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.
No comments:
Post a Comment