Oskaloosa, IA (Wednesday, April 27, 2017) - When it comes to the sport of racing one thing that it needs to be able to put on a show is for mother nature to co-operate. And so far in 2017 that hasn't been the case, as if it hasn't been raining the temperatures for the most part have been way below normal.
On Wednesday night I made my way over to the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa for their season opener, which was pushed back one week after being rained out the week before. When I left my home in Monmouth, Illinois the rains began to fall from the sky. And when I got to Ottumwa, Iowa, which is about 30 miles from Oskaloosa, and it was still raining. I began to wonder to myself if I wasn't wasting a trip over. The closer I got to the fairgrounds the lighter the precipitation got.
Just about when hot laps were scheduled to begin, the rains finally stopped. This would cause a slight delay, as the cars had to come onto the track to help get it packed in, in order to get the nights program started. By the time hot laps were over a brisk northern wind kicked up, and the temperature fell to the mid 40's. But the delay from the rains and the cool temperatures were on the back of the mid, as the on track racing made up for it.
The Dirt Trucks, which lost there Friday night weekly track when the Iowa State Fairgrounds did away with the big half mile track at the end of 2016, were added to the schedule this year on a very limited basis. This happened to be one of those nights, with 13 signed in for competition. Steve Jackson, who has raced a Stock Car for many years, drove a second truck for Lou Sipolt. They just happened to draw the front row for the 15 lap feature. On the drop of the green flag the field would fan out three and four wide, with Jackson leading lap 1 over Sipolt and Brad Moyer. But just after the completion of lap 1 the first caution would come out, as Bret Moyer spun down the backstretch to bring out the yellow. On the restart the field tried to go three wide down the front stretch. And when contact between Tony Moro and Eric Lundstrom happened right about the flag stand, Moro got sideways. With Lundstrom still on the gas pedal this would send Moro barrel rolling into turn 1. The truck would come to rest on all four wheels, and it took a few minutes before Moro climbed from the truck okay.
Jackson jumped back out front once racing was resumed, with Brad Moyer slipping past Sipolt for second. Moyer would chase Jackson around the 1/2 mile over the final 14 laps. But wasn't able to mount a challenge, as Jackson held on to pick up the win. Brad Moyer was 2nd, Sipolt was 3rd, Anthony Moro was 4th, with Andrew Clark rounding out the top 5. After Corey Stout, who drove a second truck for Pat Gordon and was running 5th, slowed on the final lap with a flat tire.
Up next was the 10 lap IMCA Sport Compact feature, with Levi Heath and Jake Dietrich leading the field to the green flag. But it was third place starter Daniel Fellows, a rookie driver for 2017, slipping under Heath off turn 2 to grab the lead on lap 1. One lap later Dietrich made the pass of Heath to move into the runner up spot, and then went to work on Fellows for the lead. While the lead duo set the pace out front, Josh Barnes, who was driving Barry Taft's #57 on this night, was working his way towards the front from his 10th place starting spot. His progress was helped on lap 5, when Heath, who was running 3rd, pulled out with mechanical troubles. On lap 8 Barnes worked himself into third, but ran out of laps to mount a challenge on the top two. Fellows, who picked up a win on Saturday night at the Eldon Raceway in Eldon, Iowa and again on Sunday at the Quincy Raceways in Quincy, Illinois, held on to claim his third win in a row in only his fifth start of the season. Dietrich was 2nd, Barnes was 3rd, which made a top three sweep for Team Darkside. Brandon Housley finished 4th, with Cody VanDusen coming from 9th to round out the top 5.
Louis Lynch, the defending track champion, and Jason See led the field to green in the 18 lap IMCA Stock Car feature, with Lynch moving out front to lead lap 1 over See and Dustin Griffiths, who moved out of the Hobby Stock class and into the Stock Cars for 2017. Griffiths, who started 7th, would slip under Lynch coming off turn 4 on lap 2 to take over the top spot. On lap 3 Mike Hughes, who started 10th, had quickly worked himself into second, with Derick Agee following him. The lead trio followed each other around the bottom of the speedway, and was pulling away from the field by lap 8. As the battle for fourth went 3 wide at times. On laps 13 and 14 Hughes ventured to the middle to groove to try and get past Griffiths, but wasn't able to make the pass.
But when Griffiths bobbled going into turn 2 on lap 15, this allowed Hughes to pull even with him coming off turn 2. They would race side-by-side for a lap, before Hughes got the lead coming to the white flag. Agee was able to get under Griffiths in turn 1 and almost got beside Hughes coming off turn 2. But Hughes would hold him off to pick up the win. Agee was 2nd, Griffiths was 3rd, Todd Reitzler moved into 4th on lap 10 and closed to the leaders back bumper on the final lap to finish a close 4th, with See holding on for 5th.
The 16 lap IMCA SportMod feature was up next, with Colton Livezey and Jason McDaniel on the front row. McDaniel would take advantage of his starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Livezey and Curtis Van Der Wal. The fast pace McDaniel's was setting allowed him to come up on slower traffic by lap 9, as he started to pull away from the field. On lap 11 the field was brought back to McDaniel's back bumper, when Matt Beal slowed to a stop in turn 3 to bring out the first and only caution of the race. On the restart McDaniel moved back out front, with Carter VenDenBerg using the top of the track to slip past Van Der Wal for second. Coming to the white flag Van Der Wal was able to slip under VanDenBerg for second, but couldn't mount a challenge on McDaniel over the final lap. As McDaniel claimed the win. Van Der Wal was 2nd, Logan Anderson was 3rd, as VanDenBerg slipped to 4th, with Austin Paul finishing 5th.
Colt Mather and Hunter Marriott raced side-by-side on the opening lap of the 18 lap IMCA Modified feature, with Mather using the momentum off turn 4 to edge Marriott at the line by inches on lap 1. Mather, Marriott and Todd Shute followed in each others tire tracks around the top of the track over the next 16 laps, when the first and only caution slowed the race. Debris in the middle of runs 1 and 2 would bring out the yellow, and set up a two lap shoot out. On the restart Mather jumped back out front, as Shute slipped past Marriott for second going into turn 1. But Marriott would turn back under him coming off turn 2 to get the spot back. But by then Mather pulled out enough to secure the win. Marriott was 2nd, Shute was 3rd, Cayden Carter finished 4th after starting in 9th, with Kelly Shryock coming home 5th in a yellow #21.
The final feature to take to the track was the the 15 lap IMCA Hobby Stock, with Shannon Anderson moving from third to first on lap 1. Eric Stanton, who took a nasty roll in the season opener at the track in 2016, moved into second on lap 2. The action up front was slowed for only 1 time, as Kelsie Spilman spun in turn 2 on lap 3 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Anderson moved back out front, with Stanton close behind. While Stanton had to work to hold off Bill Bonnett over the final laps, this would allow Anderson to pull away to claim the win. Stanton held on for 2nd, Bonnett was 3rd, Aaron Martin was 4th, with Scott Shull coming home in 5th.
The forecast for this weekends racing action it currently looking bleak. But let's hope this will change and we can get some racing in somewhere this weekend. Maybe I will see you somewhere along the road at a track near you!
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