Oskaloosa, IA (Wednesday, April 15, 2015) - With me having a Thursday off at work, I decided to make the trip to the middle part of the state of Iowa to the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa. They were holding there season points opener, with every driver signing in getting in for FREE! At the end of the night Jacob Murray (IMCA Modified), Zack VanderBeek (IMCA Stock Cars), Curtis Van Der Wal (IMCA SportMods), Danny Thrasher (IMCA Hobby Stocks), and Trent Orwig (IMCA Sport Compacts) ending up in victory lane.
The first feature to take to the track was the 12 lap IMCA Sport Compacts, with Trent Orwig and Bill Whalen Jr. drawing the front row. Orwig would use his front row starting spot to grab the lead by inches on lap 1 over Whalen Jr. and Matt Moore. Whalen Jr. followed in Orwig's tracks until just after the completion of lap 2, as Orwig drifted high going into turn 1 which allowed Whalen Jr. to slip by to grab the lead away on lap 3. Orwig then followed in Whalen Jr.'s tracks, even bumping him in the back to remind him that he was close behind. Whalen Jr. drifted high in turn 3 on lap 10, which allowed Orwig to slip by to grab the top spot away coming to the white flag. Orwig then held off Whalen Jr. on the final lap to pick up the win. Whalen Jr. settled for 2nd, Moore was 3rd, John Whalen was 4th, with Seith Woodruff making the long pull up from Carthage, Illinois to round out the top 5.
Up next was the 14 lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature, with Bill Bonnett and Danny Thrasher drawing the front row for the event. Thrasher took advantage of his front row starting spot to jump out into the lead on lap 1, as Dustin Griffiths, Bonnett, and Jamie Songer raced three wide for the second spot. The action up front was slowed for the first and only time on lap 7, when Daniel Dyer lost a right front wheel coming out of turn 4 and spun down the front stretch to bring out the yellow. On the restart Thrasher moved back out front, with Songer, Bonnett and Griffiths returning to there battle for second. Thrasher would pull away over the final laps to claim his second win in a row at the track. Bonnett won the battle for 2nd, Songer was 3rd, Griffiths was 4th, with Derek Hodges coming from 10th to finish in 5th.
Shane Weller and Todd Reitzler led the field to the drop of the green flag in the 18 lap IMCA Stock Car feature. But it was fourth place starter Damon Murty who shot to the bottom of the track coming out of turn 4 to grab the lead on lap 1 over Reitzler and Weller. The action up front was slowed for the first time on lap 3, when Mike Brown spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Murty jumped back out front, but now had Zack VanderBeek, who started 7th, glued to his back bumper. VanderBeek would look under Murty for the lead over the next 4 laps, before deciding to go to the top of the track coming off turn 4 on lap 8 to grab the top spot away. Murty then tried to slip under VanderBeek until the second and final caution appeared on lap 14 to slow the battle up front. Derrick Agee, who started 12th and was running 6th, slowed to a crawl in turn 3 to bring out the yellow. On the restart VanderBeek moved back out front, with teammate Cayden Carter, who started 8th, over taking Murty for the second spot. Carter would follow in VanderBeek's tracks over the final 4 laps, but wasn't able to mount any challenges as VanderBeek held on to pick up the win. Carter was 2nd, Murty was 3rd, Nathan Wood came from 11th to finish in 4th, with Mike Hughes coming home in 5th.
Up next was the 16 lap IMCA SportMod feature, with Jake McBirnie and Brandon Dale drawing the front row. But it was fifth place starter Curtis Van Der Wal who used the bottom of the track to shoot out into the lead on lap 1 over Brett Lowry, who started 4th, and Dale. While Van Der Wal set a fast pace and was starting to pull away, Brayton Carter, who started 7th, was working his way up to challenge Lowry for the runner up spot. Without the help of a caution there was no catching Van Der Wal on this night, as he pulled away to claim the win. Lowry held on for 2nd, Carter was 3rd, McBirnie was 4th, with Jason McDaniel rounding out the top 5.
The final feature to take to the track was the 18 lap IMCA Modifieds, with Jimmy Gustin and Jacob Murray leading the field to the green flag. Murray would use his front row starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Gustin and Tyler Groenendyk. He then started to pull away from the field until a red was displayed over the track on lap 6. Cole Ferguson went sideways into the turn 3 tires protecting the guardrail and was launched over the guardrail. The car never went upside down, as it landed back on all 4 wheels. Ferguson would climb from the car okay. On the restart Murray moved back out front, with Gustin working to hold back Carter VanDenBerg for the runner up spot. VanDenBerg would over take Gustin for second on lap 10 and then went to work on chasing down Murray for the lead. But with Murray having a straight-away lead, VanDenBerg was only able to close within a few car lengths when the final checkered flag waved. Murray would finish 1st, VanDenBerg was 2nd, Gustin was 3rd, Groenendyk was 4th, with Kyle Brown coming from 10th to round out the top 5.
Notes from Osky: 28 Stock Cars, 20 Hobby Stocks, 15 SportMods, 13 Modifieds, and 9 Sport Compacts made up the 85 drivers signed in for FREE on this night......Nick VanHemert had troubles in his heat race that forced him to scratch from the Sport Compact feature......Dale Porter drove Dustin Griffiths back up car and started the Hobby Stock feature in 11th and finished 8th....Craig Brown passed 9 cars from his 18th place starting spot to finish in 9th....Bobby Greene came from 16th to finish in 10th....Brad Stephens started 15th and finished 12th....Matt Smith came from 19th to finish in 13th....Jared Stephens, was suppose to start 5th, but had troubles after the heat race that forced him to scratch from the feature......Brad Pinkerton started the Stock Car feature in 10th and finished in 8th....Doug Sylvester came from 15th to finish in 10th....Bob Lynch started 16th and finished 12th....Kris Walker came from 20th to finish in 13th....Rich Vogt passed 9 cars from his 23rd place starting spot to come home in 14th....Daniel Hilsabeck started 28th and passed 11 cars to finish in 17th....John Hunnell started 25th and finished 19th....Brock Welch came from 27th to finish in 22nd....Casey Greubel, Donnie Pearson and Michael Bilyeu all had troubles in there heat races that forced them to scratch from the feature......Logan Anderson had troubles in his heat race that forced him to start the SportMod feature in 15th. He would pass 9 cars to bring home a 6th place finish....Matthew Vangelder came from 12th to finish in 9th....Trent Brink started 14th and finished 12th......Andrew Schroeder started the Modified feature in 11th and finished 9th....AJ Johnson continues to try and work the bugs out of his Modified. But wasn't able to get them figured out after his heat race, so he was forced to scratch from the feature.
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