A great field of cars turned out for the 23rd Annual Musco Lighting Fall Challenge at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa last night. An astounding 171 race teams packed the pits in hopes of taking home the checkered flag one last time. Competitors would have to battle cold temperatures along with other cars, but the racing action was fast and furious on the monster half-mile track. Five states were represented as drivers came from Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Illinois, and Missouri.
USRA modifieds kicked off feature races with 27 modifieds taking the green flag. Pole-sitter Josh Truman paced the field from the onset, but my eyes were glued a little further back as Ryan Gustin was quickly making strides towards the front. Gustin, who started ninth and won his heat race rather handily, got the unlucky draw of starting twelfth and advanced up to the fifth spot at the completion of lap two. Lap two produced one of the turning points of the race as leader Josh Truman apparently slid up and made contact with the wall in turn one, and over the car went into a series of rolls. I didn't catch how it started, but Josh was able to walk away from the incident.
That handed the reigns over to Corey Dripps with Brad Pinkerton and Bruce Hanford lined up behind him on the restart. Gustin would use the restart to make it up to third as the leaders engaged in heavy lapped traffic. Pinkerton and Gustin were able to close the gap to Dripps at that time before a caution waved on lap 17. Gustin would suffer a flat right rear tire at that point and decide to retire his hotrod for the evening. Pinkerton would elect to restart on the outside, allowing Zack VanderBeek the inside line. VanderBeek would get the edge, setting up a battle of Casey's General Stores sponsored cars at the front of the pack. VanderBeek pulled even several times in the corners, but Dripps' momentum on the outside propelled him to the win. VanderBeek was second, Brad Pinkerton third, and Al Hejna rounded out the field of cars on the lead lap.
Next up would be the fifteen lap USRA bmod finale. 52 cars were narrowed down to a starting field of 24 after running six heats and two bmains. Scott Davis used the outside front row start to grab the early lead until lap seven when Luke Wanninger overtook him. After securing the final transfer spot in the last bmain, Colter Deutsch made the long trip from Minnesota seem worth it as he charged all the way to the top five by lap ten. Wanninger would distance himself from the rest of the pack until the caution came out that included Scott Davis, Jason McDaniel, Tyler Groenendyk, Rocky Caudle, and Colter Deutsch. Apparently Davis got too high and hit the wall, setting up a chain reaction behind him. Wanninger would continue to set the pace the rest of the way while Tracy Johnson would slip into the runner up spot late in the race. Geoff Olson, John Davis, and USRA points leader Matt Jones rounded out the field. Johnson, who started 16th, made the long pull from Lake Preston, South Dakota while Jones started 20th.
The USRA hobby stocks had a difficult time getting things started. 46 cars were narrowed down to twenty-four to start the fifteen-lap feature. Troy Hovey found himself upside down on the backstretch on the initial start while Steve Holthaus would roll several times entering turn three and winding up outside the racing surface. Don Nunnikhoven would set the pace when the first lap finally got completed, but that lead would be short-lived as Steve Churchill snared the lead away on lap six. Chris Hovden would challenge Churchill's lead late in the race until Churchill slipped up in turn one and made contact with the outside wall, opening the door for Hovden to slam the door shut on the lead. Hovden would go on to take the win followed by Churchill, Nunnikhoven, Shannon Anderson, and Nathan Wood. Ironically, the race would end the same way it started as Bobby Greene would up rolling after taking the checkered flag. A competitor apparently blew a motor after crossing the finish line and Greene drove through the fluid, sending his car into a spin. His tires then hit the drier surface and dug in, sending his car over a couple times. He would walk away.
The final race of the night would be the USRA stock cars. Again, 46 cars would check in and get narrowed down to twenty-four. While Chad Walter and Shane Weller sat on the front row, it would be fifth-place started Mike VanGenderen taking the lead at the drop of the green flag. Nathan Wood would challenge VanGenderen on the inside and pull even, but couldn't keep his momentum up enough to take the lead. Shane Weller would follow VanGenderen until he made his move and slid under him to snare the lead away on lap eight of the twenty-lap race. USRA points leader Tory Reicks moved into the third spot three laps later while Matt Greiner was slicing his way through the field. Greiner started 22nd, but used the inside line to advance up to the sixth spot on lap thirteen. Greiner would get two more spots before the checkered flag waved for Shane Weller as he took home the win. Nathan Wood, Tory Reicks, Matt Greiner, and Kevin Donlan competed the top five.
The final checkered flag waved at 11:27 last night, capping off a full night of racing as hot laps got underway around 6:15. Considering it was Friday night and competing with high school football, there was a decent crowd of diehard racefans braving the cold temperatures in support of the event. The racing surface provided lots of side-by-side action throughout the night, although the modifieds were throwing chunks of mud as the entered turn one in the feature. I'm sure that made things more difficult for the rest of the classes.
For full results, check out the track website at www.rlpromotions.com/oskaloosa.
Racing resumes this afternoon at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa for the second day of the Musco Lighting Fall Challenge. No hot laps will be run today, and racing action is scheduled to start at 2pm. Promoter Todd Staley elected to bump up the start time to try to beat the weather while also hoping to finish in time to watch the Iowa Hawkeye football game as they host Michigan for Homecoming. Today's show will put the final touches on the racing action for the year at the Southern Iowa Speedway. However, fans in that area have another weekend of racing if they so choose as Todd Staley will be promoting next weekend's Memphis Fall Nationals at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri.
Thanks to Todd and Janet Staley for the hospitality last night! Let's hope for some more great racing today and hope the Hawks can prevail later tonight!!
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
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