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.
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