Last night (Saturday, July 18th), I decided to head three hours southwest to take in my first ever visit at the Adams County Speedway in Corning, Iowa. I had planned to make the trip down a couple weeks ago on July 4th, but that MLRA special was postponed thanks to Mother Nature. I've heard several nice things about the track in Corning, so I had to see for myself what I've been missing.
Upon arrival, I had to take a look around and scope things out in better detail. I walked through the bathrooms, checked out concession stand offerings and prices, and just took in the whole experience. The grandstands seem to spread throughout most of the frontstretch of the half-mile track with "upper decking" for VIP people. The track does not have a wall around the corners, which later in the night would be obvious as lots of cars jumped the cushion in turn one and went sailing off the racing surface.
When racing action hit the track, it was obvious that I didn't know very many of the drivers. I had a difficult time picking up driver names from the announcers, but I'm sure that's mainly due to my hearing issues. I had failed to buy a program with driver names as I knew I could check out the track website later.
A scary moment happened in the late model heat races as Barry Sandeman rolled after going off track on the entry to turn three. It was hard to count how many times he rolled due to the dust flying, but luckily Barry would get out of the car and walk to the pit area under his own power.
The first feature to hit the track would be the pro streets. The red flag would immediately follow the green flag after several cars got together in turn two. When racing resumed it would be pole sitter Clay Mercer jumping out front. He would not stay there long, however, as Jeff Orr would snag the top spot away on lap three. After a couple more yellow flags, the restart would be changed to a single-file formation. Brad Deery started twelfth on the grid and made his way up to second, but his car broke lose on the exit of turn two and spun around. He would get the car refired and continue on, but lost a lot of ground.
Matt Hudson went to the low side of Orr for the lead, but couldn't make it stick at the finish line the first couple of tries. Hudson's persistence paid off as he took over the lead with four laps to go. Craig Garner would use the top side of the track to get by Orr for second. Garner got a run on Hudson on the final set of corners and powered his machine off the cushion down the front stretch to the checkers. Garner got alongside Hudson as Hudson appeared to inch up the track as they neared the finish line, but Garner's momentum propelled him to the victory. Hudson's car made contact with Garner's that sent Hudson spinning back down towards the inside wall. Hudson would smash into the wall and his car rolled several times. Hudson would emerge from the car upset as he quickly walked towards the officials on the frontstretch with his hands waving and yelling. The final rundown would be Craig Garner winning, Matt Hudson second, Jeff Orr third, Joe Zadina fourth, and Ron Ballinger in fifth.
Next up would be the hobby stock feature. A full field of twenty-six cars took the green flag with Jeremy Ribbey bolting to the lead early on. Fellow second row starter Rick Ritchie followed Ribbey to second and closed the gap to the leader before taking the catbird seat at the front of the field. Jeremy Auten continued tried to put pressure on Ribbey as he ducked low in turns one and two and pulled even down the backstretch, but Ribbey's car was too strong on the top side in three and four to maintain the second spot. David Weeda found himself just behind the battled for second as he follwed Ribbey's car on the top side and got by Auten for third place with six laps to go. Three cautions slowed things down late in the race, but that didn't slow down Rick Ritchie as he stayed out front and took the checkers first. David Weeda got by Jeremy Ribbey for second and third, respectively, with Kevin Yearington and Jeremy Auten rounding out the top five.
Sixteen late models made their way to the track for their feature event. Pole sitter Ryan Vicker wasted no time as he got out front to set the pace. Outside front row starter Chris Spieker would use the low side to make the pass on Vicker in turn two on lap five. Behind them Paul Glendenning rode the cushion to get by Troy McKee for third on lap ten. Spieker began to extend his lead until a caution came out on lap fourteen, bunching the field back up. Glendenning used the double file restart to get by Vicker to move into second place. Vicker would backslide even further as Leon Zeitner dashed by on the low groove with nine laps remaining before another caution came out. Zeitner took advantage of the restart as he grabbed the lead away from Spieker while further back Karl Ritterbush got by Vicker for fourth.
Spieker would not give up, though, as he closed the gap to Zeitner and ducked low to regain the lead with four laps to go. From that point on Chris Spieker would inch away from Leon Zeitner on his way to the win. Paul Glendenning finished third, Karl Ritterbush fourth, and Ryan Vicker was fifth. Zeitner started twelfth on the field, showing how well the track was prepped for tonight's action. During the post race interview, Spieker revealed that his motor was only running on seven cylinders. They noticed it towards the tail of the hobby stock feature, so he wanted to keep his momentum up and do the best he could. Turns out it was enough to take home the win.
The nightcap would be the eighteen lap modified finale. Earlier in the night, Jeremy Tibben suffered mechanical problems and would climb in Kelley Roof's car for the night. He would be the pole sitter and take command of the race at the drop of the green flag. Ryan Peckham, who started ninth, quickly maneuvered his car to third at the completion of lap four. Tibben gradually opened up his lead on the pack until a caution bunched the field back up with seven laps to go. Tibben bobbled in turn two, opening the door for Peckham and Jared Stiens to slip past.
Peckham would be the leader as the caution came out again with four laps to go. A single-file restart was used and the two-horse sprint was on as Peckham and Stiens raced wheel to wheel for the final few laps. Peckham's car worked well on the inside line while Stiens powered his machine on the cushion. On the final set of corners, Stiens drove into turn three deep and let it sail. As the two came down the frontstretch, everybody in the stands stood up to see the close finish. The two crossed the finish line literally side by side, and moments later it would be announced that Jared Stiens got the win by a mere .001 seconds!! As excited as he was, I'm sure Peckham was equally disheartened. But it was a great finish to a great race. Kirby Stiens was third, Dan Mueller fourth, and Jeremy Tibben finished fifth.
What a great way to cap the night! If it was that close on the transponder timing system, I can only imagine what the outcome would have been if scorers and officials would have had to make the call. Definitely would have been a difficult decision either way.
My first trip to Corning was a fun one. The facilities are top-notch and the racing was good all night. As I mentioned before, it was a little different not knowing as many names as I'm used to, so that kinda took away some excitement. Hopefully I'll be able to remember some names the next time I visit the Adams County Speedway.
Next week the Adams County Speedway will host an MLRA/NCRA late model special with the winner pocketing $3,000. I believe the announcers said it was an earlier start time, so be sure to check out www.acspeedway.com for more information if you plan to attend.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
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