After a two week absence, the Southern Iowa Speedway was back in action on Wednesday. A nice crowd came out to watch the racing on a beautiful, late August night.
Seven IMCA Sport Compacts competed in their 10-lap feature event. When the first lap was in the books, it was the #77 leading, but on this evening instead of John Whalen behind the wheel, it was brother Bill Whalen piloting the car....taking the reins for the evening while John battles some health issues. Whalen wasn't long to be the lead car however, as Keokuk, Iowa's Josh Barnes was in the house, and at lap two, Barnes took command. He would hold the lead the remaining distance to the checkers flying, securing his second win, on his second visit to the track in 2015. Bill Whalen was second, third went to Ryan Havel, fourth was Trent Orwig and Curt Myers was fifth. Jon Girdley and Matt Moore did not finish.
All eighteen IMCA Northern SportMods took the green flag in their 16-lap A main. This one was won in convincing fashion by Logan Anderson. The only blemish in this race was a no go situation on the initial start when the A5 of Austin Paul was off power and out of the race. Anderson took the lead away from Charlie Weber as lap two was scored. From there on, Anderson stretched his lead, as the race went green to the checkers---winning by more than a straightaway. Charlie Weber was the runner up, chasing Anderson the entire race from a distance. Brayton Carter was third, Jason McDaniel fourth, and Curtis Van Der Wal was fifth. This was Anderson's first win at Osky.
The Class too Tough to Tame, the IMCA Stock Cars were up next. This class never fails to put on a great show for the fans. The race did not get off on a good foot however. When the green flew for the start of the race, the pack of cars entered turn one, only to have Donnie Pearson lose the handle on his ride. A number of cars piled up with no where to go. Six or seven cars were involved, and some had to call it a night because of damage. Among those were Nathan Wood, Jerry Pilcher, Daniel Hilsabeck (who was in a #76 car instead of his usual ride #77N....I suspect it was the car usually run by Trent Partridge from Elk Horn, Iowa) and point leader Cayden Carter was soon to exit with too much damage as well. When things did get started, it was a pack of cars vying for position all over the track.... in a "throw a blanket over them" fashion. Jason See led the field but close company was Brad Pinkerton, and Damon Murty. When a yellow flew at lap six when Pinkerton ended up in the turn one wall, See was still holding down the point spot. When the race returned to green, it was an all out shoot out for position up front! Murty took the lead but Todd Reitzler wasn't done! The two swapped back and forth for the number one spot, and then Mike Hughes joined in for a three car battle. Those three cars gave the fans their money's worth....running three wide at times. Mike Hughes finally established the lead at lap thirteen and held Murty off at the checkers. Hughes won for the first time at Osky in this his rookie year in the Stock Car class....though having many, many wins in the Hobby Stock division in years past. Murty had to settle for runner up, Todd Reitzler was a close third and Jason See was fourth. Kris Walker started deep in the field and finished in fifth.
Danny Thrasher took the win in the 15-lap IMCA Hobby Stock event. Thrasher took command at lap three and never gave it up. Travis Bunnell chased Thrasher most of the distance and finished in second. Third went to veteran racer Brad Stephens who had started in eleventh position, point leader Dustin Griffiths recouped after tagging the field after a work area visit, and finished a close fourth, and fifth went to Steve Allen. Craig Brown---with a right door dangling---was sixth. This was Thrasher's second win of the regular season, plus also winning the Frostbuster.
Eleven IMCA Modifieds were on hand with several visiting drivers trying their hand on the Monster Half Mile. Earlier in the evening during hot laps, one of those cars was eliminated when the 93L car...looking much like a car that Wayne Larson would have raced, appeared to have the throttle stick...sending it into the turn one wall. It came to the track along with the 2L of Adam Larson who was also competing. Two other drivers came from far away....the #74S of Chris Sieweke from Santa Rosa, California and the #11X driven by Tom Berry from Medford, Oregon. Both drivers are already in the area for the upcoming IMCA Super Nationals. It was also great to see Ron VerBeek racing at Osky again. He was in the #29 car with "Franz" on the side.
Colt Mather went home with another Modified victory---matching his win from the last time the Southern Iowa Speedway held a weekly show. Turn one was not friendly to many drivers last night. Adam Larson was done early when he could not avoid a spinning Ryan Fullenkamp in turn one just after lap one was scored. When action resumed, it was the "Kool Aid Kid", Andrew Schroeder leading. By lap two, Colt Mather was closing to his bumper. Mather knocked on Schroeder's door, and made his persistence pay off, taking the lead as they approached the flagstand as lap nine was scored. Mather would keep his lead the remainder of the race, scoring the win. Second place went to Cayden Carter. Carter was able to slip by Schroeder on the final lap of a green-white-checkered finish. Following third place Schroeder to finish fourth was Tyler Groenendyk and Carter VandenBerg completed the top five.
There is just one more regular season race remaining at Osky this year, that being the Season Championships on September 23. Please note, there will be no weekly racing until that date. There is a tight points battle going on in the Modified and Stock Car classes. In the Modifieds, Cayden Carter holds a five point lead over Tyler Groenendyk and Carter VandenBerg, tied for second and third place, and Andrew Schroeder sits just six points out. An event tighter points battle is brewing in the Stock Car division. Going into the night, Cayden Carter held a ten point lead over Mike Hughes. Carter's bad luck put him out early in the feature and with Hughes winning, it's now Hughes with a one point margin over Carter. All other classes seems to be wrapped up---Curtis Van Der Wal leads SportMod points by 37 over Brayton Carter, Dustin Griffiths is 27 up on Travis Bunnell and Bill Whalen has a 41 point lead over his closest rival, Curt Myers.
As mentioned before, please remember there will not be another weekly race until September 23rd at Osky when it will be the season final. Also mark your calendar for October 2-3 for the Musco Fall Challenge....always a great end of the season race. Thanks for reading!
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