Though it was a hot and sultry night for racing at the Southern Iowa Speedway on Wednesday, the saving grace was the breeze from the north, offering a bit of relief to all. Colt Mather won in the Modified division for the second time in a row, and Cayden Carter is still keeping his perfect streak going in the IMCA Stock Cars. A new face stepped into Victory Lane in the SportMod class with Austin Paul's win. Danny Thrasher made it back-to-back wins in the Hobby Stock division and Shane Evans won for the second time in 2016 in the Sport Compacts. All five features went caution free.
John Whalen led the opening laps of the Sport Compact feature, but relinquished it at lap four to Shane Evans. From there on, Evans drove off from the field, scoring the win by a comfortable margin. Bill Whalen, Jr. started ninth and finished as the runner up, third went to brother John Whalen, fourth was Lincoln Schrock and Jason Breuklander rounded out the top five. Evans started in the fifth row and hustled quickly to the front to score his second win at Osky this year.
Up next was the 15-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature. Nick Ulin jumped to the lead from his third place starting position and held it until lap seven. That would be when Danny Thrasher made the pass for the lead. He stretched that lead the remaining laps to take the easy win. Ulin would hold on to second place, and Dustin Griffiths was third. Steve Allen was fourth and August Bach, fifth. Thrasher also won last week, making it back to back wins.
Going into the IMCA Stock Car feature last night, Cayden Carter had been the star of the class...winning all previous six A mains. By the time that 16-lap feature was over, Carter was once again in the winner's circle. He started fifth and made the pass on Mike Hughes for the lead in turn one just after lap four was scored. From there on, it was clear and easy sailing for the young man, as he finished well ahead of second place Mike Hughes. Derrick Agee was third and Louis Lynch, was fourth---a pair of Missouri racers, and Todd Reitzler completed the top five. Carter continues his perfect status on the regular season. The only time Carter has not won at the track this year, was the pre-season Frostbuster back on March 30 when Derrick Agee won...and Carter was second.
The IMCA Northern SportMods ran their 16-lap feature next. Austin Paul took command immediately from his outside front row starting spot. From then on, he held that coveted spot all the way to the finish, and his first win at Osky this year. He put a good distance between himself and the rest of the field through most of the event, until the final two laps when sixth place starter Curtis VanDerWal finally got Paul reeled in. It was close at the finish line, but VanDerWal had to be content with the runner up spot. Third went to sixth place starter, Carter VandenBerg. fourth to Matthew VanGelder and Jason McDaniel rounded out the top five.
There were only seven cars present in the IMCA Modified class last evening, and three of those cars were travelers from afar. Two Californians stopped by, racing in Iowa for the first time as they plan to be in the area for some fun this summer. The #11 of Cody Laney out of Torrance, California, and Ethan Dotson #174 (the 74 is so small it appears to be #1) from Bakersfield. Dotson was in our area last racing season getting time behind the wheel on our dirt ovals. Kyle Strickeler, "The High Side Tickler" from Mooresville, North Carolina was also in the house. He had just picked up his new Harris Auto Racing chassis and gave it a test run on the Monster Half Mile.
The 16-lap feature began with Scott Dickey pulling to the lead from the pole position. Fourth place starter, and last week's winner, Colt Mather, tucked into second place and began the chase. Mather began closing the gap, reeling in Dickey lap after lap. Mather peeked under Dickey as they went down the back stretch on lap thirteen, and was leading when they passed the finish line on lap fourteen. He would keep the lead to the checkers and the win. Dickey had to settle for the runner up spot. Zack VanderBeek took third, Kyle Strickler tickled the topside at times, testing his new ride, and came home in fourth place, and visiting Cody Laney was fifth. Mather won for the second time this season, going back-to-back.
The racing action was completed at 8:59 p.m. Much of that was due to not having any cautions in any of the features...almost unheard of. It was a short field of cars also, perhaps due in part to the heat and the fact that some missing cars had raced the previous night, elsewhere.
We were joined in the stands by IMCA's Western Region Director, Paul Vetter, from California last evening. He made his usual week's pilgrimage to Iowa for racing Iowa style.
Get out and attend a race somewhere to promote the sport we all love.
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