PositivelyRacing.com Driver Profile 4

Driver: Gina Greubel      Hometown: Lacona

Car#: 224        Class: Hobby Stock

When did you start racing?: Started in 2011 and have raced only Hobby Stocks.

Where are you racing in 2012?: Des Moines, Stuart and hit and miss at Oskaloosa.

Crew: Jeff Greubel, Casey Greubel, Braydn Greubel, Dave Saffell.

Sponsors: Roberts Heating and Cooling, Chase Race Decals, Affordable Elegance, Bryant Home Improvement, Team Race Chics, Ross Painting, Overhead Door Company, Farm Boy Bodies, Fleck and Son Trucking, L&J Automotive.

My local short track hero: Bill and Rex Bonnett. 

PositivelyRacing.com Driver Profile 3

Driver: Larry Hopkins
Hometown: Ottumwa
Car#: 4       
Class: Sport Compact
When did you start racing?: Started in 2004, have raced only Sport Compacts.
Talk about racing: "I love racing! The crowd, their energy, the noise is amazing. No matter where I finish, I'm pleased."
Crew: John Hopkins, Wayne Hopkins, Kassidy Kirkpatrick.
Sponsors: Burger King, Southern Iowa Foam, Slow Joe's Machine Shop, Pig's Pen, Dube Paulos, Courtney Car Crushing.
My local short track hero: Mark Moore.

"Have you been to Osky?"

“Have you been to Osky yet?” That is a question I have heard at many different places early in this season. As the track is making the transition to IMCA sanctioning under the leadership of Mike Van Genderen, it is starting to generate a lot of buzz in the local racing community. That’s good, because if they are talking about you, it means they are interested, and with the Southern Iowa Speedway, you should be.

I’ve hit three shows there so far this year and have driven away pleased each time. That’s why I am going again tonight. Van Genderen and his crew are keeping the show moving, the track has been race ready, and they are offering several new perks for race fans. It has been a busy and successful April so far.

Getting on the list as the opening night track for the 2012 version of the Frostbuster was a big event. Over 120 cars signed in to kick things off. The next two weekly shows have had solid counts in hobby stocks, stock cars and sportmods, with modifieds proving to be the tough nut to crack; however, that is not exclusive to Oskaloosa, as over the last couple of seasons, modifieds have been down in numbers at several weekly tracks. They still show up in force to specials, but weekly shows have seen a drop in regular modified faces. I know I don’t have a solution, and I hope there is somebody out there that does.

Damon Murty was the April 11 IMCA Stock Car feature winner. - Conrad Nelson photo

Larry Hopkins won the IMCA Sportmod feature on April 18. - Conrad Nelson photo

Some of those Osky perks I mentioned have included $5 admission for residents of certain communities. Tonight is Centerville, and next week is Montezuma. Be sure to check the schedule to see if your town is the next one to receive cheap admission. Last Wednesday was free popcorn night in the stands and in the pits. Fans are able to help contribute to their favorite drivers, helping them pay for their pit passes. There is new signage in the infield, and there is a new picnic/eating area by the pit concession stand. There are also some new bleacher sections in the infield so crews can get a better look at the track over the course of the night. Lots of little things are contributing to the new buzz.

Cayden Carter won the April 11 Modified feature. - Conrad Nelson photo

I think the racing has helped too. There has been close racing in all of the classes, with some late lap passes, and three and four-wide action. If a feature saw the winner run off and hide, the action has still been heated for second, third and on back in the field. Many drivers have made nice runs up through the field to finish in the top three. Sportmod driver Jesse Sobbing has started 12^th and 11^th the last two weeks and pulled off a win and a second place in the process. Shannon Anderson and Donavon Nunnikhoven have looked strong in hobby stocks so far, but there is a sizable list to compete with them each week. Modifieds, though small in number, have a strong core of Richie Gustin, Shane Weller, Andrew Schroeder, Cayden Carter and Scott Dickey showing up weekly so far. Damon Murty and Kyle Harwood have won the regular season stock features, but these have seen a lot of two and three-wide pack racing that has always been a showcase at Osky.

So, to summarize, there have been stout fields and good racing so far this season, and it sounds like there will plenty of new faces still to make appearances. I talked to Tom Killen a couple weeks back about bringing some more of the Des Moines weekly racers along with them each week, and he told me that once the Killen racing stable is up and running for 2012, they could bring as many as five cars with them alone each week.

Donavon Nunnikhoven was the Hobby Stock feature winner last Wednesday, April 18. - Conrad Nelson photo

 



Jason McDaniel saw a broken spring take him out of the lead of the April 11 Sportmod feature (top), but he bounced back to win the April 18 feature - BWJ photo (top)/Conrad Nelson photo bottom.

Shannon Anderson was the April 11 Hobby Stock feature winner. - Conrad Nelson photo

I have also heard talk of some more modifieds on their way, as some drivers are still looking to get their cars finished. I guess you have to remember that it is only April, so there are plenty of weeks left for new cars to roll in. Kyle Harwood told me last week that he is finishing up work on a modified of his own and will be running it at Osky once it is complete.

The Southern Iowa Speedway is certainly gaining a buzz here is southeast Iowa, so if you haven’t been yet this season, be sure to check it out. It is getting close to 80 degrees as I type, so tonight would be a good one to do just that.

PositivelyRacing.com Driver Profile 2

Driver: Kyle Harwood  Hometown: Oskaloosa
Car#: 15K        Class: Stock Car/Modified
When did you start racing?: Started in 2003, have raced both Stock Cars and Modifieds.
Where are you racing in 2012?: Oskaloosa, Bloomfield and maybe the Ironman Series.
Crew: Roy Harwood and Shannon Doty.
Sponsors: Thunder Creek Equipment, Big Wood Racing.
My local short track hero: Smoke.

PositivelyRacing.com Driver Profile 1

Driver: Andrew Schroeder        Hometown: West Des Moines     
Car#: 02       
Class: Modified
When did you start racing?: Started in B-mods in 2007, this is the first year for Modifieds.
Where are you racing in 2012?: Oskaloosa, West Liberty and hit and miss at Bloomfield.
Crew: My father Randy Schroeder, Doug Glandon, Terry Schroeder.
Sponsors: Tremmel Backhoe, Schroeder Service Station, Sigourney Tractor Imp., Monte Motor Parts.
My local short track hero: Randy Schroeder

"Hello pot, meet kettle."

I picked up a copy of the April edition of Speedway Illustrated that they were handing out at the Marshalltown Frostbuster a couple weeks back. I’ve toyed with subscribing, but haven’t made the commitment yet. Knowing me and my subscription collection, I’ll probably take the plunge someday.

At any rate, I was reading the column by Bones Bourcier entitled “Unscheduled and Unsuccessful” and getting my dander up. Bourcier was writing about the short track websites out there that never seem to get updated with pertinent information. I could totally relate, having found several sites that never seem to have the latest points or results. He went on to relate how these tracks were not only doing a disservice to the racers and the fans, but also themselves when they did not update their sites. I hate when they do that. It is really frustrating and it also… wait one second – he’s talking about ME!

I have this great website, covering a great sport, and obviously, I haven’t been around here for a while. I can’t get mad at others when I have the same problem. Pot meet kettle!

So this marks my formal return to PositivelyRacing.com and I am excited about being back. I didn’t totally disappear. Last season I submitted photos to magazines, websites and so forth, just not to my own. I did very little writing, covering two events at Iowa Speedway for Sporting News, and that was it. After 30-plus years of writing for others’ consumption, I hit the wall. I always thought that writer’s block was a load of hooey, but after suffering some degree of it myself, it does exist, or at least it did for me. I wrote thousands of words worth of stuff in my head in my “time off”, but getting it on the keyboard proved difficult.

So I’m back, refreshed and ready to go. I’ve seen some good shows so far and have many more on the schedule as the summer progresses. I have to thank my fellow PositivelyRacing members for sticking with me and not succumbing to blank page fever as I did. I don’t think you could find a better assortment of writers/race fans out there on the web.

Upon returning, my goal is to stay timely and give you a glimpse of what is going on out there. I can tell you I won’t be driving home through the wee hours to give you immediate results from a night at wherever. I figure if you wanted to know that bad, you would have been there sitting in the stands. Give me a good night’s sleep and I’ll be catching you up on what happened from my point of view both on the track and in the pits.

I’m also starting something new this season. With the show at Oskaloosa last Wednesday, I’m starting to put together driver profiles and will be featuring these in my blogs. I’m not going into lengthy life histories, just the basics along with a photo or two so you can get an idea of who some of the people are behind the wheel at your local track. Some of the names may be familiar, but I hope some of them will be faces that aren’t all that familiar to you. I’ll keep a list running on the right side of this blog as to who has a profile posted so far.

Again, its great to be back and I look forward to checking in with you frequently this season.