Justin Zoch's Upper Midwest Ramblings
Monday, April 10, 2006
It was a fine start to racing season in the Upper Midwest when 69 360s packed into the infield Nebraska Raceway Park for the season opener for the NCRA Sprints, the ASCS Midwest Sprints and the debut for the ASCS Northern Plains tour. Brian Brown, who will again chase the 410 title at Knoxville, brought his career record to three for four at Nebraska Raceway Park. His only loss came to Terry McCarl and Billy Alley at last year’s I-80 opener. His crew chief, Terry Doogs, was absent this weekend as he had minor surgery earlier in the week. Strangely, however, Brown has never lost in the handful of times Doogs has been absent. Brown, who spent three months racing in Australia over the winter, was noticeably sharper than many of the racers who had not raced since last September.
Dustin Lindquist drove a brilliant race through the first 20 laps, stretching out large leads from his pole position and driving away from Brown several times. Eventually, the track came to Brown and Lindquist faded on the final lap when his fuel tank went dry. Chuck Swenson took the second spot from Lindquist and nearly passed Brown in turn four on the final lap. Swenson was aided by Lannie Nichols and Terry Reilly, who have unfortunately parked their operation for the time being. Together, Swenson and Lindquist represented the new Northern Plains series well… Lee Grosz and Jason Linnell also made the A-main for the Northern Plains region. Grosz, the grandson of Doug Howells, is again sporting a paint scheme reminiscent of the Howells Wolfgang era number four. Linnell, meanwhile, is the new driver of the Layton Performance K9, replacing Donavon Peterson. The team pulled off early in the A-main with engine problems after winning the third heat race. Linnell and the Laytons will have an equal mix of NOSA and ASCS starts this year with their new Avenger Chassis. In the 360s, they have a freshened Singer while the 410 power is an ex-Brent Kaeding Shaver engine.
Gregg Bakker was busy in the offseason as he constructed a championship golf course in South Dakota called Bakker’s Crossing. Bakker, unfortunately, missed the A-main on Saturday… Ken Klabunde went right down to the wire waiting for his engine to arrive from Weseman Racing Engines. The motor was obtained on Tuesday night and Klabunde fired it for the first time on Saturday morning. He’ll return to Eagle Raceway on Saturday nights in 2006…. There seemed to be a great disparity in opinion among racers regarding Eagle Raceway. Most plan to attend next weekend’s $2,000-to-win opener but several said they would look for other places to race once the purse returns to its normal rate, which has been cut since 2005. If I were to bet, however, I’d guess Eagle will still see high car count on Saturday nights this summer… Rick Ideus is one driver who will be traveling more as he’ll haul his brand new Schnee Chassis to Eagle on Saturday nights to challenge for Rookie of the Year honors at Knoxville Raceway. Ideus battled engine woes on Saturday and missed the A-main.
I finally figured it out. For the last year, I’ve been curious what this racetrack was called. I-80 or Nebraska Raceway Park? Both, as it turns out. The actual racetrack is I-80 but the facility, which includes a go-kart track and motocross track, is NRP… Four of the top six were B-main transfers as third-place Tony Bruce Jr., fourth-place Jake Peters, fifth-place Jeff Mitrisin and sixth-place Dusty Zomer all charged from consis… Zomer made his first run in Gary Swenson’s 24A while he awaits the completion of his team’s 410 engines for his run at Rookie of the Year at Knoxville. He’ll skip practice night next Saturday night to be sure things are ready for the opener… Sounds as though the Knoxville opener could be power packed as Danny Lasoski, Terry McCarl, Tim Shaffer and Brooke Tatnell were all floated as possible attendees… Last year, Gary Taylor started his season in Nebraska by flying over the turn one fence at McCool Junction in a crackup with Bobby Becker. This year, he won the first heat of the year and cruised to an eighth-place finish. Taylor, however, was tangled in a turn four tussle with Bruce Divis. The latter got the worst of it and flipped hard… Veteran wrench Dale Wilson, who has previously worked with Roger Rager and Lindquist in this region, was helping out Scott Broty for this weekend. Broty finished eighth in the third B-main with his homebuilt engine. Look for Broty to chase the Northern Plains tour… Ronnie Smith was on hand for the weekend and promised a return to the IMCA Jackpot Junction tour this season after sitting out all of 2005.
Don Droud Jr. missed the A-main in his father’s number 2 but is looking forward to returning to the Midget ranks on a more frequent basis in 2006. He’ll make his first little car start for Terry Klatt in Illinois on April 22 and 23 at Lincoln Speedway and Spoon River, respectively… Greg Lanc, who works diligently for Speedway Motors, is considering a run with a non-wing Sprint Car this season. Non-wing cars will be on tap most weeks at Rapid Speedway in addition to Late Models. Once a month, the winged NMRA Sprint Cars will be sanctioned at Rapid. There were also rumors wafting of non-wing cars on Thursdays at Huset’s… Rumors were also swirling of a potential Friday night NST show at Crawford County Speedway in Denison, Iowa, while the series is en route to Winner, South Dakota. The ASCS Northern Plains and Midwest Sprint Series will visit there on June 16 and July 21… Ryan Anderson struggled through his season debut at I-80 but is looking for a big season at Knoxville. He has purchased Guy Forbrook’s 2005 Knoxville Nationals Gaerte Mopar and could have another en route. As for Forbrook, congrats to he and future Hall of Famer Sammy Swindell on their weekend sweep of the World of Outlaws at Eldora… Mark Burch and Billy Alley were notable absences at I-80 as Alley was running Ed Gifford’s 17G at Eldora while Burch awaits Terry McCarl to be available to run his potent 1M… Bronson Maeschen will go 410 racing this season with an engine purchased from Chris Walraven. It is his only 410 and he hopes to complete his rookie season at Knoxville. He’ll continue to race his 360 when time and finances permit.
Scott Winters, who has spent the last few months on the road with Guy Forbrook’s team, will reportedly have a 410 to make various IRA starts in 2006. Winters will also chase the ASCS Northern Plains and mix in special events when his schedule allows. Winters seems poised to have a breakout season… A Friday night rainout afforded the opportunity to witness a hidden talent of Okoboji racer Ryan Voss. If racing does not work out for Voss, a foosball career awaits… Seth Brahmer and his wife Violet welcomed a baby girl, Morgan, last January 13 and he returned to the raceway for the first time since on Saturday. Brahmer hopes to once again mix 410 races into his schedule, which will be heavy on ASCS starts in the Midwest Region… The box score won’t show it but Mike Chadd had a great run on Saturday night before apparently running out of fuel in the waning laps. In his heat race, Chadd put a great move on Larry Pinegar II to win it and earn the fifth-starting spot. Chadd is currently 12th in the ASCS National standings… It may not be the flashiest of sites, but the ASCS website, under Lonnie Wheatley’s direction, is easily the most navigable and informative website of any sanctioning body.
Next weekend will be off for a family trip to Baltimore, Maryland, to celebrate a niece’s one-year birthday party, with a possible trip to some Central PA hotspots, before returning for a weekend of action at Sprint Invaders at Lee County on Friday, the Knoxville opener on Saturday and the Badger/POWRi opener, with the Invaders, at Spoon River on Sunday. In the meantime, send your rambles to Justin@mompub.com.
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