I was hoping to have one more racing recap blog to write about at this time, but Mother Nature decided my race season was over when she forced the cancellation of the annual Thanksgiving race in Springfield, Missouri on Saturday. While I may not be terribly upset of the cancellation, it would have provided one more day/night of racing adrenaline, fumes, and excitement at the dirt track before the gloomy weather arrives for winter.
That does, however, give me an opportunity to provide a wrap-up of my 2011 season. I see Jeff Broeg already beat me to it at the "Backstretch", but here are my final stats.
I attended 73 races this year, at 25 different tracks, in 6 different states. Those states included Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Nevada. Among the 25 different tracks, I ventured to four new tracks (Grain Valley MO, Columbus Junction IA, Worthington MN, and The Dirt Track at Las Vegas NV). Those four brings my career total up to an even 100 different tracks in which I've watched races!
My season started back on March 12 with a visit to the Humboldt Speedway for USMTS action and concluded November 12 with the Duel in the Desert event out in Las Vegas. Along the way I took in 13 USMTS shows, 3 Deery Brothers Summer Series events, 5 Hawkeye Dirt Tour modified shows, and 31 nights of weekly competition. I managed to do something this year that I have not done in several years, and that is to attend every weekly show at one track. I witnessed every event held this year at the Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City, IA.
The 73 events is my lowest total since 2007.
At the Duel in the Desert race in Las Vegas, I was asked by Brett Root of IMCA if I would be willing to help post Facebook updates for the IMCA page. I told him I would be glad to, but when I arrived at the track that Thursday he informed me of a different plan. Rather then use Facebook, it had been arranged that Modfury.com chat updates would be the alternate plan. So along with Virginia Root, I helped provide updates to those unable to attend the show some of the action that was on the track. On Friday and Saturday audio and video was provided at the same website, along with the live chat updates. I'll be the first to admit that it was frustrating at times trying to keep up with both the action on the track as well as the comments and questions on the chat, but in retrospect I must say it was a lot of fun too! I have a feeling that kinda of media coverage (Modfury.com among others) will pop up a little bit more in 2012!
While its only late November and I have since stuffed myself full of Thanksgiving dinner, I have come up with a few ideas for my plans for next year. While they may or may not become reality, I'd like to travel north and northwest a little bit to witness some Wissota racing. After trying to compile racing stats for the top five drivers in different sanction body national points, I've decided that I want to see the drivers that I've been looking up.
If the above plan doesn't happen, a friend of mine told me he wants to attend every track in the state of Iowa. I told him that might be a challenge considering how far away some Friday night tracks are and the time I get off work, but that might be something to set as a goal.
Only time will tell what 2012 will have in store for us as race fans. Hopefully you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. And Happy Holidays to you and yours as Christmas and New Year's quickly approach.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Viva Las Vegas!!
Thank you Mike VanGenderen. Why do I start off with that, you may ask. I start off with that thank you because Mike VanGenderen invited me go to to Las Vegas for the IMCA Duel in the Desert. Mike was given the opportunity to take his car out when a spot became available in the Bob Moore hauler. Side note - thank you to Bob and Denny Moore as well! It was nice meeting you both.
Mike had three crew members on board along with me, and there were some others that were in the hauler prior to us meeting up with them. We arrived in Las Vegas early Sunday afternoon and spent the first part of the week exploring Las Vegas and The Strip. Mike, Jimmy, Mike, CJ, and I walked up and down the strip Sunday and Monday before getting a rental vehicle on Tuesday. Tuesday and Wednesday we explored more of the town before heading to the track for practice.
Upon arrival at the track cars were already lined up for pre-tech. We unloaded both modifieds and the crew went to work on making sure everything was in tact. Cars were able to take as many practice sessions as they wanted Wednesday.
Thursday rolled around and the atmosphere got much more serious. Roughly 240 modifieds were on hand to take their best shot at taking the opening night checkers. Twenty heat races and ten B-mains were held, and qualifying drivers advanced into one of two feature events for the night.
The first A-main saw Darin Duffy take the early lead from the pole position. Duffy opened up a straight away lead and appeared to be on his way to the dominating victory, but his car slowed entering turn one on lap ten to end his night. From there Dylan Smith and Terry Phillips engaged in a heated battle for the top spot. Smith was able to fend off Phillips to record the win while Justin Yeager and Jacob Murray also advanced into Saturday's main event.
The second A-main again saw the pole sitter, Dominic Ursetta, jet out to a commanding lead. While the rest of the field duked it out, Ursetta blew away the competition on his way to the win. John Hansen, Randy Hall, and Bobby Hogge also advanced to Saturday's big show.
Friday night saw the same format used for the IMCA modifieds, while the IMCA sportmods were added to the card. Both Northern and Southern sportmods were allowed to race at this unique event. Sixteen sportmods showed up and Matt Mueller took home the win on Friday night. Jesse Sobbing had taken control of the race at the halfway point after starting tenth, but a flat left rear tire changed the outcome of the race. Mueller took the win ahead of Shane Helton, Jason Mallicoat, Matt Ruf, and Wayne Dotson.
In the first modified feature Justin O'Brien marched to the front of the field early on with Matt Brack giving chase. O'Brien was able to keep all challengers behind him as he took home the victory. Matt Brack finished second, Justin Radcliff was third, and Kevin Stoa rounded out the qualifiers.
Mike Jergens took the early lead in the second feature after starting on the pole. His time up front soon ended when he suffered a flat tire. That handed the race lead over to Ryan McDaniel. During a caution flag on lap seven, McDaniel would also suffer a flat tire and handed the reigns over to Ricky Alvarado. Several guys would experience flat tires from the rough terrain, but Ricky Alvarado managed his tires well enough to take the win. Jason Pike finished second, Jeff Taylor was third, and Will Brack rounded out the night's qualifiers.
Saturday finally arrived and people were eager to see what the outcome would be later on that night. The format to get the remainder of the field were be twelve last chance races, with the winner only moving on to the show. That meant a lot of high caliber race teams would be watching from the sidelines.
Before the main event, a few other races would be held. The first feature to hit the track was the Wild West Modified Tour North/South shootout. Cory Sample took the checkers in that event followed by Ryan Cottrell.
The Young Gun Shootout would follow. This race was for those drivers were are younger then 18. Fifteen drivers participated and Riley Emmel from Canada emerged victorious ahead of Riley Simmons.
A Senior Shootout was then held for the older generation of drivers. Robert Heffer took the checkered flag first in that event.
The finale for the IMCA sportmods were next to hit the track. Again sixteen cars made the call with Matt Mueller taking the lead after starting on the pole. Two early cautions kept the excitement level down, but it soon picked up around the halfway point when Jesse Sobbing drove to the outside and passed Mueller for the lead. From that point on Sobbing pulled away and collected his 55th feature win of the season. Mueller, Friday night's winner, finished second ahead of Kenneth Graves, Jason Mallicoat, and Josh Modde. Sobbing collected $777 for his efforts.
The stage was now set for the twenty-eight car field of IMCA modifieds. Outside front row starter Ricky Alvarado took the lead at the start with Dylan Smith and Dominic Ursetta following in his tire tracks. Caution flags on lap two and five kept the pace down, but action picked up on the restart. Ursetta worked under Smith to wrestle the second position away while deeper in the field Darin Duffy was on the prowl. After starting twenty-third, Duffy found himself up to eleventh at the completion of lap thirteen. Meanwhile up front Terry Phillips found another groove above where everybody else was running and began to work his way forward. Phillips passed Smith and Ursetta before setting his sights on the leader Alvarado.
Just passed the halfway point a caution flag waved. Upon the restart Phillips used his outside line to pass Alvarado for the lead while Ursetta received heavy pressure from Matt Brack for the third spot. Ursetta would fall back to fourth before being passed on the outside by Jeff Taylor. Alvarado would push up in turn four and tag the concrete wall, ending his hopes of a strong run.
With eleven laps remaining, the front of the field consisted of Phillips, Brack, Ursetta, Taylor, and Smith. Ursetta ducked to the inside of Brack to take over the second position. Brack would lose another spot to Taylor as the Arkansas driver advanced into the third spot. A bit further back in the field Duffy continued his impressive run as he worked his way into the sixth spot with eight laps remaining. Phillips and Ursetta raced door to door the last couple of laps with Ursetta edging out front in turn three. Phillips used the momentum off the top side to win the drag race to the line and pocked his second Duel in the Desert title in as many years. Ursetta finished a close second, Dylan Smith was third, Jeff Taylor fourth, and Darin Duffy completed the top five.
All in all it was a very enjoyable time out in Las Vegas. While I'm not accustomed to the casinos and big city life, I must say I enjoyed walking on The Strip and the other activities in which we participated. Once again, I must thank Mike VanGenderen for inviting me!
There is another person, or group of people, I must thank as well. That would be Brett Root and the folks at IMCA. Brett asked me if I would help out by doing facebook updates for IMCA. I agreed and arrangements were made accordingly. Once Thursday rolled around, however, plans had changed. It was decided that facebook updates would not be used as it would "blow up" people's pages. Instead of facebook, Modfury.com held a live chat update throughout the night and the entire weekend. I was asked to help out with that among a few other people. While it prevented me from watching some of the racing action, it was a lot of fun being able to inform those unable to attend. It also opened my eyes to everything that goes on behind the scenes in the "control tower" during a race as well as all the preparation that goes on in organizing an event of this size. Once again, thank you Brett Root and all the IMCA staff that made me feel welcome up in the tower!!
I arrived home at 8:30AM Monday morning. We opted to drive home following the races Saturday night and decided to drive through the "short route" into Wyoming. Gusty winds blowing snow off the mountains along with icy road conditions slowed our trip, but we made it home in good shape.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
Mike had three crew members on board along with me, and there were some others that were in the hauler prior to us meeting up with them. We arrived in Las Vegas early Sunday afternoon and spent the first part of the week exploring Las Vegas and The Strip. Mike, Jimmy, Mike, CJ, and I walked up and down the strip Sunday and Monday before getting a rental vehicle on Tuesday. Tuesday and Wednesday we explored more of the town before heading to the track for practice.
Upon arrival at the track cars were already lined up for pre-tech. We unloaded both modifieds and the crew went to work on making sure everything was in tact. Cars were able to take as many practice sessions as they wanted Wednesday.
Thursday rolled around and the atmosphere got much more serious. Roughly 240 modifieds were on hand to take their best shot at taking the opening night checkers. Twenty heat races and ten B-mains were held, and qualifying drivers advanced into one of two feature events for the night.
The first A-main saw Darin Duffy take the early lead from the pole position. Duffy opened up a straight away lead and appeared to be on his way to the dominating victory, but his car slowed entering turn one on lap ten to end his night. From there Dylan Smith and Terry Phillips engaged in a heated battle for the top spot. Smith was able to fend off Phillips to record the win while Justin Yeager and Jacob Murray also advanced into Saturday's main event.
The second A-main again saw the pole sitter, Dominic Ursetta, jet out to a commanding lead. While the rest of the field duked it out, Ursetta blew away the competition on his way to the win. John Hansen, Randy Hall, and Bobby Hogge also advanced to Saturday's big show.
Friday night saw the same format used for the IMCA modifieds, while the IMCA sportmods were added to the card. Both Northern and Southern sportmods were allowed to race at this unique event. Sixteen sportmods showed up and Matt Mueller took home the win on Friday night. Jesse Sobbing had taken control of the race at the halfway point after starting tenth, but a flat left rear tire changed the outcome of the race. Mueller took the win ahead of Shane Helton, Jason Mallicoat, Matt Ruf, and Wayne Dotson.
In the first modified feature Justin O'Brien marched to the front of the field early on with Matt Brack giving chase. O'Brien was able to keep all challengers behind him as he took home the victory. Matt Brack finished second, Justin Radcliff was third, and Kevin Stoa rounded out the qualifiers.
Mike Jergens took the early lead in the second feature after starting on the pole. His time up front soon ended when he suffered a flat tire. That handed the race lead over to Ryan McDaniel. During a caution flag on lap seven, McDaniel would also suffer a flat tire and handed the reigns over to Ricky Alvarado. Several guys would experience flat tires from the rough terrain, but Ricky Alvarado managed his tires well enough to take the win. Jason Pike finished second, Jeff Taylor was third, and Will Brack rounded out the night's qualifiers.
Saturday finally arrived and people were eager to see what the outcome would be later on that night. The format to get the remainder of the field were be twelve last chance races, with the winner only moving on to the show. That meant a lot of high caliber race teams would be watching from the sidelines.
Before the main event, a few other races would be held. The first feature to hit the track was the Wild West Modified Tour North/South shootout. Cory Sample took the checkers in that event followed by Ryan Cottrell.
The Young Gun Shootout would follow. This race was for those drivers were are younger then 18. Fifteen drivers participated and Riley Emmel from Canada emerged victorious ahead of Riley Simmons.
A Senior Shootout was then held for the older generation of drivers. Robert Heffer took the checkered flag first in that event.
The finale for the IMCA sportmods were next to hit the track. Again sixteen cars made the call with Matt Mueller taking the lead after starting on the pole. Two early cautions kept the excitement level down, but it soon picked up around the halfway point when Jesse Sobbing drove to the outside and passed Mueller for the lead. From that point on Sobbing pulled away and collected his 55th feature win of the season. Mueller, Friday night's winner, finished second ahead of Kenneth Graves, Jason Mallicoat, and Josh Modde. Sobbing collected $777 for his efforts.
The stage was now set for the twenty-eight car field of IMCA modifieds. Outside front row starter Ricky Alvarado took the lead at the start with Dylan Smith and Dominic Ursetta following in his tire tracks. Caution flags on lap two and five kept the pace down, but action picked up on the restart. Ursetta worked under Smith to wrestle the second position away while deeper in the field Darin Duffy was on the prowl. After starting twenty-third, Duffy found himself up to eleventh at the completion of lap thirteen. Meanwhile up front Terry Phillips found another groove above where everybody else was running and began to work his way forward. Phillips passed Smith and Ursetta before setting his sights on the leader Alvarado.
Just passed the halfway point a caution flag waved. Upon the restart Phillips used his outside line to pass Alvarado for the lead while Ursetta received heavy pressure from Matt Brack for the third spot. Ursetta would fall back to fourth before being passed on the outside by Jeff Taylor. Alvarado would push up in turn four and tag the concrete wall, ending his hopes of a strong run.
With eleven laps remaining, the front of the field consisted of Phillips, Brack, Ursetta, Taylor, and Smith. Ursetta ducked to the inside of Brack to take over the second position. Brack would lose another spot to Taylor as the Arkansas driver advanced into the third spot. A bit further back in the field Duffy continued his impressive run as he worked his way into the sixth spot with eight laps remaining. Phillips and Ursetta raced door to door the last couple of laps with Ursetta edging out front in turn three. Phillips used the momentum off the top side to win the drag race to the line and pocked his second Duel in the Desert title in as many years. Ursetta finished a close second, Dylan Smith was third, Jeff Taylor fourth, and Darin Duffy completed the top five.
All in all it was a very enjoyable time out in Las Vegas. While I'm not accustomed to the casinos and big city life, I must say I enjoyed walking on The Strip and the other activities in which we participated. Once again, I must thank Mike VanGenderen for inviting me!
There is another person, or group of people, I must thank as well. That would be Brett Root and the folks at IMCA. Brett asked me if I would help out by doing facebook updates for IMCA. I agreed and arrangements were made accordingly. Once Thursday rolled around, however, plans had changed. It was decided that facebook updates would not be used as it would "blow up" people's pages. Instead of facebook, Modfury.com held a live chat update throughout the night and the entire weekend. I was asked to help out with that among a few other people. While it prevented me from watching some of the racing action, it was a lot of fun being able to inform those unable to attend. It also opened my eyes to everything that goes on behind the scenes in the "control tower" during a race as well as all the preparation that goes on in organizing an event of this size. Once again, thank you Brett Root and all the IMCA staff that made me feel welcome up in the tower!!
I arrived home at 8:30AM Monday morning. We opted to drive home following the races Saturday night and decided to drive through the "short route" into Wyoming. Gusty winds blowing snow off the mountains along with icy road conditions slowed our trip, but we made it home in good shape.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Barb Nunnenkamp Memorial at Junction Motor Speedway
After attending the USMTS King of America Modified Nationals in Humboldt (KS) on Friday and Saturday, my friend Brett and I took a little detour on our way back home. Sunday we ventured to the Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction (NE) for the Barb Nunnenkamp Memorial race. I've tried to attend the early Spring USMTS shows that JMS tries to put on, but sometimes weather doesn't allow for it. That was the case this season, although the events were rescheduled to early June. I was unable to make it and was disappointed, so as I looked at my scheduled I decided I was going to make it out there yet this year.
Once we arrived we picked out our seats, but we didn't stay there long. I found a buddy of mine, Ed Reichert from Wisconsin, sitting a few rows back and opted to go sit with him. We had seen Ed down at Humboldt, but was unable to chat with him. It was good catching up with him and seeing what other races he had left on his calendar. Ed writes a column for several media outlets, one of which is Hawkeye Racing News.
As the racing action got going, it was surprising that not a lot of Iowa guys had made the trip as in years past. Heat races and b-mains (if necessary) would be run to narrow the starting fields down, and after a short break it was time for feature action.
Hobby stocks would be up first. Kyle Bond would set the early pace as he got the jump, but the caution flag would negate the lap being scored. Three cars got tangled up in turn three, including Jason Wilkinson who finished third in IMCA national points this season. When action resumed Lonnie Greuter held down the top spot with Bond giving chase. After transferring out of a B-main, Jeremy Auten was slowly marching forward as he advanced to seventh in just two laps. Anthony Martin used the middle groove to power by Mallet Meyer and Keith Dragoo to move into the third position. Following a debris caution, race leader Greuter would suffer a flat tire and exit the speedway. That handed the reigns over to Kyle Bond, and from that point on he remained out front as he picked up the feature win. He was followed across the line by Brandon Johnsen, Jeremy Auten, R J Macku, and Anthony Martin. Jason Wilkinson rebounded from the early caution to finish sixth.
Up next would be the stock cars. Pole sitter Kyle Dumpert grabbed the early race lead with outside front row mate Jeff Whiting following closely behind. Herb Slough would use the bottom groove to slip under Whiting for second before Andy Wilkinson passed both cars to take over the runner up spot. Five caution flags would plague the race, but Cory Dumpert was able to dissect the field. After starting twelfth, Cory Dumpert found his way to fourth and eventually third after passing Whiting. He was on the rear bumper of Wilkinson as they both chased Kyle Dumpert, but were unable to make a move as Kyle Dumpert took the flag to flag victory. Andy Wilkinson finished second, Cory Dumpert was third, Jeff Whiting fourth, and Justin Bertschinger rounded out the top five.
B-mods would be next up for their feature event. I was looking forward to seeing Tyler Frye and Jesse Sobbing race against each other as they challenged for the IMCA northern sportmod national championship this season. Unfortunately track conditions didn't allow for a whole lot of racing. Pole sitter Max Harder, who had a solid season of his own, took control at the point with Jeremy Leiting just behind. Harder would open up a straight away advantage at the halfway point as he picked up the dominating win. Tony Rost would finish second, Jeremy Leiting was third, Tyler Frye finished fourth, and South Dakota driver Kyle Nordquist rounded out the top five. Sobbing finished sixth after starting twelfth. His win on Saturday was his amazing 54th victory!
The four-cylinder class would come out next. I didn't keep notes on this race as I needed to use the facilities. Michael Boehle would take the win ahead of Kevin Zeitner, who the announcer said is the next up and coming member of the family. Shannon Pospisil finished third, Cameron Meyer fourth, and Scott Spellmeyer rounded out the top five. Forty-one cars had checked in for action on Sunday in this division!
Modifieds would be up next and outside front row starter Tyler Iverson got the quick jump on the field to snare the top spot. While the track appeared to be locked down, Kyle Berck was able to find some racing room as he advanced from tenth to fifth with seven laps remaining. He wasn't done, however, as he passed Shane Hiatt for fourth. That was the brunt of the passing that I saw, though, as Iverson picked up the impressive win. Scott Smith finished second, Jared Hoefelman was third, Kyle Berck fourth, and Dylan Smith fifth.
The finale of the evening was the late model feature. Outside front row starter Les Siebert took the point early on with Josh Krug settling in behind him in second. Following an early restart, Marc Peters dove to the inside of Tad Pospisil for the fourth position. Pospisil would lose another spot as Matt Buller snuck by as well. Jacob Brown used the inside groove to pass Krug for second with eight laps remaining. A late caution bunched the field back up, but it wouldn't make a difference as Les Siebert stayed out front and picked up the win. Jacob Brown was second, Matt Buller third, Josh Krug was fourth, and Marc Peters rounded out the top five.
That concluded the racing action at the Junction Motor Speedway for the 2011 race season, and also put an end to my three-race weekend. I'd like to thank announcer Wayne Dake for the shoutout. I simply went and asked him where the "junior flagman" was that normally sits above the walkway to the grandstands, and he proceeded to inform me that the young man now does some announcing duties for the track. He also writes the highlights for the website as well as runs a video camera for promoter Delmar Friesen. I enjoyed a nice conversation with the young man and wish him the best of luck in the future.
Despite the lengthy trip home and late hour climbing into bed, I'm pretty sure my friend had just as much fun as I did. In fact, he may have had more as he had never been to either track. He's already hoping he can make it to both next year!
While sitting in the grandstands about midway through the evening, I received a text message on my phone. It was a friend of mine, a stock car driver. To make a long story short, he invited me to ride with him out to Las Vegas for the Duel in the Desert race. He said he was driving someone else's toter home out while hauling two cars and said I could join him. Needless to say I was excited as I have heard many great things about that facility and event. I'm currently trying to nail things down in order to make it happen.
Racing action in the upper Midwest may have come to a close, but there are still a few events just south of here left on the calendar. This upcoming weekend, the ASCS sprint cars will be in Little Rock, Arkansas for a three-day affair (Thur-Sat). If that's too far for ya to drive, Springfield (MO) has a special on Saturday that includes a late model challenge race between the ULMA and Show-Me series along with modifieds, b-modifieds, and a few other classes. I had planned on going to Springfield, but my plans will likely change with the invitation mentioned above.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
Once we arrived we picked out our seats, but we didn't stay there long. I found a buddy of mine, Ed Reichert from Wisconsin, sitting a few rows back and opted to go sit with him. We had seen Ed down at Humboldt, but was unable to chat with him. It was good catching up with him and seeing what other races he had left on his calendar. Ed writes a column for several media outlets, one of which is Hawkeye Racing News.
As the racing action got going, it was surprising that not a lot of Iowa guys had made the trip as in years past. Heat races and b-mains (if necessary) would be run to narrow the starting fields down, and after a short break it was time for feature action.
Hobby stocks would be up first. Kyle Bond would set the early pace as he got the jump, but the caution flag would negate the lap being scored. Three cars got tangled up in turn three, including Jason Wilkinson who finished third in IMCA national points this season. When action resumed Lonnie Greuter held down the top spot with Bond giving chase. After transferring out of a B-main, Jeremy Auten was slowly marching forward as he advanced to seventh in just two laps. Anthony Martin used the middle groove to power by Mallet Meyer and Keith Dragoo to move into the third position. Following a debris caution, race leader Greuter would suffer a flat tire and exit the speedway. That handed the reigns over to Kyle Bond, and from that point on he remained out front as he picked up the feature win. He was followed across the line by Brandon Johnsen, Jeremy Auten, R J Macku, and Anthony Martin. Jason Wilkinson rebounded from the early caution to finish sixth.
Up next would be the stock cars. Pole sitter Kyle Dumpert grabbed the early race lead with outside front row mate Jeff Whiting following closely behind. Herb Slough would use the bottom groove to slip under Whiting for second before Andy Wilkinson passed both cars to take over the runner up spot. Five caution flags would plague the race, but Cory Dumpert was able to dissect the field. After starting twelfth, Cory Dumpert found his way to fourth and eventually third after passing Whiting. He was on the rear bumper of Wilkinson as they both chased Kyle Dumpert, but were unable to make a move as Kyle Dumpert took the flag to flag victory. Andy Wilkinson finished second, Cory Dumpert was third, Jeff Whiting fourth, and Justin Bertschinger rounded out the top five.
B-mods would be next up for their feature event. I was looking forward to seeing Tyler Frye and Jesse Sobbing race against each other as they challenged for the IMCA northern sportmod national championship this season. Unfortunately track conditions didn't allow for a whole lot of racing. Pole sitter Max Harder, who had a solid season of his own, took control at the point with Jeremy Leiting just behind. Harder would open up a straight away advantage at the halfway point as he picked up the dominating win. Tony Rost would finish second, Jeremy Leiting was third, Tyler Frye finished fourth, and South Dakota driver Kyle Nordquist rounded out the top five. Sobbing finished sixth after starting twelfth. His win on Saturday was his amazing 54th victory!
The four-cylinder class would come out next. I didn't keep notes on this race as I needed to use the facilities. Michael Boehle would take the win ahead of Kevin Zeitner, who the announcer said is the next up and coming member of the family. Shannon Pospisil finished third, Cameron Meyer fourth, and Scott Spellmeyer rounded out the top five. Forty-one cars had checked in for action on Sunday in this division!
Modifieds would be up next and outside front row starter Tyler Iverson got the quick jump on the field to snare the top spot. While the track appeared to be locked down, Kyle Berck was able to find some racing room as he advanced from tenth to fifth with seven laps remaining. He wasn't done, however, as he passed Shane Hiatt for fourth. That was the brunt of the passing that I saw, though, as Iverson picked up the impressive win. Scott Smith finished second, Jared Hoefelman was third, Kyle Berck fourth, and Dylan Smith fifth.
The finale of the evening was the late model feature. Outside front row starter Les Siebert took the point early on with Josh Krug settling in behind him in second. Following an early restart, Marc Peters dove to the inside of Tad Pospisil for the fourth position. Pospisil would lose another spot as Matt Buller snuck by as well. Jacob Brown used the inside groove to pass Krug for second with eight laps remaining. A late caution bunched the field back up, but it wouldn't make a difference as Les Siebert stayed out front and picked up the win. Jacob Brown was second, Matt Buller third, Josh Krug was fourth, and Marc Peters rounded out the top five.
That concluded the racing action at the Junction Motor Speedway for the 2011 race season, and also put an end to my three-race weekend. I'd like to thank announcer Wayne Dake for the shoutout. I simply went and asked him where the "junior flagman" was that normally sits above the walkway to the grandstands, and he proceeded to inform me that the young man now does some announcing duties for the track. He also writes the highlights for the website as well as runs a video camera for promoter Delmar Friesen. I enjoyed a nice conversation with the young man and wish him the best of luck in the future.
Despite the lengthy trip home and late hour climbing into bed, I'm pretty sure my friend had just as much fun as I did. In fact, he may have had more as he had never been to either track. He's already hoping he can make it to both next year!
While sitting in the grandstands about midway through the evening, I received a text message on my phone. It was a friend of mine, a stock car driver. To make a long story short, he invited me to ride with him out to Las Vegas for the Duel in the Desert race. He said he was driving someone else's toter home out while hauling two cars and said I could join him. Needless to say I was excited as I have heard many great things about that facility and event. I'm currently trying to nail things down in order to make it happen.
Racing action in the upper Midwest may have come to a close, but there are still a few events just south of here left on the calendar. This upcoming weekend, the ASCS sprint cars will be in Little Rock, Arkansas for a three-day affair (Thur-Sat). If that's too far for ya to drive, Springfield (MO) has a special on Saturday that includes a late model challenge race between the ULMA and Show-Me series along with modifieds, b-modifieds, and a few other classes. I had planned on going to Springfield, but my plans will likely change with the invitation mentioned above.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
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