering what the weather was going to do at whatever track we were headed toward. Last night, we escaped the "R" word again.
A couple of drivers got their first win of the season at Boone, two drivers matched their wins from last week while another repeated from an early season victory.
The Mod Lite division ran their A main first and Bryan Zehm took home another victory. He was one of the drivers matching a win from last Saturday night. Zehm started eighth and had to overtake early leader Mike Kennedy. He got the job done at lap eight and from there on, drove his #46Z to victory. Point leader, Josh May worked his way from twelfth starting spot, overtook Kennedy in the closing laps, as they finished second and third in that order. Fourth was Cory Sauerman and Terry Brown was fifth.
A new face visited Victory Lane last night in the IMCA Northern SportMod class. Ninth place starter Jonathan Logue got to the lead quickly, snatching it up at lap four. He held off last week's winner Jake McBirnie. McBirnie did all he could to reel in the leader, setting his ride on the topside, but falling short and having to settle for the runner up spot. Third was Andy Tiernan, Randy Roberts was fourth and Brandon Williams rounded out the top five.
The IMCA Hobby Stock 12-lapper didn't start off well. The race went red as soon as the race began, when Stephen Doss tipped his machine on it's side at the very top of turn one. He was okay. When things got underway, it was Dustin Graham leading the charge, but Solomon Bennett took over at lap five. From there on, he enjoyed his ride at the front of the pack, and sealed his second win of the year in comfortable fashion. The race for second was a close one, with Graham just holding off eighth place starter Chad Legere. Last week's winner, Andrew Burg came from tenth starting spot, to finish fourth, and Dean Hartwig was fifth.
Up next, 20-laps of IMCA Modified racing, the "Ground Pounders", as announcer Jerry VanSickel calls them, and rightfully so. David Brown started on the pole and jumped to the immediate lead when the race went green. Joel Bushore had started right behind him, and tucked in behind him. Brown was holding the lead, Bushore not able to find a way around him, through the halfway mark of the race. Meanwhile, Kyle Brown, son of the leader, had swung to the topside of the track, and was reeling in the leaders. It became a "three horse race" with a handful of laps remaining, until David Brown suffered a flat tire, taking him out of the contest. Son, Kyle Brown's fate was much better, as he motored home to his first win of the year at Boone. Bushore finished in second, Scott Davis took third place, fourth went to Devin Havlik, and point leader Jammin' Jimmy Gustin, who had started twelfth on the grid, went home with a fifth place finish.
Tenth place starter, Trent Murphy came out of no where and into the lead by lap two of the 18-lap IMCA Stock Car main feature. Twelfth place starter Donavon Smith also made headway quickly, and up to third behind veteran Robert Stofer at lap five. Meanwhile, another car on the move, was the 19J of Jay Schmidt. Schmidt, who had not made the invert in his heat had to start back in twentieth spot, but went to work on the topside, and started reeling in car after car. A yellow at lap eleven, found Schmidt running fourth behind Murphy, Stofer, and Smith. The final few laps saw Murphy keep tight hold on his lead, and he scored the win for the second consecutive week. Smith was able to make the pass and score a second place finish. Schmidt made his preferred line at the top of the speedway work for him, garnering a third place finish. Fourth was Stofer and "Hot" Rod Richards finished fifth.
Next week at Boone, it will be mid-season championships. Seems like racing just started! Hot laps are 6:45 and racing at 7:30.
The busy racing season has begun, and this week we hope to make two special events. First up on Tuesday, June 9, will be the Hawkeye Dirt Tour in Maquoketa, Iowa at the Jackson County Speedway. Also running will be the IMCA Deery Brothers Late Model Series. We have been to many tracks in Iowa, but this will be our first trip to this track. Hot laps are scheduled for 6:45 with racing to follow. The IMCA Northern SportMods will also be on tap.
Then on Thursday, June 11, it will be the long anticipated appearance of the Lucas Oil MLRA Late Models at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa. There will not be a race on their usual Wednesday night of racing this week. Joining the MLRA class, will be IMCA Late Models....unusual to see two different Late Model classes running at the same track. Adding to that impressive line up are the IMCA Modifieds for their Hawkeye Dirt Tour series. There will also be the IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA SportMods, and the IMCA Hobby Stocks. It is mid-season championships, and those last three classes will only be running features as to our understanding. Things will get underway with hot laps at 6:45 and racing at 7:15.
A couple of drivers got their first win of the season at Boone, two drivers matched their wins from last week while another repeated from an early season victory.
The Mod Lite division ran their A main first and Bryan Zehm took home another victory. He was one of the drivers matching a win from last Saturday night. Zehm started eighth and had to overtake early leader Mike Kennedy. He got the job done at lap eight and from there on, drove his #46Z to victory. Point leader, Josh May worked his way from twelfth starting spot, overtook Kennedy in the closing laps, as they finished second and third in that order. Fourth was Cory Sauerman and Terry Brown was fifth.
A new face visited Victory Lane last night in the IMCA Northern SportMod class. Ninth place starter Jonathan Logue got to the lead quickly, snatching it up at lap four. He held off last week's winner Jake McBirnie. McBirnie did all he could to reel in the leader, setting his ride on the topside, but falling short and having to settle for the runner up spot. Third was Andy Tiernan, Randy Roberts was fourth and Brandon Williams rounded out the top five.
The IMCA Hobby Stock 12-lapper didn't start off well. The race went red as soon as the race began, when Stephen Doss tipped his machine on it's side at the very top of turn one. He was okay. When things got underway, it was Dustin Graham leading the charge, but Solomon Bennett took over at lap five. From there on, he enjoyed his ride at the front of the pack, and sealed his second win of the year in comfortable fashion. The race for second was a close one, with Graham just holding off eighth place starter Chad Legere. Last week's winner, Andrew Burg came from tenth starting spot, to finish fourth, and Dean Hartwig was fifth.
Up next, 20-laps of IMCA Modified racing, the "Ground Pounders", as announcer Jerry VanSickel calls them, and rightfully so. David Brown started on the pole and jumped to the immediate lead when the race went green. Joel Bushore had started right behind him, and tucked in behind him. Brown was holding the lead, Bushore not able to find a way around him, through the halfway mark of the race. Meanwhile, Kyle Brown, son of the leader, had swung to the topside of the track, and was reeling in the leaders. It became a "three horse race" with a handful of laps remaining, until David Brown suffered a flat tire, taking him out of the contest. Son, Kyle Brown's fate was much better, as he motored home to his first win of the year at Boone. Bushore finished in second, Scott Davis took third place, fourth went to Devin Havlik, and point leader Jammin' Jimmy Gustin, who had started twelfth on the grid, went home with a fifth place finish.
Tenth place starter, Trent Murphy came out of no where and into the lead by lap two of the 18-lap IMCA Stock Car main feature. Twelfth place starter Donavon Smith also made headway quickly, and up to third behind veteran Robert Stofer at lap five. Meanwhile, another car on the move, was the 19J of Jay Schmidt. Schmidt, who had not made the invert in his heat had to start back in twentieth spot, but went to work on the topside, and started reeling in car after car. A yellow at lap eleven, found Schmidt running fourth behind Murphy, Stofer, and Smith. The final few laps saw Murphy keep tight hold on his lead, and he scored the win for the second consecutive week. Smith was able to make the pass and score a second place finish. Schmidt made his preferred line at the top of the speedway work for him, garnering a third place finish. Fourth was Stofer and "Hot" Rod Richards finished fifth.
Next week at Boone, it will be mid-season championships. Seems like racing just started! Hot laps are 6:45 and racing at 7:30.
The busy racing season has begun, and this week we hope to make two special events. First up on Tuesday, June 9, will be the Hawkeye Dirt Tour in Maquoketa, Iowa at the Jackson County Speedway. Also running will be the IMCA Deery Brothers Late Model Series. We have been to many tracks in Iowa, but this will be our first trip to this track. Hot laps are scheduled for 6:45 with racing to follow. The IMCA Northern SportMods will also be on tap.
Then on Thursday, June 11, it will be the long anticipated appearance of the Lucas Oil MLRA Late Models at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa. There will not be a race on their usual Wednesday night of racing this week. Joining the MLRA class, will be IMCA Late Models....unusual to see two different Late Model classes running at the same track. Adding to that impressive line up are the IMCA Modifieds for their Hawkeye Dirt Tour series. There will also be the IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA SportMods, and the IMCA Hobby Stocks. It is mid-season championships, and those last three classes will only be running features as to our understanding. Things will get underway with hot laps at 6:45 and racing at 7:15.
Saturday, June 6, 2015
Three in a row for Luellen in Hobby Stocks at Marshalltown
We were back at our Friday night home last night....the Marshalltown Speedway. We saw some great racing action, close finishes, a driver continues his dominance in the Hobby Stock class, and another grabbed a first win of the year----plus it was a beautiful night!
The new winner for the season came out of the Mod Lite feature. Joel Huggins quickly got to the lead from his eighth place starting spot, and dominated the race. Randy Bryan led the early laps until Joel Huggins took command with a handful of laps down. From there on he led the field the rest of the way to the checkers, securing his first feature win at Marshalltown in 2015. Travis Stensland finished second, third went to ninth place starter Mike Kennedy, fourth was Josh May and Randy Bryan finished in fifth with Mike Morrill close behind in sixth.
Rookie Dusty Masolini who moved up from the Mod Lite class this year, led the 18-lap SportMod feature past the halfway mark of the race. That's when Travis Peterson came calling and snatched up the top spot by lap thirteen. Peterson, who had started ninth was soon to have his hands full with the 80J of Jared VanDeest. VanDeest had started twelfth, went to the topside of the track...his preferred line, and was coming fast! A yellow flew at lap fourteen and by that time VanDeest had made it into second place behind leader Peterson. The final few laps saw VanDeest go back to the top on his quest.....making it pay off on the final dash to the finish line. VanDeest took the win, Peterson was second. Third went to tenth place starter, Sam Wieben, fourth to eleventh place starter Clint Luellen and Dusty Masolini was fifth. This was VanDeest's second win at Marshalltown this year.
Austin Luellen continues his domination in the IMCA Hobby Stock class. Luellen started eighth and was in the lead by lap four. He kept that top spot the rest of the way to the checkers. Eric Stanton came from ninth starting spot to finish as the runner up. Bryce Udelhoven, a regular last season, made his first appearance of the year, started tenth and finished in third. Gary Pfantz was fourth and Andy Hick was fifth. Luellen's win marked his sixth of the regular point's season, plus also having won the Frostbuster special. He and Stanton are still the only Hobby Stock winners at Marshalltown this year.
Nick Thelen led the first two laps of the 18-lap IMCA Stock Car main, but eighth place starter Donavon Smith had gotten to his bumper by then, and the following lap, was scored the leader. Smith was content to let those behind him fight it out for position while he maintained his time as captain of the ship. Smith went on to claim the win, his fourth this year. Finishing in second place was Michael Jaennette. Jaennette had tried reeling in the leader, but had to settle for the runner up spot. Third was Dave Atcher who is an occasional racer at the track due to his work schedule, fourth went to Trent Murphy and Steve Meyer recovered nicely, after being involved in an on track incident that sent him many positions back in the field, but still taking home a fifth place finish.
There was a wild finish behind the leader in the IMCA Modified feature! The 20-lap event began with Adam Larson snapping up the top spot at lap one, swung his ride to the top of the track and was on a rail! Larson was still riding his precarious line at the very top of the track at lap nine, but Jammin' Jimmy Gustin was working the bottom and making headway. Gustin sneaked under Larson on lap ten and took over the top spot. The latter portion of the race was all behind the leader. Larson, Richie Gustin and Ronn Laurtizen were battling it out. When a yellow flew at lap eighteen, setting up a green-white-checkered frantic dash to the finish, it was Jimmy Gustin on the point, Larson riding in second, Richie Gustin in third and Lauritzen in fourth. Jimmy took off and was pretty comfortable at the front, but as the white flag was coming out, Richie Gustin made a sliding pass around Larson as they came out of turn four, not getting the job done. Everyone knew that wasn't going to be the final attempt however! Jimmy Gustin got to the finish line first, scoring the win, but Larson and Richie Gustin still had that fourth corner to attempt on their dash to the checkers! Richie Gustin tried the slide job one more time, some contact was made between him and Larson, and that was just enough for an alert Lauritzen to take advantage and shoot by both of them, scoring the runner up spot. Larson stayed just ahead of Richie Gustin as they finished third and fourth respectively. Jon Snyder rounded out the top five. This was Jimmy Gustin's second win at the track this season.
Marshalltown Speedway returns to action for another regular night of racing, next Friday night, June 12. Hot laps at 6:50 and racing at 7:30.
Austin Luellen continues his domination in the IMCA Hobby Stock class. Luellen started eighth and was in the lead by lap four. He kept that top spot the rest of the way to the checkers. Eric Stanton came from ninth starting spot to finish as the runner up. Bryce Udelhoven, a regular last season, made his first appearance of the year, started tenth and finished in third. Gary Pfantz was fourth and Andy Hick was fifth. Luellen's win marked his sixth of the regular point's season, plus also having won the Frostbuster special. He and Stanton are still the only Hobby Stock winners at Marshalltown this year.
Nick Thelen led the first two laps of the 18-lap IMCA Stock Car main, but eighth place starter Donavon Smith had gotten to his bumper by then, and the following lap, was scored the leader. Smith was content to let those behind him fight it out for position while he maintained his time as captain of the ship. Smith went on to claim the win, his fourth this year. Finishing in second place was Michael Jaennette. Jaennette had tried reeling in the leader, but had to settle for the runner up spot. Third was Dave Atcher who is an occasional racer at the track due to his work schedule, fourth went to Trent Murphy and Steve Meyer recovered nicely, after being involved in an on track incident that sent him many positions back in the field, but still taking home a fifth place finish.
There was a wild finish behind the leader in the IMCA Modified feature! The 20-lap event began with Adam Larson snapping up the top spot at lap one, swung his ride to the top of the track and was on a rail! Larson was still riding his precarious line at the very top of the track at lap nine, but Jammin' Jimmy Gustin was working the bottom and making headway. Gustin sneaked under Larson on lap ten and took over the top spot. The latter portion of the race was all behind the leader. Larson, Richie Gustin and Ronn Laurtizen were battling it out. When a yellow flew at lap eighteen, setting up a green-white-checkered frantic dash to the finish, it was Jimmy Gustin on the point, Larson riding in second, Richie Gustin in third and Lauritzen in fourth. Jimmy took off and was pretty comfortable at the front, but as the white flag was coming out, Richie Gustin made a sliding pass around Larson as they came out of turn four, not getting the job done. Everyone knew that wasn't going to be the final attempt however! Jimmy Gustin got to the finish line first, scoring the win, but Larson and Richie Gustin still had that fourth corner to attempt on their dash to the checkers! Richie Gustin tried the slide job one more time, some contact was made between him and Larson, and that was just enough for an alert Lauritzen to take advantage and shoot by both of them, scoring the runner up spot. Larson stayed just ahead of Richie Gustin as they finished third and fourth respectively. Jon Snyder rounded out the top five. This was Jimmy Gustin's second win at the track this season.
Marshalltown Speedway returns to action for another regular night of racing, next Friday night, June 12. Hot laps at 6:50 and racing at 7:30.
Thursday, June 4, 2015
VandenBerg takes Modified win at Osky
The Southern Iowa Speedway has provided some close finishes this season, and last night, those photo finishes continued. There were three new winners for the year and one driver snagged his first ever win.
The first feature was the 12-lap main for the IMCA Sport Compact. Jon Girdley was out of the gate first and would lead every lap on his way to the win.....his first in his career. John and Bill Whalen finished second and third, chasing the leader from a distance the entire time. Fourth went to Curt Myers and late arrival Troy Wonders was fifth. William Michel did not start the feature.
Jason See led the opening laps of the 18-lap IMCA Stock Car feature, only to have it snatched away by Zack VanderBeek at lap four. Last week's winner, Nathan Wood who had started ninth, made it to the runner up spot by lap twelve. Hot on his heels was twelfth place starter Cayden Carter and Damon Murty was fourth after starting seventeenth due suffering a flat tire in his heat. Carter was able to sneak past Wood by lap fifteen, but time would run out for any chance at catching VanderBeek who was gone. VanderBeek took the win, his third of the season, Carter had to settle for second. Murty tussled with Wood on the white flag lap and was able to get around him and finish third, Wood going fourth. Rounding out the top five was pole sitter Todd Phillips. The race went caution free.
The 15-lap Hobby Stock feature was up next. The first lap was called off when pole sitter Jared Stephens went spinning in corner one. Mike Kincaid would then inherit the point spot as the race began. He had his hands full fending off Aaron Martin and then it was Craig Brown taking over the runner up spot on lap five and giving chase to Kincaid. The rest of the race was a battle between Kincaid and Brown as they swapped the lead back and forth. This one would end with one of those photo finishes as they crossed the finish line in nearly a dead heat. Kincaid was scored the winner and Brown had to be content with the runner up spot. Martin held on to finish in third, fourth was Danny Thrasher and Steve Allen was fifth. This was Kincaid's first win at the track this year, and I believe his first ever at the Monster Half Mile.
The IMCA Modifieds had all thirteen cars start their feature event. Scott Dickey jumped to the lead immediately but was quickly having to hold off Carter VandenBerg. VandenBerg, who had started sixth had gotten to Dickey's bumper by lap one. He wasted no time in making the pass for the lead, snapping it up at lap five. From there on, he stretched the lead as the race went caution free, taking the win by a comfortable margin. Andrew Schroeder got around Scott Dickey in the closing laps as they went second and third respectively. Eleventh place starter Cayden Carter finished in fourth and David Brown rounded out the top five. This was VandenBerg's first win in the Modified division at Osky and marked his second win this season, having a win under his belt at another track earlier.
The IMCA Northern SportMod 16-lap feature ended the night's racing. Cory Van Zante avoided near disaster when he did a 360 degree spin in corner two as the race went green. Somehow, everyone missed him, he gathered it in, and continued on without a caution being thrown. Jason McDaniel took command of the race by lap two and would keep it to the win. Brett Lowry and Curtis VanDerWal duked it out for second much of the race, VanDerWal finally establishing the runner up spot with a lap to go. He was never able to catch leader McDaniel though and finished in second. Lowry fought off Brayton Carter in the waning moments as they went third and fourth respectively. Logan Anderson was fifth and Cory Van Zante recovered from his scary spin as the race began, and finished in sixth. McDaniel took his second win of the season at Osky.
Remember that next Wednesday, there will not be racing at the Southern Iowa Speedway, but the track will be back in action on THURSDAY, June 11. That will be when the long anticipated Lucas Oil MLRA Late Models come to town. Also racing that night will be the IMCA Late Models, the Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds, plus the IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA SportMods and the IMCA Hobby Stocks. Hot laps are scheduled for 6:45 and racing is to begin at 7:15. Don't miss this show! Check www.oskyspeedway.com for more information or check their Facebook page under Southern Iowa Speedway every Wednesday night.
The first feature was the 12-lap main for the IMCA Sport Compact. Jon Girdley was out of the gate first and would lead every lap on his way to the win.....his first in his career. John and Bill Whalen finished second and third, chasing the leader from a distance the entire time. Fourth went to Curt Myers and late arrival Troy Wonders was fifth. William Michel did not start the feature.
Jason See led the opening laps of the 18-lap IMCA Stock Car feature, only to have it snatched away by Zack VanderBeek at lap four. Last week's winner, Nathan Wood who had started ninth, made it to the runner up spot by lap twelve. Hot on his heels was twelfth place starter Cayden Carter and Damon Murty was fourth after starting seventeenth due suffering a flat tire in his heat. Carter was able to sneak past Wood by lap fifteen, but time would run out for any chance at catching VanderBeek who was gone. VanderBeek took the win, his third of the season, Carter had to settle for second. Murty tussled with Wood on the white flag lap and was able to get around him and finish third, Wood going fourth. Rounding out the top five was pole sitter Todd Phillips. The race went caution free.
The 15-lap Hobby Stock feature was up next. The first lap was called off when pole sitter Jared Stephens went spinning in corner one. Mike Kincaid would then inherit the point spot as the race began. He had his hands full fending off Aaron Martin and then it was Craig Brown taking over the runner up spot on lap five and giving chase to Kincaid. The rest of the race was a battle between Kincaid and Brown as they swapped the lead back and forth. This one would end with one of those photo finishes as they crossed the finish line in nearly a dead heat. Kincaid was scored the winner and Brown had to be content with the runner up spot. Martin held on to finish in third, fourth was Danny Thrasher and Steve Allen was fifth. This was Kincaid's first win at the track this year, and I believe his first ever at the Monster Half Mile.
The IMCA Modifieds had all thirteen cars start their feature event. Scott Dickey jumped to the lead immediately but was quickly having to hold off Carter VandenBerg. VandenBerg, who had started sixth had gotten to Dickey's bumper by lap one. He wasted no time in making the pass for the lead, snapping it up at lap five. From there on, he stretched the lead as the race went caution free, taking the win by a comfortable margin. Andrew Schroeder got around Scott Dickey in the closing laps as they went second and third respectively. Eleventh place starter Cayden Carter finished in fourth and David Brown rounded out the top five. This was VandenBerg's first win in the Modified division at Osky and marked his second win this season, having a win under his belt at another track earlier.
The IMCA Northern SportMod 16-lap feature ended the night's racing. Cory Van Zante avoided near disaster when he did a 360 degree spin in corner two as the race went green. Somehow, everyone missed him, he gathered it in, and continued on without a caution being thrown. Jason McDaniel took command of the race by lap two and would keep it to the win. Brett Lowry and Curtis VanDerWal duked it out for second much of the race, VanDerWal finally establishing the runner up spot with a lap to go. He was never able to catch leader McDaniel though and finished in second. Lowry fought off Brayton Carter in the waning moments as they went third and fourth respectively. Logan Anderson was fifth and Cory Van Zante recovered from his scary spin as the race began, and finished in sixth. McDaniel took his second win of the season at Osky.
Remember that next Wednesday, there will not be racing at the Southern Iowa Speedway, but the track will be back in action on THURSDAY, June 11. That will be when the long anticipated Lucas Oil MLRA Late Models come to town. Also racing that night will be the IMCA Late Models, the Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds, plus the IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA SportMods and the IMCA Hobby Stocks. Hot laps are scheduled for 6:45 and racing is to begin at 7:15. Don't miss this show! Check www.oskyspeedway.com for more information or check their Facebook page under Southern Iowa Speedway every Wednesday night.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Osky - 6-3-15
Unofficial results:
Modified
1. 7V Carter VandenBerg - 1st win at Osky, 2nd career win
2. 02 Andrew Schroeder
3. 40 Scott Dickey
4. 10C Cayden Carter
5. 21 David Brown
6. 9X Tyler Groenendyk
7. 21K Kyle Brown
8. 3B Brad Tyler
9. 22 Brad Banks
10. 162 Greg Cox
DNF: 8J AJ Johnson
11T Thye
49J Jason Murray
Stock Car
1. 33Z Zack VanderBeek
2. 10cc Cayden Carter
3. 99D Damon Murty
4. 52 Nathan Wood
5. 7 Todd Phillips
6. 11 Mike Hughes
7. 18 Kris Walker
8. 12 Doug Sylvester
9. 19 Donnie Pearson
10. 17 Brock Welch
11. 73C Carl Yaw
12. 87 Les Blakely
14. 54 Mike Brown
DNF: 22R Todd Reitzler
3D Daniel Gordon
79S Jason See
SportMod
1. 85 Jason McDaniel
2. 1V Curtis VanDerWal
3. 72 Brett Lowry
4. 01 Brayton Carter
5. 9A Logan Anderson
6. 34Z Cory Van Zante
7. 29 Colton Livezey
8. 33 Derek Liles
9. A5 Austin Paul
10. 25 Scott VanBuskirk
11. 4G Michael Guthrie
Hobby Stock
1. 12 Mike Kincaid - Photo finish
2. 69 Craig Brown
3. 73 Aaron Martin
4. 84 Danny Thrasher
5. 3S Steve Allen
6. 19 Bill Bonnett
7. 10G Dustin Griffiths
8. 5B Dane Blozovich
9. 3 Travis Bunnell
10. 9 Terry Clayton
11. 32T Bobby Greene
12. 19D Daniel Dyer
DNF: 14 Christian Huffman
15W Clayton Webster
DNF: 77 Derek Hodges
Sport Compact
1. 33 Jon Girdley - 1st career win
2. 77 John Whalen
3. 07 Bill Whalen
4. 22M Curt Myers
5. 81 Troy Wonders
DNS: 69 William Michel
Modified
1. 7V Carter VandenBerg - 1st win at Osky, 2nd career win
2. 02 Andrew Schroeder
3. 40 Scott Dickey
4. 10C Cayden Carter
5. 21 David Brown
6. 9X Tyler Groenendyk
7. 21K Kyle Brown
8. 3B Brad Tyler
9. 22 Brad Banks
10. 162 Greg Cox
DNF: 8J AJ Johnson
11T Thye
49J Jason Murray
Stock Car
1. 33Z Zack VanderBeek
2. 10cc Cayden Carter
3. 99D Damon Murty
4. 52 Nathan Wood
5. 7 Todd Phillips
6. 11 Mike Hughes
7. 18 Kris Walker
8. 12 Doug Sylvester
9. 19 Donnie Pearson
10. 17 Brock Welch
11. 73C Carl Yaw
12. 87 Les Blakely
14. 54 Mike Brown
DNF: 22R Todd Reitzler
3D Daniel Gordon
79S Jason See
SportMod
1. 85 Jason McDaniel
2. 1V Curtis VanDerWal
3. 72 Brett Lowry
4. 01 Brayton Carter
5. 9A Logan Anderson
6. 34Z Cory Van Zante
7. 29 Colton Livezey
8. 33 Derek Liles
9. A5 Austin Paul
10. 25 Scott VanBuskirk
11. 4G Michael Guthrie
Hobby Stock
1. 12 Mike Kincaid - Photo finish
2. 69 Craig Brown
3. 73 Aaron Martin
4. 84 Danny Thrasher
5. 3S Steve Allen
6. 19 Bill Bonnett
7. 10G Dustin Griffiths
8. 5B Dane Blozovich
9. 3 Travis Bunnell
10. 9 Terry Clayton
11. 32T Bobby Greene
12. 19D Daniel Dyer
DNF: 14 Christian Huffman
15W Clayton Webster
DNF: 77 Derek Hodges
Sport Compact
1. 33 Jon Girdley - 1st career win
2. 77 John Whalen
3. 07 Bill Whalen
4. 22M Curt Myers
5. 81 Troy Wonders
DNS: 69 William Michel
Rauen posts first ever Deery win at the Marshalltown Speedway
The IMCA Deery Brothers made their annual appearance at the Marshalltown Speedway on Tuesday night. Thirty one of the "boys of summer" came to play on the high banks. Joining them for the night's racing were the IMCA Northern SportMods, Mod Lites, and for the first time ever, the INEX Legend cars.
Josh May made his mid-week trip to the track pay off, taking the win in the Mod Lite 20-lap feature. However, stamping his name in the winner's column was only decided at the last moment. Pole sitter Tim Hennigar led nineteen of the twenty laps, only to have his victory disappear on the last lap run to the checkers. The caution plagued race ended under a green-white-checkered dash to the finish, and May's swing to the outside paid off as they came out of corner four looking at the waving checkered flag. Third place went to Randy Bryan, fourth was the winner's father Jimmy May and marking the first time at the track this year in the car #20, was Jeff Stensland who was fifth.
The IMCA Northern SportMods were racing for a $1,000 win last night. Twenty-six cars were on hand and all ran the 20-lap feature event. At least ten of those did not finish the race in what also became a marathon of yellow flags flying.
Brayton Carter, brother to Modified/Stock Car/Late Model racer Cayden Carter, led the opening lap, only to have the race slowed for a caution after that first lap was scored. By the time the sixth yellow had waved at lap seven, Carter was still holding down the top spot. He had not been able to shake off Sam Wieben however, who had been challenging him the entire time to that point. Also on the move was visiting racer from Oskaloosa, Iowa, Curtis VanDerWal, who had moved from starting seventeenth, up to the fourth spot, right behind Brandon Williams in third. VanDerWal shot to the topside of the track as the racing resumed, passed Wieben by lap eleven, and flew by Carter by lap twelve. The final caution flew at lap seventeen and it was a fight to the finish between VanDerWal and Sam Wieben. Wieben had gotten around Carter and challenged VanDerWal by dipping low. VanDerWal was able to stand his ground on his preferred top side, and took the checkers first. Wieben took the runner up spot, Carter held third place, fourth went to Jared VanDeest who had started in the eighth row, Clint Luellen was fifth and Doug Smith finished sixth after having to recover from an earlier caution he was involved in, tag the field and come through the pack.
The INEX Legends visited the high banks for the first time ever. They are a league of cars the size of the Mod Lites, but full fendered. These cars came from all over the United States, and they were vying for a $1,000 in a "Race for the Cause". Each car carried the name of a fallen police officer from their respective state. They ran a 25-lap feature and receiving the accolades in this one was the #38 of Joplin, Missouri racer, Justin Comer. He took the comfortable win over the #13 of Timothy Brockhouse from Illinois, third was Dave Comer from Missouri, fourth went to the 6B of Vince Bartolotta from Wisconsin, and fifth went to Nelson Stewart from Indiana. Stewart is the 74 year old father of NASCAR driver Tony Stewart.
The 50-lap Deery Brothers race had their starting field whittled down via two B mains. Winning those were Ray Guss, Jr. and Joel Callahan. Earlier there had been the "pick the pizza box" for the top 12-qualifiers from the heats to determine their starting spots in the feature. The lucky recipients were Scott Fitzpatrick with the #1 and young Tyler Droste with the #2.
The ONLY yellow of this 50-lapper came at lap four. Tyler Droste had established the point spot by lap two by putting his ride to the top side. When things picked back up, he quickly took back to the top shelf, and pulled away from his competition. He masterfully worked his line and through lap traffic. Jason Rauen had taken over the second spot, and as the race wore on, he began reeling in the leader. At lap forty, Rauen attempted a slide job out of corner four, but wasn't able to pull it off. However, the following lap, Rauen got the job done, taking over the top spot. From there on, Rauen pulled away, and took the checkers. Droste finished in the runner up spot, third went to last year's winner Jeff Aikey, Fitzpatrick held on to fourth place and Justin Kay completed the top five. It was a happy Jason Rauen in victory lane after the race, finally able to get his first ever Deery Brothers Summer Series win.
Earlier in the evening, the top 2 finishers of the four heats drew for starting positions for an Australian Pursuit race. In this unique contest, if you are passed, you are out. Second place starter Jeff Aikey quickly eliminated pole sitter Tyler Droste and easily took the 10-lap contest, going home with an extra $500.
Marshalltown Speedway will be back in action this coming Friday night for their regular season racing. Hot laps are scheduled for 6:50 and racing at 7:30.
Josh May made his mid-week trip to the track pay off, taking the win in the Mod Lite 20-lap feature. However, stamping his name in the winner's column was only decided at the last moment. Pole sitter Tim Hennigar led nineteen of the twenty laps, only to have his victory disappear on the last lap run to the checkers. The caution plagued race ended under a green-white-checkered dash to the finish, and May's swing to the outside paid off as they came out of corner four looking at the waving checkered flag. Third place went to Randy Bryan, fourth was the winner's father Jimmy May and marking the first time at the track this year in the car #20, was Jeff Stensland who was fifth.
The IMCA Northern SportMods were racing for a $1,000 win last night. Twenty-six cars were on hand and all ran the 20-lap feature event. At least ten of those did not finish the race in what also became a marathon of yellow flags flying.
Brayton Carter, brother to Modified/Stock Car/Late Model racer Cayden Carter, led the opening lap, only to have the race slowed for a caution after that first lap was scored. By the time the sixth yellow had waved at lap seven, Carter was still holding down the top spot. He had not been able to shake off Sam Wieben however, who had been challenging him the entire time to that point. Also on the move was visiting racer from Oskaloosa, Iowa, Curtis VanDerWal, who had moved from starting seventeenth, up to the fourth spot, right behind Brandon Williams in third. VanDerWal shot to the topside of the track as the racing resumed, passed Wieben by lap eleven, and flew by Carter by lap twelve. The final caution flew at lap seventeen and it was a fight to the finish between VanDerWal and Sam Wieben. Wieben had gotten around Carter and challenged VanDerWal by dipping low. VanDerWal was able to stand his ground on his preferred top side, and took the checkers first. Wieben took the runner up spot, Carter held third place, fourth went to Jared VanDeest who had started in the eighth row, Clint Luellen was fifth and Doug Smith finished sixth after having to recover from an earlier caution he was involved in, tag the field and come through the pack.
The INEX Legends visited the high banks for the first time ever. They are a league of cars the size of the Mod Lites, but full fendered. These cars came from all over the United States, and they were vying for a $1,000 in a "Race for the Cause". Each car carried the name of a fallen police officer from their respective state. They ran a 25-lap feature and receiving the accolades in this one was the #38 of Joplin, Missouri racer, Justin Comer. He took the comfortable win over the #13 of Timothy Brockhouse from Illinois, third was Dave Comer from Missouri, fourth went to the 6B of Vince Bartolotta from Wisconsin, and fifth went to Nelson Stewart from Indiana. Stewart is the 74 year old father of NASCAR driver Tony Stewart.
The 50-lap Deery Brothers race had their starting field whittled down via two B mains. Winning those were Ray Guss, Jr. and Joel Callahan. Earlier there had been the "pick the pizza box" for the top 12-qualifiers from the heats to determine their starting spots in the feature. The lucky recipients were Scott Fitzpatrick with the #1 and young Tyler Droste with the #2.
The ONLY yellow of this 50-lapper came at lap four. Tyler Droste had established the point spot by lap two by putting his ride to the top side. When things picked back up, he quickly took back to the top shelf, and pulled away from his competition. He masterfully worked his line and through lap traffic. Jason Rauen had taken over the second spot, and as the race wore on, he began reeling in the leader. At lap forty, Rauen attempted a slide job out of corner four, but wasn't able to pull it off. However, the following lap, Rauen got the job done, taking over the top spot. From there on, Rauen pulled away, and took the checkers. Droste finished in the runner up spot, third went to last year's winner Jeff Aikey, Fitzpatrick held on to fourth place and Justin Kay completed the top five. It was a happy Jason Rauen in victory lane after the race, finally able to get his first ever Deery Brothers Summer Series win.
Earlier in the evening, the top 2 finishers of the four heats drew for starting positions for an Australian Pursuit race. In this unique contest, if you are passed, you are out. Second place starter Jeff Aikey quickly eliminated pole sitter Tyler Droste and easily took the 10-lap contest, going home with an extra $500.
Marshalltown Speedway will be back in action this coming Friday night for their regular season racing. Hot laps are scheduled for 6:50 and racing at 7:30.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)