The Southern Iowa Speedway had a beautiful Wednesday for racing. Finally, fans could sit in shirt sleeves and be comfortable while enjoying the sport we all love without shivering or being blown away. It was Memorial night and extra money was contributed in loved one's memories in all classes.
Mike Hughes took the win in the Stock Car class while it was Cayden Carter taking the victory in the SportMod division. More on that later. Dustin Griffiths snagged his second win of the year in the Hobby Stocks and Brandon Housley repeated his win from last week in the Sport Compacts.
A green-white-checkered finish in the Sport Compact was the nemesis for Cody Phillips. Phillips had led from the drop of the green and had pulled away from the field. The field was bunched for the final restart and the run to the checkers. It was just what last week's winner Brandon Housley was wishing for. The final circuit saw Housley complete the pass on Phillips, beating him to the checkers and taking the win. Phillips had to settle for the runner up spot, Kyle Boyd was third, fourth went to Jason Breuklander, and Brandon Allison finished fifth. Eleven Sport Compacts checked in for the Wednesday night fun.
Derrick Agee and Mike Hughes began their 16-lap Stock Car feature on the front row. Hughes grabbed the immediate lead, with Agee in tow. Not to be left out, Cayden Carter and Dustin Griffiths were stuck like glue to the leader's bumpers. The four cars ran in tight formation for the entire race, but in the end, it was Hughes not giving an inch as he secured the win. Agee held second place, Carter dropped out in the closing laps giving way for Grifftihs taking third place, Nathan Wood, last week's winner, came from tenth starting spot to finish fourth, and Jason See made his first appearance at the Southern Iowa Speedway and came away with a fifth place finish. The race went flag to flag.
Cayden Carter was doing some dialing in for brother Brayton Carter last evening and was the pilot of the 01 SportMod. Carter, who earlier had won his heat easily, started third. He quickly chased down Blaine Webster and Logan Anderson, and took command at lap six of the fifteen lap event. Carter pulled away from the pack, but meanwhile, Curtis VanDerWal was making his usual charge through the field, and was now in second place. Just when it looked as if Carter was destined to take the win easily, the yellow flag reared it's ugly head. This set up another green-white-checkered finish for the final charge to the finish line. Everyone was expecting it to be a fight to the finish between Carter and VanDerWal, but on this night "Superman" (as guest announcer Jeff Broeg called VanDerWal last evening) was defeated. Carter kept that lead and won by a comfortable distance to secure the victory. VanDerWal was defeated for the first time this season....and after winning all but twice last year... and finished as the runner up. Third went to Blaine Webster, fourth was Logan Anderson in the #53 "rent-a-ride", and Jason Hall rounded out the top five. As mentioned earlier, Cayden Carter was "dialing in" his younger brother Brayton's car last evening. If it had not been right previously, it certainly appeared to be spot on last night.
The final race of the evening was the Hobby Stock feature. When we noted the pole sitter was Dustin Griffiths, we were not the only ones who thought the race was going to be for second place. It was true, as Griffiths sailed off into the sunset as the race progressed. Not even another green-white-checkered finish...the third of the night...deterred Griffiths on his charge to victory. Brok Hopwood ran second all race long and finished in second. Craig Brown took third, Chanse Hollatz made his first trip to the Speedway from his home in Clear Lake, and finished fourth, and Mike Kincaid completed the top five.
It was by far the nicest night of the year to be sitting at a race track. The racing was good, the crowd was good, and we enjoyed our evening with racing friends. It was also good to hear fellow Positively Racing colleague Jeff Broeg on the mic last evening, as he filled in for regular Tony Paris who was on baseball duty. The races were run in efficient time as they started a tick before 7:30 p.m. and were finished at 9:08 p.m....four classes and 59 cars.
Next Wednesday night at SIS, fans and drivers will be able to cast their vote for the 2018 Hall of Fame candidates. Racing continues in all four classes with hot laps at 7 and racing at 7:30. Join us for some mid-week racing on the Monster Half Mile.
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