Monday, April 27, 2009

Different Day, Different Luck for Keith Pratt at Quincy

The final race of this weekend's "Tapfan's Tours" found me back where it started on Thursday. Mother Nature forced tracks in Iowa to cancel their shows, but Quincy Raceways was not affected and were able to get their show in. After spending the night in Missouri, I met some friends in Des Moines and made the big loop back to Quincy.

While the car count was nothing too spectacular, the racing action was pretty good. The rut in turn one that I mentioned Thursday night remained an issue as several drivers found out the hard way as it seemed to catapult them off turn one. A few times it was the leader who miscalculated their entrance into the corner after a restart.

The first feature of the night were the IMCA stock cars. Fourteen drivers set to do battle for twenty laps. Dustin Griffin set the pace early on until Doug Huls passed him on lap four. Huls would lead nine more laps until he misjudged turn one and found himself going over the banking in turn one, giving the lead back to Griffin. Terry Houston would take over the top spot three laps later and looked to be on his way to victory until he slipped off the banking in turn four coming to the white flag. The caution flag waved, once again giving the lead back to Griffin. However, Griffin's luck soon ran out as he too went over the cushion in turn one on the restart, handing the lead over to Kevin Tomlinson. Tomlinson's luck would not be as unfortunate as he took the checkers. Levi Long finished second, Doug Huls battled back up to third, Abe Huls was fourth, and Chris Wibbell rounded out the top five.

IMCA late models were next up as seventeen drivers were scheduled to start the race. It was announced earlier in the evening that Mark Burgtorf would be a scratch the rest of the night as he suffered motor problems during hot laps. How does that saying go? "One man's misfortune is another man's opportunity." This was definitely the case on this night. Keith Pratt, who found himself upside down on Thursday night during the IMCA Deery Brothers race, found himself on the outside front row at the start of the thirty-lap main event. Not sure if Pratt had a new car or just new skin, but the car was yellow instead of white Sunday night. A scary moment happened early in the race as veteran racer Terry Gallaher caught the rut and it sent him air born off turn one. His car would hit the concrete barrier outside the corner, landing upside down. Fortunately, Terry got out of the car quickly and walked away from the accident. Gallaher is a four-time track champion at Quincy.

After the restart, Pratt pulled away from the rest of the field and began to encounter lapped traffic. While this slowed his momentum, Jason Frankel and Matt Bailey were mixing it up for the second spot while inching closer to Pratt's car. Bailey took command of the second spot and closed in on Pratt toward the end, but the checkered flag waved for Pratt as he picked up the win. Frankel held off a hard-charging Justin Reed, who had started tenth, for third while Jerry Weisenberger rounded out the top five.

Thirteen hobby stocks started their feature as a few competitors were not able to make the call. This class also saw a rollover as the .08% car (which had sherriff's office on the door panel) driven by Eddie Kamm clipped the front stretch wall. He too walked away uninjured. Steve Carlin took the lead early on until James Leffew passed him on lap ten. A caution flag soon followed, and Leffew's car suffered a front left flat tire. He was unable to get the tire changed by the time the green flag waved, although he did return to the track at a later time. As a result of Leffew's bad luck, Carlin regained the lead until lap fifteen when Thursday night's winner Jim Powell made the pass for the top spot. Powell went on for the victory followed by Travis Booher, Wesley Mayfield, Steve Carlin, and Jake Powers.

The final event of the night were the UMP modifieds. Shawn Deering set the pace from his pole position until an early caution on lap three. Deering jumped the cushion in turn one on the restart, handing the reigns over to Tony Dunker. However, Dunker received some contact by Justin Reed's 4st car in turn three and both cars spun as a result. Only Dunker was penalized however. Second-year modified driver Steven Delonjay took over the race lead following that caution, but he would get heavy pressure from local standout Michael Long. Long tried everything he could to get by Delonjay, but Delonjay was just a little stronger getting off the corners every lap. That is until a lapped car slid up and made contact with Delonjay. Long took advantage of that mishap by sneaking by on the low side coming out of turn four on lap twenty-one and would lead the final four laps in capturing the feature win. Delonjay had to settle for second, Justin Reed third, Robbie Reed fourth, and Donovan Lodge rounded out the top five.

The racing action concluded at 9:35. Other then a gusty breeze out of the south at times, the night couldn't have been more picture perfect. I remained in a tshirt the entire night and didn't even think of putting on a sweatshirt. Driving through Quincy, a bank clock showed the temperature was still 78 when we left. Other then perhaps a smoother racing surface, one could not have asked for a better night of racing!

Sunday concluded a long weekend of "Tapfan's Tours". All together, the four races accumulated 1576 miles on my car. I arrived home late Sunday night (or early Monday morning, however you call it). Time to rest up before another exciting weekend of racing action!

- Racing may be addictive, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Phillips Leads Flag to Flag in Adrian MLRA Showdown

On Saturday, April 25th I ventured my way south to Adrian Speedway for an MLRA late model show. Also on the card were street stocks and hobby stocks, which closely resembled Iowa's version of hornets (4 cylinders). Thirty-two late models checked in while only eleven street stocks and hobby stocks, respectively, were on hand. Upon arriving at the track, it was interesting to note that a train track runs alongside the backstretch. This track, much like Tipton last night, also faces towards the west.

Track officials kept the show moving throughout the night as the heat races got underway at 7:30 and were done by shortly after 8:00. After running two late model consi races, the street stocks took to the track for their feature. Unfortunately, I was unable to get any names of the support class drivers as the PA system did not work where I was sitting. The #32 car started on the pole and drove away from the rest of the field. Portzen was the name on the bottom of the door panel.

Hobby stocks were up next for their main event of the evening. This race was very close between #7 and #172 with #7 pulling out the victory at the end.

The MLRA late model feature concluded the night on a high note. This would be my first MLRA "stand alone" sanctioned event to go along with my first ever visit to this track. Terry Phillips redrew the pole position with veteran Joe Kosiski sitting to his outside. Twenty-three cars started the feature on the 1/3 mile oval. Phillips quickly gained the advantage and pulled away from the field. Eric Turner appeared to be getting a great run on the top side going while most of the other drivers were on the bottom groove. Al Purkey began to follow Turner until a caution flag haulted the action momentarily. Purkey and Turner battled side by side for several laps, allowing Phillips to pull away and take the checkers. Purkey got by Turner with about five laps to go and began to reel in Phillips as he got caught up in lapped traffic, but Turner ran out of laps at the end and would settle for second. Turner finished third, Mike Collins fourth, and last year's series champion John Anderson rounded out the top five. Anderson utilized the mid to high side of the speedway to make numerous passes as he had to transfer out of a consi and started 18th. Story City, Iowa driver Jeremy Grady had a decent night as he started ninth on the grid and finished in tenth position.

All in all, the races were pretty good. Support class cars were down a little from what I expected, but the show was moved along at a good pace without any major delays in the program. The only drawback, as I mentioned earlier, was that the PA system did not work where I was sitting. I was only familiar with about half the late model field and would have liked to have known the others. Races were completed by 9:25, giving fans plenty of time to either visit with drivers in the pits or to head home.

UNOFFICIAL MLRA late models
1. 75 Terry Phillips
2. 33 Al Purkey
3. 99T Eric Turner
4. 3 Mike Collins
5. 2 John Anderson
6. 53 Joe Kosiski
7. 45DW Denny Woodworth
8. 22 Alan Vaughn
9. 43 Jeremy Grady
10. 15T David Turner
11. 74 Jeremy Payne
12. 29 Bill Koons
13. 88
14. 2B Jason Bodenhammer
15. 73B

That's all I got. 23 cars started the feature.

- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!

Friday, April 24, 2009

Caution Flags Abundant at Cedar County Raceway

On Friday, April 24th I made my first trip ever to the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa for a regular weekly show. This 1/4 mile racetrack is a rather unique one in that the flagman waves the flags from the inside of the track. The only other tracks I've been to that does this is the quarter mile track at Davenport and at the Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa, Iowa. Another unique tidbit is that the track faces west, as only 34 Raceway in West Burlington is the only other track I've been to that has that characteristic.
Upon arrival, I scoped out the concession stand before the action got started and found that their hamburgers are one of the best I've had at any track. When the scheduled time for hot laps came, the announcer let everyone know that there would be a delay as the fire department had been called out and the track would have to wait until they returned. After about a twenty minute delay, hot laps were underway as the fire vehicle was seen arriving at the track. Another unique characterstic this track has that I've only seen at the IMCA Supernationals in Boone, is that a photographer takes a picture of each heat race winner in the infield.
Okay, on to race action. Six "cruisers" took to the track first for their feature event. Chad Paup would wind up taking the checkers as only three cars finished the race. In fact, the race ended under the dreaded yellow/checkered.
Bmods were up next as thirteen drivers set to do battle. Tim Current, who originally started eight, slid off the banking in turn one on the initial start to bring out the first of many caution flags. Thanks to all the caution flags, he was able to work his way back up through the field and would battle with Roy Petska and Jesse Smith. For a couple of laps the three competitors were running 3-wide around the racetrack. Eventually Current would gain command and cross the finish line first. Pestka would take home second, Smith third, Nick Hixson fourth, and Jason Spears rounded out the top five.
Nineteen four cylinders were next onto the track. I noticed that the "1st" car of Brandon Becker was fast during his heat race, so noted that he started the feature in twelfth. It didn't take him long to get to the front as he took the top spot by lap three. This race was also slowed dramatically by several caution flags. Becker led the rest of the laps, picking up the win.
Stock cars were the next class to hit the track. Only thirteen cars were on hand, but they put on a good show for the fans. Wayne Hora jumped out to the lead early and held off challenges from several competitors for the hardware.
Modifieds capped off the evening with a twenty-five lap main event. Dusty Kraklio and Jeff Morris paced the field to the green flag with Kraklio taking the top spot early on. Fourth row starters Ryan Dolan and Mark Schulte made their way through traffic to challenge Kraklio with Dolan pulling even several times at the line. However, Kraklio utilized the preferred bottom side of the track to his advantage in taking home the victory. Dolan and Schulte raced door handle to door handle for several laps, but doing that helped Noah Coppess and Jeff Morris pull up behind them. Dolan would claim the second spot at the finish followed by Coppess, Schulte, and Morris.
Races were done by 10:35. It was also noted that this track has a different way of lining up cars after caution flags in which I'm not familiar. That being said, I can't be too critical as I'm sure the realignment procedure varies from track to track.
Plan right now for Saturday is Adrian, Missouri. They are scheduled to host an MLRA late model show along with street stocks and hobby stocks. Hopefully the weather cooperates as I received word that the weather wasn't too good back home.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Burgtorf Claims Hometown Deery Victory

After cancelling Sunday night's Deery Brothers late model race, the Quincy Raceway rescheduled the event for Thursday night, April 23. While there were a solid field of forty IMCA late models in attendance, series director Kevin Yoder noted that many drivers who had verbally committed to running the entire series may not have been able to realign their work schedules for tonight's show. Also on the card were IMCA stock cars and hobby stocks.

The first feature of the night were the IMCA stock cars. Sixteen drivers took to the track in hopes of becoming the night's first feature winner. Abe Huls started on the outside of the front row and jumped out to the early race lead. Terry Houston and Kevin Tomlinson were closely behind with Tomlinson gaining momentum and challening Huls for the top spot. On lap seventenn, Tomlinson appeared to have taken the lead at the line and would go on to the twenty-lap feature win. Huls had to settle for second followed by Houston, Chris Wibbell, and Jason Cook. Jeff Mueller started 14th and would garner a solid sixth place finish. The twenty lap feature technically ran green to checkered, although there was a caution on the initial start.

The IMCA Deery Brothers late models hit the track for their 50-lap main event. Terry Schlipman and Ray Guss Jr were the lucky recipients of the redraw and paced the field to the green flag. Guss Jr took advantage of the track conditions at the time by taking the lead on the high side. He would lead the first thirteen laps before giving way to hometown Quincy driver Mark Burgtorf. Burgtorf utilized every piece of real estate on the tight quarter-mile track as Guss Jr received challenges from multi-time series champion Jeff Aikey and last year's IMCA national champion Jason Frankel. These three drivers put on a good show for the fans for several laps as Burgtorf weaved through traffic and began to pull away. Burgtorf went on to win by a straight away ahead of Guss Jr. Frankel would get by Aikey with about six laps to go for third while local driver Jerry Weisenberger rounded out the top five. Frankel was the one to watch as he transfered out of a b-main, started 15th on the grid and passed cars on the top side. Frankel was in fifth place by lap twenty. It was mentioned that only nine cars were on the lead lap at the end of the race. The Deery win was Burgtorf's seventh career win at his home track and 21st of his career. The next Deery event on the schedule is Wednesday, May 20th at the Highway 3 Raceway in Allison, Iowa.

Hobby stocks finished out the night with their twenty lap feature. Jim Powell used his outside front row starting spot to his advantage as he led every lap en route to the win. #25 car (didn't catch the name and Adam Scott battled for second while also gaining ground on the leader. #25 finished second, Scott settled for third, Steve Carlin wound up fourth, and Jake Powers rounded out the top five.

The final checkers waved at 9:45. The track seemed to be in good condition with the exception of a few big ruts in turn one. Several cars found themselves going into that corner too fast and jumped the cushion, resulting in going over the banking or getting caught up at the top of the turn. Keith Pratt was one of those drivers going too high and wound up getting upside down outside of turn one. It really couldn't be classified as a rollover, as he simply went up in the air and landed on his top without "rolling." He checked out okay, although the car has seen better days. One suggestion I would give to the track officials would be to run fewer laps in the support class races. Both hobby stocks and stock cars ran ten lap heats and twenty lap features. While I realize Quincy is a small track, I found it hard to understand running eight-car stock car heats for ten laps. Time wasn't really an issue the entire night, even with the 15 minute intermission. Although I can say that from the comforts of a hotel room rather then driving back the four hour trip.

Check back tomorrow night/Saturday morning when hopefully I'll have a report from the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton.

OFFICIAL Deery Brothers Results
1. 7B Mark Burgtorf
2. 12 Ray Guss Jr
3. 0F Jason Frankel
4. 77 Jeff Aikey
5. 21JW Jerry Weisenberger
6. 69 Terry Schlipman
7. 42 Tom Darbyshire
8. 25 Lonnie Bailey
9. 31G Joey Gower
10. 93 Jay Johnson
11. 14 Boone McLaughlin
12. 99D Darrel DeFrance
13. 5 Nick Ingalls
14. 3 Ron Elbe
15. 39 Rob Toland
16. 41 Matt Strassheim
17. 79 Robby Warner
18. 44 Luke Goedert
19. 25K Brian Klein
20. 15K Justin Kay
21. 28c Terry Neal
22. 45DW Denny Woodworth
23. 77K Stephen Kammerer
24. 1st Justin Reed

Thanks to IMCA official Kevin Yoder for the results. Results are pending the inspection of Burgtorf.

Unofficial results
IMCA Stock Cars
1. 49T Kevin Tomlinson
2. 30c Abe Huls
3. 97 Terry Houston
4. 52 Chris Wibbell
5. 27J Jason Cook
6. 77 Jeff Mueller
7. 04A Aaron Brocksieck
8. 04s Steve Steinkuhler
9. 16 Levi Long
10. 10 Doug Huls
11. 25 Andrew Griffin
12. 8 Sarah Woodhurst
13. 20
14. 11B Jeremy Buss
15. 06
16. 48 Michael Larsen

Hobby Stocks
1. 48J Jim Powell
2. 25
3. 93 Adam Scott
4. 9c Steve Carlin
5. 0 Jake Powers
6. 13 Corrie Eifert
7. 11 Nathan Hayes
8. 38
9. 25G Andrew Griffin
10. 73
11. 26 Nathan Anders
12. 21 Wesley Mayfield
13. 17 Steven Watkins Jr
14. 15 Justin Bartz

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Kaplan Repeats at Benton County Speedway

On a chilly, gloomy Sunday afternoon I decided to call up some friends and invite them along to the Benton County Speedway in Vinton. I knew some of them had never been there before, so knew this would be a new experience for them. Upon arrival the wind was just as gusty there as it had been at home. Fortunately it wasn't blowing directly at us but rather from our left side. A good field of cars along with an above average crowd were on hand despite the less-then-ideal settings.

The IMCA hobby stock feature proved to be a race in which "it's not over til it's over". Wes Stanek Jr was out front leading the pack after a few laps and received a heavy challenge from last week's feature winner Bill Bonnett. Stanek Jr and Bonnett raced several laps side by side as the laps wound down. On the final circuit, Bonnett dove to the inside but went in too hot as he slid up the track and made contact with Stanek Jr. The two cars straightened each other out, but by that time Brad Forbes had snuck past on the low side and stole the checkers at the finish. Bonnett beat Stanek Jr in the mini drag race to the line for second and third, respectively.

IMCA Sportmods then hit the track next for their fifteen lap feature event. Last week's feature winner Austin Kaplan wasted no time getting to the front from his ninth starting spot as he took over the race lead around lap five. It seemed as though Kaplan had it "in the bag", but his car went away from him in the closing laps and had to hold off a fierce challenge by Jesse Sobbing at the stripe. Jim Buhlman edged out Drew Fish for third while Jeremy Schaufenbuel rounded out the top five.

Sixteen IMCA stock cars were next to hit the speedway with Norman Chesmore setting the early pace. While he stayed out front most of the race, he was receiving a lot of pressure from Justin Temeyer, Mike Shephard, and Damon Murty. Chesmore's car appeared to get a little lose with two laps to go when he and Temeyer made the slightest of contact in between turns 3 and 4 resulting in Chesmore slowing up to avoid the tractor tire. That opened the door for Temeyer as he went on the race win. Shephard, Murty, Rodney Grother, and Jason Deshaw rounded out the top five while Chesmore fell back to a disappointing 8th place finish. Murty was the driver on the move as he started shotgun on the field after suffering a flat tire in his heat race.

Twenty-one IMCA modifieds took to the track for their twenty-lap finale. Don Erger sat on the pole and put it on cruise control most of the race as he distanced himself from the rest of the field. He would catch lapped traffic as the laps were winding down, allowing a hard charging Troy Cordes to cut the deficit each set of corners. Erger would take the win followed across the line by Cordes, Joe Docekal, Max Corporan, and Buster Pate.

All in all, it was a good night of racing at the Benton County Speedway. Racing action started a few minutes before 6pm and we were loading up the vehicle at 8:30. While there were a few ruts in turn 1, the track seemed to be in good shape otherwise as the stock cars were running three wide for several laps in their feature event.

Not quite sure what my racing plans will include for next weekend. The Deery Brothers IMCA late model series race scheduled for Quincy, Illinois for tonight was postponed til Thursday night, so I may decide to venture that way to catch that show. Friday night is still open at this point while Saturday night will probably find me at the Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City as the IMCA late models make their season debut on the historic half-mile.

- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Boone Speedway Dodges the Raindrops

Growing up I used to go to the same tracks week in and week out. Nowadays, one might say I still have my "core" group of tracks. But in the event of possible weather cancellations, I find myself going where the best chance of getting a race in will happen. After attending the IMCA Deery Brothers late model race at Davenport on Friday night, I found myself in a hotel in town with hopes of traveling north to Maquoketa for another round of Deery Brothers action. However, Mother Nature did not allow for that to happen. That being said, I stopped for a bite to eat at Godfather's Pizza in Maquoketa and headed home.

Being the "obsessive fan" that I am, I started thinking about other possible tracks in which I could still attend. I came up with two: Boone or Algona. After hearing that Algona cancelled I began my journey southeast to "Iowa's Action Track", the Boone Speedway. It was announced that 135 cars were on hand for tonight's action. That seemed kinda low to me, but with today's economy I'm sure any promoter would love to see that number drive through the back gate.

The first feature on the track were the dwarf cars. Mike Kennedy would take home top honors as he beat twenty-two other competitors to the stripe. Ed Zehm (41z), Andy Hennigar (15), Jeff Stensland (20) and Randy Bryant (64) also finished in the top five.

Next up with the IMCA Sportmods. This race proved to be not only a battle of attrition, but also of time. Several cars were involved in several different mishaps as roughly half the field was MIA at the end of the race that finished under yellow and checkered after failing to complete the race in the allotted time. Rookie contender Doug Smith (12) took the lead early on from his fifth starting spot and would continue to lead until lap fourteen when his car spun in turn four after receiving pressure from last year's Sportmod national champion Luke Wanniger (20x). Smith would tag the tail of the field while Wanniger went on to take the checkers. Scott Davis (81D) and Kevin Sather (3) gave chase after a late restart, but was unable to make the move when the time limit was enforced. Davis finished second, Sather third, Paul Nagle (05) fourth, and and David Schlicht (19) rounded out the top five after transferring from the Bmain.

The show kept moving along as the IMCA modifieds hit the track next for their twenty-lap event. Jeremie Hedrick, originally from Wisconsin, shot to the lead only to spin on lap five, handing the lead over to Glidden's Mike Molle (33M). Molle would remain in control until lap fifteen when Kelly Lyons mounted a charge and briefly took the lead on the bottom side of the speedway. Molle regained the top spot two laps later and would prevail at the line while Lyons (27) suffered problems on the backstretch and collected a couple other cars. Rod Schuerman (14), Jake Durbin (18), Todd Shute (5), and Ricky Stephan (25) rounded out the top five.

The IMCA hobby stocks ran two feature events on this night. The field was split up evenly with 14 competitors starting in each race. Beau Kaplan (11) took command early in the first race and was not seriously challenged. Cody Gustoff (23) garnered the top prize in the finale of the evening.

For more results, check out http://www.positivelyracing.com and click on 4dfan report.

All in all, the racing action was intense with a lot of torn up racecars at the end of the night. The staff at the Boone Speedway kept the show rolling with the threat of weather looming. That was evident as they did not do their "farming" session after the heat race events. While the features were primarily run on the bottom of the racetrack, there were many drivers who advanced through the field. Even without the help of wrecks.

Weather permitting, plans are to attend the I-35 Speedway in Mason City Sunday night. If things don't work out for that venue, then one can only guess where "TAPFAN" will show up. Possibilities include Vinton or Quincy, Illinois.

- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!

Friday, April 17, 2009

Burgtorf Lays Claim to Davenport Deery Show

Mark Burgtorf improved on his second place finish in last week's Deery Brothers late model series opener at Burlington by claiming top honors at the Davenport Speedway on Friday night, April 17. Burgtorf (Quincy, Illinois driver) started outside row four but quickly managed his way to the front and challenged Cedar Falls driver Jeff Aikey for second as they both tried to chase down pole-sitter Terry Neal. Neal quickly caught lapped traffic on lap fourteen, slowing his momentum down and allowing his competitors to make up ground.

Burgtorf used the lapped traffic to his advantage when Neal opted to use the outside to pass traffic coming out of turn four on lap twenty-four of the forty lap finale. Burgtorf utilized the inside groove to take the top spot away and pulled away for the big payday. Neal held on for second while Aikey finished third. Tom Darbyshire and opening night winner Jason Frankel rounded out the top five.

Sixty-one cars were on hand for the second race of the series. Kevin Yoder, IMCA official and series director, told me "it's nice to have an average car count of 63.5 after two events." It sounds like there is a lot of interest with the Deery Brothers late model series this year as several drivers have "dropped down" after running open motor programs in recent years. With the number of entries in the first two events I can only expect that the competition will be fierce each night.

Other classes in competition at Davenport included IMCA modifieds, street stocks, pro modifieds, and 4-stocks (hornets). Max Corporan took home the top prize in the IMCA modified feature. Bob Dominacki started on the pole of the pro modified feature and led every lap en route to the twenty lap win. A #77 car won the street stock feature.

OFFICIAL Late Model Results
1. 7B Mark Burgtorf
2. 28c Terry Neal
3. 77 Jeff Aikey
4. 42 Tom Darbyshire
5. 0F Jason Frankel
6. 16 Dan Shelliam
7. 12 Ray Guss Jr
8. 15 Tommy Elston
9. 14 Boone McLaughlin
10. 69 Terry Schipman
11. 07 Matt Ryan
12. 39 Rob Toland
13. 93 Jay Johnson
14. 33 Keith Pratt
15. 79 Robby Warner
16. 46 Nate Beuseling
17. 21M Luke Merfeld
18. 25 Bryan Klein
19. 38 Colby Springsteen
20. 15K Justin Kay
21. 12J TJ Criss
22. 1st Justin Reed
23. 29 Adam Oppendike
24. 7 Andy Nezworksi

Monday, April 13, 2009

New and Familiar Tracks Highlight Tapfan's Tours This Weekend

On Saturday April 11, I decided to make a journey to Missouri for a first-ever visit to 24 Raceway in Moberly, Missouri. The USMTS modifieds were on hand along with the weekly lineup of classes. Upon arrival it was evident they had received rain the day before as the spectator parking area was a bit muddy along with the pit area inside the track. The track, on the other hand, was a bit dry as dust was flying during the first session of hot laps. After a few more sessions, track officials decided to take a pause and water the entire track once more. That took care of the dust problem, which I appreciated as the wind was bringing that dust directly towards the fans.

Hornets, hobby stocks, bmods, and sportsmans were the other classes on the card on this night. The sportsmans resembled Iowa stock cars. It was hard to understand a lot of the names as the PA system was cutting out a lot. That would be one suggestion for the track to work on at some point as they have a pole on each end of the grandstand with 3 speakers on each pole. Most other tracks have the speakers spread out, usually on top of the front stretch fencing.

Although I didn't catch most of the names in the support classes, I did recognize two bmod drivers from southern Iowa. Paul Underwood and Andrew Schroeder both were running at the front of the pack in the feature until something sidelined Underwood's night. Schroeder had much better luck as he was in the mix battling for second place for most of the race. He would settle for second when the checkers waved as the leader had too much distance with which to do anything.

The USMTS modifieds put on a good race for the fans. Thirty-nine cars were narrowed down to twenty-four for the 35-lap feature event. Kelly Shryock redrew the pole position, but number one proved to be unlucky for him on this night. The preferred line appeared to be on the top side above where rubber had been laid down throughout the night. However, that groove was also rougher then the rest of the track. Shryock found this out the hard way as his entire right side sheet metal crumbled up and fell off in turn two. When Shryock had his difficulties in turn two, Jon Tesch made the pass on the low side for the lead. Several more cars would take advantage of Shryock's mishap, including Zack VanderBeek and Johnny Bone Jr. VanderBeek and Tesch would battle for the lead after a restart, but Tesch had too much for him as he took the checkers. Ironically, it was Tesch and VanderBeek who TIED for the win at the last race at this track last year. This year, Tesch made sure there was an obvious winner. VanderBeek finished second, Bone Jr third, Rodney Sanders fourth, and Dean Mahlstedt rounded out the top five. Shryock slid all the way back to 11th at the finish. Jason Hughes led the majority of the race, but suffered a flat right rear tire. He would rejoin the pack, but could only salvage a 12th place finish. Dusin Boney put on an exciting show for the fans as well. He was running well towards the front of the field when he suffered a flat tire as well. After tagging the back of the field, he quickly made his way through traffic. After a restart, he made one of the best moves I had seen all night when he passed 6 cars on the outside by the time he got to turn three. Unfortunately, his efforts weren't noticed by many as he would suffer other troubles that sidelined him from the finish.

For results, go to: http://www.geocities.com/racefan85/apr11.pdf


April 12th found me at my unofficial "home away from home": the I-35 Speedway in Mason City, Iowa. Sunday night was the season opener at the big half-mile track. I will admit it now, that I'm not a big fan of hornets. So I apologize to the drivers in this class as I won't usually write too much about this class at any track. That being said, I did note how many cars were in each "division" and the winners of each. Six novice hornets ran the feature with Ken Winkowich taking the checkers in convincing fashion. Five pro hornets then hit the track with Jesse Harang taking top honors.

Hobby stocks were next up. Only eleven cars were on hand for opening night, but they put on a good show at the front. Stac Schroeder, Chad Gentz, and Heath Tulp all battled at the front for the top spot. After changing positions several times, it was Tulp that pulled away at the end to take home opening night checkers. Gentz wound up second, Schroeder third, Dustin Larson came home fourth and Robert Black rounded out the top five. Larson is a regular at Fairmont Raceway in Fairmont, Minnesota.

Sixteen bmods hit the track for their feature event. Shane Swanson and defending track champion Dustin Brown sat on the front row at the drop of the green flag. Swanson jumped out front early on, but a few cautions slowed up the action. Nate Chodur took advantage of one of the restarts to make the pass for the lead going into turn three. Chodur would pull away from the field until a late race caution bunched them back up with just two laps to go. Dustin Brown mounted a challenge after the restart, but Chodur's car was too strong as he went on for the win. Brown finished second, Swanson third, Matt Hoeft fourth, and Dan Tenold rounded out the top five.

A solid field of 19 IMCA stock cars graced the track next for their main event. Luke Sathoff and Bert McDaniel sat on the front row for the fifteen lap feature. However it was Larry Portis taking the top spot early on. Other then restarts, Portis was never really challenge until late in the race when Kevin Opheim made his way to second. By that time, Opheim had run out of laps to make up ground as Portis picked up another stock car victory. Opheim was second, Sathoff third, Mike Jergens fourth, and Travis Hoeft completed the top five.

The final event of the night was the IMCA modifieds. Twenty cars were in the pits, with only Rich Lewerke not making the call for the feature. He had problems in hot laps as he made contact with another driver. Report was that he had suffered radiator damage. JJ Wise shared the front row with Wisconsin driver Mike Wedelstadt when the green flagged waved. Wise jumped out front early on with Ryan Ruter giving chase. Ruter was making up ground until he clipped a tire on the inside of the track, breaking suspension parts on the left front of the car and ending his night early. This opened the door for Garner's Jeremy Mills. Mills used a restart to his advantage as he made the pass for the lead and would prevail at the finish. Wise had to settle for second, Rob Rose third, Pat Graham fourth, and TJ Stalker fifth. Another Wisconsin driver, Julie Wedelstadt, finshed sixth. Also in attendance was Canadien Jim Harris. He finished 9th.

It was good seeing Bert McDaniel making the long four hour tow back up to Mason City. Bert raced up there pretty regularly a few years ago, but the long distance and fuel prices were too much as he decided to race closer to home. Bert had been running open stock cars the past couple of seasons, but decided to revert back to running IMCA this year. Unfortunately, Bert's first visit back to Mason City was a painful one as he got tangled up in a first-lap incident with a couple other drivers. He was hit in the right rear of his car and spun around. I briefly talked to him after the races, and he said something about a rib injury. Hopefully it's just a bruise and we'll see him back next week.

Full results can be found at: http://www.geocities.com/racefan85/apr12.pdf

- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Mason City Results 4/12

Unofficially

Hobby Stocks
1. 50 Heath Tulp
2. 15 Chad Gentz
3. 51 Stac Schroeder
4. 5L Dustin Larson
5. 32 Robert Black
6. 6 Cory Ganson
7. 15J Bob Johnston
8. 06 Kyle Schmauss
9. 65 Gary Franciscus
10. 83 ??
11. 6JR Mick Meyers

Bmods
1. 88 Nate Chodur
2. 65D Dustin Brown
3. 55 Shane Swanson
4. 21H Matt Hoeft
5. 86 Dan Tenold
6. 18J Mike Jaeger
7. 30 Josh Ruby
8. 90 George Nordman
9. 64 John Warrington
10. 21R Tony Ranes
11. 69 Kyle Germundson
12. 33 Zach Patterson
13. 17 Tyler Heetland
14. 04 Tim Marzen
15. 49 Nate Whitehurst
16. 3w Shawn Wilson
17. 03 Ben Ruby (did not start)

Stock Cars
1. 59 Larry Portis
2. 44K Kevin Opheim
3. 5 Luke Sathoff
4. 37x Mike Jergens
5. 21 Travis Hoeft
6. 96 Joe Willier
7. 87 Travis Shipman
8. 43 Calvin Lange
9. 77 Kevin Hoeft
10. 7I Andrew Inman
11. 32jr Laura Currey (sp?)
12. 51 Jared Dirks
13. 7L Jeffrey Larson
14. 7III Ryan Hiscocks
15. 81x Randy Killen
16. 26B Brandon Schaer
17. 54 Rick Mees
18. 37 Merlyn Heglund
19. 81 Bert McDaniel

Modifieds
1. 10 Jeremy Mills
2. 68 JJ Wise
3. 123 Rob Rose
4. 1K Pat Graham
5. 1 TJ Stalker
6. 1M Julie Wedelstadt
7. 58 Curt Badker
8. 7s Todd Stinehart
9. 17 Jim Harris
10. 11 Alex Hanson
11. 20 Terrance Prochaska
12. 23w Robert Whalen
13. X Mike Wedelstadt
14. 47 Christian Wagler
15. 555 Ryan Ruter
16. 25$ Shane Monson
17. 111 Ty Mennenga
18. 58x Marcus Yarie
19. 45 Levi Nielson
20. 97 Rich Lewerke - DNS

These are ALL UNOFFICIAL. Especially stock cars as I lost track of when 51 Dirks left the track.

Blog from Saturday and Sunday's nights races will be written Monday.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Record Car Count to Open Marshalltown's Regular Season

Another chilly day was on the agenda for Friday, April 10th as the regular season kicked off at the Marshalltown Speedway. In fact it seemed to be a little colder then last week, mainly due to the north wind. But that didn't keep the cars away from the pit area as a weekly event record 172 cars graced the quarter-mile speedplant. The night started with a tribute to a person who had recently passed away. Ten racecars waited on the front stretch until after the national anthem and then were given three laps to run as fast as they could in memory of the person.

First up on the card were the dwarf cars/mod lites. While they may be the smallest race car on the track, they still provide the fans with a lot of exciting racing action. Tonight was no different as the feature was run without a caution. In fact, track announcer Denny Grabenbour noted that their feature was run in a little under four minutes. Defending track co-champion Mike Morrill would pull out the victory over the tandem of Tim and Andy Hennigar.

IMCA sportmods were called to the track next for their main event. Kevin Sather took advantage of his pole redraw en route to the win. Sather led every lap, although he was contested a few times by Luke Wanniger. Wanniger settled for second, followed by Scott Davis, Joel Bushore, and Jake Strayer. Sather also won last week's Frostbuster feature. Strayer was the one to watch as he had to transfer out of a Bmain and started 20th. A great field of 40 sportmods were on hand.

Up next were the IMCA stock cars. Trent Murphy and Shawn Hoskins were the lucky recipients of the redraw as they started on the front row. While the high groove seemed to be the place of preference, it was Murphy who would take the lead early and never relinquish. Steve Meyer challenge Murphy several times, but just couldn't get enough power off the corners to complete the pass. Meyer would take second followed by Dustin Smith, Hoskins, and Michael Jeannette. Coincidentally, that is two fifth-place finishes at Marshalltown this year for Jeannette.

The IMCA modifieds were next on the track. They used up every bit of track that they could find in comparison to the other classes. Many cars were slicing from top to bottom or vice-versa. Joey Schaefer kept the pattern going as he would take the checkers from the pole. He held off challenges from Ryan Ruter and others by utilizing the top side of the track. Ruter was using both lanes of racing room to get to the runner up spot. Jon Snyder also used both lanes to finish third after starting 11th. Jimmy Gustin battled his way from his 17th starting spot to finish fourth and was followed across the line by Scott Simatovich.

The final event of the night was the IMCA hobby stocks. Again, the redraw proved to be important as pole-sitter Chad Koch would take home the trophy. He had to hold off challenges from Terry Shaffar and Devin Smith. Shaffar and Koch battled side by side for a few laps before Koch distanced himself on the high side of the speedway. Smith utilized the top groove to get around Shaffar on a restart, but it was too late to catch Koch at the line. Smith wound up second, Justin Lichty battled up to third, Shaffar fourth, and youngster Michael Murphy rounded out the top five.

The racing action concluded around 11pm. The speedway yielded complaints from last week's event lasting until midnight. Hopefully promoter Toby Kruse and his staff will be able to keep the show moving along and finish at a decent time week to week. Could be a little challenging though if he continues to have 170 cars in the pit area. Not a bad problem to have if you ask me.

Results can be found at:
http://www.geocities.com/racefan85/apr10.pdf.

- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Burlington Frostbuster in the Books

On Saturday April 4th, I had a few different choices as to where to travel for a race. It was either Boone, Davenport, or Burlington. I was skeptical about the weather for Boone, and didn't really want to pay the price at Davenport for only two classes. So Burlington it was.

With a very strong wind out of the east I was very happy that the track faces southwest and that the grandstands were blocked from the wind for the most part. Five classes were set to kick off the season at 34 Raceway. Twenty-three IMCA modifieds hit the track for the first feature of the night. Josh Foster took the early lead but yielded a challenge from Lonnie Heap. While several caution flags slowed the action, Scott Hogan was able to slowly move his way to the front after getting the horrible luck of the draw with a twelfth starting spot. Hogan seemed to pick off a car every lap late in the race, but didn't have enough time to catch Foster at the finish. Heap settled for third, Dusty Kraklio fourth, and Missouri driver Adam Birck rounded out the top five.

IMCA Stock Cars hit the track next for their twenty-lap feature event. John Oliver Jr looked to be on his way to the win but received a challenge from Jason Cook's machine. Oliver Jr and Cook raced side by side for a couple laps before Cook took the advantage on the bottom groove and pulled away for the checkers. Following behind them was a four-car battle for third place. Abe Huls prevailed at the end followed by Jim Redmann, Darin Thye, and Jeff Mueller.

While I'm not much of a sprint car fan, I will admit that the few 305 sprint car races I've seen have been pretty good. Many fans like to see sprint cars wreck but keeping the drivers safe. No sprint cars rolled at Burlington, but a few cars did go over the banking in turns one and two. Bobby Mincer took advantage of such a situation when pole-sitter Marty Stephenson didn't hit the proper marks and went over the banking on the initial start. Mincer would go on to lead every lap and capture the Frostbuster checkers.

Fourteen hobby stocks put on a good show for the fans. Dean Kratzer and Tanner Thomann battled side by side for the last few laps before Kratzer sped to the finish. Thomann settled for a hard-fought second, Derek St Clair third, Doug Fenton fourth, and Tony Whitte rounded out the top five.

I'll admit that I did not stay for the last feature of the night (front-wheel drives). With a three-hour trip home and threatening weather on the way, I wanted to get home before the "blizzard" made it's presence felt. Fortunately I made it home and only had to deal with rain. This morning (Sunday) I woke up to a whole different story! Lots of snow.

Here are the results from this blog: http://www.geocities.com/racefan85/apr4.pdf.

Next weekend I'm hopeful to make a couple first trips to Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois and 24 Raceway in Moberly, Missouri. Both tracks will hold USMTS events. Then on Sunday, I-35 Speedway in Mason City, Iowa will have their season opener.

- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!

Saturday, April 4, 2009

First Official Dirt Track Race in Iowa for 2009 is in the Books

The time has finally come. Dirt track racing in the state of Iowa kicked off last night at the Marshalltown Speedway as a record number of competitors literally packed into the pit area. Over 200 race teams were signed in to compete in the annual Frostbuster event, including sixty-six IMCA modifieds. The action was fast and furious in the heat races as the track was in superb shape, allowing drivers to run multiple racing grooves on the quarter-mile speedplant. This was evident as southeast Iowa stock car hotshoe Jeff Mueller started last (9th) in his heat and wound up second, only to find out later he would be disqualified in tech.

The first feature of the night would be the dwarf cars, or as speedway announcer Denny Grabenbauer also said "Mod-Lites". This year the "small" cars are able to have the new body styles that Mod-Lites allow in their rules package. Basically it makes the cars look more like race cars rather then the older style "coupe" cars. Seventeen cars were on hand and last year's co-point champion Mike Morrill would end up in victory lane. Andy Hennigar led several laps, but would wind up being the runner-up. Early race leader Tim Hennigar spun by himself, but rebounded nicely as he ended up third followed by Ed Zehm.

IMCA hobby stocks hit the track next with Terry Shaffar and Devin Smith sitting on the front row. They would finish just opposite of their starting positions as Devin Smith took the checkers and Shaffar took second. Smith also won last year's Frostbuster hobby stock feature. Todd Reitzler came home third after starting 11th, Brandon Pruitt fourth, and traveler Adam Armstrong rounded out the top five. Armstrong is from the Beatrice, Nebraska area.

The next feature to roll out on the track would be the IMCA Sportmods. Ankeny's Kevin Sather and Madrid's Scott Davis sat on the front row to pace the field of twenty-three cars to the green flag. Sather jumped out front early and was never challenged very seriously en route to the victory. Last year's IMCA Sportmod National Champion Luke Wanniger made his way from his 7th starting spot to capture second while northern Iowa driver Nate Chodur finished a solid third place finish. Kyle Brown and Davis rounded out the top five.

The IMCA Stock Cars, tabbed the "Class Too Tough To Tame", definitely lived up to that hype. Dustin Smith would make the winning pass about midway through the race and was able to hold off strong charges from Damon Murty and Ryan Gustin. Both Gustin and Murty were running a groove higher then where the rubber was laid down up on the cushion and were able to make up ground every lap. While Gustin did get to the back bumper of Smith, he was unable to capitalize. He tried a slidejob late in the race, but that ended up costing him the second spot as Murty would slip past. Dusty Vis and Michael Jannette rounded out the top five.

The final event of the night was the IMCA Modifieds. Jon Snyder and Chris Abelson found themselves on the front row. Abelson led for several laps before getting too high in turn two and dipping off the backstretch before regaining control and losing several positions. Jordan Grabouski took the top spot away with Troy Cordes following closely behind. It appeared to be a two-horse race until Jay Noteboom found himself in third place. While the gap seemed to be too much to overcome, the leaders caught lapped traffic. Noteboom was gaining every lap and eventually caught up to the top two with only a few laps to go. Troy Cordes dove to the inside coming out of turn four to the checkers, but Grabouski had just enough momentum from the top side to take home the checkers by the slimmest of margins. Noteboom took third while Jimmy Gustin and Ruter rounded out the top five. Gustin and Ruter were nearly half a lap behind the front three. Nate Caruth appeared to be the hard charger, starting 14th and finishing sixth.

While the program did last a bit longer then I had hoped, the racing action kept me entertained throughout the night. Toby Kruse and his crew did a great job getting the track in great shape and it held up very nicely throughout the evening. The new bleachers on the west side of the grandstand were completed and looked to be a vast improvement. Surprised they didn't go higher to accommodate the bigger crowds.

Full results from this race are on my website: http://www.geocities.com/racefan85/apr3.pdf.

- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive