Corning And Eldora

This has been a big week of watching racing for me. Thanks to Speed Shift TV I watched racing on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, and last night Matt and I made the long haul to Corning, Iowa to watch the SLMR Late Models and USMTS Modifieds race at Adams County Speedway. Tuesday was Deery Brothers Late Models, Hawkeye Dirt Tour Modifieds, and IMCA Stock Cars from Marshalltown, Iowa. Wednesday was USAC Midgets from Gas City, Indiana and Friday was again USAC Midgets from Bloomington, Indiana. And tonight will be USAC Midgets from Kokomo, Indiana.

One member of the Meyer family likes ACS far better than the other. One member of the Meyer family reluctantly goes with the other because he enjoys doing things with his son. One member of the Meyer family has stated “I can’t remember seeing a good race at Corning.” That person is still not a big fan of Adams County Speedway, but after last night can’t say he hasn’t watched a good race there.

I have been calling Southwest Iowa Steve King territory, but I was wrong. This part of the state is represented by David Young. OK, that is bad, but not as bad as Steve King. And that will be my political statement for this blog.

Random Thoughts:

-106 cars filled both the inside and outside pit areas at ACS. There were 16 B-Mods, 20 Pro Stock, 21 Sport Compacts, 21 USMTS Modifieds, and 28 SLMR Late Models. I think that adds up to 106.

-To me, the admission charge of $25 was a little steep, especially since only 21 USMTS cars were on hand. I still paid it though and did not complain to the ticket seller.

-The Pro Stock class at ACS is similar to I-80 Speedway’s Pro-Ams and IMCA’s Stock Cars. As with those classes, the Pro Stocks at ACS put on a good show. In fact, the 15 lap feature was one of the best races I have watched in quite some time. You don’t see four wide racing very often, and this feature had that early on. The middle laps were more single file, but the last few laps were outstanding, with the top five finishers taking the checkered flags in the blink of an eye.

-The SLMR race was decent too. Tad Pospisil and Corey Zeitner battled for the win, while Kyle Berck and J.C. Wyman raced for third. Pospisil won, followed by Zeitner, Berck, and Wyman.

-Promter Joe Kosiski has put together a great local tour. I call it local because all the drivers are from Nebraska and Iowa, but the car count is better than most regional tours, and there is not much of a drop-off in talent from regional tours. The rules package allows drivers to use various engines and still be competitive, and it is a fun group to watch.

-As I mentioned, only 21 USMTS Modifieds were on hand. These were mostly drivers racing for points in the USMTS Central Region. I suspect next Friday and Saturday there will be far more cars on hand at Cedar Lake Speedway in Wisconsin, where drivers will be vying for a $50,000 winner’s share of the purse.

-Call it “Instant Carnage,” but a less than full field was whittled even more in the three USMTS qualifying races. Six cars finished the evening early, with the ride of Norfolk, Nebraska’s Kyle Prauner viciously rolling off the track in turn 3. Prauner was transported to the local hospital for observation, but reported later that he was OK.

-Zack Vanderbeek had the USMTS field covered. He started from the pole and led every lap of the feature. He wasn’t challenged at all, and actually was pulling away from the field late in the race. Cade Dillard started 15^th and last in the feature after being involved in the Prauner incident. He advanced from 15^th to 2^nd place at the finish.

-As I mentioned, the Pro Stock race was great, and the SLMR race was decent. I would only give the USMTS feature a C for lack of cars and the dominance of Vanderbeek. Still, that was about as racy of a night as any we have spent in Corning. My one complaint was the same as I have complained of on every trip to the Iowa track-they simply cannot go without a lengthy intermission. With three LONG red flags in heat races, I do not think a 35 minute intermission is necessary. On specials, not everyone is from the surrounding area-we have a 2 hour drive home. A 15 minute tops intermission would have been plenty. And no, watering the top and bottom of the track did not do anything to make the track racier for the features. It just added to the length of the intermission.

Yes Tony, I will mention that Scott Bloomquist won The Dream at Eldora. This was Bloomquist’s 7^th Dream win, starting with a victory in 1995. Not that many drivers even race for 23 years, and winning dirt late model’s richest event that many times and in that lengthy of a time span is impressive. Bloomquist has also won the World 100 four times, and finished 2^nd in the Dream and World 100 ten times. Of course who can forget the 2015 Dream when he won the race but was disqualified for crossing the scales light?

I always like to look at the list of drivers who do not make the Feature at one of the big Eldora events. This year’s list included Eddie Carrier Jr., Jackie Boggs, Jimmie Owens, Jeep Van Wormer, Gregg Satterlee, Billy Moyer Jr., Brian Shirley, Steve Casebolt, Steve Francis, and Jason Feger. It almost included Show-Me 100 winner Bobby Pierce. The young Illinois driver started 25^th in the second consolation race, a race in which only the top four qualify for the $100,000 to win feature. Pierce was fortunate to have some cautions in the race, and he gained the final transfer spot on lap 19 of the 20 lap race. Pierce started the A-feature last on the grid, but moved up to 13^th at the end of the 100 lapper.

Chassis breakdown of the starters:

8-Rocket

5-Longhorn (all in the top 11 finishers)

4-Club 29

3-Sweet Bloomquist

2-Moyer Victory

2-Black Diamond

1-Pierce

1-MB Custom

1-Barry Wright

1-Schwartz

Yes, one of those Moyer Victory chassis cars belonged to the man himself, the 99% retired Hall of Famer Billy Moyer. The Batesville, Arkansas driver finished a respectable 12^th.

No, I won’t be watching the NASCAR race from Pocono today. After the trek to Corning, I think a nap is in order. Thanks for stopping by.