The first night of the 25th Annual Musco Lighting Fall Challenge is in the books. The curtain closer at the Southern Iowa Speedway saw more then 160 race teams pack the infield as the last weekend of racing in the state of Iowa draws a closure to the season.
A different format was used on Friday night as the feature events in all four USRA-sanctioned classes only started eighteen cars. Drivers were given the option to keep their finishing position if they finished in the top eight, or they could elect to draw an envelope that had money inside. From my understanding three drivers opted for the money rather then their starting position, so we shall see on Saturday how that shakes out.
The first feature of the night was the USRA b-mods. Right around fifty cars had checked into the pits with only the top two from the heats transferring on to the feature. Then another four cars from each of two b-mains advanced setting up the eighteen-car feature. Pole-sitter Cayden Carter wasted no time in taking a commanding lead. An early caution on the second circuit slowed the action, but from there the race was clean. Tracy Johnson made the pull from South Dakota and was on the move in the early part of the race as he advanced to fourth after passing Eric Flander. But Johnson would fade as the race went on while Cayden Carter opened up a half-lap lead on the pack. Carter would take the easy win ahead of Jared Timmerman, Bryon Weyer, Carter VanDenBerg, and Jason Mallicoat.
Next up would be the USRA stock cars. Forty cars were on hand but again the starting field would only be eighteen. Outside front row starter Steve Jackson grabbed the early lead with Shane Weller and Lance Deal following behind. Deal looked to the inside of Weller to make the pass for second while Matt Jones used the same low side to pass Mike VanGenderen for fourth. Jones continued his march towards the front as he passed Weller and Deal to find himself in the runner up position. A caution would come out and bunch the field back up. Nathan Wood used the inside lane to make his way up to fourth. Jones would use the bottom side to make the pass on Jackson for the lead, but Jackson was able to take it back a few laps later. Jackson would bobble exiting turn two to allow both Jones and Weller to scoot by below. Weller was able to pass Jones in turn four to take over the race lead with three laps to go as he picked up the win. Jackson rebounded for second, Nathan Wood was third, Matt Jones fourth, and Shay Curtin rounded out the top five. It is my understanding that Steve Jackson was one of the drivers electing to take the money instead of his position, so therefore he will have to re-qualify on Saturday in order to make the feature.
Fifty USRA hobby stocks filled the pit area for the last weekend of racing in Iowa. Eighteen drivers made the call for their feature with Dan Hovden getting the early advantage. A lap two caution saw Adam Cline spin to a stop in turn three. Following the restart Austin Wolfgram used the top side to pass Donoven Nunnikhoven for second. Behind them the field raced two and three-wide. Another caution came out when Dustin Griffiths and John Watson tangled and made heavy contact with the inside guard rail in front of the flagstand. For Griffiths it was even more bad luck as he spun in his heat race and wound up rolling one time on the front stretch. Bill Bonnett, driving the #7B car normally driven by Eric Stanton, got a great restart and advanced four spots to climb to second. Meanwhile Adam Cline was on a tear behind him. Cline was involved in the first yellow flag and restarted eighth on the second restart, but he quickly jumped into the third position. Up front Bonnett made the bottom side work in his favor as he took over the race lead from Wolfgram prior to another yellow flag being displayed. As the field took the white flag Wolfgram suffered what was believed to be a right front flat tire and ended his good run. The field came around for the checkered flag with Bill Bonnett taking the win. He was followed by Adam Cline, Danny Sacquitne, Donoven Nunnikhoven, and Steve Larson.
The final event of the night belonged to the USRA modifieds. Twenty-six cars were narrowed down to eighteen once again, and pole sitter Steven Blattler shot out to the early lead. Colt Mather was on the move early as he used the outside groove to power by Minnesota hotshoe Bob Timm and local driver Ron VerBeek for third and second, respectively. Mather then set his sights on Blattler for the lead, but quickly put him in his rear view mirror as well. Mark Elliott ducked inside of VerBeek to take the fourth position away while Zack VanderBeek followed Elliott to fifth. VanderBeek used the same line to get by Elliott for fourth when the caution flag was thrown with just four laps remaining. Lining up fourth on the restart, VanderBeek managed to sneak under Timm for third before also making the pass on Blattler for second. By that time the white flag was being displayed to the field and Colt Mather had opened up a ten car length advantage to take home the win. VanderBeek finished second, Blattler third, Bob Timm fourth, and Mark Elliott rounded out the top five.
A great crowd was on hand to witness some great racing action, especially in the stock car and hobby stock divisions. Those two features were well worth the price of admission in my opinion! Only the top eight cars in each class are locked in to Saturday night's feature, so qualifying should be exciting come Saturday. Action starts an hour earlier with things getting underway at 6pm. It was not known if hot laps would be held or if they would just go into the heat races right away, so be sure you are there before six o'clock to get a good seat!
For a full rundown of cars in attendance, I noticed results were posted on the USMTS website. I'll be heading back to Oskaloosa to take in some more "Monster" half-mile action!
No comments:
Post a Comment