Several topics are covered in this edition.
A few drivers from the region ran at a couple of shows in Iowa this past weekend; David Gravel and Big Game Motorsports had a good weekend; the Midwest Sprint Touring Series is about a month away from starting its season; a 91-year-old driver was on the track for a sprint car race in Missouri; and work starts soon on a racing museum in Iowa.
Locals run in Iowa
Some area drivers got an early start to the season at events in Marshalltown and Boone last weekend.
Listed are the tracks, classes, and place in the A Main.
Saturday
Boone Speedway IMCA Frostbuster
IMCA hobby stock
Parker Anderson, Welcome, 8th
Blake Luienberg, Reading, 11th
IMCA stock car
Justin Luinenberg, Reading, 20th
IMCA modified
Trent Loverude, New Ulm, 11th
Friday
Marshalltown Speedway FrostBuster
IMCA hobby stock
Blake Luienberg, Reading, 4th
Parker Anderson, Welcome, 12th
IMCA stock car
Justin Luinenberg, Reading, 10th
IMCA modified
Trent Loverude, New Ulm, 11th
Gravel rebounds
Big Game Motorsports rebounded last weekend in a pair of World of Outlaws events in the Midwest.
Friday at U.S. 36 Raceway near Osborn, Mo., David Gravel qualified fifth quickest. A heat race win earned a spot into the dash and Gravel gained two positions to finish fifth, lining the No. 2 sprint car up on the outside of the second row in the Osborn Sprint Car Showdown A Main.
“Everything was going good,” Gravel said. “We qualified good and heat raced good and dashed well. We were in the mix. We were battling in the top five throughout most of the feature, but I got too high in the marbles and slid up into the wall and crashed. That was my fault. It definitely stings and hurts. Everything we built up to start the year was thrown away. That was a sad night for me when you do everything right and then throw it away.”
He was unable to finish the race and was credited with a 21st-place finish.
Then it was on to the Jason Johnson Classic Saturday at 81 Speedway in Park City, Kan.
“We were able to rebound with quick time and win our heat race,” Gravel said. “We got a decent dash draw and went from fourth to third. I felt we had a car capable of winning. The track changed really fast and ended up taking rubber. We needed to be running second to have a shot at it, but it was good to rebound with a podium. I feel we are a very resilient team. We’ve been in the mix all season long. The boys prepared a good and safe race car and it showed.”
Gravel’s third-place result was his 10th top five finish in 14 races of the season. He is second in the WoO point standings, eight points behind Carson Macedo.
On Friday and Saturday, the World of Outlaws will be at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo., for the I-55 Outlaw Showdown. On April 21-22, the WoO will be at Knoxville Raceway.
World of Outlaws point standings
Top 10
Carson Macedo, Lemoore, Calif. 1684
David Gravel, Watertown, Conn. 1676
Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, Calif. 1664
Logan Schuchart, Hanover, Penn. 1626
Michael Kofoid, Penngrove, Calif., 1618
Sheldon Haudenschild, Wooster, Oho 1596
Donny Schatz, Fargo 1548
James McFadden, Alice Springs, NT, AU 1546
Spencer Bayston, Lebanon, Ind. 1544
Giovanni Scelzi, Fresno, Calif. 1514
MSTS
It’s a little over a month until the start of the Midwest Sprint Touring Series schedule.
The first event for the series is Saturday, May 13 at Off Road Speedway in Norfolk, Neb.
The second stop for the series is Friday, May 26 at Jackson Motorplex. That’s the first of three visits to Jackson. The others are July 7 and July 28.
Also, the MSTS will be at Huset’s Speedway for the Bull Haulers Brawl Sept. 2-3.
Midwest Sprint Touring Series
2022 final point standings
Top 10
Troy Schreurs, Baltic, S.D. 606
Brant O'Banion, Parker, S.D. 599
Christopher Thram, Sanborn 591
Javen Ostermann, Courtland 584
Jody Rosenboom, Rock Rapids 553
Lincoln Drewis, Tripoli 485
Jack Dover, Springfield, Neb. 397
James Broty, Lonsdale 383
Aaron Werner, Colman, 349
Brandon Halverson, Jackson 321
Just a number
Some say that age is just a number.
Well, the numbers for Dale McCarty of Eldorado Springs, Mo. are 91 years, 7 months, and 9 days. That’s exactly how old he was when he got back behind the wheel of a winged sprint car Saturday night at Nevada Speedway in Nevada, Mo.
McCarty’s racing career began 70 years ago, when he bought a car in 1953.
He finished eighth out of eight cars in his eight-lap heat race and 15th of 15 cars in the 25-lap A Main.
Iowa museum
Work will begin soon on a new racing museum at the Kossuth County Fairgrounds in Algona.
The Iowa Hall of Fame and Racing Museum will be located next to the current Kossuth County Agriculture and Motorsports Museum.
The museum will offer statewide memorabilia, race cars, photos, and file cabinets full of Iowa racing history.
The collection includes many original and restored race cars, the Bob Hill 46 car that rolled seven times at a Daytona race in 1996, cars driven by Willie Kraft, Roger Tapper, Chuck Hubbard, Craig Jacobs, and more.
An inventory of helmets, fire suits, sheet metal, track signage, vintage Soap Box cars, vintage clothing, 15,000 racing photos, printed materials, and hundreds of pieces of miscellaneous memorabilia will all be on display.
The building will also house the Iowa Hall of Fame, including framed pictures, biographies and memorabilia of 92 current inductees from all types of racing and from all over Iowa.