The hot and muggy July weather continued on Saturday at the Boone Speedway. This was the first time this season, that there were no new winners in any of the five classes. John Logue matched his win in the IMCA Modified division from last week, and the Stock Car class once again, left the crowd on the edge of their seats.
The Mod Lites found Travis Stensland stepping back into the winner's circle. Stensland got to the lead by lap two of the 15-lap feature, and would never give it up. He won well ahead of second place Bryan Zehm. Third went to Justin Rankin, who had been the pole sitter, fourth was Randy Bryan and Charlie Brown completed the top five. This was Stensland second win at the track this year. It was also his second win in as many nights, as he had won the previous night in Marshalltown.
The IMCA Northern SportMod 18-lap feature came next. Brian Miller led this one past the halfway mark. He had Chad Ryerson bothering him for many of those laps. Ryerson's persistence paid off on lap twelve, taking the lead just as they raced passed the flagstand. Miller fought back, regained the lead momentarily, only to fall back to second. Ryerson kept the lead to the checkers and the win, Miller held on to second place. It was a real dogfight for third through fifth spots. Jake McBirnie came from starting tenth to finish third, Curtis Veber was fourth and Rick Ringgenberg was fifth. This was Ryerson's second win at Boone.
Brandon Pitts led the charge in the 12-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature. He immediately had Dustin Lynch looking for a way around him. A yellow flew at lap four, and when things picked back up, Lynch made the move to the point position. He held that lead the rest of the distance to the finish and the waving checkers. Finishing a distant runner up was eighth place starter Dustin Graham, twelfth place starter Matt McDonald was third, Shawn Wirtz crossed the finish line in fourth, and Brandon Potts in fifth. A post race inspection deemed Wirtz with an illegal carburetor, and disqualified. This would move Potts up to fourth place and Aaron Rudolph to fifth. This was Lynch's second win of the year.
There was a lot of action going on in the 20-lap IMCA Modified A main. Devin Havlik held down the top spot, fending off Cole Ferguson through lap six. Ironically, we heard that these two young competitors will be roommates for college this fall. By that time, veteran John Logue had taken third running spot, and appeared to be on a mission. He moved to the runner up spot the following lap. On lap eight, the yellow flew, putting Logue tightly behind the leader for the restart. The veteran made the move to lead at lap nine and from there, pulled away to a comfortable lead, taking the easy win. Tony Cox kept his machine at the front of the pack all race long, and finished in second. Third place went to Mike VanGenderen who had started eleventh, Cole Ferguson was fourth and Jon Snyder was fifth. Early leader Havlik dropped out with mechanic issues on lap eleven while running second. Logue made it two in a row at Boone, and marked his third win of the season.
Last week was a thrilling contest in the IMCA Stock Car class. This week matched it, and again, if anyone left, they missed a great race. This class puts on one of the best, if not THE best show, week in and week out.....showing just why they are called "The Class too Tough to Tame".
The 18-lap feature had tight racing throughout the entire race. Craig Carlson led the opening laps but Tyler Pickett was quickly on his tail, and eighth place starter Wayne Gifford followed to take third running position. A yellow flew at lap four, bunching the field for the restart. When racing resumed, Pickett wasted no time in taking over first place, and Gifford muscled his way to second around Carlson. There was a lot of jockeying for spots going on just a bit further back as Rod Richards, Jay Schmidt and Donavon Smith were duking it out. Leader Pickett would have his night end on lap six when his car came to a stop at the top of the track with right front woes. More on that later. When a yellow flew on lap seven, Gifford was running at the front of the pack....inheriting the lead when Pickett went out. Richards was second, Schmidt had now made it to third, Carlson was fourth and Smith lurked in fifth. The remaining way to the checkers was a near blur of cars as they passed in front of the grandstand.....Gifford leading at moments, Richards at others. There was a little "rubbing is racing" moments during those final laps. Richards was able to take the lead with three laps remaining, and kept it as he crossed the finish line for the win. It's a good thing the cars have transponders....as I am sure many watching had differing opinions on who finished where behind the leader. Donavon Smith was scored second, making it all the way from starting sixteenth, third went to tenth place starter Jay Schmidt, Wayne Gifford finished fourth and early leader Carlson, rounded out the top five. "Hot" Rod Richards won for the second time this year at Boone.
I mentioned earlier the issues that Tyler Pickett had with his car. The previous night in Marshalltown, he suffered significant damage. We saw that the thrashing to get repairs completed were already starting in the Marshalltown pits. We heard that they worked most of the night and the next day, in order to have it ready to race last night---the crew going on only a couple of hours of sleep. Pickett, in his first year in the Stock Car class, moving up from the Hobby Stocks, is leading national IMCA rookie points, racing a car we have heard, previously piloted by Corey Stout from Oskaloosa, who is not racing this year. When Pickett had his issues tonight while leading, the front right either gave out before he made contact with the wall, or broke when he hit it. Either way, what a disappointing night for the rookie having such a great year.
Regular racing continues next Saturday at Boone where it will be "Carnival" night....lots of fun activities for the youngsters in addition to a full night of racing. Hot laps are 6:45 and racing at 7:30.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Friday, July 24, 2015
Irvine, Jaennette, Hilmer, Pfantz and Stensland share victory lane on Shawn's Custom Hay Grinding Night at the Marshalltown Speedway
July 24, 2015
Despite Mother Nature's attempt to foil the racing with rain earlier in the day, the scheduled program at the Marshalltown Speedway went on as usual Friday night, where it was Shawn's Custom Hay Grinding Night. A driver who hadn't seen victory lane in quite some time, stepped back into the winner's circle in the IMCA Hobby Stock class while all other classes found repeat winners.
The Mod Lite's ran their 15-lap feature caution free. Travis Stensland got to the lead early and held that top spot the rest of the way to the checkers. Finishing a close second was point leader Josh May, third went to Mike Morrill, fourth was Charlie Brown and Randy Bryan rounded out the top five.
The 18-lap IMCA SportMod feature went to Curt Hilmer. Hilmer had to fight through a tightly bunched pack of cars, taking over the top spot on lap eleven. He would have to withstand five yellows in the race on his way to securing his second feature win of the season. Jared VanDeest, who was unable to run his heat, started 18th, and finished in second place. Third was first time visitor to the track, Lyle Sathoff from Adel, who had started in the twelfth position, fourth went to Jonathan Logue, and veteran driver Bill Hildreth was fifth.
Gary Pfantz saw the checkers flying first in the 15-lap IMCA Hobby Stock A main event. It would be the first time in recent years that Pfantz has won at the Marshalltown Speedway. Following him across the finish line in second was Tim Barber. Third went to Mitchell Thomas, fourth was Brandon Pitts and Dillon Million completed the top five.
Michael Jaennette made it two in a row in the IMCA Stock Car class. Jaennette started seventh and snatched the lead at lap four, keeping it to the checkers and the win. Finishing a close second was Steve Meyer. Meyer had to jump in a back up car, that of Jay Schmidt, after suffering damage to his own car in the heat. Todd Reitzler started tenth and finished in third, fourth went to Tim Fobian, and fifth was Jeff Wollam. Jeannette also won on opening night, making this his third trip to the winner's circle at Marshalltown this season.
The racing ended with the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature. Brian Irvine would see a return to Victory Lane from his win a few week's ago. Irvine won comfortably over second place finisher Josh Gilman. Jimmy Gustin was third, followed closely by Ronn Lauritzen in fourth and Jake Strayer finished in fifth.
There was also a "spectator eliminator" challenge after the features. It was the Mustang beating out the Oldsmobile Alero in the final go around.
Next week, Open Quads will be an addition to the five regular classes. Hot laps are 6:50 and racing at 7:30.
Despite Mother Nature's attempt to foil the racing with rain earlier in the day, the scheduled program at the Marshalltown Speedway went on as usual Friday night, where it was Shawn's Custom Hay Grinding Night. A driver who hadn't seen victory lane in quite some time, stepped back into the winner's circle in the IMCA Hobby Stock class while all other classes found repeat winners.
The Mod Lite's ran their 15-lap feature caution free. Travis Stensland got to the lead early and held that top spot the rest of the way to the checkers. Finishing a close second was point leader Josh May, third went to Mike Morrill, fourth was Charlie Brown and Randy Bryan rounded out the top five.
The 18-lap IMCA SportMod feature went to Curt Hilmer. Hilmer had to fight through a tightly bunched pack of cars, taking over the top spot on lap eleven. He would have to withstand five yellows in the race on his way to securing his second feature win of the season. Jared VanDeest, who was unable to run his heat, started 18th, and finished in second place. Third was first time visitor to the track, Lyle Sathoff from Adel, who had started in the twelfth position, fourth went to Jonathan Logue, and veteran driver Bill Hildreth was fifth.
Gary Pfantz saw the checkers flying first in the 15-lap IMCA Hobby Stock A main event. It would be the first time in recent years that Pfantz has won at the Marshalltown Speedway. Following him across the finish line in second was Tim Barber. Third went to Mitchell Thomas, fourth was Brandon Pitts and Dillon Million completed the top five.
Michael Jaennette made it two in a row in the IMCA Stock Car class. Jaennette started seventh and snatched the lead at lap four, keeping it to the checkers and the win. Finishing a close second was Steve Meyer. Meyer had to jump in a back up car, that of Jay Schmidt, after suffering damage to his own car in the heat. Todd Reitzler started tenth and finished in third, fourth went to Tim Fobian, and fifth was Jeff Wollam. Jeannette also won on opening night, making this his third trip to the winner's circle at Marshalltown this season.
The racing ended with the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature. Brian Irvine would see a return to Victory Lane from his win a few week's ago. Irvine won comfortably over second place finisher Josh Gilman. Jimmy Gustin was third, followed closely by Ronn Lauritzen in fourth and Jake Strayer finished in fifth.
There was also a "spectator eliminator" challenge after the features. It was the Mustang beating out the Oldsmobile Alero in the final go around.
Next week, Open Quads will be an addition to the five regular classes. Hot laps are 6:50 and racing at 7:30.
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Dollansky dominates at Iowa State Fair Speedway
The Southern Iowa Speedway was silent on Wednesday night, so we took advantage of that and took in the National Sprint Car League 410 race at the Iowa State Fair Speedway. The 305's were also running. It's rare that the track runs during the week.....and rarer yet for us to attend just a sprint car race. But, with rumors swirling, especially since there are no races at the Iowa State Fair this year, we wanted the opportunity to be sitting at the nostalgic 1/2 mile that has so much history and holds such fond memories of days gone by, at least once again.
We arrived early and since we had learned (thanks to social media) that some loyal race fans were holding a cook out and inviting friends and fans to stop by, we did so. Thanks Craig and Justin for the hot dogs, conversation and hospitality!
Then it was into the grandstand. We immediately ran into the gang from Speed Shift TV and just had to have a chat with them. We were also happy to hear the familiar voice of Jeff Broeg who announced the 305's, sharing mic time with Tony Bokhoven who did the 410's.
We were glad we had purchased our tickets when we first arrived, as later the line for the ticket window was enormous. The grandstand filled with fans.....a great crowd on hand. This race marked the first time in 16 years that the 410 sprints have set rubber on the track.
It was also a night when a late racer was honored that had won many, many times at Des Moines. Danny Young, the young man who piloted the 3Y car and who tragically lost his life 20 years ago at Knoxville, was remembered and his life celebrated with family, friends and fans.
The 305's ran a 15-lap feature. Prior to that...they ran three heats. The start did not go well, as Todd Holliman, who started on the outside of the front row, went into spin mode entering turn one, tipping on his side. When the race was finally restarted, it was the 5X of Jason Martin taking command. Martin never gave that spot up on his way to the checkers and the win. Tyler Thompson, who started eighth, ran in the runner up spot until losing it to Clint Benson at lap eight. Benson would try closing the gap on the leader, but was not able to garner more than a runner up spot. Third went to Thompson, fourth was seventh place starter, Robby Wolfgang (son of famed racer Doug Wolfgang who was wrenching for his son last night) and Matt Moro started ninth, and rounded out the top five.
There were 18 cars in each of the two classes last evening. The 410's time trialed and they ran three heat. The eight fastest in time trials, ran a dash to determine their running order. Those drivers were Brooke Tatnell, Craig Dollansky, Bryan Clauson, Bill Balog (who had just won the previous night at the Hancock County Speedway in Britt) Danny "The Dude" Lasoski, Lynton Jeffrey, Brian Brown, and Tim Kaeding. Craig Dollansky would win this one and take the pole for the 20-lap feature.
Dollansky jumped to the immediate lead, distancing himself from the rest of the field. The only yellow flew at lap four, bunching the field and putting fourth place starter Brian Brown on his tail, Brooke Tatnell was in third. Brown tried running down Dollansky but it was not to be as Dollansky took the win, Brown going second. Third went to Brooke Tatnell, fourth was seventh place starter, Danny Lasoski and fifth place starter, Tim Kaeding was fifth.
It was an enjoyable night, sitting in the comfort of the big old State Fair grandstand. We are glad we made the trip to get a mid-week racing fix.
Many specials going on now. Be sure and check the calendar of event at Positively Racing and find a race or two to attend. Thanks for reading!
We arrived early and since we had learned (thanks to social media) that some loyal race fans were holding a cook out and inviting friends and fans to stop by, we did so. Thanks Craig and Justin for the hot dogs, conversation and hospitality!
Then it was into the grandstand. We immediately ran into the gang from Speed Shift TV and just had to have a chat with them. We were also happy to hear the familiar voice of Jeff Broeg who announced the 305's, sharing mic time with Tony Bokhoven who did the 410's.
We were glad we had purchased our tickets when we first arrived, as later the line for the ticket window was enormous. The grandstand filled with fans.....a great crowd on hand. This race marked the first time in 16 years that the 410 sprints have set rubber on the track.
It was also a night when a late racer was honored that had won many, many times at Des Moines. Danny Young, the young man who piloted the 3Y car and who tragically lost his life 20 years ago at Knoxville, was remembered and his life celebrated with family, friends and fans.
The 305's ran a 15-lap feature. Prior to that...they ran three heats. The start did not go well, as Todd Holliman, who started on the outside of the front row, went into spin mode entering turn one, tipping on his side. When the race was finally restarted, it was the 5X of Jason Martin taking command. Martin never gave that spot up on his way to the checkers and the win. Tyler Thompson, who started eighth, ran in the runner up spot until losing it to Clint Benson at lap eight. Benson would try closing the gap on the leader, but was not able to garner more than a runner up spot. Third went to Thompson, fourth was seventh place starter, Robby Wolfgang (son of famed racer Doug Wolfgang who was wrenching for his son last night) and Matt Moro started ninth, and rounded out the top five.
There were 18 cars in each of the two classes last evening. The 410's time trialed and they ran three heat. The eight fastest in time trials, ran a dash to determine their running order. Those drivers were Brooke Tatnell, Craig Dollansky, Bryan Clauson, Bill Balog (who had just won the previous night at the Hancock County Speedway in Britt) Danny "The Dude" Lasoski, Lynton Jeffrey, Brian Brown, and Tim Kaeding. Craig Dollansky would win this one and take the pole for the 20-lap feature.
Dollansky jumped to the immediate lead, distancing himself from the rest of the field. The only yellow flew at lap four, bunching the field and putting fourth place starter Brian Brown on his tail, Brooke Tatnell was in third. Brown tried running down Dollansky but it was not to be as Dollansky took the win, Brown going second. Third went to Brooke Tatnell, fourth was seventh place starter, Danny Lasoski and fifth place starter, Tim Kaeding was fifth.
It was an enjoyable night, sitting in the comfort of the big old State Fair grandstand. We are glad we made the trip to get a mid-week racing fix.
Many specials going on now. Be sure and check the calendar of event at Positively Racing and find a race or two to attend. Thanks for reading!
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Logue and Logue log wins at Boone
The July heat and humidity continued on Saturday for racing at the Boone Speedway. Father and son won in the Modified and SportMod divisions, and a driver in the Stock Car class, surprisingly won for the first time this year in what turned out to be a dandy of a three car shoot out.
Mod Lites ran their feature first and it was Chargin' Charlie Brown with the win. Brown led by lap two after passing Justin Rankin, and he would then sail home to the victory in the caution free race. He won comfortably over Cory Sauerman in second, Josh May, point leader, in third, last week's winner Bryan Zehm in fourth, and Randy Bryan in fifth. This was Brown's second win of the year.
The IMCA Northern SportMods had Curtis Veber and rookie Cory Pistotnik leading the pack of cars in the first couple of laps. Eighth place starter Jonathan Logue was quick to throw his hat into the ring and by lap four, he was looking for a way around leader Veber. The two raced side by side for a couple of laps with Logue able to take the lead on lap six. Logue began stretching out his lead, looking comfortable with his run at the front. When a yellow flew at lap fourteen, that distance was erased, bunching the cars for the restart. Veber was still holding second place but Brandon Williams and Jake McBirnie had been steadily moving forward, and now running third and fourth. McBirnie quickly took advantage of the closed gap when the race went green, taking over second place, but Veber and Williams hanging tough. Logue wasn't to be denied on this night however, and would continue on to the checkers and the win. McBirnie, point leader, finished as the runner up, and third went to Williams. Fourth and fifth place finishers, Randy Roberts and Doug Smith also took advantage of the late race restart situation to better their finishes. Jonathan Logue won for the third time this year at Boone.
It was the usual 12-lap feature for the IMCA Hobby Stocks. Last week's winner Bryan Keeney, who had earned his first career win, was looking early to repeat. Andrew Burg had other ideas however. Burg quickly took his ride from starting tenth to second to challenge Keeney by lap three. Three laps later, Burg, (known as "the Burglar" and sporting a new look with a masked burglar cartoon on the side) took over the top spot. From there on, he stretched out his lead and took the easy win. It was a different story behind him however! There was a pack of six cars fighting for all their worth. Keeney was able to hang on to the runner up spot, Eric Stanton increased his point lead with a third place finish, fourth went to Dustin Lynch, fifth was Seth Janssen and a close sixth was Dustin Graham. Burg has scored four wins at Boone this year, including the Memorial Day special.
A few traveling IMCA Modified drivers were on hand that had made the trip in anticipation of running the canceled Harris Clash last Thursday. Kyle Strickler, the North Carolina driver known as the "High Side Tickler", Tim Ward out of Gilbert, Arizona, and Jason Batt, from Killeen, Texas were in the house. Two of those drivers, Strickler and Ward had been in the area prior to the scheduled Harris Clash, and had been having successful runs in the area. Last night, not so much.
The 20-lap Modified feature did not get off to a good start when Kyle Strickler and Kent Croskey made it a "no go" as they sat dead in the water due to an incident in turn one. When things did get going, Devin Havlik shot to the lead. Havlik kept the top spot until lap four when veteran John Logue took over. Logue was gone, stretching out a healthy lead until a caution flew at lap sixteen when Denny Pittman spit out a drive shaft.....negating Logue's 4 second lead. The final four laps saw Logue deny any real threats, taking his ride to the checkers and the win. Mike VanGenderen took second after starting ninth, Joel Bushore was third, fourth went to eleventh place starter, Richie Gustin, and Scott Davis was fifth. Jimmy Gustin continues to lead points, but with a 21st place finish last night, the gap is tightening between him and second place Scott Davis.
If anyone left before the final race of the night---the IMCA Stock Cars, you missed a dandy! Once again, the Class too Tough to Tame came shining through. Matt West from Kellerton, Iowa put his ride to the front from his fourth place starting within the first few laps. By lap six, tenth place starter Donavon Smith was on his tail, and eleventh place starter, Jay Schmidt was running third. From there on, those three cars put on a thrilling show for the fans! They raced the rest of the caution free race, in a side by side battle. At times, the only determining factor in positions was determined by the transponders as they crossed the buried finish line. Most of the time, it was the 31X of Matt West showing as leader on the scoreboard, Jay Schmidt sneaked into second place at times, but on the final lap, it was the 35 of Donavon Smith making it to the finish line first, snatching up the win. Schmidt took the runner up spot, maintaining a slim three point margin over Smith in the points battle, and Matt West was third. Not far behind in fourth was veteran Robert Stofer, and first time visitor this season was Todd Reitzler from Grinnell in fifth.
It's back to regular weekly racing next Saturday night, July 25 at the Boone Speedway. Hot laps are 6:45 and racing at 7:30. An announcement was made this past week that the weekly points racing will end with the running of the season championship on August 29th. Then....the following week, September 5, will be an "open" night of racing being called the "Prelude to the Super Nationals". It's expected to have an abundance of drivers in all IMCA classes getting in a little trial run before the Super Nationals begin on the following Monday, Labor Day, September 7. How quickly that time is approaching!
Check out the calendar at Positively Racing for a race you may want to attend in the upcoming weeks. There are more than a few specials in our area. We need to keep supporting the sport of dirt track racing. Thanks for reading.
Mod Lites ran their feature first and it was Chargin' Charlie Brown with the win. Brown led by lap two after passing Justin Rankin, and he would then sail home to the victory in the caution free race. He won comfortably over Cory Sauerman in second, Josh May, point leader, in third, last week's winner Bryan Zehm in fourth, and Randy Bryan in fifth. This was Brown's second win of the year.
The IMCA Northern SportMods had Curtis Veber and rookie Cory Pistotnik leading the pack of cars in the first couple of laps. Eighth place starter Jonathan Logue was quick to throw his hat into the ring and by lap four, he was looking for a way around leader Veber. The two raced side by side for a couple of laps with Logue able to take the lead on lap six. Logue began stretching out his lead, looking comfortable with his run at the front. When a yellow flew at lap fourteen, that distance was erased, bunching the cars for the restart. Veber was still holding second place but Brandon Williams and Jake McBirnie had been steadily moving forward, and now running third and fourth. McBirnie quickly took advantage of the closed gap when the race went green, taking over second place, but Veber and Williams hanging tough. Logue wasn't to be denied on this night however, and would continue on to the checkers and the win. McBirnie, point leader, finished as the runner up, and third went to Williams. Fourth and fifth place finishers, Randy Roberts and Doug Smith also took advantage of the late race restart situation to better their finishes. Jonathan Logue won for the third time this year at Boone.
It was the usual 12-lap feature for the IMCA Hobby Stocks. Last week's winner Bryan Keeney, who had earned his first career win, was looking early to repeat. Andrew Burg had other ideas however. Burg quickly took his ride from starting tenth to second to challenge Keeney by lap three. Three laps later, Burg, (known as "the Burglar" and sporting a new look with a masked burglar cartoon on the side) took over the top spot. From there on, he stretched out his lead and took the easy win. It was a different story behind him however! There was a pack of six cars fighting for all their worth. Keeney was able to hang on to the runner up spot, Eric Stanton increased his point lead with a third place finish, fourth went to Dustin Lynch, fifth was Seth Janssen and a close sixth was Dustin Graham. Burg has scored four wins at Boone this year, including the Memorial Day special.
A few traveling IMCA Modified drivers were on hand that had made the trip in anticipation of running the canceled Harris Clash last Thursday. Kyle Strickler, the North Carolina driver known as the "High Side Tickler", Tim Ward out of Gilbert, Arizona, and Jason Batt, from Killeen, Texas were in the house. Two of those drivers, Strickler and Ward had been in the area prior to the scheduled Harris Clash, and had been having successful runs in the area. Last night, not so much.
The 20-lap Modified feature did not get off to a good start when Kyle Strickler and Kent Croskey made it a "no go" as they sat dead in the water due to an incident in turn one. When things did get going, Devin Havlik shot to the lead. Havlik kept the top spot until lap four when veteran John Logue took over. Logue was gone, stretching out a healthy lead until a caution flew at lap sixteen when Denny Pittman spit out a drive shaft.....negating Logue's 4 second lead. The final four laps saw Logue deny any real threats, taking his ride to the checkers and the win. Mike VanGenderen took second after starting ninth, Joel Bushore was third, fourth went to eleventh place starter, Richie Gustin, and Scott Davis was fifth. Jimmy Gustin continues to lead points, but with a 21st place finish last night, the gap is tightening between him and second place Scott Davis.
If anyone left before the final race of the night---the IMCA Stock Cars, you missed a dandy! Once again, the Class too Tough to Tame came shining through. Matt West from Kellerton, Iowa put his ride to the front from his fourth place starting within the first few laps. By lap six, tenth place starter Donavon Smith was on his tail, and eleventh place starter, Jay Schmidt was running third. From there on, those three cars put on a thrilling show for the fans! They raced the rest of the caution free race, in a side by side battle. At times, the only determining factor in positions was determined by the transponders as they crossed the buried finish line. Most of the time, it was the 31X of Matt West showing as leader on the scoreboard, Jay Schmidt sneaked into second place at times, but on the final lap, it was the 35 of Donavon Smith making it to the finish line first, snatching up the win. Schmidt took the runner up spot, maintaining a slim three point margin over Smith in the points battle, and Matt West was third. Not far behind in fourth was veteran Robert Stofer, and first time visitor this season was Todd Reitzler from Grinnell in fifth.
It's back to regular weekly racing next Saturday night, July 25 at the Boone Speedway. Hot laps are 6:45 and racing at 7:30. An announcement was made this past week that the weekly points racing will end with the running of the season championship on August 29th. Then....the following week, September 5, will be an "open" night of racing being called the "Prelude to the Super Nationals". It's expected to have an abundance of drivers in all IMCA classes getting in a little trial run before the Super Nationals begin on the following Monday, Labor Day, September 7. How quickly that time is approaching!
Check out the calendar at Positively Racing for a race you may want to attend in the upcoming weeks. There are more than a few specials in our area. We need to keep supporting the sport of dirt track racing. Thanks for reading.
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Strickler strikes at Marshalltown
The hot, humid July weather was in full force on Friday night for the races at the Marshalltown Speedway. Nearly 100 cars came to play in the oppressive weather. Several traveling drivers who had been in the area for the canceled Harris Clash stuck around and came to the high banked 1/4 mile. The Modifieds were racing for $1,000 and a chance to put their name on the Fast Shafts Qualifiers ballot for the 2015 Super Nationals. The Hobby Stocks were racing for an increased pay of $400 to win.
The Mod Lites ran their main event first. Josh May went home with the title to this one. May led from lap seven after getting around early leaders Mike Morrill and Travis Stensland and motored home untouched the remaining way to the checkers and the win. Stensland finished in the runner up spot, Randy Bryan was third, Mike Morrill fought back to a fourth place finish after recouping from a spin early in the race and having to tag the field, and Jason Whitehead was fifth. May got his fifth win at Marshalltown this season.
The fans, and drivers both suffered through the 18-lap SportMod feature. Eight yellows plagued this race. The fans at least had a breeze to help with the heat and humidity, but those drivers in their fire suits must have been miserable! When it was finally all said and done, it was Sam Wieben standing in Victory Lane. Wieben passed Jayme Duinink by lap three, and from there on held it to the checkers. Wieben threw off the challenges of Jared VanDeest who finished in second place. Third went to "Mighty Miss" Jenae Gustin who had started in row five, fourth was Travis Peterson and Jason Hall came from row six to garner a fifth place finish. Wieben won for the first time since season championship night back in August of 2013.
The Hobby Stock 15-lap feature went to John Watson. Watson pestered leader Andy Hick from lap three, finally getting around for the lead just after lap ten went in the books. Watson held that lead the rest of the way to the finish and the win. Hick held second place, third went to Eric Stanton, fourth was Austin Luellen and Tyson Overton rounded out the top five. Watson finally broke the string of only Luellen and Stanton winning at Marshalltown in the division for 2015. Watson went home $400 richer thanks to extra sponsor money for the class.
Michael Jaennette got back on track and back in the winner's circle in the IMCA Stock Car class by taking the glory in that 18-lap feature. Jaennette started sixth and took the runner up spot behind leader Tyler Pickett when lap two was scored. By lap four, Jaennette was in command. He would continue his run at the front the remaining distance to the checkers and score the win. A hard charging Donavon Smith tried running down the leader but had to settle for second on this night. Third went to Dave Atcher, fourth to early leader Tyler Pickett and rounding out the top five was Steve Meyer. This was Jaennette's second win, his first since opening night of the 2015 track season.
There were 29 IMCA Modifieds on hand last night. It was a draw/redraw format and a $1,000 for the winner. By luck of the draw, Californian Ethan Dotson and North Carolinian, Kyle Strickler sat on the front row for the start of the 25-lap feature.
Strickler took the lead at the drop of the green, and when the first of seven yellow flags flew on lap two, Eric Elliott was tucked into second for the restart. More contenders were making head way behind the front two as well, as Jon Snyder, Ronn Lauritzen and Tim Ward from Arizona were battling it out. Strickler had no trouble in hang on to his lead however, and took the $1,000 back to North Carolina. The final laps were a battle for top positions behind him however. The "Frozen" car of eighth place starter Ronn Lauritzen won the joust for the runner up spot. Lauritzen had to battle back past third place Ward who started eleventh and fourth place Josh Gilman, who started fifteenth, in the final three laps. Fifth place was hard charging Jimmy Gustin who had started 26th.
Several other drivers made a lot of headway in the Modified feature as well. Scott Simotavich started thirteenth and finished sixth, Richie Gustin started seventeenth and was seventh after tagging the field when involved in a yellow at lap five, and 27th and last place starter Kyle Brown was eighth.
Racing continues next Friday night at the Marshalltown Speedway, with hot laps at 6:50 and racing at 7:30. It was also announced last night, that the Late Models will be visiting the high banks on August 14 and 21. Mark your calendars Late Model fans!
The Mod Lites ran their main event first. Josh May went home with the title to this one. May led from lap seven after getting around early leaders Mike Morrill and Travis Stensland and motored home untouched the remaining way to the checkers and the win. Stensland finished in the runner up spot, Randy Bryan was third, Mike Morrill fought back to a fourth place finish after recouping from a spin early in the race and having to tag the field, and Jason Whitehead was fifth. May got his fifth win at Marshalltown this season.
The fans, and drivers both suffered through the 18-lap SportMod feature. Eight yellows plagued this race. The fans at least had a breeze to help with the heat and humidity, but those drivers in their fire suits must have been miserable! When it was finally all said and done, it was Sam Wieben standing in Victory Lane. Wieben passed Jayme Duinink by lap three, and from there on held it to the checkers. Wieben threw off the challenges of Jared VanDeest who finished in second place. Third went to "Mighty Miss" Jenae Gustin who had started in row five, fourth was Travis Peterson and Jason Hall came from row six to garner a fifth place finish. Wieben won for the first time since season championship night back in August of 2013.
The Hobby Stock 15-lap feature went to John Watson. Watson pestered leader Andy Hick from lap three, finally getting around for the lead just after lap ten went in the books. Watson held that lead the rest of the way to the finish and the win. Hick held second place, third went to Eric Stanton, fourth was Austin Luellen and Tyson Overton rounded out the top five. Watson finally broke the string of only Luellen and Stanton winning at Marshalltown in the division for 2015. Watson went home $400 richer thanks to extra sponsor money for the class.
Michael Jaennette got back on track and back in the winner's circle in the IMCA Stock Car class by taking the glory in that 18-lap feature. Jaennette started sixth and took the runner up spot behind leader Tyler Pickett when lap two was scored. By lap four, Jaennette was in command. He would continue his run at the front the remaining distance to the checkers and score the win. A hard charging Donavon Smith tried running down the leader but had to settle for second on this night. Third went to Dave Atcher, fourth to early leader Tyler Pickett and rounding out the top five was Steve Meyer. This was Jaennette's second win, his first since opening night of the 2015 track season.
There were 29 IMCA Modifieds on hand last night. It was a draw/redraw format and a $1,000 for the winner. By luck of the draw, Californian Ethan Dotson and North Carolinian, Kyle Strickler sat on the front row for the start of the 25-lap feature.
Strickler took the lead at the drop of the green, and when the first of seven yellow flags flew on lap two, Eric Elliott was tucked into second for the restart. More contenders were making head way behind the front two as well, as Jon Snyder, Ronn Lauritzen and Tim Ward from Arizona were battling it out. Strickler had no trouble in hang on to his lead however, and took the $1,000 back to North Carolina. The final laps were a battle for top positions behind him however. The "Frozen" car of eighth place starter Ronn Lauritzen won the joust for the runner up spot. Lauritzen had to battle back past third place Ward who started eleventh and fourth place Josh Gilman, who started fifteenth, in the final three laps. Fifth place was hard charging Jimmy Gustin who had started 26th.
Several other drivers made a lot of headway in the Modified feature as well. Scott Simotavich started thirteenth and finished sixth, Richie Gustin started seventeenth and was seventh after tagging the field when involved in a yellow at lap five, and 27th and last place starter Kyle Brown was eighth.
Racing continues next Friday night at the Marshalltown Speedway, with hot laps at 6:50 and racing at 7:30. It was also announced last night, that the Late Models will be visiting the high banks on August 14 and 21. Mark your calendars Late Model fans!
Thursday, July 16, 2015
HDT win to Shryock at the Southern Iowa Speedway
We drove through sprinkles the entire way to the Southern Iowa Speedway yesterday. There were still light sprinkles when we arrived, but promoter Mike VanGenderen said he was confident they could get the races in. Radar showed the cell was passing and drivers and fans alike were crossing their fingers it would happen.
With the "night before the Harris Clash", IMCA Modified drivers from all over came to try and tame the Monster 1/2 mile. Eight states were represented plus a driver from Australia. More on that later.
Thirty-two Modifieds competed, 22 qualified through heats and B's, and two provisionals were added.
A check of radar and the call was made to run the Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds early. It was a good call and by the reaction from the crowd, much appreciated. They ran a 25-lap feature. Ricky Thornton, the driver from Chandler, Arizona was the lucky recipient of the pole position through the redraw. Jason Murray sat along side him on row one. Directly behind the pole sitter was long time racer Kelly Shryock.
Thornton took the initial lead, but when a yellow flew at lap three, it was veteran Kelly Shryock in command and now "the high side tickler" Kyle Strickler was on his tail. Another yellow flew just two laps later, with Shryock still maintaining the top spot and Strickler still in second. From there on the race would go green to the checkers. Shryock kept that coveted lead, taking the checkers and the win. Strickler finished as the runner up, but not without a battle with eighth place starter Cayden Carter. Carter passed Strickler after the restart at lap five, began reeling in leader Shryock but Strickler wasn't done yet. He kept pestering Carter, finally getting back around and into second place with two laps left in the race. Carter finished in third. Fourth went to Colt Mather who had started deep in the field in sixteenth, and rounding out the top five was thirteenth place starter Hunter Marriott. Pole sitter Thornton was sixth. Shryock got his win by settling in on the bottom of the track on his way to the victory.
Going into the night, Kyle Brown was leading HDT points, with Mike VanGenderen just two points behind. By the end of the night, the two were tied for the point lead....VanGenderen finishing tenth and Brown in twelfth. Ronn Lauritzen remains in third place, even after taking a provisional starting spot for the A main.
The IMCA Stock Cars ran their 18-lap feature first. Daniel Hilsabeck, piloting the 77N ride of Audubon's Jeff Nielsen, due to an illness in the family, would lead all laps on his way to the win. He had to throw off the challenges of Nathan Wood for most of the race, but it would be local fan favorite, Mike Hughes making the pass around Wood with a lap remaining, scoring the runner up spot, Wood going third. Damon Murty started seventh and finished fourth, and pole sitter Todd Reitzler rounded out the top five. It was Hilsabeck's second win at Osky this year.
A full field of IMCA Northern SportMods were on hand last night.....visitors in the area already for the scheduled Harris Clash on Thursday. A look at the redraw and the starting line up for the 16-lap event saw Curtis Van Der Wal sitting on the pole. That being the case, I think most people thought the race would be for second.
The original start was called back and then after getting just one lap in, with Van Der Wal leading, the call was made by promoter VanGenderen to call the Modifieds to staging, pushing the Hobby Stocks waiting in the wings, to run their feature after the HDT race. The crowd was pleased, as I think everyone was just waiting and wondering when Mother Nature would call a halt to the night's racing. When the race restarted after the lap one yellow, Jason McDaniel FLEW around Van Der Wal and into the lead. McDaniel had started tenth and due to the two yellows had made great headway! Another yellow flew at lap ten, McDaniel still captain of the ship and Van Der Wal in second. McDaniel had little trouble in keeping that lead and went on to secure a comfortable win. Van Der Wal went second, third went to eighth place starter Brayton Carter, fourth was Cory Van Zante, and Logan Anderson was fifth. McDaniel won for the third time at the track in 2015.
The Hobby Stocks then ran after the HDT feature. They ran a 15-lap event. Dale Porter sat on the pole spot, and from there on, stayed at the head of the field all race long on his way to the checkers. Danny Thrasher pestered him during the race, but was never able to do more than that, taking the runner up spot. Dustin Griffiths came from sixth to take third place, fourth was Bobby Greene and fifth went to Jared Stephens. Porter repeated a win from back in April.
The last to run was the Sport Compact feature. Just as they came to the track, I swear I could smell rain in the air. They would get five of their ten lap feature in, when the liquid sunshine started falling. The race was called complete. Bill Whalen was the winner, followed by Trent Orwig, Ryan Havel, Larry Hopkins and Jon Girdley...third through fifth.
By the time we had gathered our belongings, and exited the grandstand, the rain had nearly stopped. We made our way through the midway (it was Southern Iowa Fair time) to our vehicle. It really was a pretty sight to see the midway lights behind us during the races---a really nice and different carnival from the recent years I might add.
I mentioned earlier that eight states, including Iowa, were represented and Australia. Those Modifieds drivers were Ricky Thornton, Jr. from Chandler, Arizona....who had just taken the championship title of last week's Dakota Tour, Kyle Strickler from Mooresville, North Carolina, Hunter Marriott, Brookfield, Missouri, Jeff "The Animal" Taylor from Cave City, Arkansas. He was piloting the #24 car, a Rage Chassis, instead of his familiar #5. Cory Sample was in the #00 out of Winnemucca, Nevada and the #14 of Joey Franklin, the Elvis impersonator from Las Vegas, Nevada. Blake Woodruff in the #87 car was the Illinois entrant, from Galesburg, and from Bakersfield, California, Ethan Dotson....who has been staying in Iowa and racing for the summer. In the IMCA Northern SportMod division, Australia was represented by the #77AU of Frank Packer. Packer is spending his summer hanging with Modified driver Jon Snyder while it is winter back in his neck of the woods.....or should I say, "Out Back".
During intermission, three drivers were inducted into the Southern Iowa Speedway Hall of Fame. Those were Dean Sylvester, the 86 year old former builder, driver, supporter, etc., Jim Brown, the father of the late Aaron Brown who was a member of last year's initial Hall of Fame. Brown was a long time successful racer and a fan favorite at Osky. And last, but not least, the Ridge Runner, Danny Wallace. Wallace loved to take his ride to the topside when he raced. He is a former IMCA National Champion who frequented the 1/2 mile at Osky. I got to speak with him briefly after the ceremony, and he looks exactly like he did when he was racing!
We were happy to have Jerry Mackey join us in the stands last night. On hand to see the Hall of Fame inductions as well as the racing action. Jerry announced "back in the day" at Osky.......always starting off with "Hello race fans!" He still announces at a couple of eastern Iowa tracks.
As stated earlier, many of the out of state drivers on hand last night were in the area in anticipation of running the Harris Clash scheduled for tonight at the nearby Knoxville Raceway. Unfortunately, the Clash was canceled by this morning. Too much rain. We did hear Knoxville had 2 1/2 inches of rain....according to WHO-TV. Right now, Bob Harris, according to social media, is looking for a new venue to possibly reschedule.....but not at Knoxville.
Hopefully, racing will get in tomorrow at area tracks. Marshalltown has a $1,000 to win for the IMCA Modifieds, so perhaps some of the drivers that had been here for the Harris Clash, will stick around and race at the high banks.
With the "night before the Harris Clash", IMCA Modified drivers from all over came to try and tame the Monster 1/2 mile. Eight states were represented plus a driver from Australia. More on that later.
Thirty-two Modifieds competed, 22 qualified through heats and B's, and two provisionals were added.
A check of radar and the call was made to run the Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds early. It was a good call and by the reaction from the crowd, much appreciated. They ran a 25-lap feature. Ricky Thornton, the driver from Chandler, Arizona was the lucky recipient of the pole position through the redraw. Jason Murray sat along side him on row one. Directly behind the pole sitter was long time racer Kelly Shryock.
Thornton took the initial lead, but when a yellow flew at lap three, it was veteran Kelly Shryock in command and now "the high side tickler" Kyle Strickler was on his tail. Another yellow flew just two laps later, with Shryock still maintaining the top spot and Strickler still in second. From there on the race would go green to the checkers. Shryock kept that coveted lead, taking the checkers and the win. Strickler finished as the runner up, but not without a battle with eighth place starter Cayden Carter. Carter passed Strickler after the restart at lap five, began reeling in leader Shryock but Strickler wasn't done yet. He kept pestering Carter, finally getting back around and into second place with two laps left in the race. Carter finished in third. Fourth went to Colt Mather who had started deep in the field in sixteenth, and rounding out the top five was thirteenth place starter Hunter Marriott. Pole sitter Thornton was sixth. Shryock got his win by settling in on the bottom of the track on his way to the victory.
Going into the night, Kyle Brown was leading HDT points, with Mike VanGenderen just two points behind. By the end of the night, the two were tied for the point lead....VanGenderen finishing tenth and Brown in twelfth. Ronn Lauritzen remains in third place, even after taking a provisional starting spot for the A main.
The IMCA Stock Cars ran their 18-lap feature first. Daniel Hilsabeck, piloting the 77N ride of Audubon's Jeff Nielsen, due to an illness in the family, would lead all laps on his way to the win. He had to throw off the challenges of Nathan Wood for most of the race, but it would be local fan favorite, Mike Hughes making the pass around Wood with a lap remaining, scoring the runner up spot, Wood going third. Damon Murty started seventh and finished fourth, and pole sitter Todd Reitzler rounded out the top five. It was Hilsabeck's second win at Osky this year.
A full field of IMCA Northern SportMods were on hand last night.....visitors in the area already for the scheduled Harris Clash on Thursday. A look at the redraw and the starting line up for the 16-lap event saw Curtis Van Der Wal sitting on the pole. That being the case, I think most people thought the race would be for second.
The original start was called back and then after getting just one lap in, with Van Der Wal leading, the call was made by promoter VanGenderen to call the Modifieds to staging, pushing the Hobby Stocks waiting in the wings, to run their feature after the HDT race. The crowd was pleased, as I think everyone was just waiting and wondering when Mother Nature would call a halt to the night's racing. When the race restarted after the lap one yellow, Jason McDaniel FLEW around Van Der Wal and into the lead. McDaniel had started tenth and due to the two yellows had made great headway! Another yellow flew at lap ten, McDaniel still captain of the ship and Van Der Wal in second. McDaniel had little trouble in keeping that lead and went on to secure a comfortable win. Van Der Wal went second, third went to eighth place starter Brayton Carter, fourth was Cory Van Zante, and Logan Anderson was fifth. McDaniel won for the third time at the track in 2015.
The Hobby Stocks then ran after the HDT feature. They ran a 15-lap event. Dale Porter sat on the pole spot, and from there on, stayed at the head of the field all race long on his way to the checkers. Danny Thrasher pestered him during the race, but was never able to do more than that, taking the runner up spot. Dustin Griffiths came from sixth to take third place, fourth was Bobby Greene and fifth went to Jared Stephens. Porter repeated a win from back in April.
The last to run was the Sport Compact feature. Just as they came to the track, I swear I could smell rain in the air. They would get five of their ten lap feature in, when the liquid sunshine started falling. The race was called complete. Bill Whalen was the winner, followed by Trent Orwig, Ryan Havel, Larry Hopkins and Jon Girdley...third through fifth.
By the time we had gathered our belongings, and exited the grandstand, the rain had nearly stopped. We made our way through the midway (it was Southern Iowa Fair time) to our vehicle. It really was a pretty sight to see the midway lights behind us during the races---a really nice and different carnival from the recent years I might add.
I mentioned earlier that eight states, including Iowa, were represented and Australia. Those Modifieds drivers were Ricky Thornton, Jr. from Chandler, Arizona....who had just taken the championship title of last week's Dakota Tour, Kyle Strickler from Mooresville, North Carolina, Hunter Marriott, Brookfield, Missouri, Jeff "The Animal" Taylor from Cave City, Arkansas. He was piloting the #24 car, a Rage Chassis, instead of his familiar #5. Cory Sample was in the #00 out of Winnemucca, Nevada and the #14 of Joey Franklin, the Elvis impersonator from Las Vegas, Nevada. Blake Woodruff in the #87 car was the Illinois entrant, from Galesburg, and from Bakersfield, California, Ethan Dotson....who has been staying in Iowa and racing for the summer. In the IMCA Northern SportMod division, Australia was represented by the #77AU of Frank Packer. Packer is spending his summer hanging with Modified driver Jon Snyder while it is winter back in his neck of the woods.....or should I say, "Out Back".
During intermission, three drivers were inducted into the Southern Iowa Speedway Hall of Fame. Those were Dean Sylvester, the 86 year old former builder, driver, supporter, etc., Jim Brown, the father of the late Aaron Brown who was a member of last year's initial Hall of Fame. Brown was a long time successful racer and a fan favorite at Osky. And last, but not least, the Ridge Runner, Danny Wallace. Wallace loved to take his ride to the topside when he raced. He is a former IMCA National Champion who frequented the 1/2 mile at Osky. I got to speak with him briefly after the ceremony, and he looks exactly like he did when he was racing!
We were happy to have Jerry Mackey join us in the stands last night. On hand to see the Hall of Fame inductions as well as the racing action. Jerry announced "back in the day" at Osky.......always starting off with "Hello race fans!" He still announces at a couple of eastern Iowa tracks.
As stated earlier, many of the out of state drivers on hand last night were in the area in anticipation of running the Harris Clash scheduled for tonight at the nearby Knoxville Raceway. Unfortunately, the Clash was canceled by this morning. Too much rain. We did hear Knoxville had 2 1/2 inches of rain....according to WHO-TV. Right now, Bob Harris, according to social media, is looking for a new venue to possibly reschedule.....but not at Knoxville.
Hopefully, racing will get in tomorrow at area tracks. Marshalltown has a $1,000 to win for the IMCA Modifieds, so perhaps some of the drivers that had been here for the Harris Clash, will stick around and race at the high banks.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Osky - 7-15-15
Unofficial results:
Modified - Hawkeye Dirt Tour
1. 3 Kelly Shryock
2. 8K Kyle Strickler NC
3. 10C Cayden Carter
4. 8 Colt Mather
5. 62X Hunter Marriott MO
6. 20RT Ricky Thornton, Jr. AZ
7. 02 Andrew Schroeder
8. 24X Jeff Taylor AR
9. 3xxx Zack VanderBeek
10. 57V Mike VanGenderen
11. 9X Tyler Groenendyk
12. 21K Kyle Brown
13. 23jr Nick Roberts
14. 10M Jeremy Mills
15. 00 Cory Samples NV
16. 10K Ronn Lauritzen
DNF: 21D Dave Brown
69X Jon Snyder
7V Carter VandenBerg
20L Zach Less
649 Jason Murray
19 Jimmy Gustin
174 Ethan Dotson CA
77 Kurt Kile
Stock Car
1. 77N Daniel Hilsabeck
2. 11 Mike Hughes
3. 52 Nathan Wood
4. 99D Damon Murty
5. 22R Todd Reitzler
6. 14 Derrick Agee
7. 10CC Cayden Carter
8. 17P Brad Pinkerton
9. 33Z Zack VanderBeek
10. 79S Jason See
11. 54 Mike Brown
12. 1X Michael Petersen
13. 12 Doug Sylvester
14. 46B Michael Bilyeu
DNF: 10R Trent Barker
4J Bob Lynch
31 Eric Knapp
SportMod
1. 85 Jason McDaniel
2. 1V Curtis Van Der Wal
3. 01 Brayton Carter
4. 34Z Cory Van Zante
5. 7A Aaron Osweiler
6. 5A Austin Paul
7. 95J Jason Hall
8. 80J Jared VanDeest
9. 72 Brett Lowry
10. 00 Shawn Slaughter
11. 352 Charlie Weber
12. 20 Danny Brau
13. 777 Jayme Duinink
14. 26 Scott Brau
15. 50 Gary Holthaus KS
16. 53 Greg Strohman
17. 33M Matt Messamaker
DNF: 77AU Frank Packer - Queensland, Australia
7+ Jared Timmerman
9A Logan Anderson
82 Jake McBirnie
40 Dakota Simmons
21D Dan Drury
8 Tom Lathrop
Hobby Stock
1. 10 Dale Porter
2. 84 Danny Thrasher
3. 10G Dustin Griffiths
4. 32T Bobby Greene
5. 9 Jared Stephens
6. 3S Steve Allen
7. 2 Brandon Potts
8. 3 Travis Bunnell
9. 73 Aaron Martin
10. 14 Christian Huffman
11. 15W Clayton Weber
Sport Compact - 10-lap feature cut to 5 when rain came
1. 07 Bill Whalen, Jr.
2. 33G Trent Orwig
3. 0 Ryan Havel
4. 4 Larry Hopkins
5. 33 Jon Girdley
6. 22M Curt Myers
7. 25 Tyler Herring
DNS: 2M Matt Moore
Modified - Hawkeye Dirt Tour
1. 3 Kelly Shryock
2. 8K Kyle Strickler NC
3. 10C Cayden Carter
4. 8 Colt Mather
5. 62X Hunter Marriott MO
6. 20RT Ricky Thornton, Jr. AZ
7. 02 Andrew Schroeder
8. 24X Jeff Taylor AR
9. 3xxx Zack VanderBeek
10. 57V Mike VanGenderen
11. 9X Tyler Groenendyk
12. 21K Kyle Brown
13. 23jr Nick Roberts
14. 10M Jeremy Mills
15. 00 Cory Samples NV
16. 10K Ronn Lauritzen
DNF: 21D Dave Brown
69X Jon Snyder
7V Carter VandenBerg
20L Zach Less
649 Jason Murray
19 Jimmy Gustin
174 Ethan Dotson CA
77 Kurt Kile
Stock Car
1. 77N Daniel Hilsabeck
2. 11 Mike Hughes
3. 52 Nathan Wood
4. 99D Damon Murty
5. 22R Todd Reitzler
6. 14 Derrick Agee
7. 10CC Cayden Carter
8. 17P Brad Pinkerton
9. 33Z Zack VanderBeek
10. 79S Jason See
11. 54 Mike Brown
12. 1X Michael Petersen
13. 12 Doug Sylvester
14. 46B Michael Bilyeu
DNF: 10R Trent Barker
4J Bob Lynch
31 Eric Knapp
SportMod
1. 85 Jason McDaniel
2. 1V Curtis Van Der Wal
3. 01 Brayton Carter
4. 34Z Cory Van Zante
5. 7A Aaron Osweiler
6. 5A Austin Paul
7. 95J Jason Hall
8. 80J Jared VanDeest
9. 72 Brett Lowry
10. 00 Shawn Slaughter
11. 352 Charlie Weber
12. 20 Danny Brau
13. 777 Jayme Duinink
14. 26 Scott Brau
15. 50 Gary Holthaus KS
16. 53 Greg Strohman
17. 33M Matt Messamaker
DNF: 77AU Frank Packer - Queensland, Australia
7+ Jared Timmerman
9A Logan Anderson
82 Jake McBirnie
40 Dakota Simmons
21D Dan Drury
8 Tom Lathrop
Hobby Stock
1. 10 Dale Porter
2. 84 Danny Thrasher
3. 10G Dustin Griffiths
4. 32T Bobby Greene
5. 9 Jared Stephens
6. 3S Steve Allen
7. 2 Brandon Potts
8. 3 Travis Bunnell
9. 73 Aaron Martin
10. 14 Christian Huffman
11. 15W Clayton Weber
Sport Compact - 10-lap feature cut to 5 when rain came
1. 07 Bill Whalen, Jr.
2. 33G Trent Orwig
3. 0 Ryan Havel
4. 4 Larry Hopkins
5. 33 Jon Girdley
6. 22M Curt Myers
7. 25 Tyler Herring
DNS: 2M Matt Moore
Monday, July 13, 2015
Auringer defends Hogan Memorial title
Summer truly made it's presence felt on Sunday for the 21st running of the Hogan Memorial at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton. It was a hot one for sure, but the saving grace was the breeze that we had in the grandstand. The pits were absolutely packed as were the grandstands. This race has grown with each passing year---a wonderful tribute to a wonderful racing family! The event, honoring Dick and Janet Hogan, was a testimony of just how special racers and fans alike think of the Hogan family.
Micro Mods ran first. This is the only track we see this class. Their feature went to veteran racer Don Erger. Erger, that we are more familiar with piloting a Modified in years past, was the first of the night's Hogan Memorial winners.
The IMCA Northern SportMods ran an 18-lap feature. They had a tough time getting those 18 laps completed as an abundance of yellow flags plagued the race. Those cautions didn't hinder Kyle Olson however, as he lead every lap on his way to the win. Second place went to Danny Dvorak, who came from starting in row five, third was Tony Olson, Sam Wieben started eleventh and finished fourth and Ryan King came from deep in the field to score a fifth place finish.
Stock Cars ran next in a 20-lap main event. Twenty-three cars competed in the class. They too had a plethora of yellows flying through out the race. John Oliver, Jr. made the trip up from Danville, Iowa located in the southeastern part of the state, and made it pay off. Oliver took command at lap three and kept it at the front of the pack the rest of the race to the checkers and the win. Waterloo racer Kevin Rose came from the seventh row to capture the runner up spot. Phil Holtz from Manchester started eleventh and finished in third place. Fourth went to a driver pulling double duty last night.....Darin Duffy, who is most often seen piloting a Modified. Scott Pippert, a regular at the Benton County Speedway came all the way from the rear of the starting field to round out the top five.
The IMCA Hobby Stocks had just two yellows fly in their 16-lap event and one of those was for debris on the track. This was refreshing after the previous two features. Adam Petrzelka snatched the lead away from veteran Bill Bonnett by lap one and was enjoying his ride at the top of the track. Things got interesting after the restart at lap seven for debris. Petrzelka was still leading but had heavy hitters close at hand waiting for their opportunity on the restart. Brett Vanous had made his way to the runner up spot, and Nathan Ballard was lurking in third place. When the race went back to green, it was Ballard swinging to the outside line, and making his way around leader Petrzelka and taking over the top spot. Vanous soon followed, taking second spot and then the fight was on. Ballard and Vanous raced side by side, and at the white flag, crossed the flagstand in a near dead heat. Vanous was able to pull to the lead as the checkers flew and took the victory----Ballard taking the runner up spot. Crossing the line in third was local favorite Brian Happel, but a check of the results this morning, shows that he was dq'd. This gave third place to Adam Petrzelka, Bill Bonnett was scored in fourth and Zach Swanson was fifth.
Earlier, the top two drivers from each of the five Modified heats, picked a Frisbee to determine their starting position. Those drivers were Vern Jackson, Joe Docekal, Bill Roberts, Jerry Dedrick, Corey Dripps, Zach Less, Hunter Marriott, Troy Cordes, JD Auringer and Darin Duffy.....and as listed, this would be their draw for the start. Three B mains placed four each into the main event and four provisionals tagged the field. Those were Ryan Maitland, Dennis Betzer, Ed Thomas and Jerry Luloff. Thomas and Luloff were previous Hogan Memorial winners.
Prior to the start of the 50-lap main event, which included a mandatory pit stop on the track at the halfway mark, the drivers were introduced, pictures taken and then they strapped into their rides. The command, "Gentlemen, start your engines" was given by Dick and Janet Hogan's grandson, Hogan Shafer, son of their daughter Terri and husband John Shafer. It was a beautiful sight to see the field go four-wide in their parade lap.
As the race began, it was Joe Docekal taking the top spot, leading the troops. This race also saw many yellows flying, and when the second caution came out, Docekal was still in command. Hunter Marriott, the Brookfield, Missouri racer had established himself in the runner spot. By the time the halfway mark came at lap 25 for the mandatory yellow, it was caution #7. Marriott was still firmly in the lead at that point, but defending Hogan Memorial winner, JD Auringer had worked his way from ninth starting spot, up into the runner up position. Kyle Brown, who had qualified through a B main and had started seventeenth, was now up to third. Close at hand was Gilman's Richie Gustin and Zach Less in fourth and fifth.
The halfway mandatory caution allowed the drivers to make adjustments, change tires, add fuel, etc. right on the track. They were given five minutes for their changes.
The second portion of the race only produced one yellow, that coming at lap thirty-six. When that yellow rag flew, it was JD Auringer in the lead, Brown was running in second place and Richie Gustin was third, and Marriott had fallen back into fourth. When the race went green, Auringer kept his lead, but Gustin was able to push by Brown to take over the runner up spot, and flying on the topside was Cayden Carter. Carter appeared to be making headway on the topside, but soon changed his line, going back to the bottom. With the racing going green to the checkers, Auringer kept hold of the top spot, and defended his title from last year's win. It was his third Hogan Memorial over all. Gustin closed the gap on the leader, but had to settle for the runner up spot. Brown finished in the third position, Carter was fourth and veteran Vern Jackson was fifth. Gustin, Carter and Jackson were all previous Hogan Memorial winners.
Before the evening's racing began, eleven previous Hogan winners were seated before the grandstand for an autograph session. Those were Scott Hogan, Vern Jackson, Jerry Luloff, Ed Thomas, Corey Dripps, Troy Cordes, Richie Gustin, JD Auringer, Cayden Carter, Timm Jensen, and Jan Messer. A couple of drivers who had committed, but were not in attendance were Mike Sampson and Jeff Barkdoll. Forty-five IMCA Modifieds competed....a nice turn out with a lot of quality drivers trying to make their way into the starting field.
Turn three and four seemed to be a particular nemesis for many drivers last night. Many drivers went over the top and one of those was Brian Irvine during Modified heat #1. Irvine didn't just exit off of the race track....he rolled multiple times off the top side midway between turns three and four. Thankfully, he was okay, but his night was done. Stock Car driver Scott Pippert took a tour of the backstretch cornfield during his heat race.....and as he was towed past the grandstand, he had corn stalks dragging.
There were hard charger awards in all four IMCA classes. I must have been day dreaming as I missed the Hobby Stock award, but the others were Stock Car, Scott Pippert, SportMod, Brayton Carter, and Modified, Kyle Brown.
It was another very successful Hogan Memorial for sure. Plenty of competition with right at 130 cars via my count. The track stayed tacky all night, which we can attest to when walking across it after all the racing was completed.
Our next race looks to be at the Southern Iowa Speedway on Wednesday night which will include the make up for the earlier rained out Hawkeye Dirt Tour. We follow that up the following night at the Knoxville Raceway for the annual Harris Clash that also includes a Hawkeye Dirt Tour. We call this a "must see" every year.....love seeing who shows up for this big show as drivers from all over come to try their hand at the famed 1/2 mile. Hope to see you there!
Micro Mods ran first. This is the only track we see this class. Their feature went to veteran racer Don Erger. Erger, that we are more familiar with piloting a Modified in years past, was the first of the night's Hogan Memorial winners.
The IMCA Northern SportMods ran an 18-lap feature. They had a tough time getting those 18 laps completed as an abundance of yellow flags plagued the race. Those cautions didn't hinder Kyle Olson however, as he lead every lap on his way to the win. Second place went to Danny Dvorak, who came from starting in row five, third was Tony Olson, Sam Wieben started eleventh and finished fourth and Ryan King came from deep in the field to score a fifth place finish.
Stock Cars ran next in a 20-lap main event. Twenty-three cars competed in the class. They too had a plethora of yellows flying through out the race. John Oliver, Jr. made the trip up from Danville, Iowa located in the southeastern part of the state, and made it pay off. Oliver took command at lap three and kept it at the front of the pack the rest of the race to the checkers and the win. Waterloo racer Kevin Rose came from the seventh row to capture the runner up spot. Phil Holtz from Manchester started eleventh and finished in third place. Fourth went to a driver pulling double duty last night.....Darin Duffy, who is most often seen piloting a Modified. Scott Pippert, a regular at the Benton County Speedway came all the way from the rear of the starting field to round out the top five.
The IMCA Hobby Stocks had just two yellows fly in their 16-lap event and one of those was for debris on the track. This was refreshing after the previous two features. Adam Petrzelka snatched the lead away from veteran Bill Bonnett by lap one and was enjoying his ride at the top of the track. Things got interesting after the restart at lap seven for debris. Petrzelka was still leading but had heavy hitters close at hand waiting for their opportunity on the restart. Brett Vanous had made his way to the runner up spot, and Nathan Ballard was lurking in third place. When the race went back to green, it was Ballard swinging to the outside line, and making his way around leader Petrzelka and taking over the top spot. Vanous soon followed, taking second spot and then the fight was on. Ballard and Vanous raced side by side, and at the white flag, crossed the flagstand in a near dead heat. Vanous was able to pull to the lead as the checkers flew and took the victory----Ballard taking the runner up spot. Crossing the line in third was local favorite Brian Happel, but a check of the results this morning, shows that he was dq'd. This gave third place to Adam Petrzelka, Bill Bonnett was scored in fourth and Zach Swanson was fifth.
Earlier, the top two drivers from each of the five Modified heats, picked a Frisbee to determine their starting position. Those drivers were Vern Jackson, Joe Docekal, Bill Roberts, Jerry Dedrick, Corey Dripps, Zach Less, Hunter Marriott, Troy Cordes, JD Auringer and Darin Duffy.....and as listed, this would be their draw for the start. Three B mains placed four each into the main event and four provisionals tagged the field. Those were Ryan Maitland, Dennis Betzer, Ed Thomas and Jerry Luloff. Thomas and Luloff were previous Hogan Memorial winners.
Prior to the start of the 50-lap main event, which included a mandatory pit stop on the track at the halfway mark, the drivers were introduced, pictures taken and then they strapped into their rides. The command, "Gentlemen, start your engines" was given by Dick and Janet Hogan's grandson, Hogan Shafer, son of their daughter Terri and husband John Shafer. It was a beautiful sight to see the field go four-wide in their parade lap.
As the race began, it was Joe Docekal taking the top spot, leading the troops. This race also saw many yellows flying, and when the second caution came out, Docekal was still in command. Hunter Marriott, the Brookfield, Missouri racer had established himself in the runner spot. By the time the halfway mark came at lap 25 for the mandatory yellow, it was caution #7. Marriott was still firmly in the lead at that point, but defending Hogan Memorial winner, JD Auringer had worked his way from ninth starting spot, up into the runner up position. Kyle Brown, who had qualified through a B main and had started seventeenth, was now up to third. Close at hand was Gilman's Richie Gustin and Zach Less in fourth and fifth.
The halfway mandatory caution allowed the drivers to make adjustments, change tires, add fuel, etc. right on the track. They were given five minutes for their changes.
The second portion of the race only produced one yellow, that coming at lap thirty-six. When that yellow rag flew, it was JD Auringer in the lead, Brown was running in second place and Richie Gustin was third, and Marriott had fallen back into fourth. When the race went green, Auringer kept his lead, but Gustin was able to push by Brown to take over the runner up spot, and flying on the topside was Cayden Carter. Carter appeared to be making headway on the topside, but soon changed his line, going back to the bottom. With the racing going green to the checkers, Auringer kept hold of the top spot, and defended his title from last year's win. It was his third Hogan Memorial over all. Gustin closed the gap on the leader, but had to settle for the runner up spot. Brown finished in the third position, Carter was fourth and veteran Vern Jackson was fifth. Gustin, Carter and Jackson were all previous Hogan Memorial winners.
Before the evening's racing began, eleven previous Hogan winners were seated before the grandstand for an autograph session. Those were Scott Hogan, Vern Jackson, Jerry Luloff, Ed Thomas, Corey Dripps, Troy Cordes, Richie Gustin, JD Auringer, Cayden Carter, Timm Jensen, and Jan Messer. A couple of drivers who had committed, but were not in attendance were Mike Sampson and Jeff Barkdoll. Forty-five IMCA Modifieds competed....a nice turn out with a lot of quality drivers trying to make their way into the starting field.
Turn three and four seemed to be a particular nemesis for many drivers last night. Many drivers went over the top and one of those was Brian Irvine during Modified heat #1. Irvine didn't just exit off of the race track....he rolled multiple times off the top side midway between turns three and four. Thankfully, he was okay, but his night was done. Stock Car driver Scott Pippert took a tour of the backstretch cornfield during his heat race.....and as he was towed past the grandstand, he had corn stalks dragging.
There were hard charger awards in all four IMCA classes. I must have been day dreaming as I missed the Hobby Stock award, but the others were Stock Car, Scott Pippert, SportMod, Brayton Carter, and Modified, Kyle Brown.
It was another very successful Hogan Memorial for sure. Plenty of competition with right at 130 cars via my count. The track stayed tacky all night, which we can attest to when walking across it after all the racing was completed.
Our next race looks to be at the Southern Iowa Speedway on Wednesday night which will include the make up for the earlier rained out Hawkeye Dirt Tour. We follow that up the following night at the Knoxville Raceway for the annual Harris Clash that also includes a Hawkeye Dirt Tour. We call this a "must see" every year.....love seeing who shows up for this big show as drivers from all over come to try their hand at the famed 1/2 mile. Hope to see you there!
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Avery, Inman, Ryerson and Keeney first time winners at Boone
The Boone Speedway added more first time winners to the list Saturday night as all classes except the Mod Lites found new drivers in victory lane. There was also an added competition in the Modified class, a challenge deemed, "The Last Man Standing".
The Mod Lite was the class that saw the only returning winner. It had an exciting finish at the line when Bryan Zehm made the last moment pass, beating Cory Dennis to the checkers. Dennis, who finished no doubt, a disappointing second, had led the entire race up to that point. Point leader Josh May was third, followed by Travis Stensland and Joe Glick in fourth and fifth. Zehm claimed his fourth victory of the year at Boone.
The 18-lap IMCA Northern SportMod feature had rookie Cory Pestotnik leading the field through the first eight laps. That would be when seventh place starter Chad Ryerson took over as captain of the ship. A couple of laps later, it was twelfth place starter Jake McBirnie taking second place and challenging leader Ryerson. McBirnie looked every which way for a way around but just was not able to pull it off and Ryerson took the win by transponder timing of 76/100th of a second. Pestotnik had a good run, taking third, fourth went to ninth place starter Jonathan Logue and Darin Rothfus was fifth. Ryerson got his first win at the Boone Speedway. The race went flag to flag.
The Hobby Stock's went their usual 12-laps for the A main. Bryan Keeney, Nevada, Iowa driver, sat on the outside of the front row, and took the lead as the race went green. Despite having a nasty push up the track every time coming out of turn four, he was able to maintain that top spot all the way to the checkers. Solomon Bennett nearly made his dogging the leader pay off, as he finished a "close, but no cigar" second at the line. Third was Dustin Graham, fourth went to point leader Eric Stanton and last week's winner, Dustin Lynch finished fifth. This was Keeney's first win at Boone and what I believe to be his first every career win.
The Stock Car feature also had a first time winner on the year. Last week Todd Inman showed up at the track for the first time. However, Inman is no stranger to piloting a race car and has plenty of wins under his belt in years past. This week he sat on the pole for the start of the 18-lapper, jumped to the immediate lead, and never looked back. This race also went green to checkered, and saw Inman pull away from the field and take the comfortable win. Second place was fourth place starter Don Vis, and trailing a distance behind were Cory Piffer in third, Tyler Pickett in fourth and fifth place finisher Butch Bass. Inman is the seventh different Stock Car winner at Boone this season.
The Modifieds ran their 20-lap feature last, but earlier, there had been a challenge race among the 12 top transponder timed drivers from the heats. Those drivers were Robert Avery, Josh Truman, Tony Cox, Mike VanGenderen, Joel Bushore, Denny Pittman, Richie Gustin, Chris Webb, Devin Havlik, Eric Elliott, John Logue and Jon Snyder. The drivers drew for their starting positions in front of the grandstand via "pick the bottle of oil" draw. The lucky recipients of the front row were Eric Elliott and Josh Truman. The race was sponsored by TiLUBE, which is a Motorsport Lubricant. The challenge race was 15-laps and after the first four laps were completed, then it was the car running in last position, being sent to the pits. The last man standing was Josh Truman who went home with an extra $1,000 in his pocket.
The final race, the Modified 20-lapper ended the night's racing action. This race also went caution free and was led start to finish by veteran racer Robert Avery. It wasn't a piece of cake however, as he had three drivers close at hand most of the race, all battling back and forth. Avery never bobbled on his way to the checkers, his first this year and a check back at my records, appears to be the first in five or more years at the track. Those finishing closely behind him were Joel Bushore in second, third was John Logue and Mike VanGenderen was fourth. Not far behind them was Jon Snyder in fifth.
Lots of racing coming up in the next couple of months. Be sure and check the racing calendar at Positively Racing, and seek out a race to attend. Thanks for reading.
The Mod Lite was the class that saw the only returning winner. It had an exciting finish at the line when Bryan Zehm made the last moment pass, beating Cory Dennis to the checkers. Dennis, who finished no doubt, a disappointing second, had led the entire race up to that point. Point leader Josh May was third, followed by Travis Stensland and Joe Glick in fourth and fifth. Zehm claimed his fourth victory of the year at Boone.
The 18-lap IMCA Northern SportMod feature had rookie Cory Pestotnik leading the field through the first eight laps. That would be when seventh place starter Chad Ryerson took over as captain of the ship. A couple of laps later, it was twelfth place starter Jake McBirnie taking second place and challenging leader Ryerson. McBirnie looked every which way for a way around but just was not able to pull it off and Ryerson took the win by transponder timing of 76/100th of a second. Pestotnik had a good run, taking third, fourth went to ninth place starter Jonathan Logue and Darin Rothfus was fifth. Ryerson got his first win at the Boone Speedway. The race went flag to flag.
The Hobby Stock's went their usual 12-laps for the A main. Bryan Keeney, Nevada, Iowa driver, sat on the outside of the front row, and took the lead as the race went green. Despite having a nasty push up the track every time coming out of turn four, he was able to maintain that top spot all the way to the checkers. Solomon Bennett nearly made his dogging the leader pay off, as he finished a "close, but no cigar" second at the line. Third was Dustin Graham, fourth went to point leader Eric Stanton and last week's winner, Dustin Lynch finished fifth. This was Keeney's first win at Boone and what I believe to be his first every career win.
The Stock Car feature also had a first time winner on the year. Last week Todd Inman showed up at the track for the first time. However, Inman is no stranger to piloting a race car and has plenty of wins under his belt in years past. This week he sat on the pole for the start of the 18-lapper, jumped to the immediate lead, and never looked back. This race also went green to checkered, and saw Inman pull away from the field and take the comfortable win. Second place was fourth place starter Don Vis, and trailing a distance behind were Cory Piffer in third, Tyler Pickett in fourth and fifth place finisher Butch Bass. Inman is the seventh different Stock Car winner at Boone this season.
The Modifieds ran their 20-lap feature last, but earlier, there had been a challenge race among the 12 top transponder timed drivers from the heats. Those drivers were Robert Avery, Josh Truman, Tony Cox, Mike VanGenderen, Joel Bushore, Denny Pittman, Richie Gustin, Chris Webb, Devin Havlik, Eric Elliott, John Logue and Jon Snyder. The drivers drew for their starting positions in front of the grandstand via "pick the bottle of oil" draw. The lucky recipients of the front row were Eric Elliott and Josh Truman. The race was sponsored by TiLUBE, which is a Motorsport Lubricant. The challenge race was 15-laps and after the first four laps were completed, then it was the car running in last position, being sent to the pits. The last man standing was Josh Truman who went home with an extra $1,000 in his pocket.
The final race, the Modified 20-lapper ended the night's racing action. This race also went caution free and was led start to finish by veteran racer Robert Avery. It wasn't a piece of cake however, as he had three drivers close at hand most of the race, all battling back and forth. Avery never bobbled on his way to the checkers, his first this year and a check back at my records, appears to be the first in five or more years at the track. Those finishing closely behind him were Joel Bushore in second, third was John Logue and Mike VanGenderen was fourth. Not far behind them was Jon Snyder in fifth.
Lots of racing coming up in the next couple of months. Be sure and check the racing calendar at Positively Racing, and seek out a race to attend. Thanks for reading.
Friday, July 10, 2015
Dripps drives to Victory Lane at Marshalltown
It's that time of the year when we start hitting a lot of county fairs when we attend races, and Marshalltown last evening was our first. The Central Iowa Fair shared the fairgrounds with the Marshalltown Speedway. New winners came out of the Modified and SportMod classes while those in the Stock Car, Hobby Stock and Mod Lite divisions saw repeat winners.
The Mod Lite 15-lap feature kicked off the night's main event racing and it was Mike Morrill stepping back into victory lane. Morrill grabbed the lead away from Charlie Brown at lap seven and pulled away to secure the comfortable win. Randy Bryan started eighth and finished in the runner up spot, third went to Charlie Brown, fourth was Joe Glick and fifth was ninth place starter, Josh May. Morrill, who had started sixth in the starting line up, took his second win of the year. As is his tradition, he gave his trophy to a lucky youngster who was among many lined up hoping to be the recipient.
Brandon Williams finally made his way to the winner's circle in the IMCA Northern SportMod class. He has often been a top finisher, the win just out of reach until now. He had to fight by Sam Wieben and then early leader Frank Packer....the Aussie boy who has been running in the area lately, in order to get to the top spot. He took command at lap ten and in the final laps, stretched his lead for the easy win. Sam Wieben started eighth and claimed the runner up spot, Frank Packer was third, fourth went to tenth place starter Jared VanDeest and Ryan King was fifth. Williams started seventh on his way to his first win at Marshalltown since a year ago in June.
As I've mentioned previously, there have only been two different winners in the IMCA Hobby Stock class at Marshalltown this year---Eric Stanton and Austin Luellen. Tonight, only Stanton was in attendance as Luellen was MIA. But....the trend continues as Stanton won, his second in a row and fourth over all at the track this year. Stanton came from starting ninth to claim the top spot at lap five and from there, drove off from the field. Grinnell's Gene Nicklas came from seventh to finish as the runner up just ahead of third place finisher Garrett Eilander who had started eighth. Tyson Overton came from eleventh to finish fourth and pole sitter Jason Cox held on for a fifth place finish. The race went green to checkers.
The 18-lap IMCA Stock Car feature was led in the early laps by JD Kennedy. Last week's winner Robert Stofer was quickly up to pester him and claiming the lead by lap six. A few laps later, as Stofer rode comfortably in the #1 spot, behind him was a dogfight between Tyler Pickett and Donavon Smith battling for the #2 spot. When a yellow flew at lap 11, Smith had wrestled the runner up spot away from Pickett, and was now happy to be sitting right behind leader Stofer for the restart. The following laps were a case of Stofer protecting the top side as Smith...who usually prefers it low, looked for a way around him. After several attempts at making a run around the outside of the leader coming out of turn four, Smith suddenly dipped low as they looked to have lap fifteen entered in the books, and made the spurt to the inside of Stofer for the lead. Smith kept the lead the remaining distance to the checkers and the win. Stofer finished in second, third went to Trent Murphy, fourth to Tyler Pickett and Michael Jaennette rounded out the top five. Smith, who had started tenth, made this his fifth trip to victory lane at Marshalltown for the 2015 season and is the point leader.
A driver showed up last week in the IMCA Modified division that we've seen very little of the past few years. This week, he stood in the winner's circle! Corey Dripps was the man in command of the 20-lap feature as soon as the race went green. He never relinquished it, leading all laps to the checkers and the win. He had a battle brewing behind him as several drivers went at it for a top spot. It was Jimmy Gustin just getting past Josh Gilman on the final lap as they finished second and third in that order. Fourth was Eric Elliott who had hounded Dripps earlier in the race, and fifth place went to eighth place starter, Ronn Lauritzen.
There was a surprise driver in the DC5 Mod Lite car tonight....none other than Jammin' Jimmy Gustin. Gustin was doing very well in his heat race, having just passed for third.....when....oops! Jammin' Jimmy Gustin was more like Leaping Jimmy Gustin as he catapulted off of turn two in three or four flips. He emerged at the top of the track and was okay, but the car never made it out for the feature.
Regular racing resumes next week at the Marshalltown Speedway where it will be KMJ Performance Night and Marshalltown Police Night at the races. Hot laps are 6:50 and racing at 7:30.
The Mod Lite 15-lap feature kicked off the night's main event racing and it was Mike Morrill stepping back into victory lane. Morrill grabbed the lead away from Charlie Brown at lap seven and pulled away to secure the comfortable win. Randy Bryan started eighth and finished in the runner up spot, third went to Charlie Brown, fourth was Joe Glick and fifth was ninth place starter, Josh May. Morrill, who had started sixth in the starting line up, took his second win of the year. As is his tradition, he gave his trophy to a lucky youngster who was among many lined up hoping to be the recipient.
Brandon Williams finally made his way to the winner's circle in the IMCA Northern SportMod class. He has often been a top finisher, the win just out of reach until now. He had to fight by Sam Wieben and then early leader Frank Packer....the Aussie boy who has been running in the area lately, in order to get to the top spot. He took command at lap ten and in the final laps, stretched his lead for the easy win. Sam Wieben started eighth and claimed the runner up spot, Frank Packer was third, fourth went to tenth place starter Jared VanDeest and Ryan King was fifth. Williams started seventh on his way to his first win at Marshalltown since a year ago in June.
As I've mentioned previously, there have only been two different winners in the IMCA Hobby Stock class at Marshalltown this year---Eric Stanton and Austin Luellen. Tonight, only Stanton was in attendance as Luellen was MIA. But....the trend continues as Stanton won, his second in a row and fourth over all at the track this year. Stanton came from starting ninth to claim the top spot at lap five and from there, drove off from the field. Grinnell's Gene Nicklas came from seventh to finish as the runner up just ahead of third place finisher Garrett Eilander who had started eighth. Tyson Overton came from eleventh to finish fourth and pole sitter Jason Cox held on for a fifth place finish. The race went green to checkers.
The 18-lap IMCA Stock Car feature was led in the early laps by JD Kennedy. Last week's winner Robert Stofer was quickly up to pester him and claiming the lead by lap six. A few laps later, as Stofer rode comfortably in the #1 spot, behind him was a dogfight between Tyler Pickett and Donavon Smith battling for the #2 spot. When a yellow flew at lap 11, Smith had wrestled the runner up spot away from Pickett, and was now happy to be sitting right behind leader Stofer for the restart. The following laps were a case of Stofer protecting the top side as Smith...who usually prefers it low, looked for a way around him. After several attempts at making a run around the outside of the leader coming out of turn four, Smith suddenly dipped low as they looked to have lap fifteen entered in the books, and made the spurt to the inside of Stofer for the lead. Smith kept the lead the remaining distance to the checkers and the win. Stofer finished in second, third went to Trent Murphy, fourth to Tyler Pickett and Michael Jaennette rounded out the top five. Smith, who had started tenth, made this his fifth trip to victory lane at Marshalltown for the 2015 season and is the point leader.
A driver showed up last week in the IMCA Modified division that we've seen very little of the past few years. This week, he stood in the winner's circle! Corey Dripps was the man in command of the 20-lap feature as soon as the race went green. He never relinquished it, leading all laps to the checkers and the win. He had a battle brewing behind him as several drivers went at it for a top spot. It was Jimmy Gustin just getting past Josh Gilman on the final lap as they finished second and third in that order. Fourth was Eric Elliott who had hounded Dripps earlier in the race, and fifth place went to eighth place starter, Ronn Lauritzen.
There was a surprise driver in the DC5 Mod Lite car tonight....none other than Jammin' Jimmy Gustin. Gustin was doing very well in his heat race, having just passed for third.....when....oops! Jammin' Jimmy Gustin was more like Leaping Jimmy Gustin as he catapulted off of turn two in three or four flips. He emerged at the top of the track and was okay, but the car never made it out for the feature.
Regular racing resumes next week at the Marshalltown Speedway where it will be KMJ Performance Night and Marshalltown Police Night at the races. Hot laps are 6:50 and racing at 7:30.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
VanDerWal, Carter, Griffiths take 3 in a row at Osky
It was the Dave Lowry Memorial last night at the Southern Iowa Speedway, named for the late long-time supporter of racing in the area. And while the track has had eight different winners in the Modified class, the Stock Car, SportMod and Hobby Stock saw drivers strike for the third time in a row in their classes and keep adding to their win list at Osky this season.
Before any of the features were run, a King of the Hill competition in the IMCA Hobby Stocks was run. Eight drivers competed with the finale being Danny Thrasher and Dustin Griffiths going head to head. Thrasher would be the lone driver at the summit when all was said and done---earning him an extra $100.
The Sport Compacts had ten cars on hand, running for $200 to win. Bill Whalen led all but the first lap of the 12-lapper. He showed his excitement with his usual "happy dance" in victory lane...thus his nickname, "Happy Feet". First timer, Ryan Walker from Wilton, was second, third went to John Whalen, fourth to another first time driver, Eric Stogdell from Colona, Illinois and Trent Orwig completed the top five. This was Whalen's third win at the track this year.
The IMCA Stock Cars were up next, and Cayden Carter picked up from where he left off at last week's Stock Car Shoot Out....parking it in Victory Lane. Carter moved from his ninth starting spot, to take the lead away from Derrick Agee at lap seven. Carter then pulled away, stretching his lead in the flag-to-flag 18-lap race. Agee claimed the runner up spot. It was a battle for third place much of the race, with Nathan Wood claiming it at the checkers, just ahead of fourth place finisher Daniel Hilsabeck and Mike Hughes in fifth. This made it three wins in a row for Carter, and his fourth of the 2015 season at the Monster 1/2 mile.
The 16-lap IMCA Northern SportMod feature saw Colton Livezey grab the lead as the race went green and in hot pursuit was Aaron Osweiler. When a yellow flew at lap six, Livezey still claimed the top spot but the familiar blue #1V of Curtis VanDerWal had been on the move. He had moved from tenth starting spot, up to fifth, and eyeing Cory VanZante, Logan Anderson, Osweiler and leader Livezey directly ahead of him. By lap nine, VanDerWal had claimed that lead. He then went the remaining way to the checkers and the win. Logan Anderson took the runner up spot, Cory VanZante finished third, fourth went to early leader Livezey, and Osweiler was fifth. This was also VanDerWal's third win in a row and his seventh at the track this season.
Scott Dickey stepped back in the winner's circle in taking the 18-lap IMCA Modified win. Dickey led the entire distance, securing his second victory this year. Colt Mather finished in the runner up position, Andrew Schroeder was third, fourth went to Carter VandenBerg, and the previous two weeks winner, Brandon Banks was fifth.
The racing ended with the 15-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature. There was a bit of "bumper car" racing going on at the start of the feature but by lap four, Aaron Martin had established the lead while he was happy to have a four-car battle duking it out behind him. Danny Thrasher, Bobby Greene, Dustin Griffiths and Brandon Potts were locked into that fight for position behind the leader. A couple of laps later, Griffiths was leading after swinging to the topside of the track and flying into the lead. Griffiths never lost command from there on out, sailing home to the win. Thrasher made it to the runner up spot, third was Aaron Martin, Nick Ulin made it all the way from fourteenth starting spot, to claim fourth, and eleventh place starter Travis Bunnell, was fifth. This was also the third win in a row for Griffiths and his fifth over all.
It certainly didn't feel like a July night in Iowa last night.....but just wait, next week is the Southern Iowa Fair races, and it's almost guaranteed that it will be a hot one. Headlining the show will be the Hawkeye Dirt Tour Series for IMCA Modifieds. The IMCA Stock Cars, SportMods, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts will also be running. The three new Hall of Fame Inductees will be introduced at intermission. They are Dean Sylvester, Jim Brown and Danny Wallace. They join last year's initial inductees, Bill Davis, Sr., Aaron Brown, Bobby Greiner, Jr., Randy Schroeder and Denny Banks. Hot laps are 7 and racing at 7:30.
Before any of the features were run, a King of the Hill competition in the IMCA Hobby Stocks was run. Eight drivers competed with the finale being Danny Thrasher and Dustin Griffiths going head to head. Thrasher would be the lone driver at the summit when all was said and done---earning him an extra $100.
The Sport Compacts had ten cars on hand, running for $200 to win. Bill Whalen led all but the first lap of the 12-lapper. He showed his excitement with his usual "happy dance" in victory lane...thus his nickname, "Happy Feet". First timer, Ryan Walker from Wilton, was second, third went to John Whalen, fourth to another first time driver, Eric Stogdell from Colona, Illinois and Trent Orwig completed the top five. This was Whalen's third win at the track this year.
The IMCA Stock Cars were up next, and Cayden Carter picked up from where he left off at last week's Stock Car Shoot Out....parking it in Victory Lane. Carter moved from his ninth starting spot, to take the lead away from Derrick Agee at lap seven. Carter then pulled away, stretching his lead in the flag-to-flag 18-lap race. Agee claimed the runner up spot. It was a battle for third place much of the race, with Nathan Wood claiming it at the checkers, just ahead of fourth place finisher Daniel Hilsabeck and Mike Hughes in fifth. This made it three wins in a row for Carter, and his fourth of the 2015 season at the Monster 1/2 mile.
The 16-lap IMCA Northern SportMod feature saw Colton Livezey grab the lead as the race went green and in hot pursuit was Aaron Osweiler. When a yellow flew at lap six, Livezey still claimed the top spot but the familiar blue #1V of Curtis VanDerWal had been on the move. He had moved from tenth starting spot, up to fifth, and eyeing Cory VanZante, Logan Anderson, Osweiler and leader Livezey directly ahead of him. By lap nine, VanDerWal had claimed that lead. He then went the remaining way to the checkers and the win. Logan Anderson took the runner up spot, Cory VanZante finished third, fourth went to early leader Livezey, and Osweiler was fifth. This was also VanDerWal's third win in a row and his seventh at the track this season.
Scott Dickey stepped back in the winner's circle in taking the 18-lap IMCA Modified win. Dickey led the entire distance, securing his second victory this year. Colt Mather finished in the runner up position, Andrew Schroeder was third, fourth went to Carter VandenBerg, and the previous two weeks winner, Brandon Banks was fifth.
The racing ended with the 15-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature. There was a bit of "bumper car" racing going on at the start of the feature but by lap four, Aaron Martin had established the lead while he was happy to have a four-car battle duking it out behind him. Danny Thrasher, Bobby Greene, Dustin Griffiths and Brandon Potts were locked into that fight for position behind the leader. A couple of laps later, Griffiths was leading after swinging to the topside of the track and flying into the lead. Griffiths never lost command from there on out, sailing home to the win. Thrasher made it to the runner up spot, third was Aaron Martin, Nick Ulin made it all the way from fourteenth starting spot, to claim fourth, and eleventh place starter Travis Bunnell, was fifth. This was also the third win in a row for Griffiths and his fifth over all.
It certainly didn't feel like a July night in Iowa last night.....but just wait, next week is the Southern Iowa Fair races, and it's almost guaranteed that it will be a hot one. Headlining the show will be the Hawkeye Dirt Tour Series for IMCA Modifieds. The IMCA Stock Cars, SportMods, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts will also be running. The three new Hall of Fame Inductees will be introduced at intermission. They are Dean Sylvester, Jim Brown and Danny Wallace. They join last year's initial inductees, Bill Davis, Sr., Aaron Brown, Bobby Greiner, Jr., Randy Schroeder and Denny Banks. Hot laps are 7 and racing at 7:30.
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Osky - 7-8-15
Unofficial results:
Modified:
1. 40 Scott Dickey
2. 8 Colt Mather
3. 02 Andrew Schroeder
4. 7V Carter VandenBerg
5. 22 Brandon Banks
DNF: 9X Tyler Groenendyk
55D Nick Deal
7W Jerry Pilcher
10C Cayden Carter
61 Tony Messamaker
Stock Car:
1. 10CC Cayden Carter
2. 14 Derrick Agee
3. 52 Nathan Wood
4. 77N Daniel Hilsabeck
5. 11 Mike Hughes
6. 22R Todd Reitzler
7. 12 Doug Sylvester
8. 7 Todd Phillips
9. 18 Kris Walker
10. 4J Bobby Lynch
11. 9X Curtis Kline
DNF: 3D Dan Gordon
SportMod - Dave Lowry Memorial
1. 1V Curtis VanDerWal
2. 9A Logan Anderson
3. 34Z Cory VanZante
4. 29 Colton Livezey
5. 7A Aaron Osweiler
6. 01 Brayton Carter
7. 82 Jake McBirnie
8. 95J Jason Hall
9. 85 Jason McDaniel
10. 72 Brett Lowry
11. 7+ Jared Timmerman
12. 84B Trent Brink
13. 80 Jimmy Walker
14. 352 Charlie Weber
15. 26 Scott Brau
16. 20 Danny Brau
17. 53 Greg Strohman
DNF: 49G Leroy Groenendyk
Hobby Stock
1. 10G Dustin Griffiths
2. 84 Danny Thrasher
3. 73 Aaron Martin
4. 21 Nick Ulin
5. 3 Travis Bunnell
6. 2 Brandon Potts
7. 69 Craig Brown
8. 9 Jared Stephens
9. 55 Brad Stephens
10. 32T Bobby Greene
11. 3S Steve Allen
12. 14 Christian Huffman
DNF: 15W Colton Webster
DNS: 8 Robert Fite
A King of the Hill for Hobby Stocks was run - Finale - Danny Thrasher beat Dustin Griffiths
Sport Compact
1. 07 (00W) Bill Whalen, Jr.
2. 9W Ryan Walker
3. 77 John Whalen
4. 50 Eric Stogdell
5. 33G (04) Trent Orwig
6. 22M Curt Myers
7. 33 Jon Girdley
8. 81 Troy Wonders
9. 2M Matt Moore
DNR: 0 Ryan Havel
Modified:
1. 40 Scott Dickey
2. 8 Colt Mather
3. 02 Andrew Schroeder
4. 7V Carter VandenBerg
5. 22 Brandon Banks
DNF: 9X Tyler Groenendyk
55D Nick Deal
7W Jerry Pilcher
10C Cayden Carter
61 Tony Messamaker
Stock Car:
1. 10CC Cayden Carter
2. 14 Derrick Agee
3. 52 Nathan Wood
4. 77N Daniel Hilsabeck
5. 11 Mike Hughes
6. 22R Todd Reitzler
7. 12 Doug Sylvester
8. 7 Todd Phillips
9. 18 Kris Walker
10. 4J Bobby Lynch
11. 9X Curtis Kline
DNF: 3D Dan Gordon
SportMod - Dave Lowry Memorial
1. 1V Curtis VanDerWal
2. 9A Logan Anderson
3. 34Z Cory VanZante
4. 29 Colton Livezey
5. 7A Aaron Osweiler
6. 01 Brayton Carter
7. 82 Jake McBirnie
8. 95J Jason Hall
9. 85 Jason McDaniel
10. 72 Brett Lowry
11. 7+ Jared Timmerman
12. 84B Trent Brink
13. 80 Jimmy Walker
14. 352 Charlie Weber
15. 26 Scott Brau
16. 20 Danny Brau
17. 53 Greg Strohman
DNF: 49G Leroy Groenendyk
Hobby Stock
1. 10G Dustin Griffiths
2. 84 Danny Thrasher
3. 73 Aaron Martin
4. 21 Nick Ulin
5. 3 Travis Bunnell
6. 2 Brandon Potts
7. 69 Craig Brown
8. 9 Jared Stephens
9. 55 Brad Stephens
10. 32T Bobby Greene
11. 3S Steve Allen
12. 14 Christian Huffman
DNF: 15W Colton Webster
DNS: 8 Robert Fite
A King of the Hill for Hobby Stocks was run - Finale - Danny Thrasher beat Dustin Griffiths
Sport Compact
1. 07 (00W) Bill Whalen, Jr.
2. 9W Ryan Walker
3. 77 John Whalen
4. 50 Eric Stogdell
5. 33G (04) Trent Orwig
6. 22M Curt Myers
7. 33 Jon Girdley
8. 81 Troy Wonders
9. 2M Matt Moore
DNR: 0 Ryan Havel
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Ferguson finds victory lane at Boone
There was more than just racing going on at the Boone Speedway on the 4th of July. The stands were packed with not only race fans, but those who were there for the roll over contests, the car jumps and of course, the big fireworks display afterwards. It was amazing to see how many people were dressed in red, white and blue finery in celebration of Independence Day and showing their patriotism.
Feature racing kicked off with the MADCRA Mod Lites and their 15-lap main event. The one and only yellow came at lap four and by that time, it was Terry Brown holding down the top spot. He soon had Josh May to contend with when the action picked back up and three laps later, May was in command. May kept hold of that coveted spot the rest of the way to the checkers. Bryan Zehm raced his ride from starting tenth up to the runner up spot. Third went to ninth place starter Randy Bryan, fourth was early leader Terry Brown and school bus driver...thus known as "The Bus Man", Mike Kennedy, finished fifth. May won for the second time at Boone this season.
The 18-lap IMCA Northern SportMod contest took a bit to get completed. Six yellows would fly before the race was completed. Early leader Darin Rothfus kept a tight hold on the top spot through four of those yellows, but Jonathan Logue had been on the move and gotten up to second place and had been pestering him. When things picked back up after that fourth yellow came out at lap nine, Logue wasted no time in slipping by for the lead just after the green fell. The final caution came out at lap twelve, with a warning to the drivers that they were now under the time limit......"race to the checkers, or the next yellow and the race was over". The race did go the full distance, with Logue holding firm to the top spot, scoring the win. Doug Smith came from eleventh starting spot to capture second place. Rothfus held on for a third place finish, Brandon Williams was fourth and Curtis Veber rounded out the top five. Logue went to Victory Lane for the second time this year.
A driver visited the winner's circle for the first time this year in the 12-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature. Dustin Lynch led all laps on his way to victory. He was pestered the entire way by Solomon Bennett who could muster no more than the runner up spot, try as he may. Aaron Rudolph was third after starting eleventh on the field. Fourth place finisher was Curt Reed who had started in row seven, and row six starter Eric Stanton was fifth. As soon as the cars passed the checkered flag, it appeared that winner Lynch's car had his throttle stuck, as he made a scary beeline right off of turn one! When the cloud of dust settled, he had managed to dodge the posts of the catwalk and ended up in the fencing. Good thing the fencing was there or he may have entered the pit shack! He exited his disabled ride on his own.
The winner of the 20-lap Modified feature also led from start to finish. Cole Ferguson, the driver out of Dexter, Iowa held off some fast company on his way to winning for the first time ever at Boone. Jon Snyder got by Joel Bushore in the waning laps as they finished second and third respectively. Fourth was ninth place starter Scott Davis, and twelfth place starter Russ Dickerson, was fifth.
The last feature race was the IMCA 18-lap Stock Car A main. Don Vis led the opening laps, pushed up the track about lap seven and then the race was taken over by veteran Robert Stofer.....Vis fading back in the field. Trent Murphy made his way to Stofer's bumper, and hounded the leader by dipping low in the corners. He made it pay off at lap fourteen, taking command of the race. Meanwhile, Wayne Gifford had also made the pass on Stofer and was mounting a charge on leader Murphy---but to no avail. Murphy took the checkers, and Gifford had to settle for the runner up spot. Stofer held on to the third place, fourth was Jay Schmidt, who had started eleventh, and Donavon Smith came from 21st starting spot, to capture a top five. Murphy now has three regular season wins under his belt.
Since we still had our 78 mile journey home, we headed out as soon as the racing was completed. We found the parking lot stuffed to capacity and the roads and nearby business parking lots filled with vehicles awaiting the fireworks show. The crowd in the grandstands last night, many that we know were not the usual race fans, but those that had come out for the city fireworks and roll over contests, car jumps, etc. may just be returning after getting a taste of the racing action last night. We hope so, anyway. Dirt track racing needs all the fans and support at tracks it can get to keep the sport going successfully.
Last night was our fifth night of racing in a row. Time for some rest and regrouping. Right now, it looks like our next race on the agenda will be our usual trip to the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa.....our regular Wednesday night home. Thanks for reading!
Feature racing kicked off with the MADCRA Mod Lites and their 15-lap main event. The one and only yellow came at lap four and by that time, it was Terry Brown holding down the top spot. He soon had Josh May to contend with when the action picked back up and three laps later, May was in command. May kept hold of that coveted spot the rest of the way to the checkers. Bryan Zehm raced his ride from starting tenth up to the runner up spot. Third went to ninth place starter Randy Bryan, fourth was early leader Terry Brown and school bus driver...thus known as "The Bus Man", Mike Kennedy, finished fifth. May won for the second time at Boone this season.
The 18-lap IMCA Northern SportMod contest took a bit to get completed. Six yellows would fly before the race was completed. Early leader Darin Rothfus kept a tight hold on the top spot through four of those yellows, but Jonathan Logue had been on the move and gotten up to second place and had been pestering him. When things picked back up after that fourth yellow came out at lap nine, Logue wasted no time in slipping by for the lead just after the green fell. The final caution came out at lap twelve, with a warning to the drivers that they were now under the time limit......"race to the checkers, or the next yellow and the race was over". The race did go the full distance, with Logue holding firm to the top spot, scoring the win. Doug Smith came from eleventh starting spot to capture second place. Rothfus held on for a third place finish, Brandon Williams was fourth and Curtis Veber rounded out the top five. Logue went to Victory Lane for the second time this year.
A driver visited the winner's circle for the first time this year in the 12-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature. Dustin Lynch led all laps on his way to victory. He was pestered the entire way by Solomon Bennett who could muster no more than the runner up spot, try as he may. Aaron Rudolph was third after starting eleventh on the field. Fourth place finisher was Curt Reed who had started in row seven, and row six starter Eric Stanton was fifth. As soon as the cars passed the checkered flag, it appeared that winner Lynch's car had his throttle stuck, as he made a scary beeline right off of turn one! When the cloud of dust settled, he had managed to dodge the posts of the catwalk and ended up in the fencing. Good thing the fencing was there or he may have entered the pit shack! He exited his disabled ride on his own.
The winner of the 20-lap Modified feature also led from start to finish. Cole Ferguson, the driver out of Dexter, Iowa held off some fast company on his way to winning for the first time ever at Boone. Jon Snyder got by Joel Bushore in the waning laps as they finished second and third respectively. Fourth was ninth place starter Scott Davis, and twelfth place starter Russ Dickerson, was fifth.
The last feature race was the IMCA 18-lap Stock Car A main. Don Vis led the opening laps, pushed up the track about lap seven and then the race was taken over by veteran Robert Stofer.....Vis fading back in the field. Trent Murphy made his way to Stofer's bumper, and hounded the leader by dipping low in the corners. He made it pay off at lap fourteen, taking command of the race. Meanwhile, Wayne Gifford had also made the pass on Stofer and was mounting a charge on leader Murphy---but to no avail. Murphy took the checkers, and Gifford had to settle for the runner up spot. Stofer held on to the third place, fourth was Jay Schmidt, who had started eleventh, and Donavon Smith came from 21st starting spot, to capture a top five. Murphy now has three regular season wins under his belt.
Since we still had our 78 mile journey home, we headed out as soon as the racing was completed. We found the parking lot stuffed to capacity and the roads and nearby business parking lots filled with vehicles awaiting the fireworks show. The crowd in the grandstands last night, many that we know were not the usual race fans, but those that had come out for the city fireworks and roll over contests, car jumps, etc. may just be returning after getting a taste of the racing action last night. We hope so, anyway. Dirt track racing needs all the fans and support at tracks it can get to keep the sport going successfully.
Last night was our fifth night of racing in a row. Time for some rest and regrouping. Right now, it looks like our next race on the agenda will be our usual trip to the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa.....our regular Wednesday night home. Thanks for reading!
Saturday, July 4, 2015
Irvine earns Modified win at Marshalltown
The Marshalltown Speedway held their tenth night of weekly racing on Friday. It was a welcome change to finally have sunshine and warm temperatures as we had been sitting the three previous nights at a race in gloomy, breezy and chilly conditions! Three new drivers visited Victory Lane while two others had repeat wins for the season.
Things kicked off with the Mod Lite feature. Josh May, who had started ninth, was leading when a yellow flew at lap five. From there on, he kept the top spot and motored home to the win, his fourth at Marshalltown this season. Travis Stensland started sixth and took the runner up spot. Third went to eighth place starter Randy Bryan and Cory Sauerman raced his way back to fourth place after having to tag the field after spinning in turn two, and Terry Brown came from tenth starting spot, to take fifth. May gave an update on his dad Jimmy May who took a nasty tumble back on June 19 at the track. He has broken/cracked vertebrae, two in his neck, and broken ribs, but is home and mending. We wish him a speedy recovery.
The IMCA Northern SportMod feature came next. Veteran racer from Conrad, Neil Follett, was looking strong, leading the first nine laps. But Curt Hilmer had been on the move as well as a high flying topside #80J of Jared VanDeest. VanDeest took command at lap ten and by lap eleven, the 22H of Curt Hilmer was on his tail. It was but two laps later that Hilmer took the top spot away and he would then keep it to the flying checkers and the win. VanDeest finished as the runner up, and third went to Brandon Williams. Williams had spun out on lap six, had to tag the field and made a strong run to the front. Travis Peterson was fourth and Neil Follett stayed at the front of the pack all night for a top five. This was Hilmer's first ever win at Marshalltown.
The 15-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature had a hard time getting started, as two yellows flew before the first lap was scored. Two more yellows would fly with only five laps in the books. By that time, Eric Stanton was holding down the point spot and his fifth row starting partner Dustin Elliott was running in second. When the race restarted, Stanton maintained his lead, but he was soon to have Austin Luellen knocking at his door, while Luellen was having to hold back visiting driver, Justin Wacha. Stanton was content to let the two battle it out behind, keeping the lead and taking the win. Luellen finished second just ahead of Wacha. Third went to Dustin Elliott and Garrett Eilander was fifth. Stanton snagged his third win of the year. He and Luellen still continue to be the only Hobby Stock winners at Marshalltown this year.
The Class too Tough to Tame, the IMCA Stock Cars ran their 18-lap feature which saw veteran racer Robert Stofer from Jefferson, Iowa sitting on the point starting position. He would lead all 18 laps on his way to his first win at Marshalltown in the 2015 season. There was a lot of jockeying for position behind him however! Winning the battle for second place was seventh place starter Steve Meyer. He held back third place finisher, Trent Murphy. Fourth was eighth place starter Dave Atcher in one of his rare appearances at the track....due to work constraints I believe, and sixth place starter, Michael Jaennette completed the top five.
20-laps of IMCA Modified racing completed the night. Pole sitter Joel Bushore led the first two laps, until rookie to the class, Brian Irvine took over the helm as captain of ship. Bushore would soon be pulling into the infield and out of the game, and now it was Jammin' Jimmy Gustin trying to run down Irvine. It was to no avail, as Irvine drove off from the field, and took a comfortable win. The racing behind him however, got quite fierce as Gustin, Scott Simatovich, Josh Gilman and then Ronn Lauritzen were doing battle. Gustin maintained his second position, Simatovich finished third and Josh Gilman took fourth. Ronn Laurtizen had a good run and recovery to finish fifth after getting spun early in the race. Irvine went home with his first ever Modified win at Marshalltown but no stranger to standing in the winner's circle from his previous year's Stock Car wins.
Next Friday is Central Iowa Farm Stores night at the track, and bike races for the youngsters. Hot laps are 6:50 and racing at 7:30.
Friday, July 3, 2015
Carter cashes in at Stock Car Shootout
Last night, the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa was the scene of Night #2 of the 20th Annual Budweiser IMCA Great American Stock Car Shootout. It is appropriately named as the cars were dueling it out in all classes.
The Iowa Sportsman Series was also on the ticket last night. They ran their 20-lap feature first. It was won by a driver we see run weekly at Osky in the Hobby Stock class....Aaron Martin. It was an excited Martin interviewed in Victory Lane as he just won his first ever feature. Darrin DeZwarte was second, and Gene Tish was third. As a note, also running in the event was a familiar looking #2J. It was being piloted by Cole Jackson. Jackson is the son of veteran driver Steve Jackson who turned many laps at the monster half-mile. I recall the night Steve got a call while at the track that he had better come home.....his baby was on the way. Yup....that was Cole.
Qualifying heats were run for the Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks and SportMods. The finishing order of the Hobby and SportMods were aligned behind the top eight, that qualified on night #1. The Stock Cars had the top three from their heats aligned behind the top eight qualifiers from night #1 and then a Last Chance race had the top five tagging the starting field. All three classes ran a Dash to determine the previous night's top 8 qualifiers starting order in the main event.
First up, the IMCA Northern SportMods, and $1,000 to the winner. Sitting on the front row for the start of the 30-lap feature was Curtis VanDerWal and Jason McDaniel. This one was nearly over at the drop of the green as VanDerWal just motored off, staying well ahead of second place runner McDaniel. A yellow flew at lap thirteen, shortly before the halfway mark when there would be a competition yellow pit stop. That occurred when third place runner Logan Anderson went out of the game, leaving that all too familiar smell of rear end grease permeating the air. When thing got back under way, it was but two laps later that the race was halted for the competition yellow pit stop. The cars were halted on the front stretch for a five minute chance to change tires, refuel, etc. The top five in running order at the point were VanDerWal, Brayton Carter who had started ninth and had just made the pass on McDaniel as they ran second and third in that order, fourth was sixteenth place starter, the #66 of Tim Plummer from Norway, Iowa (who had not been there the previous night) and Brandon Dale was running in fifth place.
When the race picked back up, VanDerWal just motored off again. Carter experienced some sort of mechanical issues immediately, and he exited into the pits, putting McDaniel back in second place. The race was for that second place spot as McDaniel and Plumber duked it out....McDaniel running the high side and Plumber trying with all he had to slip under him. At lap thirty and the checkered flag, VanDerWal took the win, McDaniel held on to the runner up spot and Plumber was third. Fourth went to Aaron Osweiler and Brett Lowry was fifth. A post race inspection in tech found that Osweiler had an illegal wheel, and that moved Cory VanZante up a spot to finish in fifth. VanZante moved up well in the field from an early issue on lap two when he spun in turn two, had some damage but tagged the field. He also claimed the shocks of VanDerWal after the race, and he sold.
A look back at the season feature wins at Osky this year, indicates that VanDerWal has six wins under his belt---that coming with three rain outs at the track.
The IMCA Hobby Stock 30-lap "dance" was up next. The earlier "dash" of the top 8 qualifiers put Craig Brown and Dustin Griffiths sitting on the front row for the start. Griffiths snagged the immediate lead while Brown tucked into the runner up spot. When the halfway mark at 15-laps came, Griffiths was sitting comfortably in the lead, and Brown was in second place holding back Danny Thrasher in third. Nick Ulin ran in fourth and veteran Bill Bonnett was in fifth. Their pit stop also found the cars on the front stretch as their crews added fuel, checked tire pressure, etc., but they were not allowed to change tires, or they would go to the tail of the field.
The second half of the race went green to checkered, Griffiths maintaining his comfortable lead all the way to the checkers and the $1,000 win. It was a battle for second place with two laps remaining as Brown, Thrasher and Bonnett went at it, Thrasher winning out in the waning laps to take second. Third was Brown, Bonnett finished fourth and Nick Ulin was fifth. In post race inspection, Bill Bonnett was deemed to have an "illegal rev limiter" and was disqualified, which moved sixth place finisher Travis Bunnell up to the fifth spot. Griffiths claimed his fourth win at the track in 2015.
Next came the long awaited 30-lap "Big Dance" for the IMCA Stock Cars. Their dash to determine starting spots for the already qualified top 8 from the previous night, put Missouri racer Derrick Agee sitting on the pole spot and Chelsea Charger, Damon Murty on the outside front row.
Murty grabbed the lead when the race went green and was still leading when a yellow came out at lap six for a melee just out of turn two. When the race picked back up, Murty kept hold of his top spot, Derrick Agee still running second and one of the Orange Crush team cars, that of the 10CC piloted by Cayden Carter was tucked into the third spot. This would be the running order when the competition yellow came out for their halfway pit stop. Mike Hughes was sitting in fourth and the other Agee brother, Cody Agee was running fifth. The drivers got a six minute pit stop to make adjustments to their machines.
When racing got back underway, Cayden Carter quickly moved his ride into the runner up spot and set his target on the 99D of Murty. By the time lap nineteen was scored, Carter had taken over as captain of the ship and he and Murty were in a breakaway from the rest of the field. But enter another of the Orange Crush machines out of the Roger Kelderman stable....that being the 33Z piloted by Zack VanderBeek! Time would run out however, and the race ended with Cayden Carter being crowned the 2015 winner of the Great American Stock Car Shootout, Murty was the runner up and VanderBeek came from tenth starting spot to finish third. Fourth went to Wilton, Iowa racer David Brandies who had started eleventh and Mike Hughes rounded out the top five. It was a happy Carter in victory lane, getting the win after finishing second to VanderBeek in last year's race. Carter posted his third stock car win at Osky this year....this one giving him a $2,000 pay check and eligibility for the Race of Champions at this coming year's IMCA Super Nationals, as did the winners of the Hobby Stock and SportMod features.
The new inductees into this year's Hall of Fame at the Southern Iowa Speedway were also announced last evening. They will be honored with their inductions at this year's Southern Iowa Fair race. They are Dean Sylvester, Danny Wallace and Jim Brown. Sylvester, who is a former racer, car owner, mechanic and car builder is already in the famed Knoxville Raceway Hall of Fame just down the road. Danny Wallace is a former IMCA National Modified Champion, who raced at Osky back in the 1990's regularly and who was known as the "Ridge Runner" for his preferred top line on a track. Jim Brown was the third inductee announced last evening. Brown saw much success at the Osky track in years gone by piloting his familiar #54. He follows his son, the late Aaron Brown who was among the initial inductees into the Hall of Fame last year.
Weekly racing continues next Wednesday at the Southern Iowa Speedway. Hot laps are 7 and racing at 7:30.
The Iowa Sportsman Series was also on the ticket last night. They ran their 20-lap feature first. It was won by a driver we see run weekly at Osky in the Hobby Stock class....Aaron Martin. It was an excited Martin interviewed in Victory Lane as he just won his first ever feature. Darrin DeZwarte was second, and Gene Tish was third. As a note, also running in the event was a familiar looking #2J. It was being piloted by Cole Jackson. Jackson is the son of veteran driver Steve Jackson who turned many laps at the monster half-mile. I recall the night Steve got a call while at the track that he had better come home.....his baby was on the way. Yup....that was Cole.
Qualifying heats were run for the Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks and SportMods. The finishing order of the Hobby and SportMods were aligned behind the top eight, that qualified on night #1. The Stock Cars had the top three from their heats aligned behind the top eight qualifiers from night #1 and then a Last Chance race had the top five tagging the starting field. All three classes ran a Dash to determine the previous night's top 8 qualifiers starting order in the main event.
First up, the IMCA Northern SportMods, and $1,000 to the winner. Sitting on the front row for the start of the 30-lap feature was Curtis VanDerWal and Jason McDaniel. This one was nearly over at the drop of the green as VanDerWal just motored off, staying well ahead of second place runner McDaniel. A yellow flew at lap thirteen, shortly before the halfway mark when there would be a competition yellow pit stop. That occurred when third place runner Logan Anderson went out of the game, leaving that all too familiar smell of rear end grease permeating the air. When thing got back under way, it was but two laps later that the race was halted for the competition yellow pit stop. The cars were halted on the front stretch for a five minute chance to change tires, refuel, etc. The top five in running order at the point were VanDerWal, Brayton Carter who had started ninth and had just made the pass on McDaniel as they ran second and third in that order, fourth was sixteenth place starter, the #66 of Tim Plummer from Norway, Iowa (who had not been there the previous night) and Brandon Dale was running in fifth place.
When the race picked back up, VanDerWal just motored off again. Carter experienced some sort of mechanical issues immediately, and he exited into the pits, putting McDaniel back in second place. The race was for that second place spot as McDaniel and Plumber duked it out....McDaniel running the high side and Plumber trying with all he had to slip under him. At lap thirty and the checkered flag, VanDerWal took the win, McDaniel held on to the runner up spot and Plumber was third. Fourth went to Aaron Osweiler and Brett Lowry was fifth. A post race inspection in tech found that Osweiler had an illegal wheel, and that moved Cory VanZante up a spot to finish in fifth. VanZante moved up well in the field from an early issue on lap two when he spun in turn two, had some damage but tagged the field. He also claimed the shocks of VanDerWal after the race, and he sold.
A look back at the season feature wins at Osky this year, indicates that VanDerWal has six wins under his belt---that coming with three rain outs at the track.
The IMCA Hobby Stock 30-lap "dance" was up next. The earlier "dash" of the top 8 qualifiers put Craig Brown and Dustin Griffiths sitting on the front row for the start. Griffiths snagged the immediate lead while Brown tucked into the runner up spot. When the halfway mark at 15-laps came, Griffiths was sitting comfortably in the lead, and Brown was in second place holding back Danny Thrasher in third. Nick Ulin ran in fourth and veteran Bill Bonnett was in fifth. Their pit stop also found the cars on the front stretch as their crews added fuel, checked tire pressure, etc., but they were not allowed to change tires, or they would go to the tail of the field.
The second half of the race went green to checkered, Griffiths maintaining his comfortable lead all the way to the checkers and the $1,000 win. It was a battle for second place with two laps remaining as Brown, Thrasher and Bonnett went at it, Thrasher winning out in the waning laps to take second. Third was Brown, Bonnett finished fourth and Nick Ulin was fifth. In post race inspection, Bill Bonnett was deemed to have an "illegal rev limiter" and was disqualified, which moved sixth place finisher Travis Bunnell up to the fifth spot. Griffiths claimed his fourth win at the track in 2015.
Next came the long awaited 30-lap "Big Dance" for the IMCA Stock Cars. Their dash to determine starting spots for the already qualified top 8 from the previous night, put Missouri racer Derrick Agee sitting on the pole spot and Chelsea Charger, Damon Murty on the outside front row.
Murty grabbed the lead when the race went green and was still leading when a yellow came out at lap six for a melee just out of turn two. When the race picked back up, Murty kept hold of his top spot, Derrick Agee still running second and one of the Orange Crush team cars, that of the 10CC piloted by Cayden Carter was tucked into the third spot. This would be the running order when the competition yellow came out for their halfway pit stop. Mike Hughes was sitting in fourth and the other Agee brother, Cody Agee was running fifth. The drivers got a six minute pit stop to make adjustments to their machines.
When racing got back underway, Cayden Carter quickly moved his ride into the runner up spot and set his target on the 99D of Murty. By the time lap nineteen was scored, Carter had taken over as captain of the ship and he and Murty were in a breakaway from the rest of the field. But enter another of the Orange Crush machines out of the Roger Kelderman stable....that being the 33Z piloted by Zack VanderBeek! Time would run out however, and the race ended with Cayden Carter being crowned the 2015 winner of the Great American Stock Car Shootout, Murty was the runner up and VanderBeek came from tenth starting spot to finish third. Fourth went to Wilton, Iowa racer David Brandies who had started eleventh and Mike Hughes rounded out the top five. It was a happy Carter in victory lane, getting the win after finishing second to VanderBeek in last year's race. Carter posted his third stock car win at Osky this year....this one giving him a $2,000 pay check and eligibility for the Race of Champions at this coming year's IMCA Super Nationals, as did the winners of the Hobby Stock and SportMod features.
The new inductees into this year's Hall of Fame at the Southern Iowa Speedway were also announced last evening. They will be honored with their inductions at this year's Southern Iowa Fair race. They are Dean Sylvester, Danny Wallace and Jim Brown. Sylvester, who is a former racer, car owner, mechanic and car builder is already in the famed Knoxville Raceway Hall of Fame just down the road. Danny Wallace is a former IMCA National Modified Champion, who raced at Osky back in the 1990's regularly and who was known as the "Ridge Runner" for his preferred top line on a track. Jim Brown was the third inductee announced last evening. Brown saw much success at the Osky track in years gone by piloting his familiar #54. He follows his son, the late Aaron Brown who was among the initial inductees into the Hall of Fame last year.
Weekly racing continues next Wednesday at the Southern Iowa Speedway. Hot laps are 7 and racing at 7:30.
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Night #2, Southern Iowa Speedway 20th Annual Stock Car Shoot Out
Unofficial results:
Stock Car:
1. 10CC Cayden Carter
2. 99D Damon Murty
3. 33Z Zack VanderBeek
4. 71 David Brandies
5. 14 Derrick Agee
6. 11 Mike Hughes
7. 77N Daniel Hilsabeck
8. 17P Brad Pinkerton
9. 00 Johnny Spaw
10. 17C Shane Paris
11. 22R Todd Reitzler
12. 25 Cody Agee
13. 7 Todd Phillips
14. 79S Jason See
15. 3D Dan Gordon
16. 52 Nathan Wood
17. 1X Michael Peterson
18. 6C Caleb Crenshaw - Ft. Worth, TX
19. 72 Jerry Pilcher
20. 87 Les Blakley
21. 46B Michael Bilyeau
DNF: 12 Doug Sylvester
64 Casey Greubel
3 Joe Zadina
DNS: 17 Brock Welch
DNQ: 54 Robbie Merkel
8 Austin Evens
12H DuWayne Herb
4J Bob Lynch
71Z Ron Christopher - Forney, TX
19 Donnie Pearson
Hobby Stock:
1. 10G Dustin Griffiths - led all 30 laps
2, 84 Danny Thrasher
3. 69 Craig Brown
4. 19 Bill Bonnett - DQ'D Illegal rev limiter
5. 21 Nick Ulin
6. 3 Travis Bunnell
7. 32T Bobby Greene
8. 10 Dale Porter
9. 96R Jamie Songer
10. 31 Adam Bonnett
11. 224 August Bach
12. 2 Brandon Potts
13. 73 Aaron Martin
14. 3S Steve Allen
15. 15W Clayton Webster
16. 14 Christian Huffman
DNF: 53D Ron Downing
52 Kevin Fee
SportMod:
1. 1V Curtis VanDerWal - Led all 30 laps. Shocks were claimed by 34Z Cory VanZante
2. 85 Jason McDaniel
3. 66 Tim Plummer, Norway, Iowa
4. 7A Aaron Osweiler - DQ'D - Illegal wheel
5. 72 Brett Lowry
6. 34Z Cory Cory VanZante
7. 12D Brandon Dale
8. 80J Jared VanDeest
9. 25 Scott VanBuskirk
10. 352 Charlie Weber
11. 84B Trent Brink
12. 53 Greg Strohman
13. 4G Michael Guthrie
14. 26 Scott Brau
15. 01 Brayton Carter
16, 9A Logan Anderson
17. 20 Danny Brau
18. 29 Colton Livezey
19. 16 Matthew VanGelder
20. 14B Kyle Hill
DNS: 49G Leroy Groenendyk
Iowa Sportsmen Series:
1. 73 Aaron Martin - 1st win ever
2. 47 DeZwarte
3. 54 Gene Tish
The three new Hall of Fame Inductees were announced. They are: Dean Sylvester, Danny Wallace,
and Jim Brown.
Stock Car:
1. 10CC Cayden Carter
2. 99D Damon Murty
3. 33Z Zack VanderBeek
4. 71 David Brandies
5. 14 Derrick Agee
6. 11 Mike Hughes
7. 77N Daniel Hilsabeck
8. 17P Brad Pinkerton
9. 00 Johnny Spaw
10. 17C Shane Paris
11. 22R Todd Reitzler
12. 25 Cody Agee
13. 7 Todd Phillips
14. 79S Jason See
15. 3D Dan Gordon
16. 52 Nathan Wood
17. 1X Michael Peterson
18. 6C Caleb Crenshaw - Ft. Worth, TX
19. 72 Jerry Pilcher
20. 87 Les Blakley
21. 46B Michael Bilyeau
DNF: 12 Doug Sylvester
64 Casey Greubel
3 Joe Zadina
DNS: 17 Brock Welch
DNQ: 54 Robbie Merkel
8 Austin Evens
12H DuWayne Herb
4J Bob Lynch
71Z Ron Christopher - Forney, TX
19 Donnie Pearson
Hobby Stock:
1. 10G Dustin Griffiths - led all 30 laps
2, 84 Danny Thrasher
3. 69 Craig Brown
4. 19 Bill Bonnett - DQ'D Illegal rev limiter
5. 21 Nick Ulin
6. 3 Travis Bunnell
7. 32T Bobby Greene
8. 10 Dale Porter
9. 96R Jamie Songer
10. 31 Adam Bonnett
11. 224 August Bach
12. 2 Brandon Potts
13. 73 Aaron Martin
14. 3S Steve Allen
15. 15W Clayton Webster
16. 14 Christian Huffman
DNF: 53D Ron Downing
52 Kevin Fee
SportMod:
1. 1V Curtis VanDerWal - Led all 30 laps. Shocks were claimed by 34Z Cory VanZante
2. 85 Jason McDaniel
3. 66 Tim Plummer, Norway, Iowa
4. 7A Aaron Osweiler - DQ'D - Illegal wheel
5. 72 Brett Lowry
6. 34Z Cory Cory VanZante
7. 12D Brandon Dale
8. 80J Jared VanDeest
9. 25 Scott VanBuskirk
10. 352 Charlie Weber
11. 84B Trent Brink
12. 53 Greg Strohman
13. 4G Michael Guthrie
14. 26 Scott Brau
15. 01 Brayton Carter
16, 9A Logan Anderson
17. 20 Danny Brau
18. 29 Colton Livezey
19. 16 Matthew VanGelder
20. 14B Kyle Hill
DNS: 49G Leroy Groenendyk
Iowa Sportsmen Series:
1. 73 Aaron Martin - 1st win ever
2. 47 DeZwarte
3. 54 Gene Tish
The three new Hall of Fame Inductees were announced. They are: Dean Sylvester, Danny Wallace,
and Jim Brown.
Banks banks second win at Osky, and Strickler struck at Britt
We made the long drive up to Britt, Iowa on Tuesday night to attend the Hancock County Speedway's Salute to Veteran's special that included the Hawkeye Dirt Tour for the IMCA Modifieds. It was paying $3,300 for Modifieds, $1,700 for Stock Cars and $1,200 for SportMods and Hobby Stocks. The 2 1/2 hour trip was worth it to see the show on the black-as-coal .4 mile dirt oval that sits on the fairgrounds on the south edge of Britt. The only downer was getting home in the wee hours of the morning and then off to a next morning appointment in Des Moines and then to see more racing at the Southern Iowa Speedway for night #1 of the Stock Car Shoot Out.
We were not familiar with a lot of drivers in some of the classes as we seldom see them. One of those was the winner of the 12-lap Hobby Stock feature---#21 Andrew Borchardt. He had to out duel Cody Nielsen....a former IMCA Super National's champion, on his way to the $1,200 pay off. Third was Cory Gansen, fourth went to Kyle Ricke and Chanse Hollatz was fifth.
The IMCA Northern SportMods went 15-lap in their main event. Jared Boumesster from Waseca, Minnesota nabbed the lead when the race started but hot shoe Nick Meyer from Whittemore, Iowa quickly took over the helm. Meyer kept hold of the top spot to the checkers and the win. Boumesster was the runner up, and third went to George Nordman. Making an amazing run from starting 16th to take fourth place, was Jenae Gustin. Gustin made a late race charge by going topside and it would have been interesting to see the race go just a couple of laps longer, and no doubt the finish would have been close! She was named hard charger of the class and banked some extra $ for the night. Greg Sidles rounded out the top five. Winner Meyer took his second win within the week at Britt as he also won the special Northern SportMod Nationals the previous Tuesday night for a $2,500 payday that went along with his $1,200 on this night.
There was some great racing in the 18-lap IMCA Stock Car feature. Veteran racer Kevin Opheim drew the pole for the start of the feature. Opheim held the early lead with Dave Smith knocking at his door. Throw Randy Brands and Damon Murty and Minnesota's Dustin Larson into the mix, and we had a "barn burner"! About lap fourteen, Opheim found himself in spin mode down in turn two, bringing out a yellow and retiring him to the rear for the restart. Randy Brands had already made the move into first place and this is where he would stay the rest of the distance....withstanding 4-wide challenges in taking the win. Dave Smith was second, third was Damon Murty, Dustin Larson was fourth and Derek Green rounded out the top five.
The 30-lap IMCA Modified Dirt Tour Race was the finale of the night....sent off with fireworks as the cars did their parade lap, each carrying the Stars and Stripes of our great country. What a sight on the Salute to Veteran's night at the track.
Sitting on the front row, courtesy of the draw/redraw system, was "Todzilla", Todd Shute and Kyle Brown. Right behind in row two were Kyle Strickler and Ronn Laurtizen. Brown grab the lead immediately and Strickler tucked in behind him. Brown held the lead until Kyle Strickler went to the topside, which he is known for.....they don't call him "the high side tickler" for nothing...and he was soon in the top spot. The only yellow of the race came at lap thirteen, which was no hindrance to Strickler, as he shot off on the restart, stretching his lead, taking the comfortable win. Kyle Brown held second place, finishing well ahead of third place finisher Ricky Thornton, Jr. from Chandler, Arizona. Thornton had started twelfth. Fourth was former Hawkeye Dirt Tour champion, Ronn Lauritzen, and Jimmy Gustin finished fifth.
After a short night's sleep, and a forenoon appointment in Des Moines, we regrouped and headed to Osky on Tuesday night for the 20th Annual Budweiser IMCA Great American Stock Car Shoot Out.
It was an unusually cool night of racing for July, welcomed by many.
There was a full show for the IMCA Modifieds and the IMCA Sport Compacts. The Stock Cars, SportMods and Hobby Stocks ran only two sets of qualifying heats....the second go around of heats being a complete reversal of the ORIGINAL draw....thus not competing against the same cars. Eight drivers qualified in each class, accumulating points from their finishes in their two heats, for the Shoot Out features tonight. They will run a dash to establish their starting spots. The fields will be filled in tonight with last chance races in the Stock Car, SportMod and Hobby Stock divisions. Each of their 30-lap features will be stopped at the halfway mark for a pit stop on the track. The Iowa Sportsman Series will also be running.
The Sport Compact had a field of ten cars last night. It was led from start to finish by first time visitor to the track, Josh Barnes. Barnes, from Keokuk, Iowa won easily over another first time visitor, Shane Evans from Iowa City. Third was John Whalen, Bill Whalen was fourth and Jon Girdley completed the top five.
Brandon Banks stepped back into Victory Lane at the Southern Iowa Speedway, winning the IMCA 16-lap Modified feature for the second time. After a long absence in seeing the checkers, Banks has now made it two-in-a-row at Osky. He led all laps in taking the comfortable victory. Cayden Carter came from row three to take second place. Third was Andrew Schoeder, fourth was Tyler Groenendyk and Colt Mather was fifth.
The drivers locked into the "Big Dance" for tonight and running a dash for their starting spot, are:
Stock Cars: 10CC Cayden Carter, 99D Damon Murty, 11 Mike Hughes, 77N Daniel Hilsabeck, 25 Cody Agee, 52 Nathan Wood, 14 Derrick Agee, and 17C Shane Paris.
SportMod: lV Curtis VanDerWal, 9A Logan Anderson, 85 Jason McDaniel, 72, Brett Lowry, 29 Colton Livezey, 14B Kyle Hill, 34Z Cory VanZante, and 352 Charlie Weber.
Hobby Stock: 10G Dustin Griffiths, 84 Danny Thrasher, 21 Nick Ulin, 69 Craig Brown, 31 Adam Bonnett, 2 Brandon Potts, and 96R Jamie Songer.
We are looking forward to returning for the finale of the 20th Annual IMCA Budweiser Great American Stock Car Shoot Out tonight. Hot laps are 7 and racing at 7:30.
We were not familiar with a lot of drivers in some of the classes as we seldom see them. One of those was the winner of the 12-lap Hobby Stock feature---#21 Andrew Borchardt. He had to out duel Cody Nielsen....a former IMCA Super National's champion, on his way to the $1,200 pay off. Third was Cory Gansen, fourth went to Kyle Ricke and Chanse Hollatz was fifth.
The IMCA Northern SportMods went 15-lap in their main event. Jared Boumesster from Waseca, Minnesota nabbed the lead when the race started but hot shoe Nick Meyer from Whittemore, Iowa quickly took over the helm. Meyer kept hold of the top spot to the checkers and the win. Boumesster was the runner up, and third went to George Nordman. Making an amazing run from starting 16th to take fourth place, was Jenae Gustin. Gustin made a late race charge by going topside and it would have been interesting to see the race go just a couple of laps longer, and no doubt the finish would have been close! She was named hard charger of the class and banked some extra $ for the night. Greg Sidles rounded out the top five. Winner Meyer took his second win within the week at Britt as he also won the special Northern SportMod Nationals the previous Tuesday night for a $2,500 payday that went along with his $1,200 on this night.
There was some great racing in the 18-lap IMCA Stock Car feature. Veteran racer Kevin Opheim drew the pole for the start of the feature. Opheim held the early lead with Dave Smith knocking at his door. Throw Randy Brands and Damon Murty and Minnesota's Dustin Larson into the mix, and we had a "barn burner"! About lap fourteen, Opheim found himself in spin mode down in turn two, bringing out a yellow and retiring him to the rear for the restart. Randy Brands had already made the move into first place and this is where he would stay the rest of the distance....withstanding 4-wide challenges in taking the win. Dave Smith was second, third was Damon Murty, Dustin Larson was fourth and Derek Green rounded out the top five.
The 30-lap IMCA Modified Dirt Tour Race was the finale of the night....sent off with fireworks as the cars did their parade lap, each carrying the Stars and Stripes of our great country. What a sight on the Salute to Veteran's night at the track.
Sitting on the front row, courtesy of the draw/redraw system, was "Todzilla", Todd Shute and Kyle Brown. Right behind in row two were Kyle Strickler and Ronn Laurtizen. Brown grab the lead immediately and Strickler tucked in behind him. Brown held the lead until Kyle Strickler went to the topside, which he is known for.....they don't call him "the high side tickler" for nothing...and he was soon in the top spot. The only yellow of the race came at lap thirteen, which was no hindrance to Strickler, as he shot off on the restart, stretching his lead, taking the comfortable win. Kyle Brown held second place, finishing well ahead of third place finisher Ricky Thornton, Jr. from Chandler, Arizona. Thornton had started twelfth. Fourth was former Hawkeye Dirt Tour champion, Ronn Lauritzen, and Jimmy Gustin finished fifth.
After a short night's sleep, and a forenoon appointment in Des Moines, we regrouped and headed to Osky on Tuesday night for the 20th Annual Budweiser IMCA Great American Stock Car Shoot Out.
It was an unusually cool night of racing for July, welcomed by many.
There was a full show for the IMCA Modifieds and the IMCA Sport Compacts. The Stock Cars, SportMods and Hobby Stocks ran only two sets of qualifying heats....the second go around of heats being a complete reversal of the ORIGINAL draw....thus not competing against the same cars. Eight drivers qualified in each class, accumulating points from their finishes in their two heats, for the Shoot Out features tonight. They will run a dash to establish their starting spots. The fields will be filled in tonight with last chance races in the Stock Car, SportMod and Hobby Stock divisions. Each of their 30-lap features will be stopped at the halfway mark for a pit stop on the track. The Iowa Sportsman Series will also be running.
The Sport Compact had a field of ten cars last night. It was led from start to finish by first time visitor to the track, Josh Barnes. Barnes, from Keokuk, Iowa won easily over another first time visitor, Shane Evans from Iowa City. Third was John Whalen, Bill Whalen was fourth and Jon Girdley completed the top five.
Brandon Banks stepped back into Victory Lane at the Southern Iowa Speedway, winning the IMCA 16-lap Modified feature for the second time. After a long absence in seeing the checkers, Banks has now made it two-in-a-row at Osky. He led all laps in taking the comfortable victory. Cayden Carter came from row three to take second place. Third was Andrew Schoeder, fourth was Tyler Groenendyk and Colt Mather was fifth.
The drivers locked into the "Big Dance" for tonight and running a dash for their starting spot, are:
Stock Cars: 10CC Cayden Carter, 99D Damon Murty, 11 Mike Hughes, 77N Daniel Hilsabeck, 25 Cody Agee, 52 Nathan Wood, 14 Derrick Agee, and 17C Shane Paris.
SportMod: lV Curtis VanDerWal, 9A Logan Anderson, 85 Jason McDaniel, 72, Brett Lowry, 29 Colton Livezey, 14B Kyle Hill, 34Z Cory VanZante, and 352 Charlie Weber.
Hobby Stock: 10G Dustin Griffiths, 84 Danny Thrasher, 21 Nick Ulin, 69 Craig Brown, 31 Adam Bonnett, 2 Brandon Potts, and 96R Jamie Songer.
We are looking forward to returning for the finale of the 20th Annual IMCA Budweiser Great American Stock Car Shoot Out tonight. Hot laps are 7 and racing at 7:30.
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Osky - Night #1 of the 20th Annual Stock Car Shoot Out
Unofficial results:
Modified:
1. 22 Brandon Banks - Two in a row at Osky
2. 10C Cayden Carter
3. 02 Andrew Schroeder
4. 9 Tyler Groenendyk
5. 8 Colt Mather
6. 7V Carter VandenBerg
DNF: 40 Scott Dickey
K1 Kyle Krampe
DNS: 7W Jerry Pilcher
Sport Compact
1. 13B Josh Barnes
2. 92E Shane Evans
3. 77 John Whalen
4. 07 Bill Whalen
5. 33 Jon Girdley
6. 0 Ryan Havel
7. 29 Kevin Garrett
8. 22M Curt Myers
DNF: 2M Matt Moore
33G Trent Orwig
No features for Stock Car, Hobby Stock or SportMod
Top 8 Qualifiers by points locked into A for tomorrow. They will run a dash for
starting position.
Stock Cars: (35 cars) 10CC Cayden Carter, 99D Damon Murty, 11 Mike Hughes, 77N Daniel Hilsabeck, 25 Cody Agee, 52 Nathan Wood, 14 Derrick Agee, 17C Shane Paris
Hobby Stock: (20 cars) 10G Dustin Griffiths, 84 Danny Thrasher, 21 Nick Ulin, 69 Craig Brown, 31 Adam Bonnett, 10 Dale Porter, 2 Brandon Potts, 96R Jamie Songer
SportMod: (17 cars) 1V Curtis VanDerWal, 9A Logan Anderson, 85 Jason McDaniel, 72 Brett Lowry, 29 Colton Livezey, 14B Kyle Hill, 34Z Cory VanZante, 352 Charlie Weber
Modified:
1. 22 Brandon Banks - Two in a row at Osky
2. 10C Cayden Carter
3. 02 Andrew Schroeder
4. 9 Tyler Groenendyk
5. 8 Colt Mather
6. 7V Carter VandenBerg
DNF: 40 Scott Dickey
K1 Kyle Krampe
DNS: 7W Jerry Pilcher
Sport Compact
1. 13B Josh Barnes
2. 92E Shane Evans
3. 77 John Whalen
4. 07 Bill Whalen
5. 33 Jon Girdley
6. 0 Ryan Havel
7. 29 Kevin Garrett
8. 22M Curt Myers
DNF: 2M Matt Moore
33G Trent Orwig
No features for Stock Car, Hobby Stock or SportMod
Top 8 Qualifiers by points locked into A for tomorrow. They will run a dash for
starting position.
Stock Cars: (35 cars) 10CC Cayden Carter, 99D Damon Murty, 11 Mike Hughes, 77N Daniel Hilsabeck, 25 Cody Agee, 52 Nathan Wood, 14 Derrick Agee, 17C Shane Paris
Hobby Stock: (20 cars) 10G Dustin Griffiths, 84 Danny Thrasher, 21 Nick Ulin, 69 Craig Brown, 31 Adam Bonnett, 10 Dale Porter, 2 Brandon Potts, 96R Jamie Songer
SportMod: (17 cars) 1V Curtis VanDerWal, 9A Logan Anderson, 85 Jason McDaniel, 72 Brett Lowry, 29 Colton Livezey, 14B Kyle Hill, 34Z Cory VanZante, 352 Charlie Weber
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)