It was Mahaska Bottling Company Night at the Races on Wednesday at the Southern Iowa Speedway. It was also Kid's Night where the youngsters enjoyed a ride around the big ole Monster Half Mile in a race car....and a little later, a candy scramble on the track during intermission.
At the end of the night, history was made, when a driver who has raced for 30 years, finally got his first EVER feature win. It also found a driver keep his 2021 record perfect at the speedway, winning for the third week in a row.
Just five Non-Wing Sprint cars were on hand, but this class made history last evening as the #71 of Robert Bell, "The Colfax Comet", put it in victory lane. Bell, who has been racing for thirty years, was pretty emotional in his post race interview with announcer Jerry Mackey after winning his first feature. "It means more to me than you'll ever know", was his comment, and the crowd responded with a rousing round of applause. It was our understanding that he was also recovering from pneumonia, and wasn't sure he'd have the stamina to race last evening. But race he did, and led all ten laps on his way to that elusive first win. Congratulations to him!
The Sport Compacts were the biggest class of the evening, bringing eighteen competitors to try their hand at taming "The Monster". After an initial no start the 4-cylinder class raced the ten laps to the checkers without a yellow.
Matt Moore led the first handful of laps but was suddenly off the pace and into the pits after lap five was scored. This handed the race lead over to last week's winner Jaden DeLonjay with Clayton Webster in hot pursuit, and Jeffrey DeLonjay hanging close by. Webster made the pass on lap seven to take the top spot away, and Jaden DeLonjay would then be off the pace the following lap and into the pits. This would pit Webster and Jeffrey DeLonjay in the final run to the checkers. It was no contest in the closing moments however, as Clayton Webster would take the checkers comfortably over Jeffrey DeLonjay in second. Billy Cain, Lewie Winkelman, and Nathan Moody rounded out the top five.
Dustin Griffiths, last year's track champion in the Hobby Stock division, got back on track from his great 2020 season, and took the checkers, scoring his first win of the year. Griffiths nabbed the lead away from Aaron Martin on lap three, and from there on, never looked back. Martin took the runner up spot, Brad Stephens was third, fourth went to the previous two week's winner, Rick VanDusseldorp, and Keaton Gordon was fifth.
Logan Anderson started in the number one spot, and stayed there the entire 16-lap SportMod feature to make his first stop in victory lane for 2021. Curtis VanDerWal was quickly up to challenge Anderson early in the race, and was applying pressure. But at the half-way mark, in an attempt to dive under Anderson in corner one, VanDerWal went uncharacteristically spinning out, bringing out a yellow. VanDerWal tagged the field of eight cars for the restart. Anderson would hold the top spot the remaining distance to the checkers to secure the win. VanDerWal flew through the field to take the number two spot. Maguire DeJong, last week's winner, who was a bit late in arriving at the track as he was inducted into his Montezuma High School's National Honor Society, finished third. Fourth went to Blaine Webster, and Scott Brau was fifth.
Dustin Griffiths was hoping for a twofer night, as he led the 16 lap Stock Car feature through lap nine. However, Derrick Agee had his goal of keeping his streak going as he started eighth and was up to challenge Griffiths by the half-way mark. By lap ten, Agee had made the pass going down the back chute, for the lead. Griffiths hung close but on this night, it was Agee again taking the checkers, Griffiths having to settle for second. Todd Reitzler made his first appearance at the track in 2021, and went home with a third place finish. Nathan Wood and Jason Hall rounded out the top five. Agee is a perfect three for three so far this season.
Next week, Wednesday May 19 will be Memorial Night at the races, where drivers and fans can recognize those who have left us.
Find a race to attend and keep the sport of dirt track racing alive and well!
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