Running the High Side

The Southern Iowa Speedway opens its doors on 2011 as Mather, Weller, Sacquitne, Gibson win

2011-05-19T15:28:00.003-05:00

The Southern Iowa Speedway kicked off its 2011 season Wednesday night with great weather, a large crowd and some competitive racing. A solid start. The track would prove a little interesting, as the straights were dry, with the corners soft in the bottom. They would prove tricky, but not treacherous, as the spring moisture was still working its way out of the half mile. Twenty-two USRA B-mods, 14 USRA hobbies, 14 USRA stocks and 14 USRA modifieds signed in for the night, and nine heats and four A mains made up the program, which was finished before 10 p.m. The B modifieds ran the first feature of the night. Carter VanDenBerg led 14 and ¾ of the 15 laps, but it was Bill Gibson sweeping by in turn four to take the win. Gibson had shadowed VanDenBerg for most of the feature before making his closing move. The4 drive of the night was from Andrew Schroeder, who started 19^th and finished third. Schroeder had a DNF in his heat race, so he had affair drive ahead of him. He put on a show, and showed some power as he headed for his third place finish. Mike Shelton and Mike Wanders rounded out the top five. Next up were the stock cars, they put on a heated battle, with a lot of door-to-door racing for the early part of the feature. Nathan Wood led the early rounds, to be passed by Shane Weller. Weller would stay near the front the rest of the way, but Wood didn’t stray far. Matt Greiner and Kyle Harwood were near the front early before dropping out, and Randy Killen, Jason Minnehan and Tom Killen all had a look or two at the lead. Attrition thinned the field as Wood took a look at Weller with a couple of laps to go, but Weller would hang on for the win. Minnehan lost a spot in the closing lap as he tangled with the tractor tire in turn four. Randy Killen would take third, Tom Killen fifth. The opening laps of this one were classic Osky stock car racing. If these cars continue to make the tow all season, it will be worth a ticket to watch them. Decorah’s Danny Sacquitne made his drive worthwhile picking up wins in his hobby stock heat race and in the main event. Jim Hughes led the early laps as Sacquitne worked his way up from the seventh starting position. Hughes would hang on for second, with Steve Allen third, Donavon Nunnikhoven fourth and Calvin Dhondt fifth. The modifieds closed out the show and Nate Caruth led early on from outside the front row. Caruth held some distance early on, but behind him. The field was closing in. Colt Mather has had a successful spring so far, and he added Wednesday night to his tally as he would pass Caruth and take the win. Caruth held on for second, followed by Scott Dickey, Steven Blattler, Zack VanderBeek and Kelly Shryock. You can get a good look at these modifieds, and several more as the USMTS rolls into Oskaloosa for its only appearance of 2011. The Iron Man Challenge stock cars are also on the card along with hobby stocks and B mods. The Southern Iowa Speedway got off to good start last night. I’m looking forward to what else the season will have to offer there.

Andy Eckrich wins Deery Brothers 50-lapper Tuesday night at Marshalltown Speedway

2011-05-18T16:48:00.003-05:00

It was good to get back to the track, and Tuesday night provided a great evening to go racing. I can’t believe it was time for the Deery Brothers to return to Marshalltown. I look forward to this race every year and it was time to head north again. Forty late models were on hand for the night. Come feature time, Andy Eckrich had the field covered from the drop of the green, taking advantage of his pole position start. The track was black from top to bottom, and very smooth, providing a place to race for everyone. In talking with Eckrich after the race he said that his car was best when running the bottom. There were laps when he had to get through traffic and had to run more to the middle –when this happened, Eckrich said it felt like he could barely come out of the corners. The sooner he could get to the bottom, the better. He held his line most of the night, as he easily pulled away from the rest of the field. Only three cautions slowed the race, two of them coming with two laps complete. Mike Garland and Tommy Elston tangled in turn three, and were then collected by Colby Springsteen. Garland and Elston would continue, but Springsteen went off on the hook. On the restart a Sam Halstead spin in turn two brought out the caution again. The race would stay green until lap 22 when Jeff Aikey shredded his left rear tire. Aikey changed the Hoosier and rejoined the race, which stayed green the rest of the way. The field got close to Eckrich on these restarts, but had nothing to challenge him with. Andy ‘s biggest threats came when encountering traffic that was racing for position, as it often went two or three wide and shut the door on him. It was good race for second as Tom Darbyshire and Tyler Bruening went door-to-door for several laps, with Darbyshire finally keeping the spot. Free of Bruening, Darbyshire could not get close to Eckrich, facing his own battles with traffic. The two-three finish between the 42 and the 16 moved them into a tie for first place in the Deery points heading into the Boone race on Memorial Day. Two drivers moved up well through the field during the 50 laps. Ray Guss, Jr. started 12^th, and took off fast in the low groove, eventually reaching 4^th. Guss told me after the race that once he reached fourth, as the laps ran down, the car’s handling started to leave him, so he was hoping the race would end more sooner than later so he could hang on to his spot. Todd Cooney also had several eyes on him as he started 18^th and would eventually finish 6^th. Cooney also used the low groove to pick off positions. Usually you will find Cooney running up top at Marshalltown and Boone, but his number 30 looked comfortable on the bottom last night. All-in-all, it was a decent race, not any challenges for the lead, but a lot to watch from second on back. Terry Neal led the points going into the night and finished ninth. That was better than I thought he had done as I lost track of where he was in the final laps. That finish keeps him second in the Deery points, just one out of the lead heading to Boone. The Boone show has been entertaining in the past and I look forward to this year’s edition. This Deery season is proving to be a good one when it comes to action on the track, and in the point standings. A stout field of sportmods was on hand Tuesday, and there was some good racing for the win in that one. Scott Davis set the tone early and looked like he might motor off with the win. However, Tyler Droste kept him close, as did Doug Smith in third. Smith would eventually get around both Droste and Davis to take the win. Davis finished second, Droste third. Two other classes were on the card, with Josh May winning in mod lites, and Steve Churchill winning in dirt trucks. I will include some pictures on this blog and on our Facebook page in the near future. I am heading to the Oskaloosa opener tonight, so I will add those pictures as well as an Osky update tomorrow a.m.

Wins come on both ends of the scale as Knoxville Raceway opens

2011-05-04T21:31:00.007-05:00

If you follow Knoxville, you already know the tale of the tape from Saturday night. If you aren't an avid follower, here's a chance to catch up. The 2011 season opened with two first-timers entering victory lane, and one veteran. Carson McCarl got his first win, coming in the 305 sprints. Russ Hall hoisted his first Knoxville trophy winning the 360 sprint main, and Danny Lasoski won victory number 94 at the historic half mile. I had a good time coming on the heels of my practice night visit the night before. There were 29 410s, 27 360s and 17 305s in the

305 Winner - Carson McCarl is joined by his mom Lori in victory lane. The 16-year-old won his first feature at the track. - Conrad Nelson photo

360 Winner - Russ Hall joined the ranks of first-time winners at Knoxville winning the 360 sprint A-main. - Conrad Nelson photo

410 Winner - Danny Lasoski (center) won the 410 main event Saturday night. He is joined by second place Brian Brown, right, and third place Dusty Zomer, left. - Conrad Nelson photo

pit area, so it was a solid field of cars to kick things off. The 410s tried a new qualifying procedure with all cars qualifying, and then the top eight being inverted in three heat races. Six cars from each heat went to the main, and out of those 18, the fastest 12 qualifiers redrew for positions to start the A main. Cappy made the announcement earlier in the afternoon at press conference on the fairgrounds. He said this procedure won't be used every week, but expect to see it four or five more times as the season rolls along. I haven't heard much griping about it, and personally, I like the format - it mixes things up nicely. While on qualifying, the 360s timed during hot laps and based their qualifying upon those times. The heat races were fairly exciting, but two consecutive windy days, and two days worth of laps on the track saw the elements take their toll. By feature time, the track was nice, smooth, and fairly wide, but it had rubbered down and the racing line was at a premium. If you started near the front, you held and edge. McCarl started third in his win, Hall started on the pole, and Lasoski started on the pole. I'm not saying that any of these three couldn't have won otherwise, all three were strong all night, and Hall ran off with his win, but the track conditions did play a role in the results. Still, everyone seemed happy as the finals checkered fell. Well, almost everyone. In the final two laps of the 410 main, I watched as Joey Moughan and Austin Johnson tried to run in the same spot coming out of turn two. Moughan's car went over the nose of Johnson's, mashing down the nose wing while leaving a trail of rubber. Moughan bounced on down the backstretch, while Austin spun a 360, stayed on the gas, and then motored on to finish the race. I lifted my camera to shoot, expecting them to wad them up, but both drivers held on and the race finished without what looked like a sure red flag in the making. It was almost too exciting. Events will keep me close to home this weekend, which means I will be returning to Knoxville Saturday night as the IRA sprinters invade to take a crack at the regulars - I always look forward to this one. Thanks to Conrad Nelson for the victory lane shots. I will be posting car shots on the PositivelyRacing Facebook page, so be sure to check them out.

Hershel Roberts 1943-2011

2011-05-04T21:18:00.005-05:00

I was saddened to see that Hershel Roberts passed away yesterday. Roberts had been fighting cancer since 2004, surprising doctors along the way as he kept living life his way - racing. If Roberts found that the secret to an extended life runs through the racetrack, then that is good news for all of us. What is also good news is that I was privileged to watch Roberts race, and continue on as a car owner. He seemed equally thrilled with both, though I'm sure had his health allowed, he'd rather have been turning laps. It was an honor to meet someone like Hershel and see what racing did for him - and what he did for racing. It will be strange not seeing him trackside anymore, but it is nice to know he will still be a presence there. Thoughts and prayers go out to the Roberts family and racing team. Thank you Hershel Roberts, you will be missed...

Hershel Roberts

Fifty-two sprinters turn out for a little practice as Knoxville Raceway opens its doors for 2011

2011-04-30T11:13:00.007-05:00

A few brief notes. Some of you know, most of you don’t, I have gone back to school and I am working on my masters in military history. It just so happens that this week I am seeing a midterm and a paper due in one course, while my second course also has a paper due. My study habits being what they are, I am a bit swamped, so I need to stay close to home. I had originally planned to head to Marshalltown Friday night, but the time I would spend behind the wheel had me thinking otherwise. In scanning websites, I noticed that Knoxville has rescheduled their practice for Friday night, and being only ten minutes from home, I decided to get a preview of what I will be seeing tonight when I return for the season opener. I took a few notes, and no pictures, as I wandered the pit area and just soaked things in. Fifty-two sprint cars were on hand in three classes, and incidents were at a minimum, mainly mechanical issues, as several practice sessions were held. Twenty-four 410s were on hand, including the majority of the rookie class, with Johnn Cressman (56JC), Danny Heskin (6), JD Johnson (98), Mark Johnson (45), Austin Johnson (81), Rob Kubli (23K), AJ Moeller (20), and Dustin Selage (7) all turning laps. Eatonville, Washington’s Logan Forler also turned his share of laps as well. Forler is a a new face many have their eye on, and is currently following the ASCS national tour. Knoxville veterans were aplenty too, with Bronson Maeschen, Wayne Johnson, Lynton Jeffrey, Brian Brown, Terry McCarl, Austin McCarl, Davey Heskin, Mike Moore, Robby Wolfgang and Dusty Zomer among the crowd. Kevin Swindell also turned quite a few laps. Who was fast? They all look fast out there by themselves. We’ll have to see tonight when the green flag drops who has the real speed. In the 360s, 17 cars turned laps including Chad Humston, Josh Higday, Matt Moro, Randy Martin, Larry Ball, Jr., Jaime Ball, Rod Richards and Joe Beaver. Rookie candidate Tyler Groenendyk was also on hand, turning laps in the 10. For the stock cars fans out there, yes, that is the same Tyler Groenendyk that raced regularly in the 17T B-mod at Oskaloosa among other places. Tyler is a good shoe in the mods, so it will be interesting to see what he has to offer under the wing this season. Eleven 305 sprinters turned laps including Chris Mallicoat, Mark Van Haaften, Marty Stephenson and Matt Stephenson. A lot of eyes were focused on class rookie Carson McCarl (97) as he makes the third McCarl family member that will be turning laps at Knoxville this year. I can’t wait to get back there tonight for actual racing. We had a shower overnight, but the sun is breaking through now in the late morning. It is breezy, so take some layers if you are headed out tonight to Knoxville, or any other race track. It may get a little chilly when the sun goes down – but not to worry, because we are at least racing!

Silver anniversary Deery Brothers season sees Brian Harris win opener at Dubuque

2011-04-04T21:07:00.014-05:00

After the Deery Brothers Summer Series show at the Dubuque Fairgrounds in 2010, I was more than fired up to see the 2011 Deery season would be starting off at that same track. The April 2 date had me a little leery as Dubuque is one of the last spots in Iowa to shed winter. In the past, the track had scheduled some early, season-openers involving the IRA sprints, only to get weathered out. I packed about 72 layers as I headed to the track Saturday night, but fortunately, I didn't need anything out of the ordinary down in the infield. The winds died down, we were done racing by 10 p.m., and Brian Harris had staked a claim as an early favorite in the 2011 Deery title chase.

Deery winner - Brian Harris won the main event at Dubuque on April 2. - BWJ photo

Last chance -Andy Eckrich (56) had a few shots in the final laps for the win, but Brian Harris (21H) was too strong up top. - BWJ photo

Forty-three late models signed in for the opener. Many I talked to thought that number seemed a little low, but it was about what I was looking for. Dubuque is in the upper corner of the 2011 tour, a big tow for drivers on the fringes if they aren't following the entire schedule for this year. The weather was iffy, and, if you aren't a regular at Dubuque, or haven't raced there at all, it has a reputation as being a challenging place to make a stand. Put all of these factors together, and I was fine with 43 cars. As a fan, I wish the Deery Series would make 2 or 3 stops a year at Dubuque. The track is challenging, but by the end of the night, it offers a choice of driving lines, and provides fans with some good action. It was good to be back racing for the season. The Simmons Promotions staff had been hard at work, and the track was race-ready, and they were fired-up to get the show in. Only two classes joined the late models on the card, ensuring that we would get out of there at a decent hour. Not a lot of surprises when it came to the late model crowd - the Deery "regulars" were there in force, as were the new faces from the last couple of seasons. A few faces were in new places, with Jason Frankel behind the wheel of the 72, and Joe Zrostlik behind the wheel of the 21G.

Stock winner - Terry Rittmer was the stock car feature winner. - BWJ photo

Flurry wins - John Flurry powers into turn three on his way to a win in the sport compact feature. - BWJ photo

The heat races saw a mix of up-and-comers and veterans taking wins with Terry Neal, Tom Darbyshire, Tyler Breuning, Colby Springsteen and Brian Harris winning the ten-lappers. The two biggest pieces of news coming out of the heats Mark Murphy, Jr. being disqualified from his second-place spot in heat two, and, Ray Guss, Jr. tearing the front off of his car after hitting the inside guardrail in turns one and two in heat five. Murphy's DQ was a technical infraction, and what it did was put him at the back of the first B-main, which would give the crowd a show as he powered toward the front and into a feature spot with a third place finish. Guss' car would stay under the wrench, not appearing again until the feature where he started at the back with a provisional.

Feature time saw Darbyshire and Springsteen on the front row to take the green. One lap complete saw Harris in the lead, where he would stay for all 50 laps. Brian put on a show, working traffic with great skill, and grinding out the laps in the top groove. Where I shot pics in turns three and four, I never saw a bobble the whole race from the 21H. A cast of characters would run in and around the top five all night. Darbyshire would stay in second for many laps before settling for third. Tyler Breuning started eighth and would finish fourth, while Terry Neal started sixth and finished fifth. Rob Toland would spend several laps in the top five, but would fade to seventh at the checkered flag. Toland had a close call with the turn three guardrail ,wrinkling his front left corner, but he motored on for the remainder of the race. Defending champ Guss saw his luck stay about the same come feature time as he brought out the race's only caution with 41 laps complete. Starting on the back row, Guss had made steady progress until a flat left rear tire sent him into the pits and to the back of the pack again. He would finish 14th. What that sole caution did was put the field on Harris' bumper with one last shot in the final nine laps. Making the most serious challenge was Andy Eckrich, who started the feature 15th and made steady progress into second using the bottom groove. On the restart, Harris went high, Eckrich went low, and the battle was on. For four or five of those final laps, Eckrich would draw even, or ahead in the corners, but Harris would carry the lead and momentum down the straights. He made a race of it, but it was Harris' night to win, and make a statement as to where the power might lie in 2011. It was a good race to start the season with. Also on the card were stock cars (15 of them) and sport compacts (13 of those), and though they were a little yellow-happy at times, each of those features had some entertaining action. The front few cars in the stock car feature were trying their best to put on a good show, but the back of the field was having a hard-enough time just trying to stay straight. It was too bad, because the fans lost out on a good, continuous battle. Terry Rittmer would hold off Tim Current for the win. I thought the sport compacts were fun to watch on the night. There was some contact and pretty wild recoveries going down the backstretch throughout the race. Bryce Garnhart held off John Flurry for the win - only to lose it in the tech area in post-race inspection. Flurry had a flat during the feature, restarted at the back and charged back to race for the win in the end. All together, I picked a good night to start my 2011 season. It was good to get back to the track, see some good friends, breathe in a little dirt, and racing fuel. Spring is here!~ I've included some pics with this blog, but over 200 of them can be found on our positivelyracing.com Facebook page!

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-01T16:55:00.004-06:00

Happy 2011! I hope your racing season is just about to begin. For me, its time to get back on the horse and get this blog rolling again. It is part of my New Year's Resolution list - lose weight, exercise, work ahead, not behind and keep Running the High Side up to date. Now, whether or not I will be able to accomplish the first few things on the list is debatable, but the last item will be easy to do. I plan on hitting my archives a few times this winter and sharing some items with you. I also have some things from the end of 2010 I want to recap as well - so, welcome back to the High Side and thanks for reading!

Saying good-bye to Gary Storey

2010-09-29T23:00:00.002-05:00

Family and friends gathered today in Albia to say good-bye to Gary Storey. Only 59, Gary lost a battle with cancer on September 23, and with his passing, the racing community lost one of its biggest fans.
I'd like to have a dollar for every mile Gary drove to watch a race; I'd even settle for a dollar for every race he went to. Look up "super fan" on Wikipedia, and I'm sure they mention Gary there somewhere - the man loved to go to the races. Even in declining health, he managed to make it to six shows this year. Only one thing could keep Gary from racing, and he met up with that last week. Of course by now, he's probably racing somewhere we can only imagine.
When Gary was on the road, you could run across him about anywhere in the country, especially if it was early or late in the season, and, hundreds of miles from home. Just when you thought you were the only person from Iowa that could possibly be at a particular show, you'd run into Gary. It was amazing.
I enjoyed getting to chat with Gary. I found him to be a valuable resource when it came to learning about places I was going to for the first time. Since Gary had raced about everywhere, he could fill you in on what you were going to find when you got there. I also trusted his judgement, even though he was a super fan, I felt he gave an honest opinion to what he thought about the show he had seen at a particular track. As valuable as the Speedway Directory is to a race fan, people like Gary eclipse that by a long shot, giving you the first-person scoop on a track or a race. I will miss his viewpoint.
Fittingly enough, at Gary's memorial service today, there were people present in race shirts, and even the pastor was a racer, as Sonny Smyser offered final thoughts and prayer for those assembled.
This season, I missed not seeing Gary as much as usual at Oskaloosa and Knoxville as he fought his battle. Now that we have lost him, it is kind of an empty feeling, knowing I'll never see him there, or anywhere else again - at least not for a while; because if Gary has found somewhere else to race, I'm sure I'll see him at that track someday too. Race fans do find a way to get to race!
We miss you Gary, and will think of you a lot when the green flag flies.

Lousy weather leaves time for reflection on Havoc

2010-09-20T14:04:00.011-05:00

After a great night of action Friday night at Marshalltown, I hated to see Saturday and Sunday roll in and pretty much put a stop to everything. The Yankee got in, East Moline raced, but otherwise, a lot of race fans were left holding out for skies to clear. As I write this, they certainly have - it is sunny and in the 80s, and I'm headed to Oskaloosa tonight for the rescheduled USMTS Show.

I'm hoping what I see tonight compares with what I saw Friday as I went to Havoc on the Highbanks at Marshalltown and watched the IMCA modifieds go green-to-checkered with Richie Gustin taking the win. The last show I saw before that was Jimmy Gustin winning at Super Nationals, and tonight at Oskaloosa, I have a good chance of seeing Ryan Gustin win a USMTS feature. To say 2010 has been a good year for Gustins might just be an understatement.

Gustin wins - Richie Gustin was the big winner at Marshalltown on Friday night. - BWJ photo

For the lead - Richie Gustin (19G) works under Jon Snyder (69x) to win the Hawkeye Dirt Tour event at Marshalltown. - BWJ photo

Another Gustin winner - Jimmy Gustin was all smile after winning Super Nationals. I will add some more Super Nats stuff as the week goes on. - BWJ photo

Friday night saw 40 modifieds sign in for the Hawkeye Dirt Tour event at Marshalltown. After four heats and two B mains, Scott Simatovich and Ron Pope sat on the front row for the start. Simatovich would end up playing a role in the outcome, along with Jon Snyder and Richie Gustin. The three spent most of the race battling for the lead, with Snyder and Gustin running several laps door-to-door and through traffic before Gustin would win.

Mod lite - Tim Hennigar was the mod lite feature winner. - BWJ photo

Sportmod pass - Cayden Carter (10) passes Scott Davis (81D) to win the IMCA sportmod main event. - BWJ photo

Hobby battle - Scotty Pippert (47) works around Rob Allison (12A) in turn three at Marshalltown Friday night. - BWJ photo

Stock winner - Dustin Smith won the Havoc IMCA stock car feature. - BWJ photo

I really liked the track on Friday. It kept trying to produce a nice, thick cushion, and after rolling it in several times, the track crew let the cushion go and let the cars blast it up the race track - this gave the racers a good, solid, high line to use. The low line would come in as well by the final feature rolled out, and between the top and the bottom, drivers were able to race just about wherever they wanted. I think that helped keep the green flag out, making for an enjoyable race to watch. Cayden Carter, Scotty Pippert, Tim Hennigar and Dustin Smith were the other winners on the night. As I headed for the car that night, I was pumped up and ready to see some more racing, only having to wait until tonight.

My plan was to catch the AMA show at Knoxville Saturday night, but that ended up getting canceled Sunday. I'm hoping they bring it back in 2011. The vintage bikes that ran on Friday night look like they put on a neat show.

I was also disappointed the Deery Brothers finale fell to rain. Granted the points were decided, but, it would have been good for those drivers to run 100-laps for big bucks, but what can you do? Cars don't race through water, and the schedule this time of year is special heavy, so you can't schedule and reschedule on top of other traditional events. I have the satisfaction of seeing the final two Deery features for the year - an impressive win by Josh Most at Donnellson, and Ray Guss' defense of his Super Nationals title at Boone Congratulations do go to TJ Criss for his win in the Iron Man race at 34 Raceway. Criss has stayed in the Deery mix all season, and it was good to see him make it to victory lane.

As we go through the week, I will be catching up on random thoughts ,photos and other pieces of business from the last couple of weeks. Keep those calendars full - fall starts this week, and winter is way too close!

The next couple of weeks hold a lot of action - here are some things to look for

2010-08-26T22:51:00.003-05:00

This weekend marks the weekly racing finale for IMCA late models. Ray Guss Jr. and Terry Neal are bringing their points battle down to the final night. Be sure to watch the headlines next week to see who comes out on top.

The Hunt for the USMTS National Championship is at the halfway mark this weekend. They have been making a lot of appearances close to home in the last few days, and that continues on into next week. I'm looking forward to the Marshalltown and Oskaloosa shows, as well as hearing how things play out at Highway 3. Of course the Hunt wraps up at Deer Creek at the end of September.

Along with the USMTS modifieds, the USRA stock cars will also headline, and being a stock car fan, I'm looking forward to it. Mike Van Genderen leads the points for the Dart Iron Man Challenge that wraps up with three events at the three previously mentioned Iowa tracks. Nathan Wood is second in points, with Steve Jackson in third.

The Deery Brothers Series gets busy again as we draw close to Labor Day - September 3 at Quincy, September 4 at Lee County Speedway and September 6 at Boone as the opener for Super Nationals. Super Nationals?! It can't be! Yes, we are just days away from the Boone Speedway madness. I can't wait.

This weekend, I venture off the dirt and will be in attendance for the ARCA, NASCAR truck and IndyCar shows at Chicagoland Speedway. I am actually working the IndyCar show, serving as one of their pit reporters on Saturday night. Joining me is fellow Iowa Speedway media center worker Ryan Repp. It should be a good time.

These are just a few of the things on my radar that I will be catching you up on in a timely manner. Also, watch out for more pics on Facebook. Jeff showed me the ropes and I will be getting those on there at the start of next week!

Thanks for reading.

Getting back as the season starts to heat up - I'm still thinking about the Knoxville Nationals

2010-08-26T22:48:00.001-05:00

I have been away from this a little too long. A combination of nature, back-to-school and laziness has occupied my time, but the season is starting to run down, and there are a lot of big shows to go – I think I’m ready.

Last year lightning slowed me down as it blasted my old computer into oblivion. This year, the element of choice was flood, not at my house, but at my parents. I spent some time during Nationals week and the week after at the old homestead helping them dry out, and throw out. A large part of my archives still exist at their house, and fortunately, I didn’t lose much in the foot of rain water in their basement. Unfortunately for them, their recently redone family room was a washout, as were quite a few other items. In nearly 42 years at this location, this is the most water they have ever seen, even the garage was flooded. Fortunately things have dried out a bit here lately, but they are looking to clear out none-the-less.

Me, I’m happy here in Pella, especially since I am so close to the Knoxville Raceway. The Nationals are the most recent races I have attended this season, but I have enjoyed reminiscing in my time off. Honestly, if finals night were to be my last night of racing in 2010, I wouldn’t complain. The 50^th anniversary finale was a good one, but it begs to ask, how do they top it in 2011? A fair question; and one I am glad I don’t have to try and answer.

So please, hang in there with me as I catch up and get back to speed as we fly into September.

Between the 360 Nationals, the Non-Wing Nationals, the Osky Challenges, and the Nationals themselves, there were plenty of sprint car drivers on hand; yet the 10 days of actions comes down to a handful of drivers: Shane Stewart, Brian Brown, Sammy Swindell, Bud Kaeding, and Tim Shaffer.

Stewart won the 360 Nationals, the first night of Nationals qualifying, and finished third in the main event. Brian Brown won the opening night of qualifying at the 360 Nationals, and was the top point getter at the Nationals. Swindell was a top finisher in the 360 Nationals, won the Front Row Challenge at Oskaloosa, won the second night of qualifying at the Nationals, and put on a show in Saturday’s main event until a flat tire ended his night. Kaeding was the king of the USAC sprinters winning at both Knoxville and Oskaloosa in what were two of the most entertaining nights of the whole ten days. And of course, Shaffer had everyone up and screaming as he battled Donny Schatz for the Nationals title. Be sure to have your recorders running this weekend as Speed replays the event, you’ll want to see it again, or maybe even for the first time.

Whether you want to or not, you have to admire Donny Schatz and his team for another solid effort at Knoxville. He came within a lap of winning another one, and still brought home a pile of cash by finishing second. Most of the joint seemed to be against Schatz as they wanted to see a new face in victory lane, but he was a most gracious runner-up in the post race interview. He pointed out that his motor was smoking and was on its way out in the final laps, but he took nothing away from Shaffer and his team. Schatz acknowledged

that Shaffer’s team had the best game plan, used their motor and tires the best, and deserved and earned the win. For his remarks, and effort in his second place finish, Schatz received a round of applause in the media center, as did Shaffer and Stewart for the show they provided on that Saturday night.

I liked the 50-lap format. They were raced flat-out, and moved along fast. Swindell and Schatz pounded the track in the first 25 laps, and it is no wonder Schatz motor gave up the ghost in the end as he definitely used it up. Standing in turn two, it was amazing to watch.

In addition to Brown’s top point total, locals showed well as Davey Heskin turned a lot of heads finishing in the top ten, while Josh Schneiderman came from the B main to finish in the top 15. They carried the Knoxville colors very well.

Other than sweating like there was no tomorrow due to the “cool” temperatures, I would say that the 50^th Nationals ranks right up there as one of my favorites. Maybe because it is fresher in my mind, or maybe I’ve gotten old enough I’ve started to forget things, but I enjoyed this year’s show. You can’t beat a nearly packed house standing and screaming their lungs out on the final laps, it is what you hope for every year, and in 2010, that is what we got.

Some side notes:

- The Budweiser Clydesdales are amazing, and I thought they made a nice addition to the program.

- Not sure about legend cars or motorcycles being on the card, though I am looking forward to the AMA show at Knoxville on September 18.

- The Front Row and Ultimate Challenges continue to amaze. It seems every year Terry McCarl and crew face some kind of weather obstacle, but they conquer it and the show goes on. Both nights saw teams pit on the street, but a full grandstand had a good time. Thanks to an incident at Huset’s, McCarl sported a well-wrapped leg that has enough hardware in it that he’ll never pass airport security. Still, he was seen a lot, supporting his son Austin on his race nights, and greeting race fans on souvenir row several times during the week. The man is an internet lightning rod, be he has a huge following – which he always seems to treat top notch.

- I was disappointed that on the occasion of the 50^th Nationals, only one former winner was on the float that went around the track on the final night. Granted former champs Steve Kinser, Swindell and Schatz were a little busy, but Dave Blaney, Doug Wolfgang, Danny Lasoski and Kraig Kinser were on hand among others, it would have been nice to see them recognized. Hopefully riding on a hay wagon didn’t scare them off.

- Speaking of Swindell and Wolfgang, prior to racing starting on Saturday night, the duo could be found shooting the breeze in the pit area. The conversation lasted at least 30 minutes, allowing every photographer a good shot or two.

- Karl Kinser showed up and was very popular. It was good to see him back at Knoxville.

- The number of Australians appearing at the Nationals grows each year, and it exploded this year as the drivers from Down Under are big supporters of our racing over here – good deal. I’ve enjoyed watching Jamie Veal this season and he has greatly improved as he has turned more laps at Knoxville. He has had some good runs, but also had some of us running on Saturday afternoon as he lost it turn two, headed straight to the infield, but then regained control and motored on. He lost a couple of positions, but he saved the car.

- Speaking of Saturday afternoon, I’m not a fan of day racing, but if you look at a lot of the old Nationals pics, you see a lot of sunshine. This year, with only four races on the card, the track wasn’t too used up, and it made for a past-paced and halfway entertaining show.

Two-lap shootout sees Richie Gustin win 2010 Harris Clash at Knoxville

2010-07-08T23:42:00.010-05:00

A two-day rain delay didn’t dampen the competition at Knoxville Thursday night. I think it ranks up there as one of the best, and most competitive versions of the Harris Clash ever, topped off by a two-lap scramble for the win. Seventy modifieds towed into the Knoxville Raceway, and they were intent on racing.

The heat races may have seem some of the winners make easy runs, but the racing from second on back was intense. The top three cars in the six heats qualified for the A main, and the transfer spots were hotly contested. Heat race wins went to Jay Schmidt, Kyle Strickler, Jay Noteboom, Mark Elliott, Chris Abelson and Bill Davis, Jr. Strickler may not be a familiar name to some of you, and with good reason. He made the tow in from North Carolina to run the Clash, and was towing back home to race at his local track tomorrow night – talk about a road trip.

With 18 cars qualifying from the heats, three B mains were run, with four cars from each making the big show, for a total of 30 cars taking the green at feature time.

That feature saw Mark Elliott jump from outside the front row to take a convincing lead. Only two cautions slowed the event – one for debris with six laps complete, and one for an incident with two laps to go. The incident was a hard charging David Murray making contact with the turn one fence after jumping the cushion. His car came to a stop coming out of turn two, and that set up a two-lap shootout.

On the restart, Elliott’s car faltered, and the gates opened around him. Richie Gustin and Jordan Grabouski battled it out for the win, with Gustin taking the top spot ahead of Grabouski. Jeremy Mills was third, Josh Foster fourth and Johnny Saathoff fifth. Gustin started the feature in the 20^th spot after winning the second B main, so you’d have to say the track was very racy, and so was Gustin. Grabouski started seventh, Mills 17th, Foster 13^th and Saathoff 21^st. There was a lot to watch in this one!

It was definitely heart breaking for Elliott and his ailing car as he finished 15^th after dominating much of the race.

I’d like to thank Bob Harris for his hospitality, as he rolled out the red carpet for the Positively Racing team and we were treated to a great show. Be sure to check out the rest of the PR team blogs on this one. Hopefully you were there to see the race, if not, get 2011 on your schedule as the Harris Clash won’t disappoint.

Harris Clash Champ - Richie Gustin celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the 2010 Harris Clash Thursday night at Knoxville. - BWJ photo

Winning car - Richie Gustin's 19G runs through turn one in the feature. - BWJ photo

Congratulations - Bob Harris greets Richie Gustin with congratulations, and the giant check, for winning this year's Harris Clash. - BWJ photo

Looking - Johnny Saathoff (96J) looks underneath Todd Shute (5). - BWJ photo

Side by side - Eric Dailey (7) and Jay Schmidt (19JS) race through the first turn. - BWJ photo

In turn one - Bill Davis, Jr. (1) and Cory Wray (69N) work to gain on Vern Jackson (64). -BWJ photo

Almost - Mark Elliott led 23 laps of the 25-lap main event. A restart with two laps to go saw his car falter and he ended with a 15th place finish. - BWJ photo

Feature action - Todd Inman (5) and Jordan Grabouski (30) race through turn one at the start of the main event. - BWJ photo

Irvine opens Stock Car Series run with Monday victory at Marshalltown Speedway

2010-06-30T01:36:00.011-05:00

I was glad to see my schedule was going to get me back to Marshalltown for the Great American Stock Car Series. I missed the show there last year for the first time in a long time, so I was glad to be back. With 52 IMCA stock cars signing in, I was even happier that I was on hand.

In addition to the stock cars, 23 IMCA hobby stocks and 23 IMCA sportmods filled out the card. It was a beautiful night compared to some of the humidity fests we have had recently, and that must have put everybody in a good mood, because we ran off all of the heats in good order. The sun was still in the sky when the sportmods took to the track for their feature. Cayden Carter ran a solid low line to win that event.

Following three stock car B mains, the hobby stocks rolled out, and it was “take your best shot at Todd Reitzler” night. The 22R went up top and held on for the win as a series of challengers took their shot at the win. Scott Lograsso, Jacob Kohl and Michael Murphy among others looked to grab the lead, but Reitzler was stout in taking his second feature win in-a-row at the track.

Dave Smith and Abe Huls led the stock cars to the green for their 30-lap main event. The entire field went two and three-wide in the opening laps as everyone searched for the fastest line and looked to gain positions in a hurry. There was plenty to watch from front to back in this one.

Fourth-starting Brian Irvine kept the leaders in sight, and soon put himself out front. Once in the lead, Irvine set the pace, and held on for the win. Behind him, there was a lot going on. Dustin Smith, Damon Murty and Donavon Smith had some intense laps, and Huls raced all of them hard as he tried to stay at the front of the pack. Dustin Smith would end up second, Murty third, Donavon Smith fourth and Huls held on for fifth.

Monday night set the tone for what should be an exciting week for the stock cars as they raced at BVR on Tuesday, head to Independence on Wednesday and wrap up their week at Lee County Speedway on Thursday, double-heading with the Hawkeye Dirt Tour.

Here’s my advice for the week – don’t forget your bug spray as you head out to your favorite track. The abundance of rain we have had has blessed us with an abundance of mosquitoes, as the little biters are in rare form. They were attacking in formation on Monday night, and I expect follow-ups as the week progresses. Get out, don’t get bit, and enjoy your local track!

Victory Lane - Brian Irvine celebrates his Great American Stock Car Series win Monday night at Marshalltown. - BWJ photo

Winning car - The 26 of Brian Irvine had the front spot to itself Monday night. - BWJ photo

Three-wide - John Heinz (57), Jeff Wollam (3W) and Chris Ullrich (01U) mix it up. - BWJ photo

Four-wide fun - Donavon Smith (35), Mike Van Genderen (57V), Jay Schmidt (19J) and Trent Murphy (25) run their respective lines through turn one. - BWJ photo

Top 5 battle - Dustin Smith (85), Abe Huls (30c) and Damon Murty (99D) race for a spot in the top five. - BWJ photo

Hobby winner - Todd Reitzler was the IMCA hobby stock feature winner. - BWJ photo

Sportmod winner - Cayden Carter won Monday night's IMCA sportmod feature. - BWJ photo

A heart pounding race, and weather, greet fans at USMTS show at Mineral City Speedway

2010-06-30T00:20:00.007-05:00

I think the adrenaline is still flowing from last week’s USMTS show at Mineral City Speedway in Ft. Dodge. The combination of a last corner pass for the win by Ryan Gustin, coupled with fleeing from impending tornadoes, definitely left a lasting impression.

I hadn’t been to Mineral City since it had become an oval. I attended the shows there back when the CORR off-road series came to town, and that was a blast. I’ll have to say my visit to the oval was just as exciting. Three competitive classes, two features decided on the last lap, and it was run in record time as the Mineral City and USMTS personnel ran this one off in record time to beat the storms that were brewing. Great job to both of them.

In the first feature of the night, Justin Nehring and Devin Smith brought their battle to the finish line with Nehring taking first. This race also featured a roll-over in turns three and four. The driver emerged unscathed and the track crew had things picked up and we were back to racing in quick order, helping keep me and a few others relaxed as the clouds rolled over.

In the stock car feature, Mark Elliott stunk up the Dart Iron Man Challenge, starting on the front row and setting a brisk pace that nobody else could match. When I say stunk up, that’s nothing against Mark. He was just so dominant on the night; the other drivers in the 22-car field didn’t have a chance. He’s got a good car, I also saw him take third at Oskaloosa in this year’s Dart opener after starting at the tail of the field.

The evening’s USMTS main event saw Al Hejna and Brad Williams starting on the front row, but it was fourth starting Colt Mather that soon found his way to the front.

Mather stretched to an early lead, and looked like he might hang on for the win. Then, the distance between he and second-running Jason Krohn began to shrink. Krohn was reeling him in and in the closing laps made a pass for the lead. It was a pass that I thought was going to stick and see the 7K win. Krohn, Mather and the now-in-third Ryan Gustin, entered traffic as the laps wound down. Gustin soon took second and was looking to the lead. Hammering the car up top, Gustin gained on Krohn, catching him coming out of turn four as the duo headed to the checkers. A wild finish!

Even wilder was how fast the infield and the stands cleared out as lightning flashed to the east, north and west of the track. The photographers managed to catch up to Gustin at his pit stall, where we held an impromptu Victory Lane.

It was a great first experience at Mineral City, and I am looking forward to a return visit – a nice, sunny, calm, return visit.

The winner -Ryan Gustin celebrates his USMTS win pitside at Mineral City Speedway. - BWJ photo

Fast car - Ryan Gustin took the win at Ft. Dodge, his fifth USMTS win in-a-row ,coming out of turn four on the last lap. - BWJ photo

For the lead - In the closing laps, Jason Krohn (7K) went low to take the lead from Colt Mather (8). - BWJ photo

USMTS feature - Jason Schueller (3A) works for position against Mike Weiderman (37x). - BWJ photo

Stock Car Battle 1 - Jeremy Crimmins (15) works underneath Mike Van Genderen (57V). - BWJ photo

Stock Car Battle 2 - Nathan Wood (52) and Jeff Deal (22) race in close quarters in turn one. - BWJ photo

IndyCar wrap-up - Iowa shines as host to 4th annual event

2010-06-29T14:35:00.008-05:00

Today is catch-up day. I will take you back in time a week or so, and then tell you a little about last night a couple of posts down the road today.

Many of you have already put June 20’s IndyCar race in the memory bank, but if you were there, you know it was the best of the four so far at Iowa Speedway. There was a lot of racing done on the track, and plenty to watch.

I have always been an Indy fan, and always will be, so my bias in favor of the series is probably greater than most of yours. Indy has seen some darker days in recent history, but as of late, things look to be turning around. With just one series, and new engine and chassis rules coming into play in 2012, the series looks like it is regaining some of its power. This year’s Iowa race featured 25 cars, and in talking to some of the Indy officials, there may be some fields with even more as the schedule plays out this year. Another good sign.

Any of you that watch Wind Tunnel on Speed are familiar with the “teachings” of Robin Miller. Very outspoken, Miller speaks his mind. He is also a champion of open wheel racing in this country and provides some decent insight of where things are and where things are going. To gain a full picture of the significance of this year’s Iowa Corn Indy 250, be sure and check out his story, “Short Ovals are the Future.” It speaks well of this last race, provides some interesting stats, and I think bodes well for the future of IndyCar in Iowa.

If you haven’t checked out this race yet, get your tickets for 2011 when the time comes. You’ll have a good time, see some decent racing, and get to meet some neat drivers. Despite what television may lead you to believe, there is more to an Indy race than Danica Patrick. I always enjoy getting to work with the drivers when I help IndyCar with pit reporting. They offer up good quotes and seem genuinely pleased to be at the speedway.

Below are some highlights from the main event courtesy of Conrad Nelson. As always, thanks Conrad!

Quick end - The race saw a caution on the first lap as a spinning Justin Wilson (22) collected Mario Moraes (32) ending both of their days. - Conrad Nelson photo

Short day - Sarah Fisher met with misfortune in turn four. - Conrad Nelson photo

Power Trio - Rusty Wallace, Chip Ganassi and Roger Penske hold a pre-race pow-wow. - Conrad Nelson photo

Kanaan wins - Tony Kanaan celebrates his Iowa Corn Indy 250 win with Miss IZOD. Uh, guys, that's TK on the right. - Conrad Nelson photo

Winning team - Tony Kanaan and the winning Andretti Autosport team. - Conrad Nelson photo

Conrad's Corner - IndyCar moves in at Iowa Speedway on Friday

2010-06-18T22:14:00.007-05:00

Photographer Conrad Nelson was on hand at Iowa Speedway Friday as IndyCar Nation moved in to get ready for this weekend's races. Here is a glimpse of some of the teams as they prepare for Sunday's race. Thanks Conrad!

Lotus - Takuma Sato will be piloting the Lotus colors at Newton. - Conrad Nelson photo

Swiss Miss - Simona De Silvestro will be in Sunday's show. - Conrad Nelson photo

Snug - Helio Castroneves gets fitted for his seat. - Conrad Nelson photo

Foyt's driver - Vitor Meira will be driving the number 14 for AJ Foyt. - Conrad Nelson photo

AJ - AJ Foyt gives everything in the garage the once-over twice. - Conrad Nelson photo

Tour - Soldiers from the National Guard get a tour and a look at the Guard sponsored #4 of Dan Wheldon. - Conrad Nelson photo

Reminiscing and going through withdrawals

2010-06-16T12:32:00.006-05:00

Just when you think a summer couldn’t get any rainier, it does. Luckily there have been a few tracks able to get shows in, but we are starting to get to a total washout point if the pattern continues, and it looks like it might. I’m starting to have withdrawals. It started back at the World of Outlaws show at Knoxville.

The Thursday night show had some intense action and a ton of slide job as the race for the win got wild at times. Swindell, Saldana, Meyers, Sides – they were all slide-jobbing each other without mercy. As I stood in turn four, Saldana cut off Swindell but Sammy didn’t brake, instead he gave Saldana a tap on the back bumper to let him know what he thought about it. Brooke Tatnell was impressive in always being able to pull away and keep the action behind him.

Tatnell wins - Brooke Tatnell won the Thursday night WoO show at Knoxville on June 3. - Conrad Nelson photo

305 winner - Randy Smith (center) was the 305 sprint winner at Knoxville on June 3 Tasker Phillips (left) was second, Tim St. Arnold (right) was third. - Conrad Nelson photo

Friday winner - Jac Haudenschild (center), was the June 4 WoO winner. Brian Brown (left) was second, Tyler Walker (right) was third. - Conrad Nelson photo

Friday’s show was a bit of a downer .With the Masters Classic on hand and only 15 Masters, it ended up being a 6-race program as the Outlaws only ran two Bs and an A; plus, they weren’t running for full points, and, they started the feature with an invert of the previous night. I have yet to see an Outlaw show with an invert and less than full points amount to much. Yes, all of the drivers line-up, but it seems like the back half to two-thirds of the field is working on R&D rather than racing since they aren’t getting full points.

They are racing for full money, and that has the first three or four rows of starters racing pretty hard for $10,000-to-win. Friday night’s feature had some intense racing between Tyler Walker, Lucas Wolfe and Kerry Madsen, but it was front row starters Haudenschild and Brown that finished one-two. Out of the top three from Thurday, Swindell did finish tenth, while Saldana finished 16^th and Tatnell 23^rd.
No other top-ten cars from Thursday finished in the top ten on Friday. All this did was get me fired up to see Saturday night’s show, a full WoO program with 360s, but the rain killed that, as it did last week’s show. The 2010 Outlaw schedule at Knoxville left a lot of us pining for the old days. This June appearance is it for this year other than the Nationals. Several of us were reminiscing about the old days when the Outlaws would roll into town in April, late June/early July, and then in September in addition to the Nationals. Area Outlaw fans were spoiled in those days. The Outlaws were needing dates, and Knoxville was happy to help out. Now the Outlaw schedule has grown, as has their sanction fees, and they make limited appearances at any one spot.
My favorite show used to be the September one. The tension was out of the air after the Nationals, autumn weather was on hand, and everyone was just laid back and enjoying the weekend. Everyone’s season was winding down and the show was just plain fun. I don’t miss the April shows as much, the weather for those was always iffy, but I have always missed the September dates coming off the schedule.
My withdrawal pattern continued with the rainout of the Deery Brothers race in Quincy last Sunday. Following two good shows at Marshalltown and Boone, I was ready to continue the run for the championship as once again in 2010, the competition at Deery shows has been solid. You have a mix of veterans and new faces that are putting on some good shows. Guss, Burgtorf and Aikey continue to be the ones to beat, but drivers like Matt Strassheim, Andy Eckrich, Jason Rauen, Tyler Bruening, Cory Goldbeck, and Joel Callahan among others are mixing it up well come feature time. I was really looking forward to Quincy with $3,000-to-win on the line, it was shaping up to be a big show, but it wasn’t to be. The next race on the Deery schedule is June 30 at Independence.
I did quench a bit of my Deery thirst with a visit to Lee County Speedway for one of their late model “Drive for Five” races, as with the drivers that show up for this, it is almost like catching a Deery show. The results were similar too, with an Aikey-Burgtorf one-two finish. Mainly what the trip to Donnellson did for me was once again have me wishing that the track was about an hour closer to my house so I could make the visit a little more often. I will be back there on July 1 for the Liberty Cup for modifieds, and the Great American Stock Car Shootout finale as both pay $1,000 to the winner.
Coming up, the forecast does not look promising, but maybe that is a good thing as all of the calls for rain might actually make it stay dry. This weekend I will be working at the IndyCar show at Iowa Speedway, something I always look forward to. I am one of these IndyCar holdouts that hopes the series will once again hold the power it did 20 or more years ago. I also hope they continue to race 30 minutes from my house, as you can’t beat that.
After Newton, I’ll have to see what the weather holds, and where I’ll show up again. I do promise that is won’t be so long between visits to the High Side.

Conrad's Corner -A look at the IRA Sprints visit to Knoxville Saturday night

2010-05-10T21:37:00.010-05:00

Conrad Nelson was on hand at the Knoxville Raceway Saturday night as the IRA Sprints made their annual visit to the track. The Knoxville regulars weren't the friendliest of hosts as they took the top ten spots in the feature, won by Brian Brown. Gregg Bakker set a qualifying record for the 360 sprints, but it was Dustin Selvage taking the feature win. Check out Conrad's photo highlights below.

Party Time -Brian Brown crew, family and friends celebrate his 410 sprint feature win on Saturday night at Knoxville. - Conrad Nelson photo

360 winner - Dustin Selvage visits victory lane after winning the 360 sprint feature Saturday night. - Conrad Nelson phot410 Top 3 - From left: Mark Dobmeier (2nd), Brian Brown (winner), Lynton Jeffrey (3rd). - Conrad Nelson photo

360 Top 3 - From left, Gregg Bakker (2nd), winner Dustin Selvage, Lee Grosz (3rd). - Conrad Nelson photo

410 winner - Brian Brown at speed Saturday night. - Conrad Nelson photo

IRA leader - Mike Reinke came into Knoxville leading the IRA points chase this season. He was the top-finishing IRA sprinter Saturday, finishing 11th. - Conrad Nelson photo

360 record - Gregg Bakker set the one-lap qualifying record for 360 sprints Saturday night, turning a lap in 15.941 seconds. - Conrad Nelson photo

360 feature - Dustin Selvage (7) and Clint Garner (40) race for position in the 360 main. - Conrad Nelson photo

Three classes open the season at Knoxville Raceway as 305s, 360s and 410s all go green Saturday night

2010-05-02T23:26:00.020-05:00

There is always some excitement in the air when the curtain opens each season at Knoxville Raceway. Who will be there? Whose car will they be driving? Who will be in contention for the title? Such was the case Saturday night as 19 305 sprints, 33 360 sprints and 22 410 sprints made the tow for opening night.

Some people were concerned about only 22 410s making the show, but there were nights last season where the count was in the low 20s. Word around the pits was that were some cars not quite ready that would be making the trip to Knoxville soon, and with the IRA sprints in town next week, it is felt that number will rise for that show for sure. I am always a little surprised when there is a large amount of shock shown over dwindling 410 numbers. Word has been going around for a few seasons now that the increased cost for the class is having an role in lower counts, and that is proving to be true. Let's hope some serious efforts are made for more economic 410 racing. Knoxville's new engine rule for the 410 class is a step in that direction, but I hope that all of those who complain or fret about low numbers put that energy into finding a solution. Now I'm off the soapbox.

The number of 305s and 360s on hand were fairly impressive, and I think they should stay close to what we saw this week. There was new dirt on the track for opening night, and in my opinion it held up well. Both the 410s and 360s qualified, the 360s with group qualifying, but there wasn't an abundance of laps, and the track looked to have held its own well.

Motor problems, tire problems, and red flags told the tale of the night. There were no serious injuries on the night, but there were a few mangled cars. You expect that on opening night, but hate to see it. Hopefully the motor issues aren't too costly for hose suffering them. The blowing tires had the biggest role in the 410 feature as three drivers running in the top five saw their fortunes change due to exploding rubber. Austin McCarl's blown tire threw debris into the path of Josh Schneiderman. McCarl was able to continue, Schneiderman was not. Mark Dobmeier was running very strong on Saturday until his left rear exploded, damaging his muffler in the process and forcing him to retire.

Don Droud had the 47 cranked up and was impressive in his feature win for the Sonner Casey's machine. Josh Higday and Dennis Moore, Jr. put on a show as they raced for the 360 sprint win, and Steve Breazeale won one for the veteran set as he picked up the opening 305 feature. In all, I thought it was a good start to the Knoxville season - a little long due to cautions and red, but, what I would call a typical opener. Plus, anyone who sprint car races knows there are nights where everything runs without incident, and then there are nights that... don't. We were done by midnight, I got to see three classes of sprint cars ,and I'm ready to go back - what else could you want?

410 winner - Car owner Gilly Sonner receives his "reward" from his feature-winning driver Don Droud Saturday night. A Sonner-owned car has won a feature at Knoxville in each of the last five decades.- BWJ photo

360 Winner - Josh Higday won the May 1 360 sprint feature. - BWJ photo

305 Top 3 - From left: Tim St. Arnold (2nd), winner Steve Breazeale and Austin Johnson (3rd). - Conrad Nelson photo

Smoky opening - The much anticipated opener for Robby Wolfgang met with mechanical troubles in the 410 feature. - BWJ photo

End of the night - Mark Dobmeier was having a strong night, and in the top five, when his left rear tire blew, damaging his car and forcing it out of the 410 feature. - BWJ photo

Rough night - Tyler Trainor (4L) went for a ride in turn two during his 360 heat race. He was OK. - BWJ photo

Good Look - Josh Schneiderman has a new look for 2010 with his 410 sprinter. - BWJ photo

Cub Fan/Sprint Car Man - It is obvious who 360 driver Dustin Morgan is rooting for this baseball season - BWJ photo

360 Battle - Dennis Moore, Jr. (2) and Josh Higday (10) race for the lead in the main event. - Conrad Nelson photo

410 Winner - Don Droud is once again a part of the Casey's 47 team, and he had a convincing win Saturday night. - Conrad Nelson photo

Finally reporting on a busy weekend road trip

2010-04-26T23:10:00.002-05:00

Rain is a horrible thing when it comes to racing, but for the perpetually slow, like me, it is a blessing in disguise, because it lets me get caught up. I have had an over-scheduled spring, but luckily there is light at the end of the tunnel. I am wrapping up my spring teaching at Indian Hills Community College, but I have tackled chasing a masters degree in military history, so after about 20 years, I am a student again myself. I have found a few brain cells that I thought were lost. I have also found a need to better schedule myself.

As Jeff Broeg was updating you on our racing trip last weekend, I was scrambling to complete assignments in three classes. Look up procrastination in the dictionary and you see my picture. I apologize for the late report this week, but like I said, May looks a lot better for getting on a roll.

I had a great time with last weekend’s triple header. It was good to see racing again at State far Speedway in Sedalia. The facility has always been one of my favorites to visit, and the track was rocket fast last week due to rain and generous watering. After seeing the start of my 2010 season on ¼ and 3/8-mile tracks, the speeds of the cars down the back stretch as they entered turn three was eye opening. When I haven’t been to a half-mile track for a while, it takes a bit to get used to the speeds. I’m sure when I am back at Knoxville this week I will still be getting adjusted.

Sedalia is firing up a weekly line-up of late models, 360 sprints and modifieds on Friday nights this season, and there was a decent crowd of enthusiastic fans there to welcome them last week. The car count was OK, but I’m hoping it picks up as the season continues; they’ll need a few more cars to make a show out of it. There were some stars there in the 360s and late models, but the modified field was incredible last week. The class was in support of the Mid America Modified Series, which runs alone, and in conjunction with several USMTS shows this season. Sedalia was a stand alone show, and Kenny Schrader was on hand to stand alone at the front of the field as he motored off with the win; but with names like Boney, Payne, Stovall, Dotson, Lyle, Allen, Phillips, Bolin and Fennewald among others, there was a lot to watch.

The way the drivers attack Sedalia, it leaves some hot spots to watch for the fans in the stands. A major one is coming out of turn four. Drivers were exiting the corner high, up along the wall. Then they would drift across the front stretch to the center or even low groove. The interesting part was that a lot of them were drifting across directly in front of other drivers. How we didn’t see any major collisions there, it was amazing – and it was fun to watch. It was good to be back at Sedalia.

The following night it was on to Lee County Speedway, another favorite, and they were kicking off the season with the $2,000+ to win IMCA Modified Smackdown. A good field of modifieds, from several corners of the Midwest showed up, but so did Mike Long. Long has had a way of running off with the big dollars at Donnellson lately, and he did it again on April 17. Rich Smith led early and looked strong, but Long slowly reeled him in to take the win. It will be interesting to see on July 1 when they host the Liberty Cup/Hawkeye Dirt Tour. Will Long win another big one, or will somebody else manage to snag the big dollars? I don’t want to hype anything too early, but that show is going on my calendar.

Sunday meant a trip to Dubuque for the Deery Brothers show there. After what rolled out on the track, I’m hoping the Deery schedule has two or three Dubuque dates in 2011. Forty-four cars showed up and battled non-stop on well prepared, well watered surface. The corners saw every inch used, from the hub rail to the concrete wall. And the feature saw some amazing racing. Ray Guss lead early, but Mark Burgtorf reeled him in. Joining Burgtorf in the run to the front were Dan Shelliam, Jason Rauen, Andy Eckrich, Mike Murphy and Jeremiah Hurst among others. As Burgtorf was closing in on Guss, these other drivers looked to be gaining on him. It was exciting to see so many cars in contention as the laps wound down. Burgtorf and Guss held on to first and second, but there were several possibilities that the end could have been different. It was a great show, and there were a lot of smiles on peoples’ faces at the post race on the front stretch. It was great way to cap off the weekend.

The Deery Brothers season has been very entertaining so far and I can’t wait until they pick it up again on May 18 at Marshalltown.

Speaking of entertaining, as I side note, as I was surfing the Web today, I went to the IRA sprints page and watched some exciting racing from their show at the Dodge County Fairgrounds Speedway in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Brooke Tatnell was the winner of this one, the Schmidt Memorial, on April 18. On the IRA home page you can click on a video of the feature. It is worth the watch as there was some good racing in this one. I’m looking forward to May 8 and the IRA’s visit to Knoxville.

And speaking of Knoxville, it is good to have a report from Stacy Ervin at Positively Racing as Knoxville prepares to open their season this weekend with practice night on Friday, April 30, and the opener the next night, May 1. Check with Stacy all season on what is happening at Knoxville.

Burgtorf sweeps Deery openers at 34 Raceway and Quincy Raceways

2010-04-13T23:40:00.020-05:00

I had a great time Saturday and Sunday night kicking off the 2010 Deery Brothers Summer Series season at 34 Raceway and Quincy Raceways. Probably not as good of a time as Mark Burgtorf who won both events, but it was still good to get some late model racing under my belt.

Burgtorf was his usual “tough to beat” at 34 and Quincy, whether he drew 98 like he did Saturday, or a 2 like he did Sunday, it really didn’t matter where he started. It was obvious the Casey’s 7B was stout, and looks like it will be all season. It was also obvious, to me anyway, that the Deery schedule should be a good one this year.

34 Raceway A-Main - Burgtorf in victory lane. - BWJ photo

Quincy A-Main - Burgtorf back in victory lane. - BWJ photo

With 66 and 50 cars showing up on the first two nights, that sets the table for another big weekend coming up this Friday-Sunday at Davenport, Maquoketa and Dubuque. Burgtorf won’t win them all this season (I think), and there are plenty of other drivers that have a good shot at finding victory lane this year.

Saturday night, drivers showing some strength on their first night out included Nate Beuseling, Rob Toland, Tom Goble, Ryan Giles and Darrel DeFrance. Giles lead the feature for its early laps before being replaced at the front by Beuseling, who pulled away to a comfortable margin for several laps. Burgtorf was working his way through the field and eventually found himself in second when a caution flew with 26 laps complete. It took him until 41 laps were complete to make the pass on Beuseling, and he held on for the final nine for the win.

While the battle for the front was going on, Toland was rocketing to the front from the 22^nd starting spot. He covered a lot of ground in the second B main to make the transfer, but nothing compared to the run he made in the A.

Goble started tenth and would finish fourth. DeFrance started fifth and faded to tenth at the end, but won the second heat in a convincing fashion and looked good all night. Last year’s top three were a little off on Saturday, with 2009 champ Jeff Aikey finishing 18^th, 2009 second in points Jason Frankel finished 12^th, and 2009 third in points Ray Guss, Jr., finishing a hard-fought tenth. Frankel and Guss’ fortunes would change come Sunday, but Aikey’s slow start continued.

DeFrance would start on the pole at Quincy and mashed the gas to lead early. Frankel started seventh and soon fought his way to the front, getting around the sixth-starting Burgtorf for the advantage. A couple of cautions with 22 laps complete allowed Burgtorf to catch up to Frankel and he eventually grabbed the lead and motored on for the win. Frankel would take second, improving his Saturday fortunes, while Guss grabbed third, also improving from Saturday. Keith Pratt looked good at Quincy and had fourth place to show for it. Denny Woodworth rounded out the top five.

Tom Darbyshire and DeFrance finished sixth and seventh respectively, after they had a spirited race for several laps. No beating and banging, but they went side-by-side for at least the middle third of the race. Neither one gained, neither one lost ground, several laps looked identical as they came down the backstretch to turn three where I stood. It was fun to watch.

With two good races to start the season, I’m looking forward to this weekend’s shows and seeing who has the advantage with five races in the books.

34 Raceway A-Main - Nate Beuseling (46) and Ryan Giles (9) race for the lead. - BWJ photo

34 Raceway A-Main - Mark Preston (57) and Charlie McKenna (22) race for position. - BWJ photo

34 Raceway A-Main - Mark Burgtorf (7B) gains on Nate Beuseling (46) down the backstretch. - BWJ photo

34 Raceway A-Main - Tony Fraise (45), Tom Bowling, Jr., (14B) and Boone McLaughlin (14) battle down the backstretch. - BWJ photo

34 Raceway A-Main - Mark Burgtorf (7B) works underneath Nate Beuseling (46) in turn two. - BWJ photo

34 Raceway A-Main - Kevin Blum (54) races with Curt Martin(45) - BWJ photo

Quincy A-Main - Darrel DeFrance (99d) led the early laps Sunday night. - BWJ photo

Quincy A-Main - Bill Genenbacher (72) and Denny Woodworth (45DW) race through turn three. - BWJ photo

Quincy A-Main - Tom Goble (69) and Jay Johnson (93) race for position. - BWJ photo

Quincy A-Main - Ray Guss, Jr., (58) challenged Mark Burgtorf (7B) as they moved to the front. - BWJ photo

Quincy A-Main - Kevin Blum's nose piece goes airborne, forcing him to leave Sunday's feature. - BWJ photo

Quincy A-Main - Tom Darbyshire (42) and Darrel DeFrance (99d) went side-by-side for several laps Sunday night. - BWJ photo

Quincy A-Main - Mark Burgtorf (7B) works under Jason Frankel (oF) for the lead Sunday night. - BWJ photo

It should have been the Wind Buster instead of the Frost Buster at Boone

2010-04-06T14:24:00.023-05:00

Sorry for the delay in getting this out. Easter combined with a birthday (mine) pushed me into Tuesday to get caught up. Not that I'm rusty or anything like that...

I kicked off 2010 with a visit to the Boone Speedway for their annual Frost Buster. Temperature-wise, we were far from frost. As I entered the infield off of the backstretch, I felt like I was still there attending Super Nationals - it must have been a combination of the weather and the car count (over 160). The only drawback to the day was the constant wind that was blowing. Fortunately for the fans in the main grandstand, the wind was at their back, so the dust was blowing out. The wind did make it seem colder than it actually was though.

I mention dust, but I'm not going there as a form of a complaint. I thought the drivers and the track staff handled the conditions to the best of their ability. I have heard some griping about no "farming" being done during the heat races, but I applaud the decision. At the time we were day racing, and with the wind blowing like it was, all we would have done is waste time trying to work on the track - it would have only stretched the evening out for nothing. By the time the modifieds and the stock cars ran their heats, conditions were tricky, but both classes should be applauded for the effort they made in keeping their heats rolling. "Farming" was completed before the B mains and before the A mains and I thought the evening went as well as it could have in that regard.

In general, the heats were runs without much drama, as were the Bs for the most part. During the A mains, things got a little more dicey, with all classes seeing their share of cautions. From where I was taking pictures in turn three, you could have gathered enough pieces to build a complete modified by the end of the night, but so is the nature of opening night I think. Over all, there was some good racing out there and I rate my evening well worth the visit. I usually do at Boone as there is a lot to watch, and it is a great place to take pictures.

In the sportmod feature, Cody Hennings and Troy Jerovetz started on the front row and controlled the tempo for the feature, which Jerovetz would win. A sixth starting Geoff Olson would finish second with eighth-starting Scott Davis finishing third. Hennings was fourth.

Jimmy Gustin showed there was plenty of track to race on after starting 12th and wining the IMCA modified main. Thirteenth starting Josh Gilman finished second while Jeff Stephens came from 16th for third. In the early stages of this one there was a caution about every four laps until a rhythm got going. A lot of the front started cars dropped back, or out, allowing several drivers to make a charge. In my photos I point out Adam Larson, who was involved in the opening caution and restarted at the back of the field. Larson worked himself back into the top five late in the race was was still moving forward when he "spun" in turns three and four ending an impressive run.

Trent Murphy used his front row starting spot to his advantage in wining the IMCA stock car feature. Murphy is always tough at Boone, and if you give him a front row start, the rest of the field has their work cut out. Mike Van Genderen started third and advanced to second, while eighth starting Damon Murty would finish third. Dustin Smith would come from tenth to finish fourth.

Nick Murty also used his front row start to his advantage in winning the IMCA hobby main. Three of the top four finishers started in the top five (Murty started second, Chris Hupp in 2nd started 3rd, John Watson in 4th started 4th). The third finishing Nyles Godwin was the exception after starting the feature 11th.

All told, it was great night to start the season with. The show was over around 10 p.m. so it wasn't that late of a night. Several drivers were on hand, showing off their new cars for 2010, but I was encouraged by the number of older cars that were being used, and running just as competitively. As a racing fan, my instinct is to want to see everyone pull in with a new car, but in these times, that isn't necessarily possible. The more prudent choice for many is to get as many miles out of the old mount before rolling a new one off the trailer. There were a lot of returning cars at Boone and that's a good thing. I'd rather see pit full of 2008 and 2009 cars, rather than only a quarter full of 2010 cars. To the eye, older cars aren't as exciting, but to the sport, older cars are a hundred times better than no cars at all. See you at the races!

Sportmod Winner - Troy Jerovetz took top honors in the IMCA sportmod feature. - BWJ photo

Modified Winner - Jimmy Gustin topped the IMCA modified feature. - BWJ photo

Stock Car Winner - Trent Murphy won the IMCA stock car feature. - BWJ photo

Hobby Stock Winner - Nick Murty was the IMCA hobby stock feature winner. - BWJ photo

Sportmod A Main - Cody Hennings (66) and Troy Jerovetz (01) made up the front row for the IMCA sportmod feature. - BWJ photo

Sportmod A Main - Troy Jerovetz (01) holds off a challenge from Geoff Olson (2G) during the IMCA sportmod feature. - BWJ photo

Modified A Main - Jimmy Gustin (19) works underneath Dan Ratajczak (73) on his way to winning the IMCA modified feature. - BWJ photo

Modified A Main - After an being involved in an opening lap incident, Adam Larson (2L) restarted at the back of the IMCA modified field. By late in the race he was back in the top five, but lost all he gained in this spin in turns three and four. - BWJ photo

Stock A Main - Trent Murphy was dominant in his IMCA stock car feature win. - BWJ photo

Stock A Main - Dustin Smith (85) looks under Mike Van Genderen (57v) trying to gain a position in the IMCA stock car feature. Smith would end up fourth with Van Genderen second. - BWJ photo

Hobby A Main - Nick Murty (99JR) started second and stayed up front in winning the IMCA hobby stock main event. - BWJ photo

Gator -Kyle Lentz has a unique look for 2010. - BWJ photo

A look at the MLRA - version 1992, 1993

2010-02-17T13:33:00.019-06:00

While I was passing some time here recently, I came across my VCR copy of the 1992 MLRA Fall Nationals held at West Plains. It brought back a lot of memories and was fun to watch. Scheduled for September 25 and 26, the racing ran into the 27th due to rain. The Sunday afternoon sun saw two MLRA late model features with Tony Cardin and Wendell Wallace taking the wins, but Wallace crossed the scales light, giving the final win to Bill Frye for 1992. Wallace had run into trouble that Friday in his qualifier as well, also crossing the scales light. Rex McCroskey was the 1992 points champion.
I had caught the MLRA earlier that season at Sedalia, Missouri's State Fair Speedway. Rex McCroskey was the winner of that June 26 race.
Below are pictures of some of the MLRA competitors. I have shots from both Sedalia and West Plains. There are also some World 100 shots from both 1992 and 1993 that show some of the MLRA cars. There are also a couple of shots from the inaugural Show Me 100 in 1993.
I don't have a lot of color pictures from those events as at that time I was editor of Hawkeye Racing News and my primary shooting involved black and white film for the paper. Any color pictures I took were for my own collection. That shows that state of publications in the early '90s. We were still screening black and white prints for publication because they produced so much better than color. That wasn't all that long ago, but compared to 2010, it just as well have been 1892 as far as publications are concerned.
Because of the MLRA, I met a good friend that has unfortunately left us way too soon. Larry Olson was the best PR man any late model series ever saw. He loved the series, the racing, and he loved getting the word out about it. Larry stayed on my case (in a friendly way) until I made that Sedalia show, and he kept the pressure on so I'd come to the Fall Nationals in 1992. Larry was a gracious host and rolled out the red carpet to have HRN there to cover the shows. He also gave me the one-up on the rise of the Show Me 100, giving me information off the record that it was going to happen and what it was going to pay. It was nice having that connection, so when the release did break, I was already up to speed.
Larry was one of the good guys. I missed him when he stopped covering races, and I missed him even more when I learned of his passing last year. It is in his memory I dedicate my MLRA shots - without his prodding and insistence, I would have never been there to take them. Thanks Larry - we miss you.

A pair to go - Rex McCroskey (64) and Willy Kraft (in the Doug Wiggs 2) form up at the MLRA Fall Nationals on a Sunday afternoon in 1992. - BWJ photo

Tread - The David Gibson crew gets in some tire work at the 1992 MLRA Fall Nationals. - BWJ photo

At the World - Bill Frye's car awaiting the start of 1992 World 100 qualifying. - BWJ photo

Two-by-two - Leslie Essary (5) and Skip Thompson (24) line up on Sunday afternoon at West Plains, 1992. - BWJ photo

Iceman - Delbert Smith's machine at the 1992 MLRA Fall Nationals. - BWJ photo

Big numbers - Mike Brown (427) and Lonnie Smith (147) in the pits at the Sedalia MLRA show, June 1992. - BWJ photo

Wallace ready - Wendell Wallace's machine at the 1993 Show Me 100. - BWJ photo

Junior - Johnny Bone, Jr., pitside at the 1992 MLRA Fall Nationals. - BWJ photo

Here's Johnny - The two shots above are of Johnny Virden at the inaugural Show Me 100, 1993. - BWJ photo

Fall at West Plains - Darell Mooneyham's car, 1992 MLRA Fall Nationals. - BWJ photo

Pre-race - Denny Felker's car sits and waits at West Plains during the 1992 Fall Nationals. - BWJ photo

Forming up - Ken Essary (55) gets lined up for a Sunday afternoon start at the 1992 MLRA Fall Nationals at West Plains. - BWJ photo

At State Fair - Denny Felker's car at a June 1992 MLRA show at Sedalia. - BWJ photo

Check the sponsors - West Plains and the Show Me 100 grab some ink on Darrell Carpenter's car at Eldora in 1993. - BWJ photo

Waiting - Jeff Floyd's car sits pitside at Eldora in 1992. - BWJ photo

Getting ready - Donnie Barnhart is in position to qualify at the 1993 World 100. - BWJ photo

Yes, I know it is 2010...

2010-02-17T13:20:00.002-06:00

I basically pulled the equivalent of towing home from my last race of the season, backing the trailer into the shop with the car still on it and walking away. Now as February is winding down, I've shoveled a path back to the shop and I've started to work on the car. It is a new season, and it is time to go racing.
It is common knowledge that nothing much grows over winter, but that hasn't been the case with Positively Racing. It is with great pride that I have watched our roll call of columnists grow over the past months. It is nice to see the team take off. That doesn't mean we've stopped growing either, we are still on the watch for more people to help keep you informed as 2010 draws near.
It looks to be an exciting season on the way too. There have been changes at tracks, some tracks are not coming back; series are growing, changing and unfortunately, disappearing. It will be interesting to watch the racing industry this season to see what it has in store. We are in one of those cyclical periods where things have dipped. When the next rise begins, we'll have to see. Change is good, and there have definitely been some changes, so we will see what happens. It is reassuring that as long as their have been automobiles, there has been racing - it has never disappeared. Changed, sure; failed and flourished, you bet; but every summer the green flag has flown somewhere, just as it has already in 2010. I can't wait to get to my next race!

Back in the saddle, looking at Springfield Raceway and Lee County's Shiverfest

2009-11-03T14:32:00.005-06:00

It has been too long and I apologize. The combination of a vacation, large class size where I’m teaching this term, and, seemingly being gone more than I’m home has kept me away from writing. Perhaps it was too long of a vacation, but whatever the case, in the words of Gregg Allman, it’s time to “pull myself together, put on a new face, climb down off the hilltop, get back in the race.”

Four wide - On the opening lap of the fourth late model heat race John Beck (28B), Eric Turner (99T), Rylan Long (18) and Brad Looney (23) took things four-wide at Springfield. - BWJ photo

Two weekends ago I had one of my favorite racing weekends of the season with a trip to Springfield Raceway in Missouri. If you have read Jeff and Tapfan’s works, you are up to date on the action there, and on Jeff’s blog, you have even seen a few of pictures I snapped while at Springfield. I’m going to share a few more thoughts with you and some more pictures as well.
My first-ever trip to Springfield was back in March, and it was that trip that kicked-off this blog. Unfortunately rain moved in and we did not see any features that weekend. Returning in October, the weather was perfect, in the 60s and dry. Once again we were treated with great hospitality and I felt truly welcomed in my return to the track. Thanks to the staff at Springfield for making that happen.

Cool car -If watching this car motor around the track doesn't take some of you back a few years, I don't know what would. Bob Maggard, Sr. wheeled this bomber to a heat race victory and finished fifth in the feature at Springfield. - BWJ photo

A new leader, early - Bill Frye (66) wrestled the lead from Terry Phillips (75) early in the late model main event, but Phillips would come on strong and pull away for the win. - BWJ photo

Being a fall race, it was nice to see that they kept the show moving as well as possible. A couple of wrecks took some extra time to clean, and some drivers weren’t crazy about getting in line the speediest way possible, but overall, I thought the show moved well, ending by 9 p.m., and before the cold night air rolled in.
I came away enjoying the track’s small but mighty wrecker fleet. The primary car movers were two Chevy pick-ups with towing booms mounted in the back. When they would hook up to a car, it would look as if the weight was going to tip them onto their back bumper, but they would motor off with race car in tow no problem, The operators of these trucks were very efficient, on the scene quickly, and had the cars removed fast barring any entanglements or tricky pile-ups. I know of a few places where these trucks would be welcome on a weekly basis as they did a good job.
I really enjoy shooting at Springfield. Protected by light poles and concrete, you can work close to the track and get some nice shots. That is good, because when the racing is as good as it was on this trip, it is nice to have a good view of it. Cars were two, three and even four wide for most of the night – fun to watch for photographers and fans alike. The track stayed racy for the most part, even as the rubber built up. I’ve been there twice and can’t wait to get there a third time as I think the place puts on a good show. Unfortunately I can’t make the Turkey Classic on November 28, but you might be able to. Late models for $2,000-to-win, modifieds for $1,000-to-win plus sport mods and legends will make for a good show. If the place were three or four hours closer, I might get there a little more often, but I can’t wait for their 2010 schedule to come put so I can plan for a trip next year. Give them a try!
That same weekend, I hit Shiverfest in Donnellson on Sunday afternoon. Again, with temps in the 60s things looked promising, but a mess of rain seemed to follow us up from Missouri and set in on the Lee County Speedway as the B mains were taking place. A solid field of over 140 cars was making for a good show, but it wasn’t to be as the elements weren’t going to cooperate. That’s too bad as Shiverfest has become a tradition for several fans and drivers and to not be able to end the year with it doesn’t quite seem right. Still, there were some fast and furious heat races, and the Trick-or-Treating was solid, so all was not lost on this Sunday afternoon.
I can’t recall an October where the weather has messed up so much of the race schedule. We lost a lot of good shows this fall due to the lousy weather. It seems that once the Late Model Nationals tried to start at Knoxville, the rain cranked up and never let anyone get an edge on completing a regularly-scheduled program. That’s too bad as some of our fall shows in this area are some of the best of the year. Let’s hope 2010 is a little drier.

Mayhew and Skinner grab wins as NASCAR makes final Iowa Speedway visit in 2009; ASA, USAR this weekend

2009-09-19T00:02:00.007-05:00

Two weekends ago saw the NASCAR Camping World West and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in Newton to run at Iowa Speedway. David Mayhew handed the Camping World West field a resounding beat down, while Mike Skinner was in complete control in the truck series. Conrad Nelson captured these shots for you.
The following week, Mayhew competed at the IMCA Super Nationals in Boone, behind the wheel of a Jet modified supplied by Johnny Saathoff. Mayhew did not make the big show, but vowed a return. He crashed out of one of the last chance races on Saturday afternoon, but was all smiles as I talked to him about his Boone experience, even with the bad luck. Mayhew was a stand-up guy to meet and chat with at both Newton and Boone. I've included a shot of his Super Nationals car.

Celebration - David Mayhew celebrates his Iowa Speedway victory. - Conrad Nelson photo

West winner - David Mayhew's Camping World West winning machine. - Conrad Nelson photo

Super Nats mode - David Mayhew pilots his Jet mod at Boone. - BWJ photo

Fired up - Mike Skinner celebrates his win in victory lane - Conrad Nelson photo

Lapping - Mike Skinner (5) begins to put a lap on Todd Bodine (30). - Conrad Nelson photo

This weekend marks the final weekend of racing at Iowa Speedway for 2009 as both the ASA late models and the USAR touring series take to the track Saturday evening.

Six nights, five different winners in USMTS Hunt for the Championship

2009-09-09T15:10:00.013-05:00

Last week the touring modifieds of the USMTS made a six-night run through Iowa and Minnesota. If you were on hand for the opener at Oskaloosa, you got to see all five of the winners in action on opening night. Brad Pinkerton won Osky's main event after surviving a duel with Al Hejna over several laps. The high side was the fast side as Pinkerton went on to win. Night two saw Jason Hughes win at Highway 3 in Allison, and then repeat on night three, winning at the Buena Vista Raceway. Night four saw the tour move to Lansing, Minnesota, where Ryan Gustin grabbed the victory. Tommy Myer was the night five winner at Deer Creek Speedway while Tim Donlinger wrapped up the 6-day tour with a win at Dodge County Speedway in Kasson, Minnesota.

Osky winner - Brad Pinkerton was all smiles after his convincing win in the USMTS main event. - BWJ photo

For the lead - Al Hejna (777) and Brad Pinkerton (17) went high and low as they battled for the lead. - BWJ photo

Destroyed -Fortunately Ron VerBeek escaped serious injury when he collided with the tractors tires that sit at the start of the turn three wall. - BWJ photo

Deer Creek winner -Tommy Myer would finish 14th at Oskaloosa, but his fortunes would turn with a victory on night five of the USMTS swing. - BWJ photo

Fifth at Osky - Tim Donlinger would finish fifth on the opening night of the USMTS swing, but he would pick up the win on night six in Kasson, Minnesota. - BWJ photo

Double winner - Jason Hughes (14) finished third at Oskaloosa, but would go on to win USMTS features the next two night. - BWJ photo

B-Mod winner - Tyler Groenendyk won the USRA B-mod feature as well as the track points championship at Oskaloosa. - Conrad Nelson photo

McDaniel wins - Jason McDaniel was the USRA hobby stock feature winner last Tuesday at Oskaloosa. - Conrad Nelson photo

Stock winner - Shane Weller (20 DUB) works underneath Carl Yaw (73C) on his way to winning the USRA stock car feature on September 1 at Oskaloosa. - Conrad Nelson photo

Conrad's Corner - Shots from Knoxville Raceway

2009-08-31T22:47:00.011-05:00

Photographer Conrad Nelson was on hand at Knoxville Raceway Saturday night, August 29, and shares these photos:

All a blur - Sprinters at speed cut a path down the backstretch Saturday night. - Conrad Nelson photo

305 power - Wayne Redmond turns a lap at Knoxville. - Conrad Nelson photo

Movin' out - 305 sprinter Dave Saffell on the gas Saturday night. - Conrad Nelson photo

305 winner - Matt Stephenson enjoys his 305 feature win with brother Marty. - Conrad Nelson photo

360 action - Jonathan Cornell (28) races with Johnny Anderson (2A) during 360 sprint action. - Conrad Nelson photo

Happy - Dustin Selvage celebrates as he climbs from his car in victory lane. - Conrad Nelson photo

Victory party - Dustin Selvage is joined by supporters after his 360 feature win. - Conrad Nelson photo

McCarl again - Terry McCarl added to his 410 sprint feature win total. - Conrad Nelson photo

Thoughts turn to fall as Sprint Invaders visit West Liberty Raceway

2009-08-31T21:47:00.016-05:00

Cold enough for you Saturday night? It certainly wasn't August weather as this racing season rolled toward September championships and specials.

I made the visit to West Liberty Raceway to see the Sprint Invaders combined with extra bucks for the late models. Modifieds and flyers were also on hand, so it was a pretty good card.

For me, the Invaders feature provided the most action as Matt Rogerson and Bobby Mincer raced each other through traffic for the win with little let up due to cautions. Rogerson would end up grabbing the winner's spot in this one.

For the late models it was Chad Simpson and Jeremiah Hurst putting up the biggest fight for the lead. In the closing laps Simpson stretched out a comfortable lead to take the win.
Bruce Hanford qualified for the modified A-main coming out of one of two Bs. Starting the A in 14th, he blasted his way to the front and left everyone else behind to grab the win. Shaun Slaughter put on as dominant of a show while winning the flyer feature, starting from the pole.

Flyin' - Shaun Slaughter topped the Farley Flyer main event. Note the left rear tire lifting off the track - the joys of front-wheel-drive. - BWJ photo

Top Invader - Matt Rogerson won the Sprint Invader main event. - BWJ photo

Mod winner - Point leader Bruce Hanford was impressive in coming from the B main to win the A main. - BWJ photo

All out - Justin Mitchell (28x) and Dave Eckrich (58) race out of turn two in the feature. - BWJ photo

Moving up - Chad Simpson (25) passes Andy Eckrich (56) on his way to winning Saturday night's late model feature. - BWJ photo

All in the Family - Kevin Kile (88) looks under Kurt Kile (77) as they head out of turn two down the backstretch. - BWJ photo

Familiar faces find victory lane following action-filled night at Marshalltown Speedway

2009-08-29T10:59:00.026-05:00

I always leave Marshalltown Speedway feeling like I made a good choice, and Friday night was no exception. After looking at my calendar for the rest of the season, I realized my last shot to catch any action at Marshalltown would be last night. My work schedule does not allow me to hit any of their next three shows, so I was glad I could fit Friday in this week. Still a regular points night, I was treated to some good racing as most of the point leaders came out firing. Marshalltown still has close point battles on tap and Friday night helped sort some of that out.
As most of you know, we had a lot of rain around the state this week. The Marshalltown area had around five inches of the wet stuff. I asked Toby Kruse about the challenges the rain gave his staff, and he told me that they were on the track at 9:30 a.m. Friday, working on the race surface, as well as the pits. Kruse said that they had to bring in several loads of dirt and fill to help soak up the pit area and make it serviceable. If you have ever been to Marshalltown after a rain storm, you’ll know why. The pits have some water collection areas, but they looked to be in good shape after all of the attention they received.

Middle man - Joe Luethje (17AJ) found himself in a tough spot in IMCA stock car heat race action. In the top photo, Rob Schneider (17s) and Michael Jaennette (93) begin a synchronized spin in turns one and two. In the middle photo, Luethje finds himself in a tough spot. At bottom, Luethje was the only car to keep rolling of the three, but had damage to show for it. - BWJ photos

The track itself was amazing considering the conditions it presented. The surface was hard packed at race time and presented two, three and four-wide racing throughout the night. There was still a lot of moisture in the track, but it didn’t tear up as one might expect. In fact, there was more dust than I thought there might be, as a brisk breeze out of northwest helped dry things out on the surface, and make the track challenging for some. It seemed many of the racers benefited from the conditions and put on a good show. There were some who had their difficulties, but overall, there weren’t that many stoppages on the night. Some rain clouds looked to threaten before sundown, and I even drove home on wet pavement just south of Marshalltown, but the track’s luck held and we stayed dry. Congratulations to Toby and his staff as their hard work paid off!
Joel Huggins showed the way in the first feature of the night as the dwarf cars took to the track. Point leader Mike Morrill started deep in the field and managed to work his way to second, but Huggins took advantage of his early lead and held on for the win.
Twenty-eight sportmods made the tow to Marshalltown, but it was a familiar face in victory lane as ninth-starting Kevin Sather worked his way to the win. Point leader Scott Davis ran into difficulties, spinning following a restart, so his five point lead going into the night was used up with his misfortune. This points battle will go down to the wire with the season championship this week.
The stock cars saw their usual great racing at Marshalltown, but as the laps ran down in this one, it was a familiar name showing the way again. Third-starting David Smith made one of his infrequent visits to the track and paced the field for much of the race; however, his brother Dustin started 12th and was soon putting the pressure on. The duo raced close for several laps before Dustin grabbed another win on the season. Jeff Wollam would finish third.
The modifieds put on a great show from their heat races through the feature. Kyle Krampe led the feature early before dropping out. Soon, last week’s winner Brett Ladehoff had gone from his sixth starting spot to take the lead. Ladehoff would hold the top spot for the remainder of the race, but it looked as if he would have company from a first-time visitor to the track. David Murray made the tow in from Kansas and was behind the wheel of a #23 Victory chassis. Starting 12th, Murray worked his way to second. His biggest gains came in turns three and four as he found a unique line through the center of the corners that helped him catch the cars in front of him.
As the laps wound down, Murray was gaining on Ladehoff and looked like he would be able to make one last run to the checkers. It wasn’t to be though as Murray got caught up with a lapped car coming out of turn two on the final lap, losing all momentum. Murray showed why he is the IMCA total victory leader as he was impressive in a new car in the first time out at a new facility. Eleventh starting, and point leading Jimmy Gustin helped his cause by finishing third and giving Murray a run for the second spot.
The hobby stocks wrapped up the program. Todd Reitzler started tenth to take the win, while Michael Murphy and Terry Shaffar put on a show in their race for second. Point leader Devin Smith would start 13th and finish fourth. Smith led Murphy by four points going into the night, so their finishes set up a great contest this coming Friday night.
With all of the action we had at Marshalltown, events were still wrapped up before 10 p.m., a great capper to the evening. The track still has three big shows to go: the Deery Brother Summer Series on Sept. 1, season championships on Sept.4, and, Havoc on the Highbanks Sept. 18 and 19. My thanks to Toby Kruse and his staff for allowing me to make my final visit to the track this season – as always, it was well worth the drive.
Be sure to check out Tapfan’s Tours for more details on the night at Marshalltown.

Winner - Joel Huggins was Friday night's dwarf car feature winner. - BWJ photo

Three wide - Brad Iverson (8), Jake Strayer (18J) and Zach Rawlins (2Z) go three-wide in the early shuffle of the IMCA sportmod feature. - BWJ photo

To the front - Kevin Sather (3E) works his way by early leader Brad Iverson (8) on his way to winning the IMCA sportmod feature. - BWJ photo

Tough night - IMCA sportmod point leader Scott Davis (81d) got sideways on a restart. Neil Follett (32N) missed the action going high, but Bill Hilldreth (98) got a good close look. - BWJ photo

Brotherly battle - David Smith (8x) led early, but Dustin Smith (85) would get by to win the IMCA stock car feature. - BWJ photo

On his way - Brett Ladehoff (12x) works underneath Mike O'Lear (2x) on his way to winning his second IMCA modified feature in-a-row at Marshalltown. - BWJ photo

From afar - David Murray (23) made his first-ever visit to Marshalltown and finished second. Here he works on taking a position from Adam Larson (2L). - BWJ photo

For second - Terry Shaffar (35) and Michael Murphy (25M) contest the second spot during the IMCA hobby stock feature. - BWJ photo

Hobby winner - Todd Reitzler shows the way coming out of turn four in the IMCA hobby stock feature. - BWJ photo

The biggest challenge at the Front Row was the rain - McTwo Promotions goes the extra mile as Swindell wins main event

2009-08-11T13:43:00.017-05:00

If you could only get hit by the wettest part of a storm, it happened Monday night in Oskaloosa, as a full grandstand and 45 410 sprints got hit with a deluge followed by a three-hour rain delay as the Front Row Challenge rolled out for its annual appearance.

Sammy wins - Sammy Swindell picked up $10,000 for his win in the Front Row Challenge at Oskaloosa. - BWJ photo At speed - Swindell on the gas at Oskaloosa. - BWJ photo

Forming up - Erin Crocker (59) and Donny Schatz (15) are lined up for heat race action Monday night. - BWJ photo

Fast Lance - Lance Dewease set quick time Monday night at Oskaloosa. - BWJ photo

The party had started and was in full swing when the rain hit, and you have to take your hat off to Terry McCarl and his McTwo Promotions crew for the job they did to complete this program in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

The rain we got would have wiped out any other show at any other track, but with the Front Row, things are different. You have a huge, understanding audience, who for the most part don't mind the party going a little longer; and, this year, you have a sanctioned All-Star Sprint race that has no way of being made up on the schedule. The "get it in" attitude was strong, and a lot of people deserve some credit for their efforts in getting the show completed.

We had completed four heat races and the drivers' foot race when the rain hit. In the regrouping process, the King of the Hill competition was dropped, which left the B main and the A main to be run. Countless laps were turned in getting the track rolled in by push trucks and sprint cars, but eventually things were race ready and the B main rolled off at around 12:45 a.m. The A would follow at around 1:20 a.m.

With all of the rain, the track was nasty fast, but also pretty much one groove as with all of the moisture and so few laps, there wouldn't be enough time to widen it out. Nobody seemed to mind, however, as the collective goal was to finish the program, especially with Knoxville getting rained out Sunday night. The assembled sprint cars fans wanted to see a show.

Sammy Swindell gave them one as he blasted his way from the pole position for the $10,000 winner's check. Joey Saldana started second and did manage to give Swindell a couple of looks, but as the laps ran down, Sammy stayed in control. There were a couple of position changes back in the pack, but for the most part, the drivers gassed it and held on.

For Terry McCarl, the week stayed interesting as Saturday night's sweep of the 410 feature and 360 Nationals feature at Knoxville flowed right into his two nights of promotion at Oskaloosa. Under adverse conditions Monday, I would say his hot streak continued as he brought the fans an A main event, just a little later than originally planned.

Congratulations - Terry McCarl wrapped a successful Saturday by winning the 360 Nationals at Knoxville. - BWJ photo

410 Top 3 - From left, Johnny Herrera (third), Terry McCarl (winner) and Brian Brown (second) made up the top three for Saturday nights 410 main at Knoxville. - Conrad Nelson photo

Johnson, McCarl take features wins into the finals of the Knoxville 360 Nationals

2009-08-08T15:38:00.023-05:00

Both qualifying nights are now in the books for the Knoxville 360 Nationals, and once again these shows have provided for some good racing. Once, one of the best kept secrets in racing, the 360 Nationals have drawn good crowds in 2009, and they have been witness to a lot of big names, a new track record, and line-ups that promise some action for Saturday night.
Thursday winner - Wayne Johnson celebrates his Thursday night 360 Nationals win from atop his wing. - BWJ photo

Friday winner - Terry McCarl is all smiles after winning Friday's 360 Nationals coming out of turn four. - BWJ photo

Fifty-two cars took times on Thursday night, and when the final checkered flag flew, it was Wayne Johnson in victory lane, after catching early feature leader Shane Stewart. Johnson seems to peak when he unloads at Knoxville, and Thursday night showed that.
Friday night, Brian Brown started on the front row and pulled away from the field, but a persistent Terry McCarl made steady progress after starting seventh, and coming out of turn four on the final lap grabbed the lead from Brown and won night number two.
McCarls’s win puts him outside row one for tonight’s main event. On the pole will be Billy Alley, the top point getter for both qualifying nights, who had quick time and finished third in the opener. Wayne Johnson takes his Thursday win to a second row starting spot outside Tony Bruce, Jr.
That is a lot of fire power in just two rows, but on their heels are plenty more hard chargers and potential 360 Nationals champions. Just as impressive Saturday will be the 360 B main, with names like Brad Sweet, Tim Crawley, Kaley Gharst, Johnny Herrera, Gary Wright and Dale Blaney among those looking to transfer to the A. We should be treated to some great 360 sprint action.

Record setter - Cale Conley now holds the 360 sprint one-lap record at Knoxville with a time of 15.973 seconds. - BWJ photo

I mentioned a track record. That came during qualifying on Friday. The first car out, Jack Dover set a new 360 sprint mark of 15.977 seconds for one lap of qualifying. That time kept Dover in the record books for a while, but Vienna, West Virginia’s Cale Conley came out and topped it with a time of 15.973 seconds. Conley’s time would hold, putting him into the Knoxville record books as the fastest 360 sprint to turn the half mile. Both Conley and Dover used the strength of their times to make the A main tonight. Blaney - Dale Blaney sported this paint scheme on Thursday night, but mechanical problems kept him from making the A main. - Conrad Nelson photo

Action - Johnny Anderson (2A) and Matt Covington (95) race for position Thursday night. - Conrad Nelson photo

Thursday Top 3 - From left: Billy Alley (third), Wayne Johnson (winner) and Shane Stewart (second). - Conrad Nelson photo

Moving up - Terry McCarl (24) works for a position against Travis Rilat (29) in Friday's feature. - Conrad Nelson photo

Friday Top 3 - From left, Travis Rilat (third), Terry McCarl (winner) and Brian Brown (second). - Conrad Nelson photo

The 360 Nationals are always one of my favorite events, and this year’s version hasn’t disappointed. There have been drivers from all corners of sprint car country, including the big names and the up-and-comers. To me, that is what 360 racing and the 360 Nationals are all about. I can’t wait.

Hejna wins action-filled USMTS feature at the Southern Iowa Speedway

2009-08-06T00:13:00.021-05:00

The way Wednesday night's USMTS feature started at the Southern Iowa Speedway, you couldn't help but wonder what was in store. Three quick cautions kept the race from getting a good start; however, on the fourth try, things took off and the show saw multiple battles for the win. Drivers raced two and three wide for the lead, other drivers made runs from mid-pack and beyond to the front, and the race stayed green until there were four laps to go. A caution with three to go kept the field close. The final laps clicked off and it was Al Hejna making an impressive run from the ninth starting spot to take the feature.

Osky winner - Al Hejna is joined by Michael Waltrip in victory lane as he celebrates his USMTS feature win on NASCAR Night at the Southern Iowa Speedway. - BWJ photo

Plenty of drivers had a shot at this one, their pictures are below. I'll follow up with some more details later. All said, it was a great USMTS feature, and the big crowd on hand left happy. So did Al Hejna with a hard-earned victory.

At the start - Pole-sitter Chase Junghans (18) feels pressure from Ryan Gustin (19R). - BWJ photo

Two grooves - Zack Vander Beek (33Z) ran the low line in turn one, while Kelly Shryock (3) was up top as they raced for the lead. - BWJ photo

Lurking - Zack Vander Beek (33Z) ran strong low, but Al Hejna (7) was showing his strength. - BWJ photo

Looking - Ryan Gustin (19R) looks under Kelly Shryock (3) for his chance at the front. - BWJ photo

Moving up - Colt Mather (8) started eighth and finished in the top five, while Tommy Myer sticks his nose in the shot on his way to second. - BWJ photo Late restart - Here's the scramble with four laps to go. Ryan Gustin (19R), Al Hejna (7) and Kelly Shryock (3) battle it out heading onto turn two. - BWJ photo

Birkhofer laps everyone but Moyer as he blows away Tornado Tuesday field

2009-08-05T15:48:00.012-05:00

To say that Brian Birkhofer won Tuesday night's special at West Liberty would be an understatement. He flat out destroyed it, leading 50 laps straight, lapping 22 of 23 of his competitors in the process.The winner - Brian Birkhofer is all smiles after dominating the field for a win in West Liberty's Tornado Tuesday special. - BWJ photo

The race began with a pile-up in turn three on the opening lap. After that, it was green flag racing without interruption until the checkers flew. Birkhofer started on the pole and wasted no time in declaring his dominance. It wasn't even close. Billy Moyer, who has given Birkhofer a run for his money in the past at West Liberty didn't even keep pace, in fact, Moyer was fairly dominant in his second place finish, but he was at least 2/3 of a lap behind Birkhofer while doing it.

Track space - Denny Eckrich (50) and Brian Shirley (3s) race for position coming out of turn two. - BWJ photo
A real F-5 - Birkhofer ran all 50 Tornado Tuesday laps with the lead all to himself. - BWJ photo
California Racin' - Mike Johnson made the pull in from the west coast and made the main event. - BWJ photo

Mr. Unlappable - Billy Moyer was the only driver not to go a lap down to Birkhofer. - BWJ photo

I thought the track was in great shape and provided for some decent racing. It was just that Birkhofer was so dialed in that he soon killed off any excitement in the race for the lead. It was a well-deserved $10,000 for the Muscatine driver.

The companion stock cars put on a good show for the night. Seventeen cars started the main event, and David Brandies, Greg Gill, Matt Greiner, Justin Temeyer and Scotty Pratt all helped in putting on an entertaining show. There was a lot of two and three-wide racing for the stock cars throughout the evening. Brandies would go on to take the win with Lavern Cole providing some last lap excitement as he tipped his stock car after spinning in turn two on the final lap. He was not injured.

Stock winner - David Brandies won the stock car main event Tuesday night. - BWJ photo

Oooops - While recovering from a last lap spin, Lavern Cole found himself doorside down in turn two. He was OK. - BWJ photo

In all, it was a nice night to be at the speedway - a good car count, a good crowd, and a dominant night for Birkhofer and his fans.

Southern Iowa Speedweeks brings new products for souvenir hunters

2009-08-04T13:24:00.005-05:00

Being a regular at Southern Iowa Speedweeks in Oskaloosa and Knoxville, along with a plate full of good sprint car racing, I get treated to a bunch of new souvenirs that are just calling out to be taken home.

New hat - Dennison Racing Tees has created this hat to mark the 50th anniversary of the Knoxville Nationals.

Side view - A look at the '10 sprinter.

Vintage - The Roy Robbins sprinter decorates the back of the hat.

In recent visits to Knoxville, there is already a bunch of items marking this year's 49th running of the Nationals. T-shirts, hats and so on are starting to fill the races as this week's events draw near. But beyond this year's events, there are already souvenir items being put out to draw attention to next year's 50th running of the Nationals.
One of the items, put out by Dennison Racing Tees is this cool new hat I am showing off to you here. Stitched in beautiful gold metallic thread along with blue and black on white, this hat is almost too pretty to wear, even though I'm sure you will want to show it off.

It has a neat logo announcing the 50th anniversary, but what I like even more are the two sprint cars it sports. On the right side of the hat is a modern day sprinter numbered '10 for next year's show. On the back is the clincher for me picking up this hat - the car that won the first Nationals driven by Roy Robbins. With this hat you can celebrate both the past and the present.

Dennison's is selling the hat for $22, and I suggest you get it fast as they should prove to be very popular. Dennison's also features this 50th logo on jackets, glasses and shot glasses so far. You can find Dennison's located at the blue trailer in the infield at Knoxville, as well as in two locations behind the grandstand.

Over the next couple weeks I will try to feature some more items to be found at this year's Speedweeks.

Noteboom shows the power, survives challenges for win in Harris Clash

2009-07-29T22:57:00.010-05:00

It was two years in the making, but the Harris Clash finally ran on Tuesday night in Knoxville. Seventy-eight cars weren’t the 120 I think a lot of fans were hoping for, but when you think about it, 78 cars still rank as a big number, especially with the quality of field the Clash draws. Personally, I was happy with the turnout for a rescheduled event.

The top three - From left, Jeremy Mills (third), Jay Noteboom (first) and Nate Caruth (second) share the podium following the Harris Clash. - Conrad Nelson photo

For the lead - Jay Noteboom (7N) races Jeremy Mills (10) for the top spot in the Harris Clash through turns one and two at Knoxville. - Conrad Nelson photo

Divided into eight heats, the field quickly ran off the opening races of the program, I think there was all of one caution for all eight heat events. The track was drying out fast, and the majority of the runners made the dash for the low groove. There was some movement in the rankings, but there wasn’t an all-out rush to the front. Still, eight laps were enough to settle any heat race issues. Heat winners included Jay Noteboom, Alex Hanson, Josh Gilman, Bill Davis, Jr., Mike Long, Jeremy Mills, Jeff Jones and Al Hejna.

Heat action - Richie Smith (8) works his way between Tim Czarenski (front, 21cz) and Greg Metz (29) during the fourth heat race. - B. Johnson photo

Second heat - Tyler VandeKamp (46) and Jesse Cowles (6H) race through turn two. - B. Johnson photo

Rock on - Jimmy Gustin sported a new look with Guitar Hero III lineage. - B. Johnson photo

Four B mains were run, and the action was a little more furious, with a few more cautions than the heats. The top three transferred from the 12-lap Bs, and those that qualified came from the pole, all the way back to eighth. Mark Elliott started eighth in the fourth B and qualified for the feature by taking second. Your B main winners included Nick Deal, Ricky Stephan (taking the place of a DQ’d J. Hedrick), John Logue and Adam Larson.
Josh Gilman and Bill Davis, Jr., started on the front row of the 25-lap main event, which saw two early stoppages. The first with one lap complete for a slowing Matt Waugh; the second was for a red flag on the next restart as the field piled up in turn one and accidents scattered into turn two and starting down the backstretch. A total of 12 cars were involved in one way or another and several starters found their way to an early retirement.
Once the feature got rolling, the early action was paced by an intense duel between Jay Noteboom and Jeremy Mills. Side-by-side, lap-after-lap, this duo raced to decide who would take the lead. They put on the show in the early laps before Noteboom gained the advantage.
As Noteboom held his advantage, the attention of many turned to 15th-starting Nate Caruth who found his line and was motoring to the front. As the laps clicked off, Caruth passed car after car. He passed the second-running Mills and had three laps to make a run on Noteboom at the end. Caruth did close in the corners, but Noteboom powered down the straights to hold his advantage to the end. Caruth was second, Mills third. Mike Long and Todd Shute rounded out the top five, with Long having started seventh, and Shute starting 16th. The bottom line continued to be the favorite, but there were plenty of position changes, due to both the accidents and the racing.
It was a good show, especially good since they finally got it after two summers of rain delays. Noteboom winning couldn’t have been much of surprise considering the roll he has been on, winning big races over the past few weeks. His adding of the Harris Clash just solidifies a good summer for him.

I'm Back - Finally!!!

2009-07-29T21:36:00.004-05:00

I can't begin to tell you how good it is to be back at Positively Racing as an active blogger. After my lightning strike it was a long month of waiting for a computer that was back-ordered so I could send you information once again. I'd like to thank my computer guy, Brent Westerkamp, for all of his help in getting back on line.
I'd also like to thank those of you who have stuck with me in this down time. I have been to a lot of good races and will be getting you caught up on my travels of the past few weeks. The summer of 2009 has been a good one so far.

Up and over - Abe Huls tackles the tractor tire between turns one and two at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson on June 26. Despite the ominous look of it, Huls survived the tangle and went on to place second in the IMCA stock car feature that night. - B. Johnson photo

Again, I encourage you, if you can anticipate a lightning strike coming in your future, pack up and move everything electronic - it is safer that way and you won't have to go through the process of re-tooling. Yes, buying new electronics can be exciting, but its a bigger pain in the backside than you could ever imagine!
Again, its great to be back! Enjoy.

High Side hit by lightning, down but not out

2009-06-23T10:49:00.002-05:00

A quick update. Last Thursday morning my home took a lightning hit and I lost quite a bit of electronic-ware, including my computers. I am sending this quick update from the Pella Public Library. I hope to be up and running by the end of the week, and will start with an update from the IndyCar weekend at Iowa Speedway, including photos from Conrad Nelson. There are some big events on the horizon, including topless late models at Lee County Speedway this Friday, and the World of Outlaws from Knoxville this Saturday, so I hope to be in a position to report from the comfort of my home very soon.
Remember kids, lightning is not your friend!

Badgley saves the day as Boone Speedway sees three new winners for 2009 season

2009-06-16T23:42:00.019-05:00

I debated all day Saturday where I was going to race, and ended up choosing Boone. Since I hadn’t taken my camera on my trip there early this spring, I was itching to get a few shots recorded. I was well rewarded for my choice, as I thought the racing had plenty to show as cars went two, three or four wide during the features. Outside of the sportmods, cautions were at a minimum, so the large crowd that was on hand saw a good show as over 160 cars were in the pits.
I left the house later than I intended to get to the track, so I did my usual scramble gathering things up and throwing them in the car. I forgot one major item, and that was the battery pack I left on the charger and it powers my camera. So much for being prepared at show time.
Fortunately for me, track photographer Bruce Badgley bailed me out and had the batteries I needed to power up my camera. So a very big thank you to Bruce in helping make the following pictures in this blog possible. You can check out Bruce’s work at motorsportsphotography.net. He has the latest from Marshalltown, Boone and Stuart throughout the race season. Thanks again Bruce!

A wheel up - Brian Efkamp lifts the left front as he dives through turn three in his IMCA stock car heat race. - BWJ photo

Heat action - Trent Murphy (25) slips under Don Vis (04) in IMCA stock car heat race action. Murphy would go on to win the stock car main event. - BWJ photo

Three-wide - Cory Bushnell (55), Ty Hill (3W) and Donavon Smith (35) race into turn four in their IMCA stock car heat. - BWJ photo

In addition to the large crowd on hand at Boone, the field of cars was sizable too, with both sportmods and modifieds running B mains, and the hobby stocks running two features. The track was relatively dust-free, and since it was re-worked before the features, it helped in putting on a good show.
Of the six feature winners on Saturday night, three of them were picking up their first wins at Boone in 2009. They were: Adam Larson in IMCA modifieds, Larry Embrey in IMCA hobby stocks and Dusty Masolini in dwarf cars. Boone repeaters included Scott Davis in IMCA sportmods, Trent Murphy in IMCA stock cars and Alan Van Gorp in IMCA hobby stocks.
The pictures are going to do the talking for the rest of this section. You should be able to see that there was plenty of racing to be had last Saturday. Personally I went home thoroughly entertained, having a good fill of position changes and foot-to-the-floor racing. The cool evening coupled with the competitive modified field put in the frame of mind for Super Nationals, but since we have just gotten a good start in to June, I’ll put that notion on hold and enjoy all of the shows there are left to run between now and September!

Dwarf winner - Dusty Masolini was the dwarf car feature winner Saturday night. - BWJ photo

Duck and cover - This free-for-all took place in the sportmod main event. Several cautions slowed the race, but fortunately, major damage was at a minimum. - BWJ photo

For the win - Scott Davis (81D) works the topside around to take the lead from Dustin Dalton (2) in the closing laps of the IMCA sportmod feature. - BWJ photo

Digging in - Kelly Lyons (27) digs in on the low side as John Logue (69) goes up top in the IMCA modified feature. - BWJ photoPoint leaders - Going into Saturday night Mike Molle (33M) and Cale Sponsler (93) were one and two respectively in the Boone IMCA modified points. They would head home with Sponsler leading Molle by one point. - BWJ photo

To the front - Adam Larson (2L) goes underneath early leader Craig Carlson (77C) on his way to the win in the IMCA modified feature. - BWJ photo

More action - Scott Baker (15X) and Tim Stevens (49T) race for position in the IMCA modified main. - BWJ photo

Position shuffle - Leroy Staub (20), Donald Wear (28W) and Carl Yaw, Jr., (73C) find their line in the IMCA stock car feature. - BWJ photo

My spot, thanks - More three-wide IMCA stock car action with Donavon Smith (35), Robert Stofer (50) and Bryan Trogdon (12). - BWJ photo

Four wide - Three-wide not enough, try four. Rodney Richards (23HR), Wayne Gifford (22), Terry Cornelison (556) and Bryan Trogdon (12) dice through the corners in the IMCA stock car main. - BWJ photo

First winner - Alan Van Gorp won the first of two IMCA hobby stock features. - BWJ photo

Winner number two - Larry Embrey won the second IMCA hobby stock feature. - BWJ photo

Thanks to everyone at Boone for their hospitality, and I encourage those of you that haven’t been there for a while to head that way some Saturday night. If you see action like I did this past weekend, it will be well worth your drive.

Carter cops B-mod bonus bucks in Southern Iowa Speedway feature action

2009-06-14T23:17:00.011-05:00

Time to get caught up. After attending the races sat Oskaloosa on Wednesday night, I don’t think I stopped moving until I got to the infield at Boone on Saturday night. With school out, my wife’s birthday on Friday and trying to sneak in a race or two when I can, time flies.
Thankfully, the PositivelyRacing.com team was out in force at Oskaloosa and could keep you informed in more of a timely manner. My apologies to Conrad as well for not getting his pictures posted sooner. I hope you enjoy his look at SIS on Wednesday. I’m throwing in a few of mine for good measure. $700 winner - Cayden Carter topped the B-modified feature to win the bonus money last Wednesday at Southern Iowa Speedway. - Conrad Nelson photo

Gas Man - Cayden Carter on the pedal at Oskaloosa. - Conrad Nelson photo

As usual, it was high speed event at Oskaloosa, and with extra money on the line for the B-mods, there was a good turnout in that class. I always like it when promoters feature each of their classes over the course of the season. By putting some extra money on the line, not only do they reward their regular drivers, but they also attract some travelers to give the fans some new names to watch. In a way, it’s having a special, without having a special, if you know what I mean. Great battle - Nathan Wood (52) and Bobby Greene (32T) put on a show as they raced each other in their USRA hobby stock heat race. - Conrad Nelson photo

Southern Iowa Speedway is also showing its mean side in my last few visits. You have heard of the “Darlington stripe”, SIS is developing the reputation of the “Osky scrape” as the fence outside the corners has been coming into play. One of last year’s USMTS races as well as this year’s saw the driver leading the race make contact with the outside fence and eventually lose the race. Wednesday night’s B-mod main saw its leader also come into contact with the fence and lose that position as well as the win. Drew Lawson had a comfortable lead in the early going, then a tangle with the turns one and two fence put him out of contention and Cayden Carter in control. A possible battle was shaping up between Lawson and Carter, but it wasn’t to be after Lawson’s scrape.

Weller wins - Shane Weller was the USRA stock car feature winner Wednesday. - Conrad Nelson photo

Congratulations - Somewhere in this mix is stock car feature winner Shane Weller. - Conrad Nelson photo

Feature action - Donavan Nunnikhoven (2N), Dale Porter (31) and Steve Allen (3s) race for position in the USRA hobby stock feature. - BWJ photo

Side-by-side - Colt Mather (8) and Scott Dickey (40) fight for the same piece of ground in the USRA modified feature. - BWJ photo

Into three - Brandon Banks (22) and Greg Cox (62) head into turn three during the USRA modified feature. - BWJ photo

Osky is a fast track, and sometimes it is a fine line between jumping the cushion and maintaining control, and drivers in every class have had their moments with the fence. If the competition wasn’t tough enough, the track likes to bite too.

Kubli, Brown and Mather use dominating performances to reach victory lane at Knoxville

2009-06-07T16:25:00.008-05:00

I ventured back to Knoxville this week, looking forward to catching a “normal” show at the track. If you look at their schedule, Knoxville has a lot of shows that qualify as “specials”, as several sanctions and types of cars visit over the course of the season. Saturday night, both the 360 and 410 sprints were on the card. There were also 305 sprinters there too as the class was making the first of six visits over the course of this season. That is about as close to normal as you could get I guess.
This column also allows me to introduce to you the photographic efforts of Conrad Nelson, who is a regular shooter at both Knoxville and Oskaloosa. I will be sharing some of his work with you throughout the season and I appreciate his efforts very much. Last night at Knoxville I was armed with only a notebook and wandered around the pits for most of the night. Conrad handled the heavy lifting and shot victory lane. Thanks Conrad!
I went to last weekend’s midget weekend, but as you notice, didn’t write. The tragic circumstances of Friday night I felt were best covered by Jeff in his blog, and Saturday I sat in the stands to watch Kevin Swindell make his run, followed by a good battle between Johnny Herrera and Sammy Swindell. Still feeling the effects of Friday, I let the weekend go by and looked ahead.

305 winner - Milo, Iowa's, Rob Kubli showed the way in winning Saturday 305 sprint main at Knoxville. - Conrad Nelson photo

Last night was a good way to get back on track, as there were plenty of cars (18 305s, 33 360s and 24 410s) to put on a good show. The track was well-watered, very fast, and did allow for some position changes, though the front row of all of the features seemed to have the deck stacked – more on that later. Although the afternoon looked to threaten rain at any moment, we stayed high and dry, and it turned into a beautiful night as the dust was at a minimum.

On the gas -Brett Mather is fielding his own car in 2009 and he put it in victory lane Saturday. - Conrad Nelson photo

Trophy winner - Brett Mather and crew celebrate his 360 feature win. - Conrad Nelson photo

- A side note, of the races I have attended in 2009, at every track I have been too, I think it would be safe to say that 85 percent of them would be considered dusty. Dry slick has become more of a trend over the past few years, and coupled with some very windy days so far this spring, this has led to plenty of dust flying. Maybe I notice it more trying to take pictures through it (and other photographers will back the trend I’m sure) but dust has been a key word this year. Remember when you went to the track and it was like driving through a bog when they started to roll it in? All of the cars went out to pack and huge, football-sized mud clods used to arc through the air and cover the cars? And at the end of the night, when you headed to the pits, the track was still tacky enough it could pull your shoes off? Those days are gone, but unfortunately well remembered by many of us. Today’s cars, tracks and tires seem to be set up for an entirely different style of racing and dust seems to be the bi-product, which sunny and windy days just seem to accelerate. Not a gripe on my part, just an observation.
Fortunately, last night, the viewing was clear and good.
I like the addition of the 305s to the program. I though t they put on a decent show, with several drivers in contention for the win. There was contact on the start of the race, with Earl Tice coming to a stop in turn two with terminal damage to his front end. Bob Lamb saw damage to his nose wing, which would lead to his early exit a few laps later.
Once the action began to flow, it was a good show between Rob Kubli, Marty Stephenson, Mitchell Alexander and Tasker Phillips. Kubli and Stephenson raced for position while Alexander and Phillips did the same. With seven laps complete, an incident in turn four (I was standing in turn two) eliminated Phillips from the mix.
The restart found Kubli out front, followed by Stevenson. Alexander would drop out before the end of the race. A seventh-starting Matt Stevenson was making a charge as the laps wound down. He would end up grabbing second, but didn’t have enough time to gain on Kubli.
Brett Mather, behind the wheel of his own car for 2009 started on the pole of the 360 main and took advantage of it as he motored off into the lead in a 15-lap feature that would see no cautions and finish only two seconds shy of the track record. Johnny Anderson would stay in tow in second for much of the feature. In the closing laps, Dennis Moore, Jr., made a charge and would pass Anderson. He set off after Mather through traffic, but ran out of laps to make a run at the lead. A tenth-starting Jon Agan looked to be moving quickly early on in the feature, but reached a point where he could catch nobody else and finished seventh. I kept an eye on him as he looked like he was going to be the race’s biggest mover, but the field leveled off and his charge wound down. It was a good win for Mather.

From the pole - Brian Brown blasted the 410 field while winning at Knoxville - Conrad Nelson photo

In the 410 feature, the scenario looked the same as the 360s as the pole-sitter took off and hid. Brian Brown was the recipient of this good fortune as this feature ran without cautions and through traffic until the checkered flew at the same time as the red flag. More on that in a minute.
Brown was impressive, at times having a half-lap lead, a big improvement on his start last week that saw a front wheel fall off in hot laps. Fellow front-row starter Wayne Johnson kept his eye on Brown, but had his hands full with Kerry Madsen in the closing laps as Madsen would end up taking second.
Point leader Johnny Herrera was having a bad night, and started the feature 17th. If you have watched Herrera this season, you’ll know the car shows a fair amount of smoke over the evening, and last night was no exception, as it puffed out decent-sized clouds as it went into the corners. Still, the 2W was moving and Herrera had made it up to seventh on the white flag lap.
That all changed in turn two. As I stood there and watched, the 33R of Ricky Montgomery was off the power, in the very low groove, and trying to get off the track, headed toward the back pit entrance. Herrera rocketed out of turn two low and there was Montgomery. Herrera blasted into Montgomery’s right rear and went flipping toward the turn two fence. In my opinion, Montgomery was out of the way the best he could be and was truly a surprise to Herrera as he raced for the checkered. Fortunately Herrera climbed out OK.
As Herrera was flipping, Brown was taking the checkered flag, so the race ended strangely as the emergency crews hit the clay to come to the aid of the 2W in turn two.
In all, I thought it was good night at Knoxville, with the festivities coming to an end before 10:30 p.m.

Todd Shute races to win in Ron Little Memorial at Stuart Speedway

2009-05-26T14:11:00.011-05:00

A grandstand filled to capacity and a pit area holding over 100 cars were on the card for the 10th annual running of the Ron Little Memorial Sunday night at Stuart Speedway. A sunny, windy, late afternoon left the track dry-slick and shedding dust, but the drivers on hand put on a good show to honor the late modified driver Little. It is hard to believe that Ron left us back in 1999, it seems like just yesterday I was chatting with him in the infield in Des Moines. He is one of the faces I truly miss around the pit area. In remembrance - The modified of Ron Little paced the modified feature field Sunday night. - BWJ photo

Little Memorial winner - Todd Shute was the winner of the Ron Little Memorial IMCA modified feature on May 24. - BWJ photo

I think he would have been pleased with the program run in his memory Sunday as the action was wild and woolly at times, but with a minimum of yellow flags.
The main event was with the IMCA modifieds. Dennis Pittman started on the front row inside of Josh Gilman, and as the green flag dropped, the field went two and three wide as drivers dove and dashed for open positions. One of the more intense early battles was between Rex Parkison, Todd Shute and Nate Carruth as they raced hard and close for the lead. Shute would eventually pull out on top. The next hard chargers came from row five as Jimmy Gustin and Randy Havlik raced their way to the front. The duo had battled it out in the third heat race with Gustin taking the win, and now they picked off positions until Gustin held down second and Havlik third. It looked like Gustin may have something up his sleeve for Shute, but it wasn’t to be as the 2008 Stuart track champion held out for the big payday and the Ron Little Memorial win. Following Gustin and Havlik were Parkison and Gilman to round out the top-five.

For the early lead - From left, Rex Parkison (31R), Todd Shute (5) and Nate Carruth (7c) race for the modified feature lead. - BWJ photo

For second - Randy Havlik (3z) and Jimmy Gustin (19) race for the second spot, eventually taken by Gustin. - BWJ photo

The IMCA sportmod feature also showcased some good racing as Geoff Olson and Paul Nagle raced for the win. Joel Bushore looked to be a factor for several laps as well before settling for third. Nagle and Olson would decide amongst themselves with Olson taking the win.
IMCA hobby stocks saw Shannon Anderson school the field from his outside row one starting spot, while the IMCA stock cars put on a good show as fifth-starting Tim Bengard and third-starting Bryan Snell went door-to-door for the win. Bengard would win out to take the feature with Jason Day placing third.
In other action, Colton Nelson went from the back row to the lead in one lap to win the IMCA sportcompact feature while Josh May capitalized on his pole starting position to win the dwarf car main event.

Stock race - Tim Bengard (19B) races with Bryan Snell (3S) for the lead in the IMCA stock car feature. - BWJ photo

Sportmod battle - The race for the lead was between eventual winner Geoff Olson (2G) and Paul Nagle (05). - BWJ photo

Showing the way - Shannon Anderson topped the IMCA hobby stock field. - BWJ photo

Dwarf winner - Josh May was the dwarf car feature winner at Stuart - BWJ photo

Nelson wins - Colton Nelson was the IMCA sportcompact feature winner - BWJ photo

Dry slick conditions and some rough spots low in turn one put up their challenges on this windy night, but I came away from Stuart having seen some good racing. The sportmods struggled the most with cautions during their feature, while the remaining classes raced hard and kept on the gas for the most part. It was great to see a full grandstand and over 100 cars at Stuart Sunday night. It has always been one of my favorite places and it is deserving of some big nights like they had on Sunday. Bill Davis, Jr. and his staff do a fine job there, and I have never gone home regretting my drive to Stuart. Sunday night was certainly one of those nights.

Hughes tallies three wins on current USMTS swing as Tesch picks up win in Marshalltown

2009-05-26T13:05:00.006-05:00

After putting seven dates in the record books while on their current 16-race swing, the USMTS modifieds have seen one name come up with three of the wins while four other drivers have picked up one win apiece. The winner - Jon Tesch showed the way with his win at Marshalltown. - BWJ photo

Top Shelf - Jon Tesch heads into turn three using the high line that took him to victory. - BWJ photo

Jason Hughes has wins in Oskaloosa, Lansing, Minnesota, and Kasson Minnesota, to his credit. Jon Tesch picked up the win in Marshalltown; Zack VanderBeek in Cresco; Tim Donlinger at Deer Creek Speedway and Ryan Gustin in Fountain City, Wisconsin. These wins are divided, point-wise, among different regions in the USMTS national tour. Hughes sits atop both the Central States Region and Mo-Kan Region, while Tommy Myer leads the Great Plains Region and Steve Wetzstein leads the Upper Midwest Region. Zach VanderBeek and Jon Tesch are each in the top-five in points in the Central States, Great Plains and Upper Midwest Regions; so, as you can see, when you watch a USMTS show, there is a lot that goes on as far as points and regions are concerned. Feature action - Jimmy Gustin (19) and Mike Hansen (12H) race for a position early on in Wednesday's feature event. - BWJ photo

Looking better - After struggling the night before at Oskaloosa, Kenny Wallace put his number 36 in the show at Marshalltown. - BWJ photo

Top five - Ryan Gustin puts his 19R in the top five at both Oskaloosa and Marshalltown. - BWJ photo

Tire trouble - Richie Gustin was smoking his left rear tire as it came into contact with the car during the feature. - BWJ photo

Really, it's Steve - Steve Wetzstein shed body panels during his Marshalltown feature run. - BWJ photo

this most recent swing, the Oskaloosa and Marshalltown dates counted toward the Central States Region while the next five dates accumulated points in the Upper Midwest Region. Before the 16-date run concludes both the Mo-Kan and Great Plains Regions will also see shows in addition to more Upper Midwest and Central States dates, so as you can see, the upcoming nine shows will go a long way in determining several point races.
Night two of the USMTS swing through Iowa found the wind still blowing, and Jon Tesch battling Jason Hughes for victory lane honors once again. The Marshalltown Speedway was full of fans, and the track was smooth and ready to race. Toby Kruse and his staff had things ready to roll. The previously mentioned wind did them no favors as the track dried out fast, leaving the surface black from top to bottom, a little slick for some, but come main event time, the show was on. I’ve learned from experience that the USMTS drivers can put on a show from tacky to dry slick and any point in between. Pairing them up with Marshalltown left me entertained come the final checkered flag.
It also left me wondering how many races in the upcoming streak of USMTS dates would see the Tesch-Hughes pairing at the front of the pack. The two drivers look to be at a point in their seasons where they have everything figured out when they roll off the trailer. At Oskaloosa, a Tesch bobble opened the door for a Hughes win. At Marshalltown Wednesday night, Tesch did not give Hughes a chance to do it again as he held on for the win.
Tesch took advantage of an outside row one starting spot to gain the early advantage. Carnage behind him thinned out both row two and three on the opening circuit which gave the field a complete restart. Running either extremely high or low, drivers began to shuffle their way through the field. Eventually the high line became the line of choice and Tesch used it to his advantage. Hughes would try to take a couple of looks but couldn’t really do anything with the opportunity.
At the finish line it was Tesch followed by the eighth starting Hughes. Rounding out the top five were Zach VanderBeek, Ryan Gustin and Corey Dripps. VanderBeek looked solid in his first two outings on the swing, so it was no surprise to see him pick up the win the next night at Cresco.
The USMTS stop in Marshalltown was both successful and popular, so I would expect you will see this date on the schedule once again in 2010.

USMTS begins 16-race run with a Jason Hughes victory at the Southern Iowa Speedway

2009-05-20T13:34:00.007-05:00

The USMTS modifieds kicked off a marathon run Tuesday night at the Southern Iowa Speedway. Over the course of 19 nights, the series has 16 events scheduled and that run started at Osky. Forty-one modifieds signed in for the night with a good mix of local and traveling heavy hitters.
It was a beautiful night for racing, though the persistent winds may have dried things out a bit more than hoped. The night held some good racing overall, but nobody was able to make a big charge to the front in the final 30-lapper. Still, up front, Jon Tesch and Jason Hughes kept things interesting. Tesch led from the opening laps in a feature that was slowed by only two cautions, those coming with seven and eight laps complete. Lead change - Jason Hughes (12) looks under Jon Tesch going into turn three of the closing laps of the feature. Note the spoiler damage on the 14 machine. - BWJ photo

Look at that - Jason Hughes (white and blue) and Jon Tesch (red and black) look at the damaged spoiler on Tesch's car in victory lane as Tesch offered his congratulations. - BWJ photo

The winner - Jason Hughes in victory lane at Oskaloosa. - BWJ photo

Hughes kept Tesch in sight for the entire feature, taking an occasional shot at the point. With three laps to go, the change was made after Tesch lost the right side of his spoiler after a brush with the wall in turn one. Hughes would dive low entering turn three and take control as the duo raced through traffic. Tesch would hold on for second followed by pole-sitter Ryan Gustin, Brad Pinkerton and Zack VanderBeek, who raced into the top five after starting 12th. It was Hughes first-ever win at Oskaloosa, and seventh of the USMTS season.
In action in other classes on the night, Nathan Wood picked up the double on the evening topping both the hobby stock and stock car main events. In the stock car main, Brian Mitrisin would take one last dive under Wood in turns three and four of the final lap but he couldn’t make it stick.
In hobby stocks, Wood finished third in his heat, which was one of the more entertaining races of the night. Wood battled with Bobby Greene and Andy Coleman for several laps before settling for third behind Greene and Coleman respectively. In the main event, Wood took off from outside row one and never looked back. Greene trailed in second at the line.

Last chance - Brian Mitrisin (12m) dives under Nathan Wood (52) going into turn three on the final lap of the hobby stock feature but couldn't get his car to the front. - BWJ photo

All alone - Nathan Wood turns laps by himself at the front of the stock car main event. - BWJ photo

A good start - Tyler Groenendyk has two top-three finishes in the B-modifieds after winning Tuesday night's feature. - BWJ photo

In B-modifieds, Tyler Groenendyk looks to be off to a good start this season. After finishing third in last week’s opener, he coasted to a win Tuesday night, keeping the rest of the field at a distance.
It was a good, warm night of racing at Oskaloosa, and the large crowd on hand appreciated the effort as the show wrapped up around 10:30. Much of the talk of the night turned to this evening when the USMTS with Ken Schrader and Kenny Wallace in tow head to Marshalltown. I’ll have some shots for you from there tomorrow.

A busy weekend at Iowa Speedway

2009-05-19T00:45:00.006-05:00

I’m finally catching my breath after the first racing weekend at Iowa Speedway. As many of you know, I work there with the media relations department on race weekends. We help the press with whatever they may need, set up news conferences, handle victory lane activities and much, much more. It is a lot of work, but it is also a lot of fun. I’ve worked every racing event since the track opened and each one has been a blast. I work with some good people and have met some great people in my time there.
This last weekend’s activities were no exception as the USST trucks, ASA Midwest Tour and the NASCAR Camping World Series were all on hand – not to mention an appearance by Richard Petty and of course Kyle Busch, who won Sunday’s main event, and whose trophy fell apart in my arms, giving me column inches in the Des Moines Register, video time on the KCCI sports on Monday, and a rousing chorus of boos from the fans gathered to watch the victory lane activities Sunday evening.
Kyle Busch and his team were good-natured about the whole thing and that was good. It was a little embarrassing, yes, but on a scale of world events, pretty minor. I have to get a hold of my photographer friends to see if anybody got some good shots of me in action.
Race weekends at Iowa Speedway are like a family reunion, as series employees have become familiar faces and good friends as the seasons pass. I enjoy working with Kevin Ramsell and Doug Hornickel with ASA. I hadn’t seen them since last October in LaCrosse so it was good to shoot the bull. I’m hoping to see them again on July 3 when the ASA Midwest Tour comes to Hawkeye Downs. Working with Jason Christley, Jason Cunningham, Kevin Greene and Meghan Miley of NASCAR is also a pleasure. I will get to work with Kevin again on September 4 as the Camping World Series West cars return to Iowa Speedway on the weekend when the Camping World trucks make their Iowa debut. Can’t wait.
Richard Petty was on hand as well on Sunday. Richard has such an aura about him it is amazing. He is a great interview and his press conference was quality as Petty is a good speaker and a thoughtful answerer of questions. He is also very gracious with his time as he posed for numerous photos and signed many autographs while visiting the track. Auto racing couldn’t ask for a better ambassador. Whether you cheered for the number 43 or not (and there weren’t many that didn’t), you can’t help but admire the man for the way promotes the sport of auto racing. There are many reasons he is “The King.” Attention! - Richard Petty spent some time with the members of the Color Guard who took part in the pre-race ceremonies at Iowa Speedway - BWJ photo

I got to see Kathryn Knaack too. Kathryn is a friend of Petty’s and was on hand to catch up with Richard. She and I were able to catch up as well over lunch. I hadn’t talked with her in years and there was a lot to catch up on, and reminisce about too. Back in 1993, she and I hit a few of the Daytona Beach sites during Speedweeks, including a concert with Tex Beneke and his orchestra. Being a huge Glenn Miller fan, a chance to see and hear Beneke (Miller’s saxophone player and vocalist) was a treat, and a piece of my life I will never forget. It was great to see Kathryn at Iowa Speedway. Kathryn and The King - Kathryn Knaack and Richard Petty got a chance to catch up while at the track. - BWJ photo

One more item about Kyle Busch. In addition to being kind to me about breaking his trophy, he certainly went against the grain and his “bad boy” image that brings out the boo birds. I accompanied him back to his hauler in the pits and when we arrived, a swarm of fans was waiting. Busch didn’t hide or flinch. He waded into the people, signed autographs and posed for pictures, some top quality time with the people. The winner - Kyle Busch takes part in the post-race press conference. - BWJ photo

With the fans - Kyle Busch chats with the fans and signs some autographs back at his hauler after the race. - BWJ photo

Busch and many other drivers catch a bad reputation at times when it comes to dealing with fans. The good things are often overlooked because the confrontations make for better copy. When it comes to driver/fan relations, it is all a matter of timing – when you ask and what you are asking for. I could write 50 pages on the do’s and don’t of that, but it would be for nothing as people will always want autographs at the wrong time, or in the wrong place. Cut your favorite racers some slack and think before you approach them - that goes for Stuart, Iowa, as much as it does Daytona. And don’t forget “please” and “thank-you”. I may sound like your mother, but manners still hold some weight in 2009.
I get a month off from Iowa Speedway and then the action heats up big time as IndyCar rolls into town for its third visit. This is one of my most anticipated shows of the entire racing season, having a soft spot in my heart for Indy. I’ll give you some details following those busy three days.

A busy time in Oskaloosa as the Southern Iowa Speedway sees its opener on Thursday, tire testing on Monday night

2009-05-18T23:30:00.009-05:00

It has been a busy week at the Southern Iowa Speedway leading to the May 19 appearance of the USMTS at the track. The season opener ran a day later than planned due to rain (see Dick, Joyce and Jeff’s reports for the details) and the track held out well after a lot of water hit on Wednesday. The racing on Thursday was fast, and everybody behaved, bringing out a minimum of cautions. It was a good way to get the season kicked off.
Monday evening found the track open for practice and some tire testing. Good Year tire technicians were on hand as modified and B-modified drivers strapped on some Good Year rubber and put it through its paces. Some of the mods put the tires on all four corners, while others put it only on the rear.
There were also hobby stocks and stock cars on hand to run some practice laps as well. There were about 100 people who took advantage of the free grandstand seating to watch the activities, and catch Kenny Wallace and Ken Schrader turn some laps getting ready for tomorrow night’s USMTS race. It was a beautiful evening to be outside watching drivers gain some extra track time. I’ll be back with a USMTS report after tomorrow’s event. Below are a few shots from Thursday night’s opener.

Getting ready - Pat Graham (1K) and Colt Mather (8) turn some hot laps as the evening got underway. - BWJ photo

Hot seat - Ron VerBeek ended his heat race in this way. The fire went out, the car was repaired, and VerBeek returned for the feature. - BWJ photo

B-mod winner - Kevin Fee was the B-modified feature winner last Thursday. - BWJ photo

Double trouble - Zack VanderBeek doubled-up on victory lane appearances, winning both the stock car and modified main events - BWJ photo

Hobby winner - Bobby Greene showed the way in winning the hobby stock feature. - BWJ photo

Headed for fourth - Scott Dickey blasts through the corner on his way to a top-five finish in the modified feature. - BWJ photo

Logan and Herrera rule the night as the IRA regulars take a stab at Knoxville

2009-05-10T10:28:00.001-05:00

I had a great time Saturday night attending the IRA vs. Knoxville show at the Knoxville Raceway. A late arrival time kept me from reaching the infield, so I headed to the press box and watched from the top. I always have a good time in the press box when I make the visit. Seated next to track historian Bob Wilson, I get to the spend the night chatting with Bob and Stacy Ervin as they update the Knoxville website in real time, keeping those who can’t make it to the track up to speed.
We are also in the same room with Race Director Ralph Capitani as he keeps an eye on the evening and keeps the show moving. In the booth to our right is the announce team of Tony Bokhoven and Blake Anderson. So as you can see, sitting in the press box at Knoxville gives you an insight to all of the behind the scenes action as well as one of the best views of the track you will find at any facility.
There was a lot to view Saturday night as 42 360 sprint and 41 410 sprints filled the pit area. I always like attending in IRA sprint night as you can check out a few drivers that you normally don’t get to watch, plus, you can a look at how the 2009 IRA season is going to progress. Granted, the IRA guys tend to be the fish out of water at Knoxville on the big, fast half-mile compared to the smaller tracks they usually race for their title on; however, when the series brings 19 cars with it like it did Saturday night, you definitely get a feel for what they are about, and their drivers do play a key role in the show.
And here’s a helpful hint – if you want to see a great IRA show, and one of my favorites, go to Cedar Lake in June when the run the double-header with the late models. This year’s 11th annual Masters runs June 19 and 20 and pairs the WDRL late models with the IRA sprints. A good ticket at a premier facility.
Back at Knoxville Saturday night, the track was in good shape. By feature time it allowed for plenty of racing room as there were solid low and high grooves and lots of room in the middle. The low groove looked to have a little more grab in turns three and four than it did in one and two, but it still provided a solid option.
One of the drivers that made the low groove work in turns one and two was Randy Martin in his 360. Though feature winner Ricky Logan was pretty much untouchable in taking the win, eighth-starting Martin mounted the best challenge for the lead in the course of the feature. Martin gained positions on the low side in turns one and two and was soon trying to track down Logan. Martin’s stiffest competition for second was Clint Garner. Garner and Martin turned several laps before the position was decided.
Johnny Anderson held a strong second for several laps, until the close of the race neared and the performance of his number 2A machine dropped significantly and he faded to fourth.
My pick for a potential 360 winner was Nebraska’s Chad Humston. Humston put on a show in winning the first heat race, running his car in, up, down and around everyone else from his sixth starting spot. He started the feature sixth, but the car didn’t seem to have the fire it did at heat race time. Based on what I saw Saturday, though, I won’t be surprised when Humston is in victory lane with a 360 win.
Bob Weuve held quick time for much of qualifying as the track ran cars in group qualifying, five at a time. Skip Jackson would ruin Weuve’s speed party as he would grab quick time late. Jackson would also look to ruin 410 feature winner Johnny Herrera’s night early, applying pressure in the opening laps of the 20-lap feature.
Starting on the pole, Herrera would lead all 20 laps, but he wasn’t alone up front, and it took a skilled drive through traffic to gain a comfortable lead in a smoking car as the laps wound down. Don Droud, Jr., started fifth and looked to have the best answer for Herrera as he had the #47 Casey’s machine running hard. He would get close to Herrera and that was about it. Brian Brown finished third after starting eighth and also had a couple glimpses at a possible lead.
Putting on the big show for the night was Billy Alley, who started 20th and finished fifth. Alley was dealing with mechanical issues early, and posted a fourth-place finish in his heat to qualify for his starting feature spot. Whatever bugs had bitten the team early seemed to be fading as Alley made steady progress to the front.
I had a bit of the blues after missing the World of Outlaws opener at the track the week before, but Saturday night’s show cured me of that. I had a great time and watched a lot of good racing. From up in the press box I was able to watch a lot of the close calls that I miss when I’m working down in the infield. There is a lot of “calculating” that goes on with sprint car racing, and drivers give each other a minimum of clearance with a lot of horsepower all around the race track.
Standing at one spot in the infield I see a minimum of that. Sitting where I did Saturday night, I got to see a lot of amazing moves and close calls. Though the lead may not change, in the pack of a feature race at Knoxville, there is a lot that happens over the course of 15 or 20 laps and the fans in the stands get to see it all. That was the case Saturday. Logan and Herrera were too tough to beat, but behind them, I challenge anybody to say they didn’t get their money’s worth with the IRA vs. Knoxville show. I’m sorry to see this one go by so soon.

May Day Two Track Classic brings good racing to Farley and West Liberty

2009-05-04T01:54:00.000-05:00

The May Day Two Track Classic at Farley and West Liberty was a good one, providing fans with some good racing, a great assortment of drivers from across the Midwest, and a boost of confidence that unsanctioned, open late model shows can still fill a pit area. It is nice to know that some big winner’s checks can still pull them in without a sanction name attached to it.
I guess I should clarify; we know that tours are doing well, and rightfully so, but late model racing has a history of big, unsanctioned shows. In uncertain times money-wise, it is nice to know that drivers will still make the tow when they aren’t racing for series points or championships; and there were several drivers at Farley and West Liberty that made a very long tow.
Friday night at Farley was a perfect storm – of good weather. With rain wiping out most if not all of the other open late model shows in the Midwest, the lure of $10,000 at Farley brought in a great assortment of drivers from every direction, and the Simmons Promotions staff was ready. The track at Farley was in great shape for the opener and provided for good racing all night long. Our only snag was a power line crapping out two miles south of town, plunging the speedway into darkness for an hour and 45 minutes. We were 18 cars into 51 qualifying runs and suddenly festivities came to a halt. The nice thing was, when the lights came back on, the motors fired up and we took off like nothing had ever happened. The staff kept the show rolling at a brisk pace, and the races were wrapped up in good fashion. It was still a late night, but it was completed with all speed possible.
Terry Phillips started outside the front row and led all 50 laps. At first look, that sounds boring, but the race was far from that. There were a lot of position changes going on behind Phillips, and Jeremiah Hurst and Matt Miller put on a show as they swapped positions between second and third numerous times. Hurst would eventually hold on to second for good, but lost it in the end, crossing the scales light.
Phillips is tough to pass when you give him the front row advantage, so even tough there were no lead changes, it was fun watching Phillips set the pace. He didn’t quite have the success he had at Farley at West Liberty, though he did make the show and finish inside the top ten in ninth.
The front row held the key on Saturday night at West Liberty as well, as Billy Moyer and Brian Birkhofer started up front and set the tone for the entire run of the feature. Shannon Babb had some say too, but for the most part it came down to Moyer and Birkhofer.
The first ten laps that the duo ran were intense. They drove hard into the corners, side-by-side, each trying to take the lead for good. Moyer led the first two, Birkhofer the third. Moyer led again until nine laps were complete, when Birkhofer had the edge again. He would hold on with Moyer in close pursuit for several laps.
A caution with 29 laps complete let Babb make a run on Moyer and race in second for several laps. With eight laps to go, Moyer retook second and gassed it, making one last drive after Birkhofer. He gained a lot of real estate, but couldn’t get in position to try one more pass. As was the case at Farley, there was a lot of movement throughout the field over the 50 laps, providing fans with plenty to watch in addition to what was going on at the front.
The modified feature at West Liberty was a good one too. Farley winner Brad Dierks was starting 14th, so I was honestly looking to see another face in victory lane Saturday. Dierks had other ideas, and as the laps ran down, he stuck his number 29D up on the wall and blasted around the field to take the lead and double up on trophies for the weekend. The car was on a rail and Dierks put on a show.
All told, it was a very successful weekend. I got to watch a lot of drivers I hadn’t had a chance to see yet in 2009, so that always counts big with me. The tracks were in good to great shape, and they provided for some good racing. Track officials kept both shows moving, providing line-ups fast and keeping races on the tracks.
That wraps up the reading part. Check back later today as I add some pictures to show you some more highlights…

Open house tonight, May 1, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at National Sprint Car Hall of Fame

2009-05-01T12:08:00.005-05:00

If you are in the area, or in town early for the May 2 appearance of the World of Outlaws at the Knoxville Raceway, be sure and swing by the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame tonight as they will hold an open house for their new second floor additions. Running from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., the open house is free to the public so that the Hall can show off its latest additions in grand style.
Under construction for some time, the second floor is now complete and ready for visitors. The new changes feature a research library, a display area containing all of the Hall inductees, and a new movie theater so that guests can watch some of the classic footage and documentaries that cover sprint car racing.

New entry - This is the entrance to the Hall of Fame inductee area on the second floor. - BWJ photo

Inductees - Guests are able to get up close and personal with the Hall of Fame inductee photos. - BWJ photo

Have a seat - The new theater has plenty of room for good viewing. - BWJ photo

Screen view - Another look at the theater. - BWJ photo

The first floor still contains the vintage sprint cars and memorabilia that have made the Hall a “must visit” for people racing at Knoxville. Weld machine - Greg Weld's 1967 USAC Championship sprinter is now on display. - BWJ photo

One cherry machine - Tom Cherry's Mercury Special. - BWJ photo

It's super - A look at the Oswego supermodifieds. - BWJ photo

Still on display is one of my favorites, an exhibit covering the supermodifieds at Oswego. There are also some new cars hitting the museum floor, including the 1967 USAC National Championship car of Greg Weld, and, the Tom Cherry-driven Mercury Special.
So, if you are around Knoxville this weekend, be sure and swing by the Hall to see what is new. And don’t forget, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. tonight, you can check out the new second floor for free.

Burgtorf wins "Drive For Five" opener at Donnellson's Lee County Speedway

2009-05-01T09:56:00.006-05:00

Just a quick catch up. The technology demons got a hold of my Internet provider and I was unable to post for a few days. I’ll give you a quick recap of the “Drive for Five” at Lee County Speedway last Friday night as 33 IMCA late models made the tow for $1,000 to win.
A decent amount of rain on Thursday left the track well-watered for the Friday show, which made for a tough track to figure out. Even with a strong wind, the surface did not dry out, and drivers saw corners that developed a couple of ruts and left a lot of clods leading to some challenging conditions. I would hate to have to prepare a track in April in Iowa, and last Friday night was proof of that.

For the lead - Mark Burgtorf (7B) goes under Tom Darbyshire (42) to grab the lead in the IMCA late model 25-lap feature. - BWJ photo

All in the family - Lonnie Bailey (25) and Matt Bailey (52) joust for position in turns three and four during the late model feature. - BWJ photo

The track didn’t deter the action as everyone stayed on the gas and Mark Burgtorf continued his winning streak. Tom Darbyshire made him work for it, but Burgtorf held his momentum through the night. He would lose it on Saturday and Sunday, but as for Friday, the 7B was running strong.
In addition to late models on a regular basis at Lee County, the “Drive for Five” also brings an interesting contest for fans. Each night the late models are on hand, one name will be draw from the fans that enter the contest. The person drawn will have the option of drawing a driver, or drivers, from the feature field. If the fan draws one driver name and that driver wins the feature, the fan pockets $500. There is also the option of drawing five names from the field, and if any of those five drivers win the feature, the fan wins $100 - a pretty sweet deal to come home from the races with some pocket money. The first go around of this last Friday saw the fan pick five drivers but come up empty in the money column.
Doug Huls had the other highlight for the night after rolling his IMCA stock car in the feature. The car landed back on its tires, Doug fired it up, rejoined the field, and finished the race in seventh. The crowd went crazy when he restarted the car and took off after the field for the restart.

Coming down - Doug Huls' IMCA stock car settles back onto its wheels after tipping in turns three and four during the feature event. - BWJ photo

Back in action - Huls is back on the gas as the green flag flies to complete the feature. - BWJ photo

A good race - Jeff Mueller (77) and Jason Cook (27J) race for the lead in the IMCA stock car feature. - BWJ photo

The next round of late models at Lee County Speedway is set for May 8, but you can catch great action at the track every Friday night – except for tonight, as the May 1 show at the speedway has been cancelled due to weather.

Burgtorf stays hot, takes second Deery Brothers win

2009-04-24T13:58:00.008-05:00

Deery Brothers Round 3 turned out to be what most followers were expecting, a car from Quincy winning at Quincy. Mark Burgtorf didn’t disprove that theory as he topped a field of 40 IMCA late models for the win.

The big check - Mark Burgtorf was back in Deery Brothers' victory lane for the second time this year following his win at Quincy Raceways. - BWJ photo

Burgtorf finished third, taking the third and final transfer sport in the first heat race. In the re-draw, he drew the third spot and ran the early part of the feature chasing leader Ray Guss, Jr., and second place Terry Schlipman. Schlipman and Burgtorf had some great side-by-side moments coming out of turn four as they fought for the second spot. Eventually Burgtorf got around the number 69 and headed off after Guss. A feature that had only two cautions, on lap seven and eight, allowed him time to do that.
Guss would hold Burgtorf off for several laps until the 7B grabbed the point and ran to the checkers. The show then became the race for second as Guss, Schlipman, Jeff Aikey and Jason Frankel ran some entertaining laps as they sorted out the spot amongst themselves. The four cars ran door-to-door in various combinations for many laps. Guss would hold on to take second, followed by Frankel and Aikey. Schlipman would drop to sixth, giving up the fifth spot to Jerry Weisenberger, who had an impressive outing as he was also the winner of the second heat.
In addition to Weisenberger, some other new faces in the top ten included Lonnie Bailey in eighth and Joey Gower in ninth.

For second - Jeff Aikey (77) and Terry Schlipman (69) were two of the drivers battling for second place in the main event. - BWJ photo

On his way - Mark Burgtorf (7B) works his way around the lapped car of Terry Neal (28c) in the feature. - BWJ photo

Rollin' - Darrel DeFrance saw his fortunes improve at Quincy, qualifying for his first Deery Brothers feature in 2009 - BWJ photo

A good night - Jerry Weisenberger was a heat race winner and finished fifth in the feature. - BWJ photo

Darrel DeFrance fans were happy to see their driver qualify for his first Deery feature of the season. Darrel had some terrible draws heading into Quincy, but things turned around on the evening as he finished second in the fourth heat and 12th in the main event.
Keith Pratt came out all smiles after ending up on his lid outside turns one and two in the second B main. With the car resting where and how it was, Pratt was unable to climb out in the soft dirt outside the corner. He rode the car out as workers turned it over, climbing out after coming to rest on all four wheels.

Waiting... Keith Pratt bides his time while waiting for this number 33 machine to get back on all four tires. - BWJ photo

Smiling - Keith Pratt was unhurt and abe to smile about his rollover in turns one and two. - BWJ photo

It was another entertaining night for the Deery series that now takes some time off until its next race on May 20 at Highway 3 Raceway in Allison.
A former late model face showing up in another place was Kevin Tomlinson, who was behind the wheel of an IMCA stock car on the night. Starting fourth in the feature, Tomlinson stalked early leader Abe Huls for several laps before making the winning pass in the 20-lap event. The IMCA stocks looked good on the Quincy clay and will make a worthy addition for 2009.
Jim Powell got out front early and held off some late challenges, to win the hobby stock event. James Leffew and Adam Scott kept the pressure on during some restarts, but couldn’t pull off the pass for the lead.

For the lead - James Leffew (25) takes a shot at the hobby stock lead, but Jim Powell (48J) would come out victorious. - BWJ photo

To the front - Kevin Tomlinson (49) passes Terry Houston (97) on his way to the front of the IMCA stock car feature event. - BWJ photo

Hobbies, stocks and late models made for an action filled Thursday night at Quincy, and they had everyone headed for their cars before 10 p.m., a big plus on a week night!

Some views from the stands at Boone and Vinton

2009-04-24T10:43:00.000-05:00

I did something different, for me, over the weekend as I took in two shows as a fan in the stands. Each season I go to 50 or 60 races and I stand in the infield taking pictures or roam around the pit area. I never usually see an entire race track, and I never sit down. After a couple of decades of this, I find it difficult to sit still, in one spot, and watch a race. It’s just how I’m wired.
My daughter Aidan is now six, and her curiosity has gotten the best of her, “Where does Dad go every night and stay so late?” She finally reached the point where she wanted to check out a race. I started going at the age of two, so at six, Aidan has missed four good years of action already, so I am thrilled she is gaining an interest.
My wife, Stephanie, used to travel with me a lot when we were dating and first married. Then, she realized how much she could get done around the house with me out of the way, so she started to let me go racing by myself. We are both only-children, so we are fairly independent and good at doing our own thing, so me on the road and her at home is no big deal – she has all winter for me to get in her way.
So with my daughter’s insistence that she go racing, we were both a little leery. We figured a safe way to take care of it would be to attend the free practice at Knoxville last Saturday night. We would be close to home (11 miles) and out no travel or ticket expense if she hated it. Well, practice rained out and as I was explaining this to Aidan I told her the only thing running was Boone. Her eyes lit up and she gave me her big “Daddy I want it” smile and she asked if we could go. I told her to go tell her mother what our option was, preparing for a night in front of the television. Well, Mom said yes, and we were on our way to Boone. I can sum it up early by telling you the entire family had a good time, and Aidan is ready to go again, as long it is a little warmer than it was Saturday night.
With rain all around the area and several tracks pulling the plug, I felt safe making the drive to Boone, because they are one of the few tracks equipped to get the show in barring tornado or hurricane. It sprinkled a couple of times Saturday, but that was it. Once they rolled the track in, the show was on and didn’t stop until it was over – no intermission, no farming. Officials were trying to stay ahead of the weather and they did a good job.
The drivers did a good job too. There were over 130 cars on hand, and the heat races saw only one caution for their entirety. You have to love going to a track with spin and yellow flag rules. It keeps the show rolling and makes everyone more accountable – another reason to go to Boone. The third factor Boone has going for it is that when one heat finishes, the next one is rolling out onto the track .More and more tracks are figuring this out these days, but Boone is one of the leaders in keeping things moving.
It was fun to be in the stands because I got to see a lot of good friends: four-fifths of the Positively Racing team was there, Crazy Martin, and I got to see good friends Bill and Judy Haglund as Bill is now behind the microphone at Boone. Bill is a walking encyclopedia of racing history in Iowa and I’m sure he will share that knowledge with the fans as the season progresses. It is always nice to learn something beyond names and hometowns.
Blake Anderson was lending a hand with the announcing on Saturday night since he had a night off. Anderson is the new voice of Knoxville Raceway and will be joining Tony Bokhoven in the announcing booth there this season. He holds a lot of enthusiasm for the sport, is more than fired-up about working at Knoxville, and I’m sure he will do a great job there this season. I look forward to hearing his work this Saturday night.
Kevin, Dick and Joyce have given you a rundown of the action at Boone already but I can throw a couple of highlights at you. Luke Wanninger and Scott Davis working their way through the IMCA sportmod feature to finish one-two was impressive, as was Mike Molle’s win in the IMCA modifieds against a very tough field.
The fast way around for the IMCA stock cars was the bottom, but drivers chose their spots and moved up. There was plenty of action in this one. The hobby stocks kept things clean for the most part and put a nice cap on the evening, which was over before 10:30.
Sorry I have no pictures, I didn’t even take my camera, which is very, VERY strange for me. I’ll get back there this season and get you some shots.
With Sunday night’s Deery show at Quincy postponed, Jeff Broeg talked me into the trip to Vinton to check out their weekly show. A long drive on a chilly night, it was a trip I wasn’t afraid to make. Vinton is another place that understands getting the show underway, and getting it finished. We were treated to some great feature action and were headed to the car at 8:25 p.m. A super time to finish a Sunday night show with over 100 miles left to get home.
Again, Positively Racing was well-represented in the stands, with Jeff and Tapfan giving you their insights – check them out for the racing details.
Two things stand out at Vinton outside the track I’d like to share. One is the availability of a quality point sheet and driver list. For 50 cents, you can get a four-page, four-color point sheet that includes highlights from the previous week. Filled with local advertisers, the sheets are readily available at the concession stand checkout - a valuable tool to keep you up to date, especially if you are new to the track. I am a big believer in quality programs and point sheets, and this effort at Vinton fits the bill.
Also impressive at Vinton is the concession stand. A friend of mine, Dan Engledow, manages it, but that doesn’t influence my opinion. If he wasn’t doing a good job, I wouldn’t be telling you about it. The food offered there is fresh, and holds a lot of variety, with affordable prices. I love it when tracks offer chicken gizzards, and Vinton is one of those places. I have to clarify that by saying I don’t eat gizzards, but by them being offered, it shows the people in charge of the food are willing to take some chances and offer some variety. Being diabetic, their soft drink selection stood out to me too. Not many places offer diet Orange Crush or diet Sierra Mist, so such options catch my attention. At the other end of the sugar scale, their fresh-baked cookies are also attention getters. No, I didn’t eat everything in sight, but I was tempted.
There was good racing to boot. Brad Forbes took advantage of last corner contact between leaders Bill Bonnett and Wes Stanek and grabbed the IMCA hobby stock win. Austin Kaplan started ninth and quickly weaved his way to the win in the IMCA sportmods. Jesse Sobbing started tenth and put on the pressure in second. Don Erger held off pressure from Troy Cordes in an action-filled IMCA modified main event.
I had a great time both Saturday and Sunday night, doing something I normally don’t get a chance to do. It was fun getting to sample the sights and sounds of the grandstands for a change, but more than likely, you’ll see me in the infield for most of the rest of the season; however, now that racing is becoming a family outing at the Johnson household, don’t be surprised to see me in the stands more, point sheet and diet Crush in hand.

Burgtorf looks smooth in taking Deery feature win at Davenport

2009-04-22T15:05:00.010-05:00

The second round of the Deery Brothers Summer Series took the momentum from the opener at 34 Raceway and ran. With 61 cars towing in at Davenport, the early numbers in 2009 indicate that the series will see one of the better turnouts in its history. With 66 signing in opening night, that makes 127 cars so far. That is impressive enough, but when you break that number down, out of the 127 signing in, 75 of them have been different drivers, with 52 of those being repeat customers. Impressive start - Mark Burgotrf and his Pierce chassis have started strong in 2009. - BWJ photo

Granted, we did not get to see how things continued last weekend as the rains ended the hot streak unceremoniously, but this Thursday night’s make-up at Quincy should surely continue the trend.
Quincy is a fitting place to resume the tour since two hometown boys lead the points with Mark Burgtorf closely followed by Jason Frankel – the winners of the first two events. Frankel has been flexing his muscle as the returning IMCA National Champion with an eye on the Deery title, but Burgtorf has been blowing people’s doors of with his new Pierce chassis. His win at Davenport was just his third night on the car and it looks like he has things figured out early with that brand.
I heard several people remark after Friday’s win how comfortable Burgtorf looks in that car and how well the car looks to handle. I’d have to agree as the 7B has appeared very smooth in its first two Deery runnings.
Jeff Aikey isn’t going to let the two hometowners get too far ahead in the points as he has turned in two impressive top-five finishes himself so far this year. Aikey started seventh and finished third at Davenport, dodging any problems resembling those that almost took him out at 34 Raceway.
Another Deery vet showing well so far has been Tom Darbyshire. Starting tenth at Davenport, Darbyshire held strong and ended his night in fourth place. He has shown well in both his Deery heat race and feature appearances so far in 2009.
Rebounding big time at Davenport was Terry Neal. Using a provisional to run the feature at 34, Neal was no where close to having to do that at Davenport. Winning the fifth heat race, Neal drew the pole for the main event and stayed out front until Burgtorf tracked him down. His second place finish was made of the form that fans expect to see from Neal, and helped raise his point total from his 17th place finish at 34.
Ray Guss, Jr., had one of the tales of the night at Davenport. Breaking the crankshaft on his 12 machine during hot laps, Guss returned at heat race time behind the wheel of Hershel Robert’s number 58. Robert’s car has been fast off the trailer this year and showed plenty of power in the opener. Guss took advantage of the kind gesture and blasted his way to the win in the fourth heat race. Starting sixth in the feature, Guss would drop a few spots in the early going, only to find something up top in the closing laps to pick off some positions and finish in seventh – a good end to an interesting night.

Calling Hertz - Ray Guss, Jr., took his loaner for the night from Hershel Roberts to a heat race win and a seventh place feature finish. - BWJ photo

One of the more entertaining heat races of the night saw Jay Johnson and Shawn Mulvany go side-by-side for several laps while wrestling for the final transfer spot in the fifth heat race. Neither driver budged, but kept it clean while racing hard for the position that would eventually go to Johnson.

Transfer spot - Jay Johnson (93) and Shawn Mulvany (70) race for their heat race transfer spot - BWJ photo

That same fifth heat race also saw me get a bit of a start as I looked up to see Bobby Hansen driving toward me in the infield. As the field was forming up, Hansen noticed his hood was loose and short the two pins on the left side. Seeing me in the infield, he figured I could help him out. After making the poor guy repeat himself three or four times due to my lack of hearing, I finally assessed the situation, got the hood pinned down, and he was able to form up in his original starting position.
As he was driving toward me, Hansen was gesturing toward the front of the car. I was afraid he was going to ask me something beyond my technical scope about his alignment, suspension or something else I’m not qualified to talk about. Luckily I can handle hood pins, so no harm, no foul.

Out of turn two - Tom Darbyshire(42), Sam Halstead (84) and Keith Pratt (33) take it three-wide in heat race action. - BWJ photo

I came away from Davenport as enthused about the Deery Series as I was when I left 34 Raceway – very stout fields with good racing action have me in a hurry to hit the road to Quincy tomorrow afternoon.

Campbell wins - Jeremy Campbell was the four-cylinder feature winner. -BWJ photo

The Real Deal - The street stock feature win went to Joe Beal. - BWJ photo

For modified fans, Davenport will offer plenty of action in 2009 featuring both IMCA modifieds and pro modifieds. Last Friday, both features had their fill of action. Some of the backmarkers of the IMCA feature were a little caution-happy so their main got cut short due to the time limit as

Max the Knife - Max Corporon was the IMCA modified feature winner. - BWJ photo

The Dominator - Bob Dominacki was the feature winner for the pro mods on Friday. - BWJ photo

Max Corporon took the win. The pro modified main saw Bob Dominacki start up front and hold off all challengers to win that one. Add their weekly late models to competitive fields of street stocks, legends and four-cylinders, and Davenport will be a good ticket on Friday nights.

Frankel powers his way to impressive win in Deery Brothers season opener

2009-04-13T02:39:00.004-05:00

I had a great time at 34 Raceway Saturday night, watching the Deery Brothers Summer Season kick-off its 2009 edition. What I saw Saturday has me wanting to get to as many Deery shows as I can this season. The series has always been one of the most competitive out there, and 2009 looks to be shaping up to be no different. The range of drivers runs from veteran, familiar faces, to the younger, up-and-comers that will be around the sport for many years to come. You’ve got the tour regulars with a good mix of weekly drivers looking to take a shot at the series now and then. Deery counts have been solid the last few seasons, but this year looks like it could be exceptional.
34 Raceway was a great place to get started. The facility is one of the best in the Midwest and the track surface was smooth and ready to race. A sunny day with a constant breeze dried things out a bit, but the late models put on a show all night, through their heats, B-mains and the main event. The track was black from top to bottom and allowed for drivers to change positions and move through traffic, giving the fans a good show.

The winner is... Jason Frankel was the Deery Brothers Summer Series feature winner Saturday night at 34 Raceway. - BWJ photo

The Slocum 50 Memorial was the banner they raced under Saturday night. Brent Slocum lost his life in a pit accident at 34 Raceway in 2005 and it was in his memory that the 2009 Deery season kicked off. It is hard to believe that Slocum left us going on four years ago. It is one of those memories that unfortunately seems like it just happened yesterday. The race with his name and in his memory was a fitting tribute.
Sixty-six late models signed in for the show, and there was a lot of good looking metal on hand. Several drivers had seen some track time this year, but for many, this was opening night. That being said, there wasn’t really much of the opening night craziness you might have expected. Cautions were kept at a minimum, and fortunately, when it came to the late models, there wasn’t a lot of carnage on the night. The 50-lap feature went 32 laps before it saw its one and only caution. This allowed the drivers to race and sort things out amongst themselves rather than lining up for restart after restart. It was a fun one to watch.
Unfortunately for Joe Zrostlik, he was one of the people watching. Joe was breaking in his back-up car on Saturday, one he purchased from Mike Klinkkammer after the end of last season, that’s why it was red instead of Zrostlik’s traditional orange color. He told me the car had a great feel to it, but he wasn’t able to enjoy for very long as the engine gave out in hot laps, putting him on the trailer early. Next weekend he will roll out his new car in the traditional orange and looks forward to actually getting into a race.
Twelve other drivers had better luck than Zrostlik Saturday, and those were the 12 that qualified for the feature out of their heat races. Mark Burgtorf, Tom Darbyshire, Andy Nezworski, Hershel Roberts, Luke Merfeld, Stephan Kammerer, Mike Murphy, Jr., Jason Frankel, Boone McLaughlin, Jeff Aikey, Robby Warner and Ray Guss, Jr., all qualified out of their heat races.

A different look... Gary Webb was behind the wheel of the Z2 Saturday night. Mechanical problems kept him from making the call for his B-main. - BWJ photo

Heat race battle - Todd Malmstrom (75) races with Jason Frankel (0F) in the fourth heat race. - BWJ photo

B-main action - Terry Schlipman (69) races for position with Todd Cooney (30). - BWJ photo

Mc Laughlin and Aikey drew the front row for the fifth heat and for a formidable duo to get around. In heat six, Guss took advantage of a late caution to get around Matt Ryan for the final transfer spot. Heat four qualifiers Murphy and Frankel also drew the front row come feature time.
The B-mains were also entertaining on the night, with the second B having a little controversy thrown in. While racing for the third and final transfer spot, Justin Reed and Todd Cooney traded some bumps in successive laps. In turns three and four, Reed bumped his way by Cooney to take third. I don’t think it was anything intentional, but it was fairly aggressive. The next lap, Cooney returned the favor in the same corners, spinning Reed in the process while grabbing the final transfer spot for himself. The officials showed their displeasure with both drivers by giving neither one the spot and giving third to Tommy Elston. That meant the end of the night for Reed, but Cooney was able to use a provisional to tack on to the back row of the feature along with Terry Neal, who looked to be having a tough evening in both his heat and B.
Feature time saw Frankel take advantage of his front row starting spot to race out for the lead. It was clear he would be setting the pace on the night. Guss started fourth and gave Frankel a lot of heat early, even getting under him in the corners a couple of times, but he couldn’t make it stack as Frankel powered back out to the lead. Tenth starting Mark Burgtorf along with Jeff Aikey were also making steady progress to the front, and soon Burgtorf was putting pressure on Guss as they worked through traffic.

Rollin' - Tommy Elston (15) and Rob Toland (39) race for position during the feature. - BWJ photo

For second - Ray Guss, Jr., (12) holds second while Mark Burgtorf (7B)sticks his nose in on the highside trying to take the spot. - BWJ photo

With 32 laps complete, the caution flew for the slowing car of Keith Pratt on the backstretch. Several drivers had to take evasive action to clear Pratt, including the fourth-running Aikey who had a very close call.
The restart saw Frankel lead with Guss and Burgtorf in pursuit. Burgtorf would eventually get by Guss and head off after Frankel, but he would have to settle for second as it was Frankel’s night and he turned in an impressive win.
For me, the whole night was impressive, as are the prospects for the rest of the Deery season. Some drivers indicating that they will follow the series for the entire season include Ray Guss, Jr., Terry Neal, Rob Toland, Todd Cooney, Gary Webb, TJ Criss, Charlie McKenna, Bobby Hansen, Dan Shelliam, Luke Goedert, Ben Nading, Greg Kastli and of course Darrel DeFrance. That is a very solid nucleus, and I am sure there will be several more that fans will see at most, or all of the Deery shows. This will be a good ticket for the entire season.
The modifieds also put on a good show Saturday night. Brandon Rothzen took the win, and spent the entire race up front, but he had his hands full keeping some determined runners behind him. Josh Foster started ninth and made an impressive charge to the front. He spent several laps diving under second place Rich Smith in the corners, only to lose the spot on the straights and falling back to third. He finally got the pass to stick and set off after Rothzen, coming up with an impressive second in the process. It was an entertaining feature in throughout the top ten.

On the pole -Brandon Rothzen took advantage of his pole starting position to hang on for the modified feature win. - BWJ photo

A good race - Josh Foster (77) raced under Rich Smith (8) for several laps while trying to take second place in the modified feature. - BWJ photo

The long ride - Bill Roberts Jr. rides what is left of his modified back to the pits after a crunching feature race accident. - BWJ photo

Bill Roberts, Jr., and Jim Lynch came out on the short end of a race-stopping, red flag incident that saw Roberts sideways going into turn one and collecting a host of cars, including Lynch, whose car ended up on top of Roberts’. It took some time to get the vehicles pulled apart, and what was towed away is going to need a lot of work to say the least. It’s too early to have that kind of repair bill, that’s for sure. Fortunately there were no serious injuries with this accident.
Again, let me say I had a great night at 34 Raceway. It was a great kick-off for my racing season here in Iowa and I can’t wait to get back to the tracks this weekend. Hope to see you there!

On the road again - a look at Springfield and Humboldt

2009-03-25T11:18:00.008-05:00

One fast Colt - Colt Cheever dominated the B-modified field at Springfield Raceway on March 14. This was the only feature to beat Saturday's rain. - BWJ photo

Loyet dominates - Brad Loyet was the class of the midget field at Springfield Raceway on March 14-15. - BWJ photo

It seemed like the road trip that would never end, and not because the racing was bad; but because my race trip ran directly into spring break here in Pella, and I felt like I was on the road for a solid ten days. I apologize for not getting you caught up on my viewpoint of racing action in Springfield, Missouri, and Humboldt, Kansas, the weekend of March 14-15. That is what I am doing as follows…
To me, the sign of a successful road trip is the fact that after visiting a race track for the first time, you are more than willing to go back and check the place out again. I can say that with all confidence about both the Springfield Raceway and the Humboldt Speedway. Both tracks proved to be very racy in extremely different conditions, but the key word was racy, and that is what would have me make a return visit to either place.
Springfield Raceway was hosting its second attempt at the Turkey Open Wheel Classic that was rained out last fall. The staff at Springfield needs to start paying off a different weatherman as showers once again dogged this event and stretched it into two days. They did show their mettle however and kept the show going as well as they could on Saturday as constant showers and mist plagued a good portion of the day. A sizable mid-afternoon rain delay was met by a road grader and some folks that knew their track surface and how to repair it very well. No sooner had the blade pulled off the track then the next heat race slated to go pulled out onto the track in turn two.
We didn’t wait around a lot at Springfield to watch the next race as the cars were staged and ready to roll all day. As Jeff noted in his description of the day at Springfield there was some confusion with the line-ups that led to a delay at the start of the feature events. Rather than just having everyone sit there, the track introduced the starters for the B-modified main event. This gave many people the notion that the track was wasting time as more rain threatened. In reality, we think it was more of the track giving the fans something to watch as the technicalities got ironed out. It was clear that they were not going to introduce any more features as the midget main event rolled out in quick time, only to see a delay until the next day because of the return of a hard rain. More than anybody else, the folks at Springfield were wanting to get this show in on Saturday if at all possible.
When the elements cooperated, the track offered up some good, fast-paced racing on its quarter-mile banked surface. To me, Springfield is built so that is provides good racing action. Located in an industrial park near the airport on the north side of Springfield, it has a nice bank, a good shape, and the drivers are almost able to flatfoot it all the way around.
From a photographer’s standpoint, it was a very good place to shoot. I felt very comfortable in the corners and the track offers good sightlines. You could easily find some favorite places to get some good shots – that’s always a payoff on a road trip. Both ends of the track were full of photogs as the season opener attracted people from several directions on the map. It is always good to talk shop with some new faces.

Wolfpack - Robby Wolfgang was part of the 360 sprint car field that towed into Springfield Raceway on March 14 - BWJ photo

Hagar hauls - Derek Hagar looked to be off to a strong start for the 2009 season when he took to the track at Springfield. - BWJ photo

Still strong - With his Springfield performance, Brian Brown shows he will once again have some muscle for his 360 competitors. - BWJ photo

My only regret about Springfield is that we were not able to complete the program on Saturday. The one feature that was completed was a blowout as Colt Cheever had the measure of the B-modified field. The way he ran, I think he would have placed well in the modified feature as well. He was the class of the field, and had we not had any cautions, I think he could have lapped the field – that is the kind of day Cheever was having.
Humboldt was calling us on Sunday with the chance to make another first-time visit to a track, so unfortunately we missed the final three features that Springfield would finally manage to complete to wrap up the Turkey Classic. The day that Brad Loyet, Brian Brown and Terry Phillips had on Saturday, it was a fairly safe bet that they would show well on Sunday, which they did by picking up feature wins.

Home cookin' - Terry Phillips would roll to the modified feature win at Springfield - BWJ photo

My thanks to promoters Jerry Hoffman and Doug Bland and their staff for the successful kick-off to my 2009 season. I look forward to a chance to go back there and see another show sometime in the future. I think late models would show well at Springfield as the sprint cars and modifieds certainly did.
By the time we reached Humboldt, Kansas, on Sunday, the sun was peeking out and letting us know that we had a good chance to miss the rain and get this stop on the USMTS tour in. It was a fairly warm day, but a strong wind kept a chill in the air ,and the combination of sun and wind had us wondering what kind of daytime racing we would see. As we loaded up and headed out in about four hours time, I can safely say it was one of the better daytime shows I have been able to attend in some time.
Owners Ron and Rhenda Whitworth and the crew at Humboldt know their track very well. They had it hard-packed and well-watered, and it provided good racing under sunny skies. The USMTS heat races provided a lot of action and saw many drivers able to pass and improve their positions. Feature time saw a final dash of water added and some furious action early on. As the track blackened, passing became a little tougher, but positions did change, and there was enough going on to keep things interesting.
Humboldt is a 3/8-mile track with a decent bank to it. When you stand in the infield you get a sense that the backstretch has a little more bank to it than the front. In checking with the staff, I confirmed that it wasn’t my eyes and that was indeed the case. From the shooter’s standpoint, this is another track that provides a lot of great opportunities for good pictures. Both ends of the track offer good photo-ops, and at no time did I feel like I was in any danger of being too close to the action – a definite positive!

Up and away - Tim Shields grabs some air as he runs up on the 13 of Matt Waugh in USMTS B-main action March 15 - BWJ photo

Clean-up, aisle 3 - The Sky Trak at Humboldt makes quick work of tricky situations. - BWJ photo

For the fans, Humboldt Speedway offers very nice facilities, including very clean, modern restrooms. They also offer some different concession stand items, including a very good serving of Frito Chili Pie. The place just has a good feel to it.
Humboldt combined with the USMTS was a great tandem. The series runs a very efficient show, and coupled with a track that seems to do the same, we were treated to good racing and were on the road in about four hours. Officials do not use a tow truck, but a large Sky Trak forklift vehicle at accident scenes. There are very proficient with it too. When cars end up stacked in a pile-up, there isn’t any head scratching – they simply reach down and pick up the damaged cars and take them to the infield. There was no standing around waiting for the damaged cars to exit the track. Officials hurried them to the infield so the show wouldn’t be held up. When the checkered flag flew, the damaged cars were then headed to the pits. This is a good idea that saves some valuable minutes. I realize that all tracks don’t have that luxury, but those that pit on the outside should give that some thought. I know the tracks that do utilize the infield to hold the wrecks tend to use the clock with better results.
Back to the thought that this was a good day race – it was. The USMTS feature saw a lot of position changes, and a little controversy at times as the action got dicey with drivers nosing for extra positions. Officials kept control of things and moved cars accordingly. Brian Bolin and Bryan Rowland may disagree a bit as a leading Bolin went side-by-side with a second place Rowland, spinning out in turn three. There were just eight laps to go, and the two drivers found themselves scrambling for positions as the officials put them both to the rear for the incident. A tough call under tough conditions, but it appeared to be the fairest solution.

Feature action - Gary Langworthy, Jr. (39) and Jason Hughes (12) race for position during the USMTS feature. Langworthy would finish fifth, Hughes seventh. - BWJ photo

And another thing sir... - Kip Hughes (leaning in window) shares his views with Ken Schrader (seated) after the two tangled in the feature - BWJ photo

Deciding moment - Brian Bolin (X2) sits sideways in turn four as Bryan Rowland (20R) and Steve Holzkamper (5) work to avoid him. - BWJ photo

All alone - Steve Holzkamper had the final laps to himself at the front of the field on his way to the win. - BWJ photo

A third-running Steve Holzkamper found himself up front and running off with the final eight laps to take the win. Holzkamper started the feature fifth and capped a top-five that saw starting positions of fifth, ninth, first, tenth and twelfth. A pretty good shuffle for a daytime tilt, and that’s why this show was a keeper. Drivers were able to race and improve their positions, and that’s why we go to the races to start with.

Holzkamper wins - Steve Holzkamper was the USMTS feature winner on March 15 at Humboldt Speedway in Kansas. - BWJ photo

I had a great time at both Springfield and Humboldt, and the two shows certainly got me ready to roll on into the 2009 season. Should you find yourself close to either track this summer, don’t be afraid to give them a try. In addition to their weekly shows, both places have some specials on this year’s calendar too, so check them out.

Finding something new in a field of all things old

2009-02-25T11:53:00.000-06:00

Sorry it has taken me so long to get something fresh on here. With the moniker of “Positively Racing” for this site, I have to make sure that when I write, I am indeed living up to the standards we have set. So far this race season, my racing has been confined to what I have watched on television. I won’t write about that for two reasons: 1) What has been on TV is not local, and 2) What I would say about what I have watched wouldn’t be very positive anyway, therefore, I have been sitting on my hands, chomping at the bit to get something to you that fits the bill. I’m finally able to that as I have been cleaning out my “archives” finding lots of old, unique items that I have had tucked away for a long, long time.
I am a saver, not a thrower-outer. I have items dating back to the time before I even learned to walk. Remember those notes you used to pass in school to your friends? I’ve got a shoebox full of them. I never threw them out and plan on taking them to class reunions in the future to torment, and even possibly shock those I was corresponding with. I’ve got piles of old ticket stubs to things long forgotten, school home work dating back to grade school and so on. A couple of soggy basements have sorted out some of my collection, but not by much – I have a lot of junk. Either at my home, or bless ‘em, my parents’. I have not lived there regularly in over two decades, but they still have boxes of my “stuff” as George Carlin so eloquently put it. Well, I have now reached the point in my life where my parents are getting tired of my “stuff” and now I am gradually bringing it to my house a few boxes at a time. I am finding some amazing things in those boxes, many of them racing related, and it is some of those items I want to share with you.
I started attending races at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in 1968, and along the way have collected several items, among them several autographs, particularly when I was a bit younger. Imagine my surprise when I came across a stash of signed names and numbers from 1971.
Some of those drivers, with their car number at the time, included: Dan Dickey, #40; Don Hoffman, #121; Dick Gustin, #9; Stan Stover, #49; Matt Moro, #2; Dick Oldham, #155; “Injun Joe” Merryfield, #39; Phil Reece #60, John Meyer, #4; Bob Hilmer, #22; Sonny Morgan, #48; Larry Embrey, #39; John Connolly, #75; Stan Stover, #49; Dave Chase, #31; Ken Gerhart, #57; Rodger Bruce, #254; Don Davidson, #222; Cliff Van Zandt, #145; Bill Holder, #20; Gordy Blankenship, #17; Bill Rice, #47; Lloyd Nabb, #78; Darrell Dake, #8; and Bob Helm, #94.
There were a couple of surprises among those names, including Ernie Derr, #2; and, Jim Zabel, then at WHO-TV. How many of you remember that Zabel was the voice of the races at Fairgrounds for a few seasons back in the day? Nice to know I even wanted the announcer’s autograph. I enjoyed every aspect of my nights at the track growing up, so it isn’t any wonder.
It is interesting to note that while many of the drivers signing autographs had the same car number throughout their career, there are some notable exceptions. The #121 for Hoffman stands out the most. That one not as many people remember. He went from the 121 to the 98 and then the Pizza Hut number two, where most people remember him for the greatest part of his career.
It was an awesome find coming across these signatures, and I’m working on getting them matted and framed so I can hang them in my office at home.
I came across a copy of the “Racing Round-Up” from June 25, 1977. This was a great little publication that gave story and point rundowns from Boone, Des Moines, Marshalltown and Oskaloosa . I used to love getting my latest copy of this when I got to the track ,and for only 25 cents it was packed full of information. How about some top fives?
At this point of the 1977 season, the top five street stocks at Boone were Rich Bennett, Boyd Brown, Dave Dresser, Steve Hodges and Mel Odegaard. The top five late models were Don Hoffman, Bill Rice, Dan Nesteby, Tom Bartholomew and Arnie Braland. Hoffman would go on to take the points championship that season.
Your top fives in Des Moines at the time were: late model – Ed Sanger, Curt Hansen, Bill Rice, Stan Stover and Joe Merryfield. The sportsmen top five were Bill Davis, Dave Farren, Rick Merryfield, Denny Rosenberg and Glen Woodard. Up the road at Marshalltown, Mike Fredericks was leading the street stock points, followed by Larry Opperman, Darrel DeFrance, John Ulrey and Steve Hodges. The late model sportsmen were topped by Red Dralle, Bill Davis, Glen Woodard, Leonard Woodard and Rock Merryfield.
The Wednesday night crowd at Osky was watching Jerry Pilcher lead the sportsman points, followed by Dave Farren, Bill Davis, Jim Anderson and Rocky Hodges. Late models that year were paced by Ken Walton, Curt Hansen, Ed Sanger, Joe Merryfield, and Don Hoffman. If that doesn’t bring back memories…
I’ve included a couple of scans from that publication, showing you the front, and a picture inside that featured a future classmate of mine. One of the Plude “dolls”, as the caption would call them, I would eventually get to know in junior and high school. It was surprising to see Shelly show up in this photo and thought it was interesting that I had held on to this program and actually knew someone in it besides the racers. I see Shelly’s parents at the races all summer long, from Knoxville to Iowa Speedway. I’ll have to make sure they get a copy of that page.
And speaking of copies, if any of you have old issues of the Racing Round-Up or any programs from the Iowa State Fairgrounds from the 1970s, I’d love to take them off of your hands and add them to my archives. Unfortunately, many of the items that I have lost in the floods in the past included most of my old programs from the Fairgrounds. They feature great photos from likes of Beetle Bailey and Dean Malone, and hold a lot of memories. Just contact me at news@positivelyracing.com and let me know if you have any leads.
Further down in that same box was a program from the Fairgrounds that was a little newer, 1989, but none-the-less, just as interesting.
At the time, Des Moines ran IMCA sanctioned stock cars, modifieds and sprint cars. The street stocks were not sanctioned, and there were no late models. Robert Lawton was the promoter at that time. The program lists Joe Adkins and Mick Trier as the announcers, and Bill Olson as the flagman.
The point sheet was current through July 7, and I’ll give you the top ten in each class at that point in the season. IMCA mods: Bill Davis, Kelly Shryock, Dave Farren, Danny Wallace, Kent Kaplan, Jack Miles Jr., Wayne Larson, Rick Gustin, Steve Jackson and Kendall Sather. IMCA stocks: Chris Jensen, Dave Dresser, JR Henely, Judy DeFrance, Don Killen, Randy Havlik, Mike Whaley, Jeff Backous, Pat Fagen and Butch Bass. IMCA sprints: Bob Thompson, Mark Wilson, Walt Esch, Archie Ergenbright, Mike Twedt, Ed Perryman, Jeff Jones, Steve Wares, Mike Crawford and Lyle Sylvester. Street stocks: Jim Reynolds, Larry Embrey, Kenny Miller, Dan Banker, Dan Nicholson, Lewis Culp, Kent Knopf, Robert Ewurs, Mark Hubbard and Darren Clausen.
I was struck by two things when I went through the point sheet: One was how stout the modified field was back then; and two, how many of those drivers listed have retired, disappeared, or unfortunately passed away. Pick up any old track program from any race track you have attended and scan the names on the point sheet. When you are in the heat of the moment, racing seems like it is forever, and nothing ever changes; but when you study the names while looking back, a lot of familiar names and faces have faded into the past. You never really think about it, but when you see it in black and white, it is a little surprising.
From time to time I’ll dig through these things and give you some looks at the past. I love looking at the old pictures and stories. I can remember a lot of the races as if they were just last season. The races and drivers from the 60s and 70s were the ones that set me on the course I follow today. Just a kid in the stands, watching and meeting these people instilled in me the need to continue with racing for the rest of my life. I can’t imagine it any other way. As exciting as 2009 looks to be on the track, the 1971 season holds as much excitement for me now as it did then. I can’t imagine it any other way.

Welcome to Positively Racing!

2009-01-18T21:56:00.001-06:00

Welcome to Positively Racing! Thanks for giving us a look. As our little introduction indicates, we are all about keeping a positive spin on the area racing scene, highlighting the highlights, eliminating the bashing, name-calling and innuendo, and, at times, providing some constructive criticism to the comings and goings of the upcoming short track season.
For me personally, it is a privilege to be working on this project with my good friend Jeff Broeg. Jeff and I go back a few years, and over that time have shared endless observations about races we have attended - what was fun, and what wasn't. To me, Jeff has more knowledge about the Midwest racing scene than just about anyone going, and he has a love for it second-to-none. That is evident by the All-Iowa and All-Missouri Points that now have an exclusive home here at Positively Racing. Jeff pours endless hours into keeping these points updated and providing race fans and racers alike with an idea of who is hot on the local racing scene. I can't wait for the green flag to drop so that we can see who has the hottest hand in 2009.
This site is in its infancy, so visit often and watch it grow. Over the course of the upcoming weeks, we will be adding some additional voices to the mix. We will also be updating our specials schedule every chance we get; keeping it current throughout the season. We will be posting photos from the events we attended, photos from our photographer friends from across the area, and some vintage photos from events we have covered in the past. As the action heats up this spring, Positively Racing will grow in leaps and bounds.
I also encourage you to visit the sites we have linked to Positively Racing. These are produced by goods friends of ours who also have the best interest of the sport in mind. The vast majority of us have sprung from either a print or radio background, and though we may have entered the 21st century kicking and screaming, we all have recognized the importance of taking auto racing to the computer screen, and to the race fan.
Again, thanks for checking us out - and hang on. I can already smell the fresh watered clay and the fumes of a freshly fired engine...