Ok, ok... I'll admit, I've been a little lazy as of late in writing blogs from races that I've attended. I've had a few other more important things on my plate that I concentrated my attention on, but now that I've got some free time on my hands I'll attempt to get caught up.
Last Thursday I attended the opening night of the 7th Annual Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals. This event keeps getting bigger and bigger year after year. When I arrived at the ticket gate there were several lines of people waiting to buy their general admission ticket. Considering that the gates had opened a good thirty minutes before I showed up, I'd say a good crowd would be on hand.
To go along with the unsanctioned late models this year, IMCA modifieds were on hand as a support class. The invitation-only saw thirty-eight cars in attendance Thursday night while sixty-one late models were anxious to get the weekend kicked off.
Time trials were up first for the late models with two cars not taking the green flag. If memory serves me correctly, those two were Ron Boyse and Curt Schroeder. Jimmy Owens would be the only driver under the 18-second mark, giving him fast time for the night. Each of the five heat races would invert the top ten.
Heat races, a late model C-main, and B-mains for both classes would set the stage for the IMCA modified feature. The field was narrowed to twenty-four starters with Richie Gustin and Darin Duffy sitting on the front row of the twenty-lap race. Gustin would rocket to the lead and began to stretch it out almost immediately as he built up a half-straightaway lead in the first four laps. The first and only caution of the race came out on lap seven with a strange occurance. Eric Dailey came to a stop, Jeremy Mills blew up, and Michael Long came to a stop (all in turn four) in a synchronized manner.
Once those machines were assisted to the infield, the green flag came back out and once again Gustin opened up his lead. Ryan Ruter and Todd Shute were battling it out for the third spot around the halfway point before Ruter solidified himself as the stronger car. Not only did he secure the third spot, but he worked under Duffy for the runner up spot with eight laps to go. Ruter, nor anybody else for that matter, had anything for Richie Gustin on that night as Gustin picked up the dominating win. Ryan Ruter finished second, Darin Duffy was third, Todd Shute was fourth, and Mark Schulte rounded out the top five.
As the modifieds exited the track, all eyes focused to the staging area for the late models. Josh Richards and Tim McCreadie sat on the front row of the twenty-five lap feature. McCreadie would lead the first two laps before giving way to Richards on lap three. Deeper in the field Billy Moyer was slicing his way towards the front. After starting eleventh on the starting grid, Moyer passed three cars in three laps to attain the fourth position. A yellow flag on lap seven negated the third pass as he was realigned in fifth position, but on the restart he threaded the needle between Austin Hubbard and Earl Pearson Jr to grab the third spot. Ahead of him, McCreadie found the cushion to his liking as he powered his way back by Richards for the lead on lap ten. Richards slowed in turn one and gave up three spots. He would continue to struggle in that corner, so not sure if it was handling issue or something under the hood.
With McCreadie out front and Pearson Jr hanging closely in second, Moyer made his move to the outside to make the pass for second on Pearson Jr. One lap later he dove to the inside of McCreadie to assert himself atop the leaderboard. From that point on it was all Billy Moyer as he picked up the Thursday night feature win and $7,000 payday. Tim McCreadie finished second, Scott Bloomquist was third, Earl Pearson Jr fourth, and Brady Smith rounded out the top five.
Saturday
After taking Friday night off, it was back to the famed Knoxville Raceway on Saturday for the conclusion of the Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals. After hearing that Billy Moyer picked up Friday night's victory, everybody was wondering if Moyer could sweep all three shows at Knoxville this weekend. The top twenty-four cars in points were locked in to the night's 100-lap finale with the final six competitors to be determined through a course of a C-main and B-main. NASCAR star Ryan Newman failed to qualify, but was given a provisional starting spot.
Before the 100-lapper for late models, the IMCA modifieds would put on a twenty-five lap feature of their own. Rich Smith and Michael Long paced the field to the green flag with Long leading after the first lap. Todd Shute quickly worked his way from sixth to the lead when he ducked to the inside of Long on lap two to make the pass. Darin Duffy and Long battled side by side momentarily for the runner up spot before Duffy secured it. The caution came out on lap seven to shrink Shute's big lead. Unfortunately things got worse on the restart as the red flag was displayed following Jake Durbin's rollover down the backstretch and entering turn three. I didn't catch the incident until the end, but fortunately Durbin would be okay.
When racing resumed Long would jump the cushion in turn four and lose several spots, opening the door for Thursday night winner Richie Gustin to slide into the third spot. Shute again opened up a straight away advantage with ten laps to go when smoke began to pour from the leader. A caution with four laps to go for debris proved to be the dagger in the heart of the former Supernationals champion as Shute exited the track and giving up the lead. Darin Duffy would take command of the race with Gustin and Jon Snyder lined up behind him in the double-file restart formation. After running the cushion for most of the race, Gustin attempted to make his way back up there entering turn one following the restart. Unfortunately he did not have Snyder cleared and significant contact was made, sending Snyder hard into the fence to bring out the caution again.
Another caution plagued a good race, but when the final green flag came out Gustin would be the one hopping the cushion in turn four and dropping back to sixth. Wisconsin driver Brian Mullen saw the opportunity and took advantage as he slipped into the runner up position ahead of Rich Smith and Jeremy Mills. Duffy would take the win ahead of those three drivers while Gustin rebounded for a fifth place finish.
The late models were then called to the front stretch for their introductions and such. The grand finale would see arguably the two best late model drivers of all time on the front row with Scott Bloomquist on the pole and Billy Moyer to his outside. Those two drivers have accumulated almost 1300 wins between them on their careers.
Bloomquist would get the advantage on the start to take the lead, but the caution came out on lap two for a car that had spun. Another caution immediately followed the restart when Steve Francis spun around and collected Brad Neat, Jason Rauen, and Darren Miller. All were able to continue. Two more cautions would fly within the next few laps, keeping the pace at a standstill. On the ensuing restart, however, the pace would pick up as Moyer worked to the inside of Earl Pearson Jr for the second position. Darrell Lanigan swept to the inside of Pearson Jr as well to advance to the third spot, but up front Moyer made the inside work again as he passed Bloomquist for the lead on lap twelve. Lanigan also used the inside to get by Bloomquist for the runner up spot two laps later while Jimmy Mars was trying to make his way to the front. After starting 25th on the grid, Mars had sliced his way through half the field up to the twelfth spot by lap fourteen.
The yellow flag came out on lap twenty-six when Rob Moss slowed. With the field bunched back up, Bloomquist was able to get back up to third after passing Jimmy Owens and Lanigan. Josh Richards had moved himself up to the second spot at this point while Shannon Babb and Mars continued their way to the front as they sat seventh and eighth, respectively. Babb started twenty-first. Moyer built up a comfortable lead out front until the caution waved yet again on lap thirty-six when Denny Eckrich slowed. Richards and Bloomquist exchanged the runner up spot seemingly every lap with Richards securing it around the halfway point of the race. Young sensation Austin Hubbard was on the charge as he passed Mars and Owens for the fourth spot before getting around Bloomquist for third. Jimmy Mars slowed on lap 57 to bring out yet another caution. At this point Bloomquist opted to head to the pits to make some changes. The crew took a little too long as he would go a lap down and never recover.
On the restart Babb powered his machine on the top side as he moved up two spots to third. He and Richards then engaged in a battle for the second spot as they swapped positions for awhile. The caution waved once again with thirty-three laps to go when Rick Eckert slowed, which prompted Knoxville race officials to red flag the event to allow crews to refuel the cars. That was the only thing they could do as no tire changes were allowed. Three more caution periods occurred within the next four laps, but the final twenty-nine laps went by clean to the finish. Billy Moyer enjoyed a big lead as he masterfully worked his way through lapped traffic as he picked up his third win of the weekend to complete the Knoxville sweep! Josh Richards would finish second ahead of Darrell Lanigan, Steve Francis, and Will Vaught. Shannon Babb finished sixth and Jimmy Mars made a valiant comeback to finish seventh. Moyer's efforts on the weekend was worth $54,000 with $40,000 coming Saturday night.
Sunday
Sunday proved to be a near-perfect day as the sun was shining brightly and temperatures were comfortable. I decided to venture west on Highway 20 to visit the Calhoun County Fairgrounds in Rockwell City for their afternoon show. While the featured division was the Sport Compact Nationals they also ran modifieds, bmods, hobby stocks, and stock cars Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately the car count was not what I had expected, but there was some good racing that went on.
First up would be the hobby stocks. Josh Ruschmann vaulted to the lead from his outside front row start. Devin Smith would work his way to second after starting seventh while Eric Knutson charged from eighth to third. The caution came out, and on the restart Smith lost the handle and gave up the second spot to Knutson. Another caution came during the white flag to set up a green/white/checkered. That is what Knutson had hoped for, as he fought to the inside of Ruschmann and wrestled the lead away when the white flag was displayed again. Knutson went on to take the win ahead of Ruschmann, Devin Smith, and Donnie Gustaff.
Next up would be the bmod class. Only six cars were in attendance, but outside front row starter Geoff Olson didn't mind. Piloting his brother's 1T car, Olson rocketed to the lead and never looked back as he picked up the win. Doug Smith got by Steve Reetz for second around the midpoint of the race and began to reel in Olson, but Smith bobbled a bit in turn two late and settled for the runner up spot. Reetz finished third, Phil Ricke was fourth, Corey Bosma fifth, and #22T (Teneyck?) was sixth.
The modifieds were up next for their feature event. Ten cars were on hand, but Duane Peterson failed to make the call. They had a hard time getting started as three cautions waved before the completion of the first lap. When the green flag did stay out, it was pole sitter Jimmy Cole taking the lead with Jay Goosman following close behind. Goosman then worked to the inside of Cole to snag the lead away. Later in the race Jim Thies would also scoot by Cole for the second spot, but Goosman was the class of the field on that day as he picked up the win. Thies was second, Cole third, Jason Scheiders fourth, and Geoff Olson completed the top five. Olson was again driving his brother's 1T sportmod.
Four stock cars were up next and Josh Hohensee would take the lead after starting third. Fourth-starter David Smith quickly worked into the second spot before taking the lead when Hohensee spun sideways and collected Jeff Harkrider. No yellow was thrown, and Smith enjoyed a huge lead the rest of the way to the checkered flag. Brian Snell finished second, Hohensee was third, and Harkrider completed the field.
It was now time for the twenty-lap Sport Compact Nationals. All drivers got to draw their starting positions on the frontstretch in front of the crowd. Mike Nehring and Cory Flanigan would start on the front row with Flanigan taking command in the early going. Merv Chandler worked to the inside of Flanigan to take the lead away. Nehring would use the same move to get by as well, pushing Flanigan back to third. Two cautions came out back to back, with the second one involving Flanigan with a flat tire. Late in the race Nehring and Chandler made contact with each other, opening the door for Jer Pedersen to squeeze by for the lead. Jason Ewing got under Chandler for the second spot late in the race. Pederson would take the win, Ewing was second, Chandler third, Mike Nehring fourth, and Duane Ferguson rounded out the top five.
That concludes my three-race weekend report. This week I hope to get another two or three races in once again as the weather looks awesome at this point. There are plenty of options again this weekend as well, but here are the ones I'm looking at attending:
Friday/Saturday - Fall Challenge (Oskaloosa, IA) - USRA classes, $1,000 to win all classes Friday, $2,000 to win all classes Saturday
Friday/Saturday - Octoberfest (Beatrice, NE) - IMCA (stock cars, hobby stocks, sportmods, modifieds)
Friday/Saturday - Jayhawk Modified Classic (Kansas City, KS) - $5,000 to win open modifieds
Friday/Saturday - Thunder on the Hill (Mayetta, KS) - MLRA Late Models + IMCA modifieds
Saturday - Thunder in the Heartland Challenge (Donnellson, IA) - modifieds, sportmods, hobby stocks, stock cars, 4-cylinders
Saturday/Sunday - (East Moline, IL) - $5,000 to win late models plus support classes each night
I'm sure there are others going on in the upper midwest as well. Be sure to check out the calendar on www.positivelyracing.com or you can also check out my personal website http://tapfanstours.freehosting.net and click on the calendars there.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
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